Audit firm BDO has expelled a partner after he was accused in an anonymous complaint of demanding bribes while working on a sensitive assignment with the central government’s income tax department.
An anonymous whistleblower accused two BDO executives of demanding bribes from a company that was being investigated by the income tax department in return for altering its report on the company. The company had captured evidence of one of the executives accepting bribes, according to the complainant.
The income tax department had officially assigned BDO the task of assisting in search and seizure operations in September last year, multiple sources told ET. The auditor provides forensic services to the tax department in various locations.
The Netherlands-headquartered BDO that ranks amongst the top 6 auditors globally was intimated of the allegations in April and an inquiry was instituted by appointing a law firm which eventually led to the termination of one of its partners involved in the assignment, the firm’s managing partner Milind Kothari told ET.
This is unprecedented action taken by the firm. This is the first time in the history of the firm that a partner has been expelled,” Kothari said. Kothari said another executive who was also accused in the complaint had voluntarily resigned on June 14.
The expelled partner had refused to cooperate with the law firm that was investigating the allegations, a BDO India spokesperson said in an emailed statement. One of the executives who was contacted by ET claimed that he was being ‘framed’.
No Action from Tax Authorities
The executive said he was being falsely implicated as he was part of a large number of people that were moving from BDO to a rival. This person, who did not wish to be identified, denied any knowledge of the whistleblower complaint or the investigation by the law firm.
The second executive did not respond to requests for comment. The two executives were part of a team that was hired by BDO from a Big 4 accounting firm last year.
This team used to do similar forensic engagements with the tax department for its earlier employer. The task assigned to BDO by the tax department included retrieving data from laptops and hard drives seized during such operations.
Typically, the tax department also farms out the work of data analysis to the auditor appointed to assist in such investigations. The evidence collected is used to prosecute those suspected of crimes of tax evasion.
A team from the audit firm was stationed in the income tax department in Delhi for the assignment that led to the departure of the two executives, according to people directly aware of the situation.
Sources close to the department say that the tax authorities have also investigated the matter and the role of the firm. A BDO spokesperson said the tax department has not taken any action against them and it continues to provide forensic services at various locations to the department.
Emailed queries to the chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and Director General Investigations for Delhi Zone at the income tax department did not elicit a response.
The income tax department began aggressively farming out projects to audit firms and external investigating agencies in the aftermath of demonetisation as the drive against black money received impetus from the central government.
* Forensic audit tries to dilute 2015/2016 bond scam * Lack of independence vitiates legal utility of forensic audit * Forensic auditors facing fraud charges in India
February 1, 2020, 6:37 pm
The forensic audit into the issue of Treasury bonds by the Central Bank has been released in five volumes. What is of primary interest to Sri Lankans is the fourth volume which deals with the issuance of treasury bonds between 1 February 2015 to 31 March 2016. The three specific transactions that took place on the 27th February 2015 and on the 29th March and 31st March 2016 are the transactions that all Sri Lankans refer to as the ‘bond scam’. Even the Bond Commission that recommended that a forensic audit be carried out was established to cover the period from February 2015 to March 2016. With regard to the original scam that took place on the 27th February 2015, and set alarm bells ringing in financial circles, the forensic audit report states that the Public Debt Department (PDD) of the Central Bank received a request on 23 February 2015 for a funding requirement of Rs. 13 billion. The PDD accordingly, conducted an auction on 27 February 2015 for which the advertisement was released on 25 February 2015 where the value offered was Rs. 1 Billion.
Explaining why only Rs. one billion was offered when Rs. 13 billion was required, Ms. C.M.D.N.K Seneviratne the then Superintendent of Public Debt had stated that when investors know that he Government requirement is high, they will bid at a higher rate of interest. Therefore, the PDD offered Rs. 1 billion at the auction with the intention of raising the remaining Rs. 12 billion through direct placements. The forensic audit report observes that on 27 February 2015 at the closure of Auction when Rs. 20 billion worth of bids had been received, the PDD prepared the Option Sheet recommending that Rs. 2.608 Million be accepted at the Weighted Average Yield Rate of 10.75%. Thereafter, the then Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran had visited the PDD, looked at the Bids Received sheet and asked the PDD to accept entire Rs. 20 Billion bids received to which objections had been raised by Ms. C.M.D.N.K Seneviratne and Dr. M.Z.M. Aazim the Assistant Superintendent of Public Debt. Thereupon Mahendran instructed the PDD to accept bids for Rs. 10 Billion.
It was further noted that Perpetual Treasuries Ltd placed a total of three bids, one for Rs. 3 billion and two bids for Rs. 5 billion each through the Bank of Ceylon at yield rates of 12.50%, 12.75% and 13% respectively on the day of the auction after 10:30 am, indicating that PTL was aware of the rates at which bids might be accepted by the PDD. It was observed that PTL was allocated only Rs. 27 Million in all the Auctions held since PTL started participation in auctions till February 2015. At the auction of 27 February 2015 however, PTL placed bids for Rs. 15 billion and was allocated Rs. 5 billion. Based on this high volume of bidding and allocation pattern in contrast to the results of previous auctions participated by PTL, it can be inferred that PTL was assured of high allocation in this Auction.
Furthermore, the Bank of Ceylon had placed bids on behalf of Perpetual Treasuries Ltd (PTL) to the tune of Rs. 13 billion which led to PTL obtaining 50% of the Rs. 10 billion bond offer of 27th February 2015. How PTL was able to obtain this kind of credit from the Bank of Ceylon within a matter of minutes was the other aspect of the bond transaction of the 27th February 2015, which came to the attention of the public. With regard to this, the forensic audit says that it was noted that Arjuna Mahendran had a telephone conversation with Ronald Perera the Chairman of BoC on the date of Auction. Conversations were noted between Mr. J.K.D. Dharamapala, Chief Dealer of the BoC and Mr. Kasun Palisena of PTL which reveal that Mr. Dharmapala placed bids on behalf of PTL. Mr.Dharmapala however stated that no instructions were received from BoC Chairman Ronald Perera for the bids placed by PTL and neither did he inform Ronald Perera about the high bids placed by PTL. He stated that the BoC assumed that the bids placed by PTL were dummy bids.
Guilt established
Even though this transaction of 27 February 2015 was what first sent alarm bells ringing, what the forensic audit report says about it is that the documentary and digital evidence available and the limited number of voice recordings of dealer rooms of Primary Dealers did not suggest that Arjuna Mahendran was directly involved in sharing insider information with Arjun Aloysius or PTL. The CBSL did not install a voice record system at the PDD and significant limitations existed on the availability of email files. The data extracted from the mobile phone of Mr. Arjun Aloysius did not pertain to the review period. Hence, the involvement of Arjun Aloysius in any improper dealings related to the issuance of Treasury Bonds during the review period could not be established on the basis of data extracted from mobile phone.
The forensic audit report states that on 28 March 2016, one day prior to the Auction of 29 March 2016, senior officers from the state banks, namely, NSB, Bank of Ceylon and People’s Bank were requested to attend a meeting convened by Ravi Karunanayake the then Minister of Finance. The representatives of the three State Banks were requested to co-operate by bidding at low yield rates at the Auction to be held on 29 March 2016. Ravi Karunanayake prescribed a range of rates, lower than the prevailing market rates at the time, at which the three state banks should place their bids in coordination with each other. The State Banks raised their concerns with regard to the risk of losses to the state banks if bids at higher yield rates were accepted from other primary dealers. In response to these concerns, Ravi Karunanayake assured the state banks that bids at higher rates would not be accepted by the CBSL.
PTL bid at substantially high yield rates as compared to yield rates of the State owned banks and PTL was allocated 39% of the bonds issued. Furthermore Pan Asia bank placed bids on behalf of PTL for Rs. 5,000 million due to which the PTL allocation ratio increased to 53%. The forensic audit report reveals that on review of copies of voice recordings, various conversations were noted between Mr. Kasun Palisena and Mr. Arjun Aloysius that reveals that Mr. Arjun Aloysius had access to information which was only known to the members present at the State Bank meetings. Arjun had informed Kasun Palisena that the state banks had been instructed to bid low and he said that he has a ‘magical sixty billion’ in his mind and this will be the opportunity of a lifetime. With regard to the bond issue of 29 March 2016, the forensic audit observes as follows. “Based on the available voice recordings and subsequent bidding patterns of PTL and Pan Asia, it can be concluded that Mr. Arjun Aloysius had access to insider information of instructions given to state banks to bid at low prices at Auction of 29 March 2016.” PTL used this insider information and placed bids at substantially higher Weighted Average Yield Rates and was allocated maximum bids in this Auction due to lower yield rates of bids placed by State Banks.
The Ministry of Finance requested a second meeting with the senior officials of State Banks on 30 March 2016. At that meeting, Ravi Karunanayake once again, requested the State Banks to bid at low yield rates at the Auction scheduled to be held on 31 March 2016. The State Banks were reluctant to agree to this request as the cut off rate at the 29 March Auction had been much higher than the rates prescribed to the State Banks after a similar request by the Ministry of Finance. Ravi Karunanayake agreed that bids at higher yield rates would not be accepted at Auction of 31 March 2016 and prescribed the rates in respect of the bids to be placed at the Auction. In the Auction of 31 March 2016, the PDD offered Rs. 25 Billion against which bids aggregating to Rs. 50 Billion were accepted by the PDD. The PTL allocation ratio of PTL was 69%. The forensic audit report states that based on the telephone conversations between Palisena and Arjun Aloysius, PTL was already aware of the fact on 29 March 2016 that another auction was going to be held on 31 March 2016 even though it had not been advertised by the CBSL.
Another aspect of the bond purchases of 29 and 31st March 2016 was that PTL bought Rs. 42 billion worth of bonds at the auctions held on 29 and 31 March 2016 and obtained the funding to purchase these bonds from the Central bank itself. The way this was done was that PTL participated in the Open Market Operations auction to borrow Rs. 22 billion at 8% and used the Intra Day Liquidity Facility to borrow a further Rs. 20 billion. They were unable to provide the required security for Rs. 11 billion of the funding from the Open Market Operations and were fined Rs. Rs 7.6 million. They were unable to settle Rs. 11 billion of the Intra-day liquidity facility and they were fined a further Rs. 13.7 million in order to legitimize the transaction. PTL thus bought Central Bank bonds using the money of the Central Bank itself after paying a small fine to the CBSL when they were unable to meet their commitments.
The forensic audit report states that on 1 April 2016 at a reverse REPO auction of Rs. 30 billion, bids to the value of Rs. 22 Billion had been accepted from PTL. However, PTL failed to tender collateral for the Rs. 22 Billion at the end of that day. On 4 April 2016, Mr. Kasun Palisena (PTL) sent an email to Mr. Arjuna Mahendran at 5:21 p.m. that “all transactions have been cleared and settled. Apologies for making your life miserable for the past few days”.
What had happened here was that PTL had bought treasury bonds with Central Bank money and then sold the bonds on the secondary market primarily to the EPF and settled the Central Bank. The forensic audit report observes that the email sent by Kasun Palisena to Arjuna Mahendran appears to be in response to Mr. Arjuna Mahendran’s action of avoiding strict action against the PTL for default of dues. Based on the analysis of call log records, available voice recordings, transactions in the secondary market and policy decisions taken by the CBSL in the month of March 2016, indicates that there is substantial evidence of leakage of insider information to PTL enabling it to purchase large amounts of securities in the primary market at low weighted average prices and generate substantial gains in the secondary market.
Handunetti’s view of forensic audits
There never was any need for a forensic audit for this information because people already knew all this. The only new thing that the forensic audit tries to do here is to say that there is no evidence that Arjuna Mahendran gave inside information to his son in law with regard to the bond issue of 27 February 2015. However with regard to the bond issues of 29 and 31 March, the forensic audit admits that Arjun Aloysius did have inside information but has not named Arjuna Mahendran as the possible source of that information. The forensic auditors therefore seem to be at pains to keep Arjuna Mahendran out of the bond issues of 27 February 2015, 29 March and 31 March 2016. However, The Bond Commission which had recommended this forensic audit had concluded that Arjuna Mahendran had acted improperly and wrongfully by intervening in the bond issue procedure and instructing the PDD to accept Bids to the value of Rs.10 billion on 27 February 2015.
Since Mahendran had perused the Bids Received Sheet prior to issuing his instruction to accept bids to the value of Rs. 10 billion, the Bond Commission observed that he knew that, PTL would succeed in obtaining the bonds at high yield rates. Mahendran directed that bids to the value of Rs. 10 billion be accepted for the improper and wrongful collateral purpose of enabling PTL to obtain a high value of Treasury bonds at low bid prices and high yield rates. PTL had inside information that a very large amount of bids would be accepted at that auction. PTL acted upon inside information when it placed bids for Rs. 15 billion though only Rs. 1 billion had been offered. Mahendran was the source from which PTL obtained this inside information. Mahendran had thus acted wrongfully, improperly, mala fide, fraudulently and in gross breach of his duties as Governor of the CBSL.
JVP Parliamentarian Sunil Handunnetti who headed the second COPE investigation always had high expectations with regard to this forensic audit. The only thing he spoke about after his own COPE report was about this ‘voharika vigananaya’. He is probably the politician who has used this term most often in public. After the forensic report came out, he expressed his views on it in a video clip that has been reproduced in Chapa Bandara’s you tube channel on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgyWvKqpBek.
What Handunnetti says in this video is that the very meaning of a forensic audit is to carry out an audit that is linked directly to a judicial process. He compared it to forensic autopsies and investigations ordered by courts in the case of murder investigations. Because this audit carries the name ‘forensic’, Handunnetti genuinely seems to be under the impression that this equal to forensic investigations ordered by a court of law. He states that there is no better evidence than this forensic report to report matters to courts. When the Bond Commission recommended that a forensic audit be done into the bond scam, they obviously meant an independent audit in which case it would have to be carried out under the supervision of the Auditor General’s Department which would select the auditors, instruct them and pay them. When a court orders a forensic investigation into a murder case, the investigation is carried out by the judicial medical personnel and institutions of the government.
No court of law has ever told a murder suspect to get the forensic investigation into the murder done by a medical team selected by him, to instruct the forensic medical personnel on what has to be done, and to pay for the forensic investigation out of his own pocket, and to present the findings to court so that the court could decide whether he was guilty or innocent! Yet this is exactly what has happened with regard to the forensic audit into the Central Bank bond scam. The forensic audit has been carried out by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, which was controlled by the very government responsible for the bond scam. They have selected the auditors, instructed the auditors on what needs to be done and they have paid the auditors. The Auditor General’s Department has not been involved in the process at any stage. To make things worse, the Indian audit firm BDO India LLP which was contracted by the Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to do the forensic audit is itself facing serious charges of corruption in India. The Economic Times of India reports that BDO which had been providing forensic services to the Indian tax department had sacked one partner and another partner had resigned due to an expose by a whistleblower that bribes had been demanded from a company that was being investigated.
This had happened last year after BDO had been contracted by the CBSL to do this forensic audit. The other Indian audit firm KPMG India which was involved in this forensic audit under the supervision of BDO, has its own share of problems. The Indian government is planning on banning a KPMG India affiliate BSR & Associates for five years for auditing lapses while investigating a fraud at a financial company. Reuters claims that they have seen tribunal documents to the effect that KPMG India affiliate BSR & Associates had given clean audit reports and ‘deliberately’ failed to report fraudulent activities at the financial company under investigation. This scandal also happened to come out into the open when KPMG India was involved in the forensic audit of the CBSL Bond issues. The CBSL forensic audit which is said to have cost in excess of Rs. 300 million, is not worth the paper it’s written on.
No court will accept a forensic audit commissioned and paid for by the very institution being investigated. Furthermore, the fact that the Indian audit firms hired by the CBSL to do the audit are themselves facing charges of fraud and corruption seriously compromises the credibility of the forensic audit they did for the CBSL. Both Indian audit firms had been carrying out work for the Indian government when the fraud and corrupt practices are said to have occurred. This makes their findings on the CBSL bond scam worthless in a court of law. The bond scam has been going round in circles for five years. The first inquiry into the bond scam was by the three member Pitipana Committee appointed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in March 2015. Then there was the COPE Subcommittee inquiry headed by D. E. W.Gunasekera in June 2015. This was followed by the COPE Inquiry headed by Sunil Handunnetti from January 2016 to July 2016. Then there was the Bond Commission from January 2017 to December 2017.
Investigations have been carried out by the Commission to Inquire into Allegations of Bribery and Corruption and the Criminal Investigation Department as well. A wealth of information and evidence has been unearthed by design or by accident during the course of all these investigations, but nothing further has happened. One would think that it’s about time that some concrete action was taken with regard to the issues pertaining to the bond issues that took place on the 27th February 2015 and on the 29th March and 31st March 2016 instead of waffling over piles of useless paper work that seems to go round and round in circles.
Two workers from Sri Lanka who have become the target of protests in a Central Romanian town were eventually removed on Saturday from the production process at the bread factory where they were working. The situation, prompted by a wave of xenophobic attitudes among the local population in the town of Ditrau, sparked both actions by authorities, interventions by influential religious and political bodies, and talk of Romanian state’s lack of action and malign influence from the Orban regime in Hungary.
Facing a lack of workforce among the local population, a bread factory in Ditrau, a town in the county of Harghita, which has a large Szekler (ethnic Hungarian) community, used a recruitment company to employ two workers from abroad. The two Sinhalese men started work there, but were met with resistance from the local population, led by the local Greek Catholic priest. More on the issue – here
As the case flared in national media this week, it drew little relevant reaction from authorities and political leaders.
As the townsfolk met this Saturday to discuss the situation of the Sinhalese men, the owners of the bread factory, who initially defended the two, announced they would be removed from the bread production process and moved to another process. The manager apologised to the local population for any inconvenience caused.
The manager was quoted as saying that local people did not want the Sri Lankan workers – who were appreciated by their colleagues – to “touch their bread”.
A report by news agency Agerpres quoted locals claiming they were not “racist”, but that where two migrants come more will come next and “we will find that a quarter of homes here are taken by people of colour”. Reports quoted them as saying that migrants, once more come, would try to impose their culture and even referred to a “high risk of contamination with the [new, China-originating] coronavirus”.
Following today’s events, the Hungarian Democrats (UDMR), who had voiced concern but did not made a fuss of the situation in Ditrau so far, criticised the xenophobic movement there, according to media reports. Also, a prominent Greek-Catholic Church authority in the area was also quoted as saying the priest who led the protests against the Sri Lankan workers was not entitled to do so in any way.
Meanwhile, the police opened an investigation over charges of incitement to hatred and discrimination in the town. And the National Council for Fighting Discrimination announced it would analyse the case following the bread factory decision to remove the two workers from production under racial criteria.
The situation also sparked talk of the influence of the Hungarian regime of Viktor Orban. The Szeklers, the community of ethnic Hungarians in Romania, have little to no access to other media or factors of influence than Hungarian media and Budapest-supported channels (religious, political) which for years have promoted a populist discourse against migrants.
The influence Budapest has on the issue was invoked, among others, by a former leader of the Hungarian Democrats, Marko Bela, in a Transindex article arguing everybody was to blame for allowing a “political science fiction” to deliver such major moral and political damage.
The 33 Sri Lankan students who were flew out of Wuhan in a special charter flight have arrived at the facility set up at Diyatalawa army camp’s Base Hospital for quarantine a short while ago, says Ada Derana correspondent.
