Courtesy Hiru News

The number of people infected by the coronavirus in the UK has doubled to eight – after four more patients in England tested positive for the virus It comes as the government announced new powers to keep people in quarantine to stop the spread of the virus.

In order to do this, the Department of Health has described the coronavirus as a “serious and imminent threat” to public health.

There have been more than 40,000 cases of the virus globally, mostly in China.

The total number of deaths in China is now at 910 – but the number of newly-infected people per day has stabilized.

Meanwhile, testing aboard the Diamond Princess Cruise ship in Japan has found more confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus. Other local media also reported approximately cases had been confirmed, raising the number of infected passengers and crew to around 136.

The head of the World Health Organization has warned that confirmed cases of coronavirus transmitted by people who have never travelled to China could be the tip of the iceberg.

Meanwhile, today, members of a WHO expert mission flew to China to help coordinate the response to the crisis.

Meanwhile, The GMOA stated today that the threat from the coronavirus could not be ignored even if the virus did not affect the country.

Addressing a media conference held in Colombo today, GMOA general secretary Dr. Haritha Aluthge said a quarantine center should be set up in Sri Lanka with immediate effect as viral diseases are currently spreading all over the globe.

Courtesy  The Visual and Data Journalism TeamBBC News

A fast-moving virus known as the “new coronavirus” has infected thousands of Chinese citizens and spread to more than 20 countries.

The respiratory infection, which causes pneumonia-like symptoms, has claimed more than 900 lives so far – more than the 774 killed in the 2003 Sars epidemic.

The outbreak, originating in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has been declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Here are 10 maps and graphics that will help you understand what is going on.

1. There have been thousands of cases – the majority in China

Across China, thousands of people have been infected with the coronavirus, with thousands more under medical observation.

The WHO has warned the number of cases is likely to rise further.

The WHO has warned the number of cases is likely to rise further.

But while the overall number of cases continues to rise, the latest figures released by the Chinese National Health Commission show the number of new daily confirmed cases has begun to decline from a peak on 5 February.

The number of new cases in China is “stabilising”, the WHO says, but it is too early to say if the virus has peaked.

Head of the WHO’s health emergencies programme Dr Mike Ryan told a news conference the stabilisation “may reflect the impact of control measures put in place”.

But he warned against assuming the virus had plateaued.

Epidemics can slow down and then accelerate again, infectious disease experts say.

• Coronavirus kills 97 in deadliest day so far
• Why much of ‘the world’s factory’ remains closed
• Your questions answered

2. Daily deaths are rising

China has recorded its highest number of deaths in a single day from the new coronavirus, with 97 people dying on Sunday.

Figures released by the Chinese authorities show the number of daily deaths has risen steadily since the end of January.

The number of coronavirus cases and deaths have both overtaken that of the 2003 Sars epidemic, which also originated in China and killed 774 people.

There were around 8,100 cases of Sars – severe acute respiratory syndrome – reported during the eight-month outbreak.

3. China introduced a number of measures to try to halt the virus’s spread

Tight restrictions to contain the disease remain in place in China, despite some workers heading back to their jobs following an extended Lunar New Year holiday.

Authorities have cancelled flights, closed factories and schools and ordered some cities to go into lockdown in a bid to reduce infections.

Many companies are opening a selected number of workplaces as well as limiting staff numbers and staggering working hours.

Hubei province remains the worst affected, seeing by far the biggest number of cases of the virus as well as most of the deaths.

Its capital city of Wuhan, home to 11 million people, remains virtual lockdown, with its train stations and airports shut and its roads sealed.

The origins of the new coronavirus have been linked to illegally traded wildlife at Wuhan’s seafood market, which sells live animals including bats, rabbits and marmots. However, the exact source of the outbreak has not been identified.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-51235105

The Lessons Learnt & Reconciliation Commission Report of November 2011 declared 22,247 LTTE dead of which 11,812 had been identified by name. However, 10,435 LTTE dead had not been identified by the time LLRC report was released in November 2011. Has Sri Lanka’s MoD identified the remaining unidentified 10,435 LTTE dead with names is what we want answered first. Secondly, the Office of Missing Persons’ instituted in 2017 has a list of its own on dead & missing which in total numbers 23,586 and includes 5000 missing soldiers of Sri Lanka’s Armed Forces. Does OMP feature any of the 22,247 LTTE dead or even the 10,435 LTTE dead that could not be identified before LLRC report was released?

Sri Lankan Government & OMP officials must provide answers

1. The entire list of 11,812 LTTE dead with names

• List of 10,435 LTTE dead if they had been identified AFTER LLRC report was made public

• If 10,435 LTTE dead have not been identified – their photos must be made public so that their families can come forward & identify them

• Is this 10,435 LTTE dead included by Tamils as ‘civilians’ in the OMP list of 18,586 (having omitted the 5000 Missing Sri Lankan Soldiers)

• Can LTTE dead be included into OMP list of missing?

• Who are the 23,586 missing / by name & ethnicity & since when have they been missing (all details pertaining to them must be available in the OMP website)

• Who are the 18,586 given to Paranagama Commission – by ethnicity & name (having omitted the 5000 Missing Sri Lankan soldiers)

• If LTTE dead in LLRC are featured in OMP then the OMP officials have some explaining to do

• We would like to know what the OMP has done about missing people during UNP/JVP killing spree of 1980s/1990s as well as every person missing by LTTE because their lives matter too not just LTTE dead

Sri Lankan tax payers will not agree to paying a single cent to LTTE dead or LTTE families. Let’s be very clear about this.

LTTE killed many an innocent unarmed civilian who had done them no harm. Many of those who survived are injured for life and cannot even make a living on their own. They have been neglected by their families as their families cannot look after them in view of the poverty they suffer. These victims and their grievances must take precedence over feeling any sympathy for LTTE murderers & their families. No State can agree to compensating LTTE terrorists when LTTE remains banned in Sri Lanka completely forgetting what LTTE did.

We are willing to let bygones be bygones and move on and even allow rehabilitated LTTE to begin a new life but we are not in agreement for our tax money to be given to any LTTE dead or LTTE family as compensation.

The LTTE diaspora is holding a kitty that is full of money from illegal and legal international ventures. The LTTE made annual profits of $300million which must have trebled by now since they do not have to purchase arms, ammunition or maintain combatants. GoSL must canvass among foreign governments and seal these funding and transfer that to ill-gotten money to maintain victims on both sides who suffered because of LTTE rather than pass on the burden to the already suffering tax payers of Sri Lanka.

GoSL – do not move a cent of tax payers money to compensate a single LTTE dead or their families.

The liberals and NGOs and their foreign partners whose love for LTTE dead and their families oozes out 24×7 are welcome to use their personal fund to compensate the LTTE dead and their families given that many locals and foreigners had a lucrative job because LTTE existed and were able to travel around the world holding terrorist tamashas, conflict-resolution workshops and enjoy 5-star hotel stays. So naturally, they are indebted to the LTTE for what they enjoyed while LTTE thrived. So they can return the favor by looking after the LTTE dead families & compensating from their own funds.

We demand to know the names of anyone claimed LTTE dead as a civilian – that is completely prohibited by international law. LTTE has violated Rule 1: THE PRINCIPLE OF DISTINCTION: DISTINCTION BETWEEN CIVILIANS AND COMBATANTS which binds LTTE The parties to the conflict must at all times distinguish between civilians and combatants. Attacks may only be directed against combatants. Attacks must not be directed against civilians”

LTTE fired keeping civilians amongst them and LTTE did not allow civilians to flee to safety while shooting dead the civilians that did so. LTTE had an armed civilian combat unit and any person belonging to this unit who died cannot claim to be a ‘civilian’.

So what we want answered is – who among the Tamils killed were LTTE / LTTE civilian force & 100% civilian not having taken part in any hostilities whatsoever.

Can UNHRC / OISL / UN rapporteurs / diplomats / NGO and INGOs answer this simple question. Unless they can answer this NONE OF THEM can accuse Sri Lanka’s Armed Forces of committing ANY WAR CRIMES whatsoever.

The UN and media reports end with the most preposterous assumption negating statements by GoSL & Sri Lankan Armed Forces claiming that since independent media/humanitarian activist presence was not available details cannot be verified. Oh yeah sure, LTTE who did not allow its own people to flee and who does not think twice about killing or keeping anyone hostage or as a human shield will allow media and NGOs to take down notes and validate how they are firing at the army from civilian presence! This is too hysterical to even imagine!

For 10 years we have been taken around the mulberry bush by the UN, INGOs, NGOs, human rights organizations and diplomats. All of them love to read fancy speeches but none of them have plucked even 20 skeletons from the war zone to claim mass murder or war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces to the tune of 40,000 which is the basis of war crimes allegations. While they sit on their mighty armchairs refusing to accept the UN Country Team report giving 7721 dead, the GoSL survey at end of conflict claiming 7400 dead or population survey done by Tamil Teachers in July 2011 revealing 7896 dead they cannot other than pluck figures from the sky validate even 10,000 dead with names.

The Sri Lankan Armed Forces have been humiliated enough throughout these 10 years. These lies and fabrications against them must stop or produce every name and detail of the supposed to be dead 40,000!

Shenali D Waduge

Indo-Sri Lanka relations have never been what either country would have liked it to be. What both countries should realize is that small as Sri Lanka may be, India cannot afford to bully it or destabilize it as India would have liked. The terrain is now far different than when India could call the shots in 1980s. There are bigger and far more powerful players that even India needs to weather with caution. There are many faux pas that India will not like to admit to, but what India must realize is that if it is in Sri Lanka’s best interest to ensure India remains unbalkanized, it is to India’s best interest that Sri Lanka remains without elements that covertly propose to do what was done to the Soviet Union & the former Yugoslavia.

Sri Lanka’s PM and former President is in India. The Indian PM has clearly stated Stability of Sri Lanka in India’s interests as well as Indian Ocean Region. Who is destabilizing Sri Lanka? India must answer for the elements that destabilize Sri Lanka will be the same elements that will destabilize India just as covertly as being done in Sri Lanka.

The Tamil card played by India is the very card being played by the West to strike its presence in Sri Lanka. The Tamils have played a historical role in being part of the West’s toolkit during colonial rule as indentured labor, mercenaries and sepoy army. Therefore, India must be mindful of overplaying this card as it also means balkanizing of India via Tamil Nadu. India take note – every demarche issued by India to Sri Lanka regarding minorities in Sri Lanka will be usurped by West for its destabilizing purposes which will eventually boomerang on India as well.

A good look at the West-government funded faith-based charities and ‘ngos’ would tell the story of what is planned for India in time to come. Now that the fox is posing as ‘friend’ and given access to India it is only a matter of time that plan for India will be put in place and already many Indians may be roped in for this bigger quest. The greater eelam for the West would probably be the alternative to Diego Garcia!

What Congressman Edolphus Towns said in 1998 is important and must be recalled throughout India’s interactions with the US.

Has India thought about who its greater enemy is? Obviously India has been roped into taking an anti-China stand and is part of the US-Japan-Australia ‘quadrilateral consultation’ strategy in Asia Pacific. US has also redefined its US Pacific Command as Indo-US Pacific Command. US has roped in India for various counter terrorism drives too. What’s baffling is that it is an open secret that majority of Islamic terrorists are peddled by US and its Western stooges who are trained, armed and imported to wherever US eyes its presence or wishes to ground itself in on pretext of ‘war against terror’.

China’s B&R for global development of all partner nations or US pivot meaning neocolonial capitalism grabbing worlds resources and sharing amongst a few corporate elites should hardly leave a choice for India. If India thinks China is a bigger threat, India may well like to explain what happened to every country US is now militarily showing its presence in. The outbreak of coronavirus and its global outreach has resulted in questions of bioengineered depopulation drives which cannot be brushed aside as conspiracy theories. Russia too raised similar doubts – https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51413870  

All these will eventually have an impact on India and India has questioned western NGOs for various vaccination related deaths but the same entity in 2019 bestowed the Indian PM an award! Dishing out awards has been part and parcel of West’s policy to draw in Asian and Africans into their fold and sphere of influence.

The pro-Russia stand taken by India changed in 1982 following Indira Gandhi’s visit to US. It was round about the same time India-assisted Tamil militancy came into open guerilla tactics in Sri Lanka. However, Mrs. Gandhi was assassinated 2 years later and her politically novice son Rajiv took over. The first strategic dialogue between India & US was in June 2010 and India was called an indispensable partner.” President Obama pandered to India’s aspiration to become a permanent member of the UNSC. In July 2011 as part of the US-India Strategic Dialogue a MOU was signed on cyber security cooperation. With US announcement of its pivot to Asia, US Defense Secretary was quick to land in India and announce military ties in 2012. Modi’s visit to US in 2014 and Obama’s 2^nd visit to India in 2015 delivered the message “America can be India’s best partner.” Probably that made India to assist regime change in Sri Lanka in January 2015. Thus not surprisingly US elevated India to a major defense partner in 2016 with India now enjoying treaty benefits. PM Modi was again in US in 2017 and in 2018 Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) was signed. According to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, exports of American weapons to India from 2013 to 2017 increased 557% over the previous five-year period. American arms sales to India currently stand around $18 billion. No one can forget that all of the world’s tyrants were all bosom pals of US! These very friends eventually became foes of the US once US had strengthened ties and ironed the landscape well enough to depose their friend and take over. This is what India needs to be mindful of. Probably the Western think tanks know about India’s terrain far more than India by now! These tie-ups make any Asian state view its relations with India as being part of the US strategy in Asia and that is not healthy for India’s relations with these Asian neighbors or for India eventually.

While Sri Lanka has managed to avert the over-reaching pro-US following 2015 regime change, US influence in Nepal has been such that not only its constitution has been changed but Nepal is virtually trapped to signing the MCC which is part of the US project in Asia to counter China. It is to India’s best interest as well as Sri Lanka’s that MCC-SOFA-ACSA and US Peace Corps deals do not get passed in Sri Lanka. These agreements will be major chaos trigger points to Sri Lanka – India & rest of Asia with US troops grounded in Sri Lanka with US vessels, personnel & contractors given full portfolio of logistics services in Sri Lanka with 100% immunities.

In August 2017 President Trump declared U.S-India strategic partnership would also be a critical part” of the South Asia strategy. US claims the Indo-Pacific is the single most consequential region for America’s future.” Why? Asia is the world’s biggest continent – India & China are the two most populace countries, the world’s biggest Muslim population is in Indonesia, 7 of the 10 largest standing armies in the world are in Asia Pacific and 1/3 of global shipping passes through South China sea. Should India be part of US strategy to contain China’s rise at the cost of alienating itself from Asian neighbors but aligned to US traditional allies Japan, Philippines, Korea and Australia? In the quest to contain China will US not eventually consider India’s disintegration as well. Economic quest for supremacy also means bids to grab natural resources and there are no permanent friends but permanent interests in these decisions.

Congressman Edolphus Town’s 1998 statement is important because for US, it is China who US regards as threat and India is just a ploy to get closer to China. India’s decision to purchase S-400 air-defense missile systems from Russia inspite of America’s threat to sanction signals that India has decided to play a more independent role than Japan. India must continue to do what is right for India and its national security irrespective of its partnership with US.

As the Indian PM said the Stability of Sri Lanka is in India’s interests as well as Indian Ocean Region. The threats Sri Lanka faces presently will be the very threats that will be transferred to India. India must allow Sri Lanka room to take care of its internal national security threats and feel assured that Sri Lanka will never allow its turf to be compromised because Sri Lanka knows that same enemy will target India next.

India should determine who its bigger enemy is & decipher what India will eventually be in store for.

Shenali D Waduge

KAMALIKA PIERIS

Rev 7.3.20

Those interested in the issue, want to know, how a Tamil version arose. It was due to British rule. The British administration recognized Tamil as a vernacular language, together with Sinhala. Tamil words were shown on rupees and coins, (e.g.  the 10 cent coin of 1928). There were Tamil vernacular schools. Also, Tamil was going to be an official language   after Independence.

Taking all this into account, the legislators allowed a Tamil translation of the national anthem. But right from the start the Tamil version met with opposition. When it was sung for the first time in 1949, some members of the audience remained seated. (Lankadipa of 5.2.1949)

The national anthem did not feature in the 1972 Constitution. But the 1978 Constitution included the national anthem in its schedules. The anthem was to be in Sinhala only. We can infer that from the English translation, which was a transliteration. The Tamil translation came about because   Tamil MP K. Devanayagam asked for it, saying the Tamil speaking group wished to sing in Tamil.

In 1987, Tamil became a national language thanks to the 13^th Amendment.  Tamil speakers then became arrogant. Tamil is now a national language, on par with Sinhala, and the Tamil translation is no longer an option. It is a must, they said.If Tamil speaking citizens demand that the national anthem be sung in Tamil the other communities have no legal or moral right to obstruct it. Like the Sinhala people, Tamils too take pride in their language, Tamils love their language and they must be allowed to sing the national anthem in it  and indeed must never be asked to sing in Sinhala.

These arguments did not carry the weight the Tamils expected. To start with the public was highly critical of the 13^th Amendment, which made Tamil a national language .the amendment was forced on Sri Lanka by India and was passed in Parliament under coercion. The public were angry.

Kamal Gunaratne records two demonstrations, one before and one after the Accord was signed. The first was a massive protest march from Kolonnawa heading towards Presidents House.  The marchers were aggressive, chanting anti government and anti Indian sentiments. Kamal recalls the violent reaction of the crowd, as The army turned them back. they dispersed, ‘shouting at us in foul language scolding not only us, but also our parents, grandparents and great grandparents.’

The situation remained tense after the Accord was signed, continued Kamal. A second protest march had started from Castle Street area. The army had to use force to disperse the crowd.  Once again we were subjected to angry, abusive language, this time against the President and Government as well as our parents. These waves of unrest also spread to other parts of the country.

Tamil anthem supporters said they needed to sing in Tamil because the Tamils do not know Sinhala. ‘We can’t sing in a language we don’t understand, they said. This is not correct. Tamils know Sinhala.

