The Swiss has issued a strange statement criticizing Sri Lanka for the
lack of due process. The truth is quite the opposite. It took a magistrate’s
order to finally get the Swiss embassy to produce its local staffer to make a
formal complaint to the CID on Sunday 8th December 2019, exactly 13
days after the alleged incident and keeping the supposed victim inside embassy
compound with her family. What is the Swiss reputation for keeping an alleged
victim inside an embassy compound for almost 2 weeks without even offering medical
attention inspite of them claiming she was suffering ‘deteriorating health’? It
is now clear that all those who made statements on behalf of this local recruit
prior to 8th December 2019 were all incorrect. It has also been
proven that the allegations made by the local recruit are also incorrect &
contradictory and that was the reason for her arrest. Sri Lanka has wasted time on a bogus abduction case that did not take
place when Sri Lanka should have been questioning Switzerland over giving instant
political asylum to Switzerland to a Sri Lankan police officer wanted for
murder. Is this Swiss ‘due process’
giving asylum to a man and his family fleeing a crime? If the woman is arrested for false allegations, what is the crime the
Swiss have committed in for aiding and abetting the false allegations? Sri
Lanka please continue to follow due process and question Switzerland for harboring
a murderer wanted in Sri Lanka!
The response of the Swiss
following the arrest has been to issue a press release.
Sri Lanka was using national laws
and international standards to arrest Sriyalatha following the Swiss embassy wasting
everyone’s time for over 2 weeks.
It is good for the Sri Lankan
authorities to check whether the Swiss have been paying EPF/ETF of this woman to
see how far Swiss has held their end of responsibilities as an employer. As per
Swiss press release, the Swiss is continuing version that she was ‘abducted’ on
25th Nov 2019 but where is the evidence to prove it?
The Swiss press release errs as
the Swiss did not disclose the name of the victim or bring the victim to make a
formal statement of complaint as an international standard procedure required.
The embassy only produced the victim” before the deadline given by the
Magistrate ended. If the embassy and the supposed victim had given statements immediately
after the incident – there would have been no requirement for so much of
cross-examinations and cross-questioning.
The Swiss embassy must take total
responsibility for not following protocols and international standards without
trying to pin blame on Sri Lanka.
Has the Swiss embassy produced
the video-conferencing virtual medical examination report for this is a crucial
evidence to establish her health condition and match it against actual medical examination.
We question Swiss ‘due process’
and ‘rule of law’ in the case of Sriyaltatha Perera/Garnier Barrister Francis
She was not abducted
There was no white van
There were no ‘unidentified abductors’
She was not questioned for 2 hours
She was not ‘threatened’ or ‘detained’ on the
street
She was not asked ‘embassy-related information’
There was no incident as sensationalized by the
New York Times article
There was certainly no ‘deteriorating health’
that required an air ambulance that the Swiss embassy requested to fly her and
her entire family to Switzerland
Whatever the Swiss embassy said, whatever the
Swiss government said have all been proved as incorrect and not corresponding
with the contradictory statements issued by the woman who was never abducted.
Swiss must explain
Why Swiss envoy would need to visit Sri Lanka’s
PM at his residence when it was clear her story did not make sense
Their incompetency to cross examine its own
staff member to collaborate her story given that Swiss are screening people
before visas are given.
Requesting air ambulance to fly Sriyalatha to
Switzerland with her family when the embassy knew she was not the least sick. The
Sri Lankan General public are shocked at the shallowness of a diplomatic
mission to have lied as they did after seeing the woman appear for the first
time showing no signs of deteriorating health. Is this the due process Swiss is
bragging about?
What was equally shocking and
noted by the general public was the excessive hugging and embracing of the woman
by Swiss embassy female staff and on the day of the arrest by a foreign male. It
makes a mockery of her refusal to be examined by a male doctor! This was quite
a weird looking scenario in the light of the daily statements that revealed she
was obviously not telling the truth and it now makes us wonder whether all this
was part of a set up to defame the government but getting badly backfired
during the process.
While Sriyalatha’s lies are getting
exposed. What Swiss cannot hide:
Over 640 political asylums given by Swiss
embassy in past 2 years
Swiss gave over the desk visa to a wanted
murderer and family CID CI Nishantha Silva and other officers who had given
evidence against senior military officials probably on the assurance of being
given asylum to Switzerland.
These are no proper ‘due process’
for which Switzerland’s reputation is marred.
Sri Lanka doesn’t have stolen
wealth. Sri Lanka didn’t relax bank regulations to store wealth during Wars and
use bank confidentiality clauses to continue to bank stolen wealth. Therefore,
Sri Lanka is no rich country. Sri Lanka is no home to terrorist runaways or Sri
Lanka does not bank terrorist funds and Sri Lanka also does not provide safe
haven for bogus asylum seekers or facilitate political asylum for people wanted
for murder in another country.
So, what is the Swiss now
blabbering about? To answer that we have to go back over 12 days to November 25th
the day originally mentioned as the ‘Temporary Abduction’ of a local recruit of
the Swiss embassy.
The Government must now issue the
exact sequence of events against the lies and fake news spread.
The Government must officially
and publicly request apology from all who were promoting a distorted version
and request them to make a disclaimer correction to their news releases.
The Government IT team must carry
a short description in all of its news giving an account of what really
happened to nullify the promotion of lies to discredit Sri Lanka.
The GoSL must apply the same due
process and the Swiss are preaching and question Swiss on aiding and abetting
people wanted for murder as political asylum seekers.
GoSL must not be deterred by the fancy press releases issued but go by rule of law that Sri Lanka has upheld and which could have concluded investigations if only the Swiss did not hide an alleged ‘victim’ in its embassy compound from 25th Nov to 7th December without producing them before the police to make formal complaint.
A non-politician is today Sri Lanka’s President.
Within a month itself not only has he reconfirmed confidence of those who voted
for him, he is tilting the confidence of those who didn’t in his favor. It is
without doubt that the country is visibly inspired and rejuvenated judging by a
wave of changes taking place across the country – artists and youth are painting
walls in themes & colours, our youth are winning international sports
awards, we have the Mrs. World, Mrs. Asia and Mr. Universe, youth starting
farming trend, the roads looking cleaner and everyone being sent a message to
do their bit and the country would automatically rise and shine.
On 16th
November 2019 Sri Lanka went to the polls to elect a President. By 17th
November morning itself the outcome was clear. It was to become a historical
landslide victory, a shock to many but a win for the nationalist and patriotic
forces of Sri Lanka who gathered to once more protect the nation from division
or separation. Whatever any say, the voters converged realizing the nation was
at grave risk as a result of the weak and appeasing policies of the former
government. Gotabaya Rajapakse promised them a nation that would prosper on Sri
Lanka’s historical heritage terms.
18
November: Taking Oaths as 7th President of Sri Lanka in Anuradhapura
Breaking
traditions Gotabaya Rajapakse took oaths at sacred Maha Maluwa of Ruwanwelia
Maha Seya, Anuradhapura, our first citadel in front of Chief Justice Jayantha
Jayasuriya. Noteworthy was his address to the Nation that he would lead the
nation based on the Buddhist philosophy which upholds principles of equality
& justice. He called upon nations to respect the sovereignty of Sri Lanka.
He invited all to join in the journey of delivering his vision for Sri Lanka.
Heads
of India, Pakistan, China wish the new President
Sri
Lanka’s stock market rises to highest in year
All
state institutions to remove photos of President & replace with National
Emblem
19
November: Assumes duties at the Presidential Secretariat, Colombo
Former
President Maithripala Sirisena together with many other political party leaders
were present
19
November: Appointment of 3 Secretaries & Director General of TRC
President’s
Secretary – Dr. P B Jayasundara
Defense
Secretary – Maj. Gen. Kamal Gunaratne
Treasury
Secretary/Min of Finance – S R Attygalle
Director
General of Telecommunication Regulatory Commission – Oshada Senanayake
Inspector
General of Police Pujith Jayasundara and former Defence Secretary Hemasiri
Fernando have been further remanded
Former
President Maithripala Sirisena has been reappointed as the Chairperson of the
Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP)
The
President received by the Diyawadana Nilame. President paid calls to the
Mahanayaka theroes.
Ravinatha
Aryasinha appointed Foreign Secretary
21
November: Former President sworn as Prime Minister / 6 New Governors sworn
Former
President Mahinda Rajapakse sworn in as Prime Minister. Also present were
former President Sirisena and former PM Ranil Wickremasinghe having tendered
his resignation earlier that day.
This is
the 3rd occasion Mahinda Rajapakse has served as PM
History
is made with two brothers holding posts of President & Prime Minister.
6 new governors also sworn:
Raja
Kollure – Uva Province
Seetha
Arambepola – Western Province
J. M.
Muzammil – North Western Province
Lalith
U. Gamage – Central Province
Willy
Gamage – Southern Province
Tikiri
Kobbekaduwa – Sabaragamuwa Province
22
November: New Cabinet of Ministers
16 member cabinet
Extraordinary
Gazette issued calling
on armed forces to maintain public order
27
November : 35 State Ministers & 3 Deputy Ministers sworn in
Cabinet
of Ministers has decided to reduce the Value Added Tax (VAT) from 15% to 8%.
The ceiling for VAT has been raised to Rs. 25 million turnover per month from
existing Rs. 1 million
Cabinet
approved to remove the Nation Building Tax (NBT), Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Tax
and Withholding Tax on interests
Cabinet
has further decided to reduce the telecommunications levy by 25% (from 30% to
5%)
income
tax on the construction industry has also been reduced from 28% to 14%.
all
religious places are exempted from taxes.
28
November: 6 Member Committee of Professionals appointed
Appointments
to State institutions will be via recommendation of a panel comprising headed
by Sumith Abeysinghe, former Secretary to the Cabinet and Lalith Weeratunga and
others include Susantha Ratnayake, Dr. Nalaka Godahewa, Dian Gomes, Dr.
Prasanna Gunasena and Prof. Jagath Wellawatte. Applications for posts called
with deadline put at 18Dec2019.
IT
sector to be exempt from all taxes – Bandula Gunawardena
President
departs for India for first overseas visit
Foreign
Min. issues release on threatening incident concerning local Swiss Embassy
worker
29
November: Indian Foreign Minister calls on President
Subramanyam
Jaishankar arrived to formally invite President to visit India.
Indian
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval also called on the President
30 November: President
visits India
President
Gotabaya meets India’s President Ram Nath Kovind
India
grants $400m credit line to Sri Lanka with additional $50m to combat terrorism
President
visited Sri Lanka High Commission in New Delhi and planted a tree to mark his
visit.
President
meets 2 army staff officers who had trained with him in India. Dr. V K Singh
was Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways.
1
December: GOSL orders investigation on alleged Swiss embassy abduction
Secretary/Foreign
Relations Ravinatha Aryasinha together with Secretary/Defence Major General
(Retd.) Kamal Gunaratne and relevant officials met with the Ambassador for
Switzerland in Sri Lanka Hanspeter Mock and the Deputy Chief of Mission to
brief on investigation
Will
drop 19A if we get 2/3 majority, President tells foreign media
2
December: GOSL orders investigation on alleged Swiss embassy abduction
An
incident allegedly to have been committed on 25 Nov 2019 of a local recruit
working for the Swiss embassy Colombo being abducted
Canadian
High Commissioner in Sri Lanka David McKinnon calls on President
Director
General of the Dept of Asian Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry and former
Ambassador to China calls on President
3roviding
relief to natural disaster struck districts via District Secretaries and
Disaster Management Centre.
