Viraj Kithsiri

The corrupt Yahapalana government did all wrong that could be done to our proud nation.

It brought humiliation and disgrace only internally and internationally.

From co sponsoring the UNHCR resolution to MCC agreement it had only one intention and that was to remain in power whatever the cost to the country.

As leaders they were incompetent and clueless and did not know what to do in the hour of need.

From the independence for over sixty years our National anthem was sung only in Sinhala.

Even during the war over thirty years there was no split.

However the yahapalanites thought it proper to sing it in two languages to create unnecessary confusion.

Confusion it did just the 19th amendment to the constitution.

It is not on any principle but knee jerk reaction at the time for the support of TNA.

Now it is revealed how TNA Sampanthan is to receive luxury official residence with services in spite of not being the opposition leader anymore.

And what did the UNP get from all that pampering to TNA at the end?

A 13+ demands that were worse than that of the murderer Prabakaran.

India is the great example for one nation one national anthem.

Our president has shown courage and vision to stand on principles.

Dr. Daya Hewapathirane   

Sinhala is the ethnic group native to Sri Lanka, forming the mainstream or the dominant indigenous community of the island for more than 2500 years. In fact, Sri Lanka is the only national sovereign motherland of the Sinhala people. Their culture, way of life and their Sinhala language originated and developed in Sri Lanka. Therefore, inevitably, the sovereign national rights of Sri Lanka rests with the Sinhala people who form the original dominant community of this country. Tamils, Muslims, and Malays are non-indigenous minority settler communities of Sri Lanka who settled in the island at different times in the past, coming from their own homelands or motherlands.

Accuracy of Historic Record

A good part of the long history of the island, has been recorded or written by its own people in an unbroken continuous manner. This written history goes back to over 2500 years and is described chronologically, in detail, in the ancient chronicles Deepavansa (3^rd-4^th century CE), Mahavamsa (6^th century CE), Chulavamsa, besides the Rajavaliya, Pujavaliya, Dhatuvamsaya, Elu-Attanagaluvamsaya, Elu-Bodhivamsaya, Maha Bodhivamsaya, Thupavamsaya, Daladavamsaya and Viharavamsaya. This written history is supported by archaeological evidence, and reports of foreign travelers of ancient times. Among archaeological evidence substantiating recorded historic information are rock inscriptions. The written history of Sri Lanka is regarded as the second-most remarkable recorded history in existence of an ancient and cultured civilization. It is second only to the records maintained by the Shang dynasty of Chinese emperors. The historical chronicles narrate in detail the history of the country since the arrival of Buddhism in 237 BCE or 3rd century BCE or about 2246 years ago.

These historic sources provide information on Sinhala Buddhist Kings who rescued the Sinhala race, the island and Buddhism from marauding Tamil armies of powerful South Indian Dravidian kingdoms. Also about its benevolent rulers who performed deeds of piety, who made the country self-sufficient in rice by way of irrigation engineering, promoted Ayurveda medicine and medical practice, build Buddhist temples, stupas and reigned with efforts to follow Dasaraja Dharma – the tenfold righteous path of a king. The accuracy of this historical record of ancient Sri Lanka is generally accepted by means of other numerous local and Indian edicts such as the  rock edicts of Indian Emperor Asoka and records of the Fa Hien the Chinese pilgrim monk, Roman historian Pliny and several others who have already been referred to. Also, by means of inscriptions, historical works, and literary works as well as by way of ruins, renovated historical and Buddhist monuments, ancient yet sophisticated irrigation networks, which extend the lifeline to date.

Traditional Name of the Island Nation

Sri Lanka is not the traditional name of the island. In ancient times, the island was referred to in many names but all implied that it is the land of the Sinhala. It was called Sinhaladveepa, Sivuhelaya, Heladiva, Heladveepa, Helabima, Seylan, Taprobane (by Greeks for the ancient name Tambapanni), Thunsinhale, Sinhale, Ceylon and Sri Lanka. Buddhist scholars of ancient times referred to the island as Dhammadveepa or the island of Buddhism. Fa-Hien’s (400 CE) writings & those of Xuan Zang and other ancient Chinese records refer to Sri Lanka as Simhala, Sinhaladipa or land of the Sinhalas. Ptolemy (2^nd century) although calls the island Taprobane, referred to inhabitants of the island as ‘Salai’. Sinhale (or Sinhalay) has been the legitimate historical name, for many centuries in the past, until about the early 19^th century when the people of the island were subject to European colonialism.  It was at this time that the name Sinhale was corrupted by the British as Ceylon. It was 44 years after gaining political independence from the British, in 1972, that the name Sri Lanka was imposed on the island.  It should be noted that in the Sinhala version of the Udarata Givisuma” or the so-called Kandyan Convention of 1815, by which the country fell into the hands of the British, the island is referred to as Sinhale. Excluding the roughly 150 years of British colonial rule, when the island was under colonial rule, Sri Lanka has existed as an independent sovereign nation for about 2500 years. In fact, it is, one of the oldest countries in the world within its present borders. The boundaries of most countries have changed in the past.   

Oldest Buddhist Country in The World

As much as 70% of the total population of Sri Lanka are Buddhists. Sri Lanka is the oldest Buddhist country in the world, where Buddhism was the dominant religion since 237 BCE or for more than 2250 years. It is noteworthy that until about the 16^th century, about 99% of the population of the island were Buddhists. In other words, for some 1800 years, Sri Lanka was an exclusively Buddhist country with almost the entire population being Buddhist. In terms of area and Buddhist population, Sri Lanka, is among the smallest of the 30 traditionally Buddhist countries in the world, which consist of substantial Buddhist populations. Also, it is the smallest among the six Theravada Buddhist countries, namely – Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and India. Although small in area and population, Sri Lanka is by no means ‘small’ in terms of its global significance as a Buddhist country. It has been the country where Buddhist teachings have been preserved in its original form or the Theravada tradition, for over 2200 years. Buddhists across the world respect Sri Lanka as the country where pure Buddhism prevails. It is the traditional Sri Lanka Buddhist flag that has become the acknowledged global Buddhist flag in recent years. It was the recent initiative of Sri Lanka that led the United Nations, to celebrate Vesak as an important global event.

Non-Violence and Peaceful Co-Existence

The Buddhist way of life is based fundamentally on non-violence and peaceful co-existence with others irrespective of ethnic, religious, and other differences. For some 2500 years, the Sinhala people were organized in terms of their royalty, nobility, spiritual hierarchy, their Kingdoms and Royal Capitals, and their irrigation-based farming system.  Buddhist values are geared at developing a social ethic which, would contribute to co-existence, mutual understanding, co-operation, and total harmony. To strengthen impartiality, people are advised not to succumb to biases and prejudices not to give in to attachment, hatred, fear, confusion, but to rise above them and do what is righteous. This concept of righteousness, which is designated by the term ‘Dhamma’ in fact, provides the firm foundation for the whole of Buddhist culture. The general admonition is to do what is righteous (Dhamma) and avoid what is unrighteous (adhamma). On this basis, all that is beneficial to oneself and others is considered meritorious (Punna) and wholesome (Kusala) and their opposites as demeritorious (Papa) and unwholesome (akusala). As the Dhammapada (Stanza No.183) says: Not to do any evil, to cultivate good, to purify one’s mind – this is the Teaching of the Buddha. It is on this basic teaching that Buddhist values are developed, lives are molded, and social relations are cultivated. This explains why Buddhist culture attempts to nurture in the people a feeling for others, to mutually share with others moments of happiness and joy, to show respect to elders, to care for parents to attend on the sick and destitute, to honour and respect those who are deserving, to treat guests and visitors with friendliness and affection.

Sinhala Buddhist National Culture 

Sri Lanka’s identity as a nation is based on the Sinhala Buddhist culture and the Sinhala language which is the defining element of Sinhala culture. Buddhist norms and principles form the corner stones of this unique culture. With the arrival and spread of Buddhism in the island, there came an era of unsurpassed attainments and achievements in the country.The island’s civilization has achieved an individuality and identity of its own that distinguishes it from its neighbors.

All salient aspects of our national culture – tangible and intangible, either grew or evolved within the borders of our country. Sinhala language and literature originated in Sri Lanka. Sinhala language in fact is the most important defining element of our nation’s culture and heritage, from historic times. The Sinhala language grew out of Indo-Aryan dialects and exists only in Sri Lanka and has its own distinguished literary tradition. Sinhala is one of the world’s oldest living languages.  There have been a wide range of languages in the world, particularly in Asia which lived and died without leaving evidence of their existence, because they were never written down. This is not the case with the Sinhala language. All other languages used in Sri Lanka originated in other countries.  It is significant to note that the overwhelming majority of people of Sri Lanka are distinguished by their language – Sinhala, which even today has a strong unifying effect in our motherland helping to reinforce the solidarity of our people as a unique cultural entity in the world. Almost all place names of the country from historic times, are in the Sinhala language – in the North, South, East, West and Central regions.

Rich Cultural Heritage

Cultural heritage encompasses material culture, in the form of objects, structures, sites, architecture, sculpture, paintings, and other forms of fine arts, as well as living (or expressive) culture in the form of language, literature, customs, traditions, rituals, ceremonies, and festivals, performing arts, music and so on. These unique forms of cultural expression provide this country with its distinct national identity. They are the living evidence of the outstanding cultural heritage of this nation. It was Buddhism that fashioned lifestyles, fostered the arts, and inspired the nation’s architecture, sculpture, paintings, and other fine arts. It led to the creation of stupes (pagodas), temples, monasteries, statues, and a fascinating diversity of aesthetically pleasing artistic ventures and cultural activities.  It is important to note that all salient aspects of the national culture – tangible and intangible, either grew or evolved within the borders of Sri Lanka. This includes the Sinhala language and literature which originated in the island. 

The exceptionally rich heritage of visual arts of the Sinhala Buddhist people of Sri Lanka, extends to a period that exceeds 2300 years, from the 3rd century BCE to the 21st CE.  The Sinhala Buddhist culture is one of the World’s oldest, continuous, unchanged cultures in existence.  It is one of world’s important and exemplary cultures in existence. It is a civilization unique to Sri Lanka alone.  The simple and uncomplicated lifestyle promoted by Buddhist culture, is based on the five basic precepts of Buddhism. Non-violence, compassion, tolerance, morality, and peaceful coexistence with others and with nature are the cornerstones of Buddhist culture. 

                                                                                                                                     Despite foreign invasions, threats and various forms of challenges and atrocities, Buddhist culture has remained intact in the island, unlike the case with many ancient cultures in most other countries in the world.  Throughout most of its history, Sinhala kings and Buddhist institution of monks, played a major role in the development and maintenance of Buddhist culture and institutions in the island. The world recognition of the greatness of this unique Sinhala Buddhist culture is reflected by the UNESCO designating ancient sites, including the ancient royal capitals of the Sinhala people such – Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Mahanuwara (Kandy), Sigiriya and Dambulla as World Heritage Sites. Ancient irrigation system developed by the Sinhala kings is still operational and is considered as – Engineering marvels. The earthen and stone dams and reservoirs systems the canal network and related water control and management structures and techniques show the skills of the ancient Sinhala people.

The Hela or Sinhala Nation 

There is only one nation in this island of Sri Lanka or Sinhale. A ‘Nation’ is a self-identifying group of people who share a common history, a common language, a common culture and most importantly a homeland. In other words, a nation is the most persistent alliance or organization of three main social components -people-culture- territory. Culture can be defined as the system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that the members of society use to cope with their world and with one another, and that are transmitted from generation to generation through learning.  In a broader sense, a subculture is any group within a larger complex culture who has interests that vary from those of the mainstream culture. In a more specific sense, it is a group with a distinct style and identity. Even though it is obvious that there are large number of subcultures within any given national culture, People live and think in ways that form finite patterns that can be mutually constructed through a constant process of social interaction. The country’s predominant culture is Sinhala Buddhist. Over the centuries, both Hindus and Buddhists have co-existed well despite occasional politically motivated power struggles. One should not be confusing the issue of citizens’ rights with that of a nation’s identity.

There were Tamils or Dravidians in Sri Lanka for several centuries in the past, most of them assimilated and appreciated the Sinhala Buddhist culture until the Europeans arrived and took control of our nation. Although we let them into our land and offered them hospitality, in return they acted to undermine our country, the Buddhist religion, and tried to destroy our culture and thereby break the harmony in our society. With the adoption of a policy of ‘divide and rule’ by the British, it has been a continuing saga against Sinhala people, especially the Buddhists. To serve their serf interests, the British were largely responsible for germinating mistrust among the various ethnic groups and among our own people.

Tamils cannot have a “right of self-determination” in Sri Lanka because the homeland of the Tamil nation is Tamil Nadu, and not Sri Lanka or ‘Sinhale’ as the island was known in early times. Only the Sinhala nation has the right to self-determination in Sinhale’. The real objective behind all this talk of a “Tamil Nation and Tamils’ Right to Self-Determination” (which even the Indian Constitution does not recognize) is to make way for the racist Tamil LTTE dream of creating a Greater Tamil Eelam linking Sri Lanka’s North and East with Tamil Nadu. The Tamils came from their motherland, the Tamilnadu where their culture and language originated. The Tamil nation of Tamilnadu is seven times bigger than Sri Lanka, where one needs to be a pure Tamil to hold any high official position. Tamils have their national heritage and aspirations protected within Tamilnadu. 

Violation of National Interests  

Hela nationals will not tolerate any community or person who whilst living in the Hela Nation and considering it their home, deliberately misusing such privilege by scheming and adopting violent and extreme actions or contributing to such actions violating the sovereignty, dignity, and territorial integrity of the Sinhala Nation. This includes the ridiculously false and unfounded claims made by Tamil and Muslim leaders in pursuit of carving out ethnic or religious enclaves within the Sinhala Nation, merely because some of them had lived in some specific places in the country for extended periods of time. Persons with such self-serving objectives and attitudes are traitors of the Nation and should be tolerated under any circumstances. There is no place in the Hela Nation for such traitors, double crossers, renegades, turncoats, collaborators of enemies, criminals and terrorists, conspirators, connivers, schemers and emissaries, spies, secret agents, undercover agents, and double agents of the enemies of the Sinhala Nation.

Maintaining the foremost place for Buddhism and protecting and fostering the Buddha Sasana should be essential components of any Constitution of Sri Lanka. The unitary character of the country and the supremacy of the Parliament should always be maintained thereby preventing any form of separatism including federalism or administrative units based on Race, Religion or Language. Police should operate within the entire territory of Sri Lanka under the direction and control of Inspector General of Police who is the head of Sri Lanka Police Force. State land must always be vested with the Republic of Sri Lanka. The Parliament should have full control over public Finance and no institution should be permitted to receive funds from any foreign source, without the approval of the President or the Cabinet of Ministers. 

In Sri Lanka, the granting of excessive rights to minorities in the form of alien-national rights of language and culture, land rights and police powers and so on, and thereby eventually enabling them to form separate ethnic enclaves in different parts of the island should not be permitted under any circumstances.  Such action as evident today, will be strongly resisted by the nation’s patriotic forces, including Buddhist monks who have from historic times been in the forefront in promoting and protecting the Sinhala Buddhist culture of the island. These patriotic forces will not tolerate any disintegration of the national sovereignty, the cultural integrity, and the long-established territorial integrity of the country. There has been serious deprivation of the legitimate rights of the Sinhala Buddhists, in recent times.  In Sri Lanka, many Bhikkhus have entered the political arena to ensure the protection of Buddhist heritage, the Buddha Sasana and Buddhist values which undermined and subject to threats in recent times. Their main motive is to safeguard the national heritage and culture and thereby to secure the rights of the Sinhala Buddhists.

Merge with the Host Nation

Those settling down or have already settled down in host countries have a bounden duty to merge with the host nation into a single coherent nation of members.  It is basically, a state of mindset, not necessarily physical interaction. Within these host countries, human rights and civic rights of the host nation are what the settler minorities are entitled to and not the alien-national rights of the countries of their national origins they left behind for pastures anew. Their alien-national rights will shift to the private domain when in host countries and not to threaten the national sovereignty of the host countries either.

Sri Lanka wants all non-indigenous minorities of our nation such as the Tamils, Muslims, Moors and others of whatever label, to be a part of our Nation, to join the country’s mainstream, just the way how minority communities are expected to do in all countries of the world, especially in places like Canada, Australia, USA, UK, Norway and help to strengthen our nation founded on the noble principles of non-violence, tolerance, compassion, where peaceful co-habitation has been the cornerstone from historic times. Forgiving and forgetting” has been the attitude of our people, even to those who have harmed us repeatedly from historic times, because our people know that eventually justice and truth will prevail.