The Sri Lankan Airlines flight (UL 1423) carrying a total of 33 Sri Lankan students in the Corona virus-affected Wuhan province in China landed at Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) early this morning (1), consequent upon emergency arrangements effected by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Sri Lanka Army’s members of the Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Response Squadron qualified to deal with such biological or chemical emergencies has received the and transported them to the Diyatalawa Army Base Hospital for quarantine purposes that would take up to 14 days.
The Army, on the instructions of the acting Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva, evening completed the construction of two 100 x 20 sanatorium-type new buildings by Friday (31).
The returned students will be quarantined by keeping them in incubation at least for 14 days under the close supervision of medical consultants, epidemiologists and other staffers, the Army has said.
During the quarantine period, they are to be provided with all day today requirements by the Army such as food, refreshments, sanitary requirements and all other amenities.
Cabinet spokesman, Minister Bandula Gunawardana said yesterday he would file a case in the Supreme Court challenging the economic and monetary decisions taken by Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Treasury officials under the Yahapalanaya government.
“The current economic disaster faced by the Rajapaksa government is the legacy of the previous government. I expect to file a case against the actions of the Yahapalanaya government to prevent such repetition by a future government,” he said. Not only Mangala but former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe must also take much of the blame for the destruction caused to the economy and the country. All these blunders, mistakes and shortcomings have taken place under Ranil’s nose. Therefore, he is the biggest culprit of this disaster.”
The minister said Ranil, Mangala and Treasury officials have misled Parliament with incorrect financial information and hoodwinked the legislature on this matter.
“In addition to seeking legal redress at the Supreme Court, I make a request to the legislature to appoint a select committee to go into these fraudulent acts,” the minister said.
He told a media conference that the Yahapalanaya government had offered contracts to thousands of development and reconstruction projects around the country without the approval of the legislature.
If the Yahapalanaya government keen on developing the country it should have gone first to Parliament. After all this is public money. The Yahapalanaya government had not obtained parliamentary approval to allocate funds for these projects. That is why these projects have collapsed,” the minister said.
The government is following the footsteps of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa by keeping public expenditure to the barest minimum. There will be no posters, cutouts, floats, tamashas, parties, new vehicles and private buildings for state institutions. (Sandun A Jayasekera)
Airbus, Europe’s largest aerospace multinational, is to pay a record £3bn (USD 4 billion) in penalties after admitting it had paid huge bribes on an endemic” basis to land contracts in 20 countries.
Anti-corruption investigators hailed the result as the largest ever corporate fine for bribery in the world after judges declared that the corruption was grave, pervasive and pernicious”.
The planemaker agreed to pay the penalties on Friday after reaching settlements with investigators in the UK, France and the US to end inquiries that started four years ago.
In the high court in London, Dame Victoria Sharp, the President of the Queen’s Bench Division, approved the settlement struck with the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO).
She said: The seriousness of the criminality in this case hardly needs to be spelled out. As is acknowledged on all sides, it was grave.”
She added that the scale of the wrongdoing demonstrated that bribery was endemic in two core business areas within Airbus”.
Allison Clare, for the SFO, told the court the company had paid bribes in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Taiwan and Ghana between 2011 and 2015.
Airbus, which admitted five counts of failing to prevent bribery, had used a network of secret agents to pay large-scale backhanders to officials in foreign countries to land high-value contracts.
This was run by a unit at its French headquarters, which its one-time chief executive Tom Enders reportedly called bullshit castle”.
French prosecutors examined bribes to other countries including China, Japan, Russia, Kuwait, Brazil and Turkey.
Hugo Keith, for Airbus, said the settlement will draw a line under the investigation and the grave historical practices” exposed by prosecutors.
Airbus hopes the settlements, approved by courts in the three countries, will end turbulence within its management which had led to scores of senior executives being sacked. The firm is one of the largest employers in the UK, with a workforce of 13,500.
The penalties will be paid to the governments of the three countries that investigated Airbus, with £1.7bn going to France and £820m going to the UK Treasury.
The settlement surpasses the previous UK record for a corporate fine for bribery – the £671m paid by Rolls-Royce, Britain’s leading multinational manufacturer, in 2017.
Under the deal, known as a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA), Airbus will pay the penalties and promise to mend its ways. In return, any prosecution of the firm as a corporation will be suspended for three years.
Clare told the court the SFO was still considering whether to prosecute individuals involved in the bribery.
Sue Hawley, the executive director of Spotlight on Corruption, said:”Airbus’s egregious bribery around the world has rightly attracted the largest corporate fine for bribery in history. But this fine will ring extremely hollow if prosecutions of those responsible from Airbus senior management at the time of the wrongdoing do not follow.”
The SFO started its investigation in 2016 after evidence emerged of irregularities” involving Airbus’s secret agents. The French and American investigations started later.
The US settlement was approved in Washington by District Judge Thomas Hogan, who said: It was a pervasive and pernicious bribery scheme in various divisions of Airbus SE that went on for a number of years.”
Airbus also admitted violations of US export controls.
However, Friday’s deal left unanswered the fate of the SFO’s investigation into Airbus’s UK-based subsidiary, GPT Special Project Management, which allegedly paid bribes of at least £14m to win Saudi Arabian contracts.
The British government has taken at least 18 months to decide whether to approve the SFO’s request to start prosecutions over the GPT allegations.
In another aspect of the alleged corruption, Airbus started an internal investigation in 2017 after the Guardian uncovered a series of questionable financial transactions in hundreds of leaked bank records and internal memos.
The female Chinese national, the first patient who was tested positive for 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Sri Lanka, has recovered completely, says the Director General of Health Services Dr. Anil Jasinghe.
Addressing a media briefing held today (01), Dr. Jasinghe added that the Chinese woman in question, who was admitted to the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH), can be discharged.
Sixteen patients who are suspected to have been contaminated with the novel coronavirus are currently receiving treatment at the IDH, he said further.
The first confirmed case of novel coronavirus was reported in Sri Lanka on the 27th of January as a female Chinese national was diagnosed with the deadly virus, which rapidly spread across many countries just within days.
The 47-year old Chinese woman from Hubei Province in China was admitted to the IDH in critical condition.
The woman had arrived as a tourist with another group of travelers and had been screened at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) for having a high fever. The rest of the travelers accompanying her had already left the country and the hotels she and her travel companions had stayed at have been identified.
(A Paper Published by the Sri Lanka Geo-Political Study Circle)
You can delegate authority, but you cannot delegate responsibility”. Byron Dorgan.
Given hereunder is
just one of the many instances, in thedraft MCC
Agreement, which poses a major threat to the Sovereign State of Sri Lanka.
In Annex 1,
found on page 34 of the draft MCC Agreement, the Sovereign rights of the
people, over Land Policy, over all monies ‘gifted’ by the MCC and, over
Management of Sri Lanka’s Land coming under the scope of the MCC project,
would be handed over to a Private Company called MCA (Millennium Challenge
Account); this surrender of our sovereignty to the Americans had been pledged
by the ousted Sirisena-Wickramasinghe Regime.
It was based
on this secret pledge that the MCC drew up the draft MCC Agreement, after
months of crafting same on the drawing boards.
The MCA is
described in the draft MCC Agreement as an ‘Independent and Autonomous body’.
Reproduced here below
is the pertinent section in Annex 1 (page 34). Quote:
The Government
shall appoint an accountable entity, MCA -Sri Lanka, as a company limited by
guarantee that shall be created under the Companies Act No. 7 of 2007.”
MCA – Sri
Lanka shall be the Government’s primary agent responsible for exercising the Government’s rights and
obligations to oversee, manage and implement the Program and Projects.”
MCA-Sri Lanka
shall have operational and legal
independence and full decision making autonomy, including, inter alia,
the ability, without consultation with, or the consent or approval of any
other party to (1) enter into contracts in its own name, (11) sue and
be sued, (111) establish an account with a financial institution in its own
name and hold MCC funding, in that account, (1v) expend MCC funding,
(v) engage contractors, consultants and/ or grantees, including without
limitation, procurement and fiscal agents and (vi) competitively engage one
or more auditors to conduct audits of its accounts.”
The
governance of MCA- Sri Lanka shall be set forth in more detail in the
Program Implementation Agreement and the constitutive documents and internal
regulations of MCA Sri Lanka (or as otherwise agreed in writing by the
Parties).”
Unquote
Readers, see for
yourself the disgraceful level to which the Sirisena- Wickramasinghe duo have
dragged this country to. Without batting an eyelid, they have secretly pledged,
to surrender this country’s autonomy to the Americans.
The
Sirisena-Wickramasinghe Government had pledged to the Americans that it would
appoint the Company, MCA (Millennium Challenge Account), to be in charge of the
entire MCC operation in Sri Lanka.
It is oxymoronic that
the Primary Agent of the Government of Sri Lanka is, as per the draft MCC
Agreement, an ‘Independent and Autonomous body’.
This Company, as the
Primary agent of the Government would be performing the functions of the
Government of Sri Lanka; in short, the GOSL would be replaced by the MCA for
all matters pertaining to the MCC project, particularly Land and Transport.
The special focus of
MCC interest is the TCO-CBO Corridor; at one end of the Corridor is the
Trincomalee Port and at the other end is the Colombo Port. The
Sirisena-Wickramasinghe duo had pledged to cede control of our two major
strategic Ports, to the Americans.
It is interesting to
note that Gotabaya has appointed Daya Ratnayake to be in charge of Sri Lanka’s
Ports. Ratnayake is a Director of ‘Pathfinders’, an ultra-Conservative American
Organisation, set up by Gambol, that receives direct funds from the American
Government.
The proposed MCC
electrified railway line between the Port of Trincomalee and the Port of
Colombo is planned to be done by Japan, the cornerstone of the US
Military alliance in the Indo Pacific; Japan, being also involved in the
establishment of the Mono-rail system in CBO will be firmly entrenched in the
Ports at TCO and CBO.
If the draft MCC
Agreement is allowed to be inked, the MCA, would be assigned to represent
the Government and would be granted operational and legal independence with
full decision-making autonomy.
The
Sirisena-Wickramasinghe duo had pledged to the Americans that the MCA would not
require to consult or obtain the consent or approval of the GOSL or the people;
they had pledged that the MCA would be empowered to bind the Country and the
people to their decisions.
And what of the much
hyped 480 Million USD? When tranches of money, from the pledged whole, are
doled out by the MCC, the monies are put into the bank account of the MCA and
NOT, to the coffers of the Government of Sri Lanka!!
The
Sirisena-Wickramasinghe duo had also pledged to the Americans that the MCA
could spend the money received as they deem fit, without consulting or seeking
approval of the Government; furthermore, that Sri Lanka Government would
honour all the contracts the MCA enters into and allow herself to
be sued for the actions of her Primary Agent.
Could the Auditor
General, audit the MCA Accounts? No, the accounts would be audited by Companies
selected by the MCA and the rules of audit would be American rules.
The Program
Implementation Agreement (PIA), the constitutive documents and the internal
regulations of MCA which would define in detail how the MCA should be governed
are not included in the draft MCC Agreement circulated by the MCC.
In short, for
discussion’s sake, if Sri Lanka had the misfortune to sign the draft MCC
‘Agreement’ she would be accepting terms and conditions unknown to her on how
the MCA should be run. It would be akin to signing a document in blank.
Perhaps these
documents have been deliberately omitted because whatever that is agreed upon
can be readily changed, as per the draft MCC Agreement, if the parties, amongst
themselves, make changes and record these changes in writing.
It is pertinent that
the Sirisena-Wickramasinghe duo have pledged the above to the Americans, when
Article 148 of the Constitution which they are required to uphold says, loud
and clear, Parliament shall have full control over public finance.”
There is also
violation of Article 154 of the Constitution, relating to the functions of the
Auditor General
This is only just one
instance, in the draft MCC Agreement, where a pledge has been made that Sri
Lanka is willing to surrender her sovereignty; this Study Circle will identify
and expose the other areas of treachery in the coming weeks running up to the
General Election. The Study Circle will analyse the ramifications of each of
these instances of treachery,
The draft MCC
Agreement, if signed and implemented, would derail the Constitution, subvert
Democracy, physically divide the Country and surrender Sri Lanka and her people
to a Foreign Power.
Curriculum
and Teaching reforms would be the most considerable area in the education
reforms process of Sri Lanka and the quality of education will be dependent on
the success of the curriculum and teaching process. This is the secrecy that
the success of education in Western countries.
Parents of Sri Lanka wish to send kids for education to Western
countries as the expectations of them could not be achieved in the current
education system and economic opportunities in Sri Lanka too limited for
educated youth the education has not organized to relate with economic plans.
The curriculum and teaching have not disposed to support economic development.
It needs to understand that education and economic development are variable
with higher positive correlation.
If
Sri Lanka’s education system well organized to achieve the best quality and
attract foreigners to education it is proved that no point sending kids
overseas for education. The current
practice in Sri Lanka shows that sending kids for education in overseas
generate cost to country absorbing country’s foreign exchange and finally
educated and trained people sending to developed countries out of the cost of
Sri Lanka. Indirectly this environment polarizes the society as foreign
educated people and locally educated people.
Sometimes,
kids in Western countries will come to Sri Lanka for education if the quality
of education, the education system supports the expectation of foreigners, the
cost of education substantially lesser than the Western countries. The truth is
that Sri Lanka has not been to practically maintained all these factors as the
fiscal capacity of the country is limited.
There
are arguments among education experts in Western countries about their
education policies. Either Sri Lankans or many people in overseas have no idea
about this arena and blindly believe that the best education system exists in
the West. The major reason to this
perception is the offer of education is based on research and many education
philosophers such as John Dewey and Charles Sanders Pierce contributed
philosophical insights to change the education practice in the West. Education policy makers in Sri Lanka are
neither highly regarded philosophers nor they are good researchers in the field
but political supporters of the ruling government and they have no good
experience to determine curriculum and teaching applicable to the country. What
kind of education should be gained by kids is based on individual preference
and ambition, which are concerned with many factors.
When
it talks about education the most popular term that goes along with the word
education is the curriculum. No matter which context of education talking about
curriculum is a vital term to education.
It clearly seems that no education exists without organized curriculum
in the modern era. When parents are selecting a school for kids, when matured
students selecting a program in a TVET institution or in a university the
priority is to investigate or research what sort of curriculum is being offered
by the school or TVET institution or the university for educational
programs. Sometimes, it has a feeling
that a curriculum is an ever-emphasized term in schools or in society. Now workplaces also concern about the
curriculum learned at schools by employees.
Therefore, it is very clear that the curriculum has a different meaning
to different people or organizations and curriculum is the strongest source of
knowledge and skills to learners.
The
curriculum would be specialized education or training or a source of education
and the way of gaining education to different people. The traditional school system in Sri Lanka,
curriculum for exams such as G.C.E. (Ordinary Level) and G.C.E. (Advance Level)
had a homogeneous choice in nature and it created issues in the dynamic world
as kids had not been supported by school’s curriculum to achieve life
expectations such as finding a job. The school administration has not authority
to develop school curriculum and the authority of tertiary institutions also
very limited.
Curriculum
and teaching give impression that it is over-emphasis area in education, the
truth regarding education in Sri Lanka, it is less accentuated area in
education and after independence many attempts made for changes, but they were
not successful achieving expectations of stakeholders. The contributing factor
for the failure was lack of experience in how to change curriculum and lack of
understanding the strategies that should be used in a complex society for
curriculum developments, presentation and teaching methods used in schools
illustrating in the national curriculum documents. In addition to policy in the destitution of
knowledge and practical skills gaining from curriculum and teaching, the
failure of reforms also contributed to weak curriculum and teaching in Sri
Lanka.
Reformists
did not educate the public on the essential changes and they haven’t had
effective alternative strategies if the reform process would turn to a fiasco
and what would be remedial actions to correct mistakes, were not pre-planned by
policy makers. This means that there was
not a successful monitoring process to identify weaknesses in policy
implementation in the education field. When I was in primary school, I can
remember curriculum and teaching methods began to change and give some values
to TVET curriculum in Primary education under leadership of Minister
Irriagolla, but such a positive change was abandoned as the left politics
attempted to use positive changes to discreet it.
Curriculum
and teaching are interrelated features in education and practically working
together. The success of the curriculum would be achieved on the effectiveness
of teaching methods that apply to teach the curriculum in schools. Ornstein and
Hunskins (1988) expressed that curriculum as a field of study is elusive and
fragmentary and what it is supposed to entail is open to a good deal of debate
and even misunderstanding.” Therefore, it is required to clearly understand the
meaning of curriculum within the context of education level or area. Ornstein and Hunskins (1988) further
expressed that curriculum approach reflects a holistic position encompassing
the foundation of curriculum (the philosophy, view of history, view of
psychology, learning theories and view of social issues), domain of curriculum
(Common and Important knowledge within the field) and theoretical and practical
principles of curriculum.
UNESCO
defined curriculum is an organized education plan and curriculum in education
in Sri Lanka has not become an education plan that leads kids to achieve future
success and the national curriculum documents have not organized as an
education plan. The weakness in curriculum in schools in Sri Lanka is that
educational curriculum in all contexts has not carefully designed plan with
education of students. When I was in secondary context, I found that some
schools ignored teaching certain topics and the methods used were primitive
than requirement of the era. A plan should have broader aims, objectives,
specific objectives and the assessment to reflect the achievement of outcomes,
however, it is not successfully working in the education system of Sri Lanka.
It
is difficult to observe curriculum in schools, TVET systems and universities
have organized accordance the definition of UNESCO, and presented in terms of
an accepted way as a national curriculum document, which clearly expresses the
accepted concept such as outcome-based or cognitive strategies. Curriculum developers may have selected the
necessary area of contents, but the curriculum has not developed organizing the
programs with essential characteristics and the way of teachers to adapt to the
method and to assess students in support of the method. In this environment,
teachers have a predicament using appropriate teaching strategies and student
assessment. In this background tuition
masters, who never obtained proper teaching and training qualifications have
become heroes of students and parents must spend large sum of money for tuition
masters while the government paying salaries and other benefits to teachers who
do not play the role expected by stakeholders.
The
philosophy of president Rajapaksa on education and training has already
presented and adapting to the philosophy in the country has many impediments
and substages as many people including school teachers, tertiary educators,
tuition masters and, politicians directly or indirectly work against the
philosophy and resist the reforms.
Curriculum
and relevant teaching methods need to be changed according to aims of the
changes, inventions, practices in the world. It needs wider consultation and
continuous debate like in the western countries and in this debate desires of
stakeholders cannot be ignored and the outcome generation from the education of
students in primary and secondary contexts should be given the priority. When talks about outcomes generation, the
best place to demonstrate outcomes are the schools that should have a good
environment for the purpose and some schools and teachers use the results of
tuition masters’ efforts as their achievements.
tuition masters have good resources environment and resources; however,
it is seen that kids are persuading tuition masters than attaching to schools
and using the resources of schools. Why this situation created in the country?
Many reasons contributed to this situation.
The
first contributory factor is the department of education has not trained
teachers to use resources and implement the curriculum in schools to achieve
educational outcomes, and the inspection and supervision process of the
education department is weaker to assess the practical implementation of
curriculum and rate teachers and teaching from the lowest level of education,
which is the classroom.