Sri
Lanka Parliament prorogued till 3rd January 2020
3
December: UAE and NZ Envoys calls on President
UAE
envoy in Sri Lanka Ahamed Ali Al Mualla paid a courtesy call on President
Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat
Joanna
Kernpkers envoy of New Zealand in Sri Lanka also called on the President
Former
COPE Chairman and Parliamentarian Sunil Handunnetti has instructed to keep the
forensic audit reports of the CBSL Scam at the COPE Secretariat as a
confidential report until the next COPE Committee is established.
A. R.
Deshapriya has been appointed as the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC).
Swiss
court rules Tamil Tigers not a criminal organization, acquits 12 suspected
fundraisers
4
December: Governors to North Central & Eastern Province sworn in
Ms.
Anuradha Yahampath as Eastern Governor
Prof.
Tissa Vitharana as North Central Governor
UPFA
MP Ranjith De Zoysa passes away
UK
Conservative Party manifesto endorses two-state solution for Sri Lanka
Singapore
AG’s Chamber studying documents requesting Mahendran’s extradition to SL
Permits
for transport of sand, soil, clay abolished
The
Foreign Ministry of Switzerland and the Swiss Ambassador in Sri Lanka has
requested permission to take the Swiss embassy staffer,
5
December
64
suspects arrested for having links with NTJ further remanded
National
Colleges of Education to be upgraded into university faculties – a program to make all teachers of the
country graduates.
Cabinet
also approved the appointment of an expert committee representing the fields of
Education and Higher Education to implement the program.
Ranil
nominates Sajith as Opposition Leader
6 December
Gazette
issued banning re-export of spices & allied products
UK
court finds Brigadier Priyanka Fernando guilty, imposes fine of GBP 2,400
7
December: President visits Vidyalankara Pirivena & calls on Chancellors of
Kelaniya & Sabaramaguwa Universities
Chancellor
of University of Kelaniya Ven. Dr. Walamitiyawe Kusaladhamma Thero
Chancellor
of the Sabaragamuwa University Ven. Prof. Kumburugamuwe Vajira Thero.
The
President also visited Kelaniya Raja Maha Viharaya and met Chief Incumbent Ven.
Kollupitiye Mahinda Thero and Ven. Bengamuwe Nalaka Thero and other Maha Nayaka
Theros.
The
President also visited the Chief Incumbent of Kotte Raja Maha Viharaya Ven.
Aluth Nuwara Anurudda Thero .
President
Gotabaya Rajapaksa later arrived at the Abhayarama Temple in Narahenpita.
government
has established a National Authority under the Ministry of Defence to ensure
the safe use of Scheduled Chemicals In the industrial sector without hindering
their proper functioning
Sri
Lanka’s Caroline Jurie crowned Mrs. World after 35 years
Port
City: Ceremony to add 269 hectare of land to Sri Lanka commences – Colombo Port
City officially declared part of Sri Lanka
Sri
Lanka tops India in South Asia Games athletic events after 28 years
8
December
Brigadier
Suresh Sallay appointed Head of state intelligence
Brigadier
Chandana Wickremesinghe has been appointed as the new Spokesperson for the Sri
Lanka Army.
9
December: Secretaries to State Ministries appointed
32
Secretaries appointed to State Ministries
President
tells new State Ministry Secretaries to commit to attitudinal transformation
10
December
Brigadier Priyanka Fernando has been appointed as the new Director of Real Estate and Quartering of the Sri Lanka Army
11
December
No
place for Sri Lankan refugees in India’s citizenship amendment bill?
12
December: Afghan envoy calls on President
Ambassador
of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to Sri Lanka M. Ashraf Haidari
President
met officials of Ministry of Power & Energy & institutions under its
purview
Govt.
decides to increase number of national schools to 1,000
Cabinet
grants approval for change in Z-Score system
Daya
Ratnayake appointed Ports Authority chairman
13
December: Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister and delegation meet President /
ASEAN leaders also arrive
Cooperation
in Information and communication technology (ICT), harbor infrastructure
including Eastern Container Terminal
(ECT), expressways, agriculture, digitalization of television transmission,
disaster prevention and security cooperation discussed.
ASEAN
envoys from Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Malaysia joined arrived
to wish the President.
Constitutional
Council unanimously approved the nomination made by President Gotabaya
Rajapaksa, to appoint High Court judge Ms. M.D.S. Abeyratne as the Court of
Appeal Judge.
UK General Election: Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party wins
overall majority
Overseas travel ban imposed on Patali Champika
Public cautioned of persons using President’s name fraudulently
14 December
Japanese Foreign Minister calls on Sri Lankan counterpart &
PM Rajapaksa
Two persons who made white van” claims at Rajitha’s media
briefing arrested
Kotahena Police logbooks replicated with fabricated information
on Easter attacks, PCoI told
15 December
State Minister of Railway Services C. B. Ratnayake said that
steps will be taken to introduce a prepaid card for railway passengers
British PM Boris Johnson thanks Tamil community in UK
The new National Policy Framework titled ‘Vistas of Prosperity
and Splendour’ has been released to the public by the government
Public
urged to inform on imposters misusing President’s name
Minority
Tamils misled for decades by politicians – President
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has directed the authorities of the
Presidential Secretariat to cease the use of plastic drinking water bottles
AG
orders for arrest of Swiss Embassy staffer
Swiss
Ambassador calls on President
17 December
US
Embassy issues security alert for American citizens in Sri Lanka
The country is off to a good start but
as the Swiss bogus abduction example and Swiss reaction shows the external
elements that have contributed to Sri Lanka’s inability to sustain its growth are
likely to be once more up to mischief.
The country must be now alert to these
dangers & mechanizations more than ever. It is therefore time that the
country and citizens begin to remove the political lens and put on patriotic
lens and chip into rebuild the nation.
All the nation-haters can please apply for asylum or think of re-locating to countries they feel happier in without trying to help external elements destroy Mother Lanka.
My dear Hanspeter Mock, Patriotic Sri Lankans who love their country of birth want to know what the bloody hell you rouge undiplomatic ambassadore Hans Peter Mock doing in my country? What a mockery Mr. Mock? What a fiasco Mr. Mock? What an indecent act you committed Mr. Mock? Mr. Mock, your rouge country is instead of a written public appology saying they are concerned of the rouge local staffer. Either you are a headless rooster or dumb dumb in your thick head. Your rouge country is a safe heaven to protect the wanted criminals and black money squandered by the rouge politicians world wide. Your bloody country after smuggling out of the country that wanted murderer criminal police man Silva and to cover up that highenous act of yours, you cooked up another false story of abduction and sexually assaulting your local staffer Siriyalatha. You bloody mutt can only think of abduction and abduction. The native Sinhalese are not dumb as you dumb and crook undignified Swiss idiots. You have the odacity having committed lowest of the low crimes in the broad day light instead of a public appology you are concerned of the law and order of my country. While you are enjoying the full luxury and hospitality of the host country you undiplomatic rascall pointing the finger at my country. What kind of a fair trading is this Mr. Mock? Mr. Mock this is my humble and simple advise to you: IF YOU DON’T LIKE THE WAY WE ARE, YOU ARE FREE TO BUGGER OFF ANYTIME YOU LIKE. Yours truly, Stanley Perera Melbourne Australia.
This is a re-enactment of the disappearance of Prageeth Eknaligoda the Media Journalist! This latest episode makes one believe The Swiss Embassy could be the silent provider to make VANISH much talked locals to discredit, embarrass Rajapaksas either in Power or not!
This latest episode after worldwide publicity was given damaging the reputation of the new Presidents Government through, Al Jazeera, Times of America and the UK. Now that the case has been proved as purely a fabrication, the Swiss Embassy as a matter of courtesy on the Host Country should respectfully request the above-said Media outlets to publicly apologize for publishing fake news!
Furthermore, it’s of utmost importance to ascertain when this woman’s assumed the name Gania Banister Francis dropping Siriyalatha Perera, is it before or after being employed by the Embassy. This becomes important as that’s the start of the FICTION! Suppose Prageeth Eknaligoda too had fled the Country after assuming an Alien name and happily lives there or some other foreign soil!
Now let’s divert our attention to a possible scenario had this woman managed to flee immediately after the BASTARD, RAJITHA SENARATNE made in that Media interview where she was SEXUALLY MOLESTED and a REVOLVER was RAMED DOWN HER THROAT! Then the WHITE VAN story the torture and subsequently feeding her body to CROCKERDILES becomes true for the Embassy to communicate to his foreign affairs in Switzerland while she and her family HAPPILY live in Switzerland!
Which makes the World Media paint the new President Mr. Gotabhaya in par with Philipines President Rodrigo Duterte alleged to have committed heinous crimes!
So, the whole story fell through the Swiss Ambassadors’ fingers due to poor SCRIPT of the local author! This IDIOT underestimated the investigating s of the present teams!
And finally, we see the drama of the highest order when this seemingly friendly Envoy from the Switzerland who, in my assessment may have made to vanished some locals to discredit Sri Lanka in the past, now admits an error of Judgment (to that effort) been made in this instance and in response, President Mr.Gotabhaya assures no hard feeling (to that effort) between the parties!
But we are no fools to swallow that these two are not CHEATING EACH OTHER! This is what’s called DIPLOMACY!
PS If the whole saga took place after
she has changed her name after employment in the Swiss Embassy, the motives are
dishonest, Hence I see no reason why The government allows such missions to
exist that are scheming to discredit the Government!
The universally accepted and
acknowledged Encyclopaedia Britannica (EB) states that Sri Lanka had a
continuous record of human settlement for more than two millennia and Sri Lanka developed a unique identity over the
ages that ultimately set it apart from its neighbour mainland India. Cultural
traits brought from India necessarily underwent independent growth and change
in Sri Lanka, owing in part to the island’s physical separation from the
subcontinent. Buddhism, for instance, virtually disappeared from India, but it
continued to flourish in Sri Lanka, particularly among the Sinhalese. Moreover,
the Sinhalese language, which grew out of Indo-Aryandialects from the mainland, eventually became indigenous solely to Sri Lanka and developed its own
literary tradition.
The EB indicates that the Tamils were later immigrants from
areas of Central, eastern and Southern India where Dravidian languages were spoken.
As per historical records Tamils have been brought to this country initially
as agricultural labourers for cultivation of Tobacco in the North and East as
the native Sinhalese refused to work as labourers under the Dutch rulers. This was followed by the British
Imperialists as well when the native Sinhalese refused to work in the tea
plantations as coolies. A third group of Tamils from the low castes came to Sri
Lanka from time to time and they were known as Kallathonis (the boat people)
and they settled down in urban areas, and they were small in numbers and they
worked in the Municipal Councils and Urban Councils as scavengers and they were
called as Sakkiliyas. Another group of
them worked as barbers and helpers, and some others lived as Gypsies
(Ahikundakayas). The early immigrant Tamils completely ignored these Tamils and
never admitted them to their functions despite they too spoke their own
language and worshipped their own Gods.