Television news show Tamil politicians and Tamil citizens speaking fluently in perfect Sinhala. These fluent speakers include Sampanthan and Sumanthiran. Derana news of 14.1.2020 showed a meeting between Tamil journalists and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. Speaking in perfect Sinhala, they asked about singing the anthem in Tamil at the next Independence celebrations.

The total population of Tamils in the 2012 Census was 2,269,266. Out of this, 392,583 (17.3%) know Sinhala. This leaves 1,876,683 who do not know Sinhala.  This amounts to less than 2 million, out of a total Sri Lankan population of 20 million.

However, the Tamils   continued with the argument that they cannot understand Sinhala. Tamils cannot think of themselves as Sri Lankan when the national anthem is in a language that they cannot understand.

‘it will be meaningless to force a Tamil to sing the National Anthem only in Sinhala, if that person cannot comprehend the literary content of the song, which needs a sound knowledge of the language, they said.

‘There is greater chance of inculcating a sense of Lankan patriotism in Tamil/Muslim children when they are allowed to sing the national anthem in their own language rather than parrot it in a language they barely understand,’ said this group. Tamil could understand the meaning instantly when they sing it in Tamil.

What the opponents of singing it in Tamil advocates is to force Tamils to recite it without understanding it. What good will that do? It would become drudgery and people could refrain from singing it altogether. Or worse, compose a song for themselves with different sentiments.

There are 3 million Tamils, all Tamil speaking, and 3 million Muslims, mostly Tamil speaking, whose patriotism is intimately tied up with the use of their mother tongue, as much as the patriotism of the Sinhalese is tied up with the use of their mother tongue. There is nothing romantic about singing the National anthem in Tamil, replied the Sinhala group.

Supporters of the Tamil anthem also fell back on a comment by Colvin R de Silva which is treasured by the Tamil Separatist Movement. Colvin said ‘One language two countries. Two languages one country’. This is an absurd statement and it should be forgotten.The correct position is, One language, one country. Two languages, two countries.”  British Canada gave the French language a place after defeating the French .Now Quebec wants to secede. Sri Lanka recognized Tamil, now the Tamils wants Eelam.

Colvin’s statement has been modified by Ryp Van Winkle. Ryp said that after the independence celebration of 2020, Eelamists have been given the opportunity of saying ‘One anthem, two nations. Two anthems, one nation.’  I will show, later on in this essay, that it is ‘two anthems, two nations’.

Tamil anthem supporters heavily criticized those who did not want to hear the national anthem sung in Tamil. ‘nationalists want to ram the Sinhala national anthem down the throat of our Tamils speaking brethren’, said one critic.  ‘People who insist that Tamil speaking people should be forced to sing the national anthem in Sinhala wish to demonstrate their superiority to the numerically weaker Tamils. It shows Sinhala dominance’ said another.

 ‘the loud mouths Wimal Weerawansa and Bandula Gunawardena, to name but two opponents, were recently heard denouncing the very thought of allowing the national anthem to be sung in Tamil. One dares to ask what high qualifications Wimal Wee and Bandula Gee possess to so vociferously deny the Tamils also that bit of expressed respect to our common motherland.’

Supporters of the Tamil national anthem saw nothing wrong in singing in Tamil. ‘What is wrong in letting them sing the national anthem in Tamil to the same tune?  They would understand and sing with the same feeling.  For this land is as much theirs as ours. We must give the Tamils back their dignity.   It is only the racists, who object’ said one supporter.

‘A national anthem is meant to unite and that doesn’t mean singing it in one language in a multi language society where diversity is recognized and accommodated in the constitution. Accommodating the linguist diversity of our people increases loyalty, a sense of belonging and strengthens unity rather than threatens it. Accommodating diversity strengthens unity,’ said another.

 ‘The singing of the national anthem in Tamil was a very significant act of the government to make the Tamils feel equal and a sense of belonging to the state.’  ‘It will also help chauvinistic Sinhalese to remember that there are people other than the Sinhalese living in this country,’ concluded this group.

In these divisive times, when there are clear indications of certain forces hell-bent on widening the rift, isn’t it a short-sighted and reckless move to exclude the National Anthem from being sung in Tamil – particularly after it had been sung in that language for a number of years’

The Tamil anthem supporters spoke strongly. the country is already divided and by singing the National Anthem in Sinhala, it will divide the country further.  ‘The Sinhala only national anthem was designed to divide rather than unite, to widen the psychological gulf the majority and the minorities and drive home the lesson that minorities are not so welcome interlopers in a Sinhala country,’  they said.. We must voluntarily learn the national anthem in each other’s language, so we can all sing it together.

 In 2020 they said, the cancellation of the Tamil language national anthem is not a mere procedural adjustment. It involves an important policy change carrying serious repercussions, taking the country back 60 years to the disastrous ‘Sinhala Only Demand’ era. What we face now looks very much like a Second ‘Sinhala Only’ demand, carrying disastrous consequences.

 TNA MP Sumanthiran said When the Sirisena/Wickremesinghe administration came to power in 2015, the national anthem was sung in Tamil at the Independence Day for the first time. I took part in the Independence Day celebration with TNA leader, R. Sampanthan. It was the first time that ITAK representatives attended an Independence Day celebration in decades. If the  present government wants the Tamils not to sing the national anthem, we will be glad not to sing it.”

Supporters of the Sinhala anthem point out that singing the national anthem in Tamil does not help unity. some people think that singing the national anthem in Tamil will promote national reconciliation. how does singing the national anthem in two different languages bring two ethnic groups together? On the contrary, are we not moving further away from one another by singing the anthem as two separate groups,” they asked.

Singing the national anthem in the Sinhala language does not affect peace and harmony among different communities in the country, either, Jaffna Tamil Buddhist Association President Ravi Kumar said.  Whether we sing the anthem in Tamil or not, Sinhala is considered the prominent language, because it is the language of the majority, said others.”

The national anthem of Sri Lanka is not a mere song to be judged musically. A national anthem is a symbol of unity.  It should be a ‘national anthem’ not a communal anthem.

What do the Sinhalese or the government stand to lose by singing the National Anthem in Tamil? asked the Tamil supporters, determined to push the issue. No damage has been done to the sovereignty of our people or the unitary state of our country as a result of singing the national anthem in both official languages, they said.

That statement cannot be accepted. Much damage can be done by singing the national anthem in Tamil today. That is because singing in Tamil reinforces separatist tendencies and there is a growing separatist movement in Jaffna today. There are clear indications of this. The Ezhuga Tamil march (Rise up Tamils”) rally drew huge crowds. An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 had attended. The rally was supported by the university and the civil society groups. The Ezhuga movement wanted the merger of North and East. 

Northern Provincial Council unanimously adopted a resolution in 2016 that asked for the merger of North and East into one state, with its own Parliament. TNA also wants a merger of North and East provinces. TNA leaders Sumanthiran and Sampanthan spent the full Yahapalana period, (2015-2019) telling foreign visitors that the Tamils are separate nation, the north and east is their homeland and they are entitled to self-determination. 

Today the north is all Tamil, and they have with all impunity sung the national anthem in Tamil, said Sarath Weerasekera in 2016. At the opening of the Jaffna International airport in Palaly, on 17 October 2019, the national anthem was not played in Sinhala. (CONCLUDED)

හර්ෂ කුමාර් සුරියආරච්චි

19  වන ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන පැටලෑවිල්ලේ හරි කථානායක කවුද වැරදි කතානායක කවුද?

තවම නීතියක් නොවූ 19 වන ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන කෙටුම්පත ඊනියා නීතියක් ලෙස පවත්වා ගෙන යෑමේ වරද කොයි කථානායකගේද?

දහනමවන ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය අරභයා 2002 ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ තීරණයෙන් ජනාධිපතිට පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසිරවිමේ බලය වසර 3කට වඩා සිමා කිරීම 3වන ව්‍යවස්ථාව උල්ලංගනය වීමක් බව පෙන්වා ඇත. පාර්ලිමේන්තුව තුල පමණක් සම්මත වූ 19 වන ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන කෙටුම්පත මගින් 2002 ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ තීරණයෙන් පෙන්වා දුන් 3 වන ව්‍යවස්ථාව උල්ලංඝනය වන කරුණ සිදු කර ඇති බව 2018 පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසිරවිම පිලිබඳ නඩු තීන්දුවෙන් පැහැදිළි වේ.

යම් කිසි ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයකින් 3 වන ව්‍යවස්ථාව උල්ලංඝනය වන්නේනම් එම සංශෝධනය නිතිය බවට පත්වන්නේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ 2/3 ක අනුමැතියෙන් පසු ජනමතවිචාරණයකින් ජනතාව එය අනුමත කර ජනාධිපති තුමා ඒ බව සහතික කල විටය. මේ බව 83 වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ දක්වා ඇත. මෙවන් අවස්ථාවක, පාර්ලිමේන්තුව තුල පවත්වන චන්දයෙන් 2/3 අනුමැතිය ලැබුනහොත්,   කතානායක තුමා සිය අත්සන, මෙම පනත් කෙටුම්පත ජනමතවිචරනයකින් අනුමත වන තෙක් නිතිය බවට පත් නොවන්නේය”   යන සටහන ඇතිව තැබිය යුතුය. මේ බව 79 වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ දක්වා ඇත.

19 වන ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන කෙටුම්පත සම්බන්ධයෙන් කථානායකතුමා අත්සන් තබා ඇත්තේ 79 වන ව්‍යවස්ථා ප්‍රකාර නොවේ. එනම් එහිදී 79 වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවට අනුව තැබිය යුතු “මෙම පනත් කෙටුම්පත ජනමතවිචරනයකින් අනුමත වන තෙක් නිතිය බවට පත් නොවන්නේය” සටහන තබා නැත. එම නිසා කථානායකතුමාගේ අත්සන එහිදී ව්‍යවස්ථානුකුල නැත.

ව්‍යවස්ථානුකුලව සටහන් තැබිය යුතු කතානායක තුමාගේ අත්සන තැබීම, ජනමතවිචාරණයකින් ජනතාව අනුමත කිරීම සහ ජනාධිපතිතුමාගේ අත්සන තැබීම යන  පියවරයන් තවම සම්පුර්ණ කර නැති බැවින් 19 වන ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන කෙටුම්පත තවම ව්‍යවස්ථානුකුලව සම්මත වී නැත. එම නිසා  එය තවම නීතියක් නොවේ.

නමුත් ජනමතවිචාරණයකට යා යුතු නැති විශේෂ ව්‍යවස්ථා උල්ලංඝනයක් සිදු නොවන ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන කෙටුම්පතකදී නම්, මන්ත්‍රී වරුන්ගේ නියමිත අනුමැතිය ලැබුණු විට ඒ බව සටහන් කොට කථානායක තුමා අත්සන් කල විට එම කෙටුම්පත නිතිය බවට පත්වන්නේය. එවිට එය අධිකරණයකදී අභියෝග කල නොහැක.

එහෙත් කතානායක තුමා අත්සන් තැබූ විට එය ව්‍යවස්ථානුකුල නොවුවත් අධිකරණයේදී අභියෝඝ කල නොහැකියැයි මිත්‍යා මතයක් පවතී. 82 (5) හා 82 (6) අනු ව්‍යවස්ථාවන්ට අනුව ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයක් නිතිය බවට පත් වන්නේ කතානායක තුමා අත්සන් තැබූ විට නොව “අවස්ථාවෝචිත පරිදි ජනාධිපතිවරයා හෝ කතානායකවරයා හෝ අත්සන් තැබූ විටය”.  අවස්ථාවෝචිත පරිදි යනු ජනමතවිචාරණයකට යා යුතු සංශෝධනයක් නම් එය ජනාධිපතිතුමාගේ අත්සනට පැමිණිය යුතුය. එතෙක් එය නිතිය නොවේ. නිතිය නොවන තාක් කල් අධිකරණය ඉදිරියේ අභියෝග කිරීමට ව්‍යවස්ථානුකුල බාධාවක් නැත. 83 වන ව්‍යවස්ථාව ප්‍රකාර ජනමතවිචරනයකින් ජනතාව අනුමත කල යුතු 19 වන ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය අරභයා ජනාධිපතිතුමා අත්සන් තබා නැතිවා පමණක් නොව ඊට ප්‍රථම කතානායක තුමාගේ අත්සනද 79 ව්‍යවස්ථාවට අනුකුලව තබා නැති නිසා එම පියවරද ව්‍යවස්ථානුකුලව වලංගු නොවේ.

යහපත් කෝණයකින් බැලූ විට, 2015 දී කථානායකතුමා මෙසේ අත්සන් කලේ ඒ වන විට එතුමාගේත්, නීතිපති තුමාගේත්, පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේත් අදහසට අනුව ඒ වන විට 19 වන සංශෝධන කෙටුම්පතින් 2002 දී තිබු 3 වන ව්‍යවස්ථාව උල්ලංඝනය වීමේ තත්ත්වය ඉවත් කර ඇති යයි විශ්වාශ කිරීම නිසා විය හැක. ඒ එම කෙටුම්පතෙහි 33 (2) (c) වගන්තියෙන් ජනාධිපතිතුමාට පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසිරවිමේ බලය නැවත ලබා දී ඇතැයි පිළිගැනීම නිසා විය හැක. එය සියලුම පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී වරුන්ගේ පිළිගනිම වූවාද විය හැක. එම පිළිගැනීම අනුව කථානායකතුමා  සිය අත්සන තැබීමේදී අවංකව කටයුතු කර ඇති බව විශ්වාශ කල හැක.

නමුත් ව්‍යවස්ථාව පිළිබද අර්ථ දැක්වීමේ බලය ඇත්තේ ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයට පමණි. 2018 දී ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේ අර්ථ දැක්වීම රටට දැනගන්නට ලැබුණි. එනම් 2015 දී කථානායකතුමාත්, නීතිපති තුමාත් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවත් විස්වාශ කළා යැයි සිතිය හැකි  ආකාරයට නොව එම සංශෝධනය තුල 3 වන ව්‍යවස්ථාව උල්ලංඝනය වන කාරණය තවදුරටත් අඩංගු බවයි.

2018 දී ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණය එම තීන්දුව දුන් වහාම එම තීන්දුව දෙන අවස්ථාවේ සිටින කථානායකතුමා එම තීරණයට ගරු කර 19 වන සංශෝධනය අරභයා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ කථානායක තබා ඇති ව්‍යවස්ථානුකුල නොවන සටහන නිවැරදි කල යුතුව තිබිණි. එතුමා තව වන තුරුත් එම නිවැරදි කිරීම කර නැත.

කථානායකතුමා එම නිවැරදි කිරීම කල වහාම රටත්, ජනතාවත්, ජනතාවගේ ආයතන වන විධායකයත්, ව්‍යවස්ථාදායකයත්, අධිකරණයත් මෙම 19 වන ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන පැටලෑවිල්ලෙන් බේරෙනු ඇත. එසේ නොකරන තාක් කල් කථානායක වරු ජනතාව කෙරෙහි තම යුතුකම ඉටු නොකර පැහැර හරින්නන් බවට පත්වනු ඇත.

හර්ෂ කුමාර් සුරියආරච්චි

අදාල ව්‍යවස්ථා හා අනු ව්‍යවස්ථා

79 ව්‍යවස්ථාව

80 ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ අනු ව්‍යවස්ථා

82 ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ අනු ව්‍යවස්ථා

83 ව්‍යවස්ථාව

විනීතා එම් ගමගේ උපුටා ගැන්ම  ලංකාදීප

පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත‍්‍රීවරුන් 58 දෙනෙකුට අධිසුඛෝපභෝගී වාහන 58ක් පෞද්ගලික සමාගමක් මගින් කුලී පදනමට ලබා ගැනීමට ආණ්ඩුව ගත් උත්සාහයට විරුද්ධ වීමෙන් තමන්ට පාර්ලිමේන්තු ප‍්‍රතිසංස්කරණ හා ජනමාධ්‍ය අමාත්‍යංශයේ ලේකම් ධූරය අහිමි කළ බව එම අමාත්‍යංශයේ හිටපු ලේකම් නිමල් බෝපගේ මහතා පවසයි.

රුපියල් කෝටි 243 ක් වටිනා එම ගනුදෙනුව නීතිවිරෝධී බව පෙන්වා දෙමින් තමන් එය අත්සන් කිරීම ප‍්‍රතික්ෂේප කළ කරුණු අනුව එය බවත් එහිදී අගමැතිවරයාගෙන් සහ මුදල් අමාත්‍යවරයාගෙන් තමන් වෙත බරපතල පීඩනයක් එල්ල වූ නමුත් තමන් සිටි ස්ථාවරය වෙනස් නොකළ බවත් ඔහු නිවේදනයක් නිකුත් කරමින් කියයි.

සාමාන්‍යයෙන් කැබිනට් තීරණයකට විරුද්ධ වීමට අමාත්‍යංශ ලේකම්වරයකුට නෛතික බලයක් නොමැති වුවත් එකී ගනුදෙනුව ගැන තමන් නිරික්ෂණය කළ අතිශය දූෂිත අරමුණ හා ක‍්‍රමවේදය තමන් දැඩිව ප‍්‍රතික්ෂේප කළ බැවින් හා එය ප‍්‍රසම්පාදන කි‍්‍රයාවලියට සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම පටහැනි වූ බැවින් එකී පදනම ඔස්සේ තමන් ඊට විරුද්ධ වූ බව ද ඔහු පවසයි.   

මේ නිසා එවකට සිටි අගමැතිවරයා තමන් කැඳවා sign or resign යනුවෙන් තර්ජනය කළ බව ද එකී තර්ජනයකට ද තමන් කීකරු නොවූ බැවින් හා එවකට එම සිද්ධියට ලැබුණු පුළුල් ප‍්‍රචාරය හමුවේ යහපාලනයේ පිරිහීම ඇරඹුණු බැවින් ද ජනාධිපතිවරයා ඒ ගැන සෙවීමට සිව්පුද්ගල කමිටුවක් පත් කර එතෙක් එය ක‍්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම අත්හිටවූ බවත් හෙතෙම පෙන්වා දෙයි.