Initiatives of Bhikkhus as Traditional Leaders

Our Bhikkhus, the traditional leaders of the nation, should necessarily be in the forefront in movements aimed at protecting and promoting the Buddha Sasana and important national interests, especially when they are under threat.  Many Bhikkhus have voluntarily made their choice to take an open public stand on issues surrounding Buddhism and Buddhist culture which is the greatest treasure that our country could offer to the world, to humanity. Our Bhikkhus have become a thorn in the flesh of racists, religious extremists, the recent breed of inter-faith dialogue facilitators, those in the ethnic and human rights businesses and above all those who are funded or backed by extremist foreign anti-Sinhala or anti-Buddhist elements. 

Why should anyone feel uncomfortable when Bhikkhus, the traditional spiritual leaders of our country, take the initiative and provide necessary leadership to protect the greatest wealth of this nation – our Buddhist cultural heritage. Like anyone else, under a democratic system, Bhikkhus are eligible to exercise their rights, including political rights. Those who object to the initiative taken by our Bhikkhus appear to be those with ulterior motives, having their own self-interests and opposed to the strengthening and consolidation of Buddhist culture in this country. They in fact are resorting to devious unwholesome activities that are contrary to Buddhist norms and principles which have been preserved and promoted for thousands of years in this country, by the large majority of its inhabitants. These undesirable elements may be feeling uncomfortable about recent changes in the country, especially with the emergence of a political leadership that is representative of the aspirations of the mainstream Sinhala Buddhist community of the island. The recent election of Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the President of Sri Lanka, with the overwhelming support of the Sinhala, the dominant community of the island, can be considered as a definite positive development in the country.

                                                                                                                                                     Sinhala Buddhist Leadership

The forthcoming parliamentary election provides the opportunity for people to elect such upright, capable and patriotic individuals to work for the welfare of the country, and for the consolidation of the Sinhala Buddhist cultural legacy of the nation. Genuine and practicing Buddhists of our country, or in general, those who strictly follow the Five Precepts, should be more actively involved in politics either directly or indirectly. Most of the ills of our nation’s political life could be attributed to the absence or withdrawal of genuine Buddhists from the nation’s political arena and the domain of the media where they could be quite influential in bringing about necessary changes in public opinion of issues that are of national importance. Genuine Buddhists have a duty by the nation, which is founded on Buddhist principles, to be fully involved and participating in organizations working for the welfare of the nation. This is particularly relevant today because our nation is severely threatened at present by diverse negative forces both local and foreign.

It is the Buddhist perspective to public life and decision-making, that is most needed today, especially in the country’s political domain and administration. We need compassionate politicians and professionals with unselfish and mindful interest in the welfare of the country. This alone can bring about needed positive changes in public life which has been for decades, infected with dishonesty, crime, and corruption. The impact and influence of genuine, selfless patriotic Buddhist leaders, can make a big difference. They can help to generate a wholesome political culture, that is characterized by Buddhist approaches and attitudes and a truly Buddhist atmosphere, conducive to the development of a healthy political climate in our nation, so that all nationals will benefit irrespective of their diverse origins and cultural-religious inclinations.  

Politics in fact is simply about deciding how to live together peaceably while bringing together the wide variety of perspectives available in the human realm. It is something necessary and something creative.  Politics is part of our life. If we regard all life as sacred and politics is a part of life, then politics must be sacred. Politics is not an inherently unclean and base activity. It becomes dirty in the way that everything else becomes dirty. That is, through lack of attention, through lack of mindfulness, through ego, all of which resulting in greed, hatred, and delusion. The best kind of politics can take the profound viewpoints and virtues of spiritual practice and apply them in the public realm. Buddhism can be of fundamental help in this regard. If we do not bring spiritual virtues to the public arena, we are destined to both a selfish kind of spirituality and a selfish kind of government, devoid of vision and meaning. It is time that increasingly of our genuine and practicing Buddhists entered the political arena in various influential capacities.

Socially Engaged Buddhism

Buddhism has always been engaged in various socio-political contexts. The idea of interdependence is widely associated with Buddhism. Buddhism is the religion of Human Ecology. Engaging in the lives of others through compassion, sacrifice and service is the worthy spiritual path that the contemporary world needs to observe.  Buddhists need to expand our approach or shift somewhat away from those traditional customs that excessively promote monasticism and individual salvation. They should become more socially engaged and be more concerned about service to the community, the human habitat, and the environment in general. Buddhists need to broaden their spiritual practices to include both family and community and the social and environmental concerns of the broader world. We need to be better able to identify and understand social hardships, misery, and perils, and can do something tangible to relieve them.  It is time that we as Buddhists involve ourselves in an organized manner, become socially engaged and apply Buddhism to matters of everyday life, individual work, family, politics, and the community.  It needs to be a direct application of Buddhist principles and concepts to the overall development of our motherland, to the varied social, economic, and political issues that have implications for the short and long term welfare and development of our motherland, the only country of the Sinhala community.             

Dr. Daya Hewapathirane      daya.hewapathirane@gmail.com    

උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු නිව්ස්

හිටපු පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී ආර්. දුමින්ද සිල්වා මහතාට හිමිවූ නඩු තීන්දුව දේශපාලන බලපෑමක් මත ලබාදුන් නඩු තීන්දුවක් බවට රංජන් රාමනායක මහතාගේ නිවසින් සොයාගත් හඬපට වලින් තහවුරු වන බව අමාත්‍ය විමල් වීරවංශ මහතා පවසනවා.

මේ අතර, තවත් පාර්ශ්ව කිහිපයක් අදාළ  හඬපට සම්බන්ධයෙන් අද අදහස් පළ කළා.

උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු නිව්ස්

රංජන් රාමනායක මන්ත්‍රීවරයාට පසුගියදා ඇප හිමිවන පදනම පිළිබඳ, හෙළි වී තිබෙන හඬ පට අනුව ජනතාවට මේ වන විට අවබෝධ කරගත හැකි බව  සිංහල රාවය සංවිධානයේ මහලේකම් පූජ්‍ය මාගල්කන්දේ සුදත්ත හිමියන් පවසනවා.

මේ අතර තවත් භික්ෂූන්වහන්සේද මෙම සිද්ධිය පිළිබඳ අදහස් පළ කළා.

උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු නිව්ස්

අධිකරණයේ ඇතැම් විනිශ්චයකාරවරුන්ට පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී රංජන් රාමනායකගේ මැදිහත්වීමෙන් මාරුවීම්, උසස්වීම් සහ සේවා දිගු ලබා දුන් ආකාරය පිළිබඳ අනාවරණ වන හඬපට කිහිපයක් සිංහලේ සංවිධානය ජාතික පොලිස් කොමිසම වෙත අද භාර දුන්නා.

එම හඬපට අතර හිටපු පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී දුමින්ද සිල්වා මහතා සිරගත කිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් තීන්දුව ලබාදීමට අදාළ තොරතුරු ද ඇති බව එම සංවිධානය අනාවරණ කළා.

පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී රංජන් රාමනායක විවිධ අවස්ථාවල අධිකරණයේ ඇතැම් විනිශ්චයකාරවරුන්ට මාරුවීම්, උසස්වීම් සහ සේවා දිගු ලබාදීම සදහා කටයුතු කර ඇති බවට සිංහලේ ජාතික සංවිධානය ජාතික පොලිස් කොමිසමට පැමිණිලි කිරීමෙන් අනතුරුව මාධයට අදහස් පළ කළා.

උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු නිව්ස්

හිටපු පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී දුමින්ද සිල්වා මහතාට මරණ දඬුවම ලබාදීමේ නඩු තීන්දුව ලබාදීමට පෙර මහාධිකරණ විනිසුරු පද්මිණී එන්. රණවක මහත්මියට පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී රන්ජන් රාමනායක මහතා දුරකථනයෙන් බලපෑම් සිදුකල බවට මව්බිම වෙනුවෙන් රණවිරුවෝ සංවිධානය චෝදනා කරනවා.

කොළඹදී අද පැවති ප්‍රවෘත්ති සාකච්ඡාවකදී ඊට අදාළ හඬපට මාධ්‍ය වෙත ඉදිරිපත් කරමින් ඔවුන් මෙම අදහස් පලකළා.

උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු නිව්ස්

හිටපු පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී දුමින්ද සිල්වා සිරගත කිරීම සඳහා පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී රන්ජන් රාමනායක සහ අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ හිටපු අධ්‍යක්ෂ ශානි අබේසේකර ඇතුළු පාර්ශව කිහිපයක් සිදුකළ කුමන්ත්‍රණයක තොරතුරු අද අනාවරණ කෙරුණා.

කොළඹ අද පැවති මාධ්‍ය හමුවකදී රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය රෝහිත අබේගුණවර්ධන හඬ පට කිහිපයක් ද එළිදක්වමින් අදාළ හෙළිදරව්ව කළ අතර, රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය ලක්ෂ්මන් යාපා අබේවර්ධන ද ඊට එක්වෙමින් අදහස් පළ කළා

මේ අතර, හිටපු පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී දුමින්ද සිල්වා වරදකරු කරමින් නඩු තීන්දුව ලබාදීමට පෙර මහාධිකරණ විනිසුරු පද්මිනී එන්. රණවකට පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී රන්ජන් රාමනායක දුරකථනය ඔස්සේ බලපෑම් සිදුකළ බවට මව්බිම වෙනුවෙන් රණවිරුවෝ සංවිධානය ද චෝදනා කරනවා.

කොළඹ අද පැවති මාධ්‍ය හමුවකට එක්වෙමින් එහි කැදවුම්කරු විශ්‍රාමික මේජර් නීතිඥ අජිත් ප්‍රසන්න මේ බව කියා සිටියා.

එමෙන්ම, හිටපු මහාධිකරණ විනිසුරු පද්මිණී එන්. රණවක සහ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී රන්ජන් රාමනායක අතර සිදුවු දුරකථන සංවාදයක හඬ පටයක් සිංහලේ සංවිධානයේ ජාතික සංවිධායක ප්‍රදීප් සංජීව පෙරේරා මාධ්‍ය වෙත ලබාදුන්නා. ඒ, එම සංවිධානය ජාතික පොලිස් කොමිෂන් සභාව වෙත අද පැමිණි අවස්ථාවේදියි.

මේ අතර, අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ හිටපු අධ්‍යක්ෂ ශානි අබේසේකර සමඟ එක්ව හිටපු පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී දුමින්ද සිල්වා වරදකරු කරමින් ලබාදුන් නඩු තීන්දුවට බලපෑම් කිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී රන්ජන් රාමනායක අත්අඩංගුවට ගත යුතු බව නව සිංහල රාවය සංවිධානය ප්‍රකාශ කළා.

එහි මහලේකම් පූජ්‍ය මාගල්කන්දේ සුදත්ත හිමියන් අද මේ බව සඳහන් කළේ ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් වූ හඬපට ද මාධ්‍ය වෙත නිකුත් කරමින්

උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු නිව්ස්

යහපාලන ආණ්ඩුව සමයේදී  අමාත්‍යවරයෙකු වූ රන්ජන් රාමනායකගේ තවත් හඬපටයක් සමාජ මාධ්‍යයේ සංසරණය වනවා.

එම සංවාදය පහතින් බලන්න

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, January 4 (newsin.asia): The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) said here on Friday that Switzerland has baselessly alleged that due process” was not observed in the case relating to the alleged abduction of a local employee of the Swiss embassy in Colombo.

Referring to the most recent statement issued by the Government of Switzerland on 30th December 2019 pertaining to the judicial proceedings currently pending in the Magistrates Court of Colombo, involving an employee of the Swiss Embassy in Sri Lanka, the President of BASL, Kalinga Indatissa, said that the statement conveyed a wrong and misconceived impression’ about the role of the judiciary in Sri Lanka and the concept of due process”.

In a statement issued here on Friday, the BASL invited the attention of the Swiss Government and the Swiss Embassy in Sri Lanka and any other individual or institution which views the incident on the same footing as the makers of the above statement, to the following matters:

The alleged incident of abduction is claimed to have taken place on the 25th of November 2019, 9 days after the recently concluded Presidential Election in Sri Lanka. However, according to the Reports filed in Court, no complaint was made regarding the alleged abduction of the employee of the Swiss Embassy until the 27th of November 2019. It is elementary knowledge that under any criminal justice system spontaneity and consistency of a complaint is considered to be extremely vital in the assessment of the credibility of such a statement.

When such a complaint is made, it is imperative that the legal enforcement mechanism requires the launch of an immediate investigation. The proceedings in the Magistrates Court reflect that this requirement has been satisfied by the investigators.

The record bears out that, for several days, the Swiss Embassy took up the position that the employee concerned was unwell and could not make out a testimony. The word testimony” is generally referred to evidence given in a Court of Law under oath and is not referred to an instance where a person has to make a statement to the police or the investigating authorities at the stage of investigations and interrogation. To this extent this term has been wrongly used.

The sequence of events would reflect that investigations have taken its normal pace. No ad hoc arrests have been made. The employee concerned was permitted to be free without being called upon to make a statement, for the purpose of the judicial proceedings, for a considerable period. She has been permitted legal representation at the CID. Embassy officials were permitted to be present as observers at the point of recording her statement. All material emanating from the investigations and the surfacing evidence had been placed before the Court.

In these circumstances, the BASL is of the view that the investigations have proceeded in this case as expected by the Law and on the basis of the normal legal norms accepted domestically and internationally.

The statement issued by the Swiss Government is a basic and a bare statement. Even though the statement makes an allegation of Due Process” not being followed, the issuer of the statement has failed to identify, at least 1 single ground that has not been followed by the law enforcement officers in this instance.

Due process” is a concept which can be traced back to the Magna Carta of 1215. The essential requirements of the Due Process” lay down that no person shall be arrested or produced or harassed without proper evidence or material or a charge.

In fact, a few weeks ago when a reference was made regarding the right of certain members of the legal profession to appear in this case on behalf of the Swiss Embassy, the BASL immediately issued a statement confirming that every person who is aggrieved or is a party to a Court proceeding has a right of representation under our law.

The matter is before Court and whenever a matter is sub judice, it is wrong and incorrect for statements to be made in respect of such matter before Court. The statement issued by the Swiss Government dated 30th December 2019 violates this basic Rule.

Also, it is relevant to note that none of the lawyers representing the Swiss Embassy have gone down on record regarding the failure to observe due process” as alleged in the statement.

In these circumstances, the Bar Association of Sri Lanka strongly condemns the statement issued by the Swiss Government where it is alleged that the Due Process” has not been followed. We request the makers of this statement to immediately disclose the areas of due process” that has not been followed in this instance. Without mentioning such specific instances, to issue a bare statement, as has been done in this instance, amounts to a serious undermining of the Judiciary and the other Law enforcement agencies in Sri Lanka which are more than equipped to follow the accepted norms.

We request the Embassy to refrain from making such baseless statements and if there is any concern that they have, to bring it before the relevant forum without making ad hoc and inconsistent statements which undermines our legal system and the Judiciary.

Furthermore being a responsible Nation as claimed, the Government of Switzerland should be mindful of Article 41 of the Vienna Convention which clearly states that all persons enjoying such privileges and immunities have an equal duty to respect the Laws and Regulations of the receiving State, in this instance; Sri Lanka. It is further illustrated in Article 41 that there should not be any interference in the internal affairs of the State.

It is best if the Government of Switzerland would make an attempt to understand their role in making comments about the Judicial System and the Law Enforcement System of a separate, independent and a sovereign State.

We strongly condemn the statement issued by the Swiss Embassy as we see that, as an attempt to undermine our core values in the Judicial System which we have followed and treasured for more than two centuries.

(The featured image a the top shows Kalnga Indatissa, President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka)

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකාසීනිවුස්

අධිකරණයේ විභාගයේ තීන්දුව ලබා දුන් මිනී මැරුම් නඩුවක් සම්බන්ධයෙන් රන්ජන් රාමනායක මන්ත්‍රීවරයා බලපෑම් කරන අයුරු දැක්වෙන හඬපටයක් ඔහු සතුව තිබී රහස් පොලිස් අත්අඩංගුවට පත්ව තිබේ.

එකී හඬ පටයෙන් ඔහු රහස් පොලිසියේ හිටපු ප්‍රධානී ශානි අබේසේකර සමඟ සාකච්ඡා පවත්වයි.

එහිදී ඔහු සඳහන් කරන්නේ තමන් අධිකරණයේ විනිසුරුවරියකට ඇමතු බවත් රටම බලා ඉන්න මිනීමැරුම් තීන්දුවක් යයි ඇයට පැවසූ බවත්ය.