The history we have learnt states that originally several different indigenous clans lived in the country
during the pre-Vijaya era (before 505 BCE). These clans of Sri Lanka and the mystical kingdom of Lanka were mentioned in the
great epics of Mahabaratha, Mahavamsa, Manimekalai, Ramayana and Sangam. It is believed that four main clans lived in
Sri Lanka before king Vijaya explored the island. The four clans are Yaksha ,
Naga, Deva, and Rakshas. The Nagas were serpent-worshippers, the Yakkas were
spirit worshippers, and it is said that even today, the Sri Lankan culture has
some elements that originated from the culture of the Yakkas and Nagas. The
majority of the native population were farmers and cattle herders. They had
knowledge about healing arts (ayurvedic), built irrigation systems and temples.
There were trade relations and royal intermarriage between the indigenous people
of Sri Lanka and their neighbours in the South India kingdoms.
It was an acknowledged and accepted fact that
Prince Vijaya who was deported by his father with his companions upon arrival
here with the help of Kuweni conquered all the four clans and unified this
country as a Sinhala nation. Accordingly
the country remained as Subhale and was ruled by several native Kings and
during the time of King Devanam Piyatissa, the son of Emperor Ashoka, Arahat
Mahinda brought the religion of Buddhism which was embraced by the King and the
people. From then onwards this country
became a Sinhala Buddhist nation.
This fact was acknowledged universally and by
all Tamil leaders although they resisted the majority Sinhala community on
racist grounds. The Tamil racism based
on spurious superiority was invented by British Imperialist stooges Ponnambalam
Arunachalam and Pommambalam Ramanathan
and was comprehensively followed by the generations under G.G.Ponnambalam,
S.J.V.Chelvanayagam. Appapillai Amirthalingam, megalomaniac Prabhakaranand the
Octogenarian Sambandan and their followers.
As things were such, the utter chauvinist
Pottu Papa Wigneswaran who is longing to assume to take over the leadership of
the Tamils in the North and East after the imminent demise of Sambandan shortly
has invented a hitherto unheard and unknown history of Tamils being the
original inhabitants of Sri Lanka, that they were Tamil Buddhists and that they
got converted to their original religion of Saivaism later. If Buddhism was their original religion why
he when he was functioning as the Chief Minister of the Northern Province made
all attempts to chase out the Buddhists from the Northern Province, and banned
placing of Buddha statutes and planting of Bo-Trees and establishment of Buddhist
temples and monasteries in the North?
In a lengthy article published in the Colombo
Telegraph this Pottu Papa chauvinist says the Upcountry Tamils have come to Sri
Lanka within the last 200 odd years and they occupy areas outside the North and
East and they have had no compunction in learning Sinhala and integrating with
the Sinhalese. So too the Colombo Tamils.
the Northern and Eastern Tamils,
hesays, are different. This Pottu Papa
states that they have always occupied the area now roughly covered by the Northern
and Eastern Provinces and there had been continuous occupation of the North and
East throughout history by the Tamil people. In fact their occupation extended up
to Negombo in the Western Province and up to Kathirgamam in the South East and
the Sinhalese have never occupied the North and East in large numbers except
after 1833 when the country was bought under one administration by the British.
He says that there had been influx of Tamils during different eras first by the
Pandians and there after the Cholas, Pallavas, Cheras and Nayaka Kings last.
But that only meant they added to the number of indigenous Tamils of this
Country and reiterates absurdly the
Tamils were the original inhabitants of this Island.
He explains that they could trace
their ancestry to the inhabitants of the Continent of Lemuria which covered the
greater part of the present Indian Ocean in times gone by and adds that the
Lemuria Continent which was gobbled up by the Indian Ocean extended from
Western Australia to Eastern Africa joining up with the Indian subcontinent.
Therefore the present Tamils of the North and East feel themselves to be the
descendants of a long line of Tamil speaking people who have been occupying the
Northern and Eastern regions continuously from pre Buddhistic times and recently
it has been accepted that Tamil is one of the oldest living language in the
world.
Then this Pottu Papa chauvinist
misinterprets the history, the universally accepted history and says that Sinhalese came by
their Sinhala language only in the 6th or 7th Century AD.
That is 1300 or 1400 years ago only and there was no Sinhala Language before
that time. Blaming the historians for getting his appetite fulfilled he says Some
historians have painted all ancient Buddhists as Sinhalese. That is because
since there was Buddhism in Sri Lanka before the Sinhala language came into
existence they have identified earlier era Buddhists as Sinhala Buddhists. He
impishly states that those who were Buddhists at that time were Tamil
Buddhists.
Writing
further this Pottu Papa states there are those who refer to Sinhala Prakrit as
proof of the presence of the Sinhalese language from pre Buddhistic times. This
is like saying my grandfather lived 100 years ago therefore I lived 100 years
ago because I came from my grandfather! He claims that there was no Sinhala
language until 1300 or 1400 years from now and asks how could you refer to
Sinhala Prakrit of a by- gone age 2000 years or more ago? The Sinhala language
was not even contemplated at that time. He states that the truth would be that
those words of ancient times (Prakrit) may have been Pali or Tamil or other
dialects in Sri Lanka which later came to make up the Sinhala Language and says
that Sinhala is a conglomeration of languages.
This chauvinist Pottu Papa claims
that at least 40% of the Sinhala words are Tamil and its alphabet formation is
similar to Tamil and South Indian Languages. He says that lots of Hindi words
were imported into Sinhala language as recent as in 1956-1965 when Professor
Malalasekara was Ceylonese High Commissioner in India and he brought in lots of
Hindi words into the Sinhala Language thus Sinhalacising” the Hindi words and
adds that lots of legal terms in Sinhala for example are derived from the Hindi
words used in North Indian courts. He says we have a habit of taking over
something today and trace its origin to sources centuries ago and saying that
that something existed so many centuries ago.
He also states that lots of names of
Tamil Villages in the North and East were found appropriate Sinhala names
during the past 70 odd years and we have transported those Sinhala equivalents
to centuries earlier to say those Sinhala villages existed at that time!
Kandarodai for example was Kandarodai always at least for centuries. The Sinhala word for it Kadurugoda was coined very
recently. Now it is said Kadurugoda was the original place name! Then he claims
that Kandarodai Buddhist remains are Tamil Buddhist remains. There were no
Sinhalese at that time contemplated even!
This chauvinist pottu Papa claims
that the Northern and Eastern Provinces have never been Sinhala and they were
areas of residence of the Tamil people and Tamils were Buddhists for quite some
time until they reverted to their original religion Saivaism when the Bakthi
cult in South India influenced them. He says the ayanmars have sung hymns to
the deities in Thirukoneswaram and Thiruketheswaram before the Sinhala language
was born. Further the Tamil literature of 2000 years ago were Buddhistic or
Jain religion oriented and there was no Sinhala language then.
Again
this Pottu Papa emphasizes that it is wrong to say Sri Lanka is a Buddhist
Country. The Tamils who became Buddhist centuries ago jettisoned Buddhism and
reverted to Saivaism Tamils at one time being Buddhist and that too long before
the Sinhala Language was born, does not give the right to anyone to claim that
Sri Lanka is a Buddhist Country. He stresses that the North and East must be
separated as being majority non – Buddhist.
He states that the Sinhala people
have been given a wrong understanding of history based on the fiction written
in Pali by a Buddhist Priest in the 5th Century AD. The author says
that at the end of every stanza he was writing the fiction for the
glorification of Buddhism. If he was writing history he would not have said so!
He says that the North Eastern Tamil
people are conscious of their antiquity. They are conscious of the richness of
their language. They have a highly emotional bond towards their traditional
homelands. But they feel constrained that the majority Sinhalese are not
allowing them to blossom out on their own in their region but want to control
them. There are certain rights which the Tamils have. In terms of the
International Covenants they have their common language, they have their
religions – Islam, Christianity and Hinduism, they have their traditional
homelands where their forefathers have lived continuously from pre Buddhistic
times. They also have their separate culture and way of life all different from
the Sinhalese though there are many commonalities between the two communities
due to their common origin as per DNA tests concluded recently. They would therefore like to preserve their
individuality. They are entitled to self
determination in terms of International Law. Owing to the
above said they abhor anyone trying to control them and dominate them on false
premises. The Tamils, he says, have always occupied the North and East and they
still are the majority in the North and East.
The
Sinhalese historians and others, especially the Buddhist clergy, have set up
lots of falsities as history saying that this country is theirs. This is false.
The original inhabitants of this country were Saivite Tamils he stupidly
claims..
They say all Tamils were immigrants
into a predominantly Sinhala Country. This is also false according to this
Pottu Papa. Though it is true there were
several influxes of Tamils at various times in history the existence of the
Tamils in the North and East of this Island continuously as the majority
community until today cannot be disputed.
They
say the North and East were originally Sinhalese. This is also false. Simply
because Buddhism existed in the North and East and there are Buddhist
historical / archaeological remains in the North and East that does not prove
the existence of the Sinhalese at some period in our past history, this fellow
states. It only proves there were Tamil Buddhists – Demala Buddhayo! The
question that needs to be asked him is where these so-called Demala Bauddhauo
now and whether they have perished and how?
Mahavansa,
he says, is a fictional work written in Pali before the Sinhala language was
born. It is not a historical document though its background particulars could
help understand history.
Therefore we Tamils of the North and
East are conscious of our antiquity, our history, our rights to self
determination and therefore until our intrinsic rights to the right of self
determination is recognized and respected we would find it difficult to march
together with the other communities, specially the Sinhalese who have usurped
our history and antiquity and trying to falsify those fields of study. If the historical facts just mentioned by me here are
not accepted by the Sinhalese intelligentsia they are free to set up a
Committee of Sinhala, Tamil, Indian and other International Historians and
Archaeologists to re-write our history truthfully and affirmatively.
The above is a valid suggestion and
early steps should be taken to hold an open debate with the participation of
historians and archeologists to disprove Pottu Papa’s stupid and doctored
allegations and clear the true historical facts. Otherwise that the vicious Tamil diaspora in
the European countries would launch a campaign to accept the canards being said
by this chauvinist as they succeeded making the world to blindly believe
illusory imaginations in the Darusman report including the so-called killing of
40,000 never existed people.
Muslims
and Upcountry Tamils have no such common historical background to stand on.
They have not lost anything as we are losing our lands, our language (still the
Central Government often sends letters in Sinhala only to the North and East),
our religions, our culture and our identity. Until they are restored to the
Northern and Eastern Tamils how do you expect us to march together with others?
First
recognise our individuality and our history. (Your history was that you were
labourers brought from South India similar to those in the hill country and
were provided special privileges by the European invaders and made you to
dominate over the indigenous Sinhala Buddhist people of this country)
Then
we will march hand in hand. When I was young prior to Independence we
Sinhalese, Tamils, Burghers, Muslims, Malays and even Chinese were able to look
upon this Country as our own. When the Sinhalese claimed this Country as
Sinhala Buddhist only, our individuality collapsed, and we have been made
fourth class citizens! The Muslims and the Upcountry Tamils enjoy a freedom
which the Northern and Eastern Tamils do not enjoy today.
You
shed your arrogance, allow the Tamils in the North and East to think freely,
act freely and live freely without being slavish to repugnant myopic Vellala
politicians. Don’t trample them similar
to they were used as human shields by the tiger terrorists.
The whole country is clamouring for immediate actions against the culprits of yahapalanaya.
From bond scams to the outrageous press conferences there are so many issues to be dealt with and punished.
