By : A.A.M.NIZAM – MATARA

The Terrorist Tamil diaspora, the Tyrant Western Nations (TWNs)the NGO vultures and the local reactionaries, the UNP, TNA, the two derspiable racist Muslim parties Mano Ganeshan’s Indian Original Tamil (IOTs) were bewildered by the massive and historical victory achieved by President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in the presidential election with 6.9 Milliomn people voters exercising their franchise in support of him.  

For more than one week these doomed fellows were blaming each other for their disaster and were battered quisling Mangala, pseudo Buddhist Champika, Abduction story teller Eajitha and the alleged male prostitute Ranjan Ramanayake as the cause for their defeat and many insisted this dirty four cabal should not be given nominations for the forthcoming General Election.

In the meantime, atiger terrorist hooligan resident in France enjoying economic asylum by betraying the Tamils of Sri Lanka has written a lengthy letter under the title”An Open Letter to President Rajapaksa ” to the treacherous UNP website Lanka E News published from London which cannot be accessed from Sri Lanka since the former President Sirisena banned access to it from Sri Lanka following a spate of malicious and fake news items and reports about him and his family members posted by this mudslinging website. 

It seems that this terrorist ruffian has purposely posted this letter knowing very well it will not meet the eyes of the President but through it he can mislead the overseas Sri Lankans and it can get the attention of non Sri Lankans and thereby create a nasty impression about Sri Lanka and its new President as it is the prime objective

of these terrorist hooligans. 

Initially I thought to ignore the letter but on the second reading I found that the allegations being made in the letter are very serious and this culprit should not be allowed to go scot free.

This hooligan starts his letter with a Damma Pada that admonishes Don’t trust too much. Don’t love too much. Don’t hope too much. Because that too much can hurt you so much” and then he laments that conscience does not allow him to congratulate the new President and it is the same with many of my fellow Tamils. (What moral rights he has to speak about the Tamils in the North and East who are being bamboozled for the terrorist diaspor’s luxury life.)

He saysthat in July 2019, he predicted Mr. Gotabhaya’s victory and stated that Sarath Fonseka would be the right match for Mr. Gotabaya and if Fonseka contested this election, Mr. Gotabhaya would be defeated. For Sinhala Buddhist voters, it would be a choice between two ‘cardboard heroes’ and Fonseka would have stood a better chance. (Your prediction and imagination was totally wrong and absurd since the since the first election results relating to southern eletorates came from 100% Sinhala Buddhist Ambalangoda electorate which is the hometown of Fonseka and the results not only showed a mammoth victory for Mr. Gotabhaya but also indicated that Mr. Gotabhaya will be the ultimate winner)

You both as ‘cardboard heroes’As usual, here too I refer to you both as ‘cardboard heroes’, because if neighbouring India and the International Community hadn’t supported the war efforts of Sri Lanka, by now either the Tamils would have achieved their external right to self-determination or the war would have been prolonged even until today. (Again a wild imagination by you.  The countries you mentioned only wanted to suspend and allow America to evacuate the terrorist leaders by sea safely, perhaps to fight another war.  It was only becasuse of sophisticated arms, ammunitions, latest guns, double barrelled rockets amd MIG fighters supplied by China, Russia and Pakistan helped our gallant forces to win and end the war).

not twist from what you and your brother Mahinda Rajapaksa – MR, now your prime minister, said soon after the end of the war about the Indian involvement – I mean the involvement of the Indian Congress. Your victory and the path you used to gain your victory require various analyses. However I will cut short my analysis and go straight into what I would like to tell you.

In Sri Lanka, the executive presidential system was introduced only in February 1978. Before that, the parliament was the supreme legislative body of Sri Lanka. In the parliamentary election in May 1970, under the leadership of Srimavo Bandaranayke, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party – SLFP’s coalition with leftist parties known as United Front – UF, won the majority of the electorates, especially in the South. (Here too you are wrong.  In that election several United Front candidates won several constituencies in the North and East and Mr. C.Kumarasruyar became a Minister of the government)

Then again, in July 1977, under the leadership of J.R. Jayewardene, the United National Party – UNP had a landslide victory in the South. Whether one liked it or not, these two parliamentary elections were won overwhelmingly with pure Sinhala Buddhist votes. Therefore, there is nothing extraordinary for you, your family, your party or your supporters to boast about your victory.

Now let me come to your inauguration speech, your first interview with Indian Bharat Shakti TV, your interview with Hindustan Times, Hindu and also your press conference before the presidential election.

You blame Tamil politicians..In all those interviews, you were inventing a new doctrine that ‘development is reconciliation’. In those interviews, you never accepted that the Tamils including the Muslims (stop dragging Muslims to your fold to get your passions fulfilled.  Muslims belong to a separate community existing in Sri Lanka several centuries the Tamils were brought to this country as agricultural slaves by the Dutch and the British Imperialists.  It was clearly punched to your father of racism, Malaysian born Chelvanayagam when he said in the State Council in 1931 that Tamils are superior community and it should not be allowed the inferior Sinhalese to rule over them.  Chelvanayagam was defenselessly gunned down by the then Minister of Communications Sir Maran Markar defending the Sinhalese and saying that the Muslims have the highest respect for the Sinhalese and they are the majority in this country and they should be vested with the total right to rule this country.  This position was upheld by all subsequent genuine Muslim leaders who represented both the UNP and the Muslim friendly SLFP).

The North and East have long-standing unsettled political issues. The way you speak, some outsiders may think that the people in the North and East are simply uneducated, jobless, suffering from poverty and other social problems. Also, you blame Tamil politicians for ‘taking a wrong path’ since independence.

