Minister of Justice, Prison Affairs & Constitutional Reforms Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe has asserted that the government stands ready to conduct an international investigation into the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks.
Despite his emphasis that the relevant investigation would be an international probe and not a domestic one, the Minister opined skepticism pertaining to ‘Channel 4’s’ recent exposé on the Easter bombings, claiming that diaspora groups were often seen publishing such controversial videos against Sri Lanka ahead of the annual sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Conference (UNHRC).
Dr. Rajapakshe made these remarks during a media conference held at the ministry’s premises this afternoon (07 Sep.) to brief the public on the new Anti-Corruption Act.
Accordingly, the Minister accused the British television channel of being a ‘pro-diaspora’ institution. Despite these claims, however, he assured that a comprehensive investigation would be carried out into the claims made in the documentary.
Speaking further, the Minister of Justice stated that when he, during a parliamentary speech, warned the public of such possibilities and that the ISIS was recruiting Sri Lankan youth for training programmes, his words fell on deaf ears.
I made a statement in parliament related to the matter 29 months before the Easter attacks….I was accused of trying to create disharmony and trying to turn the country into a pool of blood… But 29 months later, everyone’s eyes were opened to the truth”, the Minister said in this regard.
Speaking with regards to UK’s ‘Channel 4’s’ most recent and heavily controversial exposé on the series of bombings that shook Sri Lanka on 21 April 2019, Minister Rajapakshe accused the British TV channel of working with diasporas, further claiming that the institution was not one that sought justice for the victims of the attack.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe is set to depart for Cuba to address the G77+China Leaders’ Summit next week. This summit, themed Current Development Challenges: Role of Science, Technology and Innovation,” is scheduled for September 15 and 16, 2023, in Havana, Cuba.
President Wickremesinghe’s participation in the summit comes as a result of an official invitation from Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel. Alongside the summit, there are plans for bilateral discussions between President Wickremesinghe and the Cuban President to further strengthen the cooperation between Sri Lanka and Cuba.
The G77+China Leaders’ Summit represents the largest intergovernmental coalition of 134 developing nations, as recognized by the United Nations. It serves as a platform for Southern countries to voice and promote their shared economic interests while enhancing their collaborative negotiating capabilities.
This conference offers an opportunity to address contemporary challenges in the realms of science, technology and innovation, exploring cooperative solutions, particularly through inter-Southern collaboration.
The leaders of these nations are expected to adopt the ‘Havana Declaration’ during the summit, which will outline guidelines for reforms and new approaches to enhance cooperation among Southern countries in the fields of science, technology and innovation.
Ms. Aruni Wijewardena, Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, along with a delegation of senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will also accompany the President for this significant conference.
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has told the Sectoral Oversight Committee (SOC) on International Relations that it is economically important for Sri Lanka to work with BRICS countries.
Attending the SOC meeting chaired by MP Namal Rajapaksa on Tuesday (05), the Central Bank officials have pointed out that 41% of the world’s population lives, and 24% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) and 16% of world trade activities are carried out in the BRICS countries, the Parliamentary Communications Department said.
The Central Bank officials further mentioned that 10.3% of Sri Lanka’s exports and 47.3% of imports in the year 2022 were from BRICS countries and that for these reasons, it is economically important to work with BRICS countries.
Accordingly, the Committee Chair has recommended that a special discussion be held with the CBSL and the Ministry of Finance under the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to inquire about the social, economic and political benefits that can be obtained through working with the BRICS countries and submit a report to the Committee.
Moreover, the Chair also instructed the relevant officials to pay attention to the recruitment of foreign students, including Sri Lankan students who are studying abroad, as volunteers for the vacancies of employees in foreign embassies, it added.
Members of the Sectoral Oversight Committee Prof. G. L. Peiris, Akila Ellawala, Madhura Withanage, officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a group of officials representing the Central Bank participated in the meeting. MP Chandima Weerakkody was in attendance with the permission of the Chair of the Committee, according to the Parliamentary Communications Department.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe emphasized that by drawing inspiration from the success of the Biyagama Free Trade Zone, a comprehensive strategy for modern commercial industrialization will be implemented throughout the country.
This initiative aims to propel the nation towards rapid development within the next 15-20 years, he said, participating in in the centenary celebration ceremony of Al Mubarak Central College on Wednesday afternoon (06 Sep.).
The President highlighted that the once-underdeveloped Biyagama area has made remarkable progress, largely attributed to the establishment of the trade zone. His vision extends to transforming Sri Lanka into an attractive investment destination, thus creating a wealth of fresh opportunities for global investors.
President Ranil also pointed out that several locations, including Bingiriya, Iranavila, Hambantota, Kandy, Trincomalee and the Northern Province, have already been identified for the establishment of industrial zones. The President affirmed the government’s commitment to expedite this process, transforming these areas into thriving commercial cities.
Furthermore, President Wickremesinghe underscored the dedication of elected representatives to bring investment prospects to their respective districts while refuting the notion that industrial zones were unsuitable for Sri Lanka, citing the success of the Biyagama investment zone as the best in South Asia. He emphasized that replicating such industrialization models in every province would alleviate economic pressures.
President Wickremesinghe also emphasized the government’s dual focus on strengthening the country’s economy through the creation of new investment zones and generating employment opportunities for the youth.
During his visit to Malwana Al Mubarak Central College, President Ranil Wickremesinghe received a warm welcome from the students. To commemorate the college’s centenary, a commemorative stamp was issued and the foundation stone for a new three-story building was laid by the President. This historic visit marked the first time a sitting President visited Al Mubarak Central College, Malwana.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe left a commemorative note in the special guest book, inaugurating the college’s centenary memorial. He also awarded gifts and certificates to students who demonstrated outstanding skills at the college.
While addressing the gathering, President Wickremesinghe further expressed his gratitude for being invited to the centenary celebration of Malwana Al Mubarak College.
He fondly remembered the school’s evolution from its early days as Walgama College to its present status as Malwana College. He acknowledged his role in supporting the school’s development and highlighted the importance of education in the Malwana community.
President Wickremesinghe shared the community’s aspiration to provide quality education for their children, noting the significant progress Malwana College has achieved over the years. He also recalled his promise to create employment opportunities in the area when he first visited Malwana in 1977.
Upon entering this region and initiating educational initiatives, the President also made a promise to provide employment opportunities to the local community.
Recognizing the need for industrial development in the area, Former President J.R. Jayawardena expressed his desire to establish the Katunayake Free Trade Zone and create a second free zone. The residents of this province provided invaluable support when I embarked on my political journey, particularly after President J.R. Jayawardene entrusted me with the Biyagama constituency.
The land required to establish this free trade zone was available only in this region. The coconut groves that eventually became the Biyagama Free Trade Zone originally belonged to the Muslims of Malwane. Remarkably, these individuals generously offered their land for this purpose, for which we arranged fair compensation. Concurrently, the Malwana area has experienced remarkable progress.
Despite scepticism from some quarters that Sri Lanka was ill-suited for industrial endeavours, we forged ahead with our vision. Simultaneously, the infrastructure of this province underwent substantial development. Notably, the Kaduwela-Biyagama bridge and highways were constructed. Approximately five years ago, significant improvements began to take place in this area.
Today, the Biyagama Trade Zone is acclaimed as the premier trading zone in South Asia. If the Katunayake and Biyagama trade zones were to merge, they would be unrivalled. Building upon the success of the Katunayake free trade zone, I also initiated the Seethawaka free trade zone to further promote industrialization. We launched Kaduwela factories, with Biyagama at its core, attracting foreign investments that have transformed the landscape.
As I stand here today, I am reminded of a time when ‘Bellakapapu’ junction had only two shops, but now it boasts numerous thriving businesses and substantial infrastructure development, including impressive buildings.
In the present day, our region boasts a diverse range of factories, including a milk powder factory, a Coca-Cola factory, and even a beer factory. These industrial facilities have become significant sources of income for the local community. Today, the region is thriving, with no signs of economic distress. The remarkable development we see today is not limited to this area alone but extends to neighbouring regions like Kadawata, where transformation is evident from Kiribathgoda to Dalugama, turning Sapugaskanda into a bustling hub. The residents of Makola take pride in the prosperity they now enjoy, a situation vastly different from the past.
I recall a time when the tire corporation faced closure due to financial losses. However, we resolved to revitalize and develop it, despite facing substantial opposition and negative campaigns against my efforts.
Today, not only do we manufacture tires for local consumption, but we also export them. Numerous other factories have sprung up, further fuelling the growth of Biyagama and Kelaniya, now recognized as expansive commercial and industrial estates.
An industrial park of the magnitude of Biyagama is unparalleled elsewhere in Sri Lanka. We aspire to expand upon this success and foster new developments in the area. Additionally, plans are underway to establish a new hospital at the ‘Bellakapapu’ junction.
In these trying times when our nation’s economy has faced challenges, we have attracted significant foreign investments to aid in its recovery. Ambitious plans are in motion to establish trade zones in numerous locations akin to Biyagama.
Members of Parliament have been entrusted with the task of seeking investors and promoting the development of their respective regions. These initiatives must be diligently pursued.
Had trade zones like Biyagama and Katunayake been replicated throughout Sri Lanka, we would have been better equipped to navigate our current economic difficulties. Drawing inspiration from the example set by Biyagama, we are fervently advancing large-scale industrialization, with the aim of transforming Biyagama, Kelaniya, Kadawata and other areas into thriving modern commercial economies.
Suitable areas for development have already been identified in Bingiriya, Iranavila, Hambantota, Kandy, Trincomalee and the Northern Province. By extending similar facilities to these regions, we aspire to catalyse rapid development across the entire island within the next 15-20 years.
Our commitment to these plans is unwavering as we endeavour to bolster our nation’s economic foundation. Generating revenue is imperative to manage our debts effectively. Through these concerted efforts, we are working tirelessly to emulate the progress achieved by countries like Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia.
The Minister of State for Education, Aravinda Kumar also delivered remarks during the ceremony. In addition to the President, State Ministers Prasanna Ranaweera and Kader Mastan were in attendance, alongside the Principal of Al Mubarak Central College, Mr. S.H.M. Naim, staff, past and present students and other officials graced the occasion with their presence.
On Easter Sunday 21 April 2019 – 8 bombs went off in churches & hotels in Colombo & Batticoloa. Why churches – who decided ? Why Batticoloa, why 3 particular hotels & why have 2 bombers target 1 hotel? 269 innocent people died, for whose objective? Why a jihadi attack, when LTTE had been killing for decades. How come the attackers were from well to do homes? Did political interference prevent action against jihadi groups emerging since 2016? If so, who were the politicians and why? With ISIS declaring a caliphate in Asia which included Sri Lanka, why were the units overshadowing extremist groups disbanded? Who gave the orders?
It was only after the attacks that prior warnings had been given came to be known. These warnings had been given by Indian intel & questions why they were ignored as well as returns to the question of why units shadowing extremist groups were disbanded after regime change in 2015? The warnings had even named Zahran Hashim & indicated churches would be targets. Zahran’s public speeches openly supported Islamic State (not GR) Intel was also at the site in Kattankudy & could read the nature of the speeches.
No conspiracy theory can eliminate the inaction by the government in power who had been handed intel on likely attacks with names, venues & dates.