Chief among the culprits are Mangala,Rajitha,Ravi, Champika,Rishad and Malik.
However on the top of the list is Ranil too.
However I do plead the government not to hurry up these cases until after the general elections.
If we prosecute and bring charges against them they will not get nominations from the UNP.
In fact this will be welcome by Sajith clan to go to the polls with a clean sheet. The government will be doing an immense favour to them by removing them from their nominations.
The Sajith clan or UNP cannot deny nominations to these seniors in their party however much they want to. That is why I noticed some UNP MPs urging the government to prosecute the wrong doers as soon as possible to get their baggage off.
As long as these fraudsters and those humiliate our race and Buddhism remain in the UNP ranks a two third majority is a foregone conclusion to SLPP.
Just start cases slowly until the general election for them to face the tune after elections.
The most asked
question on Google in the year 2019, according to reports, is ‘Where is
Sri Lanka?’ I am not sure who is looking for Sri Lanka or why. Maybe it
has something to do with Sri Lanka being picked as the No 1 island to
visit. Again, I am not sure who concluded this or why.
Sri
Lankans know where Sri Lanka is. Most Sri Lankans know what Sri Lanka
is. Of course there are those who think Colombo is Sri Lanka and vice
versa and who, consequently, don’t think that non-Colombots really count
and therefore are often shocked at how politics unfold. That’s a
different story.
There
are people from other countries who know where Sri Lanka is and have a
rough idea that the island is not only about tea. The more discerning
and aware know the island’s history, its strategic importance in the
Indian Ocean and of course who plundered what and when. Most,
however, have only a cursory knowledge of the island. Arundathi Roy,
for example. Gullible to the core, and yet sufferable in ways Boris
Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn are not.
Boris
and Jeremy, leaders of the Conservative and Labour Parties in the UK
had many things to talk about in the run up to that country’s
parliamentary elections. Usually, Sri Lankans are not really bothered
about by such processes, not least of all because the result, either
way, has little chance of changing the predatory and condescending
attitudes and actions of the UK government(s) with respect to Sri Lanka.
This time, however, both leaders mentioned Sri Lanka in the course of
their respective campaigns.
It’s
not hard to understand. There’s a significant number of Tamils of Sri
Lankan origin living in the UK who have the vote. Elections are about
votes. Politicians woo voters. They are a promising lot. The aim to
please. And so Boris and Corbyn had to say stuff that they believed was
music to the ears of this relatively tiny segment of the voting
population.
A
minor matter and it didn’t really count, but it nevertheless indicates
stuff. Jeremy talked of genocide. That’s a good thing. Britain know all
about genocide, ethnic cleansing, cultural erasure and plunder. Boris
wants to achieve ‘reconciliation, stability and justice.’ Across the
world, he says. In current or former conflict zones, he says. Yeah,
right!
Those
who get high on either Boris or Jeremy should relax. They are no
different. The only good thing is that we have to deal with just one of
them. As things turned out that would be Boris.
Now
Britain may have reconciled itself to forgetting the past and the
present when it comes to horrendous excesses (yes, a mild word, that).
However, if Britain wants justice, that’s good. Here’s stuff that
Britain could do.
First.
Return all the loot. Second. Compensate for genocide, torture,
dispossession and for having flowered up a people via divide-n-rule.
Third. LEAVE US ALONE!
That
country, folks, doesn’t know whether it is coming or going. It preaches
democracy but is just another monarchy. It could never tell East from
West and still believes the sun has not set on collective behind. It
believes that it is a free country when it is in fact a client state of
the United States of America. It is not sure if it is a part of Europe
or if it is not. It pretends to be one country in the United Nations but
when it comes to sports (like Rugby and Football) it ‘breaks’ into its
constituent parts.
And they want to give us direction. Wait. I need to laugh for a good ten minutes over that!
Alright. Done laughing. Seriously, folks, when you dig deep into all this, it is not funny. It’s gruesome. And it is unresolved.
Sri
Lanka is not the UK and not only because we haven’t really robbed other
countries or stockpiled weapons. We don’t do what they do. We don’t
tell others what to do. We don’t insist they inhabit our version of
their reality. We are not telling them to mind their own flowering
business.
Britain
has its own tumors to deal with. That much is clear. Xenophobia.
Terrorism. Chicken coming home to roost. That kind of thing. Perhaps the
likes of Boris and Jeremy feel good about themselves by dissing
countries like Sri Lanka.
And
we here they are fretting over something called ‘Brexit’. Britain +
Exit, that is. The first time I heard that term, I remembered Nanda
Malini’s catchy song in the ‘Pawana’ album, titled ‘Nidahas Baila’. This is how Sunil Ariyaratne saw it: sudda yanna giyeth nae, nogihin hitiyeth nae. (The white man did not stay, and neither did he leave)!
We’ve
been waiting for Brexit for more than two centuries. And it’s not their
fault alone. There are people among us who just don’t want them to
leave. Maybe ‘Brexit’ is a Sri Lankan project. An unfettering. It might
actually give a boost reconciliation, ensure stability and obtain
justice simply because we won’t have rank idiots telling us who we are,
what we are about and what we ought to do.
This article was first published in the ‘Sunday Morning’ [December 15, 2019]
Under normal circumstances, most Sri Lankans would have been happy if a Labour Government was elected in England, perhaps because we have a long tradition of being ruled by Left of Centre governments, and we have little faith in those representing the interests of big capital and land owning classes. However, under the present circumstances, all patriotic Sri Lankans should be extremely happy that at the British parliamentary elections the Conservative Party won a resounding victory. We should have celebrated the event with banners, Kiribath and dancing on the streets as we did at the election of Gotabaya Rajapaksa last month.
Why should we be happy? The simple answer is that at present the powerful Tamil diaspora based in England are all aligned with the Labour Party which was defeated. In many British parliamentary constituencies, the LTTE sympathizers can influence the outcome of the election. Thus, many Labour MPs are always ready to do the LTTE bidding. Meanwhile, the LTTE groups have developed the art of deception to a high level and accordingly, they feed Labour MPs with false facts and figures, creating highly unrealistic pictures of the situation in Sri Lanka. This false propaganda is then echoed in the British Parliament, European Parliament and in various UN forums etc. Sadly, our own government has been doing little or nothing to counter such propaganda. If the Labour Party is in office, it will invariably act on such falsehoods, due to pressure exerted by the Tamil Diaspora to bring discredit to our country.
This will not be the end of the story. As we know already, the ultimate outcome would be violation of our country’s sovereignty through international action, thanks to active cooperation of some of our own nationals in authority who have shamelessly co-sponsored resolutions against their own mother country at the UNHRC.
This is why Lord Naseby – a member of the House of Lords and a real friend of Sri Lanka, declared recently (before the British Election) that if Jeremy Corbyn of the Labour Party became the Prime Minister of UK it will be disastrous for Sri Lanka, as Labour will then threaten the country’s sovereignty as an independent nation. (See Island report on December 10). So, we have had a narrow escape this time for which we must be thankful.
It is also noteworthy that Lord Naseby, who is the President of the All Party British Sri Lanka Parliamentary Group in the British Parliament, has also taken up on our behalf, the matter relating to the statement about a ‘two-state’ solution for Sri Lanka. This erroneous statement was like a godsend to the Tamil Tiger Diaspora who probably went to town with it. Fortunately, the SL Government acted quickly this time, and the Conservative Party announced that it was an error and not what was intended. Apparently, this has been mistakenly included in the Conservative Party election manifesto. Nevertheless, this mistake would have cost the Conservative Party many votes of British Citizens, including those of Sri Lankan origin who do not support the LTTE project. However, it will be prudent to let this matter rest for the time being.
I think that all right-thinking Sri Lankans should be grateful to Lord Naseby. It is very clear that the previous government’s response to the offers of help by this great man were largely ignored for some unknown reason. The new government under Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa should take immediate action to change the timid and defeatist policies followed hitherto by enlisting the support of Lord Naseby, who has in his hands a wealth of new information which can be used to disprove many of the unsubstantiated conclusions on which the UNHRC Resolutions on Sri Lanka are based. According to news reports, Lord Nasby has already brought up this matter in the House of Lords despite the lukewarm attitude of the Sri Lankan Government. Therefore, we request the authorities follow up and start adopting a more aggressive stance on this issue at the forthcoming Geneva Meeting, by drawing attention of the UNHRC to Lord Naseby’s findings. We may start by inviting Lord Naseby to visit Sri Lanka and provide necessary advice to our officials who handle this matter.
The latest government decision to request the UNHRC to postpone consideration of its Resolution on Sri Lanka is rather disappointing. This suggests the new government is planning to continue the same defeatist policy of the previous regime. However, most Sri Lankans expect a new approach – a major change of strategy under the new administration. We sincerely hope the authorities will wake up to the danger facing the country now, and take some positive steps including those suggested above.
The CID has uncovered that several other employees in the Swiss Embassy were involved in a plot hatched by Garnier Bannister Francis, a local staffer of the diplomatic mission in Colombo, arrested and remanded for falsely claiming that she had been abducted and threatened. These persons include several female employees.
The CID has identified these individuals based on the mobile phone records of Francis and the statements she has given. The CID officials say that they have determined that Francis’ allegation that she was abducted and threatened is a total fabrication.
Francis was arrested, on Monday, and produced before Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne, who remanded her till 30 December.
Earlier, the Attorney General’s Department asked the CID to arrest her.
Senior State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne confirmed that the Attorney General had given the order as Francis was accused of fabricating evidence.
The law should be implemented against all those who were involved in the alleged abduction case of the Swiss Embassy employee, says United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MP Dilan Perera.
Speaking at a press conference, the parliamentarian called the alleged incident a failed ‘drama’ created to sling mud at President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the new government.
However, the ‘drama’ cannot be ended by just arresting the local staffer of the Swiss Embassy, he stated.
He says that the ‘drama’ was produced by the United National Party (UNP), directed by former Minister Rajitha Senaratne and the actors are the Swiss Embassy employee and the others.
Accordingly, strict legal action should be taken against all involved in this ‘drama’, he added.
By P.K.Balachandran/Daily Express Courtesy NewsIn.Asia
Colombo, December 13: Nationalist and left wing members of the Sri Lankan parliament are putting pressure on the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government to drastically modify the US-Lanka Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact, which had been approved by the cabinet of the preceding Ranil Wickremesinghe government but had not obtained parliamentary approval.
Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena who belongs to the nationalist Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) has said that the MCC Compact, like other international agreements entered into by the Wickremesinghe government, will be reviewed.
Another nationalist MP, Udaya Gammanpila, who is allied with President Gotabaya’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), said that while the transport and road improvement parts of the US$ 480 million Compact (70% of it) is acceptable, the land registration part of it is not.
He feared that the latter could well be a Trojan Horse enabling Western and allied foreign companies to buy off land along the proposed Colombo-Trincomalee Economic Corridor.
While Sri Lanka is all for giving secure land titles to individuals to enable them to put their land to productive use, any attempt to make them available to foreign buyers as result of a pact like the MCC will not be unaccepted, Gammanpila said.
The MCC Compact, as approved by the previous government, says that one of the aims is to increase availability of information on private land and under-utilized State land in order to increase land market activity.” According to the MCC website, one of the aims of the MCC compact is to identify the root cause of problems in the land sector because of the difficulty in access to land for investment purposes.”