Mr Gotabaya, the truth is that since independence, it has been Sinhala Buddhist politicians who took Tamil leaders and the people of the North and East for a ride. (There is a saying that a person who couldn’t dance blames the dancing floor saying that it is not even.  What you say is something like that.  The infrastructure and other shortcomings in the North and East were mainly created by the arrogant Tamil politicians who wanted to keep Tamils permanently trampled under their boots and returned the decentralised budget allocations back to the treasury unused.) 

You swiftly brush the truth under the carpet, whitewash successive Sinhala governments and underestimate the reasons, why since independence in 1948, the Tamils engaged in thirty years of non-violent struggle and then a further thirty years of armed struggle.(What is the non violent struggle you are talking of?  All troubles, I mean communal clashes in the post independent period were started by the arrogant Tamil politicians similar to sheep skinned wolves, in the name of staging Hartals even desecrating Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent concept.  What was wrong for the Tamil politicians to launch an utterly political motivated tar campaign against the introduction of vehicle number plates bearing the letter Shri” and under that guise to apply tar on all name boards in the North and East. The most horrendous crime was the planting of the Shri” letter in Tamil with hot tar on the breasts of innocent Sinhalese women. Are your politicians are barbarians.  This was something similar to the tiger terrorists smashing Sinhala children in the Ampara/Digawapi area on the walls and nearby trees and cut opening the bellies of pregnant Sinhala women.   Even such things have not happened in the Uva Wellassa massacres.

Please be aware that in Arab countries only letters from the Arabic alphabet are used for identifications in the vehicles. )

Tell us a single country in the world where there was a liberation struggle or struggle in exercise of the right to self-determination and the political issues were resolved through ‘development’. (You talk like a frog in the Well. Haven’t you at least read about world history? The United Arab Emirates, U.A.E, in the past were seven Emirates antagonistic with each other and the Emir of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan with flow of oil wealth launched a programme of equi-development of all the seven emirates and unified the country as United Arab Emirates, and now they don’t identify themselves as Abu Dhabi national, Dubai national, or the national of any other emirates.  They commonly call each other as Watani” which means a national of U.A.E, and the Watanis equally enjoy all government privileges over and above other country nationals.  Many countries in the Middle East were tribal entities including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Libya and Egypt and they are now highly developed Single nations. Even South Africa now stands a single developed nation after ending its apartheid policies. You seem to be like a proverbial prawn.  It is better you read how Chairman Mao-Tse Tung built the great Chiba as a single great3 nation after the historical Long March and how President Vladimir Putin re-established the Russian Federation as a powerful nation after the former Soviet Union was destroyed by the CIA Agent Michael Gorbachev.). 

You completely ignore..

You completely ignore the grievances and the history of the Tamils, who had a Tamil Kingdom similar to Sinhala Kingdoms in the island. You bluntly ask us to forget the past. On the contrary, you went all the way from Colombo to Anuradhapura to take oath at an ancient sacred Buddhist temple as the seventh President of Sri Lanka. The Sinhalese King Dutugemenu, known for defeating the Tamil King Eellalan, built this temple. If you want us to forget the past, what led you to Anuradhapura to take oath?

(Repeating a lie even for several hundred times cannot make it authentic. I will enlighten you the the real history of this country in brief for you to shed your misconceptions. During pre-Vijaya era, before 505BCE, several different indgenous clans lived in Sri Lanka and the main four clans were Yakshas, Nagas, Devaa, and Rakshas. Vijaya married Kuweni and she helped him to establish his rule over the clans and it led to the establishment of the Sinhala Kingdom in this country.  The majority of the population then were farmers and cattle herders. They had knowledge about healing arts (ayurvedic), built irrigation systems and temples. During the time of King Devanam Piyatissa,Emperor Ashoka’s son Arahat Mahinda thero brought Buddhism to this country and the king and the peopleembraced Buddhism and thus the country became a Buddhist nation.  As regards yor clim of King Elara, he was invader from South India and this bandit ruled the Northern parts of this country from Anuradhapura and Prince Dutugemunu of Magampura {Tissamaharama area} defeated him and unified this country as a Sinhala Buddhist nation and ruled the country from Anuradhapura. )

You consider that Sinhala Buddhist history is very important and expect the Tamils to forget our history, our hereditary land, war crimes, atrocities, missing people and all sorts of violations committed during your period as Defence Secretary and your brother – MR as President.

You say that the ‘minority should not do anything that disturbs the majority or causes suspicion’. Firstly, we Tamils are a ‘Nation’, not a minority as you opportunists in the South interpret. You all are good in inventing new terminologies to suit your purposes. Your request can be fulfilled by the slave Tamils who are with you, but not the Tamils who sacrifice their lives for their political aspirations, and for truth and justice. (Who are these so-called humanitarian Tamils you are referring to?  Are they people like you in the outfit called Tamil diaspora who took advantage of J.R,Jaywardene/Cyril Mathewled Black July progrom and secured economic asylum and living luxuriously in the west with least considerations for poor toiling Tamils in the North?  If you people had a genuine interest for the welfare of your people you could have made their lives brighter instead of investing in very much profitable high rise buildings in ellawatte/Bambalapitiya areas.)  

Your other doctrine..

Your other doctrine is that you cannot accept the UN Human Rights Council resolution – UN HRC that was worked out with the earlier government. This is the biggest joke of the century. First of all Resolution 40/L.1 of the UN HRC is a follow up to Resolution 19/2, adopted in 2012 during your brother MR’s period.