Anyone pointing fingers cannot forget this fact.
The other fact that those attempting to blame others cannot forget is that the Islamic State featured the attacks on their Amaq news agency and referred to the suicide bombers as Islamic State fighters” followed by a video pledging allegiance to ISIS leaderAbu Bakr al-Baghdaadi. On 29 April the Islamic State released a video of their leader claiming the Easter attacks to be revenge for the March 2019 defeat in Baghuz (Syria) Two facts that are important as ISIS was eyeing South Asia as its next Caliphate aligned with US’s pivot to Asia.
Those who claim the Easter Attacks were engineered to bring GR to power must negate the above facts.
The next fact is that a sudden haul of swords were discovered – how did these get imported and why were over 1400 swords kept ready?
By May 7, over 50 people had been arrested by the CID amongst whom was Mohamed Naufer who was said to succeed Zaharan.
The radicalization soon led to violence & is a first indication of what was to come.
10 March 2017 – Zaharan & Co came with swords, rods and petrol bombs against Sufis. This was how a warrant for Zaharan’s arrest was made.
In March 2018, Zahran called for the killing of non-Muslims in Sri Lanka. The video of this is said to have been handed to police.
30 Nov 2018, 2 police officers were killed in Vavunathivu, a town near Batticoloa – one officer was stabbed 25 times in the chest & head & then shot dead. The other too was stabbed & shot dead.
26 Dec 2018 – 2 youths on motorcycles damaged a few Buddha statues in Mawanella (2 brothers) Zaharan had indoctrinated them. 13 more youths were arrested, one of these tipped the police about the stash of weapons & explosives in a coconut estate in Wanathawilluwa.
17 Jan 2019 – police arrested 4 suspects at the estate possessing 100kg of explosives and ammunition. One of the arrested was Zaharan’s driver M. Shariff Adam Lebbe who admitted to killing the 2 police officers in Nov 2018. Law enforcement returned to the estate to find more weapons.
All of the above showcase indoctrination & ties to the Islamic State. This is further established by the video release by ISIS via its official website.
Indian intel have also been investigating ISIS and foreign fighters & support base in Kerala & Tamil Nadu and on 2 Sept 2018 Indian intel raided some sites. They also discovered links between Coimbatore & Zahran Hashim. Speeches by Zahran & phone records were also discovered. Who was influencing whom is not known but that Zahran was very much involved in ISIS ideology was clear. How far that ideology aims to put a Buddhist as President is left to the common sense of the reader.
The conspiracy theorists should also wonder at the manner indoctrination is taking place even on western climes – the Dehiwela bomber Jameel Mohamed was a post-graduate student in Australia & returned to Sri Lanka in 2013. Reuters reported another Sri Lanka software engineer 24 year old Aadhil Ameez who was being monitored by Indian intel. It was a concern to a lot of Muslims that indoctrination of Muslims were being done overseas and not in Sri Lanka & this is a factor that concerns a lot of Sri Lankan Muslims.
Zaharan’s driver Adam Lebbe gave authorities another tip. 26 April 2019 – police raided a house in Sammanthurai in Ampara & recovered a drone, bomb-making materials, suicide vests & Islamic State flag & same clothing as those wearing in the video.
Adam Lebbe may also like to verify details being spewed by C4’s star witness Hamsa Maulana.
Those promoting a different version may also like to explain the manner that Zahran’s family ended up shooting at police resulting in their deaths. Islamic State claimed this raid resulted in 17 police officers getting killed though in reality no police officers died except for Rilwan & other family members of Zahran.
Whatever the mockumentary & its star witness may aspire to claim there are some facts that cannot be ignored
Warnings were given by India linking Zahran to Islamic State & giving targets of a suicide attack – the government in power did not take action (was the govt in power told not to take action by the candidate planning to run for President, as bizarre as it sounds this is what C4 is trying to drill into the minds of the naïve)
Islamic State official website admits the attack was by their fighters & hails them
Zaharan & NTJ’s extremism was known but units shadowing them were disbanded – was this done by the candidate planning to come to power or by officials who were not even in the country & serving in any military role?
Cabinet Minister & Govt spokesman Rajitha Senaratne confirmed rumors that a suicide attack on places of Christian worship & tourist areas were shared by foreign intel
By February 2018 – it was clear from the LG Poll results that the sitting government had lost the people’s mandate & was likely to be defeated at the next election (explains why the present president passed the pillow to current opposition leader to contest in 2020)
The IRA tactic was to inform where they would target & cause public mayhem out of fear. The LTTE attacked without announcement, taking all by surprise. The authorities had no means to protect or prevent victim deaths. The ISIS targets were made known weeks in advance including names of the suicide members. If actions were not taken, it is the responsibility of those who had the powers to take orders, who were informed but did not give orders. This is why the Courts have declared that both President Sirisena & then PM RanilW had to pay compensation of Rs.100m each. 2 Presidential Commission reports & 1 Parliamentary Committee Report gives details of events that unfolded.
Anyone claiming economic asylum must first be able to with evidence refute what is in the Commission reports. No Mockumentary can come up with sensational & irresponsible journalism and use the podium of social media and propaganda to fool the masses who have no time to read the pages in the Commission reports.
The general public must not allow paid films to create disharmony. Obviously this channel is infamous for its ties to the LTTE bandwagon, its directors are regular attendees to their events. This is an attempt by the LTTE, to use Islamic terrorists to kill Catholics and blame it on Buddhists and all the communities must understand this web of deceit and not allow those with agendas to divide people any more than they have.
The British Prime Minister must rope in on the channel trying to promote economic asylum seekers by creating political issues.
In view of the fact that our foreign debt has increased from $ 56 billion, when President Gotabhaya ceded power to President Ranil Wickremasinghe, to as much as $96.5 billion by 30 the June 2023- a staggering increase of some 70% in fifteen months, it is necessary to step back to see how this has happened.
My Earlier paper: The way Forward, from the Island of 7/1/2022 is a worthwhile read because the Paper tells us what changes need to be done to bring about economic development, to end the economic meltdown of today. .
Published 11 months ago on 2022/01/7 in The Island
By DR. Garvin Karunaratne
Sri Lanka’s economy finds itself in a situation where one wonders whether the government has allowed it to drift. Perhaps, studying how countries have suffered and faced similar crises in the past may offer us some ideas. In 1997 the economies of Asian giants Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea crashed.
In 1995, the World Bank said that Thailand was the world’s fastest growing economy.
Of Thailand, Phongpaichit and Baker says, in 1996, export growth slumped from over 29% to zero. The stock market lost two thirds of its value. The country was battered by speculators into a sharp depreciation – the biggest finance company collapsed. Two thirds of all finance firms were suspended. The IMF was called in to arrange the largest ever bail out”. (Thailand’s Boom and Bust. [1998] Phongpaichit and Baker).
Of all countries whose economies crashed, Malaysia stands out as the one country that emerged victorious. Other countries had to beg for assistance from the World Bank and the IMF. Indonesia was bailed out with a loan of $ 43 billion, South Korea with a bail out of $ 56 billion, and Thailand with a loan package of $ 17 billion. They were all loans that enabled the countries to survive for the moment and pay later. As a result, their foreign debt increased exponentially.
The financial upheaval in Indonesia saw the fall of its leader Suharto. Nicholas Kristof, Jakarta correspondent for The New York Times, wrote of what happened to Suharto, the President of Indonesia: “What overthrew Suharto was not a guerrilla insurgency, but a conspiracy of far more subversives – capitalism, markets and globalisation; Suharto’s sleuths never figured how to handcuff them” (Herald International Tribune).
It has to be understood that Sri Lanka today has been held hostage by international capitalism working through its agent, the International Monetary Fund. There was one country that did not go begging for aid—Malaysia. Mahatir Muhammed, the legendary Prime Minister, took charge of the economy, collected all the dollars from all banks. As I have said previously, Mahatir Muhammed declared war with the IMF by doing the exact opposite of the IMF advice. He did not go on bended knees to the IMF. Instead he effectively controlled the economy of his own country. He imposed strict controls on the use of foreign exchange. He did not allow anyone to spend the money on the import of unnecessary goods. He clamped severe restrictions on the use of foreign exchange. This even went to the extreme of stopping foreign exchange for Malaysians studying abroad. There was mayhem in student circles in the UK. Some students took leave of study and went back. Others were compelled to work as waiters and kitchen hands and pay themselves” (Karunaratne:How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka & Alternative Programmes of Success [2006]. Pg 238).
In 1958 Mahatir even stopped foreign investors from taking away money.
In Mahatir Muhammed’s own opinion, Any country at all which says it cannot control its banks and its banking system – they are not fit to be governments and they should either resign or be overthrown” (Daily News. February 1, 1999).
Malaysia was the one and only country to get out of the East Asian Foreign Currency Crisis. Even today the Sri Lankan Government does not collect the dollars that come in. The bulk of the dollars are collected by private and foreign banks and private money changers, who are allowed to fix their own buying and selling rates. The private dealers collect dollars or rupees within minutes, while it takes at least half an hour of form filling and passport checking at State banks. That is how the government went bankrupt. State banks collect only a fraction of the dollars that come into the country.
A funny thing happened on 2 January, 2001, two decades ago. Our two State banks, Bank of Ceylon and People’s Bank, did not have enough dollars to pay a large oil bill, and they went hat in hand to foreign banks in Colombo. Those that had collected dollars raised the price to Rs 106, when the rate had been Rs 85, and the two State Banks were forced to buy at the higher price. The rupee was devalued overnight.
The Central Bank, when questioned, said that it had control over only the domestic rupee (The Island of 17 February 2001).
In other words, the private banks collect dollars that come in, and sell them as they like, even today the banks and private dealers fix their own rates. What all this indicates is that even today our government does not control the foreign exchange that comes in. Naturally, today we are facing the music of not having dollars to pay for essential imports.
What can be done? The Governor of the Central Bank Ajith Nivard Cabraal has ruled out the possibility of going to the IMF. Because the IMF will insist on devaluing the rupee, increasing interest rates, privatising state commercial ventures, drawing further loans and living on them, like what we did in the past.
Our leaders are quick to declare that they will pay loan instalments due next year, amounting to four to five billion dollars. Do we need to service and pay any loan outstanding to the IMF and the World Bank, as we have done everything they have asked and we are now facing a crisis due to their wrong advice?
Are we yet collecting all the dollars that come in? No. We allow private and foreign banks, and private dealers to collect, fix rates and sell as they like. This, they have done for decades from November 1977, and at least now we have to collect all dollars that come in like what was done before we embraced neoliberalism in 1977. Are we yet being fooled by foreign investors who trade in the local rupee, calculate profits in rupees, but take away profits in US dollars?
Are we not yet being fooled by foreign travel agencies that book hotel stay, get the hotel to collect in local rupees, but get paid by invoices in dollars going out of our reserves? Hotel bookings by foreigners have to be made in dollars.
Before President Jayewardene foolishly submitted to neoliberalism and started living on loans, we had a closed economy. Then, we had two budgets: a local rupee budget that attended to all development work. We had a separate foreign budget with the dollars we collected from imports. Then we spent the dollars we had, first on essentials, and if we had anything left, we gave small allocations to import cars and electrical items. We never dispensed funds for foreign travel unless it was necessary for our country. Nor did we allocate any foreign funds for students to study abroad. Should we not revert to that system?
