Colombo, April 18 (Daily Mirror) – Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Rohini Kaviratne in a letter addressed to Secretary Election Commission and Assistant Commissioner Matale District has lodged a complaint against a leaflet that has been distributed by the ruling National People’s Power (NPP) which indicates that funds for the local bodies which will be secured by the opposition at the Local Government polls will be blocked.
She had apparently urged the commission to halt the distribution of this leaflet.
Ms. Kaviratne said the following in her letter
The leaflet which is attached with my letter says that local bodies gets funds from the Central Government. Won’t the administration of a local body fall if it is won by another party. There will no connection between the Central Government and the local body in such an eventuality. Even President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has also come up with a similar remark at a recent meeting.
Funds have not be allocated for majority of local bodies in Matale District. However, the Central Government collects whatever funds earned by the local bodies in the district
There are legislations that govern funding of local bodies. Guidelines on funding of local bodies have also been specified by the 13th Amendment to the constitution. The Executive does not enjoy powers over the funds of local bodies as per the Municipal Ordinance and the Pradeshiya Sabha Act.
This particular leaflet will no doubt affect the people’s right for franchise. Blocking funds for local bodies run by the Opposition is a principle which is far from being democratic.
I hope that the Election Commission will carry out its duty and safeguard the rights of people in Matale. Therefore, I request the Election Commission to get the NPP to stop distributing this particular leaflet.
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Colombo, April 18 (Daily Mirror) – The government which has become a pawn of thermal energy mafia is all out to destroy the renewable energy sector, Opposition and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Leader Sajith Premadasa charged yesterday.
“Renewable energy is affordable where a country like Sri Lanka is concerned. It is a cost effective source of energy. This government pledged to safeguard renewable energy at the electoral platform. However, it has become a pawn of the thermal power mafia. This government has actually become a slave of coal power and thermal power plant owners,” Mr. Premadasa told a Janahamuwa in Minneriya.
Mr. Premadasa said pressure applied by the people forced the government to reduce electricity tariff by 20 percent.
He also said the following during the janahamuwa.
Electricity tariff could be increased soon because of government’s action. The Government is making falsehood reign in Sri Lanka at the time the whole world is moving towards renewable energy.
There is also a possibility of a fertilizer price hike. Farmers have not been paid compensation for the damages caused by recent floods and by the human elephant conflict.
Price of rice, coconut and milk food have increased. It is not possible to purchase a little quantity of salt. It is time for Sri Lankans to end deceptive politics.
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A recent heated exchange between Trade Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe and an Irrigation Department official has raised questions regarding the safety of ancient tanks islandwide.
Sri Lanka’s ancient irrigation system, which is still functional, networks thousands of small tanks and larger reservoirs to collect rainwater for use during the dry season. This keeps the country’s agriculture operational year-round, divided into two seasons – the Maha and Yala seasons.
Today, reservoirs and tanks don’t just serve agricultural purposes; some also generate electricity and provide sustenance to smaller industries centring them, such as the tourism industry. Almost all come under the oversight of the Irrigation Department and the Mahaweli Authority, but most ancient tanks have not had any internal investigations conducted on them.
Internal investigations only when necessary
Irrigation Department Director General A. Gunasekara shed light on the maintenance process of tanks and reservoirs coming under its jurisdiction. According to him, investigations into the internal structures of these water bodies are only carried out when the need arises – that is, if any issues are observed from the outside.
Earlier this month, at the Anuradhapura District Coordinating Committee (DCC) meeting, Minister Samarasinghe was caught in an exchange of words with an Irrigation Department official, after the former requested the road on the bund of the Nuwara Wewa be opened for tourism purposes.
The official was seen cautioning about the safety issues that could come with allowing vehicles to travel on the tank bund.
An official at the Anuradhapura District Secretariat said the road on the bund had been closed during the war years. However, smaller vehicles, three-wheelers, and motor cycles had used it previously as it was the shortest route from the Anuradhapura town to the Matale junction. It also provides the best view of the historic stupas in the city Anuradhapura.
As such, tourism and commerce stakeholders in the city have requested the DCC to open the road. The DCC had sent a written request on the matter to the Irrigation Department on 29 March.
We have requested only for lighter vehicles,” said the official, adding that if there was water seepage as the Irrigation Department was claiming, then repairs must be done regardless due to the threat to the whole city.
Nuwara Wewa, which was built over 2,000 years ago according to tradition, has no records of any internal investigations or repairs since it was built, according to Gunasekara. This is the case for many ancient tanks and reservoirs, as the Irrigation Department only looks at the internal structures if it perceives a need for doing so.
Irrigation Department limitations
We are observing water seepage from the bottom of the Nuwara Wewa. However, to stop water seepage, we need to cut the bund and rebuild it or drain the tank for a season and build a clay wall inside it from the front,” said Gunasekara.
Prior to deciding on the course of action, the Irrigation Department has to undertake an internal investigation. However, Gunasekara said the Engineering Geology division – which carries out investigations – was currently understaffed.
The machines to check soil quality etc. cannot be taken out because the division needs at least four storekeepers. Currently, we only have one storekeeper, so the storage units are closed because there is no one to take responsibility for the machines. Whereas 320 engineers are required for irrigation, we only have about 150. We need the approved cadre to carry out our duties,” he added.
For the Irrigation Department, duties primarily consist of ensuring there is enough water in tanks to fertilise the crops during the Maha and Yala seasons.
Other stakeholders may have different objectives centring the tank, but we cannot be compromised by those objectives,” said Gunasekara.
He added that the bunds of certain tanks that vehicles currently travelled on had been repaired and widened to ensure safety.
This is not such a bund. It is old and we have not investigated the depth in detail; if it breaks, it will be our responsibility. We have no record at all that the bund was checked,” he noted.
Similarly, many of the ancient tanks have not been investigated in depth, according to Gunasekara. The Irrigation Department has records of conducting in-depth investigations for only a few which had broken in the 1950s.
However, Gunasekara said that conducting in-depth investigations routinely was not a necessity.
We do physical observations and if we observe any issues, we immediately take action. We can do in-depth investigations routinely if we have the staff and if the cost can be borne by the country. It would cost about Rs. 10 million to investigate a tank in such a manner,” he said.
Currently, the department conducts physical observations weekly.
A bund connects two mountains or slopes when a reservoir is being built, forming a ledge of sorts. If a bund is destroyed, it could cause serious harm to people living on either side of the tank as the water would escape.
If there is a national-level discussion to investigate some reservoirs, then we can give high priority to those to conduct the investigations,” said Gunasekara.
Mahaweli Authority
The Mahaweli Authority conducts in-depth investigations in a similar manner. A top official at the authority said routine internal investigations could be conducted if the necessary funds were available.
We do monitoring as and when the need arises; for example, if there is mud or if there are cracks, we do further checks,” the official said.
There are about 700 water bodies under the jurisdiction of the Mahaweli Authority of which 33 are major water bodies.
Multiple attempts to contact Irrigation Minister K.D. Lalkantha and Deputy Minister Dr. Susil Ranasinghe proved futile.
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Sri Lanka’s current judicial system stems from Judicature Act 2 of 1978 influenced by English & Roman-Dutch Law a carry-forward from Dutch to British colonial rule. Unfortunately, the leaders of post-independence forgot or ignored Sri Lanka had its own distinct Sinhala legal system. The Maha Naduwa was the Buddhist jurisprudence tribunal of ancient Sinhalese kings. The Kandyan Convention is said to have been signed in the Maha Naduwa on 2 March 1815. Following the 1817-1818 Rebellion, the Maha Naduwa was also the venue that passed death sentences of Keppetipola & Madugalla. The Maha Naduwa was also where the Sacred Tooth Relic is occasionally exhibited for public veneration, an event to take place in Sri Lanka from 18 April – 28 April, 2025. It is only right that Maha Naduwa & Dalada Legacy continues restoring ethical Governance in Sri Lanka through Buddhist Legal traditions rooted in the Dalada and Maha Nāduwa Heritage.
The British guaranteed the continuance of laws, customs & institutions that existed in the Kandyan Convention of 1815 though they abolished the ancient penal system. The 1833 Charter of Justice established the British model of Judiciary in Sri Lanka.
The Maha Naduwa (Great Tribunal) is an important historical site primarily located in Anurdhapura the 1stcapital, the centre of Buddhist jurisprudence, where Buddhist law & moral governance took place.
It was a place where the King, the theroes & the laypeople all came together for spiritual, ethical & legal matters– similar to the Swiss democracy method. The governance by Buddhist principles assured morals, justice & peace prevailed.
The Buddhist vinaya (monastic code), Dhamma (doctrines of Buddha) & Sila (ethical conduct) became the legal framework for decisions. There was never room for loopholes or injustice. It is this type of ethical governance that is absent not only in Sri Lanka but across the world today. In Sri Lanka confounding matters is that inspite of Buddhist principles continuing to influence the lives of Sri Lankan society, Sri Lanka’s current legal system is a cut & paste of colonial laws, secular laws, modern statutes & customary laws. There is a disconnection. This disconnection needs to be addressed as it is a key root cause to why society is in a state of flux.
If Buddhists behave like headless chickens it is because what is missing is the Buddhist jurisprudence to govern this Buddhist state.
The Maha Naduwa’s role was to foster a system where Buddhist teachings shaped governance. Thus from individual, to thero, to society leaders & even ruler all had to follow Buddhist moral leadership & ethics based on Buddha’s principles. This was the national identity & this is why Sri Lanka to regain its National Identity has to return to the system of Maha Naduwa. The moral framework for governances is what is needed to address corruption & the many injustices to which the modern western tools have failed to resolve or solve even by punishments.
The secular groups that promote universarl rights” only make demands for rights but can never solve the ills in society. They only create new groups with new demands for rights.
The Buddhist principles on the other hand promote duties” – if everyone fulfills their duties automatically everyone’s rights are fulfilled.
UN drafts resolutions but no results from any of them.
The Maha Naduwa has been a time-tested & successful Buddhist jurisprudence principle. In comparison to the other western & even easter systems that prevailed, Buddhist jurisprudence has been by far moral & ethical.
King Dutugemuni, one of Sri Lanka’s most famous kings, sought advice of Buddhist theroes not only for religious matters but also to resolve conflicts & for statecraft to follow Buddhist principles.
The Maha Naduwa was a place for mediation where disputes between individuals, groups or communities were resolved abiding to Buddhist values of compassion, mindfulness & restoration of harmony. The emphasis was always on finding peaceful & moral solutions to conflicts rather than punitive measures. Those promoting Truth & Reconciliation Tribunals should study the Buddhist principles of the Maha Naduwa because the templates followed in all of the Western tribunals have been utter failures, waste of years, funding, time & justice to no one.
True restorative justice with focus on mental & moral well being of the individual is what Buddhist jurisprudence practices rather than the printed-wordings in western legal templates.
The concept of karma (action) and kusala-kamma (good deeds) were central to decision-making.
Thus, the Maha Naduwa was more than just a courthouse – it was a symbol of righteous Buddhist governance
The King (ruler) had to uphold the Dasa Raja Dhamma (Ten Royal Virtues of a righteous ruler) The Buddhist righteous king had to be a persound abound in generosity, humility, non-violence & fairness. In Western democracies, leaders are driven by political gain, cunning, electoral manipulations, political deals with no moral code.
The King was the defender of the Buddha Sasana & the ethical steward of the people.
The Theroes had to abide by the Vinaya Pitaka (code governing theroes) The Maha Sangha played a major role offering ethical guidance unlike many of the Sangha today who have become politicized and not following the code expected of them. Buddhist legal order would force them to align to continue being part of the Sangha.
The Lay persons had to also follow dana, sila, metta, karuna, ahimsa,… all of Buddhas principles.