The
education department has disappointed stakeholders without considering the
expectations of stakeholders and allowing the promotion of tuition outside the
schools, which an expensive method of gaining education despite the existing
free education. Tuition teachers were
trained and tuition places have no resources like in schools, in such an
environment why students attract tuition places because curriculum has not
focused to generates outcomes (including theoretical, practical and
qualitative), and schools have failed to achieve the expectation of
stakeholders. The government spends money but the expected outcomes have not
been generated by the education policy spending money. Investigation to the problem should be a part
of the curriculum and teaching reforms.
The
second contributory factor is education assessment, which concerns on
curriculum and teaching and they should base on the result generation from
education. Outcomes are a combination of knowledge, practice, quality, values
and many matters. Students have a
misguided perception that it they achieve knowledge outcomes at the exams it
would be the achievement of stakeholders. It is an entirely misconception given
to stakeholders’ mind. This wrong
perception must be changed by curriculum and teaching reforms and the
achievement of outcomes in a broader area should be designed to focus on
education results. The concentration of the achievement of outcomes will be
supported to achieve expected results from education and to change the society.
While
concentrating on policy developments in education reforms in early childhood,
primary and secondary contexts, TVET contexts should be developed competency
achievement of students, which relates to knowledge, skills, quality, values,
adaptability to work environment and selected area of criteria. Another significant point is that education
policy makers should concentrate teaching from primary context a half of
subject in Sinhala or Tamil medium and the other half in English medium, which
promote competency in two languages. Knowledge of English has become a major
reason to polarisation of society. Education should support to eliminate
fallacious attitudes from the society.
TVET
curriculum needs focusing on knowledge of the subject matter or trade area,
skills in the application of trade competency, practice in the application of
value and the ability to converse in Sinhala, English and any other
international language such as German, French, Mandarin, Arabic, Korean or any
other. When organizing the curriculum
for a broader area of subject and training for the achievement of competencies,
there wouldn’t be unemployment in the country as such a trained trade personnel
have demand in anywhere in the world.
However, curriculum and teaching in TVET context have not organized in
the international qualification framework and the education policy makers need
to consider offering TVET qualifications on international framework.
Certificate
1 and 2 level could offer to grade 10 and 12 students and if they do not
achieve university entrance, they can continue TVET education in TVET
institutions and after an advance diploma they can enter to the university and
to obtain a degree within two years, otherwise they can engaged in workplaces
as skilled trade personnel.
There
is no doubt that education reforms in school contexts and TVET context have
lots to do and a country with a small population reforms could be easily
implemented with lesser costs.
The Editor, Human Rights Watch New York,N.Y. U.S.A.
At the outset it is
important to state that the so-called “war” in Sri Lanka was one that
was waged by the terrorist group known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE) which had the dubious distinction of being classed as the most violent
terrorist group at the time, against the democratically elected Government of
Sri Lanka, with the goal of dividing the country to establish a fascist, Tamil
only state in the north and east of Sri Lanka comprising one third of the
country. The LTTE was an internationally designated group banned by the UNSC
and 32 countries. The protracted war was funded by LTTE supporters in Europe,
Canada, the U.S. and Australia and supported by these countries just to get
votes of LTTE supporters in their countries. Western countries never had any
interest in helping Sri Lanka defeat the Tamil terrorists, Sri Lanka had to do
it alone. This was at a time that the international community was broadcasting
their “war on terrorism”!
When the security forces of the Government of Sri
Lanka, without any help from these western countries, finally managed to engage
the LTTE and forced it to retreat from west to east, the LTTE compelled Tamil
civilians to move with them to be used for their labour and serve as a human
shield. In the final stages when it became clear that the LTTE would be
defeated, all that the western countries wanted was to negotiate a safe passage
for the LTTE leader and his hard core fighters. This effort was led by the U.S.
ambassador to Sri Lanka, Mr. R. Blake. This action merely confirmed the fact
that the western countries supported LTTE interests, not the people of Sri
Lanka who were the victims of Tamil terrorism.
Resolution Number 30/1 of October 1, 2015 was adopted by the UNHRC
against Sr Lanka based on an imaginary figure of civilian deaths which were
never proven or based of facts. The UN Resident Representative in Colombo
reported a total of 7,721 killed between the end of August 2008 and May 13,2009
based on information from selected sources on the ground including Tamil
employees of UN agencies whom the LTTE refused to release. TamilNet, the
propaganda arm of the LTTE stated the number as 7398. Amensty claimed a total
of 10,000 killed, the U.K. Sunday Times reporter, who only flew over the last
battleground with Ban Ki Moon on May 25,2009 claimed 20,000 killed and later
this figure increased to 40,000 killed. The pro-LTTE reporter Francis Harrison
must be still be looking for the dead to count as she believed that 70,000 to
140,000 may have been killed but to date has not indicated how many she
has counted. The fact is that these numbers kept increasing based on the
claimant’s need to exaggerate and dramatise but there was no substantiation or
proven facts to back these claims. The number of genuine civilians killed is
unknown because none of the published figures distinguish between combatants,
LTTE auxiliary forces and non-combatant civilians.
The myth of 20,000, 40,000 killed is resurrected
whenever the organizations and countries that supported the LTTE make
representations at the UN in Geneva. The pro-LTTE Yasmin Sooka, a Tamil
from South Africa who is closely linked with the Tamil lobby, attends
propaganda meetings organized by the pro-LTTE groups, surfaces regularly in
time for the Human Rights sessions in Geneva. She has benefited by her openly
partisan approach and received a grant of twenty-five million Euros for a NGO
headed by her in South Africa.
In 2012 the Government of Sri Lanka carried
out a census carried out by Tamil school teachers and public servants in
the north to find out the number killed in the last stages of the war.
They established a number of 7,432 excluding those who had died of natural
causes. TamilNet, the propaganda arm of the LTTE stated that the total killed
during the period January 1,2009 to May 2009 was 7398. This proves that the
figures from LTTE propagandists of 40,000 to 100,000 is merely a figment of
their imagination. To date, there are no graves, no dead bodies to substantiate
their fictitious numbers.
The
question that the UN needs to answer is why Sri Lanka is being harassed by the
UN and
orgsnizations such as yours and attempts continue to interfere in Sri Lanka’s
internal affairs. Until the UN does and discredits your reports and opinions,
Sri Lanka will be subjected to the same lies and myths for the next sessions in
Geneva.
Sinhala is the ethnic group native to Sri Lanka,
forming the mainstream or the dominant indigenous community of the island for
more than 2500 years. In fact, Sri Lanka is the only
national sovereign motherland of the Sinhala people. Their culture, way of life
and their Sinhala language originated and developed in Sri Lanka. Therefore,
inevitably, the sovereign national rights of Sri Lanka rests with the Sinhala
people who form the original dominant community of this country. Tamils,
Muslims, and Malays are non-indigenous minority settler communities of Sri
Lanka who settled in the island at different times in the past, coming from
their own homelands or motherlands.
A good part of the long history of the island, has
been recorded or written by its own people in an unbroken continuous manner.
This written history goes back to over 2500 years and is described
chronologically, in detail, in the ancient chronicles Deepavansa (3rd-4th
century CE), Mahavamsa (6th century CE), Chulavamsa, besides the
Rajavaliya, Pujavaliya, Dhatuvamsaya, Elu-Attanagaluvamsaya, Elu-Bodhivamsaya,
Maha Bodhivamsaya, Thupavamsaya, Daladavamsaya and Viharavamsaya. This written history is supported by archaeological evidence, and
reports of foreign travelers of ancient times. Among archaeological evidence
substantiating recorded historic information are rock inscriptions. The written history of Sri Lanka is regarded as the
second-most remarkable recorded history in existence of an ancient and cultured
civilization. It is second only to the records maintained by the Shang dynasty
of Chinese emperors. The historical chronicles narrate in detail the
history of the country since the arrival of Buddhism in 237 BCE or 3rd century
BCE or about 2246 years ago.
These historic sources provide information on Sinhala Buddhist Kings who
rescued the Sinhala race, the island and Buddhism from marauding Tamil armies
of powerful South Indian Dravidian kingdoms. Also about its benevolent rulers
who performed deeds of piety, who made the country self-sufficient in rice by
way of irrigation engineering, promoted Ayurveda medicine and medical practice,
build Buddhist temples, stupas and reigned with efforts to follow Dasaraja
Dharma – the tenfold righteous path of a king. The accuracy of this historical
record of ancient Sri Lanka is generally accepted by means of other numerous
local and Indian edicts such as the rock edicts of Indian Emperor Asoka
and records of the Fa Hien the Chinese pilgrim monk, Roman historian Pliny and
several others who have already been referred to. Also, by means of
inscriptions, historical works, and literary works as well as by way of ruins,
renovated historical and Buddhist monuments, ancient yet sophisticated
irrigation networks, which extend the lifeline to date.
Sri
Lanka is not the traditional name of the island. In
ancient times, the island was referred to in many names but all implied that it
is the land of the Sinhala. It was called Sinhaladveepa, Sivuhelaya, Heladiva,
Heladveepa, Helabima, Seylan, Taprobane (by Greeks for the ancient name
Tambapanni), Thunsinhale, Sinhale, Ceylon and Sri Lanka. Buddhist scholars of
ancient times referred to the island as Dhammadveepa or the island of
Buddhism. Fa-Hien’s (400 CE) writings & those of
Xuan Zang and other ancient Chinese records refer to Sri Lanka as Simhala,
Sinhaladipa or land of the Sinhalas. Ptolemy (2nd century)
although calls the island Taprobane, referred to inhabitants of the island as
‘Salai’. Sinhale (or Sinhalay) has been the legitimate historical name, for
many centuries in the past, until about the early 19th century when
the people of the island were subject to European colonialism. It was at
this time that the name Sinhale was corrupted by the British as Ceylon. It was
44 years after gaining political independence from the British, in 1972, that
the name Sri Lanka was imposed on the island. It should be noted that in
the Sinhala version of the Udarata Givisuma” or the so-called Kandyan
Convention of 1815, by which the country fell into the hands of the British,
the island is referred to as Sinhale. Excluding the roughly 150 years of British
colonial rule, when the island was under colonial rule, Sri Lanka has existed
as an independent sovereign nation for about 2500 years. In fact, it is, one of the oldest countries in the world within its present borders. The
boundaries of most countries have changed in the past.
Oldest
Buddhist Country in The World
As much as 70% of the
total population of Sri Lanka are Buddhists. Sri Lanka is the oldest Buddhist country in the world, where Buddhism was the dominant
religion since 237 BCE or for more than 2250 years. It is noteworthy that until
about the 16th century, about 99% of the population of the island
were Buddhists. In other words, for some 1800 years, Sri Lanka was an
exclusively Buddhist country with almost the entire population being Buddhist. In terms of area and
Buddhist population, Sri Lanka, is among the smallest of the 30 traditionally
Buddhist countries in the world, which consist of substantial Buddhist
populations. Also, it is the smallest among the six Theravada Buddhist
countries, namely – Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and India.
Although small in area and population, Sri Lanka is by no means ‘small’ in
terms of its global significance as a Buddhist country. It has been the country where Buddhist teachings have been preserved in
its original form or the Theravada tradition, for over 2200 years. Buddhists
across the world respect Sri Lanka as the country where pure Buddhism prevails.
It is the traditional Sri Lanka Buddhist flag that has become the acknowledged
global Buddhist flag in recent years. It was the recent initiative of Sri Lanka
that led the United Nations, to celebrate Vesak as an important global event.
The Buddhist way of life is based fundamentally on
non-violence and peaceful co-existence with others irrespective of ethnic,
religious, and other differences. For some 2500 years, the Sinhala people were
organized in terms of their royalty, nobility, spiritual hierarchy, their
Kingdoms and Royal Capitals, and their irrigation-based farming system. Buddhist values are geared at developing a social ethic which, would
contribute to co-existence, mutual understanding, co-operation, and total
harmony. To strengthen impartiality, people are advised not to succumb to
biases and prejudices not to give in to attachment, hatred, fear, confusion,
but to rise above them and do what is righteous. This concept of righteousness,
which is designated by the term ‘Dhamma’ in fact, provides the firm foundation
for the whole of Buddhist culture. The general admonition is to do what is
righteous (Dhamma) and avoid what is unrighteous (adhamma). On this basis, all
that is beneficial to oneself and others is considered meritorious (Punna) and
wholesome (Kusala) and their opposites as demeritorious (Papa) and unwholesome
(akusala). As the Dhammapada (Stanza No.183) says: Not to do any evil, to
cultivate good, to purify one’s mind – this is the Teaching of the Buddha. It
is on this basic teaching that Buddhist values are developed, lives are molded,
and social relations are cultivated. This explains why Buddhist culture
attempts to nurture in the people a feeling for others, to mutually share with
others moments of happiness and joy, to show respect to elders, to care for
parents to attend on the sick and destitute, to honour and respect those who
are deserving, to treat guests and visitors with friendliness and affection.
Sinhala
Buddhist National Culture
Sri Lanka’s identity as a nation is based on
the Sinhala Buddhist culture and the Sinhala language which is the defining
element of Sinhala culture. Buddhist norms and
principles form
the corner stones of this unique culture. With the arrival and spread of Buddhism in the island, there came an era
of unsurpassed attainments and achievements in the country.The island’s
civilization has achieved an individuality and identity of its own that
distinguishes it from its neighbors.
All
salient aspects of our national culture – tangible and intangible, either grew
or evolved within the borders of our country. Sinhala language and literature
originated in Sri Lanka. Sinhala language in fact is the most important
defining element of our nation’s culture and heritage, from historic times. The
Sinhala language grew out of Indo-Aryan dialects and
exists only in Sri Lanka and has its own distinguished literary tradition.
Sinhala is one of the world’s oldest living languages. There have been a
wide range of languages in the world, particularly in Asia which lived and died
without leaving evidence of their existence, because they were never written
down. This is not the case with the Sinhala language. All other languages used
in Sri Lanka originated in other countries. It is significant to note
that the overwhelming majority of people of Sri Lanka are distinguished by
their language – Sinhala, which even today has a strong unifying effect in our
motherland helping to reinforce the solidarity of our people as a unique
cultural entity in the world. Almost all place names of the country from
historic times, are in the Sinhala language – in the North, South, East, West
and Central regions.
Cultural
heritage encompasses material culture, in the form of objects, structures,
sites, architecture, sculpture, paintings, and other forms of fine arts, as
well as living (or expressive) culture in the form of language, literature,
customs, traditions, rituals, ceremonies, and festivals, performing arts, music
and so on. These unique forms of cultural expression provide this country with
its distinct national identity. They are the living evidence of the outstanding
cultural heritage of this nation. It was Buddhism
that fashioned lifestyles, fostered the arts, and inspired the nation’s
architecture, sculpture, paintings, and other fine arts. It led to the creation
of stupes (pagodas), temples, monasteries, statues, and a fascinating diversity
of aesthetically pleasing artistic ventures and cultural activities. It
is important to note that all salient aspects of the national culture –
tangible and intangible, either grew or evolved within the borders of Sri
Lanka. This includes the Sinhala language and literature which originated in
the island.
The exceptionally rich heritage of visual arts of the Sinhala Buddhist
people of Sri Lanka, extends to a period that exceeds 2300 years, from the 3rd
century BCE to the 21st CE. The Sinhala
Buddhist culture is one of the World’s oldest, continuous, unchanged cultures
in existence. It is one of world’s important and exemplary cultures in existence.
It is a civilization unique to Sri Lanka alone. The simple and
uncomplicated lifestyle promoted by Buddhist culture, is based on the five
basic precepts of Buddhism. Non-violence, compassion, tolerance, morality, and
peaceful coexistence with others and with nature are the cornerstones of
Buddhist culture.
Despite
foreign invasions, threats and various forms of challenges and atrocities,
Buddhist culture has remained intact in the island, unlike the case with many
ancient cultures in most other countries in the world. Throughout most of its history, Sinhala kings and
Buddhist institution of monks, played a major role in the development and
maintenance of Buddhist culture and institutions in the island. The
world recognition of the greatness of this unique Sinhala Buddhist culture is
reflected by the UNESCO designating ancient sites, including the ancient royal
capitals of the Sinhala people such – Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Mahanuwara
(Kandy), Sigiriya and Dambulla as World Heritage Sites. Ancient irrigation
system developed by the Sinhala kings is still operational and is considered as
– Engineering marvels. The earthen and stone dams and reservoirs systems the
canal network and related water control and management structures and
techniques show the skills of the ancient Sinhala people.
There is only one nation in this island of Sri Lanka or Sinhale. A
‘Nation’ is a self-identifying group of people who share a common history, a
common language, a common culture and most importantly a homeland. In other
words, a nation is the most persistent alliance or organization of three main
social components -people-culture- territory. Culture can be defined as the
system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that the
members of society use to cope with their world and with one another, and that
are transmitted from generation to generation through learning. In a
broader sense, a subculture is any group within a larger complex culture who
has interests that vary from those of the mainstream culture. In a more
specific sense, it is a group with a distinct style and identity. Even though
it is obvious that there are large number of subcultures within any given
national culture, People live and think in ways that form finite patterns that
can be mutually constructed through a constant process of social interaction.
The country’s predominant culture is Sinhala Buddhist. Over the centuries, both
Hindus and Buddhists have co-existed well despite occasional politically
motivated power struggles. One should not be confusing the issue of citizens’
rights with that of a nation’s identity.
There were Tamils or Dravidians in Sri Lanka for several centuries in
the past, most of them assimilated and appreciated the Sinhala Buddhist culture
until the Europeans arrived and took control of our nation. Although we let
them into our land and offered them hospitality, in return they acted to
undermine our country, the Buddhist religion, and tried to destroy our culture
and thereby break the harmony in our society. With the adoption of a policy of
‘divide and rule’ by the British, it has been a continuing saga against Sinhala
people, especially the Buddhists. To serve their serf interests, the British
were largely responsible for germinating mistrust among the various ethnic
groups and among our own people.
Tamils cannot have a “right of self-determination” in Sri
Lanka because the homeland of the Tamil nation is Tamil Nadu, and not Sri Lanka
or ‘Sinhale’ as the island was known in early times. Only the Sinhala nation
has the right to self-determination in Sinhale’. The real objective behind all
this talk of a “Tamil Nation and Tamils’ Right to Self-Determination”
(which even the Indian Constitution does not recognize) is to make way for the
racist Tamil LTTE dream of creating a Greater Tamil Eelam linking Sri Lanka’s
North and East with Tamil Nadu. The Tamils came from their motherland, the
Tamilnadu where their culture and language originated. The Tamil nation of
Tamilnadu is seven times bigger than Sri Lanka, where one needs to be a pure
Tamil to hold any high official position. Tamils have their national heritage
and aspirations protected within Tamilnadu.
Violation of National
Interests
Hela nationals will not tolerate any community or person who whilst
living in the Hela Nation and considering it their home, deliberately misusing
such privilege by scheming and adopting violent and extreme actions or
contributing to such actions violating the sovereignty, dignity, and
territorial integrity of the Sinhala Nation. This includes the ridiculously
false and unfounded claims made by Tamil and Muslim leaders in pursuit of carving
out ethnic or religious enclaves within the Sinhala Nation, merely because some
of them had lived in some specific places in the country for extended periods
of time. Persons with such self-serving objectives and attitudes are traitors
of the Nation and should be tolerated under any circumstances. There is no
place in the Hela Nation for such traitors, double crossers, renegades,
turncoats, collaborators of enemies, criminals and terrorists, conspirators,
connivers, schemers and emissaries, spies, secret agents, undercover agents,
and double agents of the enemies of the Sinhala Nation.