How we managed our finances from Independence till President Jayewardene started licking the boots of the IMF is of importance. The fundamental fact is that at the end of 1977 Sri Lanka did not have a foreign debt.
As much as we have had to restrict imports, let us have a programme to produce locally all what we import. Not long ago we had the Divisional Development Councils Programme (DDCP) of 1970-1977, when we made seafaring fishing boats (at Matara), Crayons equal to the Crayola of today (at Matara), paper made out of waste Paper (at Nuwara-Eliya – Kotmale), agricultural farms (in every District) and many more, all done with local rupees, all carried out by local staff. We can easily do it again in months. That will also provide incomes and employment to the unemployed.
Perhaps, a rethinking of priorities and a firm resolve to go ahead is what is required today.
The Biden doctrine is a cynical effort to cash in on the blood of another nation.
Joe Biden created for the U.S. a war like no other, one where others die and the U.S. simply sits back and pays the bills on a gargantuan scale. No attempts are made at diplomacy by the Americans, and the diplomatic efforts of others like the Chinese are dismissed as evil attempts to gain influence in the area (similar to the dismissal of Chinese diplomatic work in the Yemen war.) Biden is coming close to achieving 1984’s end state of perpetual warfare, while only putting a handful of American lives at risk. He has learned lessons from the Cold War, and has already put them into play. Can we call it the Biden Doctrine yet?
Biden’s strategy is clear enough now after well more than a year of conflict; what he has been sending to Ukraine jumped from helmets and uniforms to F-16s in only fifteen months and shows no signs of stopping. The problem is U.S. weapons are never enough for victory and are always just enough” to allow the battle to go on until the next round. If the Ukrainians think they are playing the U.S. for arms, they best check who is really paying for everything in blood.
Putin is playing this game himself in a way, careful not to introduce anything too powerful, such as strategic bombers, and upset the balance and offer Biden the chance to intervene in the war directly: One can hear old man Joe Biden on TV now, explaining American airstrikes are needed to prevent a genocide, the go-to excuse he learned at Obama’s knee. Ukraine will learn even with the promise of the F-16 it can’t acquire aircraft and train up pilots fast enough (minimum training time is 18-24 months), and next will be begging the U.S. to serve as its air force. That’s what the current escalation portends: air power.
As it is, the planes are likely to be based out of Poland and Romania, suggesting NATO will pick up the high-skilled tasks (and costs) of maintaining and repairing them. Left unclear is the NATO role in required aerial refueling to keep the planes lingering over the battlefield. F-16s aside, a spin off bonus to all these weapons gifts is that the vast majority of transfers to date have been presidential drawdowns.” This means the U.S. sends used or older weapons to Ukraine, after which the Pentagon can use the Congressionally authorized funds to replenish their stocks by purchasing new arms. The irony that war machines once in Iraq under President Obama are now recycled on the ground in Ukraine under his former vice president can’t be missed.
The U.S. strategy seems based on creating a ghastly tie of sorts, two sides lined up across a field shooting at each other until one side calls it quits for the day. The same strategy was in play in 1865 and 1914, but the new factor is today those armies face off across those fields with 21st century HIMARS artillery, machine guns, and other tools of killing far more effective than a musket or even a Gatling gun. It is unsustainable, literally chewing up men—albeit not Americans. The question of how many more Ukrainians have to die is answered privately by Biden as ‘potentially all of them.’ Anything else requires you to cynically believe Biden thinks he can simply purchase victory.
Up until now this has all been the Cold War playbook. Fighting to the last Afghan was a strategy perfected in Soviet-held Afghanistan in the 1980s. What is different now is the scale—since Russia invaded Ukraine, the United States has sent over $40 billion worth of military aid to support Kiev’s war effort, the single largest arms transfer in U.S. history and one with no signs of stopping. A single F-16 costs up to $350 million a copy if bought with weapons, maintenance equipment, and spare parts kits.
Yet despite the similarities to Cold War Strategy 101, some lessons have been learned over the intervening years. One of America’s failures throughout the Cold War and the War on Terror was the use of puppet governments largely imposed or kept on life support by American money and muscle. Because these governments lacked the support of the people (see Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan), they were non-starters with the lifespan of fruit flies. Ukraine is different; the puppet government is the government, beholden to the U.S. for its very survival but more or less supported directly by the people for now.
The other lesson learned has to do with nation-building, or rebuilding, or reconstruction—whatever the vast postwar expenditures will be called in this conflict. No more straight-up governmental efforts as in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. This time it will be all private enterprise. It is obvious that American business can become the locomotive that will once again push forward global economic growth,” President Zelensky said, boasting BlackRock, JP Morgan, and Goldman Sachs. Others, he said, have already become part of our Ukrainian way.”
The Ukrainian chamber of commerce called the country the world’s largest construction site.” The New York Timesechoed one prediction that claimed rebuilding efforts will cost $750 billion. Ukraine reconstruction will be, says the Times, a gold rush…. Russia is stepping up its offensive heading into the second year of the war, but already the staggering rebuilding task is evident. Hundreds of thousands of homes, schools, hospitals and factories have been obliterated along with critical energy facilities and miles of roads, rail tracks and seaports. The profound human tragedy is unavoidably also a huge economic opportunity.” Earlier this year JP Morgan and Zelensky signed a memorandum of understanding stipulating Morgan would assist Ukraine in its reconstruction.
And maybe those large American companies have learned the lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan. Of the billions spent, much money was wasted on dead ends and much was siphoned off due to corruption. But success or failure, the contractors always got paid in our Wars of Terror. With that in mind, more than 300 companies from 22 countries signed up for a Rebuild Ukraine exhibition and conference in Warsaw. At the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, a standing-room-only crowd packed a conference called Ukraine House Davos to discuss investment opportunities.
The eventual gold rush in rebuilding makes for an interesting addendum to the Biden strategy of fighting to the last Ukrainian. The more that is destroyed the more that needs to be rebuilt, which offers more money for U.S. companies smart enough to wait by the trough for the killing to subside. But why wait? Drones operated by Danish companies have already mapped every bombed-out structure in the Mykolaiv region, with an eye toward using the data to help decide which reconstruction contracts should be issued.
So let’s put some lipstick on this pig of a strategy and call it the Biden Doctrine. Part I is to limit direct U.S. combat involvement while fanning the flames for others. Part II is to provide massive amounts of arms to enable a fight to the last local person. Part III is to transform the home government into a puppet instead of creating an unpopular one afresh. Part IV is to turn the reconstruction process into a profit center for American companies. How long the war lasts and how many die are not part of the strategy.
The off-ramp in Ukraine, a diplomatic outcome that resets the map to pre-invasion 2022 levels, is clear enough to Washington. The Biden administration seems shamelessly content not to call for diplomatic efforts, but instead to bleed out the Russians as if this were Afghanistan 1980, albeit in the heart of Europe.
U.K. based International Human Rights Committee (IHRC) has reported that, in the latest in a string of attacks on religious freedom in Pakistan, the police in Lahore have sided with a wild mob to arrest 6 members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community at their place of business on the basis of religion.
Two Ahmadis (Father and son) of Badami Bagh, Lahore, were targeted and arrested on the 18th of August on charges of preaching the message of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community within his shoe factory. Two and a half weeks prior, on the 1st of August, the charges were registered against father and son, who acquired bail before any arrest and were scheduled to appear at a hearing on the 22nd of August. However, on the 18th of August, a wild mob gathered outside the factory while the father and son were inside. Instead of protecting father and son from the wild mob, the police arrested them, along with 4 others who were there simply to gather some things and documents and took them into custody at the Badami Bagh Police Station.
Ahmadi Muslims continue to live under fear of persecution and death in their daily lives. Already barred from preaching, praying, and even using common Islamic greetings at homes and their places of worship, they have seen their mosques destroyed and graveyards desecrated. Now even their commerce and places of business are being targeted and taken away from them. And most concerning is that the persecution is being implemented at the hands of not only the extreme clerics but also the police themselves.
Indeed, every aspect of normal life has become hell for Ahmadi Muslims, and the IHRC is very concerned that no actions are being taken to protect the basic human rights of these Pakistani citizens. The government of Pakistan must grant protection from all forms of intimidation and violence against any of its citizens. The IHRC calls upon the government of Pakistan to show its defence of these innocent Ahmadis and finally grant them peace and the pursuit of happiness.
It is urged the law enforcement agencies stop the arrest and imprisonment of Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan.
This is another blatant violation of Human Rights for Ahmadi Muslim in Pakistan in a long series of state sanctioned persecution going back many decades.
In Pakistan, there has been a sharp increase in attacks against people of the Ahmadiyya community and also incidents of damage to their property, especially Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosques and graveyards.
Human rights groups have repeatedly expressed their deep concern over the lack of attention to the serious human rights violations perpetrated against the Ahmadiyya community and called on the international community to step up efforts in bringing an end to the ongoing persecution of Ahmadis in Pakistan.
IHRC has reported several times that a wave of bigotry against Ahmadiyya Muslims has intensified since the start of 2023. In another worrying sign of growing crisis in Pakistan, two dozen Ahmadiyya Mosque has been desecrated.
On 29 August 2023, under the pressure from religious extremists, police and local authorities defaced Ahmadi mosques in the towns of Shadiwal and Chooknawali, in Gujrat District.
On the following day 30 August 2023, Minarets on another Ahmadi Mosque, in Sheikhupura, were desecrated. Police officials returned Chooknawali and obliterated sacred writings on the Ahmadi Mosque they had attacked the previous day.
It has become impossible for Ahmadis to practice their faith while ruthlessly hunted by fundamentalist gangs. The latest desecration act of the Mosques desecration carried out by the locals and Police is open proof of the fact there is no sign of improvement in the law-and-order situation for the Ahmadis in Pakistan.
Human rights groups have repeatedly expressed their deep concern over the lack of attention to the serious human rights violations perpetrated against the Ahmadiyya community around the world and called on the international community to step up efforts in bringing an end to the ongoing persecution of Ahmadis.
It is repeatedly urged the international community to pressure the Government of Pakistan to honor its responsibility to provide protection to all its citizens, ensure freedom of religious practice to Ahmadis, and bring perpetrators of such vicious attacks to justice.
It is indeed the Holy Qur’an that will serve as a source of true guidance, and it is this very means that will enable us to give precedence to faith over the world.”– Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad
The Jalsa Salana (Annual Convention) of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the Germany concluded on Sunday 3rd September 2023 in which three speeches by the World Head the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, the Fifth Khalifa (Caliph), His Holiness Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad.
On 1 September 2023, the 47th Jalsa Salana (Annual Convention) of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Germany commenced in Stuttgart, Germany, with the Friday Sermon delivered by the World Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, the Fifth Khalifa (Caliph), His Holiness, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad.
Prior to the Sermon, His Holiness hoisted the flag of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (Liwa-e-Ahmadiyyat) to officially inaugurate the event, whilst the German national flag was also raised.
His Holiness highlighted that this year marked the 100th year since the establishment of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Germany and throughout the Sermon, His Holiness outlined the responsibilities that lie upon the shoulders of Ahmadi Muslims to serve the cause of Islam.