Mr Gotabaya, I will explain to you in simple language, how UN member states follow their international commitments. Take your favourite country China as an example. During your brother’s Presidency, Sri Lanka took a huge sum of money in a loan from China. This put Sri Lanka into bankruptcy. The next government in power was compelled to deal with the problem. If your doctrine is correct, that government could have told China that as the loan was given during the period of MR, it would be better to settle with them. The world does not operate in this manner.(Again you are exposing your ignorance and incomprehension of UN procedures and monetary policies governing the countries.  First let us focus attention on the UN.  The UNHRC resolution co-sponsored foreign and Tamil diaspora servile quisling Mangala Samaraweera, a fellow born as a Sinhalese unfortunately was done with consent from the President of the country and without approval from the Cabinet of Ministers.  The United States which brought the resolution Sri Lanka for this quisling to co-sponsor has left the UNHRC condemning it as a Cesspit” and a useless outfit.  Any country can dissociate from a resolution against it and they not binding to be implemented by the UN.  How many resolutions even approved by the Security Council remain unimplemented by Israel?  What about the Kashmir referendum Security Council resolution? It remains ignored by India for nearly 70 years now.

As regard international loans it cannot be waived or reneged by change of governments.  What the Ranil/TNA government did was taking further loans from international lending institutions on high interest rates purely for day to day consumptions and for purchase of super luxury vehicles and not investing such funds on development projects.  It was a government of ignoramus Ministers who devoid of knowledge about economic management even possessed by a petti kada mudalali (a man who owns a roadside boutique).

When you are advised by people like Prof G.L. Peiris, there is nothing surprising about these new. Some think that your political party SLPP has the best academic Prof G.L. Peiris at its helm. He said in your press conference that ‘the Sri Lankan constitution doesn’t permit/accept any UN resolution’. This is a laughable matter. Is the United Nations obliged to see the constitution of every country before it adopts resolutions? I am sure Prof G.L. Peiris has not forgotten the words that he and I exchanged in one of the briefings organised by the Sri Lankan mission during the 6th session of the UN HRC in Geneva in September 2007. (Needs no comment as it has already been clarified)

Sorry, this is not true..

You said in one of the press conferences that reports were written without outsiders visiting Sri Lanka. Sorry, this is not true. Every UN report on Sri Lanka was written only after UN personnel including Special Rapporteurs and the High Commissioner for Human Rights visited the country. Also before the UN publishes any report, an advance copy is given to the country concerned. (Be realistic in what you say.  For instance take the so-called ignominious Darusman” report.  It had been written by Darusman, Yasmin Souka et al who never visited Sri Lanka on heresay accounts mainly provided ny the despicable Tamil diaspora for which you also belong to and from what you have said in this letter we can comprehend how the others could be.)

Mr Gotabaya, you talk about ‘Buddhism’ and its thousands of years of history, etc. Before you talk about Buddha and Buddhism, shouldn’t you know who this great Buddha is? Without knowing the history of Buddha and history of the Tamils and language, you simply bluff because you have power. (Are you attempting in your ignorance of facts to imply  that Lord Buddha was a Tamil? He was a Prince born in Baranes” in the contemporary Nepal and not in any part of India.)

As you are for your language, religion and ethnicity, so every Tamil including Muslims  are for their language, religion, ethnicity, as well for their political rights based on human dignity. Yet you simply say ‘forget the past, talk/think about the future’! (Desist from dragging Muslims to fulfil your passions.  Just because Muslims speak a colloquial no of Tamil mixed with Arabic termsno one has the liberty to refer to them as Tamils.  This Tamil mixup was invented by the racist Arunachakam Ponnambalam who in 1888 introduced the vicious concept that all those who speaks Tamil language are Tamils.  Can you comprejhend if I tell you to come and and meet me after Magrib” or after Ishah”, or if I say that Janaza” or Nikah”  will be held after Jumma”.  This is what we speak.  Presently Muslims in the South are studying in Sinhala, speak in Sinhala in their homes and even sermons in the mosques are held in Sinhala.  Will that mean as per the vicious concept of Arunachalam Ponnambalam that these Muslims are Sinhalese? Shed your imaginations for mere convenience and embrace reality.)

This country was a tribal entity of This shows that Sinhala Buddhist history is very important for you, whereas you expect the Tamils to forget our history, our hereditary land, war crimes, atrocities, missing people and all sorts of violations committed during your period as Defence Secretary and your brother – MR as President.

You say that the ‘minority should not do anything that disturbs the majority or causes suspicion’. Firstly, we Tamils are a ‘Nation’, not a minority as you opportunists in the South interpret. You all are good in inventing new terminologies to suit your purposes. Your request can be fulfilled by the slave Tamils who are with you, but not the Tamils who sacrifice their lives for their political aspirations, and for truth and justice.

To be continued……..

Courtesy PBS.org

ආචාර්ය වරුණ චන්ද්‍රකීර්ති

මිනිසා ස්වභාවයෙන් ම දේශපාලනික සත්ත්වයෙක් කියලා ඇරිස්ටෝටල් කියලා තියෙනවා. අපි නිතර ම වගේ මේ කියමන පාවිච්චි කරනවා. ඉවරයක් නැති නීති රීති, සිරිත් විරිත්, ඇවතුම් පැවතුම් ගොඩක් මැද්දේ මිනිස්සුන්ට ජීවත්වෙන්න වෙලා තියෙන හින්දා තමයි ඒ කියමනට වටිනාකමක් ලැබිලා තියෙන්නේ. මට හිතෙන විදිහට මේ කතාව වෙන විදිහකට කියන්න පුළුවන්. ඒ, මිනිසා ස්වභාවයෙන් ම සංස්කෘතික සත්ත්වයෙක්” කියලා.