While the US Embassy has denied that the US will buy up any land under the MCC, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, a Leftist and State Minister for Water Supply, claimed that the land covered by the MCC Compact from Colombo to Trincomalee ( a very large tract) will go into hands of the US-Lankan joint company in which the US will use its financial clout to get land released for foreign buyers.
Sri Lanka will be obligated to accept such land transfers, having taken the US$ 480 million MCC as a grant” from the US, Gammanpila said.
We are going to change the law to ban foreigners buying land or taking it on long lease,” Nanayakkara asserted. Such land transfers will lead to the impoverishment of the rural masses, whose economy is land based.
We want the land project to be dropped and the transport and road connectivity projects retained. But the US wants us to accept the entire package or forego the grant. That is not acceptable,” Gammanpila said.
However, he clarified that Sri Lanka is all for a modernized system to register land which clearly establishes ownership and enables the purchase of land with a clear title. But we should do it ourselves,” he added.
A monograph of the Institute of Policy Studies says that only 30 to 40% of the lands in the rural areas have a clear title. In 1998, the government initiated a land title registration scheme called the Bim Saviya program. But it ran into financial and other problems and had to be abandoned. The MCC will fund its completion. But Sri Lankan nationalists would like it done independently.
Vasudeva Nanayakkara, State Minister
African Experience
According to literature on the working of the MCC in Africa where land is being acquired in vast quantities by foreign entities in the guise of promoting economic development, the project has many flaws. Gammanpila mentioned Madagascar in particular as a case Sri Lanka should study.
An article in www.grain.comsays that in the scramble for Africa’s land resources some of the players are turning up the heat to ensure that the corporate interests they defend get their piece of the pie. The MCC is indeed very private sector oriented, and its American and local partners will be predominantly from the private sector which will not come without profit in mind.
As experiences with its land projects in Mali, Ghana, Mozambique and Benin make plain, the MCC is playing a key role in commodifying Africa’s farmlands and opening them up to US agribusiness,” Grain.com says.
On Madagascar, the article says that in December 2008, it became apparent that the government that was using MCC funds to allocate certificates to thousands of rural Malagasy under the National Land Program was also selling off these lands to foreign investors.
The people of Madagascar were shocked to learn, via the international media, that their government had allocated a 1.3 million hectare land concession to the Korean company Daewoo Logistics, and that it was negotiating another agreement with the Indian company Varun, covering several hundred thousand hectares, both for large-scale farming projects.”
The Daewoo deal included lands where certificates had already been allocated through the MCC-funded program while Varun was proposing that the land program be extended to the area it was targeting, so that certificates could be awarded to farmers on condition that they make their lands available to Varun!”
In fact, the government had signed away, or was in the process of signing away, nearly 3 million hectares of agricultural land to foreign investors through a system of long-term leases (up to 99 years) that it established in 2008 as part of a new investment law supported by its donors.”
MCC’s Characteristics
About the MCC’s basic characteristics, the www. grain.com article says: The MCC’s approach is hard-hitting and akin to a structural adjustment program. It has a large budget (which Congress has increased under the Obama administration, by 26 per cent in 2010). This money is disbursed in the form of grants, not loans, to specific countries that the MCC deems eligible for funding. So there is a big carrot dangling to lure countries in.”
But even to become a candidate for funding, a country must first pass an MCC scorecard test, which looks at such criteria as ‘Encouraging Economic Freedom’ and is based on indicators taken from neo-liberal institutions like the World Bank, the Heritage Foundation and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).”
Having passed through these hoops, a country can then move into the process of developing and signing a Compact with the MCC, which will specify four or five projects for MCC funding.”
The way this usually works is that a team of US consultants flies in to guide the government in crafting the Compact proposal, pointing it towards those areas that are most salient to opening the country up to foreign investors.”
Once the Compact is approved, the money starts to flow, although the tap can quickly be turned off if the government changes direction in a manner that does not suit Washington. MCC funding to Nicaragua was cut off when the Sandinistas were elected to power, but was maintained in Honduras after the illegal coup d’état of 2009.”
With the signing of the Compact, the recipient government must set up an institution to administer the funds, often called a Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), which operates autonomously, with its own Board of Directors, yet under the oversight of a designated ministry.”
The Compact lasts typically for five years, with regular evaluations and strict targets that have to be met, each year or so, before new tranches of funding are released. Vincent Basserie, a land specialist with Le Hub Rural in Senegal, who has seen the MCC in action, likens it to a bulldozer – pursuing a strict ideological agenda, without regard for previous experiences.”
(The featured image at the top shows Udaya Gammanpila, pro-goverment MP)
Colombo, Dec. 16 – Sri Lanka will ban foreign contractors from competing for state project and give a slew of benefits for domestic construction companies, a government policy for for the next five years said.
Sri Lanka will all state construction work for the domestic construction firms” the policy document said, the EconomyNext reported.
The reduced competition could push up profits of construction firms and raise the cost of state procurement costs overall, analysts say.
Sri Lanka’s new administration had already halved income taxes for construction firms from 28 to 14 percent and also lifted value added tax from aparment and housing projects.
It is not clear how the ban will affect foreign tied funding projects.
Chinese projects in particular are funded with export-import bank financing for China-based contractors.
Some Sri Lankan firms which were sub-contractors to Chinese firms have got involved in joint ventures.
Small and medium subcontracting firms will be provided secure business through legislation, the new policy said.
Building construction approvals will be reduced to 3 weeks, by establishing a system that will enable all approvals to be obtained through one place over the internet, while urban construction will have to follow existing urban development plans.
Past loans taken by construction firms will be given grace periods and space to renegotiate, new policies showed.
A new system will be set up to manage relations between construction firms and banks via the central bank as well.
Existing licensing for procuring raw material for construction will be revised.
The government will set up an advisory committee of engineers and technologists to help construction firms obtain consultancy assistance, while also helping foster collaboration among the industry, architects association, Institute of Engineers and universities.
The government policy document envisions providing houses to those in need through easy payment plans based on household income.
Land for housing will be provided at reasonable prices for construction companies.
The price of land, especially in Colombo, has priced out housing for many, although housing costs also higher due to protectionist import tariffs on construction material such as aluminium, steel and ceramics.
Special housing projects will be initiated islandwide under a public-private partnership program, while housing schemes will be set up in rural agriculture areas where land for housing is limited.
Housing will be provided for those who are serving or have served in armed forces and war widows, police officers, displaced persons and those living in shanties.
Banks and private institutions providing loans exclusively for housing will be merged into one Housing Bank, which will provide low interest loans.
The government will create facilities to train workers to operate machinery in the construction industry, which is facing a labour shortage.
Youth will also be trained to take up technical or technology-related jobs in construction.
Colombo, December 17 (Xinhua): Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has said the country will experiment with an imported genetically altered breed of mosquito designed to make female dengue mosquitos sterile in order to combat the rising dengue virus, local media reports said here Tuesday.
Speaking to newspaper editors, President Rajapaksa said that a sample of the mosquito breed had been brought to Sri Lanka on an experimental basis,” and the new experiment is currently underway.
President Rajapaksa further instructed all governors and health department workers to take immediate measures to combat the spread of dengue.
Sri Lanka’s health officials earlier this week warned of a dengue outbreak in the island country, as over 120 deaths have been reported so far this year and over 87,000 people affected from at least 11 districts.
Secretary of the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) Haritha Aluthge said that the GMOA had informed Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi and the Secretary to the Ministry of Health of the seriousness of the issue as over 10 districts were affected by the rapidly increasing spread of the disease.
Continuous rains in many parts of the island country are one of the leading reasons for the spread of the virus.
Haritha said that while Colombo, Gampaha, in the outskirts of the capital and Kandy, in the central hills, were the worst affected districts, with 50 percent of the total of over 87,000 number of cases reported, for the first time an outbreak of dengue was also reported from the Jaffna District in the north.
Part
one of this article focused on a basic requirement a Horizontal Model for
Education Distribution in the country for education reforms. The structure for the model for a million
population irrespective of where the population has networked or distributed,
whether in rural or urban area, the proposed model designed to apply in entire
country. It is a horizontal distribution of education irrespectively whether
population distributed in rural or urban areas or in wealthy suburbs or in poor
people’s ghettos. Recent television programs in Sri Lanka disclosed that
although the department of education has been operating in the country since
State Council era, finding a school for kids has become the most difficult task
to parent. They should waste time and
money for finding a school for kids despite the education considers a
fundamental right of human.
The
major reason for this predicament seems that distributing more resources for
urban schools in the process of education distribution and neglecting rural and
semi urban areas. Current education
provision is a vertical distribution which means less than one million
population in certain areas, many schools have established and they are based
on nationality or religion or wealth, more than the requirement of population
while large volume of population in outer Colombo and suburbs have less schools
with less resources. A vertical distribution can be defined as giving more
schools and resources to small area distributing upward. This situation could
be eliminated only if the distribution of education makes horizontally, which
forces the government to distribute schools and more resources to larger areas
in rural Sri Lanka. Vertical distribution of education in the country is based
on colonial attitudes, which has created many issues in education provision to
the community and its principle seems against social justice. However, recent
statement to press by Mr. Dallas Alahapperuma and Mr. Ramesh Pathirana clearly
stated that national schools will be increased to 1000 from current 374, which
means the acceptance of a horizontal model of education distribution. It is the
social justice expected by people.
For
example, if it gets Kotahena or Bambabalapitity or Madadana or Kollupitiya or
Borella area, many schools have located in such areas for more than needed to
the population actually living in the area whilst it is observable that no
schools for kids in rural and semi-urban areas to gain education confirming to
social justice. Locating too many
schools to urban areas have also created problems such as daily movement of
people in urban towns (Including Colombo), where generate motor and human
traffic issues and daily movement of too many people incur cost to the
government demanding more controls and facilities. The system incurs more
expenses to Individuals expenses such as bus fee, pocket money for kids,
accompanying persons with kids and many other expenses. It seems that people
daily move from outer suburbs to Colombo metro area for schooling purpose than
productive or trading purposes. Education must be a service that provides in
residential area. It cannot not justify moving from far away to gain
educational services and kids have additional pressure to concentrate on
activities that are not related education.
I
observed that some parent daily sends kids from Dankotuwa to Bambalapitiya for
schooling, when I ask why it is happening, parent replied the reason to educate
English, kids send far away. English is
a communication media like other languages in the world whether it leans in
Dankotuwa or in Bambalapitiya it shouldn’t reflect a difference. There may be a difference in accent, but it
cannot be changed by teachers in Colombo schools. If a person can communicate
in English, he or she must be able understand the message and give messages
whether communicator learn English in the UK or in the USA, or in the East
European countries or the Middle Eastern countries, or India, South Africa or
in China or Japan. This is myth in Sri
Lanka about English in Colombo which is different from English in other places.
I observed that many kids studied in Colombo so-called superior schools cannot
properly communicate in English Language and many policy makers and university
educators in Sri Lanka are from regional areas.
Parent
can save lots of money if schools located close to homes. This has been a problem for more than seventy
years and the policy has not been corrected and now the education authority has
a dogma as schools cannot relocate and the possible solution is opening new
schools or upgrading schools in rural areas injecting more resources to them
while reducing resources in schools of Colombo and suburbs.