KAMALIKA PIERIS

During the Eelam war, the UNP government decided to weaken the army by sending troops abroad. UK’s General Rose was invited to study the armed forces and advise on sending Sri Lanka troops for UN assignments abroad (2002). The service commanders had no say in the matter.  In 2004, Sri Lanka sent troops to the UN peace keeping forces in Haiti. These troops were not recalled when Eelam war IV started. They continued in Haiti till the UN project ended in 2015.

Sri Lanka is one of the longest serving nations in the UN mission in Haiti. They helped in the Haiti earthquake of 2010.   They have also provided humanitarian services such as  blood donations ,distribution  water, food  and school items.    They had been the first to help in a bus accident, providing technical and professional assistance.

The Sri Lanka force won the UN Haiti medal in 2012. Their contribution was considered exceptional, their discipline and conduct was admired. In 2014 Sri Lanka UN contingent in Haiti has been praised by the UN for their contribution in evacuation of victim in a bus accident, they had been the first to come on the scene, provided both technical and professional assistance.

The armed forces were thereafter sent to Lebanon, Ethiopia, Congo, Burundi, Western Sahara, and Sudan. The troops in Haiti and Lebanon were admired by those working alongside them. The Lebanon team was honored with medals.

In South Sudan they were asked to build and operate a hospital. It was considered one of the fastest, well planned projects of the time. Hospital has 66 Sri Lanka army staff, including Sri Lanka army doctors. Services include medical specialists, operating theatre, intensive care unit, emergency departments, and outpatient department.  In 2015 Sri Lanka sent an air force contingent to South Sudan, for VIP transportation, food and equipment distribution, and   medical evacuation.

The Sri Lanka contingents have been recognized for their commitment, competence, and ability in all UN assignments. They were assigned the toughest areas during their missions and were been lauded for their splendid performance.  Within a short space of time they were able to make a positive impact on UN peacekeeping efforts. We have established a UN peacekeeping training school at Kukulu Ganga, which is recognized by the UN, said the authorities in 2015.  In 2012, over 100 army officers and over 1000 soldiers were abroad  and their remittances are a significant addition to the national revenue. The three services rotate their overseas contingents twice a year.

The Yahapalana government has hinted that our armed forces would be increasingly sent on UN peacekeeping missions said critics. It was reported elsewhere  that      the government wanted to send more troops to UN peacekeeping operations. They would include combat transport companies, two field engineering platoons, Special Forces, three infantry battalions, one explosive ordinance disposal company, also two police units.

UN peacekeeping missions have now become increasingly dangerous and complex.  They are employed in the middle of the ongoing conflicts, against armed groups using sophisticated weapons. They also have to face transnational criminal networks and terrorist organizations.   Europe and USA do not therefore wish to send armies into conflict areas. Instead they are turning to the third world and ‘our leaders are running to oblige’, said critics. 

The army  was sent to Nepal for earthquake relief in 2015. They were sent to a particularly difficult area, Dolaghat .They had travelled on long and difficult routes to treat patients and clear roads, despite frequent aftershocks and danger of landslides. The engineering corps had cleared over six kms of roads, repaired water links, suspension bridges. The Medical corp had treated over 2442 patients. Sri Lanka used it own funds for hiring heavy vehicles and equipment. Nepal was very appreciative.

After the Eelam War IV victory, the Sri Lanka military forces received much praise and recognition. In 2010, Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe, Commander, Security forces headquarters, Jaffna, was awarded the Gusi Peace Prize, Manila. In 2011, Indian Military academy at   Dehra Dun, India’s most prestigious military school honored the Sri Lanka Army by inviting its commander, General Jagath Jaysuriya as chief guest of the passing out parade. This is the first ever Sri Lanka Army Commander to have been invited to the occasion as Chief Guest.

 The Sri Lanka armed forces found that other countries wanted to learn the military techniques perfected by the Sri Lanka army. The ‘Joint war gaming centre’ at the Defence Services Command and Staff College, Sapugaskanda held annual training courses. In the 2014 course there were 101 middle grade officers from Sri Lanka and 16 from Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan Rwanda, Senegal, and Vietnam. The newspapers showed a photograph of the group examining a large map of Vanni west and Gulf of Mannar.

Sri Lanka army’s field training exercise, ‘Cormorant strike’ was started in 2000. This is a mock field training exercise designed for joint special operations working as one team. The purpose was to share the skills the Sri Lanka army had acquired in the May 2009 operation.

The Strike was conducted at Kokilai in 2015. This was a mega exercise with commandos and Special Forces of the army, 245 sailors, and 140 airmen. There were 53 foreign participants and observers from Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, and USA. In 2017, Cormorant Strike VIII was held at Infantry Training Centre, Minneriya. It had 69 foreign participants from Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kenya, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Russia, Sudan, Turkey, and USA.

In 2006,  the Defence Ministry, on the initiative of   Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Defence secretary, set up Rakna Arakshaka Lanka Limited, a fully government owned limited liability company,  providing security services to important government installations and institutions such as the Mahaweli dams and the Petroleum Corporation. It was a state owned enterprise coming under the review of COPE. Made up entirely of ex-armed forces personnel, this special security service was meant to eliminate the need to deploy army and police personnel to guard infrastructure and to release them for duties in the war zone. Rakna Lanka provided security services to 49 government institutions during and after the war, including Sri Lanka Rupavahini and BMICH.

The Sri Lanka navy continues to be highly recognized for its role in the Eelam War IV. The expertise of the navy personnel who retire are much sought after by both public and private sector. Sri Lanka navy organizes the ‘Galle dialogues’, an annual maritime conference on safety in Indian Ocean region. At the first conference in 2010 only 11 countries had come. There were 35 participants in 2013  and 42 in 2016.

Sri Lanka Navy said it was more than happy to share its hard-earned asymmetric warfare experience with military counterparts across the oceans. The 5th Asymmetric Warfare Course  of the Sri Lanka Navy, was conducted in 2017, the course was  attended by 20 foreign military personnel from Bangladesh, China, India, Maldives, Netherlands, Nigeria and Pakistan.

 The three-month course comprised a wide range of Asymmetric Warfare related affairs viz. weapons training, combat shooting, small group operations, jungle warfare, clandestine maritime operations, small boat operations, field training exercises, survival at sea etc. The Special Boat Squadron, the elite force of the Sri Lanka Navy facilitated the proceedings.

Sri Lanka Navy  stated ‘ we take credit for maintaining peace in  our regions, even during the conflict we did not allow the terrorists to hold world shipping to ransom, like what is happening in the Gulf of Aden. We kept our ports safe for maritime trade.

After the war, Sri Lanka continued to take a lead in controlling sea piracy. It created creating a Maritime Division in the state owned Rakna Lanka, to provide weapons and ammunition to private maritime security companies engaged on board security duties. This is an UN approved activity and there are procedures to be followed. It is a very profitable enterprise and profits go to the government. Rakna  became the foremost organization providing security of ships it this region.

In partnership with a local private security company, Avant Garde,   Rakna also started to provide vessels with on board teams which included former navy personnel with considerable expertise in combating attacks on sea. Sri Lanka is a major disembarkation point for security teams from other countries. Sri Lanka navy provides logistical support for the  movement of weapons and ammunition including the provision of bonded warehouses for their storage.  Sri Lanka has also begun operating stringently regulated and secure floating armories to fulfill this requirement said the navy in 2013.  Sri Lanka is increasingly gaining recognition as an important contributor to the security of the sea lanes of communication in the Indian Ocean.

In 2010 Sri Lanka offered its expertise to UN to combat piracy. Sri Lanka government has also worked with the government of India and Maldives on establishing a trilateral agreement for cooperation in surveillance, antipiracy operations and curbing illegal activities. On a request of the UN office on Drugs and crime, the Sri Lanka Navy conducted a specialized ship boarding training for the naval and coastguard officers of Madagascar and Comoros. The Sri Lanka Navy had also helped to control illegal migration to Australia.

The Sri Lanka Air Force has conducted Colombo Air symposium from 2015. The symposium is organized by the Sri Lanka Air Force on an annual basis with the objective of developing a wider perspective on global air power, and increasing cooperation, understanding, and goodwill among the represented nations.

 At Colombo Air Symposium 2017, held under the theme ‘Air Power in Addressing Asymmetric Threats,’ military leaders, technical experts, global think tanks and diplomats representing all regions of the world came together to share their knowledge to build up unified global air power to address future challenges.

Officers who had retired from the Sri Lanka Air Force started Ceylon Aeronautical Services Ltd, offering maintenance, repair, and overhaul of planes. CAS is located on a five acre block of land at Koggala EPZ, next to SLAF Koggala, formerly a Royal Air Force station.  Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, then Secretary, Defense had helped to launch the project. ‘If not for Mr. Rajapaksa’s intervention, CAS couldn’t have got off the ground,’ the company said. In 2018 CAS was providing services to Trans Maldivian Airways, SriLankan, Sea Wings, Dubai, Cinnamon Air and local flying schools. It has entered into an agreement with Nepal Airlines. CAS workforce consists of about 100 workers, with about 40 being ex-SLAF.

There is no war now, but war preparedness is necessary and the armored forces must remain as they are said the Army Commander in 2013. We continue our training. We keep the army fit and ready to face any threat.  Certain battalions, such as Commandos, STF and other specialist forces are strictly for national security. There are at present 7800 STF, there is provision for recruiting 1000 more. The armed forces have now moved into their own cantonments.

Members of the Ex Commando legion participated in a 24 km walk from Galle Face Green to Ganemulla in 2013. The event was organized by the Sri Lanka Army Commando regiment. They performed some commando techniques. ‘This is to show that what we did yesterday, we can still do today.’ they said in their TV interview.

Schools to accommodate children of armed forces and police are to be built in other parts of the island, first is coming up in Kurunegala, sources said in 2013. During the past six years, 940 students had received scholarships   on passing the grade V exam. In 2013, 138 pupils received such scholarships.

 The new Military hospital at Narahenpita, Colombo was built by the Sri Lanka Engineers Service regiment. It was started in 2009 and completed in 2014. President Rajapaksa had allocated Rs.  4 billion, when the project has been suggested by Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. Cost was 6.5 billion but it is worth 10 billion so army has saved the country 4 billion. We have the manpower to run it, entirely by professionally trained army personnel for both administration and medical duties, said the army. The hospital also serves the families of the army.

The military is doing everything” said the army commander in an interview in 2013. They are running cafes, building roads, bridges, houses and stadium, the engineering services do tanks and canal renovation.  Certain battalions have taken over and are cultivating government agricultural land. We have established our own farms.   Is this militarization? It is not, said the Army Commander. We are saving the government money in terms of labour costs.

 In 2012 the Army was running two farms of 360 acres and 11130 acres at Kantale and Kandakuda. Kandakuda farm was abandoned after its workers were killed by the LTTE. ‘Today it is under the army.’ They were exporting Cavendish plantains. Dairy farm had 120 cows. Army is also maintaining a tile factory and brick factory. Tile factory was a joint venture with Ceylon Ceramic Corporation. Army had been asked to fill in due to shortage of labour.

 In 2014 it was reported that the Civil Defence Force ‘is now engaged in agriculture at Kebetigollewa’  .They have cultivated over 812 acres, of paddy, maize, kurakkan, gingelly, urad dhal, cowpea, green gram, fruits and vegetables. They use compost fertilizer only, produced through their compost fertilizer manufacturing plants in each sub zone.  There is a new paddy warehouse at Kebetigollewa. The rice is offered to the military camps at Medawachchiya, Kebetigollewa, Colombo and Padaviya. They have also repaired furniture in nearby   schools and   donated blood. They have renovated Bakmeewewa and Werabanda wewa as well.

The Rajapaksa government did not allow its greatly expanded military to lie idle after the end of Eelam War IV. They were used for a wide range of activities. The armed forces have been used by Sri Lanka for detection of crime. The armed forces have been engaged in narcotics detection even during Eelam war. They have made detections on the sea as well. This is now the biggest peace time operation, we are making detections almost every day in various parts of the country, the Army said in 2012. Troops deployed alongside the police have so far apprehended about 300 suspects along with a substantial quantity of heroin and ganja. Detections were made in several places including Jaffna, Vavuniya, and Eastern province. The operation is targeting the trade at different levels.

In 2011 and 2012 the STF used its skills in detection for illegal gem mining, Illegal assembly of vehicles, sale of smuggled cigarettes, and selling cannabis. STF was used to nab underworld gangsters as well. After the shoot out of prisoners on a drug raid, Commissioner General of Prisons urged the Defense Ministry to take over the prisons.

The armed services were used for various peace time activities too. Army had helped with more than 20 major building projects in 2012.  Government has saved nearly 1500 million on expenditure, which would otherwise have gone to private firms or abroad, by using the armed service for development work after the war, instead of confining them to barracks, said the authorities.

Army and navy were used to refurbish Colombo’s dilapidated structures. The   race course pavilions in Colombo were refurbished by the army, under Gotabhaya Rajapakse, then Secretary of Defence. The race course area was converted to a set of shopping malls, an international standard rugby field, and a sports ministry complex. The buildings were        renovated retaining its architectural uniqueness. The work was carried out by the Sri Lanka army 6th regiment. About 300 soldiers worked on the project.

The Auditor General building was converted to the 85,000 sq feet Arcade Independence Square project, in just two years.  It was for high end private sector business enterprises.  A team of architects were sent to Paris to learn about heritage buildings. Army has also refurbished the science faculty building of the University of Colombo. SAARC cultural fund building was to cost 907 million, army helped save Rs. 110 million. Medical faculty building allocation was 1477 billion army helped to save nearly 492 million. CDF helped renovate Elphinstone theatre in Maradana.

Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was praised by two newspaper readers, for his work in Infrastructure development, city beautification, and environmental cleanliness. One reader said these were all done by ‘Gota’ who could win wars and then play a major role in the country developments. ‘Gota’ had got in every police station an officer who went out as early as 5 am to designated areas to oversee the cleanliness of the area. ‘This is exemplary work’. The second reader said, the CMC did very little as regards garbage, but with the UDA under Defense secretary Gotabhaya, radical changes have taken place. The army and navy have been at it, doing the cleaning and so on.

 The Army helped in other miscellaneous ways. The Electrical and Mechanical Engineers division of the Army installed a drinking water pumping system at Kahattewala Rahula Vidyalaya of the Haputale educational Zone in 2014. They put up the money for the pump themselves. Army constructed a new bridge across Kadolanaduwa water way at Moragalla, Beruwela. The army was asked to rehabilitate 3200 reservoirs and tanks in north central province in 2013. The army has helped in the renovation of Mihintale  and Tissamaharama Vihara. Kalagam vehera and Handagala Rajamaha vihara ‘were repaired and made suitable for worship’.

The army carried out a massive road building operation in the east. They improved the road running from Trincomalee to Mutur and beyond   and gave it eight bridges. The army bought paddy at Rs 30, in the Eastern province to help the farmer and obtain food for the army. About 200 farmers sold their paddy to the army. Farmers were otherwise obliged to sell to the middle man. A metal crusher was run by the army Engineering Service regiment at Welikanda camp.  In 2014 the Army began the rehabilitation of the salterns at Elephant Pass.  

The armed forces have helped in disasters. in 2012, Disaster Management Center asked the air force to aid in forest firefighting.  More than 1000 soldiers performed the arduous task of   searching and saving in the landslide at Meeriyabadda, Koslanda in 2014.  Air Force helped in floods and landslides of 2016. They engaged in rescue operations, they evacuated people,   traced stranded victims, airlifted consignments of dry rations, and distributed meals. The navy rescued 22,675 people, transferred them to safe locations, and carried out other flood relief activities. 

A Dutch tourist had fallen off the precipice at Worlds end by going too close to the edge on his honeymoon to take a photograph. He had managed to cling to a branch of a tree about 25 meters into his fall, the local police called the army. A corporal from the 3rd Sinha     regiment made his way down the precipice with the aid of a rope soldiers then carried the Dutch man on their shoulders about five km to reach a vehicle, an army chopper, to send him to hospital, where it was found that he only had minor bruises and scratches. He was discharged. The soldier Sudesh Lalinda had risked him life to do this. He was promoted to sergeant and army said they would help finish his half built house. The rescuer had declined to accept the cash reward offered by the grateful couple. The other eight soldiers were also promoted to the next rank.

At the conclusion of the war the army held some 11600 terrorists and close to 300,000 civilians. The army embarked on a rehabilitation process for LTTE ex-combatants. Five hundred and ninety four of those who ran to the government in 2009 were child soldiers aged 12-18. All of them have been put through rehabilitation programmes and reunited with their families. The speed with which rehabilitation was done and the methods used have won praise internationally. Their strategies are being used as a model in some other countries.