තමන්ට ඕන ඕන විදිහට ජීවත්වෙන්න පුළුවන්කමක් මිනිස්සුන්ට නෑ. අපි ජීවත්වෙන සමාජයේ සංස්කෘතිය විසින් අපේ හැසිරීම් පාලනය කරනවා. අපි අඳින පළඳින එක, කන බොන එක, කැමැති අකැමැති දේවල් තීරණය කරන එක වගේ හැම දෙයක් ම සංස්කෘතිය විසින් පාලනය කරනවා. මිනිස්සු දුවන්නේ සංස්කෘතික පීලි උඩ. මේ පීලිවලින් පිට පනින මිනිස්සු හුඟක් වෙලාවට එක එක අර්බුදවලට මුහුණ පානවා. මේ පීලි පැනිල්ල සීමාව ඉක්මවා සිද්ද වෙන සමාජ අවුලෙන් අවුලට පත්වෙනවා.

මේ ලෝකයේ තියෙන සංස්කෘතින් එකකට එකක් වෙනස්. සමහර සංස්කෘතීන්වල පොදු ලක්‍ෂණ සැළකිල්ලට ඇරගෙන ඒවා කලාපවලට වෙන් කරලා දක්වන්නත් පුළුවන්. කොහොම වුනත් එකකට එකක් හාත්පසින් ම වෙනස් සංස්කෘතීන් එක ගොඩේ දාලා සළකන්න බෑ. ඒ හින්දා එකකට එකක් වෙනස් සංස්කෘතික කලාප තියෙන බවත් සමාජ පර්යේෂකයෝ හඳුනාගෙන තියෙනවා.

මේ හඳුනාගැනීමට මූලික වෙච්ච නිර්ණායකයක් තමයි ඒ ඒ සංස්කෘතීන්වල තියෙන අගය පද්ධතිවල (Cultural value systems) තියෙන වෙනස්කම්. යමක් හොඳයි, නරකයි, ගැලපෙනවා, ගැලපෙන්නේ නෑ කියලා අපි තීරණය කරන්නේ මේ අගය පද්ධතිවලින් අපිට ලබාදෙන මිනුම් දඬුවලින් මැනලා. කිසිම දේක අගය තීරණය කරන්න වෙනත් ක්‍රමයක් අපිට නෑ.

සංස්කෘතික අගය පද්ධති ගැන අධ්‍යයන කටයුතු සෑහෙන ප්‍රමාණයක් කෙරිලා තියෙනවා. අපේ ගොඩක් අයට මේවා ආගන්තුකයි කියලා හිතෙන හින්දා ඒවා ගැනත් වචනයක් දෙකක් කියන්නම්. Geert Hofstede, Shalom H. Schwartz, Ronald Inglehart, Christian Welzel, Fons Trompenaars සහ Charles Hampden-Turner වගේ පර්යේෂකයෝ සෑහෙන ප්‍රමාණයක් ලෝකය පුරා විසිරිච්ච සංස්කෘතික අගය පද්ධති ගැන හොයලා ඒවා වර්ග කරන්න, ඒවා පිළිබඳ න්‍යාය හදන්න උත්සාහ කරලා තියෙනවා. මේ අයගේ හඳුනා ගැනීම් සහ න්‍යාය අංග සම්පූර්ණ ඒවා කියලා කියන්න බෑ. ඒ කොහොම වුනත්, මේ හැම පර්යේෂකයෙක් ම නිරීක්‍ෂණය කරපු පොදු කාරණා කීපයකුත් තියෙනවා.

ඒ හැම දෙනා ම කියන මූලික ම කාරණය තමයි සංස්කෘතියෙන් සංස්කෘතියට අගය පද්ධතින් වෙනස් වෙනවා කියන එක. දෙවැනි කාරණය තමයි යම් යම් පොදු ලක්‍ෂණ සළකලා ඒවා ගොනුවලට එකතු කරන්න පුළුවන් කියන එක.

අද ලෝකයේ තියෙන මහා බහුජාතික සමාගම් මේ හඳුනා ගැනීම් තමන්ගේ ව්‍යාපාර වැඩටත් පාවිච්චි කරනවා. මිනිස්සු අගය කරන්නේ නැති දේවල් විකුණන්න අමාරුයි කියන මූලික සත්‍යය ඒ සමාගම් තේරුම් ඇරගෙන ඉන්නවා. ඒ හින්දා වෙළෙඳ අංශවලට අමතරව නිෂ්පාදන අංශවලටත් සංස්කෘතික අධ්‍යයනවල කෙළ පැමිණිච්ච අයව බඳවාගෙන ඉන්නවා. Business anthropology (ව්‍යාපාර මානව අධ්‍යයනය), inter-cultural communication (අන්තර්-සංස්කෘතික සන්නිවේදනය) වගේ දැනුමට ඇමෙරිකානු ජනපද සංගමයේ වගේ ම චීනයේ සමාගම්වලත් තැනක් තියෙනවා.

මේ පර්යේෂකයන් විසින් තමන් කරපු අධ්‍යයනවලින් හඳුනා ගෙන තියෙන මූලික සංස්කෘතික අගය මාන (Cultural value dimensions), සංස්කෘතික අගය දිශානති (Cultural value orientations) එකක් දෙකක් ගැන අපි සළකලා බලමු.