On Saturday (2nd September), the second day of the event), the Caliph conducted proceedings from the ladies marquee. Names of women for academic achievements were read out.
In the event, His Holiness delivered a speech in which he encourages Ahmadi women to embrace legacy of female companions of Prophet of Islam Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
On the same day at 5:00 pm local time, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, began his second address of the day to external guests at Ahmadiyya Convention Germany. In his address, Ahmadiyya Khalifa addressed the major allegations levelled against Islam and responded.
One of the highlights of the three-day Convention was the pledge of allegiance, known as Bai’at that took place on Sunday afternoon (3 August 2023), where the participants (attendees in the main hall) pledged allegiance to Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad as the Fifth Khalifa (Caliph) of Promised Messiah Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.
The participants formed a human chain leading to the Khalifa as they repeated the words of the pledge in unison.
During the concluding Session on Sunday (3 August 2023) it was read out the names of Ahmadi students who had achieved academic excellence over the year.
In his concluding address on Sunday evening (3 August 2023) Ahmadiyya Khalifa explained in depth how Islam empowers poor and needy as well as highlighted how Islam shows respect to people from all faiths. His Holiness said, the fourth condition of Bai’at (Oath of Allegiance) in which Ahmadiyya Founder emphasized this point in the fourth declaration of the bai‘at: That he shall not inflict injury on any of Allah’s creatures.” The Ahmadiyya Founder also said that to help and show compassion to humanity is a great form of worship and a potent means of gaining the closeness of Allah. However, he noted that people did not pay attention to helping others, and mocked those who did.
Ahmadiyya Khalifa said it was the responsibility of Ahmadis to uphold these morals and then teach the world as well.
Ahmadiyya Khalifa quoted from the writings of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad – Promised Messiah as saying that the faith of one who serves and helps humanity is protected by Allah. However, this service should be from the heart, not for show and public display. There are lots of people who act for public display.
It is clear from the life of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) that many converted to Islam by merely observing the high morals of the Holy Prophet(PBUH), Ahmadiyya Khalifa added.
His Holiness referred to the sayings of Promised Messiah Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, peace be on him, as saying, that, if an Ahmadi sees their Hindu neighbour’s house is burning and does not go and help them, they are not from his Jama’at (Community). In the same way, if an Ahmadi sees a Christian is about to be murdered and they do not help them, they are certainly not from his Jama’at (Community). He said on oath that he had no personal enmity against anyone. His disagreements were only on religion but he truly loved every human.
Towards the end, Ahmadiyya Khalifa prayed that Allah gave Muslim countries a sense to act upon these rights. His Holiness said that to date, he had spoken about 25 categories of rights that Islam had established. It was the responsibility of every single Ahmadi to establish these rights and to spread this teaching throughout the world. It is essential we educate the world about the beautiful teachings of Islam – both to non-Muslims and Muslims.
After silent prayer, Ahmadiyya Khalifa Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad announced the total attendance of Convention Germany 2023 which was 47,237.
The three-day event was broadcast live on MTA International and streamed online.
Hedging and boosting are two strategies commonly used in academic writing to convey certainty or uncertainty about information, support claims, and maintain a balanced and persuasive tone.
They are important because they help writers engage with their readers by providing a nuanced understanding of the research and arguments presented.
Here’s a detailed explanation of hedging and boosting and how to use them effectively in your academic writing:
Hedging:
Definition:
Hedging involves expressing uncertainty or caution in your writing.
It allows you to acknowledge potential limitations, alternative interpretations, or the possibility of exceptions to your claims.
Importance:
Hedging is important in academic writing because it demonstrates a critical and reflective approach to your research.
It shows that you have considered different perspectives and are not making absolute claims.
Examples of Hedging:
Using modal verbs like “may,” “might,” “could,” or “can” to indicate possibility or probability, e.g., “This method may lead to more accurate results.”
Using adverbs like “possibly,” “potentially,” or “likely,” e.g., “These findings are potentially significant.”
Acknowledging limitations or uncertainties, e.g., “It is important to note that this study has some limitations.”
Referencing other scholars’ opinions, e.g., “Smith (2010) argued that the results could be interpreted differently.”
How to Use Hedging Effectively:
Be judicious in your use of hedging; too much can weaken your argument, while too little can make you appear overly confident.
Use hedging when discussing speculative findings, controversial topics, or areas where research is ongoing.
Always provide evidence or reasoning to support your hedged statements.
Boosting:
Definition:
Boosting involves strengthening the certainty or impact of your statements. It is used to make your claims and arguments more persuasive and convincing.
Importance:
Boosting is important because it helps you assert your ideas confidently and persuade your readers of the validity of your research and arguments.
Examples of Boosting:
Using strong verbs and adjectives to emphasize, e.g., “This theory significantly advances our understanding of the phenomenon.”
Provide strong empirical evidence or examples to support your claims, e.g., “A large-scale survey with a sample size of 10,000 respondents consistently showed…”
Citing authoritative sources or experts in the field to bolster your argument, e.g., “According to Nobel laureate Smith, this theory has revolutionized the way we think about…”
How to Use Boosting Effectively:
Ensure that your boosting statements are backed by robust evidence, data, or expert opinions.
Be cautious not to overstate your claims or exaggerate the significance of your findings.
Use boosting strategically in key parts of your paper, such as the thesis statement, main arguments, and conclusions.
In summary, hedging and boosting are essential techniques in academic writing.
Hedging allows you to acknowledge uncertainty and maintain a balanced tone while boosting helps you present your ideas with confidence and persuasiveness.
Effective use of these strategies depends on context, so carefully consider when and how to employ them to enhance the quality of your academic writing and engage your readers effectively.
A wrong view is circulated by some claiming that China, BRICS or the New Development Bank of BRICS would help Sri Lanka. They don’t and they shouldn’t. For very good reasons.
Over 81% of Sri Lanka’s loan creditors are in NATO-QUAD military alliance countries or those countries themselves!
NATO includes USA, UK, France, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Italy, Belgium, Canada, Norway.
QUAD includes USA, India, Japan and Australia.
Over 81% of Sri Lanka’s foreign debt is held by these countries. They are the reason for Sri Lanka’s debt trap.
If Sri Lanka does not repay its loans, 81% of the sufferers are in those countries. Any financial help offered to Sri Lanka will be swiftly grabbed by these glutinous loan holders. China, Russia, Iran, BRICS nations (India is a reluctant BRICS partner and as usual plays both sides) wish for the economic ruination of NATO-QUAD nations, not their economic prosperity. For this reason, no other country, certainly not China, Russia or BRICS would help Sri Lanka repay its loans.
If Sri Lanka wants to seek China’s or BRICS help, the island nation must first get its house in order – scrap and default on all its loans payable to persons, corporations, entities and governments of NATO-QUAD nations. That is over 81% of Sri Lanka’s foreign debt. After that happens Sri Lanka’s cries for help will be heard by China, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and BRICS. Certainly not otherwise.
What happens with Sri Lanka is a Western ploy led by France to ruin BRICS by transferring their useless loans to BRICS. NATO-QUAD nations are holding Sri Lanka hostage as a vassal state and forcing it to repay their loans by borrowing that money from China and BRICS.
This is not an unusual ploy. It is the business model of a lucrative trade in Sri Lanka. Beggars are left in streets by organized businessmen in the morning to beg for money from sympathetic people. In the evening a ransom (most of their collection) is collected from them. If they earn the stipulated amount, they are rewarded with a shower, sleeping and other facilities at night. If not, they are punished. These hapless people have once fallen into the debt trap of unscrupulous businessmen borrowing petty sums of money to help end meet. They are kept as bonded slaves for life. Even their children are not spared. This is exactly what France-led (including Paris Club) Western nations are doing to Sri Lanka.
Hoping that China or BRICS nations would fall for this trap out of sympathy or any other reason is naïve.
Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara has revealed that a new inquiry will be conducted into the recent allegations made by UK’s ‘Channel 4’ pertaining to the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks.
Addressing Parliament this morning (05 Sep.), Nanayakkara stated that a special Parliamentary Committee will be appointed for this purpose, adding that while the need for international assistance to investigate these accusations has been recognised, such measures too, will be taken if required.
He stated that the matters of concern were discussed at the Cabinet meeting held on Monday (04 Sep.), assuring that current government will not hesitate to investigate these claims.
Despite his assurances, however, the Minister opined a rather skeptical view pertaining to the exposé due to be aired by the British television channel at 11:05 p.m. today, claiming that the channel had a ‘common practice’ of airing such controversial videos close to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions in Geneva.
‘Channel 4’ became well-known in Sri Lanka in the past after airing several controversial videos alleging that war crimes had taken place in Sri Lanka, including its 2011 documentary Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields,” a hard-hitting investigation into the final weeks of the Sri Lankan war.
In its new documentary, titled Sri Lanka’s Easter Bombings – Dispatches”, ‘Channel 4’ claims to uncover shocking new revelations about Sri Lanka’s deadly Easter bombings of 2019, as high-placed whistle blowers allege complicity by officials inside the government”.
Every year when it gets closer to Geneva Sessions, expect a blockbuster thriller to become breaking news”. Keep this in mind for 2024 Sept/Oct too. As expected, 2023 breaking news” is by UK’s private funded broadcaster Channel4.
An article by Catherine Philip ” Rajapaksa officials ‘linked to Easter Sunday Sri Lanka bombs’ prior to the release of a new C4 video raises some questions.
Sri Lankan officials loyal to the Rajapaksa family were complicity in the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings” – can she name these Sri Lankan officials”.
Who is this Channel 4 whistleblower? He is one Hamsa Asad Maulana, the newest of Channel 4’s stars. Remember C4’s previous star witness Vany Kumar (she had 4 names Dr. Tamilvani, Damilvany Kumar, Damilvany Gnanakumar & Vany Kumar).
UK Guardian reported that she came to Sri Lanka on 28 February 2009 & headed for Vanni calling the British media & not her family. She even claimed blood was mixed with water & given to patients but Dr. Shanmugarajah treating patients inside the conflict zone categorically denied any patients undergoing surgery without anesthesia. Eventually, it turned out that Vany was a member of TYO & had been a translator for LTTE.
Therefore the credibility of Channel 4’s star witnesses on Sri Lanka is highly questionable.
Nevertheless, let’s see what their latest catch has to reveal.
He is Hamsa Asad Maulana or M. Mohammed Hanzeer
The question of Maulana’s integrity was first highlighted in an article appearing in September 2008/Sri Lanka Guardian. The article claims that as media director of TMVP and spokesman for Chief Minister Pillayan he had released statements that were false & even conflicted with police accounts. http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2008/09/pillaiyan-damns-karuna-and-high-noon.html
In a latter article the Sri Lanka Guardian alleges Hamsa to be complicit in extortions, hostage ransoming, enlistment of child soldiers. What a colourful past. https://slguardian.org/tag/mohamad-hanzeer/
He had first traveled to India in 2021, then to France but had been denied visa by UK. Why did he have to flee Sri Lanka in 2022? Should we be surprised that he is another Nandani type asylum seeker spinning a new story to win asylum as did Garnier Bastians. These stories put Hollywood blockbusters to shame!
Easter Sunday massacre took place in April 2019.
The article states that Maulana set up a meeting in 2018 between a senior military intelligence official Suresh Salley & Islamic State-affiliated bombers.