The most formidable challenge after Eelam War IV was the de-mining. This is a legacy of the LTTE. Sri Lanka achieved an impressive record in this demining having cleared 1,319 sq km out of an area of 1,419 by 2012. Mine detection dog Alvin and his handler Lance corporal G.N.W.M. Navaratne were selected as the Mine detection Team of the Year in 2016 by the US based Marshall Legacy Institute. From 2011 they have together demined approximately land area of 73,340 sq mm in the north and east. This has enabled 1945 displaced of 415 families to return to their original places of inhabitation.

In 2009, Army came across a large stock of gold jewelry that had been hidden. There were 852 bangles, 188 small bangles, 20 damaged bangles. These had been kept neatly hidden. Before this army had found another stock of jewelry. This jewelry had been pawned at the LTTE Eelam bank in the area. The army has shown exceptional conduct in this matter (Sunday Observer 5.7.09 p 11).  Security forces have recovered gold jewellery worth Rs 680 million during operation in Vanni east. They were handed over to state owned banks (Island 23.11.09 p 1).

 In 2014 it was report that the army recovered 2379 sets of jewellery pawned in bank in various locations the Northern Province; they have identified 1960 rightful owners, 319 Vavuniya, 45 Jaffna, 1187 in Kilinochchi, 186 in Mullaitivu. These will be handed over today. Army commander stated that the army had to go to each and every house in the province to find the rightful owners of these valuables. (Daily News  27.11.14 p 1)  However, TULF at its AGM on 29.12.12. decided to demand that the government return the gold recovered or seized from the LTTE by the security forces during and after the war/ They must hand them over to their owners who have proof of their ownership.

In 2014 the consulate of Sri Lanka in Sydney, Australia honored the army for liberating the North .They must never forget the heroic sons and daughters who laid down their lives. Colonel Atureliya who delivered the Ranaviru commemoration speech said that their victory would not have been possible if not, inter alia, for the brave soldiers. One has to live in the precincts, hear the explosions, see the carnage, hear the cries of those who were injured, see human flesh dangling from heights, brains scattered, the damage to property, the sirens of ambulances, to understand what it was like.

The government of Mahinda Rajapaksa did not forget the war heroes. The Rajapaksa government had projects to build houses for them, grant housing loans, self employment projects, three wheelers, scholarships for children, pensions for parents of soldiers who died and welfare measure for the disabled,   reported the media in 2013.

In 2014 it was reported that houses have been given to war heroes in 19 districts. The government aims to build    50,000 housing units for them, in five years of 10,000 per year. Recipients were chosen along guidelines, constructed by the army engineers.    Another report in 2014 stated that 700 hundred houses are planned in the ‘Api venuven api’ housing programme, in Kandy, then Matara, then Hambantota. 101 Houses are also being built for army personnel in Puttalam, 63  for Army, 22  Navy and 16  for Air Force. The recipients selected are low income war heroes. Each unit three bedrooms, pantry, kitchen, living room, and costs nine lakhs each concluded the report.

The armed forces did not forget their disabled. 220 army personnel are permanently disabled. The army is taking care of 160 of them.  5918 war heroes disabled in terrorist attacks have already retired from the army with all privileges. They have been granted a disabled pension plus monthly salary and all other allowances and privileges said the army in 2014.

Two apparel factories known as Ranaviru Apparels, at Yakkala and Alawwa were set up to provide employment for disabled soldiers. The Yakkala factory was set up on a 10 acre block of land, half donated by owner Meric Peiris and the other half purchased from him. This project was stated in 1998. It is run entirely by disabled soldiers. The factory has army camp status and is a combination of civil and military. There is also a housing complex and farm in which vegetables, medical herbs and fruits are grown and sold to the staff.

The factory provides 60% of the army uniforms, made in 32 sizes. It also produces folding mattresses for the army, and other items like track kits. All products maintain highly quality standards. The two factories have been upgraded and brought into line with international standards and modernized. They are now gearing to enter the international export market.

Others are also concerned about the disabled war veterans. ‘Sumana Ranaviru Sahana Padanama’, founded by Ven. Daranagama Sumanaratana with the approval of the Defence Ministry, Army Commander and the Rehabilitation Directorate, together with the support of the  laity has taken 550 disabled war heroes on pilgrimage to Sri Pada in the past 18 years, carrying them on shoulders.

War memorials have been built at strategic points to commemorate the war victory. Sri Lanka Armored Corp created a war memorial at Kalaththawe in Anuradhapura in 2015.    schools that contributed  many soldiers  proudly commemorate that occurenece. Nalanda Old Boys Association ( Junior brahcn) organized a Nalanda Ranaviru Upahara in 2016.

The role played by Ananda in the separatist war which ended May 2009, merits special mention. The military commanders, who defeated the Tamil separatists in 2009, were primarily from Ananda.  The Permanent Secretary for Defence (Gotabhaya Rajapakse) Commander of the Army (Sarath Fonseka) Commander of the Navy (Wasantha Karannagoda) and the Director-General of the Department of Civil Security, (Sarath Weerasekara) were Anandians.  Others holding high rank such as Major General Jagath Dias, Major General Kamal Guneratne, Brigadier Prasanna Silva and Brigadier Chagi Gallege were also from Ananda.

Recognising the uniqueness of this, the Daily News of 3.7.2009 ran a special supplement featuring the contribution of Ananda College to the Eelam War.  The supplement stated that no other school can claim to have sent so many entrants to the armed forces. Sarath Weerasekera said that Ananda continued to create patriotic leaders and that the exceptional military leadership provided in the Eelam War had come from pupils of Ananda. Anandians were brought up with patriotism and inculcated with national minded core strengths and values’.

Ananda College continues to remember.  When Ananda celebrated its 125th anniversary, in November 2011, mention was made of the Anandians who fought in 2009. Daily News said that patriotism and bravery came naturally to the Anandian. The news supplement on Ananda Abhiman festivities in March 2012  again emphasised that the Sri Lanka  Army and Navy had more Anandians than any other College. ( continued)

සුගත් රත්නවීර. සිඩ්නි නුවර. වරළත් මූල්‍ය විශ්ලේෂක

සියවස් සතරක් මහා පරිමාණ අඩන්තේට්ටම් සමුදායක් කරලත් සුද්දාට හැකිවුණේ ලක් සමාජයෙන් 7%ක් ක්‍රිස්තියානි කිරීමටය. ඉන්දියාවේ තත්ත්වයද එසේමය. ඊට ප්‍රධානම හේතුව ස්වදේශ විශ්වාස හෑල්ලුවට ලක් කල, ස්වදේශ ධර්මයන්ට උසුළු විසුළු කළ ක්‍රිස්තියානි මිෂනාරී ක්‍රමයයි.   එහෙත් 21 වන සියවසේ ක්‍රිස්තියානි මිෂනාරීන් පරණ වැරදි හදාගත් සැටියකි. දක්ෂ අලෙවිකරුවෙකුට එස්කිමෝ වරයෙකුට ශීතකරණයක් පවා විකිණිය හැකිය! 
අද ක්‍රිස්තියානි පල්ලිය බෞද්ධයා සමග “ඇර ගන්නේ” නැත. එක්තරා ස්වාමීන් වහන්සේ නමක් පවසූ ආකාරයට අලුත් ක්‍රමය “නරියා සහ කේජු කෑල්ල” වැනිය. ප්‍රථමයෙන්ම ඔවුන් බෞද්ධ දර්ශනය වර්ණනා කරයි. ක්‍රමයෙන් ඔවුන්ගේ බයිබල් මතය ජනගත කරයි. දිගින් දිගටම සිදුවන මෙම සමාජය නිර්වින්දනය කරන සංසිද්දියෙන් වාසි ගන්නේ ක්‍රිස්තියානි ප්‍රචලිතවාදීන්ය. උතුරණ වතුරට කකුළුවන් දැම්මොත් උන් කලබලවී පිටතට එනු ඇත. එහෙත් සීතල වතුරට කකුළුවන් දමා ක්‍රමයෙන් එය උණු කර නටවන මට්ටමට ගෙනාවොත් කකුළුවන් නොදැනීම කකුළු සුප් වනු ඇත.
මෙයට ප්‍රභල සහයක් දෙන්නේ ක්‍රිස්තියානීන් සතු ජනමාධ්‍යයයි. මීට අමතරව මෙම ජනමාධ්‍ය එළිපිටම බෞද්ධ සමාජය දූෂණය කරයි. එහෙත් දේශපාලන හේතු නිසා ඒවා ඉතා ජනප්‍රියය. එම ජනමාධ්‍ය අයිතිකරුවන් ප්‍රභලම දේශපාලකයන් සමග ඉතා කුළුපගය. වඩාත්ම තීක්ෂණ වන්නේ බෞද්ධයා වෙනුවෙන්ම සිටින දේශපාලකයන් සර්ව සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම ඔවුන් ග්‍රහණයට පත්වෙලාය. 
මෙම සංයෝගය දේශපාලනයට ඉතා සුවදායක වුවත් එයින් මෝඩයාට අන්දෙන්නේ බෞද්ධයාය; නැතිවන්නේ බෞද්ධ දර්ශනයයි. අවාසනාව යනු මෙම යථාර්ථය කියන්නටවත් බෞද්ධයෙකු නැතිවීමයි. දේශපාලනයෙන්, ජඩමාධ්‍යකරණයෙන් සහ නව ක්‍රිස්තියානිකරණයෙන් බෞද්ධයෝ කටේ රඳවාගත් කේජු කෑල්ල වට්ටාගත් කපුටා මෙන් ශතවර්ෂ දෙකක් තිස්සේ ලේ, දහදිය සහ කඳුළු හලා රැකගෙන පැමිණි ශ්‍රී සම්බුද්ධ ශාසනය කෙළෙසා ගන්නෝය.
අප්‍රිකානු රදගුරු ඩෙස්මන්ඩ් ටුටු වරක් පැවසුවේ “සුද්දා එනවිට සුද්දා අතේ තිබුනේ බයිබලයයි. අප අතේ තිබුනේ රටේ ඉඩකඩම්ය. යාක්ඥා කිරීමට සියල්ලෝම දෑස් වසාගති. අරුමයකි! දෑස් හැරියවිට අප අතේ බයිබලයය; උන් අතේ අපේ ඉඩකඩම්ය.”
දැනටමත් බෞද්ධ අප පමා වැඩිය. බහුතර බෞද්ධ සමාජය මෙම තුන් ග්‍රහණයෙන් බේරා ගැනීමට බැරිසේ වෙළී පැටලී ඇත.

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකාසීනිවුස්

පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී රන්ජන් රාමනායක මහතාගේ මාදිවෙල නිල නිවස පොලිසිය විසින් සෝදිසි කරන ලද්දේ පිස්තෝල සොයා නොවන බව රාජ්‍ය ඇමැති මහින්දානන්ද අලුත්ගමගේ මහතා පවසයි.

ඔහුගේ නිවස සෝදිසි කරන ලද්දේ විවිධ පාර්ශ්ව සමඟ පැවැත්වූ දුරකථන හඬ පට තබාගැනීමේ චෝදනාව මත බවද රාජ්‍ය ඇමතිවරයා සඳහන් කළේය.

අත්අඩංගුවට ගත් හඬ පට අතර රාමනායක මහතා අධිකරණයේ ඉහළම පුද්ගලයන්ට අමතන දුරකථන සංවාද ඇති බවද ඔහු පැවසුවේය.

ඇතැම් නඩුවල නීන්දු පවා වෙනස් කිරීමට මන්ත‍්‍රීවරයා දැඩි බලපෑම් කරන සාක්ෂි ලැබී ඇතැයිද ඇමැතිවරයා කියා සිටියේය.

ඔහු මේ බව කියා සිටියේ මහනුවරදී මාධ්‍ය අමතමිනි.

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකාසීනිවුස්

එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂයේ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී රන්ජන් රාමනායක මහතා විසින් රහස් පොලිසියේ ප්‍රධානියා ලෙස කටයුතු කරන ලද ශානි අබේසේකර සහ එම කොට්ඨාශයේ පොලිස් පරීක්ෂක නිශාන්ත සිල්වා වෙත අමතන හඬ පට කිහිපයක් අද ප‍්‍රසිද්ධියට පත් කලේය.

සිංහලේ සංවිධානය විසින් කොළඹ පැවති මාධ්‍ය හමුවකදී මේ හඬ පට ප්‍රසිද්ධියට පත් කරන ලදී.

මන්ත‍්‍රිවරයාගේ නිල නිවසේ තිබියදී අත්අඩංගුවට ගන්නා හඬ පට ප්‍රමාණය ලක්ෂ එකහමාරක් පමණ බවද ඔවුහු සඳහන් කළහ.

By Shiran Illanperuma Source: Xinhua

COLOMBO, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) — Port City Colombo, in association with local partners, launched a year-long project to clean up a 5 km stretch of beach it the city of Colombo on Saturday.

The project was inaugurated at the Mount Lavinia public beach with the presence of Secretary to the Ministry of Urban Development, Water Supply and Housing Facilities, Priyath Bandu Wickrama, State Minister of Environment Jayantha Samaraweera and Port City Colombo Managing Director, Jiang Houliang.

Making a speech at the inauguration event, Jiang said that Port City Colombo promoted sustainable urban living. He noted that despite being blessed with pristine beaches, accumulation of waste and debris harms visitors as well as local residents and businesses.

“We have undertaken this initiative as part of our corporate social responsibility to ensure a cleaner beach that will benefit people and support local tourism to sustain in a pleasant environment,” Jiang said.

The year-long project is to provide daily clean-up of a five kilometre stretch of beach in Colombo, namely Wellawatte, Dehiwala and Mount Lavinia which is popular among local families and foreign tourists.

The project is funded by Port City Colombo and supervision of daily maintenance of the beaches will be overseen by the local Wana Arana Foundation.

Samaraweera emphasised that keeping Sri Lanka clean and safe was a policy priority of the government and he expressed his gratitude to Port City Colombo for helping meet this goal by funding the project.

“Keeping Sri Lanka clean is not a one day event but an ongoing project that will require the cooperation of citizens and government authorities,” Samaraweera said

The inauguration was attended by dozens of volunteers including local and Chinese Port City employees, school children and families. Some foreign tourists were also seen joining in the project for the first daily clean-up of the year.

Eighteen year-old Sajani Perera, a volunteer, said she had heard about the project through her school and was keen to participate with her friends and family.

“I thought it would be a good deed to participate in an event like this and give back to my country,” she said.

Zhang Qian, a new Chinese employee at Port City Colombo said that she had participated in similar activities in China and was happy to do the same in Sri Lanka. Noting the kindness of Sri Lankan people, she said that she was keen to see the country develop.

“There is an old Chinese saying that strength comes from many hands. I’m grateful that our company is bringing people together through this project and I hope there will be more activities like this in the future,” said Zhang.

Local fisherman Sriyantha De Silva, who has lived in Mount Lavinia for 30 years said that the beaches in Colombo had become very dirty due to lack of facilities. He noted that the situation had begun to change with the introduction of recycling bins by Port City Colombo in partnership with the government.

“I hope these kinds of programs continue in the future so that we can keep our beaches beautiful and clean,” De Silva said.

Invested by China Harbor Engineering Company, Port City Colombo is a project to build a modern sustainable smart city out of 269 hectares of land reclaimed from the sea and added to the district of Colombo. The city is envisioned to be a hub in South Asia.

The land reclamation phase of the project has been completed with the construction of roads, bridges and waterways currently taking place.

Courtesy Ada Derana

Parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayake who was arrested last evening (04) has been granted bail, stated Ada Derana reporter.

This was as per an order the Nugegoda Magistrate when he was brought before courts earlier today (05).

Reportedly, the MP has been released on two surety bails worth Rs 500,000 each.

The court has further issued a foreign travel ban on Ramanayake.  

United National Party (UNP) MP was arrested by the Colombo South Crimes Division over the possession of a pistol with an expired license.

The police, yesterday, carried out a search at MP Ranjan Ramanayake’s residence in Madiwela on a warrant obtained from Nugegoda Magistrate’s Court.

Courtesy Ada Derana

United National Party (UNP) Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka says that UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe is responsible for 99 percent of the wrongdoing by the past government to the people.

He mentioned this addressing a public meeting held in Kiribathgoda today (05).

Fonseka says that the past government forgot about the people by taking up the Yahapalanaya and UNP Leader Wickremesinghe is completely responsible for this.

Stating that their government committed many mistakes, the former Army Commander says that now they are reaping the results of them.

However, the UNP Presidential Candidate [Sajith Premadasa] became the victim of these results, he added.

උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු නිව්ස්

අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ සිටි ශානි අබේසේකර සහ නිශාන්ත ද සිල්වා සමග පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී රංජන් රාමනායක මහතා පැවැත්වූ දුරකථන සංවාද පිළිබඳව සිංහලේ ජාතික සංවිධානය අද හෙළිදරව්වක් සිදුකළා.

උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු නිව්ස්

පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී රංජන් රාමනායක මහතා අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් විවිධ පාර්ශ්ව අදහස් පළ කළා.

උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු නිව්ස්

පසුගිය සමයේ සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශයට සේවකයින් බඳවා ගෙන ඇත්තේ, දේශපාලන කටයුතු සඳහා යෙදවීමේ අරමුණින් බව අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා පවසනවා.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා මේ අදහස් පළකළේ, වීරකැටියේ අද පැවති උත්සවයකදීයි.

දහම් පාසල් දරුවන් 1,000 කට පාසල් උපකරණ බෙදාදීම වෙනුවෙන් මෙම උත්සවය පැවැත්වුණේ වීරකැටිය, ඓතිහාසික කසාගල රජමහ විහාරස්ථානයේදීයි.

මහනුවර කේ.එල්. සුරවීර උපුටා ගැන්ම  මව්බිම

පාර්ලිමේන්තු මත්රිවරයෙකු හෝ වෙනත් කිසිවෙකු හෝ අසාධාරණ ලෙස අත්අඩංගුවට ගෙන තිබෙන්නේ නම් ඔවුන්ට ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් මානව හිමිකම් කඩවීම සම්බන්ධව හෝ වෙනත් නීතිමය ක්‍රියාමාර්ග ගැනීමේ හැකියාව පවතින බවත් ඒ සඳහා සම්පූර්ණ නිදහස ස්ථාපිත කර තිබෙන බවද බව ආයෝජන ප්‍රවර්ධන රාජ්‍යය ඇමැති කෙහෙළිය රඹුක්වැල්ල පවසනවා.

වත්තේගම පැවැති ජනහමුවකින් පසු මාධ්‍යය හමුවේ අද (05) අදහස් දක්වමින් ඇමැතිවරයා මේ බව ප්‍රකාශ කළා.

ත්‍රස්තවාදීන්ට රැකවරණය ලබාදී ත්‍රස්තවාදය මර්දනය කරන්නට කටයුතු කරන පිරිසට බන්ධන ගෙන එන ප්‍රති ත්‍රස්ත පනත රටට අවශ්‍යය එකක් නොවන බව කී ඇමැතිවරයා මෙවැනි පනතකට අත එසවිය හැක්කේ ඩයස්පෝරාවේ රූකඩ ලෙස කටයුතු කරන  දේශපාලනඥයින්ට පමණක් බව පෙන්වා දුන්නා.

කිසි ලෙසකින් පරාජය කළ නොහැකි බවට ජත්‍යන්තරය පවා ප්‍රකාශ කර තිබියදී තිස් වසරක සාපයෙන් රට මුදා ගනිමින් එල්.ටී.ටී.ඊ  ත්‍රස්තවාදය පරාජය කිරීමට ඉවහල් වූයේ ත්‍රස්තවාදය වැලැක්වීමේ පනත බවත් එහි කිසිදු වරදක් තමන් නොදකින බවත් කී ඒ මහතා ජීනීවා මානව හිමිකම් කොමිසම හමුවේ කෝලං නටන ඩයස් පෝරාව ඇතුළු බලවේගයන්ට වුවමනාව මත මංගල සමරවීර ඇතුළු කිහිප දෙනෙකුට ප්‍රති ත්‍රස්ත පනත ගෙන ඒමේ අවශ්‍යතාව පැවැති බවද අවධාරණය කළා.

අන්තාවාදී කණ්ඩායම් වල බලපෑමකින් තොරව රට ඉදිරියට ගෙන යෑම පිණිස පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණයේදී හොඳ තීරණයක් ගන්නා ලෙස  තමන් නිතර ජනතාව ගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටින්නේ මෙම හේතූ නිසා බවත් අද එයට යහපත් ප්‍රතිචාර ලැබී තිබෙන බවත් ඇමැතිවරයා පැවසුවා.

පසුගිය හය පාලන රජය මෙන් දේශපාලන පළිගැනීම් කිරීමට පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරු අධිකරණයට ගෙන යෑමට වත්මන් රජය කිසිවිටෙකත් කටයුතු නොකරන බවත් එදා අරලිය ගහ මන්දිරයට එක්ව පාඨලී ,රාජිත, අනුර ඇතුළු පිරිස තීරණ ගත් ආකාරය පිළිබඳව රටට හෙළි කළේ ඔවුන් විසින්ම ඉහළ පුටු වලට පත් කරන ලද නිලධාරීන් විසින් බවත් රඹුක්වැල්ල මහතා කීය.

BY EDWARD THEOPHILUS

The major crisis in the banking and finance sector in Sri Lanka has been the shortage of capital in individual corporates since the early 1960s and the control mechanism in the regulatory authority (Central Bank) had little understanding and the capability of forecasting on the control requirements.  Regulatory reviews for the efficiency, despite the limited legal provisions in the banking act animated slowly and the permission to take necessary initiatives for required legal and regulatory changes discouraged by the less competitive market environment. Since the establishment of the People’s Bank, nationalization of partly private ownership of Bank of Ceylon, the establishment of Hatton National Bank and Commercial Bank that established converting Eastern Bank, capital issues had been in the banking and finance market, but they were not openly seen. The operational results of the market from 1960 to 1978 did not indicate how the problem expanded and traditional and quantitative control measures of central bank disciplined the players in the market without relegating to obscurities. 

Originally, the enactment of Central Bank did not permit to touch non-bank financial institutions, but unexpected failures reported in non-bank financial institutions after 1970 forced Central Bank to take little initiatives in the regulatory environment. When the regulatory authority has been seen actual results of the market economic policy on liberalizing banking and financial regulations after 1978, Central Bank had to open eyes.  Many foreign banks invaded /embarked to the market and some organizations departed after 1983 without clear explanations for the departure.

Capital crisis in the finance and banking sector has been developing in many countries and off-balance sheet items such as exchange contracts, insurance contracts, financing items for stock dealings and leasing items in corporate banking or non-bank corporates reflected developing risks. Bank for International Settlements begun insisting international regulation for capital requirements based on risk-weighted assets in individual trading bank organizations in the early 1980s and late 1980s Sri Lanka also had to accordant with international regulations. Sri Lanka’s executives of the banking and finance sector had little understanding of the capitalist crisis as they were in a misunderstanding of bank management and international practices or strategies relating to capital management in corporate institutions.

There were many reasons for changes in the regulatory environment and the major issue of the market was a regulatory weakness to maintain good capital structure in individual organizations. Many trading banks and non-bank financial institutions in developed countries without adequate capital to deal with the market risk and the most effective policy action in the developed world were to allow mergers and acquisitions in the sector.  It was observed in the UK, USA, Australia, Canada, and others, besides, many governments allowed mobilizing equity and debt capital using a variety of techniques. Failures of banks in the late 1990s (Asian crisis) and the crisis created in the first decade of 21^st century in the US banks and others further echoed the capital crisis to a global level and forced toughen BIS regulations

Sri Lanka’s economy faced uncontrollable inflation, which was a combined theory of cost-push, demand-full theories of H.G. Johnson and the Quantity Theory of Money presented by Milton Friedman resulting in the market economic policies and the LTTE war.  In this weak environment central bank permitted to establish many trading banks and non-bank financial institutes and why the central bank promoted such a policy while it was looking international banking crisis (Asian Credit Market) was a question and did so-called banking experts, retired non-Sinhala bank executive pressure to allow establishing such organizations? 

While remaining capital crisis in the sector the government permitted to establish new banks and non-bank financial institutions in Sri Lanka and my opinion at that time was the government worked without understanding the market trend in the country and the developments of the international level. There were uneducated non-Sinhala bank executives with dishonest elements in the banking and finance sector and the regulatory authority allowed such personnel to rob the sector without understanding possible consequences to the financial system. Later central bank bond crisis reflected that the non-Sinhala executive circle was secretly working in the financial system of Sri Lanka with a dualistic aims, to create troubles in the system and cheat the system to gain undue enrichment, and Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa has an unambiguous responsibility to eradicate dishonest finance executives circle in government own banking organizations.

Economic liberalization began before and after the cold war and many countries in the world including India concerned about the international crisis and developments of the sector. If Sri Lanka ignores the capital crisis in the bank and the dishonest nature of non-bank finance sector, there is no doubt that it would not give freedom to Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa to launch the country to a developed nation.  There is no harm allowing the domestic capital of Sri Lankans to the banking and finance sector as the experience had through Industrial Zaibutshu in Japan.  However, the privatization of government assets is not the government policy and the president of Sri Lanka in his policy speech at the opening of the parliament in January 2020 clearly stated that selling government assets to foreigners is not his will, but he did not reject the rights of Sri Lankans and their ability to contribute to capital structure of government institutions. Alternatively, the government may allow for mergers and acquisitions as a temporary measure. There is no doubt that the economy of Sri Lanka will rapidly expand during the next ten years.  There may be internal or external shocks to the economy and in such a situation Sri Lanka needs several banks to hold domestic and international assets and Bank of Ceylon and Peoples’ Bank can be worked as megabanks with strong capital and business base.

Megabanks can go to regional level constructing high rise buildings at the regional level with a network of rural branches supporting for decentration of urbanization providing all finance and other government and private company services to rural people uplifting rural life. The megabank concept would demonstrate the stability and exalted strength of the financial system of Sri Lanka to foreign investors in creating a less risky environment.

If small banks don’t agree with megabank concept, megabank can make hostile bids and make acquisitions and create synergies and eliminate financial bullshits such as no interest lending supporting religious divisions in the country.

වෛද්‍ය කේ.එම්. වසන්ත බණ්ඩාර (DIVAINA)

KAMALIKA PIERIS

The west invented the myth that the LTTE could not be defeated. The army took a different view. We could have defeated them long before.   We had a well trained, well motivated armed force and our leadership and soldier fighting skills were superior, said Gotabhaya Rajapakse . In 2006, for the first time ever, the government decided that it was going to win the war. The military seized the opportunity and developed a ‘workable plan’.

The armed forces were enlarged and strengthened. Seniority and protocol were ignored and key positions given to persons handpicked for their capabilities. Salaries were increased and training upgraded. The infantry were trained in first aid, marksmanship, handling high explosives and in calling in artillery support and air strikes. Instead of the large formations used in the past, they were trained to fight in small teams of four and eight and to go forward on their own.  .

The army had seasoned veterans who had been fighting the LTTE for years.  .We knew our enemy very well”, said Gotabhaya. The army .followed an unhurried, step by step strategy in conducting the war.  Initially the army did not go for territory but went for the LTTE itself, killing and injuring as many as possible.   LTTE   lost their most experienced fighters and also their morale. Then the army went for territory. The strategies used by the army varied. At Kilinochchi, the army came in through the jungle, taking the LTTE by surprise. If the army had attacked the town first the LTTE would have melted into the jungle where they had stockpiled weapons. .  At Nanthikadal the army used a pincer movement which reduced the LTTE territory to 400 square meters.  The cornered LTTE leaders had tried to hide in marshy land. ‘Our military plans were superior’ observed the army.

Success was due to many factors. There was superb coordination between the .army, navy and air force.  They had lacked coordination earlier .Fighting units were allowed to use their initiative .They could coordinate missions with field commanders   and take ‘clutter free’ decisions.  Pilots selected their targets for bombing…Machines which had not been used effectively earlier such as the Israeli Kfir aircraft, were utilised to the maximum.  Territory taken by the army was handed over to the other forces to hold, leaving the army free to go forward.   Air force was sent into the jungles, the navy to the coastal belt along Trincomalee. STF took over the A9 road from Omanthai.   Civil Defence Force was sent to Mavil Aru and Nanthikadal lagoon.

The LTTE fought a cowardly war. Almost every inch of LTTE territory was mined and booby trapped. Mines were designed to ensure that the leg was blasted in such a manner that it was impossible to fit prosthesis to it later.  At Muhamalai, there were 25,000 mines in a 400 square mile area.  LTTE   also tried to get airborne surveillance stopped using the Ceasefire Agreement. They breached the Kalmadukulam tank hoping to drown the advancing troops. Troops climbed trees or fled to high ground to escape the sudden gush of water. .LTTE tried to mask one of their attacks, by craftily used a tape recording of women talking loudly and children crying, to give the impression that civilians were passing through

LTTE   fortifications were intended to trap and kill soldiers. Soldiers took up the challenge. LTTE had constructed   embankments 12-15 feet high with ditches 8 -10 feet deep, with supporting trenches and other defenses on the beaches and lagoons from Chundikulam to Pudumattalan. .The army took every one of these bunds, attacking from trenches which they dug at night. It was exhausting and laborious work, drinking water every 15 minutes.

The navy transformed itself from a ceremonial navy into a fighting navy. Navy commander stated that the Sri Lanka navy had combated the LTTE without the destroyers and combat ships used in sea battles. . The oldest vessel had been 44 years old and the newest was 19 years old.  Some of the boats carried 30 mm weapons while the normal gun used in sea combat is 75 mm or larger. One of the guns had been used in World War II.  Despite this, the navy stood up to the LTTE attacks. It fought 21 major sea battles in 2006, each lasting over 12 hours and in some instances over 15 hours. It went after the eight LTTE   floating arsenals   and destroyed them very successfully.

The navy improved its aging vessels, through innovation and ingenuity.  They also constructed their own small boats at Welisara and built its own version of the Israeli fast attack craft, in Colombo Dockyard. The navy integrated Bushmaster guns into the Israeli Dvora by themselves. It cost us just the price of the guns; we did not have to pay the price of integration,”  the navy fought with fast attack craft (FAC), offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) and gun boats operated by the  Special Boat Squadron,(SBS)  and the Rapid Attack Boat Squadron. Both squadrons possessed high levels of physical fitness and training.  The navy’s elite force, the SBS had advanced training in both land and sea warfare. It was used for  surveillance, reconnaissance and land strike missions.

Air force provided close air support continuously during day and night even in unfavorable weather. They modified the MiG 27 to carry out night raids as well.  Sri Lanka pilots are the only users of MiG 27, to do this. The pilots   developed their own tactics and manoeuvres.They also used the MI 24 Hind for night operations. This too was a manoeuvre not attempt by many air forces. The surveillance and intelligence gathering missions of the air force, (UAVs, Beechcraft) provided valuable information to the service chiefs and to the front line group commanders. The pictures came direct to them.  The intelligence was very good. . It helped pilots study each target carefully and decide which type of weapon to use. After a campaign, the damage was viewed and based on this, they attacked again.

Civil Defence Force was upgraded, provided with automatic weapons and deployed very imaginatively. Together with army, CDF was used to provide security from Negombo to Panadura   to prevent LTTE attacking Colombo Port and other targets. CDF also watched over the routes used in Colombo by VIPs targeted by LTTE. CDF was deployed day and night on the stretch leading from the airport at Katunayake to the Peliyagoda city limits.  This resulted in some useful military detections. . Petty crimes in the areas also declined a little.  CDF had a special strike force, ‘Nandimithra’, made up of men and women with special commando night training as well as armed and unarmed combat tactics. They operated in groups of four. They were very effective in protecting the villages. They also provided vital information to the police and security forces. .It was the CDF that alerted the Air Force about the three propeller driven LTTE aircraft heading for Colombo. They gave information of its movements. (continued)

Courtesy Hiru News

United National Party Parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayake was arrested this evening by the police for conspiring to inconveniencing the government, possessing an illegal firearm and 118 bullets as well as the possession of pornographic content.

Parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayake’s residence at the Madiwela MP’s housing scheme was searched by the Colombo south crimes division today.

A senior police officer said that the search was carried out in line with an investigation underway on a conspiracy to discomfort the government among other allegations.

Ruwan M Jayatunge M.D. 

Meditation offers a rich and complex field of study (Shapiro et al., 2010). The Western research on meditation largely began in the 1960s (Rao, 1989).  Meditation research has come a long way (Loizzo, 2014) and the research on meditation is advancing (Sparby, 2018).  According to the US National Library of Medicine, pubmed.com (2018) there are over 4,000 peer-reviewed scientific articles on the science of meditation exist.  The medical researchers are interested in studying the therapeutic effects of meditation. They apply scientific methods and reasoning to study the meditators.  Clinical research on meditation focuses on randomized controlled trials for therapeutic applications.  The main areas of meditation studies related to clinical conditions have been cancer care, depression, and pain (Caspi &, Burleson, 2005).  
The researchers use modern scientific techniques and instruments to study the neural activity during meditation. There  has  been  considerable  research  examining  the  psychological  and physiological  effects  of  meditation    (Andresen,  2000). A vast amount of research on meditation has occurred in the past few decades with mixed results (Holmes, 1987; Rajaraman, 2013).  According to Sedlmeier and team (2018) meditation research lacks a sound theoretical background and suffers from methodological shortcomings concerning measurement techniques and study design.  Some meditation research studies have   unique conceptual and methodological problems.  Meditation changes the body and mind together and research on the impact of diverse kinds of meditation is the most favored trend among the present day researchers (Rajaraman, 2013). 
A systematic review and meta-analysis of morphometric neuroimaging in meditation practitioners have found that meditation can cause positive healthy changes in the brain. Pickut and team (2013) found that mindfulness meditation increased the gray matter density. Studies have shown meditators to have higher happiness than control group (Hendriks, 2018). Furthermore meditation reduces pain perception (Nakata et al., 2014).  A large part of meditation research is dependent on technology. Meditative experience is unique. Sometimes first-person meditative experience cannot be measured accurately.  Meditation is a complex, multifaceted intervention with specific and non-specific effects and it is difficult to standardise, quantify, authenticate and research (Caspi & Burleson, 2005). However modern science cannot fully explain the complex and multi-dimensional scope of meditation practices (Duggal, 2015). It is important to underscore the fact that research in meditation is still in its infancy (Davidson et al., 2015). 