Maintaining the foremost place for Buddhism and
protecting and fostering the Buddha Sasana should be essential components of
any Constitution of Sri Lanka. The unitary character of the country and the
supremacy of the Parliament should always be maintained thereby preventing any
form of separatism including federalism or administrative units based on Race,
Religion or Language. Police should operate within the entire territory of Sri
Lanka under the direction and control of Inspector General of Police who is the
head of Sri Lanka Police Force. State land must always be vested with the
Republic of Sri Lanka. The Parliament should have full control over public
Finance and no institution should be permitted to receive funds from any
foreign source, without the approval of the President or the Cabinet of
Ministers.
In Sri Lanka, the granting of excessive rights to
minorities in the form of alien-national rights of language and culture, land
rights and police powers and so on, and thereby eventually enabling them to
form separate ethnic enclaves in different parts of the island should not be permitted
under any circumstances. Such action as evident today, will be strongly
resisted by the nation’s patriotic forces, including Buddhist monks who have
from historic times been in the forefront in promoting and protecting the
Sinhala Buddhist culture of the island. These patriotic forces will not
tolerate any disintegration of the national sovereignty, the cultural
integrity, and the long-established territorial integrity of the country. There
has been serious deprivation of the legitimate rights of the Sinhala Buddhists,
in recent times. In Sri Lanka, many Bhikkhus have entered the political
arena to ensure the protection of Buddhist heritage, the Buddha Sasana and
Buddhist values which undermined and subject to threats in recent times. Their main
motive is to safeguard the national heritage and culture and thereby to secure
the rights of the Sinhala Buddhists.
Those
settling down or have already settled down in host countries have a bounden
duty to merge with the host nation into a single coherent nation of
members. It is basically, a state of mindset, not necessarily physical
interaction. Within these host countries, human rights and civic rights of the
host nation are what the settler minorities are entitled to and not the
alien-national rights of the countries of their national origins they left
behind for pastures anew. Their alien-national rights will shift to the private
domain when in host countries and not to threaten the national sovereignty of
the host countries either.
Sri Lanka wants all non-indigenous minorities of our
nation such as the Tamils, Muslims, Moors and others of whatever label, to be a
part of our Nation, to join the country’s mainstream, just the way how minority
communities are expected to do in all countries of the world, especially in
places like Canada, Australia, USA, UK, Norway and help to strengthen our
nation founded on the noble principles of non-violence, tolerance, compassion,
where peaceful co-habitation has been the cornerstone from historic times.
Forgiving and forgetting” has been the attitude of our people, even to those
who have harmed us repeatedly from historic times, because our people know that
eventually justice and truth will prevail.
Sinhala Buddhist Leadership
Our Bhikkhus, the traditional leaders of the nation, should necessarily
be in the forefront in movements aimed at protecting and promoting the Buddha
Sasana and important national interests, especially when they are under
threat. Many Bhikkhus have voluntarily made their choice to take an open
public stand on issues surrounding Buddhism and Buddhist culture which is the
greatest treasure that our country could offer to the world, to humanity. Our
Bhikkhus have become a thorn in the flesh of racists, religious extremists, the
recent breed of inter-faith dialogue facilitators, those in the ethnic and
human rights businesses and above all those who are funded or backed by
extremist foreign anti-Sinhala or anti-Buddhist elements. Why should
anyone feel uncomfortable when Bhikkhus, the traditional spiritual leaders of
our country, take the initiative and provide necessary leadership to
protect the greatest wealth of this nation – our Buddhist cultural heritage.
Like anyone else, under a democratic system, Bhikkhus are eligible to exercise
their rights, including political rights. Those who object to the initiative
taken by our Bhikkhus appear to be those with ulterior motives, having their
own self-interests and opposed to the strengthening and consolidation of Buddhist
culture in this country. They in fact are resorting to devious unwholesome
activities that are contrary to Buddhist norms and principles which have been
preserved and promoted for thousands of years in this country, by the large
majority of its inhabitants. These undesirable elements may be feeling
uncomfortable about recent changes in the country, especially with the
emergence of a political leadership that is representative of the aspirations
of the mainstream Sinhala Buddhist community of the island. The recent election
of Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the President of Sri Lanka, with the overwhelming
support of the Sinhala, the dominant community of the island, can be considered
as a definite positive development in the country.
The forthcoming parliamentary election provides the opportunity for
people to elect such upright, capable and patriotic individuals to work for the
welfare of the country, and for the consolidation of the Sinhala Buddhist
cultural legacy of the nation. Genuine and practicing Buddhists of our country,
or in general, those who strictly follow the Five Precepts, should be more
actively involved in politics either directly or indirectly. Most of the ills
of our nation’s political life could be attributed to the absence or withdrawal
of genuine Buddhists from the nation’s political arena and the domain of the
media where they could be quite influential in bringing about necessary changes
in public opinion of issues that are of national importance. Genuine Buddhists
have a duty by the nation, which is founded on Buddhist principles, to be fully
involved and participating in organizations working for the welfare of the
nation. This is particularly relevant today because our nation is severely
threatened at present by diverse negative forces both local and foreign.
It is the Buddhist perspective to public life and decision-making, that
is most needed today, especially in the country’s political domain and
administration. We need compassionate politicians and professionals with
unselfish and mindful interest in the welfare of the country. This alone can
bring about needed positive changes in public life which has been for decades,
infected with dishonesty, crime, and corruption. The impact and influence of
genuine, selfless patriotic Buddhist leaders, can make a big difference. They
can help to generate a wholesome political culture, that is characterized by
Buddhist approaches and attitudes and a truly Buddhist atmosphere, conducive to
the development of a healthy political climate in our nation, so that all
nationals will benefit irrespective of their diverse origins and
cultural-religious inclinations.
Politics in fact is simply about deciding how to live together peaceably
while bringing together the wide variety of perspectives available in the human
realm. It is something necessary and something creative. Politics is part
of our life. If we regard all life as sacred and politics is a part of life,
then politics must be sacred. Politics is not an inherently unclean and base
activity. It becomes dirty in the way that everything else becomes dirty. That
is, through lack of attention, through lack of mindfulness, through ego, all of
which resulting in greed, hatred, and delusion. The best kind of politics can
take the profound viewpoints and virtues of spiritual practice and apply them
in the public realm. Buddhism can be of fundamental help in this regard. If we
do not bring spiritual virtues to the public arena, we are destined to both a
selfish kind of spirituality and a selfish kind of government, devoid of vision
and meaning. It is time that increasingly of our genuine and practicing Buddhists
entered the political arena in various influential capacities.
Buddhism has always been engaged in various socio-political contexts. The idea of interdependence is widely associated with Buddhism. Buddhism is the religion of Human Ecology. Engaging in the lives of others through compassion, sacrifice and service is the worthy spiritual path that the contemporary world needs to observe. Buddhists need to expand our approach or shift somewhat away from those traditional customs that excessively promote monasticism and individual salvation. They should become more socially engaged and be more concerned about service to the community, the human habitat, and the environment in general. Buddhists need to broaden their spiritual practices to include both family and community and the social and environmental concerns of the broader world. We need to be better able to identify and understand social hardships, misery, and perils, and can do something tangible to relieve them. It is time that we as Buddhists involve ourselves in an organized manner, become socially engaged and apply Buddhism to matters of everyday life, individual work, family, politics, and the community. It needs to be a direct application of Buddhist principles and concepts to the overall development of our motherland, to the varied social, economic, and political issues that have implications for the short and long term welfare and development of our motherland, the only country of the Sinhala community.
The evil trio
Sambandan/Sumanthiran/Wigneswaran who fervently desist the people’s victory in
the presidential election and look at everything cynically and matters to
defame and and discredit the government and thereby project Sri Lanka as a
nation of discrimination, suppression and a despotic country have taken up
National Anthem as their latest punching pad.
Their cohorts, the foreign based diaspora scribes, the pro-UNP Tamil/NGO
elements and surprisingly the ignoramus and nincompoop Tamil Nadu politicians
such as Stalin, the current leader of DMK (inTamil this party is known as Thi
Mu Ka and some people say it represents for Thirutta Mudiyatha Kaluthaikal
{The donkeys that cannot be tamed} as well have joined the chorusexpressing
their objection to singing the National Anthem only in Sinhala at the
forthcoming Independence Day on February 4th.
Before proceeding further it is important
to say a few words to this Tamil Nadu fellow that he should keep his politics
confined to Tamil Nadu and not attempt to meddle with Sri Lankan affairs and if
he has any guts and gumption launch a demand to sing the Indian National Anthem
of Bengali language Jana Gana Mana” in Tamil in the next Indian Independence
Day. If he made such a demand then this
stupid will get a real and unforgettable treatment of cow dung bath from the
ordinary street folks in Chennai, before the Indian government take appropriate
action against him.
There are nearly 200 countries in the
world and in all these countries, countries even with multiple official
languages suchas India the National Anthem is sung by only in one language and
in some countries it is sung by a language other than the official language of
that country.
For
instance :
In
India – in Bengali Language although the
official language is Hindi.
In
Singapore – in Malay language
In
Malaysia – in the Indonesian language, Java
In Sri Lanka prior to 1948 the British
National Anthem God save the King/Queen” was sung at official functions. The Cabinet formed by the Prime Minister
D.S.Senanayake in 1948 had a quandary of selecting an appropriate song to be
sung at the 1949 first independence day.
Minister J.R.Jayawardene then suggested to
use the Namo Namo Maatha” song sung by Mr. Ananda Samarakoon and his chorus at
the National Congress of Sri Lanka in 1934.
However a Cabinet Sub-committee under the chairmanship of E.A.P.
Wijeratne was appointed to select an appropriate song and Messrs. J.R.Jayawardene,
G.G.Ponnambalam and C,Sittambalam served as members of thar Committee. The Committee summoned Mr. Ananda Samarakoon
and suggested some minor changes for which Mr. Samarakoon agreed.
Accordingly Namo Namo Maatha” became the
official National Anthem of Sri Lanka.
Many linguistic scholars objected to the term Namo Namo” saying that it
is inauspicious and it was the reason for the sudden death of D.S.Senanayake
and many other unexpected bad omens around that time and accordingly Namo Namo
Maatha” was changed as Sri Lanka Maatha”. It is stated that Mr. Ananda Samarakoon
was highly annoyed about this change and it contributed to his suicide.
A terrorist diaspora scribe has written in
one of his articles that the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe Government did enact
several constructive achievements favourable to Tamils and chief among them was
the climate of ethnic amity and harmony it brought about. A key factor in this
was restoring the practice of singing the national anthem in Tamil again. This
change was best illustrated by the singing of the national anthem in Tamil at
the annual day of independence celebrations. It has been the practice from 2016
to 2019 for the national anthem to be sung in both Sinhala and Tamil at the
freedom day event. The ceremony began with singing the anthem
In 2016 the Tamil
and terrorist diaspora servile government which blatantly and shamrlrssly
igmore and neglect the aspiraions of other people created an unwanted
controversy through singing the National in Tamil as well from 2016
Independence Day Celebrations. This stupid and myopic government believed that
by singing the national anthem in Sinhala and Tamil, the country would step
towards ethnic reconciliation.The
question ewmains unanswered as to how does singing the national anthem in two
different languages bring two ethnic groups together? On the contrary, it
helped them to move further away from one another by singing the anthem as two
separate groups?
As per a foreign
based diaspora scribe thefirst
Tamil political leader to react against the contemplated move to sing the
National Anthem only in Sinhala was former Cabinet minister and Tamil
Progressive Alliance (TPA) leader (the Indian descendent) Mano Ganesan. This
Indian Origin Tamil (IOT) MP has expressed his criticism through posts on
Facebook and Twitter. More importantly, He has also written to President
Gotabaya Rajapaksa protesting against the proposed move and released the
contents of the missive to the media. Ganesan has pointed out that Tamil
was enshrined in the Constitution as an official and national language and
urged the President to desist from such a course of action. He also reminded
the President that sidelining Tamil was contrary to the pledge Gotabaya made at
his swearing in where he said he would function as the President of all Sri
Lankans. This nincompoop should be reminded that in his motherland India there
are 22 constitutionally recognized lamnguages but their National Anthem is sung
only in Bengali although Hindi is the all Indian official language.
Ganesan followed up his letter to
the President by participating in many meetings and televised programmes and
expressing strong criticism of the proposed move to abolish the singing of the
NA in Tamil at the Independence Day event. He has also been posing the question
as to whether the government wanted to set up a Sri Lankan Rajya” or Sinhala
Buddhist Rajya.”
The main reason for Ganesan’s concern over the national anthem issue is perhaps
due to the fact that the TPA leader played a constructive role in restoring the
rightful status of the national anthem in Tamil. In fact, it was Mano Ganesan
who started the ball rolling in gaining recognition for the NA in Tamil after
the 2015 regime change.
Media reports appeared in early
March 2015 that Mano Ganesan – who was not evenan an MP then – had raised the
issue of the national anthem being sung in Tamil at the National Executive
Council in ehich he was member, and the then President Maithripala Sirisena had
responded positively and reiterated the constitutional position that there was
no bar on the national anthem being sung in Tamil. He had guaranteed that the
NA would be sung in Tamil too. Now this IOT may be dreaming that he could
manipulate President GR as well like he kept shameless and spineless
Sirisena/Ranil under his hackboot. He
should understand that President GR has no obligation at all to listen to him
and he is rightfully obliged to fulfil the aspirations of the people who worked
and toiled day and night and under sun and rain to make him victorious in the
election and to put an end to the foreign and terrorist servile neo-liberal
government of Ranil Wickremasinghe..
It is pertinent to ask this IOT that if he is
so concerned about the National Antham Sri Lanka Matha why he remained silent
and tongue tied when his swimmingpool paetner megalomanuiac Prabhakaran banned singing
this National Amthem and instead sing songs praising and glorifyting terrorism
and terrorists. This IOT should also be
reimded the Supreme Court rejection of the petition filed by his Colombno
machan Pakyasothy Sarawanamuttu in 2016 pleading to declare tht NA should be
sung in Tamil as well.
The megalomaniac Prabhakaran in
2005 banned Sri Lankan Independence Day and decxlared it as a day of mourning
and invited bards and Minstrels to write a national anthem” with patriotic
flavour glorifying and extalling the Tamil liberation struggle and submit it to
him within one month. He said that the
proposed national anthem should symbolise
the history of their
struggle and victories, and it should have a maximum of 18 stanzas in
“immaculate Tamil.”
Further it was stated that the lyrics should extol the “virtues of those
who sacrificed their lives in the Tamil struggle, celebrate the unique
qualities of exclusiveness and resourcefulness of the Tamil homeland, and
manifest the resoluteness, dedication and the aspirations of the Tamil people
for freedom and dignity.”
Many extremely pro-terrorists,
including the terrorist poet Kasinathan submitted their songs and they were
feroxiously against war heroes, Sri Lankan securityforces, condemning the
countryand calling thr Tamils to rise up against to destroy Sri Lanka.
Accordingly from 2005 upto 2019
until the terrorists were vanquished it was only terrorist songs that were sung
in the North and East and these songs were even distributed in foreign
coubntries and why they have suddenly become Iinteresred in Sri Lanka Maath”
national anthem and their demand to sing it Tamil as well is a well calculated
ploy to disrepute the country internationally and hence the government should
stand firm and unwavering in its decision.
Prof. Sandagomi Coperahewa, Head
of Department of Sinhala, University of Colombo opined that there may be two
official languages, but the national anthem is one symbol and should carry the
national significance of a country. If it is sung in another language there has
to be a Constitutional Amendment as well. He further statedd that even in
countries that have more than one language there is only one National Anthem.
Take India for example, it has Hindi and English as official languages but its
National Anthem is highly Sanskritised Bengali. It’s not even Hindi, but all
Indians sing it. In Singapore there are Tamil, English, Malay and Chinese
people, but their National Anthem is sung in Malay. Translations could be there
for the purpose of understanding or interpreting, but everybody should sing it
in one language,”.
Dr.
Kalana Senaratne, Senior Lecturer, Department of Law, University of Peradeniya
said it is clear that singing the national anthem in Tamil during the past few
years hasn’t improved national reconciliation. It is also good to remember that
whether we sing the anthem in Tamil or not, Sinhala is considered as the
prominent language, because it is the language of the majority. Therefore,
singing the national anthem in Tamil is simply a symbolic act, which is
immaterial to the advancement of national reconciliation in Sri Lanka.
Ven. Elle Gunawansa Thero enphasising
that it is our foremost duty to protect the independence and sovereignty of the
country said that the political parties in the North have deliberately started
the demand for singing the National Anthem in Tamil to create chaos in the
country to undermine the firthcoming elections. The Ven. Thero further stated
similar to we jiuned to gether to get the independence abd similar to we joined
together to liberate the country from the terrorists we must join together
against these threats as well and explained that disgrunbntled foreign elements
are behind these threats.
Rear Admiral Sararath Weerasekera
said that the denabd for singing the National Anbthem was not something that
originated from the Tamil o rMuslim in the North. It was something floated by
racist politician and something that would violate our constitution. It os a new attempt to create rivalry among
the communities. There should pme
nayipnal anthem for a country. In India
swaspite they havng a large population and a large number of communities and
languages they sing only one national anthem and that is also in NBengali
langiage. He said that this is an unwanted stupid problem created Tamil amd
foreign servile Sirisena/Ranil government.
Thw terrorist proxy Sumanthiran
whose concerted efforts together with his rterrorist grandpa to segregate the
country with theblessings of Ranul flopped has saiud that the attitude of the
present gocwenment has become abn obstruction doenational reconciliation and
the barrier imposed to sing the National Anthemin Tamil is one such
example. He has reminswsrhar rhey
attended the Independence day celebeations in 2015 after several tears because
that government made arrangement to sing the Anthem in Tamil as well. He says the governmwnr promised to provide
equal treatment to everyone and it is now being changed. Hehasfuerhwe stated
that if the government says that the Tamil people should not sing the National
Anthem theywould happily ewdeain from doing so. Going to his eacist and
separatist agenda he has said that the main communitysidelined the Tamils
several years ago and if that situation is to be changed there should be devolution
of power amd then omly you could live in Sri Lanka as equal citizens.
The leader of the Pivithuru Hela
Urumaya MP Udaya Gammanpila has said that in Clause 7 of the constitution it is
stipulated as to what our National Amthem is and singing the Anthem in the
Tamil language will violate the constitution.
Accordingly the National Anthem of the Republic of Sri Lanka is the song
Sri Lanka Maathaa” . The verses and the nusic are stipulated in the 3rs
subchedule. If verses other than what is
stipulated in the 3rd sub-schedule was considered as the National
Anthem it becomes a violation of the constitution. Hence singing yhe Anthem as Sri Lanka
Thaate” will become a gross violation of the constitution..If the change to be
done is a simple change it can be changed by a simpke majority in the
Parliamentvut a fundamental change like this requires an approval in the
parliament ratified in a eferendum.