Justice was dispensed not only to maintain order but to safeguard the moral harmony of the kingdom (which is what is lacking in Sri Lanka & across the world) Western law is divorced from spiritual input. In Western law legality comes before morality though that has got this system nowhere.
Yes, individuals who committed wrongful actions had to face consequences but these consequences were to help them develop spiritually & return to a path of good deeds instead of being shamed & discarded from society. The peace councils for mediation to resolve disputes amicably by the Police in Sri Lanka is a continuation of this ancient model.
This traditional Buddhist legal system was seen as a threat to the colonials as Buddhist jurisprudence linked ethics, culture, societal morals. So they quickly replaced with Western jurisprudence because their law was linked to divide & rule & moral governance was not part of their policy.
What makes Buddhist jurisprudence superior in many ways to western jurisprudence is that the Buddhist legal system lay emphasis on compassion, wisdom & non-violence whereas Western secular jurisprudence prioritizes legal precedent, contractual reasoning which have no moral alignment.
Buddhist legal system viewed punishment not as revenge, an eye for an eye but about karmic correction. Criminal law of the West is mostly about retributive justice which always leads to alienation & resentment. From the Inquisitions, to Nuremburg Tribunals to the Ad hoc Tribunals in Geneva, the hatred & revenge continues.
Why shouldn’t Buddhist jurisprudence be returned to its rightful place of jurisprudence in Sri Lanka given that Article 9 affords Buddha Sasana the foremost place?
There are arguments that just a legal system cannot fit into modern international trade, tech law etc. Why can’t Buddhist jurisprudence be made tech savy?
Why cant Sri Lanka develop AI-driven legal tools that incorporate Buddhist ethical reasoning. Even AI apps will admit the Human Intelligence is no match for Artificial Intelligence & the core of Buddha’s teachings is the power of the Mind.
Why cant virtual mediation platforms inspired by gihi vinaya (lay conduct rules) & ancient sangayana models of collective discussion not be rolled out?
Why cant we have AI & Digital Courts guided by the Dhamma?
Can an AI system be developed that not only analyses laws & precedents but can also take into account intention, karmic consequence & community healing? Isnt this better than bogus Truth Commissions?
Why cant we create digital Sangha Councils that can be accessible globally? Why cant these become moral advisory bodies for national disputes using Buddhist ethics as a guiding compass?
Why cant we create mobile apps (Dhamma Resolve App) for the lay people to learn about their duties & rights based on Buddhist values. These apps that offer advice on how to resolve disputes peacefully with karmic responsibility & filter grievances that require moral not just legal solutions.
Why cant we use blockchain or smart contracts to create transparent tamper-proof restorartive justice agreements? Victims & offenders can truly reconcile monitored by ethical AI & community advisors. Instead of sending a juvenile offender to jail, why not put him through meditation & restitution & tracked via an app?
Isnt it time with so many digital efforts taking place a Global Digital Library of Buddhist legal texts like the Vinaya Pitaka / Dasa Raja Dhamma Rules / Ancient Sinhale Kingdoms law codes were powered into a legal algorithm mixing ancient wisdom with modern law & made available in multiple languages, given a large number of Westerners are also being drawn to the teachings of Buddha.
What cant we integrate National Systems with Buddhist jurisprudence for E-Governance? Courts could consult digital Buddhist panels before sentencing or offer Dhamma based pathways.
Ethical AI will reduce mechanical rulings, digital accessibility will make justice reach rural & poor communities, restorative justice reduces prison population & repeat offences, cultural relevance aligns with Sri Lanka’s spiritual heritage while the global potential is that Buddhist jurisprudence offers a humane model to the world where its current legal system is subtly collapsing.
Thus, Constitutionally Article 9 has given Buddha Sasana foremost place. This means logically, constitutionally & morally, it is timely & necessary to reintroduce & integrate Buddhist jurisprudence into the modern legal framework in Sri Lanka. If the State is mandated constitutionally to protect & foster the Buddha Sasana, the spirit of governance must include he justice, leadership & law that reflects Buddha’s principles. Ignoring this while giving legal & policy space to foreign moderls risks violating both the Constitution & cultural sovereignty of the people.
Sri Lanka’s legal roots — from Anuradhapura to Kandyan times — were grounded in Buddhist legal thinking: moral law, intention, fairness, harmony. Why should that legacy be erased or marginalized in favor of purely colonial or Western legal imports?
The majority population — identifying as Sinhala Buddhists — deeply resonate with the values of Buddhist law, not just legally but emotionally, historically, and spiritually. The non-Buddhists too value the non-violence & peaceful teachings & principles of Buddha & these re-incorproted into a legal system is nothing anyone can object to.
Some of the prompt arguments are likely to be that
Buddhist jurisprudence will create a religious dictatorship – Buddhist jurisprudence is not religious rule or theocracy purely based on ethics, fairness & compassion.
Buddhist jurisprudence will violate minority rights – Buddhist jurisprudence is ethical wisdom based on humanity not religion or for a community
Buddhist jurisprudence is outdated – Buddhist legal system is timeless just like the Dhamma – it is more humane & future-ready than many rigid western models
Buddhist jurisprudence is just Sinhala Buddhist nationalism in disguise – Buddhist jurisprudence draws from Buddhist values & promotes moral leadership not racial or religious supremacy – if at all many corrupt Buddhists may not like such a legal system!
Buddhist jurisprudence will fail in a modern economy – A morally governed society attracts trust, peace & long-term investment. Buddhist jurisprudence will harmonize perfectly as a soft-power global tool and further sustains the island as a moral & peaceful non-violent nation.
Bhutan has offered the world a Gross-Happiness Model, Sri Lanka can offer the world an AI-guided by Human Intelligence Buddhist Jurisprudence Model.
We can create DhammaTech (ethical intelligence for Humanity)
BodhiGov (Compassion-Driven Governance)
Sila AI (Wisdom guided codes)
Samadhi Systems (Centred Governance with Artificial Intelligence & Human Intelligence)
We seek solutions because we lack solutions. We seek leaders because we lack leaders. In the Vasala Sutta Buddha redefines who is truly noble.
These are ethical red flags in governance:
One who harbors anger and bears grudges – resentful leadership
One who is deceitful and hypocritical – manipulative policy
One who strikes living beings – abuse of power, violence
One who does not support aged parents – abandonment of duty
One who speaks falsely – dishonesty in leadership
One who destroys villages or communities – warfare, ecological destruction
One who is greedy, selfish – corrupt governance
One who lacks gratitude – no accountability or acknowledgment of the people
One who preaches but does not practice – performative ethics
It is not birth or class, but conduct that defines who is noble” or outcaste” (vasala).
Adhammika Sutra further shows the impact of bad leadership trickling down from ruler to entire Nation.
The Dalada Exposition will commence from 18 April to 28 April. It is more than timely that Buddhist Jurisprudence be reintroduced to regain all the moral high ground lost to our Sacred Nation.
Going by some decisions taken by US Presidents that have had very negative consequences for the USA itself and other countries, a dilemma does arise about democracy and what it means and how it is exercised in the USA. The latest being the decision taken by one person, President Donald Trump, that appears quite at odds with the Lincoln model ofgovernance in a democracy, viz, a government of the people, by the people, and for the people”. A question does arise whether this decision, which appears to have had serious negative consequences for the people in the USA, had the support and approval of the people in the USA. If not, whether democracy has been derailed?
Historically, US Presidential elections have had low voter turn outs, generally around 60%. On the average, Presidents winning elections have received around 48 -50 % of that vote, effectively, around 30-35% of the registered number of votes. In effect, the Presidents have been minority leaders. This is not uncommon as similar outcomes do occur in other democracies, and it is a dilemma that needs to be considered and addressed. What stands out in the US and in its democratic” constitution, is the extraordinary power given to one individual via its executive order system, to make decisions that impact on its own citizens and the citizens of the rest of the world, without any consultation within with those who have elected the President, or without, with the rest of the world.
Amongst catastrophic decisions made by US Presidents in relatively recent times, the Vietnam war was one and it resulted in 3 million deaths in Vietnam, some 275,000–310,000 Cambodians, 20,000–62,000 Laotians and the death of 58,220 US service members. The Iraq war killed some 500,000 people in Iraq. The ousting of leaders and the destabilisation that followed in Libya and Egypt, the open ended support given to Israel to decimate Gaza and kill more than 50,000 people, the tacit and implicit support given to leaders, both political and military, in Myanmar and Pakistan to fabricate cases and imprison democratically elected leaders like Aung Sun Su Kyi and Imran Khan and then pretend they do not exist, are some such decisions. Some decisions were for the sake of democracy”, while paradoxically, others like in Myanmar and Pakistan were to remain silent about the ousting of democratically elected leaders and their imprisonment on false, cooked up charges.
The latest executive order relating to the trade war that has been waged by President Trump and which keeps escalating (EO 14257: Regulating Imports With a Reciprocal Tariff To Rectify Trade Practices That Contribute to Large and Persistent Annual United States Goods Trade Deficits Signed: April 2, 2025, Published: April 7, 2025), is a strange case of US democracy. It has reversed a rules-based order that the US themselves had a lot to do with, the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Created on 1 January 1995, it marked the biggest reform of international trade since the end of the Second World War and its agreements covered trade in services and intellectual property in addition to goods. The birth of the WTO also created new procedures for the settlement of disputes, and which permitted discussion amongst Nations and agreement based as far as possible, by consensus. Rather than addressing shortcomings and anomalies in the WTO, which several countries seem to feel are necessary, President Trump, with the powers that he, just one individual has, turned the world trading system upside down because he was of the opinion it was not serving the interests of the USA.
This article is not about the pros and cons of his decision, and it is not questioning the US constitutional right he had to take the decision. It is about the repercussions that follow for the people in the USA and the rest of humanity in the world, due to a decision taken by one individual. It is about the power that one individual has on account of the military and economic power of his country. It is about the power that a country has acquired by and large riding on the shoulders of other countries of the world. This is how empires came into being historically, and how the US empire, although not falling within the strict definition or understanding what an empire is, came into being in effect as an empire.
Empires were typically built through a combination of military conquest, political manoeuvring, and economic control. A dominant state would expand its power and influence by absorbing or subjugating other states, often relying on superior military technology or organizational structures. This could lead to the creation of territorial empires, where the dominant state directly governed conquered territories, or hegemonic empires, where the dominant state exerted influence through economic or political means.
If one looks at the USA, would one disagree that its might was a result of a combination of military conquest, political manoeuvring, and economic control? The US may not have directly subjugated other states, although it has exerted influence and control through economic, military and/or political means.
This kind of empire building was not uncommon when it came to non-democratic authoritarian States. In recent times, the USSR was a good example. China, in one way or the other, has built its strength and power perhaps more through economic manoeuvring rather than military conquests or political manoeuvring.
But the USA? The citadel of democracy, fairness, justice and promoter of equity which it claims to be, and which faults other countries for not having such values?
In regard to democracy in the USA, the extract noted below from an article by Timothy Snowball, The United States is not a democracy—and it wasn’t meant to be one (https://pacificlegal.org/the-united-states-is-not-a-democracy-and-it-wasnt-meant-to-be-one/?gad_ source=1&gbraid =0AAAAADMUwoLF-YXqK9KBD2dHuFaRWfu2R&gclid =EAIaIQobChMIz7roy8bSjAMV0QyDA x1qNDRkEAAYAiAAEgLn9fD_BwE) is very interesting and it gives a point of view which in all likelihood is at the bedrock of what democracy is understood to be in the USA by many people in the USA who wield real power in the country and who have a significant say in who becomes President, senators and members of the house of representatives, judges of the supreme court etc.