ආචාර්ය වරුණ චන්ද්‍රකීර්ති

ඉන්දියාව කියන රට හදන්න පටන් ගත්තේ 1858 අවුරුද්දේ. ඒ, එංගලන්ත පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ දී ගවර්මන්ට් ඔෆ් ඉන්ඩියා ඇක්ට් – 1958” කියන පනත සම්මත කරපු දවසේ ඉඳලා. ඊට පස්සෙත් තව තවත් පනත් ගොඩක් සම්මත කළා. හයිද්‍රාබාදය ඈඳගන්න 1948 දී කරපු පෝලෝ මෙහෙයුම” (Operation Polo) වගේ බලහත්කාරකම් පවා කළා. විශාල හමුදා බල ඇණියක් යවලා ඒ හමුදාවේ ආරක්‍ෂාව යටතේ” පවත්වපු ජනමත විචාරණයකින්” 1975 අවුරුද්දේ සීකිම්වල ආධිපත්‍යයත් පවරගත්තාට පස්සේ තමයි මේ කර්මාන්තය යම් විදිහකට සම්පූර්ණ කෙරුණේ. කොහොම වුනත් 2014 අවුරුද්දේ තෙළන්ගානා ප්‍රාන්තය හදපු එකෙන් පැහැදිළි වෙන්නේ තව තවත් වඩු වැඩ සෑහෙන ප්‍රමාණයක් ඉතිරි වෙලා තියෙනවා කියන එක. මොන විදිහකින් හරි යම් කාලයකට භාරතය” හදාගන්න බැරි වෙන එකක් නෑ.

ඉන්දියාව කියලා මේ විදිහට හදාගත්ත රටේ ජනගහනයෙන් සියයට 44 ක් මව් භාෂාව විදිහට කතා කරන්නේ හින්දි. ඒ ලැයිස්තුවේ දෙවැනියාට තියෙන්නේ බෙංගාලි. ඒ ප්‍රමාණය ජනගහනයෙන් සියයට 8.3 ක්. මව් භාෂාව විදිහට දෙමළ කතා කරන ප්‍රමාණය සියයට 6 කට අඩුයි. මව් භාෂාව විදිහට දෙමළ කතා කරන අය ඉන්නේ මේ ලැයිස්තුවේ පස් වැනියාට.

මේ දවස්වල අපේ අය උඩ දදා කතා කරන කාරණයක් තියෙනවා. ඒ තමයි ඉන්දියාව කියන රටේ ජාතික ගීතය බෙංගාලි භාෂාවෙන් ගායනා කිරීම. මේ ගීතය බෙංගාලි භාෂාවෙන් ගායනා කරන්නේ ඇයි? මේ ප්‍රශ්නයට උත්තරය හරි ම සරල එකක්. ඒකට හේතුව තමයි ඒ ගීතය ලියලා තියෙන්නේ බෙංගාලි භාෂාවෙන් වීම. මේ ගීතය රචනා කළේ රවීන්ද්‍රනාත් තාගෝර්. ගීතය මුලින් ම ගායනා කළේත් බෙංගාලයේ දී. ඒ, 1911 අවුරුද්දේ.

රටේ ජනගහනයෙන් සියයට 44 ක් හින්දි කතා කරද්දි සියයට 8 ක් විතර කතා කරන බෙංගාලි භාෂාවෙන් ජාතික ගීතය ගායනා කරන්නේ ඇයි? මේක තුණ්ඩුවක් උඩ දාලා කරපු වැඩක් නෙවෙයි. එංගලන්ත ස්වාමියා හදලා දීපු මේ ඉන්දියාව කියන රට” 1947 අගෝස්තු 14 වැනි දා නිදහස් කරගත්තාට පස්සේ රැස්වෙච්ච මුල් ම පාර්ලිමේන්තුව තමන්ගේ දවස අවසන් කළේ මේ ගීතය ගායනා කරලා. ඊට පස්සේ 1950 දී තමයි මේ ගීතය ව්‍යවස්ථාවට ඇතුළත් කරලා තියෙන්නේ.

මේ විදිහට බෙංගාලි භාෂාවෙන් රචනා කෙරුණු නිර්මාණයක් ජාතික ගීතය විදිහට තෝරගත්තේ ඇයි?

මේකට අදාළ මූලික කාරණයක් තියෙනවා. ඒ තමයි නිදහස් අරගලය” සඳහා බෙංගාල මිනිස්සුන්ගෙන් ලැබිච්ච දායකත්වය. නිදහස් අරගලයේ කේන්ද්‍රස්ථානය බවට පත්වුනේ කොල්කතාව. ඉන්දියානු ජාතික සම්මේලනය” කියන මුල් ම ජාතිකවාදී සංවිධානය බිහිවුනෙත් කොල්කතාවේ. ඒ වැඩේට මුල් වුනේ සුරේන්ද්‍රනාත් බැනර්ජි සහ ආනන්දමොහාන් බෝස් කියන දෙන්නා.

ඉන්දියාව කියන රට” බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය පාලනයෙන් නිදහස් කරගන්න මුල් වෙච්ච අය අතර දෙවැනියට ඉන්නේ පංජාබ් මිනිස්සු. ඒත් සුද්දෝ ආපහු යන්න ගියේ බෙංගාලයත් පංජාබයත් දෙකට බෙදලා එක කොටස බැගින් ඉන්දියාවටත් පාකිස්තානයටත් දීලා. නිදහස් අරගලයට මුල් වුන පංජාබ් කොටස අයිති වුනේ පකිස්තානයට. ඉතින් ‍නිදහස් අරගලය ගැන කතා කරද්දි බෙංගාල මිනිස්සුත් එක්ක එක පෙළට තියන්න පුළුවන් කවුරුවත් මේ ඉන්දියාව කියන රටේ නෑ.

මේ විදිහට නිදහස වෙනුවෙන් සටන් කරපු බෙංගාලි වීරයෝ සිය ගණනකගේ නම් ලැයිස්තුවක් වුනත් කියන්න පුළුවන්. ඒ ඔක්කොම කියන්න ඕන නෑ. ඒත් සුභාෂ් චන්ද්‍ර බෝස්, චිත්තරංජන් දාස්, මවුලානා අබුල් කලාම් අෂාද්, බීනා දාස්, මතාන්ගිනි හෂ්රා, බිනෝයි බාසු, කුදිරාම් බෝස් කියන අයගේ නම් නො කියා බෑ.

මේ කියපු නිදහස් අරගලයට දෙමළ ජනතාව සම්බන්ධ වුනේ ඊට වඩා වෙනස් විදිහකට. මුළු නිදහස් අරගලය කාලයේ දී ම එක ම එක බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය ජාතිකයකුට විතරයි ඒ අරගලයේ ප්‍රතිඵලයක් විදිහට දකුණු ඉන්දියාවේ දී ජීවිතය අහිමි වුනේ. ඒක සිද්ද වුනෙත් පළමුවැනි ලෝක යුද්ධ කාලයේ ඇති වුනා කියන “හින්දු – ජර්මානු කුමන්ත්‍රණයේ” ප්‍රතිඵලයක් විදිහට.

ඒකත් දෙන්නෙක් සම්බන්ධ වෙලා කරපු ඝාතනයක්. සිද්දියෙන් මිය ගියේ Robert William Escourt Ashe කියන නිලධාරියා. ඒ සිද්දිය ගැන වාර්තා වෙලා තියෙන්නේ මේ විදිහට.

ශංකර ක්‍රිෂ්ණ අයියර් කියන තරුණයා එක්ක ආපු වන්චි කියන පුද්ගලයා වෙඩි තියලා පැනලා ගියා. ඒත් ඊට පස්සේ ඔහුව අල්ලා ගෙන වැරැදිකාරයා කියලා තීරණය කළා. ඈෂ් තමයි ඉන්දියානු නිදහස් අරගලය කාලයේ දකුණු ඉන්දියාවේ මියගිය එක ම යටත්විජිත නිලධාරියා”

ඉතින් මේ කාරණා අනුව පේනවා බෙංගාල භාෂාවෙන් ලියැව්චිච නිර්මාණයක් ඉන්දියාවේ ජාතික ගීතයට කියලා තෝරගන්න සුදුසුකම් ලබපු විදිහ. ඒ සුදුසුකම කැප කිරීම්වලින් ලබාගත්ත එකක්. එහෙම නැතුව සුළු ජනවර්ගයකට තැනක් දෙනවා කියලා හරි තුණ්ඩුවක් උඩ දාලා හරි තෝරගත්ත ගීතයක් නෙවෙයි ජන ගන මන” කියලා කියන්නේ.

අපිටත් පුළුවන් අපේ ජාතික ගීතය රචනා වුනේ මොන විදිහේ පසුබිමක් උඩ ද ඒකට දායක වුන අය කවුද කියන එක ගැන හිතලා බලන්න. ජාතික ගීතය කියලා කියන්නේ උරුමයක්. ඒ උරුමය මිනිස්සු ලබාගන්නේ තමන් කරන කැපකිරීම් හරහා.

(මේ සමඟ පළකරන්නේ ජන ගන මන” ගීතය එහි රචක රවීන්ද්‍රනාත් තාගෝර් ගායනා කරපු අවස්ථාවක දර්ශනයක්)

ආචාර්ය වරුණ චන්ද්‍රකීර්ති

ප්‍රදීප් සංජිව ජාතික සංවිදායක සිංහලේ සංවිදානය

එජාප පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත‍්‍රී රන්ජන් රාමනායක මහතා අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීම ගැන සිංහලේ සංවිදානය විසින් නිකුත් කරන ලද මාධ්‍ය නිවේදනයක් මෙහි දැක්වෙයි

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අද සවස් භාගයේ අමුතුම චිත්‍රපටයක් රග දක්වමින් කොලබ අපරාධ කොට්ටාශයට බබා හුකුන් පාර්ට් දමමින් අත්අඩංගුවට පත්වූ රන්ජන් රාමනායක අමාත්‍යවරයා පිලිබදව ගෙවීගිය පැය කිහිපයේදී ඔහු අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීම පිරිසක් හෙලා දකිමින්ද තවත් පිරිසක් ආණ්ඩුව විසින් ජනතාවට විහිළු සැපයීමට යොදාගත් නාටකයක් ලෙසද හදුන්වමින් ක්‍රියා කරන ලදී .

මේ වනවිට අප සංවිදානයට ලැබී ඇති තොරතුරු අනුව තහවුරු වී ඇත්තේ රන්ජන් සතුව ගිනි අවියක් ජීව උණ්ඩ අසභ්‍ය CD පට පමණක් නොව ඊට වඩා විවිද පුද්ගලයන්ට ඇමතුම් ලබාගත් බරපතල හඩපටද තිබී හසුවූ බවය . බැලූ බැල්මට අහිංසකයකු ලෙස පෙනුනද ඔහු විසින් ඇමතුම් ලබාගෙන ඇති පුද්ගලයන් හා කණ්ඩායම් ගැන ඔබට පැවසුවහොත් ඔබ බොහෝ විට ඒවා විශ්වාස නොකරන තත්වයකට පත්වනු ඇත .

රන්ජන් උසාවියේ විභාග වූ නඩු සදහා බලපෑම් කල අකාරය , විනිශ්චයකාරවරුන්ට ඇමතුම් ලබාදුන් ආකාරය , අපරාධ දෙපාර්තුමේන්තුවේ ශානි අබේසේකරට ඇමතුම් ලබා දී විමර්ශන වෙනස් කල ආකාරය ඇතුළු විවිධ පුද්ගලයන්ට තර්ජන ගර්ජන කරමින් මුදල් ගැරූ ආකාරයත් , මුදල් යහමින් ඇති කාන්තාවන් රවටා මුදල් ගැරූ ආකාරය ඇතුළු රටම කලබූ නඩු තීන්දුද ඒ අතර වේ . සම්පුර්ණ හඩ පට එක්ලක්ෂ පනස්දහසක් වෙන වෙනම CCD යේ විමර්ශන සදහා යොමුවී ඇති බව අප ඔබට විශ්වාසයෙන් කියමු .විමර්ශන මගින් ලැබෙන තොරතුරු ඉදිරි දිනයේදී ඔබට කියන පොරොන්දුවෙන් දැනට මාද්‍ය නිවේදනය නතර කරන්නෙමි .

ප්‍රදීප් සංජිව
ජාතික සංවිදායක
සිංහලේ සංවිදානය

උපුටා ගැන්ම  මව්බිම දැන්

2015 ජනවාරි 8 වැනිදා මෛත්‍රිපාල ප්‍රමුඛව පිහිටුවාගත් යහපාලන ආණ්ඩුව ජනතාවගෙන් සුවිශේෂ වරමක් ලබාගත්තේ හොරකමත් දූෂණයත් වංචාවත් මුලිනුපුටා දමන බවට දස අතේ පොරොන්දු වෙමිනි. ඔවුන් ඒ වෙනුවට දිගින් දිගටම වේදිකාවලත් විද්‍යුත් නාලිකාවලත් කෑ මොර දෙමින් කියා පෑවේ එතෙක් පැවැති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ප්‍රමුඛ ආණ්ඩුවේ දූෂණ – වංචා නම් ආයේ සිදුවන්නේම නැති බවය. 

රත්රන් අශ්වයන්, ලැම්බෝගිනි රථ, විදේශ රටවල සඟවා තිබෙන කෝටි ප්‍රකෝටි මුදල් සම්භාරයන් පිළිබඳ ජනතාව රවටන අතේ රෝල් බොහෝ විය. ඒ තරමටම දූෂිත මහින්ද ප්‍රමුඛ ආණ්ඩුව පලවා හැරිය යුතු බව ශ්‍රී ලනිපයෙන් එළියට බහිමින් ශ්‍රී ලනිප ලේකම් ලෙස මෛත්‍රි කියූ කතා අනන්තය. තමන්ගේ දේශපාලන වර්ගයා සමඟ බද්ධ වෛරයෙන් එතෙක් තමන් විසූයේ මේ කියන දූෂණ – වංචා ඉවසා දරා ගන්නට බැරිව බවත් හෙතෙම පුන පුනා කීවේය. 

මෛත්‍රිව ජනාධිපති කරන්නට යූ.එන්.පී.ය ප්‍රබල ලෙස ජනතාව අතරට ගිහින් කීවේද? එහෙව් දූෂණ – වංචා මුලිනුපුටා දමන බවටය. චෝදනා එල්ල වූවන් එල්ලන තරමේ කතාය. එහෙත් එකදු චෝදනාවක්වත් ඔප්පු කර ගත නොහැකිව යහපාලකයෝ නන්‍ෙදාඩවන්නට වූහ. ජනතාව බොරුවට ඉඩක් නොතබමින් ගෝඨාභය ජනාධිපති පදවියට පත් කරගත්තේ නීතිගරුක, විනයගරුක, දූෂණයෙන් – වංචාවෙන් තොර රටක් හදා ගන්නටය. එය දැන් ඇරැඹී ඇත. ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ ජනාධිපති හැටියට සෘජු, නිවැරැදි තීන්දු තීරණ ගනිමින් සිටින්නේය. 

ඒ නිසාම ජනතාව අතරට ගොස් ජනවරමක් ඉල්ලමින් දුන් පොරොන්දු අතර යහපාලකයන් කළ දූෂණ චෝදනා විභාග කිරීමත් ඒ ඒ අයට නීත්‍යනුකූලව දඬුවම් කිරීමත් කළ යුතු වන අවස්ථාව එළැඹී ඇත. එය එසේ නොකළහොත් ජනවරම ලබා දුන් ජනතාවගේ බලාපොරොත්තුව කඩ කළ බව දැනෙන්නට පුළුවන. 