අවසානයේ තමන් අමාත්‍යංශ ලේකම් ධූරයෙන් ඉවත් කිරීම සඳහා තම අමාත්‍යාංශය හා මුදල් අමාත්‍යංශය හා එක් කර මුදල් අමාත්‍යංශ ලේකම්වරයාට එහි ලේකම් තනතුර පවරා තමන්ට තනතුර අහිමි කළේ යැයි ද එසේවුවද තමන්ට තනතුර අහිමි වෙද්දී රටට රුපියල් කෝටි 243 ක් ඉතිරි කළ හැකිවීම පිළිබඳව තමන් සතුටු වන බව ද එහි සඳහන් වේ.

එම නිවේදනය පහතින් දැක්වේ.

පේරාදෙණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ දේශපාලන විද්‍යාව පිළිබඳ හිටපු මහාචාර්ය එම්.ඕ.ඒ. ද සොයිසා උපුටා ගැන්ම  ලංකාදීප

රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී ආණ්ඩුකරණයේ එක් පදනම් මූලධර්මයක්  වන්නේ ආණ්ඩුවේ බලතල හා කාර්යයන් ව්‍යවස්ථාදායක, විධායක සහ අධිකරණ වශයෙන් කොටස් තුනකට බෙදා අන්‍යොන්‍ය වශයෙන් එකිනෙකට සම්බන්ධතාවක් නොමැති ආයතන ත්‍රිත්වයක් විසින් ක්‍රියාවට නැංවීමය. මේ අනුව ව්‍යවස්ථාදායකයට පැවරී තිබෙන කාර්ය වන්නේ නීති පැනවීමය. විධායකයේ කාර්යය වන්නේ රාජ්‍ය සේවය හා පොලිස් සේවය හරහා ව්‍යවස්ථාදයකය පනවන නීති ක්‍රියාවට නැංවීමය.

අධිකරණයේ කාර්ය වන්නේ එම නීති අර්ථකථනය කරමින් පෞද්ගලික කරුණු සමග ගළපමින් යුක්තිය පසිඳලීමය. 1978 වර්ෂයේදී ස්ථාපිත කරනු ලැබූ දෙවන ජනරජ ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව හෙවත් ජේ.ආර්. ජයවර්ධන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව යටතේ ක්‍රියාත්මක වන ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ වර්තමාන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රමය ගොඩනැගී තිබෙන්නේද මෙම පදනම මතය. බලතල බෙදීමේ න්‍යායට මුළුමණින්ම අනුකූල නොවූවද එමගින්ද ආණ්ඩුවේ බලතල ව්‍යවස්ථාදායක, විධායක හා අධිකරණ වශයෙන් යම් ආකාරයකට කොටස් කර එම බලතල ක්‍රියාවට නැංවීම සඳහා ව්‍යවස්ථාදායකය, විධායකය සහ අධිකරණය වශයෙන් ආයතන ත්‍රිත්වයක් ගොඩනගා තිබේ.

මේ අනුව ව්‍යවස්ථාදායකය පාර්ලිමේන්තුව වශයෙන්ද, විධායකය ජනාධිපති වශයෙන්ද, ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණය මුල්කොට ගත් යුක්තිය පසිඳලීමේ ආයතන පද්ධතිය අධිකරණය වශයෙන්ද නම්කොට ඇත. ව්‍යුහාත්මක වශයෙන් බලනවිට මෙම ආයතන ත්‍රිත්වයෙන් විශාලම ආයතනය වන්නේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවයි. එය සමන්විත වන්නේ මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් 225 දෙනෙකුගෙන්ය. මෙයින් 196 දෙනෙකු සමානුපාතික නියෝජන ක්‍රමය යටතේ දිස්ත්‍රික්ක ක්‍රමය පදනම් කරගෙන බෙදන ලද ආසන 165 කින් ජනතා ඡන්දයෙන් තෝරා පත් කරනු ලැබේ. ඉතිරි 29 දෙනා තෝරනු ලබන්නේ ජාතික ලැයිස්තු ක්‍රමය පදනම් කර ගෙනය. ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවට අනුව පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ නිල කාලය වසර පහකි.

ප්‍රජාතන්තවාදී පාලන ක්‍රමයක් තුළ ව්‍යවස්ථාදාකයට පැවරී තිබෙන කාර්යභාරය අතිශයින්ම පුළුල් වේ. ඒවා අතුරින් ප්‍රථම සහ වැදගත්ම කාර්ය වන්නේ නීති පැනවීමය. මෙයට අමතරව තත්කාලීනව රට තුළ පවතින මහජන මතය නියෝජනය කිරීම, විධායකය පාලනය කිරීම, සමහර තෝරා පත් කිරීමේ කාර්යයන් කිරීම, විධායකය සමග එක්ව සමහර විධායක කාර්යන් කිරීම, ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව හා සම්බන්ධ සමහර කාර්යයන් කිරීම, විමර්ශනය කිරීමේ කාර්යයන් කිරීම, තොරතුරු රැස්කිරීමේ කාර්යයන් කිරීම, සමහර අධිකරණ කාර්යයන් කිරීම, රාජ්‍ය මූල්‍ය පාලනය හා සම්බන්ධ කාර්යයන් කිරීම, ආණ්ඩුක්‍රමයට සුජාතභාවය සැපයීම, ජනතාවගේ නිදහස හා අයිතිවාසිකම් ආරක්‍ෂා කිරීම, ජනතාවගේ දුක් ගැනවිලි සහ ප්‍රශ්න ආණ්ඩුවට ඉදිරිපත් කිරීම, රාජ්‍ය පාලනය සඳහා අනාගත නායකයන් පුරුදු පුහුණු කිරීම ව්‍යවස්ථාදාකය මගින් කළ යුතුයැයි අපේක්‍ෂා කරන අනෙක් කාර්යයන් වේ. මීට ඉහතින්ද සඳහන් කළ පරිදි නීති පැනවීම ව්‍යවස්ථාදායකයේ ප්‍රථම සහ වැදගත්ම කාර්ය වේ. නීති සලකනු ලබන්නේ ඉහළම තාර්කික බුද්ධියේ උත්තරීතර ප්‍රතිඵලය ලෙසය. සංවිධානය වූ මිනිස් සමාජයක මිනිසුන්ගේ බාහිර සමාජ හැසිරීම පාලනය කරන්නේ ව්‍යවස්ථාදායකය පනවන මෙම නීති මගින්ය.  

මෙයින් පැහැදිලි වන ඉතාම වැදගත් කරුණක් තිබේ. එනම් රටක නීති පැනවීමේ කාර්ය වියතුන් විසින් කළයුතු කාර්යයක් විනා අවියත් මෝඩයින් විසින් කළයුතු කාර්යයක් නොවන බවය.  

වෙනත් ආකාරයකට කියනවා නම් නීති පැනවීම කළ යුත්තේ දාර්ශනිකයන් විසින් පමණක් බවය. නීති පැනවීමේදී අවශ්‍යයෙන්ම තිබිය යුතුයැයි පිළිගැණෙන හොඳ-නරක අතර වෙනස තේරුම් ගැනීම, යුක්තිය-අයුක්තිය අතර වෙනස තේරුම් ගැනීම, සත්‍ය-අසත්‍ය අතර වෙනස තේරුම් ගැනීම, සදාචාරය හා නිරාචාරය අතර වෙනස තේරුම් ගැනීම යනාදී ගුණාංග සහිතව අවසාන වශයෙන් රට මුහුණ දී තිබෙන දේශපාලන, ආර්ථික හා සමාජ ප්‍රශ්න නිවැරදිව තේරුම් ගෙන එම ප්‍රශ්නවලට නිවැරදි විසඳුම් සෙවීම යනාදී දහසකුත් එකක් කාර්යයන් සාර්ථකව කළමනාකරණය කරමින් ඉතාම ඉහළ මට්ටමේ නීති පැනවිය හැක්කේ දාර්ශනික මට්ටමේ බුද්ධියක් ඇති අයට පමණක් බව පිළිගත් පොදු මතය වේ.

මෙම දාර්ශනික බුද්ධිය අයත් කරගත හැක්කේ එක් අතකින් අධ්‍යාපනය මගිනි. අනෙක් අතින් අත්දැකීම් මගිනි. වඩාත් වැදගත් වන්නේ අධ්‍යාපනයයි. හේතුව අත්දැකීම් මගින් ලබා ගන්නා ව්‍යවාහරික දැනුම වුවද අධ්‍යාපනයෙන් අයත් කර ගන්නා විද්‍යාත්මක බුද්ධිය නොමැති වූ විට නිවැරදිව ග්‍රහණය කර ගැනීමට නොහැකි වීමය.

ඉහත දැක්වූ කරුණු සමග ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ වර්තමාන පාර්ලිමේන්තුව සලකා බලන විට දැකිය හැක්කේ අතිශයින්ම ඛේදජනක තත්ත්වයක් බව එකහෙළාම පැවසිය හැක. මාධ්‍ය වාර්තා මගින් වරින් වර පෙන්වා දී තිබෙන ආකාරයට පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් 225 දෙනා පිළිබඳව සලකා බැලීමේ පෙනීයන්නේ ඔවුන් දාර්ශනිකයින් වීම කෙසේ වෙතත් ඔවුන්ගෙන් බහුතරයට අඩුම වශයෙන් අධ්‍යයන පොදු සහතික පත්‍ර උසස් පෙළ මට්ටමේ අධ්‍යාපන සුදුසුකමවත් නොමැති බවය. පසුගිය දිනක (03.02.2020) Manthri.lk වෙබ් අඩවියේ දක්වා තිබූ අකාරයට 2019 වසර තුළ පාර්ලිමේන්තු වාද විවාදවලට සහභාගි වූවද එක වචනයක්වත් කතා නොකළ මන්ත්‍රීවරුන්ගේ සංඛ්‍යාව 04 ක් විය. එම වෙබ් අඩවිය තවදුරටත් දක්වන ආකාරයට 2019 වර්ෂය තුළ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ මුළු මන්ත්‍රී සංඛ්‍යාවෙන් මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් 09 දෙනකු කතාකර තිබෙන්නේ එක් වරක් පමණි. පහත දැක්වෙන්නේ පසුගිය සතිඅන්ත පුවත්පතක ‘පාර්ලිමේන්තුව කුණු වීම’ යන මාතෘකාව යටතේ පළකරන ලද ලිපියකින් උපුටා ගත් කොටසක්ය. ‘රන්ජන්ගේ කතාව අනුව පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීන් අතර සිටින මත්පැන් බලපත්‍ර හිමි අයගේ සංඛ්‍යාව 100 කි. එතනෝල් බලපත්‍රලාභීන්ගේ සංඛ්‍යාව 04 කි. වැලි බලපත්‍රලාභීන්ගේ සංඛ්‍යාව 75 කි. රේස් බලපත්‍රලාභීන් සංඛ්‍යාව 01 කි.  

රන්ජන්ගේ සංඛ්‍යා පරිපූර්ණ නැත. මත්පැන් බලපත්‍ර එකකට වැඩි සංඛ්‍යාවක් තිබෙන මන්ත්‍රීවරු සිටිති. ගල් බලපත්‍ර තිබෙන සංඛ්‍යාව කොතෙක්ද, දැව බලපත්‍ර තිබෙන සංඛ්‍යාව කොතෙක්ද, මගී ප්‍රවාහන බලපත්‍ර තිබෙන සංඛ්‍යාව කොතෙක්ද, ආණ්ඩුවේ වතු ඉඩම් හිමිකරගෙන සිටින අයගේ සංඛ්‍යාව කොතෙක්ද, ප්‍රතිඅපනයන බලපත්‍ර හිමිකරගෙන සිටින සංඛ්‍යාව කොතෙක්ද, ඉන්ධන පිරවුම්හල් තිබෙන අයගේ සංඛ්‍යාව කොතෙක්ද යන්න හා විවිධ ආකාරවලින් ආණ්ඩුවේ කොන්ත්‍රාත් කරන්නන් ගේ සංඛ්‍යාව කොතෙක්ද යන්න හා ලංකාවේ ගුවන්විදුලි හා රූපවාහිනී බලපත්‍ර ඇති අයගේ සංඛ්‍යාව කොතෙක්ද යන්න සඳහන් වන්නේ නැත.

පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ කුණුවීම පිළිබඳ අපට නියම චිත්‍රයක් ලබාගත හැක්කේ ඒ අඩුපාඩුකම් සපුරාගත් විටය. ඒ සියල්ල එකට ගත් විට ලංකාවේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුව නියෝජනය කරන මන්ත්‍රීවරුන්ගෙන් අතිවිශාල බහුතරයක් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් වශයෙන් කටයුතු කිරීමට නීතිමය වශයෙන් හා සදාචාරමය වශයෙන් අයිතියක් නැති මන්ත්‍රීවරුන්ගෙන් සමන්විත නීති විරෝධී පාර්ලිමේන්තුවක් ලෙස සැලකිය හැක’. මේ හා සමානව සමාජය තුළ කතා බහට ලක්වන තවත් කරුණක් වන්නේ මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් පාර්ලිමේන්තු සභා ගර්භය තුළ හැසිරෙන ආකාරයයි. බොහෝ මන්ත්‍රීවරුන්ගේ හැසිරීම පිළිගත් පාර්ලිමේන්තු නීතිරීති, සම්ප්‍රදායන් සහ සිරිත් විරිත්වලට පටහැනි වන අතර සැබැවින්ම එම හැසිරීම සමාජයේ දැඩි පිළිකුලට මෙන්ම අවඥාවටද ලක්වී ඇත.

ඉහත දැක්වූ කරුණු සමස්තයක් ලෙස සැලකිල්ලට ගැනීමේදී පෙනී යන්නේ අපේ රටේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුව මුහුණ දී තිබෙන අභාග්‍ය සම්පන්න තත්ත්වයයි. ‘වියතුන් විසින් රට පාලන කළ යුතුය’ යන අදහස ඉදිරියට පැමිණ තිබෙන්නේ මෙම හේතුවෙන්ය. මේ අදහස කොතරම් ජනප්‍රිය සමාජ මතයක් බවට පත්ව තිබෙනවාද යතහොත් ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්‍ෂගේ නායකත්වයෙන් පිහිටුවා තිබෙන ‘වියත්මග’ සංවිධානය මගින් පසුගිය දිනක කරන ලද ප්‍රකාශයකින් කියැවුණේ එම සංවිධානය විසින් වියතුන් සිය දෙනකු ඉදිරි පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණය සඳහා ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට අපේක්‍ෂා කරන බවය. මේ වනවිටත් සමහර වියතුන් මැතිවරණ දේශපාලනයේ නියැලීම ආරම්භ කර තිබෙන අතර ඔවුන් ජනතාවට ඉදිරිපත් කර තිබෙන මැතිවරණ දේශපාලනයේ ප්‍රධාන තේමාව වී තිබෙන්නේ වියතුන්ගෙන් සමන්විත අලුත් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවක් හරහා අලුත් දේශපාලනයක් නිර්මාණය කරමු යන්නය.

බුද්ධිමතුන් විසින් රට පාලනය කළ යුතුය යන අදහස කිසිවෙකුට ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කළ නොහැක. සත්‍ය වශයෙන්ම සිදුවිය යුත්තේද එයයි. එසේ වුවද බුද්ධිමතුන් විසින් පමණක් රට පාලනය කිරීම ප්‍රායෝගික යථාර්ථයක් බවට පත්කළ හැකිද යන ප්‍රශ්නය මෙහිදී මතු වේ. හේතුව මෙම කරුණ අතිශය සංකීර්ණ ප්‍රශ්න සහ ගැටළු කිහිපයක් සමග පැටලී තිබීමය. මෙයින් එකක් වන්නේ බුද්ධිමතුන් විශේෂීකරණය කොට හඳුනා ගැනීම සඳහා සම්මත පොදුවේ පිළිගත් නිර්ණායකයන් නොමැති වීමය. දෙවන ගැටළුව වන්නේ රාජ්‍ය පාලනය බුද්ධිමතුන්ගේ කාර්යයක් ලෙස පිළිගත්තද ඒ සඳහා පදනම සපයන දේශපාලනය බුද්ධිමතුන්ට පමණක් සීමා වූ දෙයක් නොවීමය. දේශපාලනය කිරීමේ අයිතිය සෑම මිනිසෙකුටම උත්පත්තියෙන්ම හිමිවන මූලික අයිතිවාසිකමක් වේ. එබැවින් මැතිවරණවලට ඉදිරිපත් වීමේ අයිතිය සෑම පුද්ගලයෙකුටම හිමිවන අයිතියක් වන අතර එම අයිතිය උගත් නූගත් මට්ටම් අනුව විශේෂීකරණය කළහැකි දෙයක් නොවේ.