Snowball says Contrary to catchy slogans, memes and other slick forms of electioneering, the government of the United States was never intended to be a pure democracy. In fact, most of the institutions today’s activists complain about were designed to thwart the pernicious effects of too much democracy. They’re anti-democratic by design. Rather than flaws that require remedy, these institutions were (and are) essential safeguards for individual liberty. The Framers knew that in its pure form democracy could be dangerous. The writings of the founding era are replete with warnings of this fact:
Real liberty is not found in the extremes of democracy, but in moderate governments,” Alexander Hamilton wrote. If we incline too much to democracy we shall soon shoot into a monarchy, or some other form of a dictatorship.”
Thomas Jefferson lamented that a democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where 51 percent of the people may take away the rights of the other 49.”
James Madison argued that democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.”
John Adams concluded that democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”
Despite what many of today’s activists would have us believe, the anti-democratic institutions of the American Republic are just as vital now as they were over 200 years ago. For example, the Electoral College ensures that individuals elected to the presidency don’t only have the support of the population-heavy coasts, but broad support throughout the entire country. The function of the Electoral College is to respect and represent the states as sovereign entities within our federal system. Likewise for the Senate. Each state is represented equally in the Senate, irrespective of population, size or prestige. As a check upon democratic extremes, the Senate was even more effective before the unfortunate enactment of the 17th Amendment in 1913 subjected senators to direct election by voters rather than by individual state legislatures.
Finally, the Supreme Court is perhaps the least democratic institution of all. The court’s members are given lifetime appointments by presidents elected via the Electoral College, subject to no democratic oversight or elections. Justices are called upon to decide cases and controversies according to what the law demands, not according to their personal preferences or the passions and prejudices of the electorate.
Lincoln understood the role our institutions play in tempering democracy’s excesses and ensuring deliberation, balance and stability. As he noted in an 1856 speech: Don’t interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties. And not to Democrats alone do I make this appeal, but to all who love these great and true principles. The advocates for increased democracy would do well to remember Lincoln’s wise warning.
Their demand for more democracy may stem from genuine concern and a desire for progress.” But in seeking to undermine or cast aside the less democratic institutions of the American system, they show a vast misunderstanding and lack of appreciation for our unique system of government.
In the United States, the people rule, but only through institutions designed to protect the individual and minority from the tyranny of the majority. That system is worth protecting and preserving”
The above-mentioned limitation to representative democratic governance is shown as positive limitations by the writer Tomothy Snowball and going by history, it appears that these limitations will continue, and democratic reforms will not be welcome in the US. Any effort to liberalise democracy is bound to be thwarted. While the US system may have its benefits to its people, in terms of the well-being of the people, it is interesting to note some statistics relating to the USA, the richest country in the world which according to the World bank, with a GDP of 27.72 trillion in 2023 and a GDP per capita of $ 82,769.
As per the US Census Bureau, the US had an official poverty rate of 11.1%, with 36.8 million living in poverty. Malnutrition affects a significant portion of the population, including children and older adults, with disparities in food insecurity rates across different demographics. Child Malnutrition: 2022 Facts and Statistics contained in World Hunger Education Service -Hunger Notes (https://www.worldhunger.org/about-whes-hunger-notes/) reports that about one in seven households (13.5%) experienced food insecurity in 2023, with 47.4 million Americans living in these households, 13.8 million children lived in food-insecure households, 1.6% of U.S. adults aged 20 and over are underweight. Obesity or a non-communicable disease coupled with malnutrition, is prevalent in more than half of all malnourished households that reside in the US. Income disparity according to the Wikipedia, in 2021, the top 10% of Americans held nearly 70% of U.S. wealth, up from about 61% at the end of 1989 and the top 1% earned 13.2% of total income in 2019, nearly doubling from 7.3% in 1979. Besides these statistics, disparities relating to health services where, as mentioned by Joseph Stiglitz The U.S. being the richest country in the world, suggesting a highly efficient economy, recorded more than a million deaths from COVID, whereas Vietnam, with a GDP of 409 billion had about 43,000”. All above indicators and a host of other indicators, too many to cite here, questions the beneficial outcomes for its people living in its present form of democracy.
The United States is experiencing two major forms of democratic erosion in its governing institutions: election manipulation and executive overreach.
Since 2010, state legislatures have instituted laws intended to reduce voters’ access to the ballot, politicize election administration, and foreclose electoral competition via extreme gerrymandering.
In the U.S., executive power has grown significantly, threatening civil service independence. With a gridlocked, hyper partisan Congress, impartial executive oversight is lacking, and judicial impartiality is in question.
These anti-democratic developments highlighted by Vanessa Williamson would be of concern to many, but they may be consistent with what Timothy Snowball has written in his article that the less democratic institutions of the American system are a unique feature of the system of government in the USA. Perhaps they are regarded as measures needed to protect the system of restricted democratic governance in the US where inequality and inequity seems to part of that unique” system.
Despite Snowball’s statement attributed to Lincoln, the latter’s less publicised view on liberalising governance needs to be quoted here as it is about advancing democratic governance. Most governments have been based, practically, on the denial of equal rights of men, ours began, by affirming those rights. They said, some men are too ignorant, and vicious, to share in government. Possibly so, said we; and, by your system, you would always keep them ignorant, and vicious, to share in government. Possibly so, said we; and, by your system, you would always keep them ignorant, and vicious. We proposed to give all a chance; and we expected the weak to grow stronger, the ignorant wiser; and all better, and happier together.”
The issue for the rest of the world is not about democracy and how it is interpreted and practiced in the USA. It is a matter for the people of the USA. What matters to the rest of the world is the repercussions of some decisions to others in the world, and the political, economic and military interventions that the US engages in other countries claiming they are doing so to lift restrictions on democracy and advance democracy in those countries, although the form of democracy in the US has deliberate mechanisms to restrict rather than advance democracy. One can only hope that this duplicity will end, and as much as turning tables on the world trading system was undesirable and unwelcome, many may wish that President trump will issue an executive order banning US involvement in other countries to engage in political, economic and military interventions in the guise of advancing democracy.
Values and practices relating to advancing democratic governance in countries should be a matter for the United Nations, and not any single country. The purpose and objectives of the United Nations should be revised and its effectiveness strengthened. Democratic governance is a basic human right and all countries should subscribe to a set of values that resonate that right.
Political and economic dominance of others by one rich and powerful country should cease and it is perhaps time that groupings such as the European Union, Asean, the African Union, Mercosur, the Southern Common Market (commonly known by abbreviation Mercosur in Spanish and Mercosul in Portuguese) South American trade bloc with Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay as members, the Union of South American Nations (USAN), BRICS, APEC and other similar trading blocks exert more influence to thwart such dominance by current and would be single country power centres.
Global poverty reduction has slowed to a near standstill
The World Bank gives some very telling information on the well-being status of todays world. These statistics should surely be the sad pointers as to what imperfect governance has delivered to the global population.
It says that today, almost 700 million people (8.5 percent of the global population) live in extreme poverty – on less than $2.15 per day. Progress has stalled amid low growth, setbacks due to COVID-19, and increased fragility. Poverty rates in low-income countries are higher than before the pandemic. Around 3.5 billion people (44 percent of the global population) remain poor by a standard that is more relevant for upper middle-income countries ($6.85 per day), and the number or people living on less than this standard has barely changed since the 1990s due to population growth. In 2024, Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 16 percent of the world’s population, but 67 percent of the people living in extreme poverty. Two thirds of the world’s population in extreme poverty live in Sub-Saharan Africa, rising to three quarters when including all fragile and conflict-affected countries. About 72 percent of the world’s population in extreme poverty live in countries that are eligible to receive assistance from the International Development Association (IDA).
Sri Lanka has received substantial support from donor-funded development projects aimed at improving the economy and supporting social growth. However, a closer look reveals that many of these projects do not achieve their intended results. The pressing question is: How can Sri Lanka improve its oversight of these projects to better utilize donations?
Current Situation of Development Projects
Many donors, including international banks, have invested billions in Sri Lanka. While the initial results often seem positive—highlighted in reports and on social media—the reality on the ground can be quite different. Many projects struggle with issues like poor performance, misaligned goals, and lack of sustainability, which ultimately limit their effectiveness.
Key Problems in the System
Several common issues weaken the effectiveness of donor-funded projects in Sri Lanka:
Excessive Spending on Consultancies: A significant amount of money is spent on international consultants, especially during the closure of projects, which takes important resources away from core needs.
Issues with Procurement: The last stages of projects often involve questionable purchasing decisions that benefit personal interests rather than actual project needs.
Weak Audit Processes: Current audit systems are often just a formality and do not provide the in-depth analysis needed to ensure proper management or accountability.
Lack of Public Engagement: There is limited involvement from the public, and feedback mechanisms are often ineffective, which prevents the projects from reflecting the needs of the community.
Missed Opportunities and Sustainability Issues
Even when projects are successful, they often fail to continue after funding ends due to a lack of follow-up and planning. Without clear strategies for continuation, successful initiatives can disappear, leaving their benefits behind. Addressing sustainability must be a crucial part of project planning from the beginning.
Suggestions for Improvement
To manage donor-funded projects effectively, Sri Lanka needs to make several changes:
Strengthen Internal Audits: Create strategic review committees with the authority to act on red flags and set up independent audits that report directly to leadership.
Integrate Project Management Units: Incorporate project staff into permanent departments to improve coordination and knowledge sharing.
Focus on Outcome-Based Monitoring: Shift measurement from activities completed to real-world outcomes, including direct feedback from the community.
Enhance Transparency: Regularly provide clear spending reports, updates on project progress, and ensure that all procurement practices are openly disclosed.
Plan for Sustainability from the Start: Develop clear plans for handing projects over to local institutions and integrating successful elements into existing programs right from the beginning.
Immediate Steps for Project Managers
If you are currently managing a donor-funded project, consider these actions:
Assess how many project components will continue without donor support.
Create a plan for transferring skills to government staff.
Form a procurement committee that includes community representatives.
Set up a feedback system that allows the public to influence project decisions.
Conclusion
As Sri Lanka continues to rely on donor support, it is essential to treat these funds as a national responsibility that requires careful management. Success should not just be measured by the completion of tasks but by the lasting improvements made in people’s lives.
In this new approach, we shift our focus from superficial achievements to genuine, long-lasting benefits.
[i] The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of any organization or institution. The information presented is based on the author’s analysis and research as of the date of publication. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult relevant sources for a comprehensive understanding of the topic discussed.
Colombo, April 17 (Daily Mirror) – The Catholic Bishops’ Conference in Sri Lanka, in its special message for Easter stressed that ascertaining who the perpetrators of the Easter Sunday attacks in 2019 were and those who have aided and abetted in the dastardly act, is a matter of urgency.
“This Easter also marks the sixth anniversary of the Easter Sunday bomb attacks on innocent worshipers
at Catholic and other Christian Churches and in other places in 2019, causing death and injuries to hundreds of people.
In this regard, we observe that certain positive steps have been taken by the present government to ensure an independent and impartial inquiry into this brutal attack.
While we appreciate the efforts made so far, we insist that as a matter of urgency and justice, the final aim of the inquiries should be to ascertain who the perpetrators are and those who have aided and abetted in the dastardly act.
We shall continue to pray earnestly for wisdom and courage for the leaders of our country, as well as solace and healing for the victims,” the message signed by the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference in Sri Lanka, Bishop Harold Anthony Perera and Secretary General Bishop Anthony Jayakody said.
“Easter also calls us to promote with renewed vigour the sanctity of human life. Thus, we are called to condemn all that is detrimental to the promotion of human life, such as interference with procreation, abortion and other forms of killing and destruction of human life,” the message added.
The Centre for Society and Religion (CSR) claims that Sivanesathurai Santhirikanthan, also known as Pillaiyan, and his former media spokesperson, Azad Maulana, had connections with individuals involved in the Easter Sunday attacks.