දූෂණ අංක 01

යහපාලකයන්, යහපාලනයක් ඇති කරන්නට ඇවිත් කළ බැව් කියන දූෂණ හා අක්‍රමිකතා දහතුනක් පිළිබඳව අපට දැනගන්නට ලැබෙයි. ඉන් පළමු චෝදනාව එල්ල වී තිබෙන්නේ යහපාලන ආණ්ඩුවේ අගමැති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහට හා එහි මුදල් අමාත්‍ය රවි කරුණානායක යන දෙදෙනාටය. වාසුදේව නානායක්කාර මන්ත්‍රිවරයා විසින් 2016 ඔක්තෝබර් 29දා අල්ලස් හෝ දූෂණ චෝදනා විමර්ශන කොමිෂන් සභාව වෙත පැමිණිල්ලක් ඉදිරිපත් කෙරුණේය. එයින් කියැවුණේ මහ බැංකුව හා පර්පචුවල් ට්‍රෙෂරීස් සමාගම අතර සිදුවී ඇති බැඳුම්කර වංචාවෙන් ශ්‍රී  ලංකා රජයට වසර 30කින් සිදුවිය හැකි රු. බිලියන 145ක පාඩුවක් සිදු කිරීමක් ගැනය. ඒ අනුව පර්පචුවල් ටෙෂරීස් සමාගම එම මාස 15ක කාලය තුළ උපයාගෙන ඇති රුපියල් බිලියන 15ක අයුතු ලාභය සහ සේවක අර්ථ සාධක අරමුදලට එයින් සිදුවූ බිලියන 15ක පාඩුව බරපතළ වංචා සහගත ගනුදෙනුවක් බැව් පැහැදිලි කෙරිණි. එනමුත් ජනතාව බලාපොරොත්තු වූ ආකාරයේ කඩිනම් බවකින්  යහපාලන රජය යටතේ මෙකී චෝදනා පිළිබඳ විභාග නොකෙරුණේය. චෝදනාවේ ප්‍රබල වගඋත්තරකරුවකු වූ අර්ජුන් ඇලෝසියස් තවමත් විදෙස්ගතවය. ඔහුව අල්ලා රැගෙන ඒමටත් බැරිවිය. ඒ නිසා ඊධන 1 යටතේ නම් කෙරුණු බරපතළම චෝදනාවට ලක්වූවන්ට එරෙහිව නීතිය ක්‍රියාත්මක විය යුතු යැයි ජනතාවගේ විශ්වාසයයි. 

දූෂණ අංක 2

දෙවැනි බරපතළම චෝදනාව වූයේ මහපොළ භාරකාර අරමුදලින් රුපියල් බිලියන 10ක මුදලක් වංචා කිරීම සහ පාඩු කිරීම පිළිබඳව කරන ලද පැමිණිල්ලය. එම පැමිණිල්ල ගොනු කරනු ලැබුවේ සිසිර ජයකොඩි මන්ත්‍රිවරයා විසිනි. චෝදනාව එල්ල කෙරුණේ ඇමැති මලික් සමරවික්‍රමට එරෙහිවය. මෙම චෝදනාව බරපතළ එකක්ය. 2015 අගෝස්තු මස පැවැත්වූ මැතිවරණයෙන් පසු සංවර්ධන උපාය මාර්ග ඇමැතිවරයා වශයෙන් පත්වී මලික් සමරවික්‍රම අදාළ පනතට අනුව වෙළෙඳ කටයුතු ඇමැතිවරයා වශයෙන් වෙළෙඳ කටයුතු ඇමැතිවරයාගේ විෂය යටතේ තිබිය යුතු මහපොළ අරමුදල තම අමාත්‍යාංශයට පවරාගෙන රු. ලක්ෂ 8000කට වඩා වත්කම් හිමි අසරණ සරසවි දරුවන්ගේ අරමුදල වංචනික ලෙස බලපෑම් කොට පෞද්ගලික පරිහරණය සඳහා යොදා ගැනීමට කටයුතු කර ඇති බව දක්වමින් එය  අල්ලස් හෝ දූෂණ පනත යටතේ වරදක් බැවින් එය සොයා බලා විමර්ශනය කර නීතියට අනුව වැඩ කරන ලෙස ඉල්ලා තිබිණි. මෙයද ජනතාවට වඩාත් සංවේදී මාතෘකාවක් වන බැවින් ඒ ගැන සොයා බැලීම විධිමත් කළ යුතු බවට අවධාරණය කරයි. 

දූෂණ අංක 3

තුන්වන බරපතළ චෝදනාව එල්ල වන්නේ හිටපු ඇමැති රවි කරුණානායකට එරෙහිවය. ව්‍යාපාර සඳහා අමාත්‍ය බලතල උපයෝගි කර ගනිමින් රවි කරුණානායක ඇමැතිවරයා රජයට හිමිවිය යුතු රු. බිලියන 10කට වැඩි මුදලක් අහිමි කිරීමට අනුබල දීම එම චෝදනාවයි. ඒ අනුව ඕ.ඩබ්ලිව්. කරුණානායකගේ ඉල්ලීමට මේ දක්වා රජයේ ආයතනවලට පමණක් ලබාදී තිබූ ගුදමක් බැංකු ඇපකරයකින් තොරව පළමු වතාවට පෞද්ගලික ඇපකරයකට ලබාදී ඇති බවත් එය මුළුමනින්ම නීති විරෝධී බවත් දක්වා තිබිණි. මෙයද ජනතා විශ්වාසය ඇති වන ආකාරයට විභාග කොට කටයුතු කළ යුතු වන බරපතළ චෝදනාවකි. 

දූෂණ අංක 4

හතරවන බරපතළ චෝදනාව එල්ල වන්නේ යහපාලන රජයේ හිටපු ඇමැතිනිය තලතා අතුකෝරලට එරෙහිවය.  එහිදී 2015 අගෝස්තු 26දා සිට ලංකාවෙන් මැද පෙරදිග රැකියා සඳහා යන ශ්‍රමිකයන් සඳහා රක්ෂණ ක්‍රමයක් හඳුන්වාදී තිබුණු අතර ඒ හරහා සිදුකර ඇතැයි කියන රු. මිලියන 1500ක් හෙවත් රු. බිලියන 1.5ක වංචාව සම්බන්ධයෙන් අල්ලස් කොමිසමට 2016.12.07 දින නිරෝෂන් ප්‍රේමරත්න මන්ත්‍රිවරයා පැමිණිල්ලක් ගොනු කර ඇත. මෙම දූෂණ ක්‍රියාවලිය පිළිබඳව බලපත්‍ර ලත් විදේශ සේවා නියුක්ති නියෝජිතායතන සංගමය විසින් ජනාධිපතිවරයාට, විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම්තුමාට සහ විනිමය පාලකතුමිය වෙතද පැමිණිලි කළ ලිපි ලේඛනද මීට අමුණා ඉදිරිපත් කර තිබුණේය. 

දූෂණ අංක 5

මෙම චෝදනාව වඩාත් කතාබහට ලක්වූවකි. හම්බන්තොට වරාය චීන සමාගමක් වෙත විකිණීමෙන් ශ්‍රී  ලංකා වරාය අධිකාරියට රුපියල් බිලියන 330ක මුදලක් අහිමි කිරීම තුළින් සිදුකරනු ලැබූ මහ පරිමාණ දූෂණයක් පිළිබඳව මන්ත්‍රි මහින්ද යාපා අබේවර්ධන අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවට 2017.01.04 දින පැමිණිල්ලක් කරමින් කියා සිටියේ මේ පිළිබඳව විධිමත්ව සොයා බලා පරීක්ෂා කර අදාළ චෝදනාවට එරෙහිව නීතිමය කටයුතු කරන ලෙසටය. ජනතාව වෙත ගලාගිය තොරතුරුවලට අනුව මෙම චෝදනාව සෘජුවම එල්ල කෙරුණේ අගමැති රනිල්, ඇමැති මලික් සමරවික්‍රම හා අගමැති ආර්ථික උපදේශක ආර්. පාස්කරලිංගම් යන අයටය. එම චෝදනාවත් බරපතළය. සැකසහිත ගනුදෙනුවක්ය යන හැඟීම මතු කරවන සුලුය. ජනතාව වඩාත් උනන්දුවෙන් සිටින්නේ මෙම චෝදනාව කොයි තරම් දුරට සොයා බලා අදාළ පාර්ශ්වයන්ට එරෙහිව කටයුතු කෙරෙනවාද යන්නය. 

දූෂණ අංක 6

යහපාලන රජයේ ප්‍රබල භූමිකාවක් ඉටු කළ ඇමැති කබීර් හෂීම්ට එරෙහිවද බරපතළ චෝදනාවක් නැඟුණේය. ඒ රාජ්‍ය ව්‍යවසාය සංවර්ධන අමාත්‍යවරයාව සිටියදී එම අමාත්‍යවරයාගේ විෂය පථයට ගැනෙන ශ්‍රී ලන්කන් ගුවන් සමාගම විසින් ඇණවුම් කළ ඒ 350/900 එයාර් බස් වර්ගයේ ගුවන් යානා 3ක් මිලදී ගැනීම අවලංගු කර රජයට ඇමෙරිකානු ඩොලර් 98ක මුදලක් අහිමි කිරීම හා එම ගනුදෙනුව හරහා රජයේ ප්‍රබලයකු විසින් ඇමෙරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 10ක කොමිස් මුදලක් ලබා ගැනීම සම්බන්ධ කාරණාය. මෙයද ඉතා සූක්ෂ්මව සිදු කළ බරපතළ වංචාවක් බැවින් එකී චෝදනාවන් ඇතුළත් පැමිණිල්ල ඉදිරිපත් කරනු ලැබුවේ මන්ත්‍රි කනක හේරත්ය. ඒ 2017.01.18 වැනි දින පොලිස්පතිවරයා වෙතය. මේ පිළිබඳව වගේ වගක් නැතිව සිටිය නොහැකි කාලය ඉක්ම ගොස් ඇති නිසා ජනතාවගේ මතය වන්නේ එයද විමර්ශනය කර වරදක් වී ඇත්නම්  අදාළ අයට දඬුවම් කරන ලෙසය. 

දූෂණ අංක 7

අමාත්‍ය පී. හැරිසන්ට හා වී අලෙවි මණ්ඩලයේ හිටපු සභාපතිවරයාට එරෙහිවද බරපතළ දූෂණ චෝදනා ගොනු කෙරුණේ 2017.02.01දා අල්ලස් කොමිෂන් සභාව වෙතය. ජයන්ත සමරවීර මන්ත්‍රිවරයා මෙම චෝදනාවන් ගොනු කරමින් කියා සිටියේ වී අලෙවි මණ්ඩලය විසින් අවස්ථා දෙකකදී සත්ත්ව ආහාර නිෂ්පාදනයට හා සහල් සැකසීම සඳහා වෙළෙඳපොළට හා තෝරාගත් සමාගම් කිහිපයකට වී නිකුත් කිරීමේදී සිදුවී ඇති මූල්‍ය වංචාවක් ගැනය. එයින් රුපියල් බිලියන 10ක් රජයට පාඩු සිදුව ඇතැයි කියැවේ.

දූෂණ අංක 8

රජයට රුපියල් මිලියන 6500ක පාඩුවක් කරමින් රජයේ අනුග්‍රහය ඇතිව වාහන කැබලි ජාවාරමක් කරගෙන යෑමට සහාය වී යැයි ඇමැති රවි කරුණානායකට එරෙහිව උල්ලස් කොමිෂන් සභාව වෙත පැමිණිල්ලක් ගොනු කෙරුණේ 2017.02.15 දිනකදීය. ඒ අනුව මුදල් ඇමැතිවරයා රජය නොමඟ යවමින් රජයට අයත් විය යුතු බදු මුදල් අහිමි කිරීමක් ගැන පැමිණිල්ලෙන් කියැවේ. එම චෝදනාවන්ට එරෙහිව අල්ලස් කොමිසම කොයිතරම් දුරට ඉක්මනින් කටයුතු කරාවිදැයි ජනතාව තවමත් බලා සිටින නිසා උදය ගම්මන්පිල මන්ත්‍රිවරයා කළ පැමිණිල්ලට කුමක් වේදැයි දැන ගැනීමට ජනතාවටද අයිතියක් ඇති බැව් කියැවේ.

දූෂණ අංක 9

රාජිත සේනාරත්න ධීවර අමාත්‍යවරයාව සිටි කාලයේදී මෝදර ධීවර වරාය බදුදීම සහ ඔහුගේ සම්බන්ධීකරණ ලේකම්වරයකු නමින් ගැඹුරු මුහුදේ මසුන් ඇල්ලීම සඳහා වංචනික ලෙස නැව් 8ක් ගෙන්වීම පිළිබඳව බරපතළ සැකයක් ඇති බවත් එහිදී සිදුවී ඇති වංචාව රු. මිලියන 1000ක් බව කියමින් ටී. රංජිත් සොයිසා මන්ත්‍රිවරයා අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවට පැමිණිලි කළේය. මෙය දූෂණ ගනුදෙනුවක් බව  දක්වමින් ඊට අදාළ ලිපි ගොනුද ගොනු කරමින් කළ පැමිණිල්ලට කුමක් වී දැයි ජනතාවටද දැනගන්නට අයිතියක් ඇති බැව් කියැවේ. මේ පිළිබඳව අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව කළේ කුමක්දැයි විමසීම ජනතාවගේ අයිතියකි. 

දූෂණ අංක 10

මෙම චෝදනාවද රාජිත සේනාරත්න ඇමැතිවරයාට එරෙහිවය. එයින් චෝදනා නැඟෙන්නේ අමාත්‍යවරයාගේ පූර්ණ අනුග්‍රහයෙන් සිදු කළැයි කියන ඔෟෂධ මාෆියාවක කතාවක්ය. ඊට අදාළ වැදගත්ම ලියැවිලි රැසක් සහිතව අල්ලස් කොමිසමට පැමිණිලි කළේ  ටී. රංජිත් සොයිසා මන්ත්‍රිවරයාය. එයින් රජයට රුපියල් මිලියන 1500ක පාඩුවක් සිදුවිණැයි 2017.02.28 දින මන්ත්‍රිවරයා විසින් සිදු කෙරුණු පැමිණිල්ලෙහි කියැවේ. මෙයද බරපතළ චෝදනාවක් බැවින් ඒ පිළිබඳව සාධනීය පියවර ගනු ඇතැයි ජනතාව බලාපොරොත්තු වෙති. 

දූෂණ අංක 11

මෙම බරපතළ චෝදනාව එල්ල කෙරෙන්නේ අගමැති රනිල්, මලික් සමරවික්‍රම හා අගමැති උපදේශක ආර්. පාස්කරලිංගම්ට එරෙහිවය. චෝදනාවෙන් කියැවෙන්නේ නොරොච්චෝලේ ගල් අඟුරු විදුලි බලාගාරයට ගල් අඟුරු සැපයීමේදී රජයට රුපියල් මිලියන 5000ක පාඩුවක් සිදු කෙරුණු බවක්ය. විදුර වික්‍රමනායක මන්ත්‍රිවරයා විසින් 2017.03.16 දින අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කළ පැමිණිල්ල සමඟ ඉතා වැදගත් ලියකියවිලි රැසක්ද යොමු කර තිබුණේය. මෙහිදී සිදුවූ ගල් අඟුරු ටෙන්ඩරයෙන් රුපියල් මිලියන 5000ක පාඩුවක් වී ඇති බැවින් ඒ පිළිබඳව විධිමත් පරීක්ෂණයක් සිදු කරන ලෙස ඉල්ලා තිබිණි. එහෙත් මෙම පරීක්ෂණ සිදු කෙරුණද නැද්ද යන්න පවා දැනගත නොහැකි තැනක තිබීම නිසා ජනතාව වෙනුවෙන් මේ පිළිබඳව වගකිවයුතු සෙවීමක් බැලීමක් සිදුකර අදාළ නෛතික පියවර ගන්නා මෙන් ඉල්ලීම් බොහෝය. 

දූෂණ අංක 12

අනෙක් චෝදනාව එල්ල කෙරුණේ අමාත්‍ය අකිල විරාජ් කාරියවසම් ඇතුළු කිහිප දෙනකුට එරෙහිවය. 2019.06.26 දින ඩී.වී. චානක මන්ත්‍රිවරයා පැමිණිල්ලක් කරමින් කියා සිටියේ අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍යාංශයේ පෙළ පොත් මුද්‍රණය කිරීමේදී රජයට මිලියන 128.9ක පාඩුවක් සිදු කළාය කියාය. මෙම චෝදනාව ගොනු කරමින් ඊට අදාළ තහවුරු කිරීම් පිණිස වැදගත් ලිඛිත  සාක්ෂි කිහිපයක්ද එක්කොට තිබුණු අතර පැමිණිල්ල නිසි ආකාරයෙන් විභාග වූවාද යන්න ගැටලු සහගත කාරණයක් වී ඇත. දැයේ දරුවන්ගේ පෙළ පොත්වලින් වංචාවක් හෝ දූෂණයක් වී තිබේ නම් ඊට අදාළ නෛතික පියවර ඉක්මනින් ගැනීම අත්‍යවශ්‍ය දෙයක් බැව් කාගේත් අදහසය. 