පුද්ගලවාදය (Individualism) සහ සමූහවාදය (collectivism) කියලා කියන්නේ මේ සෑම පර්යේෂකයෙක් ම යම් යම් ආකාරවලින් නිරීක්‍ෂණය කරපු මාන (දිශානති) දෙකක්. මේ මාන (දිශානති) සංස්කෘතියෙන් සංස්කෘතියට වෙනස්. ලිබරල් අදහස්වලට මුල් තැනක් දෙන සංස්කෘතින්වල පුද්ගලවාදයට (Individualism) ලොකු ඉඩක් ලැබෙනවා. ඒත් අපි වගේ රටවල්වල පුද්ගලවාදය අගය කෙරෙන්නේ නෑ. සමූහාන්තික අගය මානයට වැඩි තැනක් දෙන රටවල්වල මිනිස්සු තමන්ගේ පුද්ගලික අවශ්‍යතා පොදු දේවල් වෙනුවෙන් කැප කරනවා. ඒ මිනිස්සු තමන් තනි තනි පුද්ගලයෝ කියලා හිතන්නේ නෑ. තමන් යම් කිසි කණ්ඩායමකට අයිති සාමාජිකයෝ විදිහට තමයි ඒ අය නිතර ම හිතන්නේ.

පුද්ගලවාදී අගය පද්ධතියට ඔළුව හුරු කරගෙන ඉන්න කෙනෙක්ට සමූහවාදී අගයකිරීම් මත හැසිරෙන අයව පේන්නේ පසුගාමි, ගෝත්‍රික පිරිසක් විදිහට වෙන්න පුළුවන්. සමූහවාදී විදිහට හිතන අයට පුද්ගලවාදී හැසිරීම් පේන්නේ ආත්මාර්ථකාමි, වල් බූරු වැඩ විදිහට වෙන්නත් පුළුවන්. මේ හැම එකක් ම අගය කිරීම්වල වෙනස්කම් කියන එක තේරුම් ගත්තාම මෙහෙම අවුල් ඇතිවෙන්නේ නෑ.

සමාජයක් ඇතුළේ ජීවත්වෙන ඒ ඒ පුද්ගලයාට සමාජය තුළ හිමි බලය තීරණය කෙරෙන්නෙත් සංස්කෘතික අගය කිරීම්වලින්. මේ කාරණය බල සීමා දර්ශකය (Power distance index), එහෙමත් නැතිනම් ධූරාවලි (Hierarchy) පිළිගැනුම කියන ක්‍රම අනුව මනිනවා. බල සීමා ඉහළ, ධූරාවලියට තැනක් දෙන සංස්කෘතින්වල මිනිස්සු තමන්ගේ අම්මාට, තාත්තාට, ගුරුවරුන්ට, අනෙකුත් වැඩිහිටියන්ට, පූජ්‍ය පක්‍ෂයේ අයට නම කියලා කතා කරන්නේ නෑ. ඒ අයත් එක්ක ගනුදෙනු කරද්දි යම් දුරක් පවත්වා ගැනීමටත් ඒ අය කටයුතු කරනවා. ඒත් බල සීමා අඩු සමාජවල එහෙම නෑ.

ධූරාවලියට එච්චර තැනක් නැති සංස්කෘතින්වල පහළ සේවකයෝ තමන්ගේ ආයතන ප්‍රධානියාට නම කියනවා අහලා තියෙන අපේ සමහර අය හිතන්නේ ඒ ලොක්කෝ හරිම නිහතමානියි කියලා. ඇත්තෙන් ම මේක සංස්කෘතික ඇගැයීම්වල වෙනසට අදාළ කාරණයක් මිසක් නිහතමානිකමකට අදාළ කාරණයක් නෙවෙයි.

සිංහල සංස්කෘතියේ දී ආයතන ප්‍රධානීන්ට, ස්වාමීන්ට අදාළ ගරුත්වය තීරණය වෙන්නේ තරමක් අමුතු විදිහට. අපි ඒ අයට ගරුසරු දීලා කතා කරන්නේ ඒ අයගේ අභිමුඛයේ දී විතරයි. මේකත් සංස්කෘතික පුරුද්දක් මිසක් කුහකකමක් නෙවෙයි. ස්වාමියකුගේ අණ යටතේ වැඩ කරන පුරුද්දක් සිංහලයන්ට නෑ. කවුරු හරි ලොක්කෙක් නියෝගයක් දීලා මොකක් වැඩක් පැවරුවාම ඒක කරන්න අපි අදිමදි කරනවා. සිංහල මිනිස්සුන්ව නියෝගවලින් මෙහෙයවන්න අමාරුයි. අපි මේක කරමු” වගේ හිතවත් යාප්පු කතාවලින් තමයි අපේ සිංහල මිනිස්සුන්ගෙන් වැඩ ගන්න පුළුවන්.

සිංහලයන්ගේ මේ ගුණය ඉංග්‍රීසි පාලකයෝ මුලින් ම තේරුම් ගත්තා. ඒ හින්දා තමයි ඒ අය තමන්ගේ වැඩට දෙමළ මිනිස්සු ඇරගෙන ආවේ. අපි වුනත් අපේ ගෙදරක වැඩට මනුස්සයෙක් හොයනවා නම් දෙමළ කෙනක් හොයා ගන්න තමයි වැඩියෙන් ම කැමැති. සිංහල මනුස්සයෙක් වැඩට ගත්තොත් අපිට සිද්ද වෙන්නේ ඒ මනුස්සයාගේ වැඩ කරන්න!

දිගු කල් සැලකුම (Long-term orientation) සහ එදිනෙදා සැලකුම (Short-term orientation) කියලා නම් කරලා තියෙන්නේ සංස්කෘතික අධ්‍යයනවල දී හොයා ගෙන තියෙන තවත් අගය මානයක්. මේක මුලින් ම නම් කරලා තිබුණේ කොන්ෆියුසියානු ගතිකත්වය (Confucian Dynamism) කියලා. මේ සංස්කෘතික අගය මානය හඳුනා ගන්න මූලික වුනේ චීනය වගේ ඈත පෙරදිග රටවල්වල ආර්ථික සංවර්ධනයට අදාළ සංස්කෘතික අධ්‍යයන.