However, former Minister Udaya Gammanpila, speaking at a press conference yesterday (16), stated that the government’s attempt to create a narrative that connects Pillaiyan to the Easter attacks has failed.
Meanwhile, Director of the CSR, Father Rohan Silva, also speaking at a press conference yesterday (16), claimed that evidence has emerged indicating the involvement of local intelligence services in the Easter Sunday attacks.
A nation thrives when it preserves its traditional values, cultural heritage, language, and fundamental beliefs. Nations fail whether these lacks. The mentioned elements form the foundation of national unity, sovereignty, spiritual strength, and cultural identity.
For Sri Lanka, with its ~2,500-year-old Buddhist heritage, protecting this legacy is a matter of pride and a necessity for maintaining independence and dignity on the world stage. We have lost some of these strengths and recognitions over the past 75+ years due to short-sighted and selfish politicians. Should fellow citizens allow the current leadership to continue down a path of destruction that undermines our unitary nature and sovereignty—as appears to be happening with secret MoUs with India?
However, it does not mean we should keep boasting about our historic achievements (e.g., agriculture) and not embrace modern methods and technology—for example, digitization of government agencies and departments, cybernetics for broader development, including eliminating waste, abuse, and fraud, and incorporating artificial intelligence, robotics in manufacturing, etc. These apply to all government departments and to the private sector. Major changes are needed. The lack of preparation and decision-making power in the optimum way to respond to the US tariff is another recent example.
By learning from countries that have successfully upheld their cultural identity while remaining non-aligned (e.g., Sweden, Switzerland, etc.), Sri Lanka must strategically and diplomatically avoid manipulation by global powers—without provoking them—through diplomacy with a well-defined national vision. Unfortunately, many Sri Lankan politicians stray from this path due to ego, ignorance, and personal gain. Sustainable prosperity can only be achieved by remaining neutral in global conflicts, properly utilizing our natural resources, prioritizing economic growth with value-added exports, identifying new markets, facilitating the private sector to succeed by deregulation and tax incentives to boost exports, reducing excessive government expenditure (by at least 30%―unachieved), and focusing on the population’s well-being and happiness.
As part of this broader national strategy, preserving our heritage—which has evolved over generations and been protected through great sacrifice—must remain a top priority. Why are Sri Lankans abandoning the invaluable cultural foundations laid by their ancestors that continue to benefit the country? Nevertheless, embracing modern technologies such as digitalization and cybernetics must never come at the cost of our heritage or national identity.
True sovereignty discourages conflict and ensures the protection of a nation’s citizens. This must be achieved through stable, long-term diplomatic relations and compassionate governance—not through misguided, politicized trade agreements, PTAs, or undisclosed memoranda of understanding with foreign powers, such as India or China—people own the country and have the power over politicians they are only appointed temporary caretakers. There is no reason for the government(s) to hide such information from the public. Despite high expectations, these values and principles remain absent in the current and previous leadership, while entrenched bureaucracies continue to harm the nation and its people.
Rather than merely discussing these issues amongst themselves—or remaining silent—citizens must raise their voices firmly, collectively, and peacefully to compel the leadership to change course. This does not call for street protests or violence but for constructive strength, unity, and a shared vision to guide the country back onto the right path. Through such a revival, Sri Lanka can reclaim peace, success, and prosperity. Reclaiming and upholding these ideals is essential for national renewal and long-term resilience.
As Sri Lanka navigates critical discussions on sensitive topics such as international sanctions and allegations against its armed forces, it is imperative to ground deliberations in evidence-based understanding. Shenali Waduge, a renowned analyst and expert on LTTE-related crimes, provides a wealth of invaluable information on the activities and atrocities committed by the LTTE.
Her articles, listed below, serve as key resources for understanding the broader context of LTTE operations, their consequences, and the underlying narratives that have shaped international perceptions. These writings are indispensable for decision-makers, including the Cabinet Sub-Committees tasked with addressing issues of national importance.
Attention to Cabinet Sub-Committees: The articles highlighted here provide critical perspectives necessary for informed deliberations. They not only challenge unsupported allegations but also present well-documented evidence that sheds light on LTTE atrocities and their implications for Sri Lanka. It is strongly recommended that Committee members review these resources thoroughly and incorporate them into their discussions.
Call to Action: Committee members are encouraged to engage with these resources to ensure discussions are based on factual evidence and are reflective of the realities surrounding LTTE operations. For further truth-finding and clarity on these critical topics, Shenali Waduge can be reached through her public platforms, such as her website, or Committee members may coordinate to establish communication where necessary.
By incorporating these insights into deliberations, the Cabinet Sub-Committees can uphold the values of justice, integrity, and sovereignty that define Sri Lanka, paving the way for balanced and effective resolutions.
By Dr Ramesh Somasunderam. Willetton 6155, Australia.
I believe what Sri Lanka needs most is very good Civil and District Administration. This is what can make the country to function and be governed well.
Sri Lanka for once is united under one party and importantly the present President of our lovely country his Excellency Mr. Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Even the Tamils residing in the North and East of Sri Lanka voted for him as their President. Based on this, all Sri Lankans wanted an honest, fair and equitable leader to give them a fair go and employment prospects including, accountability and a just nation. Based on these facts stated, the President of Sri Lanka can ensure as one nation to make the District Administration nonpolitical and functional again and the civil administration a quality one by training our Sri Lanka Administrative Servants by getting quality men and women from the higher civil service in Britain and India to come and train our men and women in the Sri Lanka Higher Administrative Service. This plus mega projects such as the The Kelani River scheme and the Jaffna Salt Water Scheme should be done including making Off Shore banking and Sri Lanka the United Nations of the Fareast by that ensuring our independence.
Sri Lanka’s foreign policy should be neutral but more towards India. Otherwise they will want the road to be built between India and Sri Lanka and the 13th Amendment for devaluation to the Sri Lankan Tamils in the North and East of the country. They believe like the British to divide the rule the nation of Sri Lanka.
In fact it was the central government of India that trained the LTTE and not Tamil Nadu as viewed by many majority Sinhalese. Tamil Nadu emphasized with the Sri Lankan Tamil situation, but did not military train them. The late Mrs Gandhi the Prime Minister of India got many Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups trained in North Indian as the then President of Sri Lanka J. R. Jayewardene was pro-West rather than pro India. Based on this example it is foolish to play games between China and India. We must be neutral in our foreign policy, but lean more towards India as it is regional and potential superpower. Thereby ensuring Sri Lanka is made the center of South Asia.
The problem at present is the current President not using the SLAS Members in key positions and not envisaging on the projects I have stated above. If all of this is done the Central government which is pro North Indian will be pleased with the current government of Sri Lanka and not against it or work against our President and his government as happened in the past.
The other aspect could be Sri Lanka can have a living cricket academy for three years for a Degree to be granted to a promising cricketer men and women from whole of South Asia and promote grassroots cricket in a professional scale within the region, not just Sri Lanka.
At present there is killings among gag groups and contact killing taking place in Sri Lanka, which is because there is a lack of civil and district administration in Sri Lanka. If one takes India for example their higher civil administration is what keeps the country together and functional, not their politicians who are jokers from a majority perspective, both national and state wise in India, but it is their higher civil service which is the pillar of India and it functionality as a nation or country.
Sri Lanka can unite by ensuring English is the main language in the country and Singhalese and Tamil can be followed by people who want their children to be proficient in their mother language like in India where English is the link language even though Modi wants Hindi as well. I suppose time will tell whether this approach pays deviance to India as a nation.
His excellency The President (Thru Deputy Minister of ,Ports Aviation and Road Development)
As the Chairman of the Advisory Board under the Export Development Board, I am reaching out to discuss an exciting opportunity for Sri Lanka, particularly in the context of developing our marine and offshore industry, including nautical tourism within the framework of a blue economy.
In recent years, the Export Development Board has been advocating for the development of Trincomalee, positioning it as a hub for the repair and construction of platforms as well as converted ships used in the oil industry.
Notably, the Port Authority completed a feasibility study in 2021, funded by the Asian Development Bank, which outlined the potential of this initiative as a significant source of income generation for the country.
During my tenure as Chairman, I was involved in a subsequent feasibility study that identified Clappenburg in Trincomalee as an ideal waterfront location for establishing facilities where local and foreign contractors could operate.
The Corporate Plan recognised the establishment of a shipyard and offshore construction yard as vital to generating foreign income and creating employment opportunities for our skilled workforce, many of whom are currently migrating abroad to pursue opportunities in countries like Korea, Romania, and the UAE.
With the foundational concepts already laid out, I respectfully request your Excellency to engage the Ministry of Ports, the Ministry of Industries, and the Board of Investment (BOI) to generate interest among large foreign conglomerates to invest in this venture.
Furthermore, while India holds certain development rights in Trincomalee, actual investment beyond IOC’s storage tanks has been minimal.
We must also consider the underutilized development of the tank farm in Trincomalee, the pipeline from India to Sri Lanka, and potential projects such as the Adani wind power initiative and green hydrogen generation. Collaboration with foreign companies, including Tata, Abans, and L&T, alongside established Singaporean or Korean yards could catalyze the development of an offshore construction yard in Trincomalee.
Trincomalee’s potential for generating energy through wind, wave, or solar power structures is immense, and we should leverage our land and resources to build a competent offshore Center of Excellence in our port city.
While we are training engineers and software developers to drive digitalization, the need for skilled workers in the industry remains critical. Additionally, bringing in Chinese investment for a refinery in Hambantota and tank farm development in Trincomalee could further strengthen our industrial capacity.
It is essential to revolutionize vocational training to meet industry demands, which have, in the past, suffered due to political interference.
By empowering our youth to work in our own heavy industrial sectors, we can stem the tide of skilled labor migration.
The Industrial Development Board (IDB) of the Ministry of Industries could undertake land development in collaboration with the Port Authority to manage the harbor front, creating necessary infrastructure such as berths and mooring buoys to accommodate ships and rigs.
To expedite the development of Trincomalee, I propose appointing a dedicated Minister or State Minister specifically focused on advancing the blue economy. This strategic leadership can accelerate initiatives to generate foreign income and create employment opportunities for our youth.
Thank you in advance for considering this vital proposal for the future of our marine and offshore industry.
I look forward to your support in making Trincomalee a leader in blue economy initiatives.
An MOU to develop an LNG power project on the East Coast of Sri Lanka, near the coveted Indian Ocean Trincomalee Deep Sea Port, with India and the United Arab Emirates was signed on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Sri Lanka by President Anura Dissanayaka.
The multicultural Eastern Province was decimated during the 30-year war between the Liberation Tigers or LTTE and the Sri Lanka military, when Israel’s Mossad agents operated from bases in the Batticaloa District to set up and train Sri Lanka’s Special Forces, some of which were later linked to Batalanda and other terror and torture house operations by State-run and other Paramilitary Groups accused of disappearences in the South during the so called JVP insurrection 1988-1990.
Israel’s Secret Service, Mossad agents, along with veterans of the British Special Air Services (SAS) , and Keenie Meenie (KMS Group, now Saladin, London) Mercenaries, were imported to Sri Lanka by the Washington-backed J.R. Jayawardena regime in the early eighties after the staged Pogrom/ Riots of 1983. These foreign intelligence agencies and mercenaries were brought to Sri Lanka purportedly to set up and train Special Forces to fight the war against the LTTE. Training Camps were set up in the Eastern Province to train the Special Force in Batticaloa District, where local people called the white mercenaries Mossadu” (cf. Phil Miller’s book, Keenie Meenie: The British Mercenaries who got away with War Crimes”).
What emerged in Sri Lanka was a classic Cold War Proxy war between the LTTE then backed by India closely allied with the Communist Soviet Union/Russia and the US-and Western allies backed regime of Yankie Dickie J.R. Jayawardena, destroying ancient patterns of co-existence among Sinhala and Tamil-speaking people in Sri Lanka. The ensuing internationally networked and run Dirty War in Sri Lanka was called an indigenous, internal ethnic conflict”.