මැතිවරණ දේශපාලනයේදී සමහරවිට දැකිය හැකි පොදු ලක්‍ෂණයක් වන්නේ උගතුන් පරදවා නූගතුන් ඉදිරියට ඒමය. රාජ්‍ය ඇමති ගාමිණී ලොකුගේ පසුගිය දිනක කියා තිබූ පරිදි මැතිවරණයකදී වැදගත් වන්නේ ජයග්‍රහණය කිරීමට ඇති හැකියාව මිස වියත් බව නොවේ. මෙයින් පෙනී යන්නේ ඡන්දදායකයින් තම ඡන්දය ප්‍රකාශ කිරීමේදී වියත්කම එකම නිර්ණායකය ලෙස නොසලකන බවය. තුන්වන ගැටළුව වන්නේ මැතිවරණයකදී පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට තේරී පත්වන සෑම වියතෙකුටම රාජ්‍ය පාලනයට සෘජුව සහභාගි විය හැකිද යන්නය. හේතුව රට පාලනය කිරීම විධායකයේ කාර්යක් මිස ව්‍යවස්ථාදාකයේ කාර්යක්  නොවීමය. නිදසුන් ලෙස ලංකාවේ ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යුහය ගතහොත් විධායකය සමන්විත වන්නේ ජනාධිපතිවරයෙකුගෙන් සහ අගමැති කෙනෙකු සහිත අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩලයකිනි. අගමැති සහ අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩලය සමන්විත වන්නේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවෙන් තෝරා පත්කරන නියෝජිතයන්ගෙනි. එහි උපරිමය 30 ට සීමා කර ඇත. මෙයින් පෙනී යන්නේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට තේරී පත්වන 225 දෙනාම වියතුන් විය හැකි වුවද රට පාලනයට සහභාගි විය හැක්කේ එයින් 30 දෙනෙකුට පමණක් බවය. මෙහි ප්‍රතිපලය විය හැක්කේ නූගත් සිග්නල් කනුවලින් සමන්විත පාර්ලිමේන්තුව වියත් සිග්නල් කනුවලින් සමන්විත පාර්ලිමේන්තුවක් බවට පත්ව විධායකයට පාලනය කර ගැනීමට නොහැකි තත්ත්වයක් ඇති වී ආණ්ඩුක්‍රමය අර්බුදය කරා යාමය.  

ඉහත දැක්වූ කරුණුවලින් පෙනීයන්නේ වියතුන් රට පාලනයට සහභාගි කරවා ගැනීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් අහිතකර ලෙස බලපාන ව්‍යවස්ථාමය මෙන්ම ව්‍යවස්ථාමය නොවන ගැටළු රාශියක් පවතින බවය. මෙම ගැටළු යම් ප්‍රමාණයකට හෝ සමනය කරගත හැකි ක්‍රම දෙකක් තිබේ. මෙයින් එකක් වන්නේ දේශපාලන පක්‍ෂ විසින් මැතිවරණ සඳහා තරග කිරීමට වියතුන්ට වැඩි ඉඩකඩක් ලබා දීමය. දෙවැන්න වන්නේ ඡන්දදායකයින් ඡන්දය ප්‍රකාශ කිරීමේදී වියතුන්ට ප්‍රමුඛස්ථානය දීමය. රාජ්‍ය පාලනය නූගතුන් කරනවාට වඩා උගතුන් කිරීම යහපත් දෙයක් වුවද උගතුන් කෙරෙහි වුවද ප්‍රමාණය ඉක්මවා ගිය විශ්වාසයක් තැබීම සුදුසු නොවේ. හේතුව උගත් පාලකයන් වුවද දේශපාලන බලය අවභාවිත කරමින් දූෂිත වුවහොත් රාජ්‍ය පාලනය අසාර්ථක විය හැකි බැවිනි. පාලකයන් දූෂිතවන්නේ දේශපාලන බලය රාජ්‍ය දේපල සොරකම් කිරීමටත්, ගැහැණුන් සමග අයථා සම්බන්ධකම් පවත්වාගෙන යාමටත් අවභාවිත කිරීම හේතුවෙන්ය. එම නිසයි ප්ලේටෝ නමැති ග්‍රීක දේශපාලන දාර්ශනිකයා රාජ්‍ය බලය මෙහෙයවන පාලකයින්ට නිදහසේ ආර්ථික බලය සහ ලිංගික බලය හැසිරවීමට ඉඩ නොතැබිය යුතු බව කියා සිටින්නේ. මෙය වියතුන්ට රට පාලනය කිරීමට ඉඩ ලබා දිය යුතු යැයි හඬනගන වියතුන්ද අවශ්‍යයෙන්ම තේරුම් ගත යුතු බව අවසාන වශයෙන් කිව යුතුය.

Courtesy DNA India

Sri Lanka Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is on a three-day visit to India, will pay a visit to the Kashi Vishwanath in Varanasi, followed by the Buddhist shrine in Sarnath on Sunday (February 9).

Security has been beefed up in the city ahead of his visit. 

After landing in the holy city, Rajapaksa will first offer his prayers at the temples.

“Rajapaksa will reach Sarnath, pay his obeisance at the Dhamekh Stupa, the sermon site of Tathagata. After that, he will worship Lord Buddha at the Buddhist temple at Moolgandh Kuti Vihar and take blessings from the Buddhist monks. He will also visit the Sarnath Archaeological Museum,” said K. Medhankar Thero, joint secretary of Mahabodhi Society of India.

Ahead of his visit, Kashi Vishwanath Temple has stopped the entry of common devotees from the Chhatdwar after 10 AM.

Posters showcasing strong relations between India and Sri Lanka, and welcome messages, have been put up in the convoy route of Rajapaksa.  

On Monday, Rajapaksa will visit Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya Centre and later in the day, he would emplane for Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. He would offer his prayers at the ancient hill temple of Lord Venkateswara nearby Tirumala on Tuesday. 

The Sri Lankan PM is on a state visit to India from 8 – 11 Feb 2020 on the invitation of PM Modi. Rajapaksa is on his first overseas tour and chose India as his first destination after he was appointed the Prime Minister of his country in November last year.

On Saturday, he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and held bilateral talks on issues ranging from trade to security.

He also met with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, President Ram Nath Kovind on wide-ranging issues.

Mahinda has served as the President of the island country from 2005-2015. He is credited with a military victory that ended a 26-year long separatist civil war with ethnic Tamil rebels during his presidency.

This is the first time in the history of the country that two brothers-Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Mahinda Rajapaksa-are in the positions of President and Prime Minister. 

Courtesy Hiru News

Former Secretary to the Ministry of Parliamentary Reforms and Mass Media, Mr. Nimal Bopage has stated that towards the back end of 2016, then-Cabinet of Ministers had approved renting out of luxury vehicles for 58 parliamentarians of the government.

In a special communique on the revelation made in the Parliament yesterday, he added that he objected to the move as the government was on the verge of losing Rs 44.3 billion.

Bopage proceeded to say that he was summoned to the Cabinet committee on economic affairs, led by then-Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and was publicly threatened to demanding him to either sign or resign”.

Yesterday, Minister Johnston Fernando, responding to a question raised during the parliamentary session, divulged that former government has spent a staggering Rs. 2.8 billion to import luxury vehicles for ministers, state ministers and deputy ministers.

Numbers revealed in the House yesterday also put former President Maithripala Sirisena on top of the list, making him the biggest spender of public finance on luxury vehicles with ha sum of Rs. 328.9 million. 

Courtesy Hiru News

President Gotabaya Rajapakse has decided to increase the age limit to applying for jobs under unemployed graduates’ scheme from 35 to 45 years.

The graduates must complete a degree with a first class accepted by the university grants commission or a diploma accepted by the UGC prior to December 31st 2019.

Courtesy Hiru News

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse says it is the policy of the government not to sell any Sri Lankan resources to another country.

The Premier stated this during an interview with the Hindu News paper.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa who is currently in Indian has said that it would be great if India allows debt repayments by Colombo to be deferred for three years.

India’s THE HINDU newspaper reported that this was in order to help the country deal with its massive debt burden.

The issue was at the top of the agenda when Premier Rajapaksa met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi yesterday and discussed plans to utilise a 400 million Dollar Line of Credit extended by India.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said that if the Indian government takes this step, then other governments might agree to do the same thing, including China.

About 4.8 billion dollars need to be repaid this year.

Premier Rajapaksa said he had also requested further financing from India for his government’s nationwide housing project, and discussed other Indian investments planned, including an LNG port, and a joint Indo-Japanese bid for building an oil terminal in Colombo’s Eastern port.

However, he made it clear that his government would not carry forward the oil projects in the eastern Trincomalee port that had been agreed to in an MoU signed by his predecessor Ranil Wickremsinghe in April 2017, or an Indian government plan to develop Mattala airport in the south.

India and Sri Lanka discussed enhanced security cooperation and intelligence sharing, especially after the ISIS-inspired Easter Sunday terror attacks last year.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa who said that Sri Lanka respected India’s decisions with regard to India’s internal matters also said that India was a relative while other nations were friends.

The Lessons Learnt & Reconciliation Commission in their November 2011 report gave some important numbers sourced from the Ministry of Defense. Poignant is the numbers of dead, injured and missing following the military intervention ordered by the President of Sri Lanka following LTTE’s closure of the Mavil Aru anicut denying water to thousands in East Sri Lanka in July 2006.

The military onslaught to defeat the LTTE eventually resulted in terminating the bogus 2002 ceasefire agreement bringing to naught and showcasing the futility of even foreign mediation and foreign monitoring missions operating in Sri Lanka since 2002 that could not prevent LTTE killing even Sri Lanka’s much loved Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadiragamar in his own residence.

The National Army was ordered by the country’s President to end LTTE militarily though more than 2 chances were given to the LTTE to lay down arms & surrender which was refused.

What is described as a non-international armed conflict, Sri Lanka was bound by customary international humanitarian law and Common Article 3 of the four Geneva Conventions.

The military operation that started off in July 2006 ended in May 2009. Terrorism that last 30 years was eventually ended in 3 years putting to rest over 300 suicide attacks by LTTE upon unarmed civilians across the island.

While certain countries chose to issue customary diplomatic statements every time LTTE committed heinous crimes, these very countries were quick to demand accountability for LTTE defeat. It was no surprise, LTTE’s ground force & leader was supported by LTTE living overseas who were raising funds and procuring the most sophisticated arms and weaponry for the LTTE.

What is poignant about the defeat of the LTTE and the LLRC which the GoSL conceded to adopt in view of the demands for accountability were figures listed under chapter Security Forces Casualties & LTTE Casualties (3.20)

This chapter deriving its details from the Ministry of Defense gives a breakdown of casualties from both the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and LTTE from the period July 2006 to May 2009

Thus,

Sri Lankan Armed Forces lost 5,556 personnel in battle

Sri Lankan Armed Forces wounded were 28,414

Sri Lankan Armed Forces Missing in Action were 169

LTTE dead 22,247

LTTE dead with names identified 11,812

So the most important question ten years after is have the remaining 10,435 been identified & named by their family members?

Is this figure of 10,435 being quoted by LTTE Diaspora or UN/UNHRC and NGOs as CIVILIAN DEAD?

There are entities regularly issuing names of LTTE dead claiming they surrendered to the armed forces in May 2009.

The MoD must take these names and see if they match the names of the identified LTTE dead (11,812) or whether these names are of the LTTE who were not identified as dead during the identification (10,435)

EU funded Sooka says 110 missing in 2015 referring to the missing from Wadduvakkal Bridge – this list are ALL LTTE combatants. So is she preparing reports on behalf of LTTE terrorists or Tamil Civilians?

The 2015 figure of 110 missing LTTE combatants suddenly shoots up to 280 missing in 2018 referring to the SAME missing from Wadduvakkal Bridge – how can this happen

This is important before the UNHRC Session and suggest that the MoD and Foreign Ministry address this immediately

Shenali D Waduge

By Dr. Ivan Amarasinghe courtesy The Sunday Times

On March 15, 2006, the United Nations set up the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to promote and protect human rights around the world. It seeks the assistance and cooperation of States and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to monitor, report, advice and contribute best practice to ensure that it’s impartial vision is untainted and objectively exercised in its global mission.

UNHRC in session at its headquarters in Geneva: Serving the interest of some powerful states

However, over the years various countries, States, ethnicities, religious and lifestyle groups have begun to accuse the UNHRC of bias and partisanship. It is also accused of serving the interests of certain powerful States and political entities. Many sources observe that these global NGOs are funded by the said agencies to serve as their advisors and attorneys.

Petitioners against UNHRC

The main accusers of bias within the UNHRC and its related organisations are global minority ethnic groups such as the Jews of Israel and their global diaspora, the Buddhists of Myanmar, Laos, Kampuchea, Vietnam, Thailand and Sri Lanka with claims to historical homelands.  Their main fears are the loss of their own fundamental human rights including the traditional lifestyles, culture and historical homelands to recent settlers brought by the almighty European adventurists of the last few centuries. They also fear that even though European imperial rule is no more, the very fundamental attitudes of former imperialists are evident within the functional arms of the UN.

The UNHRC is today accused of being a covert front to satisfy the former imperial powers to continue their global domination through proxies placed in networked nerve centres, of which the UNHRC takes priority. Therefore, global opinion today is polarised on the very functionality of the UNHRC and the path it seems to be misdirected in the name of human rights. On the one hand, countries such as Israel express deep dissatisfaction on matters such as the allocation of Country Rapporteurs who deem to have made public statements with anti-Israeli bias as well as focusing disproportionately on the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The very purpose of the UNHRC is questioned with regard to its tangible mission achievements.

Vietnam is another example of a country attempting to reinstate its human values after being brutalised for over 20 years on a ‘scorched earth’ policy just a few decades back by military adventurists to the Indochina region.

Influence of INGOs on UNHRC

Today the INGOs are well funded, their grants and fund distribution being competitive with an increasing army of well trained and educated human resources with millions of members as a support base. This offers opportunity for patrons of diverse interests to hire the services of these personnel. There are some noteworthy giants among the global NGO community. They specialise on human rights and are directly involved with the UNHRC.

Three of the frontline NGOs that are universally mentioned in relation to global human rights at the UNHRC are (i) Amnesty International (AI), (ii) International Crisis Group (ICG) and Human Rights Watch (HRW). Each of these non-governmental organisations has considerable funds and human resources which enable them to employ thousands of human rights specialists in almost all the countries. These in turn either have their own in-country staff or are served by satellite agencies receiving funds from them. It is no secret that most INGOs and national NGOs are recipients of vast direct funding by certain governments through their International Development Funding allocations”.

The missions of NGOs receiving such funding are to ensure that the visions of the donor countries and agencies are expedited as outreach executives, see:

https://www.globalpolicy.org/ngos/introduction/31508-funding-for-ngos.html

The targeting of countries for submission to remote control measures of global powerbases through INGO and NGO funding has resulted in a gradual increase of complaints and disciplinary measures against these NGOs. Some NGOs complain that their own rights are violated to crisis point by certain countries, see:

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/02/global-assault-on-ngos-reaches-crisis-point/

Influence of International media

It is a fact within democracies that freedoms and privileges of investigative journalism are unparalleled in comparison with other professions. Theirs is a licence to publish whatever they consider as of interest to the public; thus their empowerment as the Fourth Estate.

Embedded journalists within warring factions and the theatre of war have opportunities to broadcast to the world alleging violations of human rights by one party or both parties in conflict. They also have the power to sway public opinion locally, regionally and internationally. Their documentary and audio-visual records may be used as evidence not only to swing the final outcome of a war but also for post-war enquiries by global guardians of human rights, such as the UNHRC.

They may also be credible witnesses in international trials on war crimes including any signs of genocidal intents by any party in military combat. However, among these are individuals who have sincerely stood up for human rights during war. There have been classic examples such as those in the Vietnam War where Eddie Adams’s photograph of a suspected Viet Cong man being shot in public by an ARVN officer or the 1972 photo by Nick Ut of a little naked South Vietnamese girl running away from bombings, screaming in pain due to Napalm bombs of the United States. Even a single photograph of such horrors could turn the tide of national and global opinion against the most powerful countries of this planet some decades ago. Today vast progress has been made in Information Technology (IT) with a diverse range of audio-visuals supplied to members of the UN and its HRC by various agencies. They can sway opinion and the process of justice against violators of human rights anywhere.

UNHRC: Bias or misguidance?

As discussed above, there clearly are a diverse range of interested parties which petition the UN and its HRC in the name of safeguarding global human rights. There are parties who supply information and evidence which are expected to justify their seeking justice through the UNHRC with due punishment to the perpetrators of such heinous crimes. Indeed the predisposition to some wars and crimes therein is with the intention to commit genocide. Sadly bogus or concocted information and doctored audio-visuals can sway the scales of justice against innocent parties also.

The ever increasing diversity of participatory agencies as discussed above and the actors in this theatre of global inquisition and clamour for international jurisdiction necessitates an absolutely objective, impartial, cautious and conscientious roleplay by the UNHRC. Any bias or misguidance will necessitate a review of the practices at the UNHRC by the UNGA itself.

On June 20, 2018, the BBC reported: The US has pulled out of the United Nations Human Rights Council, calling it a cesspool of political bias”. Nikki Haley, the US envoy to the UN, said it was a hypocritical” body that makes a mockery of human rights”.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/44537372

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres responded to the US decision to quit the council by saying he would have much preferred” the US to remain a member. The UN’s human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein called the US withdrawal disappointing, if not really surprising, news”. Israel, meanwhile, praised the decision.”

Is there bias against Sri Lanka?

The above discussion presents a resumé of the broader yet essential rationale on potential agents and beneficiaries from a bias against any country at the UNHRC. The potential for grave dangers of disaffection leading to disharmony among the global nations if the UNHRC is seen to be biased can never be understated.  When members such as the US make such clear and defined accusations of bias within the UNHRC, it needs urgent scrutiny. The UNHRC must address the very causes of such bias if the world at large is to have confidence and respect for the UNHRC.

The Sri Lankan experience with the UNHRC so far has been not much different from similar Asian countries in the bias apparently created by powerful NGOs, their paymasters as well as the global media giants and their local in-country agents.  Whatever the origins of international partisanship towards the Tamil cause” were for decades, much false information has been corrected in the post-war decade.

Today the official missives from the High Commission in Colombo to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London are quoted in the Upper House of Parliament by such eminent dignitaries as Lord Naseby. He has stood up for truth to be exposed on factual basis and justice be served on the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth regarding the Eelam War in Sri Lanka. The false allegations and nature of alleged war crimes and casualties caused by the Sri Lankan State during the last stages of the Eelam war are thereby contradicted and challenged.  The potential vast injustice done to the government, the defence forces and the very people of Sri Lanka by diverse agents of partisanship discussed above, needs to be corrected through an unbiased approach to the overviews which led to Resolutions such as 30/1 passed by the UNHRC to Sri Lanka. Neither is it necessary to list the articles therein as it is available publicly, nor is there any need to present a discourse on the motives of bias and falsehoods underscoring such demands from Sri Lanka.