දිගු කල් සැලකුමට බර සංස්කෘතීන්වල මිනිස්සු තමන් උරුම කරගෙන තියෙන සම්ප්‍රදායයන් ගැන සෑහෙන්න හිතනවා. ඒ සම්ප්‍රදායයන් රැකගන්න උත්සාහ කරනවා. වර්තමානය කැප කරලා අනාගතය හොඳ කරගන්න උත්සාහ කරනවා. දරුවන්ගේ අනාගත ජීවිතය සහ යහපත වෙනුවෙන් තමන්ගේ වර්තමාන ජීවිතය සහ යහපත කැප කරනවා. ඒත් එදිනෙදා සැලකුමට බර මිනිස්සු අතීතය සහ අනාගතය ගැන ඒ විදිහට වද වෙන්නේ නෑ. ඒ අය තමන් උරුම කරගත්ත සම්ප්‍රදායයන් ගැන ලොකුවට හිතන්නේ නෑ. එහෙම සංස්කෘතීන්වලින් පෝෂණය වෙච්ච මිනිස්සු ඉක්මන් ප්‍රතිඵල වෙනුවෙන් තමයි වැඩ කරන්නේ. අනාගතය වෙනුවෙන් වර්තමානය කැප කිරීමේ උවමනාවක් එහෙම අයට නෑ.

මෑත කාලයේ දී බටහිර ලිබරල් අගය පද්ධතියේ රස බලලා ඒවාට වසඟ වෙලා ඉන්න අපේ සමහර අය හිතන්නේ මේ විදිහේ සමූහාන්තික (Collectivistic), ධූරාවලියට තැනක් දෙන (Hierarchical), දිගු කල බලන (Long-term oriented) ඇගැයීම් හරිම ගතානුගතික, ගෝත්‍රික හැසිරීම් කියලා. ඒත් ලෝකයේ විවිධ සංස්කෘතීන් ගැන හොයන, සමාජ පර්යේෂණ කරන බටහිර මිනිස්සු එහෙම හිතන්නේ නෑ. ඒ අය මේ හැසිරීම් ගැන හොයලා ඒ අනුව මිනිස්සු හඳුනා ගන්නවා. ඊට පස්සේ ඒ දැනුම තමන්ගේ ආර්ථික – දේශපාලන කටයුතුවලට යොදා ගන්නවා.

සංස්කෘතික ඇගැයීම් ගැන හිතන්නේ නැතුව රටක් හොඳින් පාලනය කරන්න, ආර්ථික වශයෙන් සංවර්ධනය කරන්න බෑ. බටහිර තියෙන රාජ්‍ය පාලන ක්‍රම, ආර්ථික කළමනාකරණ ක්‍රම ඒ විදිහට ම වෙනත් සංස්කෘතීන්වල වැඩ කරන්නේ නෑ. මේ ලිපියේ මුලින් ම කියපු විදිහට මිනිස්සු යන්නේ සංස්කෘතික පීලි උඩ. ඒ පීලි උඩ යන්න පුරුදු වෙච්ච මිනිස්සුන්ට වෙනත් පාරවල්වල යන්න අමාරුයි.

චීන ලක්‍ෂණ සහිත සමාජවාදය” (Socialism with Chinese characteristics) වගේ යෙදුම්වල අර්ථය සහ භාවිතය තේරුම් ගන්න පුළුවන් මේ සංස්කෘතික අවබෝධය ඇතුළේ. ඒක ධනවාදයට අලවපු බොරු ලේබලයක් නෙවෙයි. ආර්ථික කටයුතුවල සහ සංස්කෘතික හැසිරීම්වල සම්බන්ධයක් තියෙන බව චීන උගත්තු සහ නායකයෝ දන්නවා. ඉතින් තමන්ගේ ආර්ථික ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ කටයුතු ඒ අනුව මෙහෙයවන්න ඒ අය කටයුතු කරලා තියෙනවා. ඒ වැඩේ ප්‍රතිඵලය අපි හැමෝට ම පේනවා.

ඒත් අපේ උගත්තු එහෙම හිතන්නේ නෑ. අපේ සංස්කෘතියේ හැදිච්ච වැඩිච්ච මිනිස්සුන්ගෙන් වැඩ ගන්න පුළුවන් වෙන්නේ, ඒ මාර්ගයෙන් රට හදන්න පුළුවන් වෙන්නේ අපේ අයට පුරුදු සංස්කෘතික පීලි උඩ ඒ අයව තියනවා නම් විතරයි.

ආචාර්ය වරුණ චන්ද්‍රකීර්ති

කැෆේ සංවිධානයේ  අධ්‍යක්ෂිකා සුරංගි ආරියංවශ

අල්ලස හා දුෂණය සම්බන්ධයෙන් වන සෝදිසි මෙහෙයුම් විධිමත් කර සුපිළිපන් රාජ්‍ය සේවාවක් බිහිකර ගැනීමේ වගකීම නව ජනාධිපතිවරයා සහ රජය හමුවේ ඇති බව කැෆේ සංවිධානය කියයි. එහි අධ්‍යක්ෂිකා සුරංගි ආරියවංශ මහත්මිය ජාත්‍යන්තර අල්ලස් හා දූෂණ විරෝධී දිනය නිමිත්තෙන් රාජගිරි‍යේ පැවැති වැඩසටහනකට එක් වෙමින් මේ බව කියා සිටියාය. එහිදී ඇය පෙන්වා දුන්නේ නව ජනාධිපතිවරයා ලෙස පත්වූ ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ ප්‍රතිපත්ති ප්‍රකාශයේ අල්ලස හා දුෂණය තුරන් කරන බව දක්වා ඇති බවයි. ඒ අනුව යමින් අල්ලස හා දුෂණය තුරන් කිරීමේ පුළුල් වැඩපිලිවෙළක් සකස් කිරීම නව රජය සතු වගකීමක් වන බව ඇය පෙන්වා දුන්නාය.

 ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සංවර්ධිත රාජ්‍යයක් බවට පත්කිරීම තවදුරටත් අසීරු වීමට ප්‍රබලතම හේතුවක් ලෙස මෙම  අල්ලස හා දුෂණය දැක්විය හැකි බව ඇය පෙන්වා දුන්නාය. එදා මෙදා තුර අල්ලස හා දුෂණය නිසා ඇති වන අතුරු ප්‍රතිඵල නිසා සමාජයීය මහ ආර්ථික වශයෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ලබා ඇති පසුබෑම අතිශය ප්‍රබල බව ඇය  සඳහන් කළාය. රාජ්‍ය යාන්ත්‍රණය තුළ අල්ලස හා දුෂණය ප්‍රබල ලෙස ක්‍රියාත්මක වන බව පෙන්වා දෙන ආරියවංශ මහත්මිය කියා සිටියේ ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් දැඩිව ක්‍රියා කිරීම අත්‍යවශ්‍ය බවයි.

සාම්ප්‍රදායික ලෙස එක් ආණ්ඩුවක් පරාජය වී තවත් ආණ්ඩුවක් බලයට පත්වීමෙන් පසු රාජ්‍ය ආයතන වල ප්‍රධානීන් පත් කෙරෙන බව පෙන්වා දෙන ආරියවංශ මහත්මිය කියා සිටියේ එලෙස ඉහළ තනතුරු ලබාදීමේදී අල්ලසින් හා දුෂණයෙන් තොර නිලධාරීන් පත්කරගැනීමේ වගකීම රජය සතු වන බව කියා සිටියාය.  එමෙන්ම රාජ්‍ය යාන්ත්‍රණය තුළ අල්ලස හා දුෂණය ක්‍රියාත්මක වීමට ඇති ඉඩකඩ අහුරාලිය හැකි බවද ඇය කියා සිටියාය.  ඒ සඳහා හදිසි සෝදිසි මෙහෙයුම් ආදී විධිමත් වැඩපිළිවෙළක් සකසා අල්ලස හා දුෂණ චෝදනා වලට ලක්වන නිලධාරීන් වහාම සේවයෙන් ඉවත් කළ යුතුව ඇති බවද ඇය සඳහන් කළාය. එමෙන්ම මහජනයා වෙත සැපයෙන රාජ්‍ය සේවාව නිසි කලට හා වේලාවට ක්‍රියාශිලිව කිසිදු බේදයකින් තොරව  ඉටුවන වටපිටාවක් නිර්මාණය කිරීම ආදිය මඟින් අල්ලස් ලබාදීමේ අවශ්‍යතාව අවම කරගත හැකි බව ඇය පෙන්වා දෙයි.

නව රජය අල්ලස හා දුෂණය තුරන් කිරීමට කටයුතු කරන ආකාරය පිළිබදව සිවිල් සංවිධාන, සහ කණ්ඩායම් දැඩි අවධානයකින්  කටයුතු කළ යුතු බව පෙන්වා දෙන ඇය කියා සිටියේ ඒ  සඳහාද පොදු වැඩපිළිටවළක් සැකසිය යුතු  බවයි.

මාධ්‍ය ඒකකය

කැෆේ සංවිධානය

Kumara Semage President Sri Lanka Myanmar Friendship Association

In a Message addressed to His Excellency  U Han Thu, The Ambassador of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, 
 Mr. Kumara Semage,the President Sri Lanka Myanmar Friendship Association has stated as follows:
Your Excellency, 
We are deeply concerned with the allegations made against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice. Our Association wishes to express concern, at these developments at this critical moment. The people of Sri Lanka and Myanmar have a long history of friendship and solidarity. We express our continued support and friendship with the people of Myanmar. 
Kumara Semage President  Sri Lanka Myanmar Friendship Association  

elevenmyanmar.com

Myanmar defended on December 11, 2019 at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) located at The Hague, Netherlands in the genocide trial initiated by The Gambia.|

The following is the full transcription, as provided by the ICJ website’s full verbatim record, of Lawyer Professor William Schabas.

LACK OF A PLAUSIBLE CLAIM

1. Our hearing today does not concern the merits of the claim that The Gambia seeks to bring. It is confined to whether the Court should indicate provisional measures. It is established case law that certain preconditions must be met if the Court is to do so

https://elevenmyanmar.com/news/professor-william-schabass-full-transcript-in-myanmars-defense-in-genocide-trial

elevenmyanmar.com

The following is the full excerpt of Christopher Staker for the defense of Myanmar against The Gambia’s accusations of genocide at The International Court of Justice, The Hague, Netherlands on December 11 2019.