Weaponization of Religion/s in Eastern Province by Foreign Intelligence Agencies- Past and Present
Ethno-religious identities were fragmented and fully Weaponized at the time as part of counter-terrorism operations with Mossad training- as is the case in Israel. From 1984 Israel’s Mossad operated in the Eastern Province. In Colombo they worked out of the Israeli Special Interest Section at the US embassy.
The Kathankudi Mosque Massacre was staged to destroy close relations between Muslims and Tamils in the East, and the LTTE expelled Muslims from Jaffna in 1990. Not coincidentally, Kathankudi was where the leader and members of the ISIS-claimed 2019 Easter Sunday suicide bombers hailed from. The mysterious Evangelical Zion Church was also set up in Batticaloa as part of the Cold War Weaponization of Relgion/s.
Ancient patterns of co-existence and intermarriage among Muslims and Tamils who share the unique matrilineal Kudi System of kinship and descent documented by many social scientists in the Eastern Province, were targeted and broken as in Palestine by Mossad and Shin Bet which destroyed brotherly / sisterly relations between Palestinian Muslims and Christians and Jews to set up the State of Israel. As per counter-terrorism operations.
Is history set to repeat itself in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka, once again with I2U2 entrenching itself in Trincomalee and religion/s again being weaponized?
Recently, a mysterious boat load of Rohingya Muslims was parachuted into the eastern Seas and Mullaithivu. Red flags should fly in Sri Lanka with the I2U2 (India, Israel, and United Arab Emirates cooperating to build an LNG power plant in Trincomalee given the Mossad Chabad Houses mushrooming in Sri Lanka and Israeli Tourist and Agri-businesses in Arugambay and Kantalai?
Is the US drawing India and Sri Lanka into its latest Indian Ocean Quad, the West Asia war machine via the I2U2?
Few Sri Lankan Geopolitical Pundits, researchers and think tanks seem to know or care about the I2U2, but maybe they should? This, especially as another predictable Disinformation andCover Up investigation of the external Master-mind of the ISIS-claimed Easter Sunday Terror Attacks, who also removed the cell phones of the culprits and gamed the data unfolds, targeting a bit player called Pillayan.
I2U2 : The Aspects and the Prospects
Ishani Agnihotri | 16 August 2022
Established at the Foreign Ministers’ meet in October, 2021, I2U2 stands for India, Israel, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the United States (US) quadrilateral partnership. The leaders of the above four member countries met (virtually)[i] for the first time on 14th July, 2022. Combining complementary strengths and capabilities to fulfill mutual socio-economic interests, the new Quad partners look forward to bolstering cooperation and partnership in the region – as indicated in the inaugural summit.[ii]
The changing dynamic of West Asia has however made the foreign policy sphere rife with speculation on the strategic and geopolitical prospects, and the viability of this newly formed mini-lateral. It is in this light that this issue brief examines the aspects of this newly formed body, and the potential prospects of cooperation that lie ahead. With a brief understanding of the purpose of this new Quad, the paper studies the nature of existent bilateral relationships between members, their individual divergent geopolitical interests, and the factors that bring them together, exploring the road ahead.
The Purpose of I2U2
I2U2 identifies 6 areas of cooperation and investment, namely – water, energy, transportation, space, health, and food security. It intends to mobilise private sector capital and expertise to help modernise infrastructure, develop low carbon development pathways for industries, improve public health, and promote the development of critical emerging and green technologies in the member countries.[iii] The countries deny any military angle to their cooperation with the agenda of the mini-lateral focused on the economic and infrastructural development.[iv]
The Nature of Relationship between the Four Member States
Two federal republics, a Jewish democratic state, and a monarchy – the four I2U2 member countries share comprehensive economic, military, and political bilateral relationship with each other. The US is the largest trading partner for both, India and Israel. India, on the other hand, is the second largest trading partner of UAE (2021) and the third-largest Asian trade partner of Israel (2019). India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) also entered into force recently (February, 2022). In terms of trade in defence, India was the largest importer of arms in 2017-21 with Israel and the US being its third and fourth largest defence supplier respectively.[v] India is also the largest buyer of Israeli military equipment.[vi] The countries are also co-participants in different military exercises, like, the Blue Flag air combat exercise (Israel), or the Desert Flag exercise (UAE), which saw the participation of both India and the US along with other countries.
Bilaterally, India shares prolific relationships with the three other members; boasting of a ‘Global Strategic Partnership’ with the US, ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ with the UAE, and 30 years of successful diplomatic relationship with Israel. Indian expatriates today make up roughly 30 per cent of UAE’s total residents – double of the original Emirati ethnic population themselves.[vii] US and Israel also share a Strategic Partnership relationship. US was the third country to establish formal diplomatic relations with UAE post its independence in 1971. The strategic proximity of their relationship is exhibited in the fact that UAE hosts the busiest US air base in the wold for surveillance flights, Al Dhafra.[viii] It also hosts the busiest US Navy port of call, Jebel Ali.[ix] Furthermore, the signing of the Abraham Accords brokered by the US in August, 2020 has led to full normalisation of ties between the Jewish state of Israel and the Arab UAE.
The thriving bilateral relationships however do not mean that the four countries share same ideological and strategic interests. For instance, Iranian rivalry is central to the US and Israeli outlook of West Asia. India and UAE, on the other hand, continue to find ways to engage with Tehran. India’s historical and cultural relationship with Iran, though pressured under Western sanctions, continues to thrive as witnessed during the recent diplomatic exchanges between the two states.[x],[xi] Similarly, the rise of China has had different meanings for the four countries in discussion. While the US eyes the rising Chinese footprints in the region and Indo-Pacific with adversarial sight, India has a tight rope to walk with its current belligerent neighbour. Israel and UAE, on the other hand, have been observed to be benefitting from the rising Chinese economic investments in the region. China and UAE recently upgraded their ties to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership status.[xii] There has also been increased defence and technical cooperation between China and Israel which has caused concerns in Western nations, particularly the US. The Chinese investment in the construction of container terminals in Haifa port (Israel) and Khalifa port (UAE) as part of its flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) further exacerbates the US security concerns in the region.[xiii]
The pending resolution of the Palestinian issue is also a point of divergence in the relationship shared by these four countries. For example, the Arab-Israel rivalry and the two states solution advertised by the UN is known to have shaped the West Asian geopolitics since 1947. India also calls for a peaceful resolution of Israel-Palestine issue.[xiv] In the light of these dynamics, India-Israel bilateral relationship remained mostly restricted to technology, defence and agriculture until recent high level visits post 2014.[xv] Economics, energy, and the emerging geopolitical trends have now paved way for a more realist outlook in the current century as witnessed in the signing of the Abraham accords.
What brings the Four Nations Together?
The creation of I2U2 is seen as one of the key dividends of the Abraham Accords that intends to pave the way for normalisation of Arab-Israel ties.[xvi] Today, Israel has newly established diplomatic relationships with four Arab League countries, namely UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. The evolving geopolitical, economic, security and social realities of the region are encouraging new diplomatic dialogues. For example, the Neom Meeting between Saudi Crown Prince and Israel Prime Minister was held in November, 2020.[xvii] With the potential coming together of the West Asian region, the four nations’ foreign ministers’ meeting was held in a hybrid format last year. India, Israel, UAE, and the US, explored possibilities for joint infrastructure projects in transportation, tech, maritime security, economics and trade, as well as for additional joint projects. In this meeting, the Ministers decided to establish a forum for economic cooperation to take forward their maiden dialogue which eventually led to the current format of I2U2. In the event of this converging foreign policy interests of the otherwise socially and regionally diverse countries, it becomes essential to understand what brings these nations together.
The four members of I2U2 seem to be bound by two major interests – the regional geopolitical footprint expansion and the global socio-economic security. For the US, the creation of this alliance serves two purposes, firstly, it negates the notion” of the US withdrawal from West Asia, and secondly, it strengthens its strategic footprints in the region by fulfilment of the long term American commitment towards Israeli economic, political and strategic integration in the region.[xviii] For Israel and UAE, the two nations bound by economic realism, this alliance can create blueprint for effective West Asian future cooperation.[xix] The founding membership of this Western mini-lateral also reaffirms the leadership role that India holds today in consolidation of the South Asian rimland. I2U2 offers India a platform to more openly engage with Israel and other Arab countries beyond bilateral means to benefit economically, socially and geopolitically in the region.
Speaking of the global socio-economic security interest, the world, as we know today, is witnessing a new set of emerging challenges beyond the conventional threats. If the global growth was at risk (as reported by the UN)[xx], the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing competition for global dominance, and the current Russia-Ukraine war have made the economic and social costs of dwindling growth more visible. Supply chains break-down, trade wars, energy insecurity and geopolitical-economic issues have been observed to pull down the global economic recovery attempts.[xxi] Whereas ecologically, the food insecurity, declining soil productivity, global warming, and climate change threaten the long term survival of the societies itself.[xxii] It is in this light that the convergence of different capabilities becomes important to counter the forces of unsustainability – as depicted in the agenda for I2U2.[xxiii]
What Benefits Lie for the Four Nations?
For the US, the ‘West Quad’ allows for expansion of the geographic scope of its relationship in the region – securing the East Mediterranean Coast to the Persian Gulf axis. This becomes important when viewed in conjunction with the speculated development of the Russia-China-Iran triangle in the region.[xxiv] It will also help the States reinvigorate the partnerships which suffered during the previous presidency of Donald Trump. A stable, connected and cooperative West Asia further ensures the security of the US’ socio-economic interests and investments in the region as its policy focus expands to the Indo-Pacific.[xxv]
I2U2 also presents India with an opportunity to play global leadership role alongside the US while keeping its strategic autonomy and national interests intact. Deepening of ties with the West Asia region as a whole presents holistic diplomatic and infrastructural connectivity channels for India. This can benefit both, the large Indian diaspora in West Asia, as well as India’s own economic and political interests. For example, the realisation of India-Arab-Mediterranean Corridor, as a next step of India – West Asia connectivity, can provide economically viable alternate trade routes connecting the Indian subcontinent to the European Mainland.[xxvi] The prospective completion of this supply chain corridor will not only benefit the people to people connect but will also strengthen India’s trade and energy security.
The newly formed diplomatic ties between Israel and UAE also have the potential to benefit the West Asia region at large. For UAE, it impresses upon the growing prominence of the country in the Gulf region with its cosmopolitan high economic profile. Whereas for Israel, it presents opportunity for initiation, expansion and solidification of formal diplomatic ties with other Arab states. A successful cooperation between Israel and UAE within the American umbrella and Indian support can open doors for realisation of economic relationship between Israel and Saudi Arabia as a next step.
While on paper this new found grouping is said to be entirely focussed on economic and infrastructural development, one cannot completely ignore the security and geopolitical issues which surround the four member states. Different scholars have questioned the viability of this union when it comes to conflicting ideological and national interests; the response to Iranian threat being a case in point.
Convergence in Divergence
As noted by Winston Churchill, We have no permanent friends, but permanent interests”. The combined fear of weaponisation of Iranian nuclear program is known to bring diverse nations together complemented by American support. While there exists an anti-Iran front, there also coexists a sense of balance in the region when viewed from UAE and Indian perspective. India has been working with and around Western sanctions to maintain the strategic warmth of its historic relationship with Iran.[xxvii] This also becomes important in the light of recent Chinese strategic overtures in the region.