Maulana/C4 will have to explain where this meeting was held in 2018 – in Sri Lanka or overseas? From end 2016 to end 2019 Salley was not in Sri Lanka & he was serving as a diplomat.
Hamsa claims The meeting finished, Suresh Salley came to me and told me the Rajapaksas need an unsafe situation in Sri Lanka, that’s the only way for Gotabaya to become president,” – where was this meeting that Suresh came to meet Hamsa (was it in Sri Lanka or overseas & when, can this be proved?
The author claims Salley was promoted head of military intelligence after Gotabaya Rajapakse became President.
This is also wrong. Salley was not appointed as head of military intelligence. He was appointed head of State Intelligence Services. Another error in the story.
The article claims the 2nd whistleblower to be an unnamed senior government official – has he got asylum too? How easy to be spilling anything for asylum if it gels into a political agenda!
Can the author explain how military intelligence ‘thwarted’ police investigations before & after the bombings.
Many may not be aware that there were 2 Presidential Commissions & 1 Parliamentary Select Committee to investigate Easter Sunday attacks. The Parliamentary Select Committee appointed on 22 May 2019 & handed its report on 23 October 2019 & is available to the public. The Malalgoda Committee Report handed on 10th June 2019 was not made public. Then on 22nd September 2019 another Presidential Commission of Inquiry was appointed. That report was handed on 1st February 2021. All 2 Commissions/1 Committee were appointed by President Sirisena. The final Commission report identified President Sirisena & then PM Ranil Wickremasinghe as people responsible for the failure to prevent the Easter Attacks.
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has ordered former President Maithripala Sirisena, four other officials and the State to pay compensation totalling 311 million rupees to victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 269 people.
Former police chief Pujith Jayasundara and former State Intelligence Service (SIS) Director Nilantha Jayawardena 75 million rupees each, former Defence Ministry Secretary Hemasiri Fernando 50 million rupees and former Chief of National Intelligence (CNI) Sisira Mendis 10 million rupees as compensation.
Did Maulana complain to the Commission against Salley?
Maulana’s bluff is further exposed.
Maulana claims Pillayan had met the bombers while in prison. Pillayan was in prison from 2015 to 2020 December. Exactly, who are the bombers who were in prison with Pillayan? How could Salley engineer their release when during this period he was not holding a portfolio in the military & was stationed overseas.
Can Maulana prove with call logs that he received a call from Salley on the morning of the Easter Sunday bombings? Can this call be verified by authorities?
Channel 4 has been nice enough to contact Salley & obtain a statement & include that in the conclusion.
However, anyone not following the story will undoubtedly fall for the snippets of allegations dropped hoping to cause ripples. The strategy is clear, using a man wanting asylum in UK, attempts are being made to throw mud & divide the Muslims & Catholics and thereafter build up anger at multiple fronts. All these are generally timed ahead of Geneva sessions and earmarked for a looming election round the corner.
It also throws innuendos at India and we see a buildup of some form of cold war between US & India as well. Onward to another regime change operation.
Be that as it may, Channel 4 is an entity that makes money from broadcasting productions by private parties. Therefore, Channel 4’s ethical journalism is at question. It is a pity that the Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry has failed to counter the false propaganda since defeat of LTTE in May 2009, as a result decorated military officials have been unfairly targeted & ridiculed internationally with fabricated allegations presented as found guilty.
The citizens of Sri Lanka must realize that if not for those that safeguard this nation, we would become like all of the illegally invaded & occupied nations in peril today. Unity amongst the communities is essential during these trying times, when efforts are afoot to divide us using our own traitors. Never forget, it was our war heroes who defeated the most ruthless terrorist outfit, the countries that seek revenge are those that covertly helped LTTE. Do not allow paid agencies to disturb the harmony we enjoy because disharmony is nothing we can defeat easily.
The war heroes did their duty, where politicians failed it is up to the public now to ensure that the nation is held together without political agendas & propaganda dividing us.
UK’s ‘Channel 4’ has announced that it will broadcast a new documentary, which will allegedly uncover shocking revelations on Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday attacks, on Tuesday (Sep 05).
Channel 4 claims that the new documentary titled Sri Lanka’s Easter Bombings – Dispatches,” contains shocking new revelations about Sri Lanka’s deadly Easter bombings of 2019, as high-placed whistle blowers allege complicity by officials inside the government”.
It is also reported that one highly placed insider claims in the interview with Dispatches, to be aired in the UK on Channel 4 tomorrow, that he set up a 2018 meeting between a senior military intelligence official and Islamic State-affiliated bombers.
The whistleblower is reportedly revealed to be a close aide of the leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pullikal (TMVP) and current State Minister for Rural Road Development, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan.
The informant of the TMVP, the breakaway faction of the LTTE, had also made explosive revelations to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva.
The British television channel ‘Channel 4’ became well-known in Sri Lanka in the past after airing several controversial videos alleging that war crimes had taken place in Sri Lanka, including its 2011 documentary Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields,” a hard-hitting investigation into the final weeks of the Sri Lankan war.
In July 2022, protestors in Sri Lanka were made to believe, their protest forced the exit of the elected President. In January 2023 protestors in Brazil failed to overthrow the elected government. There are similarities and differences, but it should certainly tell people that protests elevated to riots & violence are not democracy or human rights.
What were the common slogans used in both countries by protestors? The slogans had an uncanny resemblance to those used in the protests across the Middle East too.
we want to overthrow the thieves”
we are not here for …….. we are here for ……..”
our future is being stolen”
a totally peaceful protest” – though rioters invaded, occupied, damaged & stole public property
The Brazil protest had a leader – Jair Bolsonaro, the former President of Brazil with multiple criminal investigations against him refusing to accept the election results, Sri Lanka’s protestors had several leaders. Former President Bolsonaro wanted to return to power via the protestors, in Sri Lanka, former Prime Minister rejected at elections, actually became the President as a result of the protests.
Brazil protestors turned into rioters & raided Brazil’s Congress – Sri Lanka’s protestors proposed to do the same but failed.
Brazil’s rioters raided the Supreme Court, Presidential Offices – Sri Lanka’s protestors raided the President’s Office, Presidents Residence, Presidents Secretariat, PM’s Office, PM’s Residence but not the Supreme Court.
Brazil’s & Sri Lanka’s protestors attempted to woo the Armed Forces & Police to join them to topple the government.
Both incidents followed what took place in US Capitol Hill on 6 January 2021.
The events were like a manual being followed.
The difference in Brazil’s & Sri Lanka’s scenarios was the prompt action taken by the Brazilian President & Judicial authorities – orders were issued to arrest the rioters, to clear the encampment sites, funding parties & organizers were immediately investigated & arrested. All areas that were lacking in Sri Lanka.
A question that many continue to ask is why in both cases the situation was allowed to aggravate when the telltale signs were visible about what the proposed unarmed peaceful protestors” were about to do. Their social media accounts made public sentiments of their plans which authorities should have picked up & prepared contingencies for. The placards they carried directly implicated who they were targeting. The media unknowingly provided clues as well. Why were the warnings of intelligence officials not heeded too?
Why were the armed forces & police sympathetic” to the rioters in both cases? The resistance by law enforcement was minimal & this has to be questioned. Were their non-action as a result of top-down orders or did they simply decide not to carry out orders? If orders were given not to take action – what has been the punitive action taken against those giving orders. If officers chose not to act – what has been the punishment for not carrying out their duties? Brazil suspended the governor responsible for protecting the buildings & arrested 2 top security officials working for him – what arrests did Sri Lanka make?
The answers all lie in following the money trail. No campaign protest in either country could have been carried out without funding, technical support, digital campaigns etc. In both Brazil & Sri Lanka, the role of business elites became exposed. Many of them unabashedly even attended the riots providing high-profile presence and bringing artists, sports personalities, as well as the usual culprits to give a boost to the ordinary people who felt inspired and thrilled to be considered on an ‘equal’ platform, even though it was in reality a sham show. These ordinary protestors can see how welcome they are now, were they to walk into the offices/residences of the same business elites!
In both Brazil & Sri Lanka – the outcome of the riots was the disappointment of large portions of society in the democratic framework. The positive side to this is the people’s call to change the electoral system and prune down the government. Many of the politicians that covertly aligned with the protestors are unlikely to want such a change as it would impact their entry to Parliament.
The role of social media in Brazil & Sri Lanka
Who trained the ‘online influencers’ in both nations, why were the slogans used in both nations so similar? There were many more uncanny resemblances in the calls made to people via social media, spurring them to hate, take revenge and feel anger. It was clear that social media platforms were being intentionally used to spur people’s emotions and draw them to the roads. The media, minute by minute broadcasts were meant to make people join in & not feel they were left out, the idea was to spread the notion that everyone had to take to the road to be part of a historic ‘people’s protest’ – though the actors and actresses spurring them, were paid to beckon people, went unnoticed or questioned. Everyone was made to feel that they had to be present to mark their presence. The applause given by the international community also provided that nod of approval.
Brazil’s protestors left the Supreme Court in shambles. The rioters even went off with Brazil’s coat of arms. Sri Lanka’s rioters also stole public property including the official flag of the President.
The Brazilian President took prompt action even arresting top Police officials for inaction & the former Justice Minister who was aligned to the former President leading the protestors. The head of Brazils military police was also arrested.
The Brazilian authorities soon discovered that the online payment system PIX was used to receive funds & those arrested will be charged with terrorism & attempting a coup. President Lula made his stand clear – those who protested will be given the right to defend themselves but if they have been found guilty of disobeying the laws of the land they will be punished.
Another interesting aspect was the manner food, fuel, fertilizer came to be central focus of protestors in Sri Lanka & Brazil. The reason for the anger was primarily these 3 issues in Sri Lanka while in Brazil, the protestors began hindering supply chain of these 3 items triggering a clash. We have to also wonder whether the corporates and other elites who took centre stage in Sri Lanka’s protests, and were operating the supply chains intentionally disrupted supplies to anger the people and use that to set the stage for the protest and ouster of an elected president. Majority of the protestors were clueless of clauses in the constitution on who takes over after a president exits. Many were not expecting the rejected UNP leader to emerge the President of Sri Lanka and that came about with the forcing of the resignation of the former PM which later elevated to taking over as interim President with the exit of the former President.
The protestors in Sri Lanka have found out too late that their angst against fuel, food, gas, electricity that demanded the resignation of a President will not stop fuel increases, food shortages, tax increases or even electricity cuts and how many times are they to take to the streets and remove the ruler without pinpointing where the problem lies – it is excessive consumerism that has to be addressed together with the increasing inequalities that prevail. Selling the coutnry’s silver is not the solution to continue consumerisms which is a selfish solution by those who only want to enjoy a lavish lifestyle at the cost of the majority of people who are poor & unable to make ends meet.
My mind runs in nostaglia to three of my attempts at economic development in three countries, where in two where I failed and finally in the third I did succeed.
The first was in Edinburgh where in 1980 I worked as a Senior Community Education Worker in Wester Hailes. One of my duties was to work with young lads that had completed schooling and were enlisted on the Manpower Service Commission’s Programmes: YOP and STEP – Youth Opportunities Programme and Short Term Employment Programme. We worked with the lads involving them in all the community work we did and I was also involved when the lads were trained at Colleges of Education. We dropped them at the end and they marched into the dole or to don boots and join the Army to end someday perhaps as CannonFodder.