As truth emerges and false accusations are corrected, those wishing to benefit from procedures at the UNHRC presently against Sri Lanka are becoming restless and disgruntled.

In its latest report for 2020, the ICG has categorised Sri Lanka as the only Asian country to be on its Watch List. Essentially, they want Sri Lanka to be the whipping boy at the disciplinary hands of the UNHRC.

The UNHRC must ensure that it does not entrust inquiries to officials with ethnic roots or affiliations to any respondent or prosecuting parties.  The process of targeting Sri Lanka as a whipping boy for those in power began with the insistence of the Tamil South African jurist, Navi Pillay during her tenure as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Instead of declaring the conflict of interests based on her ethnicity, she used her position to influence the highest destinations at the UN to the extent of recommending a private investigative team of her allies such as Yasmin Sooka to produce a factually dubious and false report termed the Darusman Report for the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. The UNHRC has passed three resolutions against Sri Lanka based on this personally commissioned report. A private report never tabled at the UNGA, UNSC or even UNHRC surreptitiously leaked to the public was used by the UNHRC to pass punitive resolutions against a member country; see: https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2019/12/31/30-questions-for-unsg-un-human-rights-council-regarding-sri-lanka-2/.

It is now being challenged as an illegal and unwarranted exercise beyond the very charter of the United Nations.

Clearly, the UN has to inquire into these allegations. Such precautions will preserve the clear springs of impartiality and objectivity within this much needed august global guardian of human rights.

(The writer is Former Chairman of the Ocean University and former Ambassador for Sri Lanka in Vietnam)

දෙශාඅභිමානී සුර්ය වංශ රත්න විභූෂණ පාලිත ආරියරත්න සෙන්කඩගල සිංහ ද්වාරයේ සිට

මේ අද සාර පොහොය දිනේදී මා කතා කිරීමට යන්නේ හොඳ ළමයා හා නරක ළමයි රෑනක් ගැනය. කථා පුවත සිතට ආයේ නරක මන්ත්‍රී ළමයි රෑනක් විසින් තමන්ලා ලොකු කියා පෙන්නවිමට හොඳ ළමයි ගැන හා ඒ ළමයින්ගේ ස්වරුපය මාධ්‍යය තුලින් විකට ස්වරුපයෙන් කියාපෑමට උත්සාහ ගැනීම නිසාය.  රූපවාහිනියෙන් දුටු ඒ විකට ආකාරයෙන් මිනිස්සු සිනස්වා හොඳ ළමයිට මඩගැසීමට කථා පුවතක් මැවූ නරක ළමයි මිට පෙර තිබු යහපාලන ළමා රජය ඇති කිරීමට කැනඩාවේ ටොරොන්ටෝ සිට 2015-01-04 දින අජිත් ළමයා,කරුණාරත්න ළමයා ඇතුළුව චන්දරතන,අජිත් බන්දු , ජයරත්න,කිත්සිරි, මනොරන්ජන් යන බබ්බු ද එහි සිටියේය . එම රැස්වීමේ අඩුව සිටි එකම ළමයා උයේ ඒ හොඳ ළමයිට කුඩුකේඩු කතා කියන කොළ පාට සාරියක් ඇඳි ගැහැණු ළමයා පමණි.

ඉතින් දැන් අපි පළමුවෙන්ම අප රටට වින කැටීමට අහම්බෙන් අපේ කරුමෙට පාවී ආ නරක නපුරු ළමයෙක් දෙස හැරෙමු. ඒ අත්භුත ළමයාගේ නම ලොරෙන්සෝද අල්මේදා විය ඔහු සමග තව පෘතුගීසි ළමයින්ද ප්‍රධාන වශයෙන් පැමිණි අතර රට ,ආගම, ජාතිය විනාශ කිරීම,ස්ත්‍රී දුෂණය, මංකොල්ල කැම්ද , රතු වයින් බිබී මස් කෑමද සිදුකළේය. අප රටේ සිටි විරෝධාර හොඳ ළමයි මේ අලුතින් ආ නරක ළමයින් මේ රටේන් පැන්නීමේ අදහසින් ඔවුන් සමග සටන් කිරීමට උත්සහා කරද්දී එම සම කාලයේම ඇතිවූ විජබා කොල්ලය අශ්‍රිතයෙන් පැන නැගුණු අභ්‍යන්තර ආරවුල් ප්‍රයෝජනයට ගෙන මුළු සිංහලේටම ඇගිලි ගසා විනාශ කිරීමට පටන්ගත්තේය. එතනදිත් නරක ළමයි හා හොඳ ළමයි හා රට තුල සිටි අප රට අද වාගේම පාවාදෙන ළමයි අතර නොයෙකුත් ප්‍රශ්න දික් ගැස්සි යුද්ධ පවා ඇතිවිය.

ඔය පිටින් ආ නරක ළමයින්ට පසුව ලන්දේසි ළමයින්ද , ඉංග්‍රීසි ළමයින්ද අද ලංකාව කැලි කඩා ඉල්ලන දෙමළ හා මුස්ලිම් ළමයින්ද අර කියූ සිංහලේ නිදහසේ සිටි හොඳ ළමයින්ගේ රටට ඇතුළුවිය.

මිදුම ගණන් එන්ගලන්තයේ  සිට පැමිණි ඉංගිරිසි ළමයින් ඔවුන්ගේම කලාපයන් වලින් පැමිණි ලන්දේසි ළමයින් ඉවත් කොට ක්‍රමානුකුලව අප රට අද වගේම පාවාදෙන නරක ළමයින් යොදාගෙන සිංහලේ අත් පත් කරගැනීමට පාර කපා ගත්යේය. ආගම් මාරුව හා භාෂා කුමන්ත්‍රණ ඒ කියූ ඉංග්‍රීසි හා ඔවුන්ගේ මිෂනාරි ළමයින් පටන් ගත් අතර ලක්ෂ තුනාහ මාරකට වඩා හොඳ ළමයින්ව මරා දැමු අතර හොඳ ගැහැණු ළමයින් පාරට ,කැලයට ඇද දමා ඔවුන්ගේ ඥාතින්ට පවා පෙනීමට දුෂණයට ලක්කොට සමහර විට වෙඩි තබා ඝාතනය කළේය.

අද වනවිට රුපවාහිනියේ එනම් ”තෙල දසුන” උපයෝගී කරගෙන කෙල තොල් ළමයින් මෙන් රට ආරක්ෂා කරන හොඳ ළමයින් වන ඇතැම් මන්ත්‍රී ඇමති ළමයි හා ඔවුන්ගේ නායකයන් වන ජනධිපති උතුමන්ලා හට අපහාස උපහාස කරයි. රට සාම කාමිව දේශපාලනමය වශයෙන් තිබීම හා රට අහම්බෙන් හෝ සංවර්ධනය වී දියුනුවූවහොත් හොඳ ළමයා වන නායක ළමයාගේ චන්දය වැඩි වුනොත් නපුරු ළමයින්ට පාර්ලිමේන්තු ආසන අඩුවී හෝ තම පක්ෂය අතුගැවී යාම නිසා හා කිසවක් නොදන්නා නිසා අත ලෙව කා හෝ ජිවත් වීමට බැරිවන බව දැන ( පාර්ලිමේන්තු සුපිරි ජිවිත ) ගෙන තිබීම නිසා හොඳ ළමයින් හට නපුරු ළමයි සාරි හැට්ට ඇඳගෙන හෝ නැතිව, කුහක සට කපට අදහස් ඇතුව මෝඩ බබාලාගේ චන්දය ගැනීමට උසුළු විසුළු කරයි. මේ ආකාරී කුමන්ත්‍රණ කාරී බබාලා හෙවත් නරක ළමයි ගැන බලාගෙන සිටින අපි (සිංහල බෞද්ධයන් ) සමාජය ඉදිරියටත් දැනුවත් කිරීමට ලිපි ලියන්නෙමු. නමුත් නපුරු බබාලා වැනි කැත අදහස් අපට නැත්තෙමු. ඇත්ත ඇති සැටියෙන් ලියන්නෙමු කියන්නෙමු.

අන්තවාදී නපුරු අදහස් ඇති සමහර දෙමළ නරක ළමයින් පිරිභාහරන් බබෙක් නිර්මාණය කරගෙන අවුරුදු තිහකට වඩා කාලයක් හොඳ ළමයින්ව කපා කොටා වෙඩි තබා ,ගිණි තබා ,බෝම්බ ගසා විනාශ කළේය. ඒ දුක් ගිනිදැල් , යුධ භියට යුරෝපයේ සිටින විවිධ රවල්වල සිටි හා ලොරෙන්සෝද බබාල හෙවත් ලෝක හොඳ බබාලාද අත් පොළසන් දුන්නේය. එය ඔවුන්ගේ මානව හිමිකම් යැයි කියා නොකියා කිවේය. ඒ පිට රටවල් වල සිටි ඒ නරක ළමයින් ඔවුන්ට පමණක් හොඳ ළමයි සේ පෙනෙන අප රට කැලි කැලි කැබලිවලට කඩා බිඳ දැමීමට සුදුසු මානසිකත්වයෙන් පෙලෙන රට සල්ලි කන , හිඟන ළමයින් අල්ලාගෙන ”අරේහේ යුධ වදිනවා නෙවයි මේ කැලේ යනවා ,මෙහෙ යනවා නොවෙයි අරහේ යනවා කිවේය”. හරියට රෙද්ද අස්සේ ඉන්න නයින්ව දන්නේ නැති එන්.ජි.ඕ බබාල හෙවත් සිංහල අපි ශිෂ්ටාචාර කොරන්න පැමිණි පන්සිල් පද පහවත් දන්නේ නැති. නිරිවතින් එලිමහනේ පවා අශික්කිත ලෙස , තිරිසන් සතුන් මෙන් නිරුවත්ව හැසිරෙන ලොව වෙනත් රටවල් තම වහලුන් ලෙස යොදා ගැනීමට දඟලන ඒ ඔස්සේ ඔවුන්ගේ ”කාම ලන්තය” මේ රට තුල ගොඩනගා ගැනීමට හා ඔවුන්ගේ දෙවියන්ට මේ උතුම් දේශය අවසානයේ පුජා කිරීමට නලියන වුන් දැනගත යුත්තේ ” අපි ” එනම් හොඳ ළමයින්  (සිංහල බෞද්ධයන් ) ඉන්නා තාක් කල් නරක ළමයින්ට මෙහි ”සෙල්ලම් ” දැමිමිට ඉඩ නොදෙන බවය.

ඒවගේම ඔය ඉහත කි නරක බබාල හෙවත් නරක ළමයින් අභිනවයෙන් ගෙන එන ”කුණු බිත්තර ” ,”මඩ ප්‍රහාර ”, නින්දා ,අපහාස,තාඩන පීඩන , පස්චාත් භාගයෙන් සබ්බද නගමින් පිටවෙන වාතය යෑමක් තරම් වත් ගණන් නොගන්නා බවයි. නරක ළමයින්ගේ සමහර උපකර ලද හොඳ ළමයි (සිංහල බෞද්ධයන් ) කියූ නමුත් නොඇල්ලු  හා ඔවුන් කි  දේ නැසූ හිස්බුල්ලා, රිෂාඩ්,අසාද් සාලි, සාෆි, රහක්මාන්ලා, කබීර් ලා  වැනි බබාල තම දෙවියන් වෙනුවෙන් හෝ දිව්‍ය ලෝක ගැනුණුන් සමුහයක් හම්බවිම්ට කිතුණු දේවස්ථාන හා සමහර හෝටල් බෝමබයෙන් දෙබෑ කොට ගිය නරක බබෙක් ( නරක ළමයෙක් ) වූ ” අසහරන් ” දේව දුතයෙක්ද ? ඒ අප්‍රේල් බෝම්බ ප්‍රහාරයෙන් මිය ගියේද මේ රටේ සිටි හොඳ බබාල පිරිසකි, නරක බබාල විසින් මැවූ අන්තවාදයේ කුරිරු මිනිස් බෝම්බයකට මැදිවී අසරණව ඔවුන් මිය ගියේය. එම සිද්ධිය දැක කොක් හඬලා සිනාසුනු නරක ළමයි රජ කරවීමට ඔබ හොඳ ළමයින්ගේ කිර්ති නාමයට කැළැල් සිදුකරන්නේ නැවත් මේ රට එවැනි ගණයේ මාරයන්ටම බිලිදීමට බව අප සියල්ලෝම දන්නේය.

හොඳ ළමයගේ කැරැට්ටුව හෙළි කිරීමට හා රහස් සෙවීමට රන්ජන් මන්ත්‍රී බබා ,හිරුණීකා පාර්ලිමේන්තු බබා, පියුමි නිළි බබාල (ලෝක හොඳ ළමයි කල්ලිය ) අනුන්ගේ හා තමන්ගේ පස්චාත් භාගයන් ගැන උදන් ඇනීම හා ඒවා සමහර කෘත්‍යන් කරගනීමට යොදවාගන්න ආකාරය හා ඒවා කා හට කොයි අවස්ථවේ පල ප්‍රයෝජනයට ගැනීමට දියයයුතුද යන කාරණා හා නපුන්සක හා ඝණිකා ජිවිත හොඳ ළමයින්ගේ චරිතවලට වඩා හොඳ බව පෙන්වීමට හා ඔවුන්ගේ ජඩ හා කාමුක වැඩ විවේචනය නොකට හොඳ ළමයි හා පරණ ආමි කාරයන් රට පාලනය කරන්න පුලුවන්ද කියා  හංවඩු ගැසීමෙන් ”අපි හොඳයි  වශයෙන්” පෙනී සිටින නරක ළමයින් උත්සාහ ගන්නේ අර වර්ෂ 1505 දී අපරටට ආ ඒ වනචර විදේශික නොරටෙක් වූ ඒ ආගමික ළමයා ගෙන ආ නරක පුරුදු තව දුරටත් ඒ ආකාරයෙන්ම ඉදිරියට අපරට තුල පැළ පදිංචි කරවීමටත්. ඒ අප මහා සිංහල බෞද්ධ සංස්කෘතිය හා ඒ බෞද්ධ දේශය මෙලොවින් තුරන් කරවීමටද ?

රතු තොප්පි,කහ තොප්පි.නිල් තොප්පි ,මදට පැහැය තොප්පි ,සුදු කළු ඉස්ලාම් හෝ කොටි  තොප්පි නොව සැම ළමයෙකුම පැලඳිය යුත්තේ. රටේ ආරක්ෂාව ලබාදිය හැකි උසස් හිස් වැසුමකි . එනම් බුද්ධිමත් හා සවිමත් නායකයෙකුගේ අවශ්‍යතාවයයි.

නිකරුනේ හොඳ ළමයයින්ට ගහල හරි යනවද.? ඕගොල්ලොත් එයා වගේ ‍හොඳ ළම‍යෙක් වෙන්න. සට කපට්කම් ,බක පණ්ඩිත කම් ,වාචාල කම් අතහරින්න  එයාව ආදර්ශයට ගන්න. එවිට ඔබටත් හොඳ අවස්ථාවක් ද ගෞරවය ද ලැබේවි.

ඔබ සැමට තෙරුවන් සරණයි !

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සෙන්කඩගල සිංහ ද්වාරයේ සිට

2020-2-8 නවම් පුර පස‍ළොස්වක පෝය දින

ශාසන ඉතිහාසයේ වැදගත් සිදුවීම් රැසක් සිදු වූ නවම් පුර පස‍ළොස්වක පෝය දිනය අදට යෙදී තිබේ.

බුදුරජාණන් වහන්සේ සැරියුත් – මුගලන් මහ රහතන් වහන්සේලාට අග්‍රශ්‍රාවක තනතුරු පිරිනැමුවේ අද වැනි දිනක ය.

සම්බුද්ධ ශාසනයේ ප්‍රථම මහා සංඝ සම්මේලනය ද අද වැනි දිනක පවත්වා තිබේ.

By Kanbawza Win Courtesy Asian Tribune

In a landmark verdict, the United Nation’s highest court has ruled that it has the authority to consider a genocide case against Burma and ordered the country to prevent irreparable harm from being committed again, signalling that the sensational news has vanquished the conflict resolutions.

But my research indicates otherwise, of how in the 18th century, the Colonial British in construing Burma to be part of the British Indian empire encouraged the Chittagonians labourers from India to work in the fertile fields of northern Arakan making Burma the rice bowl of Asia”.

The Origin of the Rohingyas In fact some of the Kalar (meaning dark complexion) were already there living in a large village, even before the British annexed the country in 1824. These people considered themselves to be genuine Muslims, strictly adhering to their traditional cultures and the new comers admired them and wanted to live with them. However, the old village people said Even if you speak the same language and of the same religion, you are not an authentic Muslims and we will not welcome in our village, but if you want to reside here you can stay in the outskirts of our village.” Hence those new comers reside there and were label as Ywathitthar, (in Burmese meaning people from the new village) while from the old village continue to call themselves as Ywahaughthar (people of the old village).

But as more and more Chttagonians came over, it overwhelmed the old village and everybody now called themselves as Ywahaoungtha. However, to a new Chittagonians who just arrived having little or no knowledge about Arakanese or Burmese languages heard the word of Ywahaungthar or rather the Arakanese word as Rwahaungtha, somewhat akin to the Bengali word Rohin. Hence, the name of Rohingya.

So, compelling Burma to recognize the word Rohingya tantamount to enforcing as the most sinister form of religion-cultural imperialism on a small independent nation which is bound to be resisted by every person residing in Burma, Why the tyranny of the majority?

Genocide of the Arakanese Buddhist

With the fall of Singapore in 1942, the British withdrew to India and organized all these Kales in Burma to fight the Japanese, (the Burmese were allied with the Japanese, just to gain independence from Britain).