China is overtly known for making its economic inroads into West Asia since the beginning of this century.[xxviii] Although Chinese investments in Israel, UAE, and other Gulf countries have remained economic till now, the surfacing of Iran-China Strategic Partnership Agreement bodes deeper engagement in the region. The growing Chinese economic, and now strategic, heft in the region, bodes a possibility of competition and contestation in the region in the race for polarity. The I2U2 goals would thus benefit by disengaging the forum’s economic and development agendas from the member states’ individual security and strategic interests. The denial of any military angle in the first summit of the grouping hints in this direction.
The Road Ahead
I2U2 offers a unique combination of Israeli innovative technology, US global industrial expertise, Emirati economic resources and Indian market leadership together to present sustainable competitive opportunities that can benefit the global economic order today. In light of current global turmoil like the COVID-19 pandemic fall-outs and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis, the areas of cooperation identified by this grouping namely – water, energy, transportation, space, health, and food security – are both short term requirements and long term imperatives. The burgeoning global population, and the declining planet capacity, in conjunction with potentially destructive multipolarity contestations, can thus use responsible leadership to attain balance in the above domains.
As far as India is concerned, it is no longer content to be passive recipients of outcomes in the West Asian region, and it is with this understanding with which Delhi is becoming more proactive about deepening its relationships in the region. Rather than waiting for the ties to take shape organically or mere reciprocation to events as they occur, I2U2 presents India with a much suited leadership role for shaping the global socio-economic security structure. However, it remains equally essential for the member states to not lose out on the above global goals for individual geopolitical interests. A stable, less volatile, and cooperative West Asia holds hope for the otherwise restive world today.
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* Ishani Agnihotri, Research Intern, Indian Council of World Affairs, Sapru House, New Delhi. Disclaimer: The views are of the author.
Endnotes
[i] Omri Nahmias, (2022, July 14), Leaders of Israel, US, India and the UAE meet for the inaugural ‘I2U2’ virtual summit, Retrieved from The Jerusalem Post: https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-712091, Accessed on July 18, 2022
In the ceaseless cycle of Samsara, where beings traverse the realms of existence, the teachings of the Buddha shine as a beacon of wisdom and liberation. The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation, based in Taipei, Taiwan, has committed itself to the noble task of sharing these profound teachings by offering Dharma books and materials freely to practitioners around the world.
For many years, I have been privileged to receive their Dharma gifts, which have been a transformative force in my spiritual journey. The books I received during my early adulthood—such as the treasured Pirivana Poth Wahanse—helped me embrace the Dharma deeply and find guidance in the Buddha’s timeless wisdom. These books were not just for me; they became gifts I shared with others. Neighboring households, libraries, and friends were introduced to these sacred teachings, creating ripples of positive impact within our community.
In my home, these books have remained a source of inspiration and spiritual growth. My late mother, in her final years, immersed herself in the teachings they provided. Until her passing, she found comfort and strength in their pages—a reminder of the Buddha’s compassion and the path to liberation. Today, I continue this legacy by exploring titles such as The Gift of Well Being and Loving and Dying.
Loving and Dying, published in 1993 by the Malaysian Buddhist Meditation Centre and gifted to me in 1994by the Buddhist Foundation in Taipei, Taiwan, holds a special place in my spiritual journey. It is a book of profound insights that has deeply resonated with my wife and me as we immerse ourselves in its teachings. One particularly moving reminder from the book encapsulates the Buddha’s ultimate wisdom: Yes, all Buddhists should remember that the Buddha’s last reminder to us was to strive on untiringly to attain the wisdom that can liberate us from birth and death.”
The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation’s mission exemplifies the spirit of dana (selfless giving). Their generosity allows practitioners to embrace the Buddha’s teachings without barriers, spreading light and hope to those seeking peace in their lives. Their offerings include materials in multiple languages, such as English, Hindi, Sinhala, French, Tibetan, and more, ensuring accessibility for Dharma friends across cultures and continents.
This foundation’s work deserves recognition and support. They have called upon individuals and organizations to help promote their mission by sharing information through newsletters, publications, TV productions, and websites. By doing so, we can help amplify their outreach, ensuring that more people gain access to their invaluable free resources.
As an author and publisher dedicated to protecting and promoting Buddhism, I feel deeply compelled to contribute to their noble cause. Through my writings, I aspire to highlight their efforts and inspire others to support their work. Together, we can help ensure that the Buddha’s wisdom continues to illuminate lives and guide beings toward liberation from the Samsara.
I also encourage Dharma friends to explore their offerings and share them with others. All materials are provided strictly for free distribution and cannot be sold, reflecting the purity of their intentions and dedication to the Dharma.
The foundation has requested updates to contact details to ensure seamless delivery of materials. I humbly urge recipients to provide the necessary information so that these gifts continue to reach those who need them.
For further details about their offerings or to access their Dharma resources, please visit their official website at
www-old.budaedu.org.
With gratitude for their work and the impact it has had on my life and the lives of others, I extend my heartfelt wishes to the venerable monks and staff of the foundation. May their efforts flourish and bring every living being closer to the light of enlightenment.
Contact Information: Fax: +886-2-2391-3415 E-mail: overseas@budaedu.org Air Mail: 11F, No.55, Hang Chow South Road, Sec. 1, Taipei City, Taiwan (Post Code: 100)
May these Dharma gifts transform lives as they have mine, spreading peace, wisdom, and the boundless compassion of the Buddha across the world.
With highest regards,
Palitha Ariyarathna
Ceo and Founder, Ceylonwatch” Analyst of Buddhist Affairs Desha Abhimani Surya Vansa Ratna Vibhushan Senkadagala Sinha Dwaraya TCFBI PEC President, Unethical Conversion of Buddhist TCFBI International Co-ordinator Hela Abimani National Foundation – Secretary, Founder, Sinhala Prathipaththi Kendraya, President Jathika Bawuddha Balawegaya, Author, Publisher, and Journalist
The government’s efforts to create a perception that Sivanesathurai Santhirakanthan, alias Pillayan, is involved in the Easter attacks have failed, says former parliamentarian Udaya Gammanpila.
He stated this at a media briefing today (16).
Former State Minister Chandrakanthan was arrested on the 8th of this month, pertaining to investigations into the abduction and disappearance of Professor Sivasubramaniam Ravindranath, a former Vice-Chancellor of the Eastern University.
The arrest comes 18 years after the alleged abduction, which is said to have occurred on December 15, 2006.
Pillayan, who was arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), is currently being held in the custody of the Criminal Investigation Department on a 90-day detention order.
Attorney-at-Law Gammanpila met with Pillayan and held discussions for half an hour yesterday (15).
Will a peaceful and sustainable multipolar world be born when the rising economic weight of emerging economies is matched with rising geopolitical weight, as argued by renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs in his recent Other News article?[i]
There is no question that, as the US-led world order collapses, a new multipolar world that can foster peace and sustainable development is urgently needed. BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) was established to promote the interests of emerging economies by challenging the economic institutions dominated by the West and the supremacy of the US dollar in international trade. Asia alone constitutes around 50% of the world’s GDP today. China is expected to become the world’s leading economy and India, the world’s third largest economy by 2030.
But does economic growth alone reflect improvement in the quality of life of the vast majority of people? And should it continue to be the central criteria for a new international order”?
Unfortunately, BRICS appears to be replicating the same patterns of domination and subordination in its relations with smaller nations that characterize traditional imperial powers. Whether the world is unipolar or multipolar, the continuation of a dominant global economic and financial system based on competitive technological and capitalist growth and environmental, social and cultural destruction will fundamentally not change the world and the disastrous trajectory we are on.
Despite many progressives investing hope in the emerging multipolarity, there is a deep systemic bias that fails to recognize that the emerging economies are pursuing the same economic model as the West. This means we will continue to live in a world that prioritizes unregulated transnational corporate growth and profit over environmental sustainability and social justice. China Communications Construction Company and the Adani Group are just two examples of controversial Chinese and Indian conglomerates reflecting this destructive continuity.
Is India, as Professor Sachs says, providing skillful diplomacy” and superb leadership” in international affairs?[ii] Look, for example, at India’s advancing vision of Greater India,” Akhand Bharat (Undivided India) and behavior towards its neighboring countries. Are these not strikingly similar to US strategies of hegemonic interference?
While India promotes its trade and infrastructure projects as enhancing regional security and welfare, experiences in Nepal demonstrate how Indian trade blockades and electricity grid integration with India have made Nepal dependent on and subordinate to India in meeting its basic energy and consumer needs. Similarly, Bangladesh’s electricity agreement with the Adani Group has created a situation allowing Adani to cut power supply to Bangladeshi consumers.
Since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina regime, there have been widespread demands to cancel the deal with Adani, which is seen as unequal and harmful to Bangladesh. Similarly, recent agreements made with Sri Lanka would expand India’s “energy colonialism” and overall political, economic and cultural dominance threatening Sri Lanka’s national security, sovereignty and identity.[iii]
During Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka, April 4-6, 2025, according to reports in the Indian media, some seven to ten agreements were signed to strengthen ties in defense, electricity grid interconnection, multi-product petroleum pipeline, digital transformation and pharmacopoeial practices between the two countries. The agreements have been signed using Sri Lankan Presidential power without debate or approval of the Sri Lankan Parliament. The secrecy surrounding the agreements is such that both the Sri Lankan public and media still do not know how many pacts were made, their full contents and whether the documents signed are legally binding agreements or simply Memoranda of Understanding” (MOUs), which can be revoked.
The new five-year Indo-Lanka Defense Cooperation Agreement is meant to ensure that Sri Lankan territory will not be used in any manner that could threaten India’s national security interests and it formally guarantees that Sri Lanka does not allow any third power to use its soil against India. While India has framed the pact as part of its broader Neighborhood First” policy and Vision MAHASAGAR (Great Ocean)” to check the growing influence of China in the Indian Ocean region, it has raised much concern and debate in Sri Lanka.
As a member of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD)—a strategic alliance against Chinese expansion that includes the United States, Australia and Japan—India participates in extensive QUAD military exercises like the Malabar exercises in the Indian Ocean. In 2016, the United States designated India as a Major Defense Partner and in 2024, Senator Marco Rubio, current US Secretary of State, introduced a bill in the US Congress to grant India a status similar to NATO countries. In February 2025, during a visit to the USA by Modi, India and the US entered into a 10-year defense partnership to transfer technology, expand co-production of arms, and strengthen military interoperability.
Does this sound like the start of a new model of geopolitics and economics?
Sri Lankan analysts are also pointing out that with the signing of the defense agreement with India, there is a very real danger of Sri Lanka being dragged into the Quad through the back door as a subordinate of India.”[iv] They point out that Sri Lanka could be made a victim in the US-led Indo-Pacific Strategy compromising its long-held non-aligned status and close relationship with China, a major investor, trade partner and supporter of Sri Lanka in international forums.
The USA and its QUAD partner India, as well as China and other powerful countries, want control over Sri Lanka, due to its strategic location in the maritime trade routes of the Indian Ocean. But Sri Lanka, which is not currently engaged in any conflict with an external actor, has no need to sign any defense agreements. The defense MOU with India represents further militarization of the Indian Ocean as well as a violation of the 1971 UN Declaration of the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace and the principles of non-alignment—which both India and Sri Lanka have supported in the past.
Professor Sachs—who attended the Rising Bharat Conference, April 8-9, 2025 in New Delhi—has called for India to be given a seat as a permanent member in the UN Security Council gushing that no other country mentioned as a candidate …comes close to India’s credentials for a seat.” But would this truly represent a move towards a New International Order,” or would it simply be a mutation of the existing paradigm of domination and subordination and geopolitical weight being equated with economic weight, i.e., might is right”?
Instead, the birth of a multipolar world requires the right of countries—especially small countries like India’s neighbors—to remain non-aligned amidst the worsening geopolitical polarization of the new Cold War.