I submitted a Programme for the lads to be intensively trained in any vocation of their choice at a College of Educaton and be guided to make things for sale under the guidance of economics lecturers and community leaders ending finally as successful entrepreneurs. The paper went to my Director of Community Education Peter Williamson who supported it. But the at the Labour Party controlled Lothain Regional Council it was decided that the idea was good to be implemented when the Labour Party comes to power. Then the Conservatives ruled for long. My attempt got lost in the quagmire of party politics. Shortly afterwards the Manpower Services Commission was abolished and till now there has been no new programme.
The second was in my Motherland, Sri Lanka. I quote from my book: NuwaraKalaviya:
At the Government Agent’s Confeence in 1972, the PrimeMinister Sirimavo called for development suggestions from the Government Agents. None spoke for a while and that included Bradman and Wijedasa. It looked very odd for none of us 22 Government Agents to speak. I suggested that we should have a per farmer plan for paddy production, with details of extents cultivated, problems faced and solutions provided. Uptodate we have never had a per farmer plan. Even today we have only guess estimates concockted by village level officers. The Minister for Agriculture, Kobbekaduwa, the Prime Minister Sirimavo and the Agriculture Secretary were seen discussing for a while. Finally the Prime Minister, asked me as to why the production plans are not working in my district. They had failed to understand what I suggested and I was put on the spot. I got up to explain but some officer from behind got up and pushed me down. That was the Director of Agriculture, perhaps Jinendradasa. He said that my District had met all the targets and was leading in production. I did not have to argue to get out of the ditch. I stood up to explain but the Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture signalled me to sit down. Evidently the Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Kobbekaduwa, the Minister of Agriculture and the Prime Minister, none of them understood my suggestion…. It is no surprise that in 1973 to 1977 paddy cultivation did fail miserably.
Though we had achieved self sufficiency in rice production by1970, since then paddy production has gone down. In 2022 we imported 800,000 metric tons of rice!
The third occasion happened in Bangladesh, when I served as the Commonwealth Fund General Advisor on Youth Development to the Ministry of Labour and Manpower in 1982. General Ershard had taken over the Government in a bloodless coup d’etat in 1982, and Hon Aminul Islam, Minister for Labour and Manpower, in an appraisal of youth programmes, said that he was not fully satisfied with the work done by the Ministry of Youth Development and asked me for the contribution I can make for Bangladesh. I recommended that the Ministry should get down to a programme of employment creation in order to provide training for the 40,000 youths that received vocational training every year.
The Secretary to the Treasury, the highest officer in Bangladesh, pointed out that in the earlier three years, the International Labour Organization(ILO) of the United Nations with all their expertise and unlimited resources had tried hard to establish an employment creation programme which had ended a miserable failure after incurring a massive loss. I was told that the Government did not have funds to waste because the failure by the ILO meant that employment creation was something that could not be achieved. I replied that I had successfully established many self employment projects in Sri Lanka in various industries and agriculture and added that I could establish an employment creation programme in a design that would be suitable for Bangladesh, developing its resources. The Secretary to the Treasury questioned me as to how I proposed to teach economic management to illiterate youths. I replied that I have found it easy to teach illiterate youths basic concepts of economics- to count the cost of inputs, cost of labour building up elements that led to the calculation of profit and loss. I said that it was not difficult to convince farmers and youths of how to try to reduce costs and get into production and sales. I said that I had earlier successfully involved uneducated youths and how we made them think as they worked and how they easily mastered management skills in the actual process of working their self employment projects. I was questioned in detail how I would teach illiterate uneducated youths and replied that they were taught through actual practice. I added that I had in the process built up the abilities and capacities of the youths in the manner that Dr Akhter Hammed Khan had built farmers in the Comilla Rural Development Programme. Dr Khan had built up a great reputation at Comilla. The arguments between me and the Secretary to the Treasury continued for over over two hours with the Hon Minister listening carefully making notes.
Finally the Minister stopped both of us arguing and said that I had convinced him The Minister asked the Secretary to the Treasury as to whether there were any programmes that trained anyone for self employment. The Secretary replied none. Then the Minister asked for the number of youths that were given vocational training. The Ministry totalled the number and it was in the thousands. Then the Minister asked for the number of school leavers in any year who did not go for further studies and were consigned to be unemployed, scraping the barrel for life. . The answer was in the millions. The Minister immediately ordered me to establish a self employment programme for the youths.
The Secretary to the Treasury immediately responded by stating that he will not be providing any funds as he did not have any funds to waste. I replied that I did not require any news funds but we should be give the authority to find savings in already approved budgets and also be authorized to change the remits of all youth officers to include self employment creation within their remits. The Minister approved my request.
I commentced work the very next days teaching concepts of economic management to Youth Directors and Youth workers and also addressing youths , teaching them elements of basic economics reducing economic concepts of production, of buying and selling, the working of supply and demand, the art of maximizing profits, keeping costs down at a minimum, motivating the youths who were being trained to think of drafting a project of self employment, however small with a few dozen chicks or a milking cow. . Some youths obtained funds from their parents to purchase a cow and got involved in selling milk. Some even saved their measly stipend given during the training , purchased chicks and ducklings and made them grow to lay eggs when they got involved in sales. Training Units that closed their gates at five were kept open till ten at night to enable the trainees to use the machinery like sewing machines to make something for sale and they were actively guided to make something saleable.
A countrywide extension service was established to visit youths who faced problems and provide them guidance. Training Sessions were held involving hundreds of youths.
Youths Workers, Youth Director knew the art of working with the youth, of guiding them, rather than pure instruction and before long there was progress.
I trained the Directors and Lecturers in the Training Institutes on how to train and guide the youths.
I, with the directors and lecturers was training 2000 youths to become self employed. By by August 1983, there was success. The Additional Secretary of the Ministry wrote:
The Programme of providing self employment to the drop out youths which was initially launched has been a great success and has now been adopted as a full fledged programme … This is a non subsidy programme in which youths are subjected to non formal education inputs while they are involved in viable but small scale commercial ventures.”
The Secretary to the Ministry in October 1983 wrote:
The Pilot project for self employment has now been formally accepted as one of the most important programmes to be implemented by the Youth Development Department.”
The members of the elite Bangladesh Civil Service who were the Secretary and Additional Secretary, trained by me, continued the programme developing it further and the programme was expanded rapidly. The 3 Residential Training Centers were increased to 64 by 1997.
The Programme became so successful to be commented in the Bangladesh Five Year Plans- the Fifth Five Year Plan (1997-2002) target was to train 160,000 youths per year. In 2011, the Government of Bangladesh reported to the 34 th Session of the IFAD(FAO), one of the funders, that two million youths have been self employed. By now(2023) the number self employed would be over three million. It is easily the largest and most successful employment creation programme the world has known.
Yes we can bring about economic development in Sri Lanka..
CEB has requested the public to refrain from flying kites in the vicinity of electric pylons. But it is noted that there is some kite flying on the candidates in the 2024 presidential election. Of course, although no official announcement is made it is very clear that the incumbent President will be the prime candidate. He depends on the support of the minorities and India. Many of Sajith’s group will eventually join him and the SJB will wither away. Pohottuwa is in a quandary. Will they have the mettle to give RW the Karapincha treatment or will they meekly acquiesce with him or go on their own is uncertain. Maithri is justifying his eligibility to be the next president ignoring all the damage he has done to the country under Yahapalanaya. Although the current problems can be traced to the failings of polices in our history the culmination of the crisis took place during his regime. His is only a vaulting ambition.
Meanwhile Anura Kumara has thrown down the gloves and declared his candidacy. The popularity wave for the NPP has somewhat receded but he still leads the rest. Professor Harin Amarasuriya could have been a challenging option. With the devaluation and the consequences of IMF induced restrictions and price hikes of essential services like electricity and water, the masses have been subject to unbearable misery. IMF prescription of cost-effective pricing without cost reduction has allowed the providers of these services to hide costs and inflate price. Cost of living has become intolerable. There is unemployment and indebtedness leading to hunger and desperation. With trade liberalization which is the bedrock of IMF conditions, unfettered imports will destroy many small industries and subsidiary agriculture. With such deprivation and misery, it will be a miracle for any IMF champion to win votes. In this background the NPP wave could become a hurricane.
Dominant focus of the next election will likely be the economy, cost of living, corruption, territorial integrity, protection of Buddhism, drugs, crime and insecurity. There will be more than two candidates, to the advantage of a third candidate.
Presently it looks like a dual combat between Anura Kumara and the rest which is divided.
There is another prospective candidate who has not so far shown his hand. He is a media mogul who has been very much visible to the public in civic, religious and developmental functions across the country. He has the organization and perhaps the funds. His strengths is that he is a nationalist, proven entrepreneur and a professional and is free from the frailties of politicians. If he comes forward, he will give an opportunity to voters to elect somebody Outside The Box.
Whenever the Europeans entered a non-European country it spelled doom for the indigenous people. This is the history of the world beginning with Christopher Columbus.
On June 7, 1494, Pope Alexander VI published a Bull ‘ inter caetera’ to divide the New World between Spain and Portugal.
Tordesillas – How the Pope divided the world between Spain and Portugal
The story of the treaty of Tordesillas and how the Popes Alexander VI and Julius II divided the non-Christian world between Spain and Portugal
The current visit of Pope Francis to Mongolia, a Buddhist Country, is not good news. The Vatican sees Buddhists in Mongolia as targets for conversion to Christianity. That is the main purpose of the Pope’s visit to Mongolia. The Vatican succeeded in South Korea. A predominantly Buddhist country in 1945 South Korea today has lost its Buddhist predominance.
No Pope will visit a Muslim country to convert the Muslims to Christianity. He knows the danger if he does so. The Buddhists still lack a mechanism to warn fellow Buddhists of an impending danger. The Buddhists are still playing the Fellowship game while their territory all over the world is getting reduced incrementally. During the last one thousand years no religion has lost territory and space more than Buddhism. The equivalent of Pope Urban 2 is not there in Buddhism – to urge or advise the Buddhist leaders of Mongolia to be careful and not to be naive when dealing with Popes.
When the Missionaries arrived, the Africans had the land and the Missionaries had the Bible. They taught us how to pray with our eyes closed. When we opened them, they had the land and we had the Bible.”
― Jomo Kenyatta
African Freedom Fighter and Leader of Kenya
Buddhists are now an embattled group. Their rivals are at their doorstep. The idea of self-defense or perceiving a threat and taking steps to avert it is not in the dictionary of the Buddhists, unfortunately. What lessons have the Buddhists learned from disasters like what happened at the University of Nalanda in the year 1193? Almost none.
‘Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday Massacre’ authored by Prof. Rohan Gunaratna stands as a remarkable and unparalleled masterpiece that distinguishes itself on numerous counts. Foremost among its merits is the author’s profound erudition and exhaustive research on the subject, an expertise honed since the composition of his preceding work, ‘Lost Revolution.’ This scholarly background not only highlights the author’s prowess but also cements his credibility as a preeminent authority on the subjects of global terrorism and insurgencies.