Various
allegorical acceptance have involved in searching for popular schools although
the education is a qualitative substance despite where kids were educated and
Sri Lanka’s environment has not changed to disregard points such as the school
educated, who were teachers or any other allegorical points when selecting for
jobs, for higher education and social acceptance if the person has required
level of education and quality. The
government needs launching a campaign against mythical views rooted in the
society and make equity and justice for the quality of education irrespective
of where it was obtained. This is a discrimination related issue and the
government needs considering anti-discrimination laws like in Western
countries, if any citizen has quality education, he/she must not be subjected
to discrimination based on a point from where education was obtained. It is a rubbish if it considers to give
priority for stupid points considering from where the education obtained, when
selecting for a job.
Current
education policy of the country has not organized the way given in the proposed
horizontal model and some areas of the country have many educational
institutions while rural or regional Sri Lanka is not consist of education
institutions to accommodate students in the area or sometimes, there is no
enough education institutions and resources to provide basic education to the
community. This is a major disparity of existing education policy management
and the proposed model indicated in part one could be used to each one million
population without differences whether population located in urban or rural
area. The model will bring equality in
education distribution for people considering equity and justice equal
opportunity without differences in gender, religion, regional, ethnic, language
or any other such as where people networked in urban or rural areas.
After
the acceptance of the proposed model for education distribution, it is
necessary to address current major problems, which are associated with the past
decision making in the existing system.
The issues are varied and a considerable volume of young generation
consider that they have difficulties entering to job market or higher education
or skill training. The major point
raised associated with issues such as wrong choice of study area, field, trade
area or any other resulting unemployment. Bridging current unemployed graduates
at university or higher education level or in any context of education to
develop employable knowledge and skills or go to further education and training
is an urgent requirement of education reforms. Kids had to encounter such
problems not only because faults of them but also a problem within the
education system, which has no guidance at school level to achieve ambitions
and compare the ambition with economic environment. For this problem, parent,
teachers as well as government policy makers are equally responsible.
Education
and training could be widely used to solve the problem without creating any
disadvantage to any person. However, the sensitive environment in Sri Lanka
provokes attitudes of young generation pointing unrealized effects and the
policy makers need to understand this sensitive environment, which is
associated with politics. In the past, various steps took to reform curriculum
structure in schools since 1960s, but it was failed and the major reason for
the failure was politics and creating a wrong mental psychosis on the mind of
people by politicians without understanding the timely needs and future
requirements.
The
report of Prof Dudley Seers in late 1960s (Matching Employment Expectation and
Opportunities: A Program Action for Ceylon) clearly indicated the requirement
of curriculum reforms and the government effort was bog down by politics. Therefore, when making education reforms, the
government must not forget the traditional Sinhala saying if you go with
knowing can reach Kataragama, travelling without knowing the way would leave
you in the lurch”
The
reforms in curriculum, teaching, training and flexibility in education could be
used to eliminate the many problems in current environment. Looking at
education in many countries Sri Lanka’s education could be expressed or firmly
stated the exactly the right way, despite many opinions on educations
especially curriculum reforms in schools.
It is dependent on the future economic opportunities and trend of the
job market and innovative features in other countries. This situation should be
worked together with a view to solve problems, which were generated as results
of past and continuing decisions.
With
the given structure curriculum reforms is a broader aspect that eliminate
unnecessarily aligning students to specific area of education such as science,
commerce and arts. Many Western
countries allow students to learn arts, science and commerce together and
sometimes to select other pathways in health, engineering, agriculture,
services, sports, and many other areas. In Australia, universities allow
students to complete double degrees like Medicine and law or political science
and arts, psychology etc. University education policy needs rapid changes and
when students selected a study area, they should take the responsibility for
selection and the university administration should give wider choices, however,
current university management seems that they failed to give wider choices for
students.
Curriculum
reforms would direct to solve current major problems and it needs including key
knowledge and skills education (value, health, environment and language
education). Sri Lanka has many
religions, but the behaviour of followers is not consistent with the policies
of religions. It seems that religion has become a symbol and religion is not
working in homes or workplaces or in the society. In this situation curriculum reforms need
focus to offer value education in all educational contexts. In Western countries, value education is key
in practical knowledge and application.
For example, care and compassion are vital values which means care for
self and others. In any education
context, safety is a value, which broadly apply any subject area and when value
education included, the behavioural pattern of students dramatically changed
and the quality of knowledge and skills improve with a higher demand for
knowledge and skills.
Value,
health, environment and language education must be co area from primary
education to university education and the university management has failed
consider these area and next vital fact is university and TVET system in the
country has no proper curriculum evaluation system, which is essential to
perform once in two years. It is expensive and expert services demand for
successful evaluation. When students learn a subject at school level, or
technical or university level, the nature of outcomes achieved after learning
neither students, nor parent not teachers nor employers have idea.
Next
part will be in curriculum and teaching reforms.
The Maha Sangha worked hard on
behalf of Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the Presidential election of November
2019. Ven. Elle Gunawansa said that the
Sangha, 20,000 of them, went village by village to canvass for him”.
The Sangha were openly pleased
when Gotabaya won. Elle Gunawansa said this is the first election after 1948 where the voters were
called on to think of the country. ‘Rata
gana, daruwo gana, Sambuddha Sasana gana hitana chande.
Ven. Omalpe Sobitha said that this was a victory for citizens who
underwent untold hardships during the previous regime and for those who wish to
bring back justice and democracy.
Ven. Devalegama Dammasena said the President’s political campaign
would go down as one of the cleanest operations with no posters, banners and
cutouts. There was no character
assassination or slinging of mud on his stage.
President Gotabaya did not forget
the Maha Sangha who had helped him win the election. He made it a point
to visit Buddhist temples after his
victory. These visits were televised.
The chief priest of each temple was there to greet him, accompanied by a team
of monks. Ven. Ittepane Dhammalankare met President Gotabaya accompanied by a
team of bhikkhus, Dodampaha Nandimithra, Tirikunamale Ananda, Madampagama Assaji and
Medawachchiye Dammajothi.
The Sangha gave lengthy
speeches rejoicing in Gotabaya ‘s victory ,
with copious advice on what to do next.
They spoke readily into
microphones, to address persons seated before them! The microphones were there
because these speeches were going to
appear in the next day’s television
news. The Sangha knew beforehand that they were addressing an island wide audience. This was
nothing new for them. Bhikkhus regularly
address lay audiences and advise them, during bana and pirit ceremonies. But this time they were talking
politics, not religion.
The Sangha said they have great hope in President Gotabaya. They
expect much from him. Akmeemana Dayaratana
said we needed a leader with a vision . Elle Gunawansa said Gotabaya
has vision, also he delivers any project he undertakes. Ven. Kotapitiye
Rahula said that the Sangha were ready to work with Gotabaya.
Keppetiyagoda Siri Wimala of
Getambe Rajopavanaramaya said ‘this time there is a good momentum. This
momentum should be continued ’. Convert
‘Gotabaya bheetiya into Gotabaya neethiya,’.Vendaruwe Upali of Malwatte composed a
short kavi then and there, ,which
ended Janapathi vasanava me rata hadena thuru
Omalpe Sobitha , addressing a media conference at the Bodhiraja
Viharaya, Embilipitiya said President
Gotabaya Rajapaksa will usher in an era of prosperity and development in the
country, for which he has already started work.
Devalegama Dammasena, Chief priest of the
Tissamaharama Raja Maha Viharaya addressing
a press conference in Tissamaharama said President Gotabaya has a vision and it
was evident from the work he did as the Defence Secretary. ( I think
he meant the urban development work). Ven.
Dammasena said a period for the
betterment of the country would dawn with the assumption of duties by President
Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Keppetiyagoda Siri Wimala voiced something that all Rajapaksa
supporters were thinking. ’See to your security,” he said, It may now be
under threat. Like what happened to SWRD. We will be destroyed if we lose
you both.
The Sangha did not confine
their utterances to temple and media. They appeared on other platforms
too. A line of bhikkhus were
seated in the front row at a Jana
hamuwa for President Gotabaya held at
Dehiwela.
The Sangha were also
there, when the intelligentsia
held a seminar on the MCC at the Sri
Lanka Foundation Institute, Colombo in November 2019 .Several bhikkhus spoke,
including Vaturawila Siri Sujata, Paraduwa Jinaratana and
Murungagasyaye Gnathissara from France,
Malevana Dhammavijaya said we are not a nation that weeps, ‘andana
jatiyak nevei’.
The Maha Sangha, it appears have no intention of abandoning politics.
They intend to stay on and supervise the government . The Maha Sangha were on television the day after the election,
right after the results were announced.( see Derana news 2019.11. 08)
Elle Gunawansa addressed the media soon after the Presidential election. He
asked the media to support the
government at this point of time, instead of criticizing, because ‘if we fail
this time, that will be final’. There
will be weaknesses in this government.
We must try to correct them, he said.
At a Yuthukama gathering, Ella Gunawansa said ‘Now pressurize the government to do what you
want them to do. Do not sit back and wait.’ ‘Me
para hondata balagena inna’ he instructed ,
‘however much they may get annoyed we will continue to voice our
views.’ Ven. Kotapitiye Rahula said that
the Sangha were ready to work with Gotabaya. If
this government doesn’t perform well, we will get rid of it
too, he concluded.
The Sangha
pounced on several current
issues. They held a press conference on the Swiss embassy matter. This was a
plot to discredit the government and
country, they said. We, the Sangha wish
to advise these embassies. We may be a
small country, but we must be allowed
to run our country without interference
and with dignity. ( ‘abhimanavat’) .
Switzerland should not meddle in our
affairs. Bhikkhus also went to the UN Human Rights Organization and made a complaint against the
Swiss embassy.
The Sangha spoke before television cameras on the fine given out to Brig. Priyanka Perera in London. Bhikkhus including
Kamburugamuwe Vajira spoke of Perera’s bravery in war and praised
his patriotism. They spoke of supporting him and having a collection to pay the fine.
Jamburewela Chandraratana representing the People’s Responsibility
Centre went to the Indian High Commission
and handed over a letter to be
given to the Prime Minister Modi asking
him to discuss doing away of Provincial
Councils during President Rajapaksa’s
official visit to India.
Jamburewela Chandraratana thereafter spoke to the media, on the
negative aspects of Provincial Councils. The Elections Commission stated that
the cost of holding the last provincial council election was Rs. 874 million
and the next election will cost Rs. 3, 180 million. Further, the Provincial Councils have not been
function for months.
The North Central, Eastern and Sabaragamuwa
Provincial Councils were inactive for two years and eight months. The Central,
Northern and North Western Provincial Councils were inactive for one year and
eight months, while the Western and Southern Provincial Councils were inactive
for six months. But although the Provincial Councils were inactive, the country
moved forward, he said..”
The Sangha commented on
political issues, big and small, as they came up. Pahiyangala Ananda criticized the decision to abolish the
permits system in transporting sand, granite and soil. Akmeemana
Dayaratana spoke on the 13 points put forward by TNA. Kiri Ibbanare Vijitha said
that all involved in the Bond Scam, including ministers must be
arrested. Kotapola Amarakiththi said that USA intended to get their MCC
passed after the Presidential elections.
Paraduwe Jinaratana spoke of irregularities in the cultural
ministry. Bhikkhus commented unfavorably on officials such as Shani
Abeysekera. Two bhikkhus were seen at the new demand for an inquiry against Dr.
Shafie. Liyanwela Sasanaratana spoke.