What we see today is not the emergence of a truly multipolar and just international order but continued imperialist expansion with local collaboration prioritizing short-term profit and self-interest over collective welfare, leading to environmental and social destruction. Breaking free from this exploitative world order requires fundamentally reimagining global economic and social systems to uphold harmony and equality. It calls on people everywhere to stand up for their rights, speak up and uplift each other. In this global transformation, India, China and the newly emergent economies have significant roles to play. As nations that have endured centuries of Western imperial domination, their mission should be to lead the global struggle for demilitarization and the creation of an ecological and equitable
Towards a New International Order?: India, Sri Lanka and the New Cold War – Other News – Voices against the tide
Culture, traditions, values, and rituals are not written by politicians — they are carved into the soul of a nation. Governments may pass laws, leaders may come and go, but the heartbeat of a civilization lives in its people. No politician, no policy, and no personal agenda can erase what generations have carried in faith, sacrifice, and memory.” As such the decision by both the President & PM not to attend any Sinhala Buddhist New Year celebrations is disappointing especially when the PM decided to only attend a Hindu religious celebration in a kovil. With teams drawing up both their itineraries well in advance, this omission was nothing but intentional & should go down in history with disgust & distaste.
With the open economy, commercialism & consumerism man/women & child have been turned to commodities. As such the modus operandi has been to distance the individual from his clan. All that had kept a family together is being subtly dismantled to isolate the individual. Customs like bowing down to elders has been laughed at. Being modern is not being disrespectful. Culture & kindness never goes out of style. While world attention has been drawn to artificial” intelligence, what is being ignored is the natural intelligence of the mind which is far greater & more powerful than any computer system working on algorithms & filters. Elders are walking libraries. They can share with you wonderful stories you will never enjoy on Netflix. Don’t wait till they’re gone to learn from them.
Notice how the media is being used to erase language by mixing words from other languages. These are all pre-planned initiatives to erase the identity of people. A generation that mocks tradition grows up confused. Look at the lives of those who mock tradition & customs. They present an outward confident self but inside they are fighting their confused self.
It is important for all to realize that we are the vehicle for the continuity of our culture. Education system has failed to show how our ancestors have carried the flame & passed it on to us to carry not to blow it out. In Sri Lanka, ayubowan is more than just a greeting, it’s a blessing. Thus our culture, our values, our Buddhist heritage are not just decorations. They are the backbone, our identity and it is our duty to protect them.
No smartphone, no wi-fi can match a happy family. Modern is not forgetting what made us strong for thousands of years. The magnificent monuments, the ancient architecture, the irrigation marvels were all built without modern technology, not by people graduating from ivy league universities or anyone who had passed O/L or A/L with distinctions. Modern & development has so many restrictions. There were no doors, windows or massive gates for fear of rogues & rapists. There were no cameras watching our movements. Do we really have the freedom that the ancient people enjoyed?
It is unfortunate that many have come to consider culture as merely an annual event wearing a national dress grudgingly following what parents demand. Culture is about how we think. How we live. How we treat our parents, grandparents & others.
When Buddhists stop going to the temple, teaching dhamma lessons to our children – it is not becoming modern. We are creating a lost generation. This is probably part of the agenda.
Children need to be taught discipline, they must also be taught to know their mother tongue or feel shy to speak it. Schools should not be a place for marks. It must be a place for morals. This is what is lacking today in both student & teacher. Teach maths but team Metta, teach science but also teach Sila, teach ambition but also teach Anicca (impermanence) these are lessons that are eternal truths.
It is unfortunate that for foreign funding, personal scholarships etc policy makers are sacrificing the foundation of this nation. Those who write policies, syllabuses & laws are committing a major mistake in removing Dhamma from schools, erasing history in the name of bogus neutrality”. Social media is full of ugly messages making children & even adults believe that Buddhist values are old fashioned”. Falsely believing so will usher a future of people with less integrity, less humanity and no wisdom. A country that forgets its roots will fall not with an explosion but with slow decay. We can see it happening because people with no values, no integrity & no character are in seat of governance & decision making.
The youth must be intelligent enough to not fall for the traps. Don’t accept the lie that tradition is boring. Don’t be ashamed of your culture. Be proud of it. Be a generation that remembers not a generation that thinks it fashionable to forget. Be modern in skill but ancient in spirit. Wear modern clothes but remember your sila.
Look around the lives of youth who claim to belong to the new generation” how happy are they? Do you not notice there is something missing in their lives? This experiment has failed. These youth become guineapigs of lust, drugs & all types of narcotics, their bodies are used that by the time they are of a mature age they have nothing more to enjoy. What should have been enjoyed phased out has been experienced in their teens & these children become psychologically traumatized beings.
We are fully aware of the plot & plan to erase the culture & history of Sri Lanka.
School curriculums are being altered, history is being re-written, diluted or removed especially content related to ancient civilizations & national heroes. Some experts” are promoting Sri Lankan” history when such never existed. Important cultural & religious teachings are being rebranded & claimed controversial”, Sri Lankan students are taught about foreign revolutions and not the heroic efforts of their kings & theroes who protected the Nation. The outcome is simple – youth cut off from their roots grow up with no loyalty to the land that raised them. This is the goal.
Inspite of the Constitutional provision to protect & foster Buddhism/Buddha Sasana temples, pirivenas, cultural centres & local arts are being intentionally neglected, given less funding or those that hate Buddhists are being appointed to govern them. Sacred rituals are mocked, ancient customs are called backward” except when a party wants votes of the majority. Cultural festivals are reduced to commercial events ignoring the spiritual significance. Without respect & support these entities collapse – this is obviously the goal.
There is a new frenzy to promote secularism” this is again intentionally attempting to remove the Buddhist foundation of Sri Lanka. This project involves subtle removal of religious values from education, media, public life in the name of modern” but with intent to dislodge the place of Buddhism, thus the call to change the Constitution which is nothing but to remove Article 9 & Article 16.
Media is being used to redefine the identity of Sri Lanka glorifying modern lifestyles, mocking traditions, promoting foreign ideals, imported cultures. When people are regularly indoctrinated with foreign ideals & values they subtly begin to forget who they are & what they should stand for apart from a wise handful.
The most damaging outcome is by passing laws that undermine heritage to intentionally weaken religious institutions, change status of national language, undermine historical religious protections (Article 9 / Article 16) & promote globalization instead of national culture. When laws stop protecting the national identity, the national identity begins to get erased. This is the goal.
All these may appear unimportant but a nation that forgets its culture becomes vulnerable to division to foreign control & to spiritual collapse. When there is no history, there is no pride in people. If people pride in foreign values, these foreign nations will easily manipulate them. When tradition is forgotten, there is no unity. When this happens, the nation is weak & made vulnerable. When there are no values there is no direction. People end up like zombies and gypsies, no sense of where they belong.
The scenario should now be clear to imagine
How can we overcome these dangers – we need to educate outside the system, teach the real history. We need to support temples, pirivenas & local artists who value our culture & traditions. We need to hold leaders accountable – when they attempt to rewrite or ignore history.
We need to celebrate our culture publicly, proudly & unapoligetically.
US President Donald Trump’s tariff war has rocked global markets and could trigger significant shifts in the world order. Initially dismissed as a mere threat during his campaign, the tariffs unleashed by Trump from the White House have escalated, with China and other countries retaliating. These economic measures, while targeting rivals, may also escalate geopolitical tensions, raising fears of a larger conflict.
US President Donald Trump’s tariff war has shaken the global markets and threatens to bring seismic change in the world order. As Trump announced a tariff plan during the US Presidential elections last year, many world leaders perhaps considered it a threat and bluster. But in the White House, Trump has unleashed waves of tariffs on its trade partners. With many countries, especially China choosing to retaliate with counter tariffs, the trade war is getting uglier by the day.
While slapping tariffs and putting in place trade barriers are aimed at hurting rivals economically, they could potentially stoke geopolitical tensions and eventually turn into conflicts. As globalsuperpowers engage in trade war and flex military muscle, thereare always chances of countries forming coalitions against one another, leading to World War III.
It is worth noting that Trump has been aggressive not only on trade front but also on using military power. He has threatened Iran of bombing in case it doesn’t seal a nuclear deal. Earlier, he came up with the idea of taking over Gaza. Trump has himself warned of World War III if the Russia-Ukraine conflict does not end.
Why Donald Trump is ramping up production of this new nuclear weapon
Amid ongoing power tussles, the US is believed to have started ramping up its nuclear arsenal.A New York Post report said that the US has hastened production of ‘gravity bomb’ because of an urgent” and critical” threat from rising global tensions. The gravity bombs are considered 24 times more powerful than the one used on Hiroshima during World War II.
What is a Gravity bomb?
Gravity bombs are bombs that are dropped from a nuclear-capable aircraft. They are hugely destructive. A single B61-13 gravity bomb is nearly 24 times more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima.
The Department of Defense in October 2023 announced that the US will pursue a modern variant of the B61 nuclear gravity bomb, designated the B61-13, pending Congressional authorization and appropriation.
The B61-13 will strengthen deterrence of adversaries and assurance of allies and partners by providing the President with additional options against certain harder and large-area military targets,” it said.
There have been growing concerns around the world on the spread of nuclear weapons. It is believed that China is well on the path to match the number of nuclear weapons deployed by the Russians and the Americans.
The 2022 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) observed that US competitors continue to expand, diversify, and modernize their nuclear forces while increasing reliance on nuclear weapons. See video here
The announcement yesterday by US President Trump of a 90-day pause in the implementation of his so-called reciprocal tariffs,” ostensibly to allow negotiations to take place, is another expression of the deepening economic and financial crisis of American imperialism and its state.
The move came amid growing signs that the entire financial system—in particular the US Treasury market—was just days or even hours away from a meltdown on the scale of the crises of September 2008 and March 2020, or potentially even greater.
In announcing the pause, Trump revealed the essential core of his tariff hikes by escalating the economic war against China—the world’s second-largest economy—which all factions of the US political establishment regard as an existential threat to American global hegemony.
Trump declared that, because China had retaliated against US tariff hikes, tariffs on Chinese goods would be raised to 125 percent effective immediately.”
In an earlier period, such an economic blockade would have been recognized as an act of war.
While the reciprocal tariffs” on all other countries are being temporarily suspended, the 10 percent tariff on all goods entering the US will remain in effect.
In the lead-up to the announcement, the selloff on global stock markets continued. Even more significant, however, was the selloff in the US Treasury market—a foundation of the global financial system—which drove yields sharply higher. This mounting financial turmoil was a key factor in Trump’s decision.
According to a person described as close to the White House,” cited by the Financial Times:
Trump is fine with Wall Street taking a hit, but he doesn’t want the whole house to come down.
A number of factors were driving the mounting crisis in the Treasury market. Hedge funds and other major investors, reeling from cumulative losses in the stock market amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars, were facing margin calls from the banks—that is, demands to provide additional funds as collateral to maintain the credit lines essential to their operations.
As markets plunged, the only available source of additional cash was the sale of Treasury holdings. Had this continued, it could have triggered a panic on the scale of March 2020, when the Treasury market froze and the US Federal Reserve intervened, injecting trillions of dollars into the system within days to restore stability.
It became apparent that foreign investors and governments—which hold roughly one-third of US Treasury bonds—were beginning to pull out of the market.
There were also signs that hedge funds were being forced to unwind their so-called basis trades,” a strategy that profits from small differences between the price of Treasury bonds and their corresponding futures contracts. Because the price gap is minimal, these trades rely on massive leverage, with the total volume estimated at around $1 trillion.
Fears were emerging that China, the second largest holder of US Treasury bonds, could start to shift out of dollar assets in response to Trump’s economic war against it.
The dollar has been falling on currency markets, raising growing questions about how long it can maintain its role as the global reserve currency under conditions in which US policy is a major source of instability and uncertainty.