I am referring to the above titled article
in Daily Mirror, p A9 of 6/1/2020 (kksperera1@gmail.com)
and the article titled ‘Tamils Want to Sing National Anthem in Their Mother
Tongue” on Daily Mirror, p A9 of 11/1/2020 (dbsjeyaraj@yahoo.com).
Material presented here without
inhibitions is essentially directed at pathologically broad minded Sinhalese
whose ideas in reality give a wrong message to the minorities. There are many
articles that poorly reflect the 20 centuries old magnificent Sinhalese
heritage and ownership to this island. This is in sharp contrast to the voicing
for piling up rights incessantly demanded by the minorities. The issues raised
here must be viewed with the back ground that Sri Lankan minorities assume for
themselves a majoritarian mind set in that there is a larger Tamil population
of 75 million in Tamil Nadu and that the Muslim world extend from Morocco in Atlantic
ocean to Indonesia in Pacific ocean with an arch of Muslim countries over India
and Sri Lanka (SL).
There is all the time news items for one
to see as to how people stand up to protect and uphold their countries. The latest
is how Swiss embassy staff and their government went all out to protect a staff
member, despite her being a Sri Lankan citizen. One wonders if it has become a
fashion to appease the Tamils in this country by many of our eminent
journalist.
Not a word was said about a Tamil anthem by
the journalists until Sirisena-Ranil government sang it as a vote catching
ploy. None of the election manifestoes or even a cursory mention made before
the event. There wasn’t any notable demand even by the Tamil leaders on the
Tamil anthem issue.
The dire predicament of the Sinhalese are
not realized by these journalists and the cocoon dwelling Sinhalese in general.
The Sinhalese occupying just a small island and limited to a part of it,
increasingly loosing the 20 centuries old territory, in the north by descendants
of invading Tamil armies and labor force brought from Tamil Nadu by the Dutch for
the tobacco cultivation, in the central hills by labor force brought by the
English for tea cultivation, Tamil mercantile class establishing in Colombo area
(Sinhalese now a minority in capital?), destroying and erasing Sinhalese cultural
heritage in the north and east by the minorities, yet our able journalists
split hair to paint a racial picture about the Sinhalese.
Despite using Tamil as their mother
tongue, 60,000 Muslims in the north were chased out within 48 hours. Over the
years 25,000 Sinhalese had been evicted from the north. Recently due to
harassment as many as 80 undergraduates from the University of Jaffna had to be
transferred to other universities. About two weeks back few Buddhist murals
painted by Jaffna prisoners were prevented from displaying by Tamil politicians.
There were minority protests about the burial of a Buddhist monk in the east. The
idea is to set up a tribal Tamil racist state to their own peril and to
everyone around them. This idea is probably based on the epic Ramayana where thirteen
headed mythical Ravana of Lanka is viewed as a Dravidian and hence Tamil rights
predate those of Sinhalese. However 20 centuries of recorded Sinhalese history with
connections stretching from Rome to China meaning the whole world at that time,
together with extensive literature, network of tanks and canals and over 100,000
ruins ever visible reflect the Sinhalese heritage of the island.
One must be concerned about the
progressively restricting premise of the Sinhalese from every angle, one of the
most accommodative people on earth. In the whole world only the Sinhalese are
encouraged and driven to learn Tamil spoken by a very limited population, one
more wasteful misguided exercise for Sinhalese in place of learning any one of
the international languages. Tamil language had not evolved and refined stagnating
for last so many centuries. Incidentally Tamil language too in a global scale is
essentially confined to the very south-eastern tip of India at about 5% of
Indian population. All the critics of Sinhalese including those Sinhalese
themselves are sitting on the lap of Sinhalese and carry on Sinhalese bashing.
Nationally and Internationally the
Sinhalese are taken to task by many as they have identified the mindless nature
of the Sinhalese. There is a severe drought of ideas even when it is a matter
of life and death. More often than not whenever there is a reaction it is
misplaced and out of proportion complicating the issue. The international
pogroms include: some sections of the Sinhalese themselves, certain SL political
parties, by the SL Tamils, Tamil Nadu Tamils, Tamil diaspora with a government
in exile, International Non-governmental Organizations who are actually governmental
in providing funds and policy directions at the other end, India with the
historical blunder in sponsoring Tamil terrorists, Ms. Suka of South Africa’s,
Darusman of Indonesia (brought out a strange UN repot available to the accused
SL only after 30 years, none had the presence of mind to say we shall respond
after studying it at the end of 30 years”). British ruling and Opposition
parties where their leaders selectively congratulated Tamils during new year
and Thai Pongal without uttering once SL or Sinhalese, Norway, Canada, USA-
Co-sponsoring a suicide pact and Hillary receiving Tamil election funds, later
returned, France involved during last phase of civil war, Switzerland- courts
releasing LTTE terrorists from prison saying they have the right to terror, Australia
with a woman in charge of LTTE child soldiers putting on cyanide capsules
necklaces, Argentina- for SL siding with UK during Folkland war, Hong Kong and
Taiwan on Sri Lanka’s one China policy and by Germany as a pastime. However to
their credit a former LTTEr for having indicated movements of late Mr
Kadiragamer to the assassins was sentenced to 10.5 years imprisonment. Withstanding
such an onslaught, no wonder that Sinhalese are the longest surviving culture in
the world (Roman, Greek, Mesopotamian, Ottoman, Persian, possibly Indus all
disappeared), that too with a smile despite such powerful adversaries.
On the face value of it and on good
intentions in the tradition of Sinhalese, the article ‘Let’s Sing a 50:50’ appear
acceptable. The reference to few countries that sing national anthem in 2-3
languages hides the horrendous facts about extreme racist nature of Tamils in SL
and for that matter most Tamils as listed above. Those shared singing of
anthems in the said countries are not with races who forever are aiming at the
throat of the other party. The backwardness of dual/multi language anthems are
reflected in the fact that majority of these are in backwrd African countries. Please
see listing below on extremely anti SL racial nature of Tamils.
Prior to racist Vaddukoddai
Resolution there was the famous Tamil Conference in San Francisco, US attended
by eminent Tamils from all over the world in which SL was identified as the
soft target to set up a Tamil state.
Then came the Vaddukoddai
Resolution with the working idea of setting up a Tamil country in SL, All these
were before Sinhala Only Act, which had been duly amended but racial slogans
continue. Sinhala Only Act was not a demand by the Sinhalese but was a
political ploy.
Tamil population of 15%
wanted 50:50 representation in the legislature, the world’s most warped
political demand.
Tamil Nadu has an
enactment that all sign boards must have Tamil on top and there is a Tamil language
day when only Tamil is used in government institutes including air ports.
All north east based SL political
parties have the word Tamil in their party name but none accuse them of being racial.
Varadaraja Perumal declared
a separate Tamil country in the east.
Crude and rude mind set
is symbolized in the LTTE flag with an angry tiger face surrounded by a string
of bullets, number one brutal symbol for a flag.
Drawing up a map of a
separate country covering north-east not realizing how anybody could defend a ‘horse
shoe shaped enclave’ with disproportionately long border in proportion to the land
area. However upcountry Tamils may join them under ‘little now and more later
on’ scheme.
LTTE attacked all the major
vital points in SL- Joint Central Command, Army Headquarters, Central Bank,
Central Bus Stand, Central Telegraph Office, Bandaranayake Int. Airport, Fort
and Maradana major Railway Stations, Yal Devi express train, Kollonnawa oil
tank farm, air raids on Kelani-Tissa Power Generation Plant and Inland Revenue
Building, the flight path of which suggest it was an attempted suicidal attack
on prime minister’s residence 1-2 Km away, 35 story World Trade Center, Sri
Maha Bodhi, Temple of Tooth, sword attacks killing 33 novice hungry Buddhist
monks on their way to alms, many mosques attacked last being Akuressa area mosque
following which terrorism was wiped out, 550 surrendered policemen massacred (all
the mad men are inquiring armed forces for a made up story of killing
surrendered LTTE carders. It was LTTE that shot carders of other militant
Tamils while pleading on knees), killed 26,000 SL armed forces personnel and
1200 Indian soldiers total killings account for more than all the deaths on
either side of Indo-Pak post- independence wars and these numbers are
reflective of African ethnic warfare, Massacred countless people in passenger
buses, trains, planes, one fell in to sea off Mannar that included a friend of
mine Dr Paramasivam, men in agricultural farms, diplomats visiting north injuring
Italian ambassador, otherwise vociferous diplomats mute on this occasion, stripped
and pulled out fetuses from pregnant mothers, thrashed toddlers held by legs on
tree trunks, split head in four from top with swords, drew blood from captured
soldiers until collapsed to death, shut Mavil Aru aniquet depriving water ,
burst a dam causing floods to drown soldiers, extensively used banned Claymore
bombs, used hundred of thousands anti- personnel mines, now make international
efforts to dig them out without any contribution by Tamils.
Blasted Chennai airport
killing 45, blasted a Tamil Nadu bridge plunging a train load in to river,
invaded Maldives islands.
Killed two heads of
states, SL and India and a third in SL escaped but with a lost eye.
Thrive on smuggling,
drugs and every kind of illicit deals. Dug tunnel under US-Canada border to
smuggle drugs, Raj Rajaratnum in a 17 yr. prison sentence in US for money
laundering.
During natural disasters
it is the Sinhalese who volunteer for action. During Tsunami Colombo Medical
Faculty students were there in Trincomalee within 48 hours. These actions are
not reciprocated by Tamils perhaps reflecting an inherent deficit in feeling
the ownership to the island. Now and then Tamils are driven out of Bombay,
Kerala and Andra Pradesh, a similar event took place in Malaysia around 1973.
Suicidal nature is
symbolized with suicide vests and cyanide capsule wearing carders.
For a small ethnic
population, confined to a small strip of land, in a small island, to commit
such disproportionately horrendous crimes on another group of ethnic population
generally recognized as most friendly and graceful, there must be some nasty
design by an agency that is yet to be identified. This is a phenomenon that
certainly goes far beyond any body’s language rights. No Tamil has ever
expressed regret on beastly acts.
One
must ask, if there was a Tamil migration over the years in to Sri Lanka whether
naturally the opposite too had happened, migration of Sinhalese in to Tamil
Nadu (TN). There probably may not be a single Sinhala family, for that matter
even a single sign board in Sinhala in TN. Further unlike in SL, there is no
Tamil migration in to three states adjoining Tamil Nadu being only less than 1-3%
(as against 15% In SL) as they resist Tamil migration. Tamils should have
easily walked across overland unlike sailing in to SL but they are not welcome.
The introvert nature of Tamils is reflected in the fact that Chennai is the
least cosmopolitan and dull city in India as confided by a Tamil friend. However
they are much more forward looking compared to SL Tamils in that they elected a
non- Tamil/Indian? Mr Ramachandran as
the Chief Minister and A R Rahman compose world beating Hindi songs. Though out
of context, I am failing in my duty if no mention is made about great Indian
Tamils: mathematician Ramanujam, five times world chess champion Anandan and
most humble and respected former president of India Abdul Kalam, the father of
India’a nuclear program from Rameshwaran so close to SL are an inspiration to
SL, graced SL with a lecture at University of Moratuwa. Also remembered with
gratitude are the school teachers in1960s Mr. Cherion and Mr.Venayagam Pillai.
In
TN, Buddhist monk was attacked, Sri Lankan airline office stoned, school boy
cricket team turned back and Sri Lanka- India cricket encounters take place all
over India except in Chennai. A former president of SL was not allowed to pray
at a Hindu temple in TN and he had to find an alternative temple in Karnataka and
was most welcome by the political leaders there. It is not the Sinhalese but
the TN fishermen who rob billions of rupees worth of fish from northern sea
symbolic of what is in store. Worst of all, the Kudankulam Atomic Power
Generation Plant in TN is staring on the face just across the Polk Straits, an
ever presenting symbol of TN big brotherhood?
All
this Tamil howling is despite the fact that they were holding eminent positions
in the government, business and politics, too long to list here. The climax
should have been the appointment of Mr. Lakshman Kadiragaman as the Prime
Minister when almost unanimously people were looking forward to, given little
more time but was assassinated not by Sinhalese but by Tamils. Only Tamil
politician working at present on the spirit of Sinhalese is Mano Ganeshan and
is sure to win any seat in Sinhala constituents provided he represent a popular
political party. Muslims are a way ahead in this regard.
The
Sinhalese do not make eye to eye kind of abrasive replies to Tamil aspirations
very likely because they do not see any reason to argue out as to why they live
in their own country. The problem is the insurmountable aspirations of the
Tamils in SL like crying for the moon. Aspirations and equal rights are to hide
their secessionist movement and to belittle Sinhalese nationhood. The talk
about second class by the Tamils is to mislead and win sympathy of the
Sinhalese. There are no class stratification in SL and whatever is there is
only in the minds of the Tamils.
In Malaysia not a word is uttered about the
official language Malay. In fact a Tamil cannot enter any university in Malaysia
or outside if he has failed in Malay language as happened to brother of my
Tamil roommate in India. Illogical attitude is seen in aspiration to separate
and at the same time need to join northern and eastern provinces despite
predominately heterogeneous origin of eastern population, a sizable Sinhalese
and Muslim populations. Some time back Colombo Chettiyars requested not to
classify them as Tamils.
The
Sinhalese aspire to revive whole of its heritage in the entire country and live
in all parts of the country. They are acutely aware of the fact that this
island is the only patch of land on earth that they can claim ownership and live
freely. Archaic Jaffna Thesawalamai land ownership rule must be rescinded.
There is no purpose of Tamils pretending to umbilical connection to India
because Sinhalese too are of north Indian origin, the first chapter of
Sinhalese history is set in Vanga Desh (Bengal) from where King Wijaya Sing
departed. Relationship to TN is well taken. Tamils are quite insignificant in
India, 70 million in a population of 1300 million. You take any distance train or
flight from Chennai there is hardly a Tamil to be found. In Kolkata, the next
cosmopolitan city with a 10 million population not a single cinema shows any
Tamil film, not a single Tamil word to be seen and fortunately there are about
4-5 Tamil restaurants for us to have a familiar meal. Vast majority of Indians
cannot understand ondu, rendu, moolu. Pampered by the colonialists they
continue to expect the same from others.
Three
eminent gentlemen declared i) SL is the country that belongs to Sinhalese-
Muththayya Muralidaran, ii) Sinhalese are the least racial people in the world-
Lakshman Kadiragaman and iii) SL is a Buddhist country- Malcom Cardinal
Ranjith. It may be mentioned here that the famous British prisoner Robert Knox
in his treaty on SL not even once mention about a Tamil. It was Mahinda
Rajapaksha who addressed the UN in Tamil language and during the recent Thai
Pongal festival. Was there a reconciliatory response from the Tamils? None.
Eternal
fighting mood and demands by Tamils could be a result of influencing Tamils
with the sickly habit in India to quarrel on every little issue often leading
to separation of many states, Assam and Meghalaya, Punjab and Haryana, Andra
Pradesh and Telengana. Language, religion, cast, economic disparity,
Rama-Ravana are all firing quarrels in India. East of India except for Ache
movement in Indonesia with over 600 ethnic groups and Islamists in Philippines
all the countries live peacefully. Whatever the issues there are mostly political.
People with this kind of attitude surely
cannot be a party to sing the national anthem 50:50. Considering the Tamil
strategy of ‘little now and more later on’ it is not advisable to sing the
national anthem in Tamil. You can see this craze in incessant demands for Tamil
national anthem following singing it by Sirisena-Ranil government as a vote
catching gimmick. National anthem in two languages is divisive not reconciliatory.
In the ‘Sri Lanka Matha’ lyrics not once a mention of words Sinhala or Buddhist
could be found. It is misleading to play down the hard realities and the
predicament of Sinhalese or anybody else for that matter. There is an
underlying truth in that LTTE heroics went on only until the southern politics
patronized it with cash, arms, put them up in 5 star hotels, provided construction
material and a wait and watch attitude. A Tamil confidant of President Premadasa
blasted him to death.
Hope this article will bring some sanity
to Sinhalese journalists and extreme Tamils. Tamil racism narrows down their own
potential for larger engagements in the country and display of intellect to the
fullest extent. One wonders from the time of King Elara until Tamil Conference
in San Francisco in a span of 1500 years there were no issues between Tamils
and the Sinhalese. When carefully analyzed it can be seen that it is the non-
Hindu Tamils who are responsible for most of the issues. This realization
prevented TN Tamils from extending large scale support to LTTE unlike the
central government. If the Hindu religious culture of Tamils is revived there
could be more peaceful times. The problem is not that of a minority but a
minority wanting to rule like a majority. Thesawalamai law in Jaffna, their
ability to chase away all other ethnic groups from Jaffna show that the Tamils
have more rights than the Sinhalese in SL. Equal rights are already there and
the talk of discrimination and multiculturalism is to deny the 20 centuries old
rights of the Sinhalese. Sinhalese have every right to establish linguistically
a parallel administration in line with Tamil Nadu for Tamils, Bangladesh for
Bengalese, Russia for Russians, Malaysia for Malays. SWRD warned of the possibility
of a tyranny of the minority which the majority has to guard against. Wish you
share this article with the colleagues.
First, let me thank all of you for the tremendous support you
have given me during the last few years to establish the National Security
Think Tank of Sri Lanka, (INSSSL) under the Ministry of Defence. From the first
email I sent to all of you from INSSSL in August 2016, it was a challenging
uphill task. We had four Chairman’s starting from 2016 and it was a challenging
environment faced with numerous significant national security threats.
Although establishing a national security think tank was
considered as a futile effort by some, each year the importance of a security
think tank was felt essential when 250 lives were taken by the extremist
terrorists in the Easter Sunday attack. This heinous crime I witnessed from my
own eyes at the Shangri-la hotel. I am proud to say it was the National
Security think tank INSSSL that forecasted the threat of growing violent
extremism in the country from 2018 and warned multiple times that extremists
could even target five-star hotels at a threat lens discussion at Ministry of
Defence and the last documentation of the extremist terrorist threat was
written by INSSSL monthly threat forecast in 2019 January. Unfortunately, all
this went unheard and I hope in future that research and analysis conducted by
think tanks will be taken much more seriously by our policymakers and
government administrative staff. Most reports and observations we compiled were
not shared with the higher authorities and was not given enough
attention.
From the time we launched the first research journal Defence
Review” in 2017 to all the 74 successful events conducted and recognized
regionally and ranked at the global think tank index, it was all of you who
were a part of the success. We have built a resource pool of 100 experts from
around the world to support INSSSL. I thank all of you for your kind support to
be part of the national security think tank. I would like to acknowledge
everyone including the distinguished military officers, senior diplomats,
researchers, academics to all the resource persons who contributed their time
for this endeavour.
From 1st February I will step down as the Director General
of INSSSL and handover to Admiral (Retd.) Dr. Jayanath Colombage. While I wish
my successor all success, I would like you to kindly support him to build this
important institute to a much greater height during his tenure.
My email and mobile remain the same. Let us keep in touch.
Sri Lanka is well prepared to address any possible coronavirus outbreak, says World Health Organisation (WHO) Representative to Sri Lanka Dr Razia Pendse.
She stated this speaking exclusively to ‘@HydePark’ on Ada Derana.
Dr Pendse stated that WHO works closely with Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Health, the Disaster Preparedness Unit and the Disaster Management Center (DMC) to ensure that the country is well prepared to address any emergency of this sort.