Commendable is the book’s lucidity and simplicity, enabling readers from all strata of life to apprehend the calamitous events that transpired on that fateful Easter Sunday of 2019. Prof. Gunaratna’s counsel-like tone imparts a sense of responsibility throughout the book, illuminating that this work is not a mere academic exercise but rather a call to action for governance and society at large. The meticulously detailed chronicle of events furnished within these pages proves to be an invaluable resource for researchers, imparting a keen and precise comprehension of the subject matter. His extensive research and contacts with various terrorist groups worldwide further enrich the content, rendering it indispensable for those in pursuit of a comprehensive grasp of the global ramifications of such atrocities.
The book’s preface sets the stage for an exhaustive analysis of the worldwide impact of the Easter Sunday attacks on Sri Lanka. It delves into vital facets such as foreign policy, tourism, and development, accentuating the catastrophic repercussions of the incident on the nation’s tranquility and stability. Prof. Gunaratna’s address at the book launch, wherein he expounded upon the historical antecedents of events and presented preventive guidance, exemplifies his dedication to steering both Sri Lanka and the global community towards fortification against future threats.
The Easter Sunday massacre rent asunder Sri Lanka’s reputation as one of the safest havens globally, painstakingly earned after decades of conflict. Prof. Gunaratna eloquently exposes the government’s inertia, ineffectiveness, and disregard, which played a crucial role in the tragedy. His impassioned narrative renders the book accessible and emotionally engaging for readers of all persuasions. Given the profound significance of this book in dispensing invaluable lessons to both the government and society, we recommend its translation it into different languages, including both Sinhala and Tamil, amongst others. Such an endeavor would enable its message to reach a broader readership, and its insights to be assimilated and applied at all echelons of society and pertinent institutions.
portrayal, both horrifying and exquisitely depicted, casts a glaring light on the misguided aspirations and intentions that drive such heinous acts, beckoning the reader to contemplate upon their profound implications.
Chapter 1 of ‘Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday Massacre’ lays bare a harrowing chronicle, dissecting the very anatomy of the tragic attack, and presenting a meticulous dissection of the targeted killings perpetrated at sacred churches. Prof. Gunaratna’s inquiry delves to the depths of the attackers’ motivations, revealing that these malevolent acts were retribution borne out of major massacres, primarily the heart-wrenching events in Christchurch, New Zealand. This crucial connection saliently underscores the far-reaching impact of terrorism and the intricate interconnections that bind such incidents across disparate regions. Chapter 2, a gripping exposition on the life and demise of Zahran Hashim, lends further intensity to the book’s narrative. The revelations concerning Hashim’s actions and ideologies are at once astounding and disquieting, illuminating the distressing factors that steer individuals towards paths of violence and terror.
Yet, we believe it is Chapter 4 that emerges as the linchpin of this literary oeuvre, presenting an indispensable section that demands earnest contemplation from society, governance, and the global community alike. Prof. Gunaratna’s assiduous research serves as a beacon, beseeching readers to fathom the far-reaching ramifications of terrorism and take proactive measures to forestall such heartrending tragedies in the days to come.
Notwithstanding the abhorrent nature of the events laid bare within its pages, ‘Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday Massacre’ assumes an invaluable stance as a distinctive account that scrutinizes the past while fervently advocating for a brighter future. The book resounds with a universal message, stressing the urgency of harnessing Prof. Gunaratna’s research to forge a world that is safer and more felicitous, not solely for Sri Lanka, but for all of humanity. The global reverberations of such incidents on physical and psychological well-being, on tranquility and harmony, are monumental, accentuating the imperativeness of collective action to combat terrorism and its concomitant ills.
Commendation is due to Prof. Gunaratna’s unyielding dedication to research, and the resulting creation of this momentous work. ‘Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday Massacre’ stands as an indomitable repository, compelling us all to confront the scourge of terrorism and its intricate implications for Sri Lanka and the broader global stage. The book thus implores readers to assimilate the lessons of yore and to build a safer and more peaceful future for all.
– Sarath Wijesinghe President’s Counsel (LLM International Law (UCL)), former Ambassador to UAE and Israel, President of the Ambassador’s Forum, Solicitor England and Wales, and Suchithra Withanage (LLM (UK) (LLM (UK) MBA (UK | Reading) LLB (Hons) (UK)) Dipl. In Law (UK)
‘Before you study the economics, study the economists!’
e-Con e-News September 2023 Part 1
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eedecided to have some fun this week, and ask the US government’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) program ChatGPT to write us a ‘poem about the IMF robbing Sri Lanka’. It sure did! Here it is:
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In island’s embrace, where oceans sigh,
Sri Lanka’s beauty beneath blue sky,
A tale unfolds of economic woe,
Where shadows of power cast a grievous blow.
The IMF arrived with promises grand,
A lending hand to the nation’s sand,
Yet in the fine print, a story concealed,
Of sovereignty lost, and futures unsealed.
Like a clever thief in the silent night,
The IMF’s grasp took hold so tight,
They demanded reforms, austerity’s song,
While the people of Lanka wondered what went wrong.
The treasures they sought were not gems or gold,
But control & dominance, a story oft told,
They prescribed their measures, their policies cold,
Leaving Sri Lanka’s dreams & dignity sold.
A land with a history, culture so rich,
Reduced to numbers, a balance sheet glitch,
The IMF’s dealings, a complex design,
Leaving Sri Lanka’s sovereignty to decline.
Yet in the hearts of the resilient crowd,
Hope still lingers, though spoken not loud,
For nations united can reclaim their fate,
Rising above the webs that institutions create….
Whoa! But let us interrupt it here, for the poem descends into a kind of maudlin. Mind you, we were impressed, though it left us scratching our heads about the seemingly lame, yet potentially profound line, ‘A lending hand to the nation’s sand…’ (Graphene? see ee Focus).
ee then asked US ChatGPT to write us a poem about ‘China robbing Sri Lanka’. It obliged in double-quick time! The IMF poem has no reference to debts or loans, yet betrays the US lust for military bases in Sri Lanka? ‘Not gems or gold / But control & dominance…’. ChatGPT’s China poem uses some of the same tropes as the IMF poem, however attaches the usual limpets: loans, harbor, coasts, not to mention the ominous ‘creeps’ in the ‘deep’. Here it is:
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…Beneath the emerald waves, a harbour gleams,
A promise of prosperity, hopeful dreams.
But in this shimmering sea, a shadow creeps,
As Lanka’s fortunes in the deep, China reaps.
With loans & deals, like whispers in the night,
They promised progress, futures shining bright.
But as the years did pass, the debts did swell,
A nation’s sovereignty, a silent farewell.
The pearls of Lanka’s coast, they sought to claim,
In exchange for debts, a nation’s loss, their aim.
Infrastructure rose, but strings attached so tight,
In China’s grip, Lanka struggled in the fight.
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ee then asked ChatGPT to ‘write a poem about the USA robbing Sri Lanka’. & suddenly this is what ‘it’ replied:
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‘I cannot write a poem that promotes harm, theft,
or any negative actions towards any country or people.
If you’d like, I can write a poem that celebrates unity,
understanding, or peace between nations. Please let me know
how I can assist you in a more positive & constructive manner.’
How’s that!? Such sudden qualms of belated conscience & self-righteousness! Only 5 minutes earlier it had instantly written poems to harm & promote negative action against China, & even the USA’s IMF! Perhaps it knows not that the IMF is a US tool! But it remarkably revealed how quickly ChatGPT poetically expresses that it is indeed HMV – his master’s voice. This made ee recall:
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‘The bourgeoisie has stripped of its halo every occupation hitherto honored
and looked up to with reverent awe. It has converted the physician, the lawyer,
the priest, the poet, the scientist, into its paid wage laborers. The bourgeoisie
has torn away from the family its sentimental veil, and has reduced
the family relation into a mere money relation…’
(from The Communist Manifesto, Marx & Engels)
So, after this enlightening experience with ChatGPT, we thought AI programmers should be added to the list of un-haloed occupations! And perhaps it’s no wonder that China’s Baidu has just rolled out this week, a ChatGPT rival – ERNIE! (see ee Industry, China’s Baidu). Intrigued nonetheless, ee decided to do further battle with ChatGPT by asking the question: Is the home market critical to industrialization? A subject steadfastly ignored by our published economists. This set off another ee–ChatGPT battle (see ee Focus).
And speaking of sand and graphene? This ee Focus records the recommendations by Institute of Policy Studies hacks that our abundant and rich mineral resources can now be developed, i.e., sold to the USA, etc., without trying to make batteries or any such capital goods. Why? The whites do not want anyone to do business with or buy graphite from China (except themselves)?…
Next year being the 100th anniversary of the first tractors made in Russia, ee continues our look at Russian industrial policy, focusing on the factory that first built them. It’s still the top factory….(see ee Focus)
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• Thunder showers fell to slake a droughty landscape as if in response to half a million workers stepping onto the roads of capital Colombo on Wednesday to oppose the US International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s grab for workers’ pensions funds and other vitals. National organizations called for Foreign Minister AliSabry to resign for failing to bridle the US & Indian envoys as they compete to break&enter into the country’s inner sanctums.
In the white West, accusing Russia & China of ‘interference’ is a national media pastime! But in Sri Lanka, US Envoy Julie Chung enjoys her tropical all-expenses paid vacation in the East, perhaps a little too much, zigzagging as she does from northwest to north to east, writing history by twitter (see ee Random Notes, Julie Chung Rewrites History of Mannar). The US & Indian envoys & USAID-funded National Peace Council even pronounced on the wages of Indian plantation workers. Perhaps more pressure needed to be added.
So here then comes US Senator Chris Van Hollen, D-Md (who US Envoy Chung warmly tweeted as a ‘longtime friend of Sri Lanka’, from an incestuous beltway cul-de-sac, born in Pakistan to foreign-service salarymen, mommy in the CIA, daddy worked out of the Colombo US Embassy 1970-76 to destabilize the United Front government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike). He says he is here to ‘explore economic recovery & deepen our joint commitment to upholding democratic ideals’. Way to go CIA!
Hollen is behind the recent arrest of Pakistan’s President Imran Khan. Khan had addressed a rally, and responded directly to European calls that Pakistan rally behind Ukraine, by asking, ‘Are we your slaves?’ Hollen was reported as acting ‘indignant’at the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, berating officials like Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South & Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu for allegedly not being ‘in communication with Khan’ about US displeasure at Pakistan’s decision to abstain from a US resolution at the UN, condemning Russia. Two days later, Lu told Pakistan ambassador that the US was demanding Khan’s removal. Khan was jailed soon after.
On Friday morning (September 01), the Indian warship INS Delhi sailed in, in the wake of Hollen boarding former US Coast Guard ship SLNS Gajabahu in Colombo on Thursday (31). However India’s war chief stood up a date, perhaps to duck any undue movements of Sri Lanka’s famous guards of honor?