Jumburewela Chandaratana said that the head of the Pharmaceutical
Corporation had purchased a low grade
cancer drug. This official and his Minister, Rajitha Senaratne should be arrested. Ven.
Chandraratana also went to the Defence
Ministry to ask that this person be
stopped from leaving the country. The official concerned said that
he was not going anywhere.
Ittakande Saddhatissa said they have evidence of malpractice in
Sathosa by Rishard Bathiudeen and he must be arrested. Angulugalle Sri
Jinanada, Magalkande Sudatta, Madille
Pagnaloka and Akmeemana Dayaratna speaking
separately said that there was illegal settlement of Muslims in
Puttalam and that Rishard Bathiudeen was responsible.
At Walapane, there were four deaths in one family
due to the collapse of a hill and the
public were furious. They said this was
due to illegal quarrying. Mailagasthenne Dhammananda, chief priest Galpotha temple, intervened and
asked the family to please go ahead with the burial. They would agitate about
the matter the next day. This was shown
on television news.
Media reported that a group of Buddhist monks and
supporters of Duminda Silva are planning on appealing to the government to
re-commence an investigation into the shooting incident between two groups of
Duminda Silva and Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra several years ago. They claim
that the CID had allegedly concealed certain information from courts regarding
the shooting of Duminda Silva which was unfavourable to him and eventually led
to him being sentenced to life imprisonment.
The group appealing on behalf of Duminda Silva
claim that while the CID was entrusted with the inquiry in to this incident,
they had allegedly concealed information regarding the fact that it was
Bharatha Lakshman’s group who had initially opened fire and injured Duminda
Silva, and only had pursued investigations regarding Duminda Silva’s group opening
fire on Bharatha Lakshman. The petitioners claim that the CID had allegedly
concealed certain information from courts. Therefore, they have urged the new
government to conduct a fair investigation into this incident, while respecting
the verdict of the courts, and ensure that justice is done to both parties
without favouring either of them.
The Sangha showed that they were very alert politically. Ittepane
Dhammalankare among others,
commented very accurately on the
political situation. Devalegama Dammasena alerted the people of impending
dangers to the nation and its citizens. Bengamuwe Nalaka speaking at a
Gotabaya rally ( before the election) referred disparagingly
to the ‘NGO karayo’ who were working
against Gotabaya. They talked history too. There were several
references to 1815 and to Dutugemunu.
Today’s Sangha are media savvy. Derana news 11.12.19 showed a bhikkhu holding his smart phone to the Derana microphone to convey information. They are knowledgeable and well
informed. They cited relevant laws and
acts. They pointed out that in the Swiss
Embassy issue, the employee was not entitled
to diplomatic immunity and that the whole incident was in violation of
the Vienna convention.
The Sangha took a strong anti –UNP stance. Not other political party
has harmed this country more than the UNP, said
Elle Gunawansa. Earlier UNP had
good people in it, he added. Ranil Wickremesinghe must resign said Medagama Dhammananda
of Asgiri. If Ranil Wickremesinghe does
not resign, then we will have to force him to resign, said Pahiyangala Ananda
Sagara and Ittakande Saddhatissa,
speaking separately.
Jamburewela Chandraratana commented on Ranil Wickremesinghe’s statement that UNP must now woo back the Sinhala
Buddhist vote. Is this for religion or to gain political power, he
asked. Elle Gunawansa said that this shows that up to now they have used the
Sinhala Buddhist vote only to win
elections.
It is well known that while
electioneering was going on, and the
Sangha were working for Gotabaya Rajapaksa , Mangala Samaraweera sent a Twitter
message, where he omitted the Sangha and
spoke of the Blessings of a
Double Gem. This was an absurd, laughable utterance, but the Sangha, naturally were
furious. This was the last straw.
They came before the public, via television, and specifically named Mangala Samaraweera,
Rajita Senaratne, Patali Champika and Ranjan Ramanayake as persons who have
criticized the Sangha. They must be
removed from politics. Their behavior was shameless, said Alugalle Siri
Jinananda of Buddhist information Center . They must apologize to the Sangha, said Jamburewela
Chandraratana ,otherwise the UNP will not get votes. Paraduwa Jinaratana. and
Vatinapana Somananda also spoke.
The Sangha did not stop at that. They went
to Sri Kotha when a UNP was
meeting was in progress. They handed
over a written request that the UNP not
give nominations to those who refused to accept that this was a Sinhala
Buddhist country. If not, the Sangha
will work against UNP not only at the next election but will
also engage in a campaign against UNP, said Kotahene Narada. Mangala, Ranjan
and Rajitha were specifically named in the letter.
The Buddhist public including
the Maha Sangha had lost confidence in the government led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe
which had belittled the country’s historical heritage saying that Sri Lanka is
not a Buddhist nation. This distrust was amply demonstrated in the Presidential
Election results, said Medagama Dhammananda of Asgiri. No ruler can govern Sri Lanka by disrespecting the Maha
Sangha.
From the
beginning Yahapalana government had
insulted the Maha Sangha and nurtured extremist minority groups said Ven
Dhammananda. They wanted to remove the
monks and do what they want. Saying Sri Lanka is not a Buddhist country showed that they were planning a ‘vena
gamanak’. We must understand this .
We have
never been insulted like this before, said Elle Gunawansa. ‘They thought we were a
spineless nation, that the Sangha had no power. But the Sangha are not the fools they thought we
were, he added . The Sangha became very determined.
When Mahinda Rajapaksa took office as
Prime Minister , three long rows of
bhikkhus chanted a lengthy pirit which sounded as though it would never end.
The battle between the fading
Yahapalana government and the Maha Sangha is still going on. The Sangha realize
that the game is not yet over. The country is still in danger from the west. The Sangha is now looking ahead to the General election and the Prime
Minister stakes of 2020.
Kamaburugamuwe Vajira advised ‘rata beraganna nayakayek thora
ganna. ‘Think ahead, think of the future generations and vote. Elle Gunawansa said, we need’ ratata jatiyata
agamata garu karana ayomya nayakayek. Me
rate gaha kola valata adaraya karana, sivurata adaraya karana, kandula
handunana nayakayake ona.
Kotapola
Amarakiththi said I am not attached to any political party. But having seen the fearful disaster
we are facing, I thought that I
must address these few words to you.
Don’t think the way you thought
for the last 70 years(sic) . You must think about the next election in a ‘kavadavat nohitu vidihata’ and vote intelligently.
Not everyone is impressed with the role played by
the Sangha. The columnist Nan” has spoken of a ‘Scary Saffron Surge”. She said ‘ thoughts have been surging in my
feared mind after seeing so many Buddhist monks in active politics and so much
visiting of temples by those who won the recent election’. There was also a statement
made by a monk loud and clear that the leaders who won the recent elections
took their advice and should continue
doing so now they are in power.
‘Nan’ speaks of
the ‘dread and menace’ in
Buddhist monks entering active politics.
Monks increasing in numbers and stridency, monks who do not keep the
Vinaya rules, monks who led assaults on minority groups
Political monks are definitely stepping out on
the wrong path, said Nan” Their place is the temple and the monastery; their
duty to interpret the Buddha Dhamma and lead the people they have influence
over to better lives, striving to enter the Path shown by the Buddha as
bringing deliverance, but before that enjoying the satisfaction in this life
full of dukkha through meditation and improvement of their minds and sila. They
get on the Path through renunciation and great effort and then they show us the
Path and guide us.
We Buddhists are very fortunate to have had great
good monks, continued Nan” and have such monks even now in considerable numbers,
who [deliver] bana [having much] relevance to our lives. They lead their lives
as prescribed by the Buddha.
‘Nan’ says that Ven. Dhammavihari has said that monks have duties to perform for
lay people, as the latter provide them with all necessities to sustain
life. Thus their readiness and
willingness to advice lay people, visit homes for dana and pirit chanting, and
offer solace when that is needed.
I must say
that very many monks are true Buddhist monks in this land of ours, following
strictly the Vinaya rules set down by the Buddha and wearing the robe he
prescribed with solemnity, serenity and dignity. We also have monks in the
forest tradition who spend their time in meditation with not much contact with
ordinary life and lay people. In some abodes, people do not even see the
monks,.; dane is left for them and they appear only to gather their food and
return to their kutis and seclusion, said Nan”.
These observations call for a reply. Bhikkhus are
citizens of Sri Lanka and they are entitled to all rights of citizens,
including the right to vote and participate in political activity. This is now
accepted. Island editorial of
7.12.19 said ‘Buddhist monks, no
doubt, have political rights and, in fact, they have a history of playing a
pivotal role in helping the country in times of crisis.’
Secondly, these ‘menacing, strident’ monks are
often the chief priests of highly regarded temples. Finally,, if the monks had
supported Sajith Premadasa, instead of Gotabaya Rajapaksa , would Nan” have spoken
of a ‘wonderful saffron surge’ and not a
‘scary’ one. [Concluded]
Labour gaining ground. One in ten still undecided. Jeremy Corbyn is much closer to becoming Prime Minister than voters think, according to a Conservative party memo. Hung parliament will see Boris Johnson removed from No 10 Downing Street. Labour minority government likely. Opinion polls tightening — Corbyn might just become Prime Minister.
These were headlined claims in the run up to the British Parliamentary Elections. Change a few names and it is pretty much what did the rounds in Sri Lanka, especially among those who read, speak (and live?) ‘English’ a month ago. Check the following ‘clips’ from the pro-Sajith twitterati masquerading as political commentators and political scientists (crystal gazing quacks if you ask me!). Sajith has the late starter advantage. Easy win for Sajith in Gota-Sajith race. Sajith is gaining ground. Sajith is bridging the gap fast. A tight race. It’s too close to call. Sajith slowly pulling ahead as Gota fails to gain traction. A poll has shown that Premadasa currently would narrow the margin considerably against Rajapaksa. Second-preference will decide things since no one will get 50%+1.
This is not exactly party propaganda posted by party-run websites and social media teams only to be liked and shared by party loyalists. No, we are not talking about career politicians such as those backing Sajith Premadasa or political activists like Shiral Laktilleka who until the very end maintained that Sajith could come through. Here’s a partial list of prophesy-pushers: Dayan Jayatilleka, Jayadeva Uyangoda, Victor Ivan, Harim Peiris and Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu. Some of them, like Dayan, were openly campaigning for Sajith while others may have done so on the sly. Some, like Kumar David didn’t exactly cheer Sajith, but waxed eloquent about the ‘real possibility’ of second-preferences coming into contention, indicating that he also believed in a close race.
Now their UK Election counterparts weren’t exactly Sumanadasas either. So how does one explain the fact that they got it all wrong? Is it enough to say ‘outcome preferences compromised analytical rigor’? Is it enough to say ‘they started believing their own propaganda?’ Maybe they just had no clue.
Many commentators, first and foremost, seemed to have read everything wrong. In 2015, they believed it was a battle between a clueless authoritarian Sinhala Buddhist nationalist crook and a coalition of good and competent guys who were peaceful, democratic, honest, tolerant and secularist. Come 2019, they believed (hoped, rather) that there would be a repeat. That belief/hope was predicated probably on that flawed reading of the 2015 result.