දූෂණ අංක 13

ඩී.වී. චානක මන්ත්‍රිවරයා විසින්ම අමාත්‍ය රිෂාඩ් බදියුදීන්ට එරෙහිව 2019.07.10 දින පැමිණිල්ලක් කරමින් කියා තිබුණේ රිෂාඩ් ඇමැතිවරයා විසින් කර්මාන්ත හා වාණිජ කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශයට අයත් ලංකා සතොස ආයතනයට රුපියල් මිලියන 5000ක බරපතළ පාඩුවක් සිදුකර ඇති බවයි. එය වංචාවක් බවත් එම වංචාව තහවුරු කර ගැනීමට අදාළ ලියකියවිලි රැසක්ද ඒ සමඟ ඉදිරිපත් කර තිබිණි.

ජනතා මතය වී ඇත්තේ යහපාලනයට මුවා වී සිදුකළ දූෂණ, වංචා සියල්ලට වගකියුත්තන්ට එරෙහිව නොපමාව නීතිය ක්‍රියාත්මක විය යුතු බවය. ගෝඨාභය ජනපති කරන්නට රටේ පොදු මහජනතාව ඡන්දය දුන්නේ දූෂිතයන්ගෙන් මෙන්ම දූෂණවලින්ද වියුක්ත වූ දේශපාලන සම්ප්‍රදායක් මෙතැන් පටන් හෝ ඇරඹෙනු ඇතැයි සාධනීය අපේක්ෂාවන්ගෙන් යුතුවය. එය පමා වන මොහොතක් මොහොතක් පාසා එය අහිතකර වනුයේ වත්මන් ආණ්ඩුවේ දේශපාලන සෞඛ්‍යයටය. මේ අනතුරු සංඥාව ඒ ගැනය. ජනතාවගෙන් රතු එළිය දැල්වෙන්නට කලින් මේ සියලු චෝදනා පිළිබඳ නීතිමය පියවර ගැනීම කඩිනම් විය යුතුය. එබැවින් පමාව කිසිදා සමාවට කරුණක් නොවන බව ආණ්ඩුවේ වගකිවයුත්තන් මැනවින් සිහි කටයුතුය.

by C.A.Chandraprema Courtesy The Island

January 4, 2020, 6:26 pm

Parliamentrian Wijedasa Rajapakshe has presented to Parliament two Private Member’s Bills for the amendment of the Constitution styled the 21st Amendment to the Constitution and the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution. The JVP has its own Private Member’s Bill in the form of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution. Though many people are under the impression that there are 19 amendments to our present Constitution, the actual number of amendments is 18. The 12th Amenndment to our Constitution was a Private Member’s Bill presented by Dinesh Gunawardene in 1987 but was never enacted. How a Bill that was never enacted got into the numbering scheme of the constitutional amendments is obviously because the 13th Amendment was introduced and passed while the 12th Amendment Bill was pending.

 If Wijedasa Rajapakshe’s Bills are passed into law, while the JVP’s 20th Amendment Bill is still pending, we will have another dud amendment on the list just like the 12th Amendment. No Private Member’s Bill for the amendment of the Constitution has been passed into law so far. Whether Private Members’ Bills are the best way to go about reforming the Constitution is itself debatable. A routine housekeeping constitutional amendment may perhaps be presented as a Private Member’s Bill but then again, such housekeeping matters are the responsibility of the government and even such Bills are best presented to Parliament as a Government Bill. In the case of major constitutional amendments it is always best that they be presented as Government Bills.

 When it is presented as a Government Bill, there is a guarantee that it would have been discussed at least within the government whereas a Private Member’s bill would incorporate at most the ideas of one person or one group. It can be argued that the 1972 Constitution was discussed to a much greater extent than the 1978 Constitution before being enacted. This despite the fact that the 1972 Constitution did not depart in any radical manner from the 1948 Constitution as far as the system of governance, and the system of elections etc were concerned. However, the 1978 Constitution did depart from previous Constitutions in a radical way, and yet there was little or no discussion before it was enacted and this lack of discussion and thinking showed glaringly! J.R.Jayewardene was considered an intellectual in his own right and he was a lawyer by profession. His brother was a respected lawyer and JRJ could always tap into a massive pool of legal talent in the country, yet his constitution making was abysmally inadequate.

 Ill-thought out constitution making

 It is certainly true that we are now saying this with the benefit of hindsight. But it was obvious even during JRJ’s tenure as President. The electoral system is of fundamental importance in any constitution. The electoral system determines the way governments are elected to rule the country. In 1978, the JRJ Constitution introduced a proportional representation system to replace the previous first past the post system. After introducing the new electoral system in 1978, it was changed twice before any election was ever held under that system. The changes thus made were also not minor adjustments, but major changes that altered the entire character of the electoral system.

The original Parliamentary elections system in the1978 Constitution did not have a preferential vote system. Each political party or independent group was to submit one nomination paper for each electoral district setting out the names in the order of priority that the candidates should be elected. The political parties were to have the right to change the order of priority of the names in the nomination paper even after they had been declared elected and to substitute the names of other persons in place of those who have died or ceased to be members of such party. Thus, this was a system that gave the political party complete power over its MPs. The Fourteenth Amendment, which was introduced in May 1988, before any Parliamentary election was ever held under the 1978 Constitution, introduced the preferential vote system whereby voters were entitled to indicate up to three preferences for candidates of the party they voted for.

Thus, it was not the political party hierarchy that would decide who would get a seat in Parliament but the voters themselves. This was undoubtedly a more democratic way of doing things, but the preferential vote system gave rise to a number of other problems such as candidates having to canvass for preferential votes across an entire district, some constituencies ending up without an identifiable representative in Parliament, big spenders unsuited to hold public office being able to skim preferential votes off the entire district to get into Parliament, and the institutionalization of corruption due to the heavy expenditure involved in getting elected. The preferential vote system was not the only change that the 14th Amendment introduced. It even changed the number of MPs in Parliament. Under the provisions of the original 1978 Constitution there were to be only 196 MPs. The Fourteenth Amendment increased the number of MPs in Parliament from 196 to 225 by the addition of the National List of 29 seats, which were to be apportioned among the parties contesting the election on the basis of the proportion of votes they polled nationwide.

So JRJ was making things up as he went along. The best part of it was that certain changes that were introduced through the 14th Amendment in May 1988 were repealed by the 15th Amendment passed in December 1988! This too was before any election had ever been held under the changes made by the 14th Amendment. The 14th Amendment, provided for electoral districts entitled to return more than 10 members to be divided into two zones and those entitled to return more than 20 MPs to be divided into three zones. Since there are no districts entitled to return more than 20 MPs, two zones would have been the maximum per district. Many districts would not have had zones at all because they were not entitled to return more than ten MPs. Each zone was to be a combination of two or more of polling divisions (constituencies/electorates). The number of MPs each zone was entitled to return was to be determined on the same basis as apportioning seats to each electoral district.

In December 1988, the Fifteenth Amendment changed the system of elections yet again and the provision in the Fourteenth Amendment to divide some districts into zones, was abolished. The most far reaching and damaging change in the elections system introduced by the Fifteenth Amendment was the reduction of the district cut off point from 12.5% to 5%. This enabled many small ethnic and religion-based political parties to proliferate and has undermined the ability of the national political parties to form stable governments. The reduction of the cut-off point was not a well thought out matter of policy but a part of the political horse trading that went on before the 1988 December Presidential elections.

The Fifteenth Amendment was signed into law just 48 hours before the Presidential election of 19 December 1988 so that President Premadasa could obtain the votes of the then newly formed Sri Lanka Muslim Congress.

Where JRJ erred

Thus what we learn from the history of the 1978 Constitution is how constitutions should never be made. This is why a Private Member’s Bill is never a good idea to make constitutional changes. Under JRJ, constitutional changes were always like Private Member’s Bills, decided on by a limited number of people. This introduced an element of inadequacy and even amateurishness into the whole exercise. Another example of this amateurishness is the Sixth Amendment that introduced in the wake of the July 1983 riots to act as a deterrent to separatism. Under the Sixth Amendment, every public officer and elected representative including Members of Parliament was expected to take an oath against separatism. In the case of public officers this oath had to be taken within one month of assuming office. In the case of Members of Parliament and other elected representatives, it had to be taken in order to be entitled to sit and vote in Parliament or the relevant representative body.

 The punishment for acting in contravention of these provisions will be civic disability for a period not exceeding seven years, forfeiture of the guilty person’s movable and immovable property other than such property as is determined by a Court to be necessary for the sustenance of such person and his family. If the person concerned is a Member of Parliament or a public officer, he will cease to hold such office. The Sri Lankan Sixth Amendment was inspired by the Indian 16th Amendment introduced to curb separatist tendencies in Tamil Nadu. However, JRJ’s Sixth Amendment is not a patch on the Indian Sixteenth Amendment and has not succeeded in curbing separatist propaganda in Sri Lanka. In contrast to the failure of the Sixth Amendment in Sri Lanka, the Indian Sixteenth Amendment has been a great success.

 The wording used in the two amendments is different. In Sri Lanka, the Sixth Amendment sought to prohibit the advocacy of a separate State within the territory of Sri Lanka. This left plenty of room for separatists to argue that what they were advocating is not separatism but the devolution of power or power sharing between the centre and the periphery. In contrast to this, the Indian Sixteenth Amendment did not seek to ban or prohibit anything. What the Indians sought to do was to obtain an oath from all public servants and elected representatives including Members of Parliament and the Members of State legislatures to the effect that they would uphold the ‘sovereignty and integrity of India’. The Indian wording is broad enough to encompass anything that may be interpreted by a court of law as being detrimental to the sovereignty and integrity of India. The Sri Lankan Sixteenth Amendment appears to have been drafted not by a political mind but by a lawyer who has read the Penal Code once too often. Punishments have been prescribed for supporting, espousing, promoting, financing, encouraging or advocating the establishment of a separate State within the territory of Sri Lanka either directly or indirectly, in or outside Sri Lanka.

 However, in the three and a half decades and more since the Sixth Amendment was promulgated, there have been plenty of people doing exactly that both within and outside Sri Lanka but nobody has ever heard of anyone who has been penalized under the provisions of the Sixth Amendment. In similar vein, a 101 examples can be given as to why there should be no haphazard constitution-making. The 13th Amendment had its own raft of issues which we will not go into due to the lack of space. The lesson we have to learn from all this is that constitution making should never be a piecemeal, haphazard exercise. This country has paid a heavy price due to haphazard constitution-making. A Private Member’s Bill therefore is not the way to go about effecting constitutional reform.

 However, such a Bill may provide an opportunity to debtate constitutional issues and that is an opening that Parliame-ntarian Wijedasa Rajapakshe has provided. The 21st Amendment to the Constitution is especially relevant in today’s political context. What he has suggested here is to amend article 99(6) so that the district cut off point to get candidates elected to Parliament is restored to the 12.5% it was before the ill advised Fifteenth Amendment reduced it to 5%. This is a proposal that should be looked at very seriously by the SLPP and the UNP and more by the latter than the former. Ironically, even though the 15th Amendment was introduced by a UNP President as a part of the horse deals that went on in the run up to the 1988 Presidential election, the biggest causalty of that Amendment was the UNP itself.

The 5% district cutoff point

The UNP may have won the 1988 Presidential election but the reduction of the district cut off point resulted in the proliferation or minority community based political parties that ate into the UNP’s traditional vote base among the minorities. When we look back at the year 1988, there is no denying that there was a dire need for the UNP to win that election or the country may have been overrun by the JVP. We have to acknowledge that fact. If the SLFP had won that election, they would not have been able to bring the JVP under control. Hence President Premadasa’s succumbing to Muslim Congress pressure to reduce the cut off point is understandable in the context of the time. However we have now experienced more than three decades of the 5% cut off point and we know that it has not made a positive contribution to the politics of this country. All that has resulted from it are a string of unstable governments. In fact after the 5% district cut off point was introduced, parties that win a Parliamentary election have got an absolute majority in Parliament only at two elections in 1989 and 2010.

Due to this fact, on many occasions during the past 30 years, the power of the executive presidency had to be used to literally buy the required number of MPs to form governments by handing out portfolios. Thus horse trading became a regular feature in the formation of governments after 1994. During that period which coincides with the period where the UNP was led by Ranil Wickremasinghe, the SLMC, ACMC and the Indian Tamil based Tamil Progressive Alliance made its appearance largely by eating into traditional UNP support bases among Tamils and Muslims.

The 22nd Amendment Bill that Parliamentarian Wijedasa Rajapakshe has put forward has as its objective, the truncation of the Constitutional Council’s powers over the appointment of judges of the superior courts and high officers of the state. He seeks to replace it with a system whereby the President can appoint the Chief Justice and the Judges of the Supreme Court and Judges of the Court of Appeal after consulting the Judicial Services Commission. In appointing public officials such as the Attorney-General, the Auditor-General, the Inspector-General of Police, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (Ombudsman) and the Secretary-General of Parliament, the President would need to consult only the Prime Minister. This goes beyond the 18th Amendment which had a Parliamentary Council consisting of the Prime Minister, the Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition, a nominee of the Prime Minister who shall be a Member of Parliament and a nominee of the Leader of the Opposition, who shall be a Member of Parliament which had to be consulted in making the appointments mentioned above.

The other changes sought by Rajapakshe through the 22nd Amendment is that Article 43 will be amended to enable the President to hold the Defence portfolio and any other portfolio he wishes. He has also sought to amend Article 46 so that the maximum number of non-cabinet ministers and deputy ministers will be reduced from forty to thirty. He has also recommended the repeal of subsections 4 and 5 of Article 46 of the Constitution which enabled Parliament to increase the number of Ministers to be appointed in the event where a ‘national government’ was formed. Looking at Parliamentarian Rajapakshe’s 22nd Amendment Bill, it seems obvious that he has put this forwards not as a constitutional reform proposal but as a means of provoking a debate on the issued raised.

What the 21A and 22A Bills

do not cover

For example, even though he has proposed that the powers of the Constitutional Council be truncated when it comes to appointing judges to the superior courts and to high offices of the state, under the provisions of the proposed 22nd Amendment, the Constitutional Council would not be abolished because it would retain all the powers it presently has under the 19th Amendment when it comes to the appointment of the Election Commission, the Public Service Commission, the National Police Commission, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, the Finance Commission and the Delimitation Commission.

 Even though the 22nd Amendment Bill proposes changes to Article 43 to enable the President to hold the defence portfolio and any other portfolio he wishes, the most problematic aspect of the present article 43 which was introduced by the 19th Amendment whereby the President cannot appoint ministers or change their subjects without mandatorily obtaining the concurrence of the Prime Minister still remains intact. It is in fact this article 43 which has created a dyarchy and that issue has not been addressed. Even though he has proposed changes to Article 46, nothing has been done about the fact that this Article does not have a provision whereby the President can remove the Prime Minister even though the President can remove any other minister on the recommendations of the Prime Minister. Article 46 thus buttresses the dyarchy that was created by Article 43.

 One of the most important powers of the President that was taken away by the 19th Amendment was the power of dissolution of Parliament. Under the 19A, Parliament cannot be dissolved under any circumstances until the lapse of four and a half years unless Parliament passes a resolution by a two thirds majority to request the President to dissolve Parliament. Thus Parliament cannot be dissolved even if the government loses the annual budget vote repeatedly or even repeatedly loses votes of no confidence. In all such instances, it is only the government that will stand dissolved and not Parliament. No one has explained how a President is supposed to continue to rule the country with a Parliamentary government that has no majority to get a budget passed. Yet that is what is required of the President under the 19th Amendment.

 This provision preventing the dissolution of Parliament has the potential to create a situation of anarchy in this country, yet this has not been addressed in Rajapakshe’s 22nd Amendment. Thus what is obviously expected of these two Private Member’s Bills is to provoke a debate on constitutional reform. What was pledged in President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s election manifesto was a new constitution and not patchwork adjustments to the present one. It was said that a Parliamentary select Committee would be formed to formulate a new constitution after reviewing the executive presidential system, the electoral system and the provincial councils system. This can of course, be feasibly done only after the next Parliamentary election. What Parliamentarian Wijedasa Rajapakshe’s two Private Member’s Bills have done, is to kick off the debate on constitutional reform.