We have all the necessary stockpiles what is needed in terms of equipment in this present situation. We are working very closely with the Ministry of Health to look at the preparedness in the hospitals, to also look at the different stockpiles and what could be the anticipated need, to see whether the country has it.”
She stated that if required they can quickly mobilize their international networks to get the supplies that is needed.
We don’t see any kind of huge gap here. The preparedness is very well. It is being monitored from the highest level,” Dr Pendse said.
The Ambassador of China in Colombo Cheng Xueyuan called on Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa last evening (Jan. 30) at Temple Trees.
Mr. Xueyuan has assured the safety of Sri Lankan students studying in Wuhan Province, China, following the novel coronavirus outbreak.
The Ambassador has stated that the Government of China is taking every measure to contain the outbreak and meet the needs of the Sri Lankan students and families in Wuhan.
He further noted that the two governments are working together closely to make arrangements to have a special flight land in Wuhan Province to evacuate the Sri Lankans as soon as possible.
The Prime Minister has conveyed the concerns of the parents of the students and other family members of those Sri Lankans living in Wuhan.
PM Rajapaksa has also informed the Ambassador that he has made an appeal to the general public in Sri Lanka, in particular, the media, to act responsibly when sharing information about the Coronavirus outbreak.
The Chinese Ambassador has added that Chinese nationals living in Sri Lanka should have no concerns in going about their day-to-day lives.
Mr. Xueyuan stated that the Government of China has confidence that it will be able to bring the outbreak under control and have life in Wuhan Province return to normalcy very soon.
An individual, who is allegedly a member of the staff of United National Party (UNP)MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara, has been arrested by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) over a case of printing counterfeit notes.
Media reports stated that the suspect was arrested last night (30) at the Monaragala party office of MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara.
According to reports, a computer and a printing machine, too, have been seized along with the suspect.
However, MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara, speaking to the media today (31), stated that the arrested suspect is not a staffer under the MP despite being a UNP supporter.
The parliamentarian further stated that he does not know the arrested suspect and that this is deliberately done by opposing parties to slander his name.
A government with a will to defend the nation combined with the heroic efforts of Sri Lanka’s national army reunited every inch of land under one national flag on 19 May 2009. The LTTE held a shrinking area of 100 metrex 100 metres which was finally taken with the announcement of the killing of Prabakaran on 19 May 2009. Needless to say LTTE terrorism served the purpose of many. For the West terrorism provided a source of exertion over the GoSL and with LTTE now over the West was quick to use IDPs, resettlement, reconciliation as its themes to exert influence over Sri Lanka with UN being source for war crimes/genocide charges lest GoSL did not tow line. These are realities that we cannot be naïve too.
Sri Lanka Army battle successes
2 Ja nuary
Kilinochchi
captured (LTTE political capital)
5
January
Elephant
Pass captured
9
January
A9
reopened
14
January
Jaffna
captured
22
January
Dharmapuram
captured
24
January
2
LTTE camps south of Pudukudurippu
25
January
Mullaitivu
captured
28
January
Vishwamadu
captured
3
February
Jungle
airstrips with 2km runway & hangar for light aircrafts in Thirivilaru
village
6
February
Chalai
(LTTE now hold access to only 20km (12miles) of coastline in Mullaitivu
2
April
Pachchapulmudai (LTTE’s last supply route used for
reinforcement and logistic transportation to Puthukkudiriruppu junction)
3 April
Anandapuram
21 April
Troops enter Putumathalan & Amapalavanpokkanai in the
no-fire zone
25
March
Army
capture hideout of Pottu Amman in Iranapalai (LTTE intelligence head)
Safe Zone declared by Sri Lanka (only for
civilians) – no fire zone
1st
safe zone: 35sq.km (13sq.miles)
2nd
safe zone: 12 Feb 2009 – 12sq.km (7.5mile)
3rd safe
zone: 8 May 2009 – 2sq.km long and
1.5sq.km wide
LTTE reactions to Army advances
24 Jan – LTTE
blasts dam releasing large volume of water from an irrigation tank in
Kalmadu, Mullaitivu & flooding section of A-35 main road at Dharmapuram and
Vishwamadu.
8 May – Troops continued their advance further… amidst stiff
resistance as LTTE terrorists made their maximum effort to hold the earth bund
(embankment) built to obstruct the security forces,” the ministry said. Troops
also received minor damages from exploding anti personnel mines,”
LTTE controlled areas shrinking
25 Jan 2009– LTTE confined to a small strip of
between 20 kilometres by 15 kilometres (300 square kilometres, 115 square
miles)
6 Feb 2009 – LTTE now control area just 200
square kilometres (77 square miles).
7 Feb2009 – LTTE restricted to
area less than 100sq.km (38 sq.miles)
22 Feb 2009 – LTTE shrunk to 73 square kilometres
(28 square miles)
25 Feb 2009 – LTTE have lost almost 99 percent of
the territory they held
12 Mar 2009 – LTTE restricted to an
area of just 35 square kilometres (13 square miles)
26 Mar 2009 – LTTE confined to 21 square
kilometres (8 square miles), most of which is a government-declared safe zone
16 April 2009 – LTTE restricted to 20sq.km
22 April 2009 – LTTE confined to 12sq.km (five square
miles)
23 April 2009 – LTTE controlled just 10-12 sq.km (4
square miles) of territory
5 May 2009 –
LTTE confined to 4 sq.km (1.5 square mile) area in Mullaittivu
18 May 2009 – LTTE now boxed into a 100m x 100m
area,”
18 May 2009 – He (Prabakaran) is there and we
have surrounded him — it is a 360 degree cordon and he has no escape,” (SL
Army)
Note: Government forces were advancing into
LTTE held territory at the rate of more than a kilometre (0.6 miles) a day
By 31 March 2009 – LTTE were cornered to a tiny but
densely populated strip of coastal jungle measuring just 21 square kilometres (8
square miles), The army says LTTE has less than 500 fighters left, but those
that remain appear to be offering stiff resistance.
Breakdown of civilians fleeing LTTE / rescued by
SL Army
Number
Date
170
17
Jan 2009
350
19
Jan 2009 (including 50 children)
139
4
Feb 2009 to Jaffna
10,000
8
Feb 2009 throughout 4 days to Kilinochchi–over 2800 children/3000 women)
240
10
Feb 2009 Tamil patients evacuated by ICRC
(official figures as of 14 Feb 2009 showed 37,420 Tamils
crossing to govt area)
745
10 Feb by ferry/ICRC
440
16
Feb by ferry/ICRC
1000
18
Mar (650 escaping by boat others
walking through jungle)
1,150
21
Mar (108 left by boat while the others walked through jungle)
381
28
Mar
475
15
Apr wounded evacuated by ICRC
3000
19
Apr
5000
20
Apr – biggest single rescue early morning
30,000
20
Apr – throughout day
4000
21
Apr
81,420
22
Apr
10,000
14
May
115,000
20
Apr to 13 May
63,000
14
May to 16 May (total nearly 250,000 saved – GoSL)
Official
figures as of 17 Feb 2009 showed 35,745
Tamils crossing since 1 Jan
5 Mar 2009 – ICRC says since February, it has
helped evacuate nearly 2,800 patients and their relatives by sea out of the
island’s north-east
18 Mar – nearly 40,000 have escaped LTTE
21 Mar –
from Jan more than 55,000 civilians have escaped LTTE
17 Apr – Ron Redmond, spokesman for the UN
refugee agency, the UNHCR said more than 63,000 people have fled since the
fighting began
18 Apr – United Nation says up to 100,000
civilians are trapped in the area in dire humanitarian conditions.”
21 Apr – 80,000 people had fled the shrinking
patch of territory
22 Apr – UN estimated 150,000 civilians in
the rebel-held territory before Monday’s exodus
Around
100,000 people have managed to escape rebel-held territory this week (20-23Apr)
24 Apr – UN
says 95,000 civilians have fled LTTE but thousands remain trapped
26 Apr – UN
believes up to 50,000 civilians are trapped in a strip of jungle
7 May – government estimates that up to 20,000 civilians are
being held in the less than five-square-kilometre (two-square-mile) area
12 May – UN say up to 50,000 Tamil civilians
hostage kept by LTTE.
17 May 2009 – More than 50,000 people have come out of that area in the past three days and with that we have rescued all the civilians held
as a human shield by the Tigers,” (SLArmy)
17 May 2009 Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said more than 63,000 people had crossed over
into government territory in the past three days, raising the total
number of civilians who fled the war zone since January to nearly 250,000.
Civilians killed
Number
Date
10
26
Jan inside safe zone (alleged by Gordon Weiss)
20
25
Jan inside safe zone (alleged by Gordon Weiss)
52
27
Jan in Suranthapuram (alleged by Gordon Weiss)
8
9 Feb
LTTE suicide attack on refugee camp
17
10
Feb LTTE shoot dead fleeing Tamils/wounding 69
16
10
Feb during makeshift hospital shelling
1
14
Feb grenade thrown at bus carrying civilians/13 wounded
4
14
Feb Puttumatalan – elders home shelling/Dr. Satyamurthy
10
21
Feb – village of Kirimetiya mainly farmers
1
5 Mar – ICRC local worker killed in
Chalai
3
7 Mar
– LTTE shot fleeing Tamils escaping by boat in Mullaitivu coast / 1 civilian
seriously injured
1
26
Mar (LTTE fired at fleeing civilians)
5
12
Apr farmers killed by LTTE in Mahagodayaya village Buttala
17
20
Apr suiciding bombing by LTTE to prevent civilians leaving
170
May 1st
week – claim by Anandasangaree
17 Feb 2009 – TULF leader Anandasangaree says
total deaths for last week was 288 with 766 injured
27 Apr 2009 (AFP) – UN estimates that as many as 6,500
civilians may have been killed
8 May 2009 – TULF leader V. Anandasangari said at
least 170 Tamil civilians had been killed and 951 wounded during four days of
fighting last week.
12 May 2009 (AFP) – UN
says up to 6,500 civilians may have been killed and 14,000 wounded in fighting
since January.
LTTE killed by SL Army
Number
Date
6
8
Feb by SL Navy sinking 2 LTTE boats trying to escape
28
12
Feb
65
22
Feb
13
24
Feb
11
26 Feb
5
28 Feb
33
5 Mar in Chalai
over 100
6 & 7 Mar in Mullaitivu / over 100 injured
50
9 Mar in Mullaitivu
12
12 Mar in Pudukudurippu
33
13 Mar (Fri)
32
15 Mar (Sun)
31
19 Mar
2
21 Mar
24
30 Mar (1 SL Navy officer also killed)
13
1 Apr by SL Army
44
3 Apr in Anandapuram
33
3 Apr by SL Army
11
4 Apr by SL Navy
7
4 Apr by SL Army
111
4 Apr in ground & sea clashes
450
(3 to 5th April)
10
15 Apr by SL Navy
8
17 Apr
17
18 Apr
8
21 Apr
25
29 Apr by SL Navy sank 6 LTTE boats
23
1 May
by SL Navy 3 LTTE boats sunk
10
13
May LTTE suicide boat attack
70
17
May trying to escape through lagoon in 6 boats
1
18
May Charles Anthony body found in Karayamullavaikkal area
3
18
May bodies of Nadeshan, Pulidevan and Ramesh
250
18
May (still Prabakaran not found)
1
18
May Prabakaran killed
Note:
Sri Lanka Army
claims LTTE admitted 2000 of its
fighters died in combat in 2008
27 Jan –
army claim 2 LTTE killed were senior field commanders.
24 Apr – 58 division commanded by Brigadier
Silva had killed 5,953 LTTE & wounded another 2,938 since September 2007
1 Apr – Prabakaran’s son Charles Anthony injured
Statements by UN Secretary General – Ban Ki Moon
30 Jan 2009
The Secretary General calls upon the (rebel) Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in particular, to allow civilians in the conflict zone
to move to where they feel most secure, including (government-controlled)
areas,”
He called on both Colombo and the LTTE to do all in their power to make this safe passage a reality, and to
ensure the protection of civilians in accordance with International Humanitarian Law.”
3 April 2009 – . The Secretary
General calls upon the LTTE (Tamil rebels) leadership to allow civilians to
leave the conflict area of their own free will,” a statement issued
by UN spokeswoman Michele Montas.
The severe restrictions of the LTTE on
their freedom of movement violate international law.”
Ban
also deplored the forced
recruitment of civilians, particularly children” The UN statement
said Ban is deeply distressed by continuing reports from the Vanni region of
Sri Lanka that civilians are at extreme risk,”
23 Apr 2009 – I
intend to immediately despatch a UN humanitiarian team to the no-fire zone,”
he told reporters in Brussels
The
purpose of this humanitarian team will be to first of all monitor the situation
and support the humanitarian assistance and try to do whatever we can to
protect the civilian population,”
(oh yeah sure and LTTE will stand and watch them monitor J)
It is critical that this
team be allowed into the no-fire zone as soon as possible, and I’m asking for
the strong support and speedy assistance of the Sri Lankan government.” (well if the GoSL allowed – what if
LTTE doesn’t allow them out? Then what does UN propose to do … bomb LTTE + the
civilians???)
Statement by UNHRC Head – Navi Pillay
13 Mar 2009 – Geneva (AFP) –
her statement confirmed 2800 civilians COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED
since late January.
Certain actions being undertaken by
the Sri Lankan military and by the LTTE (Tamil Tiger rebels) may constitute
violations of international human rights and humanitarian law,” said Pillay
We need to know more about what is
going on, but we know enough to be sure that the situation is absolutely
desperate. The world today is ever sensitive about such acts that could amount
to war crimes and crimes against humanity,”
The
statement said credible sources had told the Office of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights (OHCHR) that more than 2,800 civilians might
have been killed, including hundreds of children, and more than
7,000 injured since January 20.
(Jan 20 to 13 Mar – 2800 civilians
killed says UNHRC/Navi Pillay)
UN Spokesman Gordon Weiss
26 Jan 2009 –
At least 10
civilians killed on 26 Jan (Mon) inside ‘safety
zone’ by the Sri Lanka Military while ‘roughly at least 20 people were
killed or wounded over weekend.
Weiss said he
could not say who was responsible for civilian casualties by UN staff in area
had witnessed civilians getting hit by artillery shells
Pro-LTTE
Tamilnet website claimed 100 civilians killed by artillery fire on 26 Jan 2009
29 Jan 2009
“About 350 critically wounded civilians,
including 50 children, crossed the front lines,”
4 Feb 2009 (AFP)
at least 52
civilians killed on (27 Jan) in Suranthapuram
We don’t know who is responsible or
how many shells hit, but we have this report from our staff.”
The hospital was evacuated after
16hours of shelling including cluster bomb attack.
UN & International statements against LTTE
(use of civilians as human shields/hostages)
18 Feb 2009 – UN humanitarian head John Holmes arrived in SL. He
arrived earlier in August 2007.
19 Feb 2009 – John Holmes
I call on
both sides, the government and the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), to
ensure civilians are left alone,”
I hope to hear no more of shootings of
people trying to leave or recruitment of children as soldiers,”
11 Mar 2009 (AFP) – UN accused LTTE of siphoning off
food meant for severely malnourished children in June 2007. UN had
sent a high energy food supplement known as BP-100” which was found on a LTTE
killed in the fighting.
The United Nations
deplores that such lifesaving items, destined for severely malnourished
children, were diverted from their intended purpose,” the UN said in a statement.
16 Mar 2009 (AFP) – UN said an employee & his
teenage daughter forcibly were recruited by LTTE. The forced
recruitment included the 16-year-old daughter,” UN called for their immediate release.
The
UN said another of its employees recruited by the Tigers two weeks ago has not
yet been released.
A
month ago, another UN staff member was abducted by LTTE.
The UN
has accused LTTE of preventing tens of thousands of civilians from leaving Sri
Lanka’s war zone and of shooting and sometimes killing”
those who try to escape.
26 Mar 2009 – John
Holmes UN’s top humanitarian official, estimated that 150,000 to 190,000
civilians were trapped by the fighting and could not escape, resulting in
dozens of deaths each day.
31 Mar 2009 – UN’s
top humanitarian official, John Holmes, had asked the government to allow
civilian authorities to manage the camps (accordingly Sri Lanka handed camp
management over to the resettlement and relief ministry)
15 Apr 2009 – UK
& French Foreign Ministerssay LTTE are using civilians as
human shields & preventing them from leaving conflict zone.
Joint
statement by David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner
France and Britain, as two members of
the Security Council, continue to support the active engagement by the UN and
by other members of the international community on this urgent issue,”
We are deeply concerned
that there was no large scale movement of civilians away from the conflict area
to safety as we had hoped to see”
16 Apr 2009 – Vijay
Nambiar, UNSG’s chief of staff arrives in Sri Lanka.
The secretary-general is doing his
utmost to alleviate the situation in Sri Lanka and high-level contacts were
continuing to be pursued on that matter,” UN statement
The Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE) did not appear to have responded constructively in allowing
civilians to leave,” This is truly disappointing. Civilians must be allowed to leave the area of violence. They must not
be used as targets of political or military designs.”UN spokesman Farhan
Haq noted.
22 Apr 2009 – We demand that the LTTE immediately lay down arms, renounce terrorism,
allow a UN-assisted evacuation of the remaining civilians in the conflict area,
and join the political process,”Claude Heller, of Mexico, UN Security Council President.
UNSC President speaking on behalf of 15 UNSC Members said strongly
condemned the LTTE, a terrorist organization, for the use of civilians
as human shields and for not allowing them to leave the area.”
25 Apr 2009 – John Holmes arrives in Sri Lanka again on a 3 day
mission
The top priority remains the
preservation of the lives of the tens of thousands of civilians still trapped
inside the combat zone,”
I also want to see the people in the
camps, to visit UN staff being held there, and to review how the sudden outflow
of so many people from the combat zone is being managed.”
We need a new humanitarian pause to
get aid and aid workers into the combat zone,”
12
May 2009 – We’re deeply concerned,” on reports that more than 400 civilians had been killed in
a no-fire zone” We think that
there’s an unacceptably high level of civilian casualties. We’ve repeatedly urged the Tamil Tigers to lay down its arms and allow
the civilians to leave the safe zone,”State Department spokesman Ian Kelly
12
May 2009 – Joint Statement
by UK & US Secretary Clinton and UK
Foreign Secretary Miliband expressed their profound concern about the
humanitarian crisis in northern Sri Lanka caused by the ongoing hostilities,”
13
May 2009 – United
Nations /UN Security Council adopted a non-binding statement
that expressed grave concern over the
worsening humanitarian crisis in northeast Sri Lanka, in particular the reports
of hundreds of civilian casualties in recent days.” For the first
time, a text is formally adopted to express our concern over the situation,
which explains the absolute condemnation of the LTTE (rebel
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam),” France’s UN Ambassador Jean-Maurice
Ripert, one of the three sponsors of text, said.
14 May 2009
– Washington / US President Obama called on LTTE to lay down arms & GoSL to
take greater care for the safety of civilians.
Going
forward, Sri Lanka must seek a peace that is secure and lasting, and grounded
in respect for all of its citizens,” …….More civilian casualties and
inadequate care for those caught in resettlement camps will only make it more
difficult to achieve the peace that the people of Sri Lanka deserve.” We have
a humanitarian crisis that’s taking place in Sri Lanka, and I’ve been
increasingly saddened by the desperate news in recent days”
Without
urgent action, this humanitarian crisis could turn into a catastrophe,” So I urge the Tamil Tigers to lay down their arms and let civilians
go. Their forced recruitment of civilians and their use of civilians as human
shields is deplorable. These tactics will only serve to alienate all those who
carry them out.”