It can’t be the case that people had been ‘converted’ from revolutionary (‘low-intensity’ as Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri put it) to counter-revolutionary if you want that kind of terminology in the course of less than five years. It has to be something else. It was not about the electorate suddenly becoming ultra-progressive (as per THEIR understanding of the word) between 2010 and 2015. Simply, people were tired of the regime, they were tired of the arrogance and more so than the perceived corruption. If that was not the case, the above pundits would find it hard to explain how Gota not only won the districts that Mahinda lost or won by margins much slimmer than those of 2010 but won them handsomely. So they were shocked. Naturally. Perhaps they should try self-reflection and ask themselves if they unconsciously extrapolated personal preferences and convictions to the entire electorate or at least a significant section of it.
In the UK (like in the USA), politics is dominated by the right wing. Yes, just like in Sri Lanka. Sure, the Democrats are ‘left’ but only in relation to the location of the Republicans on the Left-Right political continuum. Labour, in the UK, is ‘left’ but only in relation to the Conservatives. In terms of broader social, economic and political issues, both parties in both countries (yes, just like in Sri Lanka) are ‘right’.
In Sri Lanka, ironically, ‘The Left’ or rather the so-called Left Intellectuals that ‘The Left’ has dwindled down have identified the UNP as the preferred refugee camp. Now if these individuals were serious about taking on capitalism and if ‘class’ was their top political priority, they wouldn’t go anywhere near the UNP. Some of course backed the JVP and painted themselves as supporting program rather than a ‘lesser evil’. But ‘lesser evil’ seems to be the perennial fall-back option for these people, both in Sri Lanka and the UK. Why is the Sri Lanka Podu Jana Peramuna (SLPP) or the Conservative party the ‘greater evil’? It’s not about capitalism or class struggle. Such things are no longer in their vocabulary. The left pretenders are simply reluctant to acknowledge the truth that such ideological concerns no longer excite them. They simply want to retain the label. So they pick what have been peripheral to traditional left politics: self-determination, minoritarianism, environmental issues, women’s rights, human rights, reconciliation, liberal democracy (as an interim political project), carbon-neutrality etc.
And they must pick a political other. What’s easy? Well, ‘nationalism’ has always been the no-no for the Left. So it’s easy. They painted the Rajapaksas and the SLPP as ‘Sinhala Buddhist racists’ and happily sided with Sajith. But wait, read what Kumar David has to say about Sajith. Sajith’s mind, he paraphrases thus: ‘I will be as tough as Gota; mother Lanka is safe from separatist Tamils and terrorist Muslims in my custody.’ It was easy, one feels. If not wanting to side with a Rajapaksa was not reason enough, all they had to do was to move to where the nationalists were not.
Never mind all that. They needed to stand somewhere and they picked a default option, even though it meant they had to rub shoulders of Tamil racists and Muslim fundamentalists, not to mention of course champions of the ultra-right and out and out slaves of the global thugs led by the USA and UK . Interestingly, the same can be said of the ultra nationalists. It is not that Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the SLPP were in policy statement or rhetoric more nationalist than Sajith. Neither were they parroting the claims and aspirations of the nationalists. And yet, they were the lesser evil for the nationalists. It was easy, one feels. Just check where Mangala Samaraweera, Rauff Hakeem, Rishard Bathiudeen, M.A. Sumanthiran et al stand and pick the person opposed to them.
What comes out of all this is that while there are ideologies and ideologues, they either don’t have a party they expresses the particular ideology or else don’t have the will to build such a political force. And so those who picked the winner have things to say about what and who were defeated while those who backed the loser talk about what and who won. This is not something that was peculiar to the recently held Presidential Election. It is a theory that can help explain the behavior of ‘ideologues’ of all kinds in every major election since 1965. That makes 54 years of default-option as far as those who are heavy on ideology are concerned.
Interestingly, they make such a tiny minority that their effect is considerably smaller than their profiles (and egos). In other words, had the self-labeled Leftists chosen to spend all their time away from laptops and pocket meetings and instead used armchairs, the results would have not been very different in both 2015 and 2019 (and of course other elections). The same would go for the nationalists.
Of course things are a bit different in Britain, considering Brexit, Johnson and deep-seated xenophobia coming out into the open, but one feels that electorate-temper has been as misread in that country as it was in Sri Lanka. Nevertheless, the commonalities of misreading, mis-extrapolation and missing the bus consequently are hard to deny.
One thing is certain. The November 16, 2019 election showed up many political scientists and political commentators for being utterly inept. Perhaps it was a sobering experience and we might see more informed and perceptive missives from them in the future. I am not betting on it though. This article was first published in the Sunday Observer [December 15, 2019]
Ven. Budugala Jinawansa Thera President Hela Budhu Saviya
December
16, 2019
His Excellency
U Win Myint
The President of Myanmar
Myanmar
Your
Excellency,
We are deeply
concerned with the allegations made against Myanmar at the International Court
of Justice, and the denigration of Myanmar world – wide by the International
Media working hand in glove with sinister NGO groups having a diabolical anti –
Buddhist agenda. They are blatantly using the bogey of Human Rights and false
and misleading accusations of Genocide to name and shame countries, that are
truly independent, assert sovereign rights of free nations, and do not bow down
to western diktat.
Today it is Myanmar.
Tomorrow it will be Sri Lanka. Having destroyed Iraq, Libya, Syria, Afghanistan
without being held to account for their crimes, the very same western countries
are now strategically using Muslims to destroy the foundations of Buddhist
countries.
Both
Myanmar and Sri Lanka have a shared past linked to Theravada Buddhism running
for over a thousand years. History shows that both countries had assisted each
other in times of crisis when the survival of each country was at stake. An
existential threat from a common source intending to displace Buddhism in both
countries persists today. This trend is clearly visible in the narrative of the
disappearance and replacement of Buddhism in several Asian countries during the
last one thousand years.
The
Dharmic (Indo – Buddhist) world must take cognizance of these historical
developments and ask the question whether the current happenings in Myanmar, Sri
Lanka and Thailand (all Theravada Buddhist countries now besieged ) are but a
continuation of a tailored process set in motion over a thousand years ago to
dislodge and finally replace Buddhism from its traditional primacy in Buddhist
Asia.
British colonial rulers
must take
blame for much of Myanmar’s contemporary troubles, having intentionally stoked
tensions between its Bamar Buddhist majority and ethnic minorities through a
strategy of divide and
rule,” sowing seeds of
resentment between the Bamar and minorities like the Rohingya.
Will the British also
take responsibility for bringing most Rohingyas from Bengal in the
19th and 20th centuries as cheap labour to work in Burmese
paddy fields, in a manner similar to bringing Indian Tamils as indentured labour
to Sri Lanka then called Ceylon to work in tea plantations without the consent
of the Kandyan Sinhalese people, and whose traditional lands were forcefully
grabbed by the British under the draconian Waste Lands Ordinance, 1840 ?
We
take the view that the elected Government of Myanmar with a mandate to protect
the citizens of Myanmar, had no other choice but to send its armed forces to
Rakhine in order to protect Buddhists, Hindus, and various indigenous Tribal
Groups, who faced the wrath of ARSA (Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army) and the
Bengali Muslims who had infiltrated Rakhine heavily with intent to grab land and
dispossess the original inhabitants namely the citizens of Myanmar, from their
traditional home land in Rakhine.
We
further take the view that what the Government of Myanmar is doing is absolutely
right, in protecting Myanmar’s interest in the face of OIC funded propaganda.
The So called Rohingyas are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Where
was ICJ and UN when Bangladesh was ethnic cleansing Buddhist tribes (Chakma,
Marma, Tripura etc.) from Chittagong Hill Tracts?”
A
propaganda war has been launched against Myanmar by the OIC and the highly
prejudiced international media such as Al Jazeera that totally ignores the
Bengali Muslim land grab that blights Rakhine, the Chittagong Hill Tracts
(Bangladesh), and various parts of India including Assam.
A
similar situation of organized and co -ordinated violence arose in Sri Lanka,
when on Easter Sunday April 21, 2019, suicide bombers linked to radical Islamic
terrorist groups killed 259 people and injured over 500 people. Three
churches and three luxury hotels in Colombo were targeted in a series of
coordinated terrorist suicide bombings.
The
failure to counter aggressive Abrahamic incursions can only lead to the
shrinking of Buddhist space and Territory in South Asia, South East Asia and the
Far East.
We
admire the moral courage of Myanmar in standing up to foreign invaders. Much of
Asia was once under European colonial rule for centuries. People in Asian
countries fought for their freedom and liberty from Western colonial occupation,
and finally obtained independence. But this independence is now again under
threat from neo – colonialism.
Organization
of Islamic Co – operation (OIC) is in the picture via Gambia. The absence of the
equivalent of an OIC in the Buddhist world such as a summit level League of
Buddhist Nations, is worrisome. While European Christian heritage nations are
protected heavily by the European Union (EU) and NATO, and Islamic countries
have the powerful 57 member OIC to take up their cause at the drop of a hat,
Buddhist countries unfortunately lack an effective international Buddhist
organization with clout to adequately defend them at a time of
crisis.
Between
Turkey and Indonesia, there are only four non – Muslim countries, namely the
pre-dominantly Hindu India, and three predominantly Buddhist countries, Sri
Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand. They all face threats to their survival from armed
violence and demographic change.
Hela Budhu Saviya
wishes to express concern, at these developments which threaten the future of
Buddhist nations. The people of Sri Lanka and Myanmar have a long history of
friendship and solidarity. We express our continued support and admiration to an
Asian Heroine namely the State Counsellor Aung
San Suu Kyi for her great courage and perseverance in the face of continued
threats and intimidation.
You are not
alone.
Hela Budhu Saviya
pledges support and backing to the Government and people of Myanmar in their
hour of crisis.
Ten Sri Lankan medical practitioners including three doctors and seven
nurses from the Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Etiology (CKDu) affected areas
finished a 2-month training program at Peking University First Hospital (PUFH)
in Beijing. The commencement ceremony of the Training Program was held on Dec.
12, 2019. For two months, the trainees got full time training in the
hemodialysis center, the nephrology ward and the peritoneal dialysis center of
the PUFH, one of the best hospitals in China.
As a training program lasting for the third consecutive year, the training
program was sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in an attempt to
help tackle the CKDu issue in Sri Lanka. The program has trained thirty medical
practitioners for Sri Lanka up to now. Please find the following report
by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) “Training Program 2019 for Sri
Lankan Medical Practitioners in Nephrology held in Beijing”
The two individuals, who were arrested over controversial statements made at a media briefing conducted by former Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne on the purported incidents regarding white vans”, have been remanded until the 27th of December.
The Colombo Chief Magistrate issued the order when the two individuals were presented before the court today (16).
The CID had commenced an investigation into a media briefing conducted by the former Health Minister in early November along with two other individuals, where they made controversial statements.
On the 10th of November this year, Senaratne had called two persons named Anthony Douglas Fernando and Athula Sanjeewa Madanayake for the said press conference, who made controversial statements and allegations regarding white vans” and purported incidents of certain abductions, assassinations, robberies and forced disappearances during the administration of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
One of them had claimed that he was a white van” driver involved in abducting people while the other claimed he once served as a driver to transport a stock of gold in previously LTTE-held areas.
On December 02, the CID presented a submission to the Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne regarding the said media briefing. Considering a request made by the CID, the chief magistrate had ordered several media institutions to submit the unedited video footage from this press conference to the investigators for onward probes.
The investigations in this regard were launched after a complaint was lodged by an individual named Kumudu Pradeep Sanjeewa Perera.