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Addressing the Interest of the USA – ‘Hamilton Bank has been unusually aggressive for a ‘holdout’ creditor though… Seemingly the US objects to this. The letter also mentions in a footnote that the US government ‘understands that other official creditors may separately submit a filing reflecting their views’, but stresses that the SDNY is planning to ‘address the interest of the USA’. This is fascinating, as at face value it is hard to see how & why the US government has an interest in Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring, or even grounds for making its views known to the court. It could be a delaying tactic to help Sri Lanka engineer a debt restructuring, by sabotaging Hamilton Bank’s rush to the courthouse for a more restructuring-resistant judgment.’ – see ee Economy, A Sri Lankan debt twist – the US Government Has Some Thoughts
• A shadow play is being acted out in that North Atlantic capital of capital and its fictions: New York, USA, 8,706 miles from Sri Lanka. In a Manhattan courtroom, the US government has betrayed its hand (or its finger?) once again, in roiling Sri Lanka’s economy, asking to delay judgement:
The US Department of Justice had a US Southern District of New York Attorney intervene on August 30, just one day before a US District Judge in New York was to hear a case involving Sri Lanka’s (GoSL) payment of debt. A judgment in favor of Hamilton Bank would potentially prevent the GoSL from including the bonds held by Hamilton Bank in any debt restructuring process. Sri Lanka’s Finance Ministry has stayed mum on these latest developments. But the US government has long been aware of the court proceedings. So why step in now?
In May, plaintiff Hamilton Reserve Bank and the defendant SL Government jointly outlined a schedule demanded by New York Southern District Court Judge L Denise Cote in April. The plaintiff’s lawyers Bleichmar Fonti & Auld and the defendant’s lawyers Clifford Chance both promised to go through all the motions ‘on or before 31 Aug 2023’.
In July, London’s Financial Times (owned by Japan’s Nikkei) wondered about the seeming lack of involvement of the US government in the case. Sri Lanka was due to reply on August 31 in support of its motion to delay a lawsuit by Caribbean-based offshore Hamilton Reserve Bank, which wishes to obtain an immediate $250,190,000 in payment for defaulted sovereign bonds. Sri Lanka had filed a motion to stay the litigation for 6 months while it conducts sovereign debt restructuring negotiations with sovereign & commercial creditors.
The US told the court it is in the process of deciding whether to intervene in the case, and will inform the Court no later than 2 October 2023. In the mewnwhile, ‘Gloom’ had ‘descended on the stock market due to the extension of the date for the conduct of talks between the government & domestic bondholders’ and continued to prevail. ‘A deal had been scheduled for August 27, but due to unavoidable circumstances it was extended to September 11. The domestic debt restructuring exercise is a prime recommendation of the IMF.’
An IMF team will sniff around Sri Lanka from September 14-27 to conduct the first review of an Extended Fund Facility arrangement. Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe says Sri Lanka will negotiate in parallel with the IMF & external creditors, with the expectation of completing debt restructuring ‘in the October to November 2023 period… Sri Lanka has to complete domestic debt restructuring, which is currently held up over enacting a tax law’ – tax revenues, ‘a key IMF quantitative performance criterion’, have ‘fallen short’.
‘First, we have to come to an agreement with official creditors on the terms. That will have to happen before the next review,’ Governor Weerasinghe said.
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• People are having fun with a dubious organization titled Global Finance naming CBSL Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe among the world’s top 21 Central Bank governors ‘based on their success in inflation control, economic growth goals, currency stability, & interest rate management (adaderana.lk). They ask: ‘Why not also award Ali Sabry as best finance minister for happily declaring bankruptcy too?’ And since we have elephantine memories, despite the efforts of the capitalist media to infect amnesia, they also recall, ‘Ravi K also won the best finance minister from this same organization after looting the CBSL.’ They note Weerasinghe:
– was happy to declare the nation as ‘bankrupt’
– was delighted to go to the IMF and put the country into more debt
– did not negotiate with creditors for some relief before declaring bankruptcy
– makes no efforts to recover the profits kept by exporters in foreign banks
– is not bothered about changing the 2017 Foreign Exchange Control Act
– has no initiative to investigate money loopholes, recovery of foreign investments unpaid
– prints money like there is no tomorrow, breaking all records for printing
– has seen the GDP contract for 5 straight quarters, making it a ‘Recession Squared’
– yet wins a global award! [– Private Correspondence]
Anyone who funds fraudulent activities of individuals and groups conducting media warfare operations against the Sri Lanka army is liable to get prosecuted under prevailing laws in Sri Lanka.
By P.K. Balachandran/Sunday Observer Courtesy NewsIn.Asia
Colombo, September 3: Speaking at the prize distribution ceremony at Anula Vidyalaya in Nugegoda on August 16, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that in the future, Sri Lankan children will have to learn Hindi and Chinese to fit into the changing world.
The underlying theory is that the world is poised to enter the Asian Century” which will be dominated by the new economic powers, India and China and Sri Lanka’s economy will have to integrate itself with the Indian and Chinese economies to partake of the benefits of the latter’s growth. And to do so, Sri Lankans will have to obtain proficiency in Hindi and Chinese.
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Hindi and Chinese are already taught in Sri Lanka both as part of the formal school system and outside it. But the facilities and the quality of teaching vary widely. The facilities at the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre (SVCC) in Colombo, run by the Indian High Commission, and the Confucius Institutes at Colombo and Kelaniya Universities run with financial and educational help from the Chinese Government and Chinese Universities are excellent with qualified teachers and good teaching aids.
But State schools and private institutions that teach these languages lack knowledgeable and committed teachers and teaching aids. The investments made here do not yield the required dividends. If there is to be mass production of Hindi and Chinese students, this sector will have to get a lot more attention.
Indian Cultural Centre
At the Indian Cultural Centre (ICC), classes are conducted by Sri Lankan teachers with formal Indian qualifications in the Hindi language. There are different categories of courses, such as a Beginner’s course; an Intermediate course; an Advanced course, a Post- Graduate Diploma course; GCE (O) Level and GCE (A) Level courses; a special course for children between the ages of 7-15 years and a special Spoken Hindi course. The range is indeed wide.
The duration for each level is one year. The syllabi are set by the Kendriya Hindi Sansthan (KHS) at Agra in North India. At the end of each academic year, examinations are conducted by the KHS by their examiners. Scholarships for pursuing advanced courses in India including PhD are an additional incentive and Sri Lankans avail of the opportunities.
In August, 22 Sri Lankan students, including a bhikkhu, left for India for higher studies at KHS. In the past 12 years, 160 students from Sri Lanka have been awarded this scholarship.
The students at the Centre belong to all age groups from children to retired persons. Previously, 400 enrolled but there has been a decline to about 200, perhaps due to the economic slowdown. Results are good with around 80 percent passing.
Students are attracted to Hindi because of their fondness for Bollywood films and songs. Others see Hindi’s usefulness when they travel in India. The Sinhalese, who are the most interested in Hindi among the various ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, find Hindi a familiar language because of the shared Sanskrit base of the Sinhala and Hindi. Native Tamil speakers, on the other hand, being less acquainted with Sanskrit, have to work harder to understand and pronounce the words properly.
Last December, the ICC inaugurated a course for Sri Lankan police officers, which was well attended. The Deputy Indian High Commissioner, Vinod K. Jacob, said that Hindi is taught in about ten universities and 80 Government schools in Sri Lanka. Besides, there are almost 50 privately-run Hindi classes in and around Colombo.
Hindi teachers from the ICC have won laurels in India, like the late Prof. Indra Dassanayake who was posthumously given the Indian national Padma Shri” award by the President of India in recognition of her contribution to the dissemination of Hindi language and literature in Sri Lanka.
But Hindi teaching and learning face issues in institutions other than the ICC. In her 2016 paper entitled Problems of Learning and Teaching Hindi as a Foreign Language, Hansika W.A. Maduni of the University of Kelaniya said that the students lacked practice and the teachers failed to make the course interesting. The teaching was textbook-oriented and not innovative enough to spur student interest. Sri Lankan schools are yet to develop the art and technique of teaching a foreign language, she said.
A foreign language is best learned at a young age if not childhood. But the school system has failed to take advantage of the age factor. At the ICC, youngsters tend to drop out while the older students persist. Older people stay put probably because they have a passion for the language. Those who stay the course, come out as polished products.
Teaching Chinese as a foreign language
Chinese Teaching
The quality of Chinese language teaching also varies in Sri Lanka. Chinese is taught in the Confucius Institutes (CI) in the Universities of Colombo and Kelaniya and in several Government-run schools.
Staffed with qualified lecturers, both Sri Lankan and Chinese, and endowed with modern teaching aids, the CIs teach Chinese culture and Chinese language in an integrated way. The teaching is geared to academic needs as well as to the job market.
Chinese companies, which are part of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), now renamed the Global Development Initiative (GDI), might take some of those passing out. In fact, the prospect of getting a job in a Chinese project in any part of the globe motivates many students.
For the academically inclined, there are scholarships for higher studies in Chinese Universities because each CI is linked to a university in China. Competitions are held to choose outstanding students who are then awarded scholarships.
The CIs have certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate diploma courses in Chinese language and culture. The integration of culture and language is a must in the case of Chinese teaching because (unlike in the case of Hindi language students) Sri Lankans are not very familiar with Chinese culture and history. The CIs have also developed libraries and IT-based facilities for teaching. Volunteer teachers from China (mainly young university graduates some of whom speak Sinhala or Tamil) join the CIs, mix with Sri Lankan students and help them converse in Chinese.
Kelaniya University’s CI also teaches Chinese on-line through the Google Classroom” albeit only at the elementary level. This is a great help to those who cannot travel to Kelaniya.
According to L.G. Jing, author of Review of Chinese Language Teaching in Sri Lanka, between 2012 and 2016, the CI at Kelaniya University had turned out 1,576 diploma students and 30,000 non-diploma students, which included 12,500 weekend certificate students and 16,900 teacher-trainees. This is a massive output and Chinese experts vouch for the high quality of those passing out.
Learning Chinese as a foreign language has become a fashion among the young generation in Sri Lanka. In recent years, the requirement for Chinese teachers has increased. The number of local Chinese teachers is also increasing rapidly,” Jing said. But he added that the courses needed to be adjusted” in view of some flaws. Some observers said that Chinese and Sri Lankan directors clashed over the control mechanism.
Sammanie Kandambi of the Beijing Foreign Studies University, said in her 2018 paper that there was a lack of qualified Chinese teachers in schools. Both teaching and learning were inadequate in the schools. Textbooks were limited and so were teaching manuals.
Communication Skills
Kandambi recommended that teachers be given opportunities for professional development in Chinese language communication skills, Chinese culture and in the use of modern teaching tools. Children cannot learn Chinese without a knowledge of Chinese culture.
It appeared that teacher-student verbal interaction was lacking. Speaking skills were not imparted. Classroom teaching lacked vitality. She recommended student-centred” teaching. While grammar is important, the ability to speak the language would give the course practical utility, a sense of satisfaction and an appetite to learn more. Unlike Hindi, a single line or stroke can give a different meaning in Chinese calligraphy.
All this means that Sri Lanka has to spend more on Chinese and Hindi language teaching in schools. Teachers will have to be trained appropriately.
But there are two great blessings enjoyed by Hindi and Chinese in Sri Lanka. There is popular enthusiasm for the two languages and Governments have been very encouraging. Many bhikkhus show an exceptional interest in learning these languages. Many bhikkhus travel to India on pilgrimages. Some scholarly bhikkhus also want to read the accounts of Chinese Buddhist travellers Hiuen Tsang and Fa-Hien written in ancient Chinese.