GOSL & SL Army Statements
27 Jan 2009 – Army engaged in taking control over 30km (18mile)
coast.
Brig. Nandana Udawatte to AFP reporter in Kumalamunai, south of Mullaitivu
(captured on 25 Jan- Sunday) We are moving along the coast as well as to the
north-west towards another pocket of Tiger resistance,”
(Udawatte says his troops had killed at least 2000 LTTE in
battle to capture Mullaitivu. LTTE had established 3 defence lines to protect
Mullaitivu but his men had surprised them by crossing lagoon by boat)
We also suffered casualties in overcoming
their obstructions,”
1 Feb 2009 – Defense Ministry LTTE terrorists continued worsening
suffering of the thousands of civilians entrapped in the outskirts of
Mullaittivu, ignoring the 48-hour ultimatum served for the safe passage of
civilians,”
1 Feb 2009 – The
next step for us is to liberate the civilians,”….. There will be new
operations to get the people to safety now that the Tigers have not allowed
civilians to leave,” said military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara.
10 Feb 2009 – The
civilians came to an army position carrying the 17 dead and 69 others who had
gunshot injuries,” Among those wounded in the attack were 27 women and 11
children
24 Feb 2009 – Battlefield
reports indicate intense fighting going on in the area as troops closing in on
Puthukkudirirppu,” the defence ministry
24 Feb 2009 – The
military is taking more casualties now because they can no longer soften the
target using artillery and air attacks,” Defense Secretary told AFP late
Tuesday in an interview
26 Feb 2009 – Ground
troops have positioned for a final thrust towards the remaining LTTE foothold,”
the ministry said.
28 Feb 2009 – Troops
who have entered Puthukkudiriruppu town perimeter have found LTTE’s high-tech
satellite communication centre, while further advancing into the built-up area
amidst stiff resistance from terrorists,”
8 Feb 2009 – As the Mullaittivu battle reached its last phase, the
LTTE terrorists made several desperate attempts in vain to infiltrate the
military forward defences,” the defence
ministry
15 Mar 2009 – Infantrymen
further advanced into LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) hiding areas…
inflicting heavy damages to terrorists,” (confirms Army is advancing on
foot)
18 Mar 2009 – These
civilians have revealed the continuation of forcible child recruitment by the
LTTE for battle purposes and brutal killings of individuals and families who
defy their orders,” the ministry said.
16 April 2009 – the
world’s largest hostage rescue operation undertaken by a conventional armed
force in modern times.” Defense ministry
18 April 2009 – The LTTE terrorists continued mounting heavy artillery
and mortar attacks from the no-fire zone at troops now advancing towards the
general area of Vellamullivaikkal,”
tdefence ministry said.
20 Apr 2009 – Defence ministry
secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa called on the international community and the
United Nations to put pressure on Tamil Tiger rebels to lay down arms and
surrender.
21 Apr 2009 – The defence ministry has given
Velupillai Prabhakaran and his fighters until 0630 GMT Tuesday to surrender. The Sri Lanka army’s 58th division soldiers
entered into (the) areas of Putumathalan and Amapalavanpokkanai in the no-fire
zone,” the ministry said
26 Apr 2009–
What is the need for a ceasefire when they are running away? They should first
lay down arms, surrender and let the people go,” (Gotabaya Rajapakse
responding to Pulidevans request for ceasefire)
27 Apr 2009 – Sri Lanka’s military has been
ordered to stop using heavy guns and combat aircraft that could cause civilian
casualties in the battle against LTTE.
30 Apr 2009 – President Mahinda Rajapakse ruled
out halting military offensive.
We
have no plans to go for a ceasefire with the Tigers, but they have a little
time left to drop their weapons and surrender even though our military
operation is at a final stage,” (after arrival of David Miliband & Bernard Kuchner)
President
Mahinda said he would not bow to international pressure & promised to
rescue Tamil civilians. He accused western governments of being hypocrites. They are trying to preach to us
about civilians. I tell them to go and see what they are doing in Iraq and
Afghanistan,” he said in a speech in the southern town of
Embilipitiya.
If
I say we don’t use heavy weapons, that means we don’t. But these foreign envoys
are prepared to believe the propaganda of a terrorist organisation,” the president added,
1 May 2009 – Military spokesman Brig. Udaya
Nanayakkara says 2 columns of troops have consolidated positions along a strip
of coastline in the northeast –
The Tigers have no land escape routes
left. We have troops in place to move in at anytime,”
If not for the civilians
still trapped inside, we would have gone in by now.”
Troops have to consider the civilians” still
trapped in the territory held by LTTE
12 May 2009 – government forces advanced 800
metres (yards) during fighting, cutting deeper into the roughly four square
kilometres (1.5 square miles) of coastal jungle in rebel hands.
14 May 2009 – Sri Lanka military accused LTTE of
using phosphorus bombs in a last-ditch attempt to save itself. Burns on
civilians who fled LTTE areas suggested such weapons had been used by LTTE.
15 May 2009 – Sri Lanka Navy captured wife & 2
children of LTTE Soosai trying to flee by boat.
16 May 2009 – I am proud to announce… that my government, with the total commitment
of our armed forces, has in an unprecedented humanitarian operation finally
defeated the LTTE militarily,” President Mahinda Rajapakse said
in a speech in Jordan.
17 May 2009 – More than 50,000 people have come out
of that area in the past three days and with that we have rescued all the civilians held as a human shield by the
Tigers,” (SLArmy)
17 May 2009 – there was no bloodbath” during its
rescue” of tens of thousands of civilians held hostage by Tamil Tiger rebels. There was no bloodbath as some people
feared,” Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told reporters. Everybody has come out safely and they are
being looked after by the government.”
Journalists flown over conflict area
24 Apr 2009 – Journalists flown to Kilinochchi & shown large
haul of mortars & small arms captured from LTTE.
17 May 2009 – AFP reported that the LTTE leader
was still missing. They say he is still there, leading the fight. But we
haven’t found anybody, not a single person, who has actually seen him,” a Sri
Lankan defence official told AFP on condition of anonymity. A huge fireball was
seen inside the jungle area.
LTTE statements – LTTE
call for ceasefire/truce
27 Jan 2009 – It is malicious propaganda — our leader is still with us
— our leader is giving leadership to our freedom struggle. He is with our
people,” ……… In a liberation war it is normal for a force to lose territory
and regain the same and achieve freedom,”…… In the past we have withdrawn many
times and bounced back to achieve big victories.”
BBC Sinhala quoted Tiger political wing leader B. Nadesen via
satellite phone interview
23 Feb 2009 – LTTE
was ready to comply with international calls for ceasefire but WOULD NOT lay
down arms. The international
community must do everything in its power to bring a ceasefire so that the
miseries of the Tamils… are brought to an end,” a statement from LTTE.
We also wish to inform the
international community that we are ready to discuss, cooperate, and work
together in all their efforts to bring an immediate ceasefire and work towards
a political settlement,”
the LTTE’s political chief B. Nadesan
14 Apr 2009 – LTTE says its ready to negotiate a
ceasefire & restart peace talks.
Such a ceasefire should also contain a
base for political negotiations,”
GoSL
rejected the call and asked LTTE to first lay down arms.
26 Apr 2009 – The
ceasefire is purely for humanitarian purposes and the duration will depend on
the response of the Sri Lankan government,” Puleethevan told AFP by
telephone (LTTE could still call overseas!)
27 Apr 2009 – We
made our position very clear to the international community. We will never surrender till our
legitimate demands are met,” Puleethevan
LTTE asked to surrender / lay down arms
3 Feb 2009 – US & Donors (Co-Chairs)
Co-Chairs called on the LTTE and the
government not to fire out of or into the no-fire zone established by the government or in
the vicinity of the hospital in the war-zone where more than 500 patients are
receiving care and many hundreds more have sought refuge.
Co-Chairs
called on both sides to allow food and medical assistance to reach those
trapped by fighting, cooperate with the international Red Cross to facilitate
the evacuation of urgent medical cases, and ensure the safety of aid and
medical workers.
The LTTE and the Government of Sri
Lanka must respect international
humanitarian law,”
22 Apr 2009 – LTTE chief spokesman Velayudam
Dayanidi, better known as Daya Master and another surrender
Tamil witnesses against LTTE
18 Feb 2009 – Trincomalee: Shopkeeper Subramaniam Sudaharan
escaped but his 2 teenage (14 & 16) sons were shot dead as family fled from
LTTE. Wife was also shot but did not die.
I suffered minor injuries. We are
lucky to be able to get out.”
29 Apr 2009 (AFP) – Daya Master & George Master who
surrended to SL Army come on tv & make statements denouncing LTTE.
Every point from where people could
move away from LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) areas were unfortunately
manned by LTTE cadre,”
said V.K. Pancharatnam, alias George, a translator and aide to the Tigers’ late
political leader S.P. Thamilselvan.
People who tried to leave met with
violence,”
Velayudam
Dayanidi, better known as Daya Master & LTTE spokesman, said he had been
trying to escape from the LTTE for several years.
When the LTTE broke away from the
peace talks in 2006, I decided to break away since I believed in negotiations,” he said in the interview,
International Community calls for
ceasefire/truce/temporary ‘no fire’
3 Feb 2009 (AFP) – US Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton & UK Foreign Minister David Miliband calls for temporary no-fire period” to evacuate casualties and allow in
relief.
5 Feb 2009 (AFP) – Canada called for truce to evacuate
wounded civilians & for LTTE to lay down arms. We continue to believe that the conflict cannot be resolved militarily
and can only be settled through a durable political solution that meets the
legitimate aspirations of all the people of Sri Lanka,” Lawrence Cannon,
Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs,
23 Feb 2009–
Brussels/EU foreign ministers
issued joint call for an immediate ceasefire. The EU is deeply concerned about the evolving humanitarian crisis and
vast number of internally displaced people,”…The EU calls for an immediate
ceasefire thereby providing for the establishment of full and unrestricted
access” to allow aid to reach a jungle area of northern Sri Lanka as well
enable traumatized civilians to leave.
7 April 2009 – UK calls for humanitarian ceasefire.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband
Recent reports suggesting that the Sri
Lankan military have now captured all the territory outside the so-called ‘no
fire zone’ and that fighting is now going on inside the zone, where the
civilian population is concentrated, are deeply worrying,”
The need for a humanitarian ceasefire
is now even more urgent.”
Nothing excuses the reported use of civilians by the LTTE as a human
shield”
9 Apr 2009 – Co-Chairs
(representatives of the Tokyo Co-Chairs — the United States, the European
Union, Japan and Norway) called for both camps to cease their futile”
fighting.
LTTE
should permit freedom of
movement for the civilians”
12 Apr 2009 – GoSL announce 48hr temporary
ceasefire for New Year celebrations
14 Apr 2009 – Brussels/Czech EU presidency statement welcomes the two-day ceasefire,”
but remains however deeply concerned about the situation for the civilians
trapped in the conflict zone.”
16 Apr 2009 – We call
upon the government and military of Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tigers to
immediately stop hostilities until the more than 140,000 civilians in the
conflict are safely out,”State
Department spokesman Robert Wood said.
18 Apr 2009 – Britain — a permanent member of the
Security Council — will ask Nambiar to report immediately to the UN Security
Council after his visit,” David Miliband said
25 Apr 2009 – Washington/White
House – First statement by President Obama on Sri Lanka. The United States is deeply concerned about
the plight of innocent civilians caught up in the conflict between the
government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tigers and the mounting death toll,”
We call on both sides to stop fighting
immediately and allow civilians to safely leave the combat zone,”
We call on both sides to strictly
adhere to their obligations under
international humanitarian law. We are very concerned about reports of
violations, and take these allegations very seriously,”
26 Apr 2009 – Foreign Secretary David Miliband,
together with his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner and Swedish counterpart
Carl Bildt, will visit (Sri Lanka) on Wednesday,” Downing Street said in a
statement.
29 Apr 2009 – foreign ministers of Britain and
France, David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner, arrived in Sri Lanka
16 May 2009 London – British PM Gordon Brown warned Sri
Lanka of consequences for its actions” if Colombo did not allow humanitarian
agencies access to civilians and end the conflict with Tamil Tiger rebels.
Sri Lanka stands on the brink,”…. We
have called repeatedly for the violence to cease”…..The humanitarian agencies
must be granted access to civilians caught in the crossfire of a dreadful
conflict. We are backing UN efforts to secure an orderly end to the conflict. The LTTE must lay down its arms and allow civilians to leave”…Sri Lanka must
understand that there will be consequences for its actions”
Statements on No Fire Zone / Safe Zone
13 Mar 2009 – Washington (AFP) – US Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton expressed deep
concern” over mounting deaths in a government safe zone. Clinton offered immediate and post-conflict
reconstruction assistance,”
17 Apr 2009 – Civilians — estimated at more than
140,000 by the United States and more than 100,000 by the United Nations — are
holed up in the narrow strip on the northeastern coast initially designated a
safe zone
LTTE keeping hospital patient’s hostage (human
shields)
28 Jan 2009 (AFP)– LTTE prevented ICRC evacuating
some 300 hospital patients inside rebel-held territory. 24 vehicles
arranged by ICRC and the United Nations to transport the sick was barred from
crossing the frontline
Convoy
had been detained by gun-carrying” fighters and that there had been heated
argument” with Red Cross and UN officials.
Hospitals shelled
2 Feb 2009 (AFP) – A hospital in LTTE held area (300 sq.km –
110sq.miles in jungle) claiming to house 500
hospital patients shelled (1Feb-Sun) 9
patients claimed dead and 15 injured.
ICRC
Colombo Head Paul Castella We’re shocked that the hospital was hit, and this for
the second time in recent weeks,”
ICRC did not say WHO WAS
RESPONSIBLE FOR SHELLING
10 Feb 2009 (AFP) – 16 patients die during shelling on
makeshift hospital northern Putumattalan (ICRC did not say who was responsible
for shelling)
Statements
from Doctors (local & foreign)
29 Jan 2009 (AFP) – more than 250 civilians killed & over 1000 injured since
beginning of January 2009 (T. Varatharajah, regional director of health
services in Mullaittivu.
“There are dozens of unclaimed bodies lying in
the hospital mortuaries because no relatives are coming forward to claim
them,”Dr.Varatharajah told AFP by telephone.
14 Feb 2009 (AFP) – 4 civilians killed from artillery
shelling near elderly home in Puttumatalan says Dr. T. Satyamurthy but did not
say who fired shells. On phone to AFP Dr. Satyamurthy says on 13 Feb 2009
nearly 100 civilians were admitted to makeshift hospital for injuries
25 Apr 2009 – British surgeon working
for Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), Paul McMasters, said his team in the state-run
hospital in Vavuniya had performed 71 operations in one recent 24-hour period.
One of the patients I have seen is a
little girl of about seven or eight who has a severe leg injury. Her elder
sister is in the same bed with wounds on her arms and legs,” ….Their sister
has burns to her face. Their mother has been killed and their father is in
intensive care. With the level of aftercare that we can provide at the moment,
he has a fifty-fifty chance of making it, at best.”….It’s so crowded that the
nurses cannot physically walk around the ward,” he said, estimating the number
of patients in a 45-bed ward at around 320…..There are simply too many people
to treat them all. We are not able to save some people because we need to
provide more aftercare,”
LTTE attack bus carrying civilians
14 Feb 2009 (AFP) – LTTE threw grenade at bus
transporting civilians out of Puliyankulam killing 1 woman and injuring 13 (4
women & 2 girls with gunshot injuries)
LTTE block UN staff leaving war zone
22 Jan 2009 – UN accused LTTE of preventing UN local staff &
their families leaving North with convoy that had brought food and emergency
supplies.
The UN calls on the LTTE (Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam) to meet their responsibilities and immediately permit
all UN staff and dependents to freely move from this area,”
LTTE suicide attacks
9 Feb 2009 (AFP) – LTTE suicide bomber kills 20 soldiers and 8 civilians
in refugee camp near Vishwamadu.
US
condemned attack This apparent effort by
the LTTE (Tamil Tigers) to discourage Tamils from leaving the conflict area
killed and wounded many Tamil civilians.”
21 Feb 2009 – LTTE suicide attack in Colombo by plane
10 Mar 2009 (AFP) – 15 killed and 60 wounded including 2 ministers in
suicide attack by LTTE in Akuressa, South Sri Lanka at a mosque function.
Telecommunications minister Mahinda Wijesekara and Cultural
Minister Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena
UNICEF
Statements
17 Feb 2009 (AFP) – LTTE intensified conscripting child soldiers as
young as 14. LTTEE has recruited more than 6000 child soldiers since 2002.
We have clear
indications that the LTTE has intensified forcible recruitment of civilians and
that children as young as 14 years old are now being targeted,” said Philippe Duamelle, UNICEF’s chief in Sri Lanka
17 Apr 2009 – UNICEF
is calling for a ceasefire and for a humanitarian pause which allows
humanitarian workers to access the conflict zone and for civilians who are
trapped in this zone … to be allowed to seek refuge in secured zones,” said
Veronique Taveau, spokeswoman UNICEF
UNHCR
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) said it had received 300 acres
of land from the government to set up, by the end of the week, a camp for
42,000 people.
ICRC
16 Jan 2009 ICRC reported massive
displacement”
Repeated displacements, often
involving the loss of their personal belongings, have taken a toll,” said Paul
Castella, the ICRC’s head of delegation.
Tens of thousands of displaced
civilians are concentrated in an area so small that there are serious concerns
for their physical safety and living conditions, in particular in terms of
hygiene,”
30 Jan 2009We
are negotiating with both parties to the conflict to ensure safe passage for
more patients that need urgent medical attention,” Sarasi Wijeratne,
spokeswoman for ICRC told AFP
17 Jan 2009
Tens of thousands of
displaced civilians are concentrated in an area so small that there are serious
concerns for their physical safety and living conditions, in particular in
terms of hygiene,”
5 Mar 2009 – One of our male workers was killed on
Wednesday afternoon by shrapnel,”(ICRC local worker – Vadivel
Vijayakumar killed in Chalai)
HRW Brad Adams on Civilians
29 Jan 2009 (AFP) –
The situation for hundreds of
thousands of vulnerable civilians trapped in the Wanni war zone (in Mullaittivu
district) is becoming increasingly dangerous,” Brad Adams, Asia director at Human
Rights Watch.
Both the government and the LTTE need
to take urgent action to prevent large-scale civilian deaths.”
13 Mar 2009 – Human
Rights Watch accused the LTTE of holding civilians as human shields,”
preventing people from leaving the areas under their control and forcibly
recruiting children to fight the army.
Amnesty International – Yolanda Foster
“People displaced by the conflict are
experiencing acute shortages of humanitarian aid, especially food, shelter and
medical care,”
“There has been no food convoy in the area since
16 January.”
“Preventing civilians from accessing medical
care constitutes a war crime.” (who was preventing? LTTE)
28 Mar 2009
– LTTE were
holding civilians hostage and were reported to have deliberately
attacked civilians that have tried to escape from areas under their control.”
Pro-LTTE rallies abroad
19 Mar 2009 (AFP) – Pro-LTTE rallies in Australia,
Belgium, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland, US.