However these Arakanese Kales taking advantage turned their guns on the locals, not only exterminating everyone, including women and children but also destroying their religious edifies, digging up Pagodas and religious shrines, only very few Arakanese managed to escape to India or to other parts of Abakan.

In Maungdaw townships alone they exterminated more than 30,000 known as Maungdaw Massacre, which were still remembered and clearly written in Burmese which can still be seen in the archives of Rangoon. Obviously, all the locals Arakanese deeply hated these Kales compelling the world to be perplexed or comprehend the raisons d’être of the hatred.

Chunk of the Motherland.

After World War II, at the prospect of Burma gaining independence (1947) these Kalar, now calling themselves as Mujtahids (meaning founder and defender of Islamic law) unable to reconcile residing under the infidels, led by its political party Jami-atoll Lemma-e Islam went over to Muhammad Ali Jinnah (founder of Pakistan) to take these three Arakanese townships of Buthidaung Maungdaw and Rathedaung which they renamed as Dar al-Islam (meaning the region under Muslim sovereignty where the Islamic law prevails), into the then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh),

Similar to what, Congressman Bradley Sherman, chairman of the Sub-committee on Asia Pacific, proposed. Rebuffed, these Mujahids fought the newly Independent Union of Burma under the civilian government of U Nu, who had no choice but to send his able commander General Smith Dun (at that time there was no Ne Win nor the now existing racist Myanmar Tatmadaw). These Mujahids were beaten and its leaders ran away to East Pakistan promising that they or their ancestors will never speak Burmese. So, when the incumbent Bangladesh Premier Sheikh Hasinavisited the Rohingya refugees she can speak in Bangali but when Daw Aung San Suu Kyi visited them she has to call the interpreter.

Bangladesh Liberation War

In 1971 Muktijuddho war when the West Pakistani Pahtans army launched an all-out war on the Bengali dominated East Pakistan, more than 10 million of Bengali crossed into Burma as refugees. But when the war was over not all of them went back. Seeing, that the inhabitants speak the same language adhering to the Bengali customs and having a fertile soil about half a million opted to remain in these three townships, so much so that Bangladesh ambassador has to admit to the British ambassador as seen in the London archives.

Burmese Socialist Programme Party

The late General Ne Win abhorred the word Burmese Junta” refer by the international media and started creating his proxy the Burmese Socialist Programme Party asking all the people to write political proposal to him. All the people responded except the Rohingya who called a conference of its own in the Burma-Bangladesh border, with the aim of another Dar al-Islam. To this Ne Win replied with Operation Dragon King” driving out the first batch of Rohingya, but later as the UN intervened, they were accepted back, but it was discovered that more came in, then went out because e.g. A Rohingya youth ran away to Bangladesh, but when he was repatriated back he came in with 30 or more people because he already had four wives (Muslims can marry four wives) and each wife was a widow with five to six children of the previous marriage. This is galling to the locals.

The Most Persecuted People of the World.

In the Bangladesh Liberation War of the 70s, these Rohingya sided with the Pakistan army of Phatans acting as scouts and spies and so when the War of liberation was over they were hated by the local Bengali and naturally Bangladesh or India nor the Arab world. It is the brain child of Bengali Diaspora residing in West.

Are they one of Burma’s ethnic nationalities?

In the 72 years (1948-2020) existence of the Union of Burma, every non-Myanmar ethnic rebelled against the central government but none of them attempted to take the chunk of the motherland to join a foreign country. Furthermore in 1976 the opposition of all the non-Myanmar ethnic group was formed at Manerplaw known as the National Democratic Front, but Rohingya refused to take part. Even when the ethnic cleansing became more intensified after the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, many of the Burmese Muslims were persecuted and fled to the Thailand-Burma border area.

Human Rights Watch reported that a disproportionately high number of Muslims joined ethnic Karen because the Burmese army had destroyed their mosques and schools while ordering them to convert to Buddhism or leave the country.” Hence the All Burma Muslim Union was formed and fought side by side with the Karen known as K’Nyaw Thoo” and yet not a single Rohingya took part. If these are the facts and figures perhaps, I am insane to hear the call, that these Bengali Kalas insisting to be a bona fide citizens of Burma with equal rights.

Evil Genius

In this crisis the marauding Myanmar army (Tatmadaw) were caught red handed, because the Rohingyas ran away under the glare of the news media proving true to the Burmese omen of when Bama shout nobody hears but when Kalar shout everybody hears.” Lamentably, the international world was unable to comprehend that Burma’s 2008 Nargis Constitution that sets apart the army from, the civilian administration, and instead blamed the civilian government of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The serpentine brood of Generals has clearly outwitted the international community driving the country into the arms of China, whose head just visited the country bringing in the year of the Rat infested with Wuhan virus (coronavirus) and raking away 33 projects for easy access to the Indian Ocean avoiding the Malacca strait.

Crux of the Problem

If the ICJ is not cockeye and view, that Burma is a fragile state, where power is control by the men in green, the UN solemn oath of never again” should be better served and improves the ICJ record of one out of eleven cases comply with its measures. Now it seems, that any large-scale repatriation of Rohingya is out of question. The simple logic of Demography seems to be missing when Bangladesh population is 165 million (8th largest in the world) residing in an area of only 147 thousand square miles can easily march into Burma, which has a population of only 55 million and an area of 676 sq. kilometres.

This is what every people in Burma is afraid of. As for the IOC we pray that it would be a real champion of the Muslims instead of the Organization of Interference in the internal affairs of other Countries to prevent the ever-rising Islamophobia.

Kanbawza Win, former Foreign Affairs Secretary to the Prime Minister of the then Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma is now a permanent Burmese exile.

– Asian Tribune –

උපුටා ගැන්ම –මට කියලදෙන්න ප්‍රවෘති-

රුහුණ විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ මේ වන විට පවතින අර්බුදකාරී වාතාවරණය විසඳා ගැනීම වෙනුවෙන් ඉදිරිපත් වූ සිසුන් පිරිසකට අමාත්‍ය විමල් වීරවංශ මහතා මැදිහත් වී විසඳුම් ලබා දී ඇති බව වාර්තා වේ. කළමනාකරණ පීඨයේ සිසුන් නව දෙනෙකුට ජීවිතාන්තය දක්වා ලබාදී තිබූ පන්ති තහනම් ඉවත්කිරීම පිළිබඳව මෙම සාකච්ඡුා පැවති අතර ඒ අනුව එහිදී කරගන්නා ලද එකඟතා අනුව මෙම පන්ති තහනම් ඉවත් කිරීමට ඉදිරියේදී කටයුතු සිදුවනු ඇත.
සිසුන් විසින් මෙතෙක් සරසවිය තුල සිදුකළ නවකවදය හා වෙනත් වැරදි වෙනුවෙන් සිය කණගාටුව ප‍්‍රකාශ කරන අතරම මින් පසු ආණ්ඩුවේ නවකවදය නැවැත්වීමේ වැඩපිළිවෙළ වෙනුවෙන් උපරිම දායකත්වය ලබාදීමටද අදහස් පලකර තිබේ. ඒ අනුව මෙම පෙබරවාරි මස මැදදී පත්වන නව ශිෂ්‍ය සංගමය නවකවද විරෝධී ආණ්ඩුවේ ප‍්‍රතිපත්තිය වෙනුවෙන් කටයුතු කරන බවත් එහි දේශපාලන අතපෙවීම් වැනි සිදුවීම් සඳහා ඉඩක් නොදෙන බවත් අමාත්‍යවරයා හමුවේ සිසුන් අවධාරණය කර තිබුණි.

තවද වීරවංශ අමාත්‍යවරයාගේ මගපෙන්වීම යටතේ කළමනාකරණ පීඨය විසින් ඉදිරියේදී වැඩසටහන් කිහිපයක් සංවිධානය කිරීමටද කටයුතු යොදා ඇති බවටද සඳහන් වේ.

වාර කිහිපයකදීම පැවති මෙම සාකච්ඡුාවල අවසන් සාකච්ඡුාව ජනවාරි මස පළමුවන දින පැවැත්විණි. මේ සඳහා සම්බන්ධීකරණය රුහුුණ කළමනාකරණ පීඨයේ ආදි සිසුවකු වූ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත‍්‍රී නිරෝෂන් පේ‍්‍රමරත්න මහතා විසින් සිදුකර තිබේ තවද ඒ සඳහා අමාත්‍ය බන්දුල ගුණවර්ධන මහතා ද කිහිපවිටක් සම්බන්ධ විය. සිසුන්ගේ පාර්ශවයෙන් මේ සදහා සුදර්ශන බණ්ඩාර, ලහිරු මධුසංඛ හා සංජීව ගයාන් යන ශිෂ්‍ය නියෝජිතයන් ඇතුළු තවත් කිහිදෙනෙකු සම්බන්ධ වී තිබුණි.

By Craig Welch Courtesy National Geographic

Scientists have found large natural stores of the toxin in the Arctic. It’s not clear how much will get into food webs as the planet warms.

Scientists have uncovered another hidden threat buried in the icy frozen north—massive natural reserves of mercury, a toxic heavy metal that in some forms can build up in fish and other animals and cause serious health problems in humans.

A study published Monday in the journal Geophysical Research Letters reports that the amount of natural mercury bound up in Arctic permafrost may be 10 times greater than all the mercury humans have pumped into the atmosphere from coal-burning and other pollution sources over the last 30 years. As climate change warms the land, this thawing permafrost could release significant quantities of mercury back into the environment, potentially allowing far more of the pollutant to build up in the atmosphere and the food web.

“Prior to the start of the study, people assumed permafrost contained little to no mercury,” says study co-author Kevin Schaefer of the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado. “But it turns out that not only is there mercury in permafrost, it’s also the biggest pool of mercury on the planet.”

Put another way, says lead author Paul Schuster, a U.S. Geological Survey hydrologist, “This is a complete game-changer for mercury. It’s a natural source, but some of it will be released through what we’re doing with climate change.”

What’s not yet clear, however, is how much mercury could be released, or when, in a form that is toxic to humans.

A Natural Poison

Mercury is found naturally in the environment and is released by forest fires, volcanic eruptions, and the weathering of rock. But roughly two-thirds of the mercury in the air at any one time is released by humans, primarily through the burning of coal or medical waste or some types of mining. Once airborne, mercury eventually falls back to Earth, winding up in water or on land. There it’s picked up by fish and animals, accumulating in ever-higher amounts as it works its way up the food web. Today’sPopular Stories

In some forms, mercury is a powerful neurotoxin, and in children it can harm brain development, affecting cognition, memory, language and even motor and visual skills. Even in adults, excessive amounts can hamper vision, speech and muscle movements, compromise the reproductive and immune systems, and cause cardiovascular problems. That’s why there are often fish advisories for mercury near polluted rivers and streams, and why children and pregnant women are urged to avoid eating tuna or other long-lived fish such as swordfish.

Thanks to complex atmospheric and ocean processes, more mercury winds up in the high northern latitudes than anywhere else. It’s already known to build up there in birds, fish, seals, walrus, polar bears and some whales, even in areas thousands of miles from pollution sources. As a result of this long-distance pollution, indigenous people across the Arctic who rely on subsistence hunting for food have some of the highest levels of mercury in their blood.

The same winds and currents that send mercury north today have been at work for tens of thousands of years, depositing natural mercury in high concentrations across the Arctic. Since that mercury has been trapped in frozen ground for millennia, it hasn’t done damage to wildlife or humans. But now Arctic permafrost, which accounts for 24 percent of all land in the Northern Hemisphere, is thawing and threatening to release this massive store. And, until recently, we didn’t have any idea how much was there.

A Decade-long Study

At USGS Schuster has been studying mercury in the atmosphere for several decades. In the 1990s he collected ice core samples from a glacier in Wyoming’s Wind River Range and developed a record of mercury deposition dating back to before the Industrial Revolution. That work, he says, eventually played a role in convincing federal regulators that human sources of mercury had risen so much that that the U.S. should start requiring coal-burning facilities to use scrubbers to cut mercury from their emissions.

Eventually, Schuster found his way to Alaska’s Yukon River basin and realized that no one had ever attempted to quantify how much mercury might be stored in permafrost. In fact, not every expert was convinced there would be much there at all.

Between 2004 and 2012, Schuster and his team collected more than 13 ice core samples from around Alaska. They chose their sites—and spent years perfecting models—in such a way that the results from Alaska could be extrapolated to permafrost all over the Arctic.

The results show that Arctic permafrost holds roughly 15 million gallons of mercury—at least twice the amount contained in the oceans, atmosphere and all other land combined. “The concentrations were huge—a lot higher than we expected them to be,” Schuster says. “That was a big surprise.”

The big question is: What’s going to happen to that mercury?

It’s unlikely that all of it will stay sequestered in permafrost. Once the ground begins to thaw, plants will grow in it, taking up mercury, and the microbes that decompose the plants will release some amount of methylmercury, a more toxic form. Some portion of that will spread through water or air into the ecosystem and eventually into animals.

“That’s the vector, the avenue into the food chain,” Schuster says.

How Much Gets Into Food?

But determining how significant a risk that will pose is a challenge.

First off, how much temperatures warm depends on how quickly—or not—humans limit emissions of greenhouse gases. That will determine how much permafrost thaws, which will influence how much mercury gets released. But even that is only part of the equation.

“How much winds up in the food web, and where? That’s the $100,000 question,” Schuster says. “When you jump over to the food chain in this research, things get gray.”

Mercury releases initially would pose increased risks to Arctic people and wildlife, “but what happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic,” Schaefer says. “Eventually it would be dispersed throughout the Earth. It moves around.”

The bottom line is there will almost certainly be some impact to humans.

“We know permafrost is going to thaw and we know some portion of the mercury will be released,” Schaefer says. “At this point we don’t have specific estimates about how much or when—that’s the next phase of our research.”

CDC, America’s front line public health agency, has partnered with Manipal Centre for Virus Research (MCVR) to carry out illness surveillance across India.Hindustan Times, New Delhi

India has asked the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to stop funding research in India without government approval after the agency appeared to have helped an under-qualified Indian laboratory to work on the Nipah virus, a pathogen that is considered a potential bio-weapon, according to officials and government documents accessed by HT.

CDC, America’s front line public health agency, has partnered with Manipal Centre for Virus Research (MCVR) to carry out illness surveillance across India, and government officials who asked not to be named said the agency seems to have helped MCVR study the Nipah virus, a pathogen that belongs to Risk Group 4 (RG4) classification.

RG4 viruses are considered lethal and their handling is heavily controlled since they can be turned into biological weapons, requiring labs that have biological safety level 4 (BSL4) certification to study it. MCVR does not meet the criteria.

MCVR carried out tests on the Nipah virus of which there was an outbreak in Kerala in 2018 and 2019, said one of the government officials cited above, asking not to be named.

Our apprehension is that the lab was being used to map the Nipah virus, which can be used to develop a vaccine, the intellectual property right of which will not be with India. Importantly, understanding how the human body reacted to the virus will also produce a more virulent form of virus for biological warfare,” said a second government official who did not want to be named.

To be sure, MCVR was designated by the government of Kerala as one of the testing agencies for the Nipah virus during the outbreak.

The concern at present, the two officials cited above said, were related to more detailed studies of the virus and of funding that was not approved by the government.

The government has now asked both agencies to stop the disease surveillance project – technically called AFI surveillance that tracks mystery diseases in key government hospitals – and for MCVR to store only BSL-2 grade pathogen. It has also asked CDC to comply with Indian rules and ensure all funding has been approved by the government.

The ministry has taken serious view of in the entire matter, MCVR (Manipal Centre for Virus Research) directed [to store] samples of pathogens specific to BSL-2 facilities only and should immediately stop AFI surveillance undertaken by it in other states also,” said an internal government memo titled Unapproved, US-funded Indian Laboratory stored samples of Nipah Virus – a bioterrorism agent”. The memo was reviewed by Hindustan Times.

According to the first official, the action came after the coronavirus outbreak triggered a review of all research into biological weapons grade pathogens in India. Researches without prior approval have sent alarm bells across the government, the first official added.

The memo quoted above also adds that the foreigners division of the home ministry is inquiring into how CDC and MCVR were working on the virus. All foreign funding needs to be cleared by MHA. The memo adds that while the health ministry has no specific comments” on the nature of action that MHA should take under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act

2010, but — considering the seriousness of the matter” – it said MHA may take action as seen appropriate”.

Home ministry officials did not respond to queries on what action was being contemplated.

In a separate communication to CDC, also accessed by HT, the health ministry said: It has been brought to this ministry’s notice that CDC has trained MCVR for diagnosis of Nipah virus disease in spite of the known fact that Nipah virus is BSL-4 level pathogen whereas MCVR is a BSL 2+ laboratory. Prior to this training to MCVR, CDC had not consulted any government agency as per norm.”

The note added: Since Nipah is a high-risk pathogen with a potential of being used as Agent of bio-terrorism the samples were to be handled more carefully and tested in a BSL-IV laboratory and not in MCVR… The lapse on part of MCVR in handling Nipah virus samples with active support from CDC has been viewed separately by the ministry of health and family welfare … Therefore, CDC is advised to stop all funding of MCVR/Manipal University …Similarly, funding for any other research activity in the country that is not approved by the ICMR should be stopped immediately.”

CDC country director, Dr Meghna Desai, said that the agency did not commission research on Nipah in India, and that the project was part of a multi-nation partnership. Through the Global Health Security Agenda, we provided training to strengthen laboratory systems in India which allowed for detection of Nipah virus,” she said.

Replying to whether CDC has been asked to stop all funding of ongoing research not been cleared by ICMR, Dr Desai said: CDC works closely with the ministry of health and family welfare and the Indian Council of Medical Research on projects that help address Government of India priorities in public health. CDC will continue to work with the Indian Council of Medical Research and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.”

MCVR denied that it had carried out research into the virus, saying it had carried out detection tests when the outbreak took place and had been asked by the health ministry to stop doing so when the outbreak was deemed over in 2018.