Summing up the worsening situation, longtime analyst Ed Yardeni remarked that the selloff of US Treasuries—usually considered a safe haven during periods of financial stress—was a sign that the Trump administration may be playing with liquid nitro.”
Larry Summers, the treasury secretary under Clinton, said yesterday that the events of the previous 24 hours were a warning that a serious financial crisis wholly induced by US government tariff policy” could be looming.
Following the announcement, Wall Street went into raptures. The NASDAQ jumped nearly 12 percent—its biggest one-day gain since 2008—while the S&P 500 rose by 9.5 percent, and the Dow surged 8 percent.
As with every action of the Trump administration, the events of yesterday were steeped in corruption and criminality. Just before the markets opened—and several hours before the public announcement of the pause”—Trump posted on social media that this is a great time to buy.” It will be left to future investigation to uncover how many billions were made by the Trump family and the gang of fascists operating in and around the administration.
Trump and his acolytes will claim that the growing number of countries now seeking negotiations on tariffs—and his erratic, on-again, off-again methods—are proof of his supposed great skill in securing beneficial deals for American capitalism.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Trump’s gyrations are not signs of strength but the personified expression of the deepening crisis of American imperialism and its state, for which he has no solution.
Government debt stands at $36 trillion and is rising daily, on a trajectory universally acknowledged as unsustainable.” Interest payments alone are approaching $1 trillion annually and are rapidly becoming the single largest expenditure in the US budget.
The trade deficit is running at around $1 trillion, having increased by 17 percent over the past 12 months.
Domestically, consumer spending and confidence are both falling, and hundreds of millions of workers and their families face further reductions in their living standards as prices escalate on goods from China—which make up a large share of household consumption—due to the tariff hikes.
Business confidence is in tatters due to the uncertainty generated by the administration’s policies. A 90-day pause for negotiations with the dozens of countries targeted by reciprocal tariffs” will do nothing to reverse this collapse. Recession is very much on the horizon.
No one knows what will come out of the talks. But the idea that countries like Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia—as well as several impoverished African nations—could take any action capable of resolving the US trade deficit is ludicrous.
The major powers—such as Japan and the European Union—have no solution either. And no one, including Trump, has any idea what will happen after the pause.”
There is one aspect of the pause” that follows a clear logic. It is part of a broader drive to corral countries into a US-led global offensive against China. This is especially evident in Southeast Asia, where the economic threats directed at regional countries are aimed at pressuring them not to move closer to Beijing.
The message being delivered is: Align yourselves with the US on the key issue of national security,” that is, the preparation for war against China, and make major concessions to the US not only on economic issues but on foreign policy as well or you will suffer the consequences.
The escalation of the tariff against China to historically unprecedented heights is the form through which this diktat is being delivered.
Trump’s actions yesterday have pulled the US back from a full-scale financial crisis that could have erupted as early as over the weekend. But what took place yesterday was not a resolution of the crisis but just a step towards the next one, which will take an even more explosive form.
This is because Trump’s so-called liberation day,” April 2, was not a negotiation tactic but the destruction of what remained of the post-war international trading order. It cannot be put back together again. All the so-called guard rails” put in place after 1945 to prevent the type of crisis which erupted in the 1930s and led to war no longer exist.
There is a madness in the policy of the Trump administration—but it is a madness with an objective basis. As it flails from one economic improvisation to the next, confronting a crisis for which it has no solution, the administration is carrying out a systematic assault on democratic rights and erecting the framework of a dictatorship in the United States. And whatever conflicts exist within the state apparatus, all factions are united in their determination to defend a capitalist system that is hurtling toward catastrophe.
Trump—the grotesque and criminal personification of American imperialism—along with the representatives of ruling classes in every country, will use the pause” to coordinate their responses to international rivals and sharpen their weapons against the working class at home, in preparation for the eruption of class struggle they all fear and know is coming.
The international working class must soberly take stock of the events of the past week. The worst mistake it could make is to think that with the pause” the crisis has somehow passed. It has not.
Accordingly, just as the capitalist ruling classes are making their preparations for what is to come, so must the working class, in the US and internationally. That preparation involves above all the political struggle for the program of socialism, as the only viable solution to the deepening crisis of the capitalist system that is so vividly on display.
In an increasingly uncertain world, India’s decision to ‘learn’ from China’s agricultural successes serves as a potent reminder.
In the winter of 1955, the prime minister’s residence in New Delhi welcomed a distinguished Chinese scholar. For a fortnight, he lived under the same roof as Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi – sharing breakfast and dinner each day, and engaging in long, meandering walks and conversations afterward. The camaraderie was so profound and productive that Nehru even highlighted the scholar’s incisive insights in his fortnightly letters to the chief ministers of India’s states.
What, one might ask, could have prompted the Indian prime minister to extend such above-and-beyond hospitality to a Chinese scholar? The answer lay in the identity of the guest – none other than the renowned Chinese economist Chen Hansheng. Nehru’s insistence on hosting Chen and engaging in such repeated, in-depth discussions stemmed from a keen desire to absorb the latest lessons in economic development emanating from China.
The slogan Hindi-Chini bhai–bhai (Indians and Chinese are brothers),” often evokes images of the close coordination during the Bandung Conference and the joint advocacy for the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. Yet, few recall that over 70 years ago, India was swept up in a far-reaching wave of enthusiasm for learning from China” in the realm of economic development.
In November 1954, on the eve of India’s implementation of the Second Five-Year Plan, Nehru learned of the groundbreaking achievements of China’s First Five-Year Plan. His reaction was twofold: a genuine elation for the remarkable progress of a fellow Asian giant, as well as an acute sense of competitive urgency. These Western countries have had 150 years or more of industrial growth…We are not going to have 100 years in order to make good,” he remarked. Our problem, therefore, are essentially similar to those of other underdeveloped countries in Asia. It is for this reason that I was particularly interested in what was happening in China and I said that the most exciting countries for me today were India and China.”
Privately, Nehru also revealed his determination to prevail in this developmental contest with China:
We differ, of course, in our political and economic structure, yet the problems we face are essential the same. The future will show which country and which structure of Government yields greater results in every way.”
For India’s top officials, China represented the only nation that shared many of India’s own characteristics. Both countries had been victims of imperialist and colonial exploitation; both grappled with acute human-land resource tensions, widespread unemployment, and stagnating productivity; and both faced the daunting challenge of amassing surplus capital to fuel rapid industrialisation. Most importantly, both aspired to a similar political ideal: the pursuit of economic equality and social justice.
For developing nations, the greatest challenge in achieving rapid industrialisation lay in securing sustainable financial backing, cultivating a sufficiently large market, and keeping inflation in check – all of which required a deeper exploration of agricultural potential. India’s most pressing obstacle at the time was a resource constraint”: while the thrust for rapid industrial growth demanded an unprecedented increase in agricultural output, the latter could not meet the soaring industrial needs without diverting critical investment away from industrial development.
At this juncture, the Chinese model emerged as a beacon of hope. It was Chen, who revealed to Nehru that after completing its socialist transformation of agriculture, China had dramatically boosted the efficiency of human labour, animal power, agricultural inputs – and even the use of manure. This revolutionary drive had propelled China’s agricultural output to surge by as much as 35 to 40 percent over five years, all without a noticeable increase in resource input. Such results offered India a promising solution to its most intractable resource dilemma.
Throughout the mid-1950s, dozens of Indian officials from the Congress party, both houses of parliament, the ministries of food and agriculture, and the National Planning Commission undertook visits to China. They sought counsel from China’s top governmental organs, including the Communist Party’s Central Committee, the State Council, and the National Planning Commission. Both Nehru and India’s economic helmsman, P.C. Mahalanobis, were so impressed by China’s socialist construction achievements that they found themselves deeply moved.
Even at a time when Sino-Indian relations were strained, Mahalanobis conceded in interviews that China provided a better model of development for India than the advanced western countries.” China’s experience – demonstrating that even subsistence agriculture, when reorganised through land reform and rural reorganisation, could support a leap in industrial development – was nothing short of remarkable.
Nehru himself, after returning from China, spoke frequently of the rapid growth of industrial and agricultural cooperatives there. His admiration and curiosity were such that he immediately ordered the formation of several study delegations to China to probe the causes behind its agricultural boom. In 1956, the National Planning Commission dispatched an Agricultural Cooperative Study Group” to China with a mandate to investigate, down to the details, the strategies behind China’s cooperative model – a mission that would later evolve into the well-known Patil Committee. Concurrently, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture sent a separate Agricultural Planning and Technology Study Group” to examine the secret” behind China’s dramatic productivity gains.
Both delegations arrived in China in mid-July 1956, spending two months traversing eight provinces and visiting at least twenty rural cooperatives. The ministry group even engaged in in-depth discussions with experts from China’s Ministry of Agriculture and the National Planning Commission. V. T. Krishnamachari, then vice-chairman of India’s National Planning Commission, discovered that China’s rural reforms had increased agricultural output by 15 to 30% in just two to three years. Sweeping land reforms – redistributing land equally – had spurred farmers to embrace collective projects with renewed zeal, from reclaiming wasteland to constructing dams and digging wells. In one province, within a single season, 300,000 wells and 100,000 dams were built, effectively doubling the irrigated area. Even in the task of collecting farmyard manure – a laborious, unglamorous chore – the Chinese mass exhibited extraordinary enthusiasm, amassing 70% of the required quantity even before the next fertilisation season.
The ministry group reached a similar conclusion: China’s experience shows that given certain conditions, it is possible through cooperatives to organise rural manpower resources so as to ensure a higher level of employment for all members of the community and not merely those who happen to have fair-sized agriculture holdings. This is significant for our future development.”
Inspired by China’s achievements, Nehru became convinced that land reform could well improve the efficiency of existing resources, enabling increased agricultural output without extra investment. He even used China’s example to scold the agriculture ministry for its complacency in assuming that only additional resource inputs could boost production. In one of his letters to the chief ministers, he says:
[China] where millions of cooperative farms have sprung up, how then, are we to increase this [agricultural] production? We know for a fact that some other countries have rapidly increase their food production in the last few years without any tremendous use of fertilizers. How has China done it? China’s resources in this respect are not bigger than ours. China is at the same time laying far greater stress on industrial development and heavy industry than we are. Yet, they are succeeding in increasing their agricultural production at a faster pace than we are. Surly, it should not be beyond our powers to do something that China can do.”
Inspired by this Chinese experience, Nehru in 1958 launched what was perhaps the most progressive and historically significant land reform in India’s history – the Nagpur Resolution. The resolution promised to complete comprehensive land reforms, including imposing ceilings on land holdings, by the end of 1959, and it vigorously promoted the movement toward rural cooperatives: surplus rural land was to be collectively owned by the village community rather than held by individuals, and cooperatives composed of landless labourers would manage its use.
Although the ambitions of the Nagpur Resolution – and the broader big-push industrialisation strategy that India wholeheartedly embraced – ultimately fell short due to a host of internal and external challenges, the spirit of mutual assistance, reciprocal learning, and cooperative exchange between China and India, born out of that fervour for learning from China,” continues to resonate powerfully today.
In an increasingly uncertain world, revisiting India’s learning from China” episode serves as a potent reminder: China and India remain the only two nations in the world with populations exceeding one billion, and as each other’s largest neighbours, they are uniquely positioned to rekindle that cooperative spirit and become true partners in development.
*Keji Mao is an analyst at the International Cooperation Center, the founder of the South Asia Research Brief, and visiting fellow at the Harvard-Yenching Institute
ලෝක ආර්ථික පරිසරයේ අවිනිශ්චිත බව සැලකිල්ලට ගෙන ඊට මුහුණ දීම සඳහා ප්රතිපත්තිමය සූදානම ඉහළ නැංවීම අත්යවශ්ය බව ශ්රී ලංකා මහ බැංකුව පවසයි.