Self-immolations
in Tamil Nadu, UK & Switzerland.
Demonstrators
draping themselves with LTTE flags!
The LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam) is a banned organisation in some of these countries. We are surprised
these countries allow LTTE sympathisers to use the LTTE flags” (GoSL)
7 Apr 2009 – UK police action on pro-LTTE demonstrators
in Westminster Bridge.
13 Apr 2009 – Syndey/Australia – about 300 pro-LTTE protestors stage
rally outside Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s official Sydney residence
calling for a lasting ceasefire in Sri Lanka.
Protester Geetha Mano
21 Apr 2009–
Ottawa/Canada – up to 30,000 protestors blocked road for 15th
day in a row demanding Canada stop GoSL ending LTTE. Canada has banned LTTE in
2006 and refused to meet protestors.
27 Apr 2009 London – 6 Tamils arrested for smashing
windows in Indian High Commission and causing damage outside Sri Lanka’s High
Commission
11 May 2009 London – British police arrest 45 Tamil
protestors for blocking traffic outside Parliament. Bharathy Maheswaram
India on alert against LTTE
21 Mar 2009 – Thiruvananthapuram/Kerala – India tightened security in 3 major
airports in Kerala following threats by LTTE sympathizers.
9 Apr 2009 – Indian security warn Congress leader
Sonia Gandhi and family of being targets of LTTE ahead of Indian election.
24 Apr 2009 – India’s Foreign Secretary
Shivshankar Menon and National Security Adviser M. K. Narayanan flew to Colombo
re civilians trapped. The only lasting solution will come from political
efforts to address the real concerns of the Tamil people, giving them lives of
dignity within the Sri Lankan mainstream,”
6 May 2009 India – Sonia Gandhi, leader of Congress
Party cancelled election rallies in Tamil Nadu due to security risks. Her
husband former Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi was killed by LTTE in Tamil Nadu in 1991.
18 May 2009 – We also want an authentication of
Pottu Amman’s death,” (Indian Govt)
International Action against LTTE
28 Jan 2009 – Washington
Thiruthanikan
Thanigasalam, 40, and Sahilal Sabaratnam, 29, pleaded guilty in Brooklyn, New
York to conspiring to purchase guided anti-aircraft missiles for LTTE during
trial in a US district court
Co-defendants
Sathajhan Sarachandran, 29, and Nadarasa Yogarasa, 54, pleaded guilty to
similar charges.
Thanigasalam,
Sabaratnam and Sarachandran face a 25-year sentence to life in prison, while
Nadarasa faces up to 30 years prison.
The
four defendants were arrested on Long Island, New York in August 2006 after
three from the group were accused of negotiating with an undercover FBI agent
to buy and export military equipment for the Tamil Tigers.
28 Jan 2009 UK – Arunachalam Chrishanthakumar (AC SHanthan) head of United Tamil
Organisation charged with 5 offences by Kingston Crown Court in London in
Britain (before UK banned LTTE in 2001)
17 Apr 2009 – London – Kingston Crown Court convicted Arunachalam
Chrishanthakumar, 52, of coordinating supplies of material to the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Jurors
failed to reach verdicts on three other charges against Chrishanthakumar, also
known as AC Shanthan, plus one charge against another accused, Jegatheeswaran
Muraleetharan.
He was also convicted of receiving documents
for the purpose of terrorism,
USAID assistance
2 Apr 2009 – USAID donated $15m (Rs1.7 billion)
worth of food aid for Sri Lanka to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP)
The
food scheduled to arrive in June 2009, consisted of wheat, lentils and
vegetable oil, will be distributed to a large number of displaced and
conflict-affected people in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka.
It
would feed 300,000 people over 4 months.
USAID
Mission Director Rebecca Cohn said the donation represents about 21% of the
total food aid that WFP has called for in 2009 to meet the needs of refugees
and other conflict-affected people in Sri Lanka.
Role of Norway
2 April 2009 – Sri Lanka summoned Norway’s envoy
(Tore Hattrem) to complain about the Nordic country’s alleged role in arranging
a telephone conversation between LTTE’s KP and UN John Holmes.
13 April 2009 – Sri Lanka stripped Norway of role as
broker in Sri Lanka’s peace process. The
government of Sri Lanka perceives that there is no room for Norway to act as
(peace) facilitator,”
Calls for Political Solutions
6 Jan 2009 UK High Commission Colombo issues statement by Lord Malloch-Brown, Minister of State for the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office of the British Government and Douglas Alexander, Secretary
of State for International Development.
This development makes it even more urgent
that all parties achieve progress on setting out a political solution that
addresses the legitimate concerns of all communities,”
We remain concerned about the
humanitarian impact of the conflict and call on all parties to abide by their
obligations under international humanitarian
law.”
Interfering in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs
12 Feb 2009 (AFP) Sri Lanka rejected UK appointing special envoy Des Browne to SL
accusing London of interfering into Sri Lanka’s internal affairs.
Resettling IDPs
30 Apr 2009 – 400 civilians out of 3000 returned
to their homes (confirmed UNHCR)
This is the first time in years that
internally displaced people are able to return home in the Mannar district,” (UNHCR)
ABSURDITY OF STATEMENTS by foreign
envoys/international media & rights groups:
Claims by either side cannot be
verified as human rights groups, diplomats and independent journalists are not
allowed to report freely from the conflict zone.”
Battlefield casualty claims are
impossible to verify as journalists are not allowed to travel freely in the
area.
tens
of thousands” was a chorus used in virtually all of the statements issued by
UN/ICRC & international media. None of them could give any definite number
or detail.
When LTTE does not allow their own people to leave and ICRC
local staff have also died or had been held hostage by LTTE – does the foreign
elements think that reporters, rights groups and diplomats will be allowed
inside for them to count the dead, monitor situation or ask questions from LTTE
while engaged in hostilities? These are statements just issued for lack of any
practical thinking!
Sri
Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse formally announced end of LTTE Terrorists
& their ground force on 19 May 2009
We
have successfully ended the war,” said Defence secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapakse
Prabhakaran’s
body is among the 300 terrorist bodies that we captured,” Army chief Lieutenant
General Sarath Fonseka said on state television. Now the entire country is
declared rid of terrorism.”
Sadly
those that supported LTTE are very much back in action firstly to take revenge
for ending LTTE and secondly as this affords a new opportunity to keep GoSL
under their influence & control.
The most vital issue regarding the MCC: Should Sri Lanka privatise state lands under foreign laws?.
Over
the past 4 decades successive Government policy makers have
moved towards introducing land policies and land laws promoted in western
countries. They keep ignoring our own institutions, laws and practices,
totally eroding them beyond recognition.
Digitalising and formalising a country’s land titling system
is an extremely difficult task. Itis a minefield of practical difficulties,
complicated bylegal culture, social norms, institutional capabilities and
corruption.
It appears the government has readily agreed with the MCC to
ensure coordination with the studies and designs made by other donors
namely World Bank, USAID, US Embassy, and other US interests (Annex 1
p33). Further it agrees that the availability of MCC funds for land
privatisation has to depend on the enactment of the Land Special Provision Act
(LSPA), where the registration of absolute land grants must be completed
through the title registration system, called the Bim Saviya, based on a
foreign land law (Annex 1, p30). Annex 1, p28 also refers to Bim Saviya and the
preparation of an e-register. This is the result of entering into several
agreements that have required us to legislate foreign laws relating to
land, simply to enable us to accept foreign grants. ‘All this for the sake of
alleviating poverty’, appears to be how we were pacified.
No mention is made to consider the advice given by the legal
fraternity.
Was the Bim Saviya
introduced under a new parliamentary procedure ?
No one knows
when laws are passed by parliament .No one was aware, of when and how,
the Act 21 of 1998 –Bim Saviya came into operation. Bim Saviya is an
Australian law restricting access to court, repealing the Roman Dutch law
and the Common law of our country practiced for over 100 years.
Lawyers and land owners are totally unaware of the
implications of this law . The committee looking into the MCC may not be
aware of the economic burden created by this law .
Is
the Committee aware of the economic burden and the legal ramifications
of Bim Saviya ? [The new law Assurance Fund in lieu of
judicial remedies ]
Bim
Saviya is a law where ownership could be obtained by means of an invalid
/ forged document. Example if A ‘s land is sold to B on a forged invalid
transfer to B. B’s name once registered in the digital
register the law of Bim Saviya protects the ownership of B. A’s
fundamental right to access court is repealed by the law of Bim Saviya.
A’s solution is to obtain compensation from the Government. The
Government therefore under the Bim Saviya has to set up the statutory
Assurance Fund [ Act 21 of 1998 ] to compensate owners. The
Government must look around to see the consequences of this law, in
other nations — — for example notwithstanding UK
‘s stringent laws to prevent fraud compensation to owners
over the last 10 years had been around £55
million under the Assurance Fund Scheme—
Can
the Government genuinely make this promise to the land owners ?
Sri
Lanka’s vulnerability—dependence on foreign funds and advisors
The successive
governments have completely abdicated their responsibility, to, revise outdated
colonial land laws, promote legal education & research among Sri Lanka’s
academics and legal fraternity. Without commencing any local
initiative, merely permitted entities like World Bank, USAID and US
Actors to enter the country to introduce Bim Saviya and
digitalization. We have moved on to digitalization commencing with advice
from US interest. For instance, this report prepared by the American Embassy
Colombo – November 2011 https://photos.state.gov/libraries/sri-lanka/577989/pdf/eLand%20Hub%20Project.pdf .
They had already commenced
copying the names of owners from the old register [ which was
in operation without any revision since 1864 ] to the new Digital register
, when the Registrar General of Lands claimed that 50%
of entries in the old register were forged.
The names of owners are
determined by a non judicial process for the first time in Sri
Lanka ; entrusted to the administration. Land owners names are
exposed with their ID numbers and addresses, without
the international laws to protect owners in a Digital world
Is
it not oxymoronic that to alleviate poverty we create poverty ?
The
promise to make poverty history for the past 60 years with foreign aid
and advice had been a failed effort in many jurisdictions . The
judiciaries of many countries are faced with challenges;
for which they have given a new legal term ‘ BIJURAL EFFECT’ .
There is ample literature on the subject —
1]Malaysia
https://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/letters/2007/12/23/at-the-mercy-of-land-scams . A former member
of the Malaysian Bar Council states ‘Title
registration’ [ Bim Saviya] is a law which has wreaked
havoc in land transactions and increased the number of land scams in the last
9 years[ Boonsom Boonyanit case the Torrens system,
innocent landowners who are victims of fraudsters and scam artists cannot
expect to find justice in the law.]
After signing the MCC , the implementation of Bim
Saviya and digitalsiation will be assigned to a Primary Agent of the
Government called the MCA Sri Lanka Ltd
according to Annex 1 page 34 of MCC. The agent shall have operational
legal independence and full decision making autonomy with or without
consultation. The agent becomes responsible for exercising the Sri
Lanka Government’s rights and obligations to oversee, manage the Bim Saviya and
the digitlistaion project in the Targeted Districts .
The Government waives all
claims for all loss, damage, injury or death arising out of
activities or omissions of the agent section 6.8 of the MCC –will
have complete legal immunity for all its actions.
Do we consider the
MCC as a UN organisation, giving them the privileges and immunities
enjoyed by representatives of the Members of the UN and officials of the
Organisations As only representatives of the Members of the United
Nations and officials of the Organization under UN rules
enjoy privileges and immunities as are necessary for the
independent exercise of their functions https://legal.un.org/avl/ha/cpiun-cpisa/cpiun-cpisa.html
Perhaps this is a
precautionary measure as Bim Saviya erodes our institutions,
laws and judicial practices. Diplomatic
Immunity will protects the MCC and the MCC Sri Lanka from fraud charges
and the inevitable consequences to the legal process where
lawyers and judges will be programed to accept cut and paste laws from
foreign countries.
The Government claims to have funds to
complete Bim Saviya
The Government whilst limping along for
12 years , wasting funds on a failed project has promised to
complete the balance 35 land registries and complete 9.5 Million parcels of
land less 100000 undertaken by the MCC in 10 land registries .
The MCC document also refer to the Government’s
poor performance for 12 years relating to Bim Saviya completing
only 600,000 parcels from 2007 to 2019, costing nearly 2.5 Million
per year
Can the Government genuinely make this promise?
[ MCC No, Section 2.6 (Government resources budget – page 6 of MCC &
Annex 1-34).
Could
someone give a road map of how foreign funds and foreign laws could
alleviate poverty
Any one who had taken
a loan from a bank will know that if you are poor and is unable to
produce evidence of wealth banks will not grant loans!
Privatisation of
land rights require a land law system that could be understood by the local
people, if it is to alleviate poverty. This is the reason that countries
that were successful with digitalisation, spent over 12 years to train
academics and staff to enter into the revolutionary process.
Can the poor
function with 12 digit number given to them in lieu of their
deeds.?
Can they manage
transactions on a digital register with the 12 digit number. ?
I am sure even the
affluent land owners are not aware of the revolutionary changes. The advice to
initiate research programs and to disseminate knowledge was given in the
World Bank report in in 2007
After neglecting the
required process given in the above reports for over 12
years, to embark on further radical changes with MCC funds will be
a grave mistake. The changes will result in destroying our paper deeds, destroying all
historical records of our land ownership; owners will be reduced to a paperless
deed environment and our current land ownership will be confined to a digital
number toxic with corruption reflected in the manual register. Perhaps we will
not have professionals well equipped to handle the foreign systems
nor will we have the intellectual property rights to manage
the electronic operations in land registries.
I hope the committee will advice the
Government to be intellectually independent. Reference must be made to
the advice given in the 2007 World Bank Report and the
Economic Commission for Europe -Geneva Land Administration
Guidelines with Special Reference to countries such as Sri Lanka. Their
advice is for countries to build their own systems according to their own
social, economic and cultural environments.
Dr. Mervyn D. De Silva Former Director, Plan Implementation Ministry and Ex SLFP National List MP
A few weeks ago a select group
of opposition academics sought a frank, analytical, constructively critical,
discussion with the author on the prevailing threats to democracy and its
tradition, the creaking edifices of our hallowed institutions, and the rapid
erosion of time honored codes and practices that ensures a vibrant democracy
and good governance.
Called upon to enlighten them
with a broad overview of the issues facing the country that have serious
consequences for the future and, the present as well, the focus got directed
towards the multiplicity of acts of omission and commission ever since the
country attained independence 65 years ago. Most of what was explained verbally
is incorporated into the content of this article, expanded, in the sincere hope
that it will throw some light and, will be of some use, in stimulating the
minds and hearts of politicians and the public in general.
Unmistakably, there is an
urgent need to look at the problems that have risen in practically every sector
of government and society clinically, and bring in a whole raft of reformatory
changes that are honest, rational, sincere, and radical in the
politico-socio-economic arena. Since the word radical” is used very much in
the rhetorical outburst, freely and loosely in fact, from many a political
platform, the need to define its context in which it is advocated and used
throughout this article, becomes necessary. The word ‘radical’ as both a noun
and an adjective, the derivative of which are radicalization, radicality, and
radicalise are relatively recent words. The word ‘radical’ itself is derived
from the word ‘radix’ which means the root, whose initial sense pertains to the
roots of a thing or a being.
Accepting this definition and
slant of the word, it is abundantly clear that our country, 65 years
independent requires radical reform and changes by approaching all the created
problems, and the issues, and the inconsistencies at their very source, making
a clean sweep of all skewed interpretations and irrational practices built into
the system. There has to be concurrently, a clean sweep of worn out strategies
and prejudices, habits, view points, and opinions in our programmed collective
minds and institutions. But, most importantly, attention must be focused on the
state of our democracy and, the three arms, the executive, the legislature, and
judiciary that jointly have been ordained to ensure that there is good, just,
and fair governance for the benefit of all the people.
Any keen student of
social-economics and politics who takes the troubles to feel the pulse of the
masses particularly, that of the skeptical and restless younger generation,
can’t escape admitting the fact that people have many unhealed wounds and woes
and that it is reaching the point where they can’t tolerate it any longer. They
are fed up with politicians, their arrogance, their life styles and indeed, how
they manage the government. As the task of putting into paper the whole gamut
of what transpired during the discussion and the litany of all the people’s
woes, demands, and frustrations, the author settled to put it down in a
summarized form as given below:
They, the people, are disillusioned or disaffected, by the old styled politics where political power is just what money can buy, and thus, the quality and calibre of those who come forward as candidates at every election is questionable.
They are fed up and suspicious of the manifestoes they offer and,
the policies there in, of the two major parties. They detest the manner in
which they relegate such manifestoes and promises to the limbo of forgotten
things in no time.
They are angry that the major parties have demonstrated an abysmal
lack of political morality and never attempted to control corruption at higher
echelons and of politicians.
They feel they have no control over their lives or, the laws
passed that affect them, and are applied selectively.
They have realized that politics is not working as promised in a
just manner, responding to the deeper needs of the majority of the lower
segment of the population.
They are alarmed and feel helpless at the almost complete
breakdown in discipline, law and order and that the principle that ‘might is
right’ has come to stay in all levels of the society today.
They are shocked how politics has become criminalized, the public
service politicized, and how politicians have usurped executive, administrative
and judicial power, steering the county to a state of chaos and disorder.
What do they want, and what do
they plead for
They want the politician, the silent majority, the intellectuals, the professionals, the businessmen, the scientists, the university professors, the legal fraternity and of course the heads of religious organizations to wake up, speak up, stand up and be counted.
They want them to pioneer a completely radical and rational change
in the political outlook and culture that has bedeviled our motherland for too
long.
They want a sea change in the style of governance that stimulates
a vibrant democratic society where all religious and ethnic communities live in
peace and harmony.
They want the sacred principle of public morality recognized and,
that power is neither a right nor, an entitlement but, a trust to be strictly
observed.
They want the whole management of government overhauled and a
comprehensive plan crafted and designed to steer the country toward a state of
balance economic development, social development and the development of civic
society.
They want absolutely free and fair elections at all times, at all
levels because, it is the corner stone of democracy. They fail to understand
why a foolproof system for elections with absolutely no room for rigging can’t
be implemented in this technologically advanced era.
They long for a socially responsible media which is completely
unfettered,, exposes corruptions, public mismanagement and, does not act as a
crude propaganda arm for any government.
They want a government that is honest, transparent, truthful,
dedicated, and that presents a vision that inspires people especially, the
youth.
This is not all, the woes and
demands of the people is an unending list and only some have been extracted out
from my mind. However, it has been written in the fervent hope that what
appears in this article will not fall on deaf ears or blind eyes of those
concern, especially, of those in the opposition. Whether, these changes for the
better can be brought out is difficult to guess because, we live in a world of
spiritual and moral crises, where extreme individualism is glorified, altruism
scorned, and the so called ‘rational self interest’ is propagated.
Nevertheless, hopes springs
externally in the human hearts.
Dr. Mervyn D. De Silva –
Former Director, Plan Implementation Ministry and Ex SLFP National
List MP
Sri Lanka Military Band At Russia Spasskaya Tower Military Music Festival 2018 held in Moscow on Red Square. This International Music Festival Held from the 24th August to the 2nd Of September. This year festival participants came from over 40 Countries. The Band was Combination of Army , Navy , Air-Force . And Led By Captain Chandana Amarasinghe