No virus isolation was done at MIV (Manipal Institute of Virology). Samples were sent to ICMR-NIV Pune for virus isolation work at their BSL-4 laboratory. We have observed/implemented all safety precautions while processing the samples,” said a statement from the office of the Vice Chancellor of Manipal University.

The university said that its work related to risky viruses conform to World Health Organization diagnostic protocols, which includes the pathogens being inactivated by lysis buffer” before being processed.

Experts said that labs with BSL-3 rating can carry out some tests but not advanced studies. A biosafety level-3 (BSL 3) lab is good enough for conducting polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test that is used to know the genetic material of a microorganism. Advance research such as virus isolation from living cells needs more advanced BSL-4 laboratory,” said Dr Shobha Broor, professor, department of microbiology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi.

(With inputs from Rhythma Kaul)

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකාසීනිවුස්

පසුගිය යහපාලනය රජය විසින් මැතිඇමැතිවරුන් සඳහා පමණක් වාහන ගෙන්වීමට රුපියල් බිලියන 28 ක මුදලක් වැය කර ඇති බව ඊයේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේදී හෙළි විය.

ඇමැති ජොන්ස්ටන් ප්‍රනාන්දු මහතා විසින් සභාගත කරන ද පිළිතුරක මෙම තොරතුරු දීර්ඝ තොරතුරු දැක්වෙයි.

එමගින් වැඩිම මුදලක් වෙන්කර ඇත්තේ ජනාධිපතිවරයා ලෙස කටයුතු කළ මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන මහතා වෙනුවෙන් වාහන ගැනීමටයි.

ඔහු ගෙන්වා ඇති වාහන ගණන 09ක් වන අතර එ් සදහා වැය කර ඇති මුදල ලක්ෂ 3,289කි.

මේ අතර ජනාධිපති මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන මහතාගේ හිටපු සම්බන්ධීකරණ ලේකම් වරයෙකු වන ඔ්ෂල හේරත් විසින් තම ෆේස්බුක් ගිණුමේ සටහන් කර ඇත්තේ එම වාහන වලින් හිටපු ජනපති දියණිය චතුරිකා ලෙක්සස් වර්ගයේ මෝටර් රථයද, පුත් දහම් සිරිසේන වෙනුවෙන් BMW x5 වර්ගයේදී ජීප් රථද ගෙන්වා ඇති බවයි

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකාසීනිවුස්

යහපාලන රජය සමයේ මැති ඇමතිවරුන් සඳහා ගෙන්වන ලද වාහන ප්‍රමාණය ගැන හෙළි වීමෙන් පසුව එකල ආණ්ඩුවේ පාර්ලිමේන්තු ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ හා ජනමාධ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම් ලෙස කටයුතු කළ නිමල් බෝපගේ මහතා විසින් ශේෂ හෙළිදරව්වක් කර ඇත.

නිවේදනයක් නිකුත් කරමින් ඔහු සඳහන් කරන්නේ වාහන ලබා වාහන ගැනීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් වූ යෝජනාවකට තමන් විරෝධය පළ කළ විට එකල අගමැති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා තමන්ට තර්ජණය කළ බවයි.

මේ බව සඳහන් කරමින් ඔවුන් විසින් නිකුත් කර ඇති සම්පූර්ණ නිවේදනය මෙසේය.

යහපාලන” ආණ්ඩුවේ වාහන මිල දී ගැනීමේ ක‍්‍රියාවලිය පිළිබඳ විශේෂ හෙළිදරව්ව

රුපියල් බිලියන 2.8ක් හෙවත් රුපියල් කෝටි 280ක වටිනාකමින් යුත් අධිසුඛෝපභෝගී වාහන 78ක් පසුගිය යහපාලන” ආණ්ඩුවේ කැබිනට්/රාජ්‍ය/නියෝජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරුන් වෙනුවෙන් මිල දී ගෙන ඇති බව ඊයේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ දී අනාවරණය වූ අතර එය මේ වන විට ඉමහත් ආන්දෝලනයකට ලක්වෙමින් තිබේ. එහෙත් එම අනාවරණයේම දිගුවක් ලෙස ඔවුන්ගේ විශේෂ අවධානයට ලක්විය යුතුව තිබූ එවැනිම සුවිශේෂ කරුණක් ඒ මොහොතේ ඔවුන්ට මගහැරුණු බැවින් ඒ පිළිබඳව ඔවුන්ගේ ද සමස්ත රටවැසියන්ගේ ද අවධානයට යොමු කරවීම සඳහා මෙම විශේෂ මාධ්‍ය නිවේදනය නිකුත් කරමි.

එනම් 2016 වසර අගභාගයේ ආණ්ඩු පක්ෂය නියෝජනය කළ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත‍්‍රීවරුන් 58 දෙනෙකුට ඉහත ආකාරයේ අධිසුඛෝපභෝගී වාහන 58ක් පෞද්ගලික සමාගමක් මගින් මාසික කුලියට ලබාදීම සඳහා කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලය අනුමත කළ ගණුදෙනුවේ වටිනාකම ද රුපියල් බිලියන 2.43ක් හෙවත් රුපියල් කෝටි 243ක් විය. එහෙත් එම ගණුදෙනුවට අදාළ විෂයභාර අමාත්‍යංශය වූ පාර්ලිමේන්තු ප‍්‍රතිසංස්කරණ හා ජනමාධ්‍ය අමාත්‍යංශයේ ලේකම්වරයා වශයෙන් ආරම්භයේ සිටම මා ඊට විරුද්ධ විය. සාමාන්‍යයෙන් ප‍්‍රතිපත්තිමය කරුණු සම්බන්ධයෙන් කැබිනට් තීරණයකට විරුද්ධ වීමට අමාත්‍යංශ ලේකම්වරයෙකුට නෛතික බලයක් නොමැති වුවද එම ගණුදෙනුව ආරම්භයේ සිටම මට නිරීක්ෂණය වූ අතිශය දූෂිත අරමුණ හා ක‍්‍රමවේදය මා දැඩිව ප‍්‍රතික්ෂේප කළ අතර එය ප‍්‍රසම්පාදන ක‍්‍රියාවලියටද සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම පටහැනිවූ බැවින් එකී පදනම  ඔස්සේ මා ඊට විරුද්ධ විය.

එහෙත් මාගේ එම විරෝධතාවය නොතකා කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලය එය අනුමත කළ අතර එම වාහන සපයන පෞද්ගලික සමාගම සමග අදාළ ගිවිසුමට අත්සන් කිරීමේ වගකීම මා වෙත පවරා තිබිණි. ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් ආණ්ඩුවේ සහ මුදල් අමාත්‍යංශ ලේකම්වරයාගේ තර්කය වූයේ කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලය අනුමත කළ කරුණක් ප‍්‍රතික්ෂේප කිරීමට අමාත්‍යංශ ලේකම්වරයෙකුට නෛතික බලයක් නොමැති බැවින් විෂයභාර අමාත්‍යංශයේ ලේකම්වරයා වශයෙන් මා ඊට වහා අත්සන් තැබිය යුතු බවයි. එහෙත් ආකාර පහකින්ම එම ගණුදෙනුව නීතියට පටහැනි බව පෙන්වා දෙමින් දිගින් දිගටම මා ඊට අත්සන් තැබීම ප‍්‍රතික්ෂේප කරමින් සිටි තත්වයක් තුළ හිටපු අග‍්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයාගෙන් සහ හිටපු මුදල් අමාත්‍යවරයාගෙන් මා වෙත එල්ල වූ බරපතල පීඩනය කොතෙක් දරාගත නොහැකි වුවද මා එම ස්ථාවරය වෙනස් කළේ නැත.

අවසානයේ හිටපු අගමැතිවරයාගේ ප‍්‍රධානත්වයෙන් එවකට ක‍්‍රියාත්මක වූ ආර්ථික හා කළමණාකරණ කැබිනට් කමිටුව” වෙත මා කැඳවා  Sign or Resign” යනුවෙන් හිටපු අගමැතිවරයා විසින් ප‍්‍රසිද්ධියේම මා හට තර්ජනය කරනු ලැබීය. කෙසේ වුවද එම තර්ජනයට ද මා කීකරු නොවූ අතර එවකට ඒ පිළිබඳව මාධ්‍ය ඔස්සේ ලැබුණු පුළුල් ප‍්‍රචාරය හමුවේ යහපාලන” ආණ්ඩුවේ පිරිහීම ආරම්භ වූ බැවින් හිටපු ජනාධිපතිවරයා විසින් එම ගණුදෙනුව යළි සමාලෝචනය කිරීම සඳහා සිව්පුද්ගල කමිටුවක් පත් කොට එතෙක් එය ක‍්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම අත්හිටවනු ලැබීය. එහෙත් ඒ වන විට විපක්ෂ මන්ත‍්‍රීවරුන්ද, පෞද්ගලික මාධ්‍ය හා සමාජ මාධ්‍ය ද ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් සෘජුව පෙනීසිටිම හේතුවෙන්  ආණ්ඩුවට එරෙහිව නැගී ආ බරපතළ මහජන විරෝධය හමුවේ එම ව්‍යාපෘතිය ක‍්‍රියත්මක කිරීමට නොහැකි වූ අතර එමගින් රුපියල් කෝටි 243ක් ඉතිරි කරගැනීමට හැකිවිය. එහෙත් ඒ සමගම මා එම තනතුරෙන් ඉවත් කිරීම සඳහා මුදල් අමාත්‍යංශය හා ජනමාධ්‍ය අමාත්‍යංශය ඒකාබද්ධ කරමින් නව අමාත්‍යංශයක් නිර්මාණය කොට හිටපු මුදල් අමාත්‍යංශ ලේකම්වරයා එම නව අමාත්‍යංශයේ ලේකම්වරයා ලෙස පත්කරමින් නීති විරෝධීව මාගේ තනතුර අහිමි කරනු ලැබීය. එහිදී මගේ තනතුර අහිමි වුවද රුපියල් කෝටි 243ක් රටට ඉතිරි කරදීමට මට හැකිවිය.

මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් නව ජනාධිපතිවරයා බලයට පත් වූ සැණින් නව රජයේ ජනාධිපති ලේකම්වරයාටද එම තොරතුරු ලබා දීමට මා ක්‍රියාකළ අතර මේ කරුණ සම්බන්ධයෙන් හා පසුගිය යහපාලන” ආණ්ඩුව සමයේ රජයට වාහන මිල දී ගැනීමේ දී භාවිතා කළ මෙහෙයුම් කල්බදු ක‍්‍රමය” ආශ‍්‍රිතව සිදුකළ වාහන මිල දී ගැනීම් පිළිබඳවද විශේෂ පරීක්ෂණයක් සිදුකිරීමේ අවශ්‍යතාවයද අවධාරණය කරමි.

නීතිඥ නිමල් බෝපගේ
හිටපු ලේකම්
පාර්ලිමේන්තු ප‍්‍රතිසංස්කරණ හා ජනමාධ්‍ය අමාත්‍යංශය

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

However, it is unlikely that either party will let the Tamil issue affect cooperation in other areas such as economic development and security.

New Delhi, February 8 (newsin.asia): In his media statement after talks with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa here on Saturday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he is confident that the Sri Lankan government will realize the expectations of equality, justice, peace and respect of the Tamil people within a united Sri Lanka.”

But the Lankan Prime Minister did not mention the Tamil question in his media statement. Instead, he spoke of bilateral cooperation in economic, educational and skills development, and defense and intelligence gathering.

The two Prime Ministers deliberated on the entire range of bilateral ties and resolved to further deepen anti-terror cooperation and boost trade and investment.

Stability, security and prosperity in Sri Lanka is in India’s interest, but also in the interest of the entire Indian Ocean Region,” Modi said. India has been a trusted partner” in Sri Lanka’s development and will continue to assist the country in its journey towards peace and development, he added.

Referring to the fishermen issue, Modi said both sides have decided to adopt a humanitarian approach” in dealing with it.

We have decided to deepen cooperation to combat terrorism,” Modi stressed.

In his statement, Mahinda Rajapaksa said: Prime Minister Modi and I discussed several important issues this morning. Our discussions were premised on the outcome of the discussions that Prime Minister Modi held with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa during his very successful State visit to India in November of last year.”

I want to thank Prime Minister Modi for his government’s Neighborhood First policy and the priority that he attaches to relations with Sri Lanka. We agreed that our cooperation is multi-faceted, with priority given to a number of areas, including security, economic, cultural and social sectors.”

Security/Terrorism

A part of our discussions centred on co-operation in regard to the security of our two countries. India has always assisted Sri Lanka to enhance its capabilities in intelligence and counter-terrorism, and we look forward to continued support in this regard,” Mahinda Rajapaksa said.

I would like to reiterate what President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said during his State visit that since our recent experience in April last year, we have had to re-think our national security strategies and assistance from India in this regard would be much appreciated. I thanked Prime Minister Modi for visiting Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks. That visit provided us with immense strength to come to terms with the tragedy.”

I also appreciate Prime Minister Modi’s offer of 400 million dollars as a credit line to enhance the economy of Sri Lanka and another 50 million dollar credit line for our efforts in combating terrorism. We discussed how to follow-up on these offers that were made during President Rajapaksa’s visit in November.”

Another topic of our discussion was the progress of ongoing projects that are being implemented in Sri Lanka with Indian assistance, including housing and community-related projects. I requested Prime Minister Modi to consider further assistance to expand the housing project to all parts of the island. Doing so will provide significant benefits to many Sri Lankans living in rural parts of the country.”

Prime Minister Modi and I also discussed how Sri Lanka and India could work together in economically important matters. As India emerges to be among the world’s growing economies, I discussed with the Prime Minister how Sri Lanka could benefit out of certain economic sectors where India is strongly positioned. I requested for India’s assistance in skills development and capacity building of the civil services.”

Before I conclude, I would like to reiterated our invitation to Prime Minister Modi to visit Sri Lanka in the near future. We in Sri Lanka are looking forward to that visit.”

I am indeed happy to be here because India is our closest neighbor as well as our long-standing friend. The links of history, religion and culture between Sri Lanka and India, which date back more than two millennia, provide a solid foundation for our partnership.”

Finally, I want to express my deepest appreciation to Prime Minister Modi and the Government of India for the outstanding arrangements and gracious hospitality accorded to me and my delegation during this State Visit.”

Jaishankar-Mahinda Talks

India’s Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar called on the Lankan Prime Minister on Saturday morning. At the meeting Jaishankar said: Your visit is a very important opportunity for us to set the course for the next five years.”

The Indian and Sri Lankan delegations discussed the status of ongoing projects in Sri Lanka that are being implemented with Indian assistance. The two sides agreed to expedite a number of projects that have not seen much progress in the past few years.

There is a lot of interest in Sri Lanka in areas like tourism, Minister Jaishankar pointed out and suggested that Sri Lanka should soon send to India a team to market Sri Lanka” as a tourist destination.

Sri Lanka receives the largest number of tourists from India. In 2018, tourist arrivals from India amounted to 424,887. This reduced in 2019 as a result of the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks.

Minister Jaishankar further said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka shortly after the Easter attacks in 2019 was very intentional”. It was meant to send a message to India and the world that Sri Lanka is safe. Prime Minister Modi was the first world leader to visit Sri Lanka after the Easter attacks.

Prime Minister Rajapaksa briefed the Indian Foreign Minister on the new island-wide housing project that was initiated recently and invited India to consider providing assistance similar to the previous housing projects they have helped fund.

The two delegations also discussed the long-standing concerns of the fishing communities of both countries. Agreeing that this is a problem that benefits neither side, both countries agreed to work more closely together to find a practical solution in a way that benefits all affected fishing communities.

Later in the evening the Lankan Prime Minister called on the Indian President Ramnath Kovind.

Prime Minister Rajapaksa arrived in New Delhi on Friday on a five-day visit, his first overseas tour after being appointed Prime Minister in November last year. He was given an exceptionally warm welcome in New Delhi with gigantic hoardings with his picture and welcome messages in English and Sinhala dotting the road to the city. A troupe of dancers performed for the Prime Minister on his arrival at the airport.

Since Hinduism and Buddhism are both a binding force between India and Sri Lanka, the Lankan Prime Minister will be visiting the Vishwanath temple and the place where the Buddha gave his first sermon, in Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. He will also visit Bodh Gaya in Bihar, where the Buddha attained enlightenment; and the shrine for Lord Venkateswara in Tirupathi, in Andhra Pradesh.

Rajapaksa’s visit to New Delhi assumes significance as his second tenure as Lankan President from 2010 to 2014 saw an expansion of China’s footprint in Sri Lanka, raising hackles in India. Following his defeat in the January 2015 Presidential election, Rajapaksa became cold towards India, until Prime Minister Modi visited Sri Lanka. During that visit, a line of communication between India and Rajapaksa was re-established.

However, India did not back Mahinda Rajapaksa’s brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa when the latter stood for the office of Lankan President in November 2019. New Delhi backed the United National Front (UNF) candidate Sajith Premadasa as the latte was thought to be pro-India and Gotabaya to be pro-China.

However, when Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the election convincingly, India swiftly moved to own him. Indian Foreign Minister S.Jaishankar flew to Colombo and met Gotabaya Rajapaksa and invited him to New Delhi for talks with Prime Minister Modi and got him to agree to a specific date for the visit.

The meeting was a resounding success as the two leaders struck rapport. The only issue that divided them was the Lankan Tamil question. Like his younger brother and Prime Minister Mahinda, Gotabaya did not mention reconciliation” with the Tamils in his media statement, while Modi did.

However, it is likely that neither party will let the Tamil issue affect cooperation in other areas such as economic development, and defense and security issues which are of greater importance to India. These are also issues on which Sri Lanka is willing to cooperate with India.

India followed up Gotabaya’s visit with a visit of the Lankan Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena who discussed Indian aid for skills and entrepreneurial development as he is Sri Lanka’s Skills and Entrepreneurial Development Minister also.

Ties between the two countries strengthened by the Lankan leaders’visits to Delhi will be further cemented by Modi’ visit to Sri Lanka which is bound to take place given the Indian Prime Minister’s fondness for travelling to reach out to world leaders.

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

New Delhi, February 8 (The Hindu): Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa told The Hindu’s Suhasini Haider in New Delhi that the problem of debt repayment is worrying and that it would be helpful if lenders, led by India, could give a three-year moratorium on repayment.

The visiting Lankan PM also said that his government will not implement the 2017 MoUs with India on projects inked by the previous government as these are not his government’s projects and that the Mattala airport, like other national assets, will not be given away to any other country.

On political issues he said that the 19^th.Amendment which created confusion in the distribution of power will have to be repealed and that any discussion on devolution of power to the provinces to meet the Tamils’ demand can take place only after an election to the Northern and Eastern provincial councils throws up a leadership with which the government can talk.

Here are excerpts from an interview given by Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to Suhasini Haider of The Hindu

SH: You have had discussions at some length with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but no agreements were announced, especially on the $400-million Line of Credit offered by India for infrastructure. Tell us about the talks.

MR.We did speak about several agreements and we have agreed to some of the projects that [the Indian side] were interested in. It was a fruitful and successful meet, for both sides, I would say. The housing project is something that is a priority area for us, and we asked for more funding for that. We have a new initiative, to cover the whole country, every village, and we should like to get some support for that. Apart from housing, there were several projects we discussed.

SH: In April 2017, the previous Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had also signed a MoU on economic cooperation for infrastructure projects, including energy and oil projects in Trincomalee that India has been keen on. Were those discussed?

MR.We didn’t discuss the Trinco projects, but we did talks about the Eastern Terminal [in Colombo] which India and Japan are jointly investing in, and the LNG terminal. Whatever was signed [in 2017] was not even pursued by the last government. President [MRS Sirisena] actually rejected all the projects PM [Wickremesinghe] had signed. We are not responsible for those projects. The Mattala [airport] project is also out. Our government has a firm policy on not allowing any national resources to be given to foreign control.

SH: An additional $50 million from the LOC have been earmarked for security cooperation, especially after the Easter Sunday bombings last year. What was decided about that?

MR: We have decided that we must have more intelligence sharing now, and increase the technical assistance [from India], as well as training. On the Easter bombings, we have an ongoing investigation into the conspiracy, and a commission is looking into it. We hope that India will continue to help us on that. In addition, we want to continue our earlier [pre-2015] project for trilateral terror and security cooperation between Maldives-India- Sri Lanka. We might have the meeting for that as soon as possible, possibly in the Maldives and discuss how to take the trilateral idea forward.

SH: Your defense secretary has also spoken of security and intelligence sharing Pakistan. Won’t the balance prove difficult, given India’s concerns about terror emanating from Pakistan, which has also held up the SAARC process?

MR: Yes, but we are friendly countries and we have friendly ties with all countries in the region. We are friendly with China too. But the Indian relationship is much stronger and very important for us. I couldn’t discuss the SAARC process with [PM Modi], as I know that India is not very interested in the summit, especially since the next meeting is due to be held in Pakistan. I do believe that we have already gone a considerable distance with building SAARC and that should be continued. Now there is also the BIMSTEC grouping.

SH: Both PM Modi here and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, when he visited Colombo, have made a point to convey their concerns for the Tamil population in Sri Lanka, and the expectations India has from your government. How do you respond?

MR: We have always understood these concerns. Soon after the war ended [in 2009], we had elections, and we allowed the North to select their own Chief Minister. We held those elections despite knowing we would lose them. But nothing moved after that. We are now expecting to hold our parliamentary elections this April, and after that the provincial council elections. We will appoint a team to go to Jaffna to discuss the way forward.

SH:The way forward on devolution of powers, as was promised in the 13th amendment?

MR: Well, it all has to be discussed. We want to go forward, but we need to have someone to discuss, who can take responsibility for the [Tamil] areas. So the best thing is to hold elections, and then ask for their representatives to come and discuss the future with us. At the moment the TNA (Tamil National Alliance) is not interested in talks. They are asking for things, which the majority community in Sri Lanka will not accept.

SH: President Gotabaya has prioritized development over devolution as the way forward. Is there a difference between your positions?

MR: No, no. People need development. They have suffered for 30 years without it. So first they have to develop the area.

SH: There has been a controversy over the decision to drop the National Anthem in Tamil during Sri Lanka’s national day ceremony. How can you reassure Tamils if this is the signal sent out?

MR: But if you look around the world, the national anthem is sung primarily in one language. In India, you have so many languages, yet on your national days, you sing it one language. Our structure is the same. When I go to Jaffna, to a Tamil school, they sing the anthem in Tamil. We have no objection if people want to sing it in their way. Some political figures are raising this issue; the general public is not interested in this issue.

SH: Your biggest challenge this year will be servicing the domestic and foreign debt, which totals about US$ 60 billion. How do you plan to deal with this issue?

MR: Yes, it is a worry. This is something we discussed with the Indian government as well, and have asked if we could get a moratorium on all loan repayments for three years, until we can revive the economy. If the Indian government takes this step, then other governments might agree to do the same thing, including China. The previous government took so many loans, they beggared the economy, and it is a mess. It all depends on the stand India takes.

SH: This year alone, you have to pay about $5 billion to service the debt, the highest in Sri Lankan history. Will you be able to do that?

MR: We have to do it, and we will manage somehow. We don’t want to default on our debt no matter what happens.

SH: At the same time, you have said that you want China to give back its control of Hambantota port. Is that something President Gotabaya will raise when he goes to Beijing?

MR: We are discussing it, but it is difficult, as the previous government had already completed the handover of control. I think China may agree to our request on some terms, and we will keep the negotiations going.

SH: During a visit to Colombo, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China will ensure that there is no outside interference in Sri Lanka…What did he mean? Was it an indication to the US, or to India or some other country?

MR: I don’t know, you will have to ask him that (laughs). We didn’t take the statement too seriously, as no one has yet tried to interfere in our matters… other than during the last elections [2015]. Then, all the countries got involved in [the elections]. But now we would like to have good relations and work with all the countries.

SH: You mentioned upcoming parliamentary elections. Assuming that you win, as the recent Presidential election results indicate, will you move forward on the 19th amendment, that shifts power from the Presidency to the PM and parliament?

MR: First of all, we have to get rid of the 19th amendment. Then we will think about how we will move forward. [Former Law Minister] G.L. Peiris is already studying it, and we will take opinions on what to do. At the moment, neither the President nor the Parliament has clear powers. So we do have to decide on the division of power. The majority of voters in Sri Lanka voted for President Gotabaya, and that means people want him to have some control of the country’s development and governance, and we must respect that.

SH: Given that the President is also your brother, could the tussle over the 19th amendment cause problems between you?

MR: No, no, no. The way the present constitution is structured and the confusion with the 19th amendment, only two brothers like Gota and I can handle this (Laughs). Otherwise no President and PM will ever agree on this issue.

SH: Finally, what does it feel like to be back here as Prime Minister, after five years, when you visited, but were out of power?

MR: Well, I am grateful to PM Modi for inviting me and receiving me both when I was out of power and now. I never felt the difference, in that sense. Whenever he is ready to visit Sri Lanka now, we are ready to welcome him.

Courtesy Ada Derana

The economy of Sri Lanka is recovering from tragic terrorist attacks on Easter Sunday last year, says the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Gross Domestic Project (GDP) growth is projected to rebound to 3.7 percent in 2020, on the back of the recovery in tourism, and assuming that the Novel Coronavirus will have only limited negative effect on tourism arrivals and other economic activities, the Washington-based organization said further.

The IMF stated this in a statement released following the end of its staff visit to Sri Lanka.

A staff team from the IMF led by Manuela Goretti visited Colombo during January 29 – February 7, 2020 to meet with the new administration and discuss its policy agenda.

At the conclusion of the staff visit, Ms. Goretti issued the following statement:

The IMF staff team had constructive discussions with the Sri Lankan authorities on recent economic developments and the country’s economic reform agenda. Given the high level of public debt and refinancing needs in the country, ensuring macroeconomic stability calls for fiscal consolidation, prudent monetary policy, and sustained efforts to build international reserves. Ambitious structural and institutional reforms remain critical to raise the country’s growth potential and promote inclusiveness.

The economy is gradually recovering from the terrorist attacks last April. Real GDP growth is estimated at 2.6 percent in 2019. The recovery is supported by a solid performance of the manufacturing sector and a rebound in tourism and related services in the second half of the year. High frequency indicators continue to improve and growth is projected to rebound to 3.7 percent in 2020, on the back of the recovery in tourism, and assuming that the Novel Coronavirus will have only limited negative effect on tourism arrivals and other economic activities. Inflation is projected to remain at around 4½ percent, in line with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) target. After a sharp import contraction in 2019, the current account deficit is expected to widen to nearly 3 percent of GDP in 2020.

Preliminary data indicate that the primary surplus target under the program supported by the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) was missed by a sizable margin in 2019 with a recorded deficit of 0.3 percent of GDP, due to weak revenue performance and expenditure overruns. Under current policies, as discussed with the authorities during the visit, the primary deficit could widen further to 1.9 percent of GDP in 2020, due to newly implemented tax cuts and exemptions, clearance of domestic arrears, and backloaded capital spending from 2019. Given risks to debt sustainability and large refinancing needs over the medium term, renewed efforts to advance fiscal consolidation will be essential for macroeconomic stability. Measures to improve efficiency in the public administration and strengthen revenue mobilization can help reduce the high public debt, while preserving space for critical social and investment needs. Advancing relevant legislation to strengthen fiscal rules would anchor policy commitments, restore confidence, and safeguard sustainability over the medium term.

The CBSL should continue to follow a prudent and data-dependent monetary policy and stand ready to adjust rates to evolving macroeconomic conditions. Net International Reserves fell short of the end-December target under the EFF-supported program in 2019 by about $100 million amid market pressures after the Presidential elections and announced tax cuts. However, conditions have since stabilized. Renewed efforts are needed to rebuild reserve buffers to safeguard resilience to shocks, under a flexible exchange rate. Approval of the new Central Bank Law in line with international best practices is a critical step to further strengthen the independence and governance of the CBSL and support the adoption of flexible inflation targeting.

The financial system remains broadly stable, although some pockets of vulnerability remain, especially among non-bank financial institutions. Caps on lending rates and the loan repayment moratorium for small and medium enterprises should be temporary, to avoid unintended distortions and inefficiencies in financial intermediation. Modernizing the Banking Act, with a view to strengthening and harmonizing regulation, supervision, and resolution frameworks for deposit-taking financial institutions would help safeguard financial stability.

The authorities should move ahead with growth-enhancing structural reforms to fully harness Sri Lanka’s economic potential and foster greater social inclusion. The team welcomed the authorities’ plans to enhance the efficiency of state-owned enterprises, enabling them to operate on a sound commercial basis. These plans would need to be supported by a visible commitment to strengthen governance and transparency, notably in the energy sector, and renewed efforts to tackle corruption. Concerted initiatives are needed to foster the business climate, promote trade openness and investment, and strengthen infrastructure sustainably, including to respond to the challenges from climate change. Sri Lanka stands to gain from greater female labor participation, enhancements in social protection, and further investment in education and skills.”

The team met with the Secretary to the President P B Jayasundera, CBSL Governor W D Lakshman, Secretary to the Treasury S R Attygalle, Senior Deputy Governor P N Weerasinghe, other public officials, representatives of the business community, civil society, and international partners.

Courtesy Hiru News

Former secretary to the ministry of parliamentary reforms and media Nimal Bopage says that other than for the ministers efforts were made to provide vehicles to 58 MPs under contract basis during the yahapalana government.

Issuing a release he noted that former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe forced him to sign the deal worth 2.43 billion rupees.

Courtesy Hiru News

Retired DIG Palitha Siriwardena says that if not for the influence of former governor Asath Salley, they would have been able to succeed in the investigation into the attack on Buddha statues in Mawanella.

He made this revelation while giving a statement before the presidential commission to inquire into easter Sunday attacks, yesterday.

The commission made inquiries as to whether the former governor has been questioned regarding the incident.

Responding to this the retired DIG said that the officers were reluctant to question him in this regard due to his political leverage and the connection with the state leader.

>Thereafter the commission inquired as to whether he was aware of another investigations group which was inquiring into the incident.

He responded that he was not aware of it but was later informed that a group of CID officers are carrying out an investigation under the orders of IGP Pujith Jayasundara.

The retired IGP further noted that if the CID and the provincial officers worked together they would have been able to carry out a successful investigation.

He further noted that the names which was given in connection to the easter Sunday attacks by the Indian secret service was revealed in the investigations of the Mawanella attack on Buddha statues and the wanathawilluwa training camp.

Courtesy Hiru News

It has been decided to give access to the voice tapes tabled by Parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayake to Members of Parliament subsequent to removing content which are a threat to national security and false claims therein.

This decision was made at the Party Leaders’ meeting in Parliament today under the leadership of Speaker Karu Jayasuriya.

The Parliamentary Communications Department said that accordingly, it was decided on this occasion not to issue these tapes to Parliamentarians just yet

The Parliamentary Communications Department said further that subsequent to removing words that are not compatible in these tapes, the Speaker will listen to them again and table them as suitable.

Courtesy Hiru News

The CID informed the court today that it is conducting further investigations into whether the weapon seized from the house of MP Ranjan Ramanayake has been used to commit a crime.

The case was taken before the Nugegoda Magistrate today.

Ramanayake is in remand until February 12th in connection with allegedly influencing the functions of judges.

Meanwhile, the Government’s Analyst collected a voice sample of MP Ranjan Ramanayake today.

>At the same time, the chief inspector who made submissions to the court quoted the Government’s Analyst report as stating that the weapon they seized from Ramanayake’s house is emitting a fresh gunpowder smell.

He therefore said further investigations are continuing to ascertain whether it was used to commit a crime.

Meanwhile, the parliament has decided to table the voice clips provided by MP Ramanayake only after removing the matters threatening the National Defence and false information.

Meanwhile, the Attorney General has directed the Acting IGP to give his explanation before Monday as to why he did not comply with the instruction with regard to the Gihan Pilapitiya judicial process.

/>Earlier, the Attorney General instructed the Acting IGP to obtain a court warrant and arrest High court judge Gihan Pilapitiya in connection with Ranjan Ramanayake’s voice clip scenario.

The Attorney General has further informed the Acting IGP that his inaction to arrest High Court Judge Gihan Pilapitiya has violated the Article 12-01 and 12-02 of the Constitution

By BBC Monitoring Essential Media Insight

The coronavirus outbreak in China has provided fertile ground for conspiracy theories and misinformation on the web everywhere, but in Russia they are being spread on primetime news programmes.

Russian TV is also unique in having a consistent overall thrust: that shadowy Western elites and especially the US are somehow ultimately to blame.

One of main national TV networks, Channel One, has even launched a regular slot devoted to coronavirus conspiracy theories on its main evening news programme, Vremya (“Time”).

The style of the reporting is ambiguous, appearing to debunk the theories while leaving viewers with the impression that they contain a kernel of truth.

One of the wilder ideas aired by Vremya recently is that the presence of the word “corona”, which means crown in both Latin and Russian, in the word coronavirus hints that Donald Trump is somehow involved.

Apparently, this is because he used to preside over beauty pageants, handing the winners their crowns.

In fact, scientists named the virus because of of its crown-like shape, but Vremya’s presenter warns against rejecting the idea all too soon.

“Utter nonsense, you’ll say, and I’d agree with you, if it were not for what’s in our correspondent’s report,” he says.

‘Ethnic bioweapon’

The subsequent video does admit the crown theory is a “strange construct”, but uncritically presents an expert who says that the Chinese coronavirus strain has been artificially created, and that US intelligence agencies or American pharmaceutical companies are behind it.

The report also rehashes old, false claims by Kremlin media and officials that the US ran a laboratory in Georgia where it tested a biological weapon on humans.

The Channel One correspondent then quotes online conspiracy theories that the novel coronavirus strain affects only Asians and could be some kind of “ethnic bioweapon”.

He concedes that there is clear evidence refuting this, but adds suggestively: “Even experts who are cautious in their assessments say that nothing can be ruled out.”

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Coronavirus conspiracy theories have also featured heavily on Channel One’s main political talk show, Vremya Pokazhet (Time Will Tell), only more openly than on news programmes.

The gist is to suggest that various Western actors – pharmaceutical companies, the US or its agencies – are somehow involved in helping to create or spread the virus, or at least in spreading panic about it.

The aim is variously said to be – in the case of “Big Pharma” – to profit from creating a vaccine against the coronavirus or, in the case of the US, to hit the Chinese economy in order to weaken a geopolitical competitor.

Blood checks for officials

Away from the TV screens, the coronavirus outbreak appears to be causing serious concern among Russian officials.

Rail and air traffic to China have been curtailed, and Russians evacuated from China have been quarantined for two weeks in a Siberian sanatorium.

A church in Moscow has even held a service to pray for salvation from the coronavirus.

Fear or the virus appears to reach all the way to the top.

Russian daily Vedomosti reports that Kremlin has introduced temperature checks for those attending events with President Vladimir Putin, in what spokesman Dmitry Peskov has called a “precautionary measure”.

BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.

Courtesy Hiru News

The official Chinese death toll from the coronavirus outbreak rose on Friday to 638, with the government saying total infections had climbed past 31 thousand 500.

The National Health Commission said the toll was raised by 73 new deaths from the epidemic.

As debates over the origin of the Wuhan coronavirus rage on, new voices join the discussion.

Russian media sources suggest the novel disease, provisionally known as 2019-nCoV, could be an American made bio-weapon designed to sabotage China.

The claims have had significant airtime on mainstream Russian media and could be part of Vladimir Putin’s efforts to discredit U.S interests in the region.