LACK OF PRIMA FACIE JURISDICTION OF THE COURT; LACK OF PRIMA FACIE STANDING OF THE GAMBIA; INAPPROPRIATENESS OF THE PROVISIONAL MEASURES REQUESTED

https://elevenmyanmar.com/news/christopher-stakers-full-transcript-in-myanmar-defense-against-genocide-lawsuit

SAKI HAYASHI, Nikkei staff writer Courtesy Nikkei Asian Review

Japan offers economic aid with eye on crucial sea lanes in the region

Buddhist monks carry the Cambodian and Japanese flags. Japan provided assistance to the Southeast Asian country after its leading opposition party was dissolved.   © Reuters

TOKYO — Japan is digging in deeper in support of Myanmar and Cambodia even as the U.S. and Europe ramp up criticism of human rights violations, choosing to preserve its influence in the region by playing an alternative to China’s economic might.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono was the lone voice advocating assistance for the Myanmar government when representatives from the U.S., U.K., France, Japan and other countries met on Sept. 24 on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. They were there to discuss Myanmar’s human rights violations against the Rohingya minority.

“Myanmar’s democratization has only just begun,” Kono said. “The international community should support the Myanmar government so it does not return to military rule.”

Widespread violence against the Rohingya has drawn condemnation across the world. A U.N. fact-finding mission in August said Myanmar’s top generals must be prosecuted for genocide, while the U.S. State Department on Sept. 24 criticized its military for a “well-planned and coordinated” campaign designed to drive the Muslim minority out of its home in Rakhine State.

Yet instead of denouncing de facto leader and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi for her failure to address the crisis, Kono has met with her three times this year. He became the first foreign ministerial official to visit Rakhine in January, and announced about $20 million in humanitarian assistance. Japan is also taking part in an independent commission set up by the Myanmar government to investigate the situation.

Kono said in April he would convince Suu Kyi to act on the crisis, during meetings with other foreign ministers from the Group of Seven. “It was completely us against the other six,” a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said.

Policemen block off protesters denouncing the persecution of the Rohingya in front of the Myanmar Embassy in Tokyo on Sept. 8.   © Reuters

Japan has also broken ranks with the Western allies on Cambodia. Prime Minister Hun Sen forced the country’s leading opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party to dissolve in November 2017, and the West responded by withdrawing election assistance. But Japan did the opposite, pouring in 800 million yen ($7.1 million at current rates) in grant aid, which was used to pay for about 11,000 ballot boxes and 40 collection vehicles.

Hundreds gathered in Paris and New York to protest Japan’s decision. Hun Sen’s ruling party ended up winning July’s general election by a landslide, strengthening his grip on power.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with both Suu Kyi and Hun Sen in early October on the sidelines of the Mekong-Japan Summit Meeting in Tokyo. “Our public and private sectors will provide maximum support for the democratic development of Myanmar,” he told Suu Kyi.

The recent overtures toward Myanmar and Cambodia go against Japan’s usual diplomatic strategy of supporting human rights and the rule of law to present a united front with the West against countries like China. But as Beijing’s clout in Southeast Asia grows, Tokyo has been forced to try a different tack.

“China acts as an advocate for Myanmar and Cambodia in the U.N.,” a Japanese diplomatic source said. China has vetoed a Security Council resolution criticizing Myanmar’s handling of the Rohingya crisis, and also taken steps to curb critics of Cambodia’s authoritarian regime.

Beijing showers the Southeast Asian nations with economic assistance in order to keep them on its side. Myanmar connects the Chinese mainland to the Bay of Bengal, and is a key overland link in Beijing’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative. In addition, Cambodia is so close to China that it urges other countries not to bring up Beijing’s military buildup in the South China Sea.

Meanwhile, Japan relies on sea lanes passing through both countries’ waters to import crude oil and liquefied natural gas. The region is crucial for Japan’s economy and national security.

“If Japan withdrew from the region, Myanmar and Cambodia would only increase their dependence on China,” a Japanese government source said. Tokyo is taking a political risk by standing by these countries, given it has little chance of outdoing Beijing in economic assistance. Even with Japan’s efforts, the countries still lean toward China.

Western envoys are said to occasionally visit Japan’s Foreign Ministry to question its approach. “Even if the West frowns on us, that’s still better than letting China become the sole winner,” an official at the ministry said.

පේරාදෙණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ දර්ශන අංශයේ ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ කථිකාචාර්ය
ආචාර්ය චරිත හේරත් උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකාදීප

ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ මූලිකත්වයෙන් පිහිටුවනු ලැබූ භාරකාර ආණ්ඩුවේ වැඩ කටයුතු ආරම්භ වී දැනට සති තුනක් පමණ ගෙවී ඇත. මේ වනවිට ආණ්ඩුවේ මූලික ආකෘතිය නිර්මාණය වී ඇති අතර ඒ ඒ ක්ෂේත්‍ර පිළිබඳව අදාළ විෂයභාර ඇමැතිවරුන්ගේ මැදිහත්වීම් ද මේ වනවිට සිදුවෙමින් පවතී. මෙම භාරකාර ආණ්ඩුව පවත්වාගෙන යා යුත්තේ යම් ආකාරයක සීමාසහිත ආණ්ඩුව ලෙසින් බව ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ ජනාධිපතිතුමාගේ අදහස බව මුල සිටම පැහැදිලිව පෙන්නුම් කර තිබූ බැවින් මේ ආණ්ඩුවේ ඇමැති මණ්ඩලය ද 15 දෙනකුට සීමා වූ බව හැමෝම දන්නා කාරණයක්ය.

පසුගිය කැබිනට් සාකච්ඡා කීපයම බැලූවිට පෙනී ගිය කාරණයක් වූයේ මේ කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලය කුඩා එකක් වූවාට ඒ මගින් ගනු ලබන සමහර තීරණ කුඩා ඒවා නොව ඉතාමත් වැදගත් ඒවා බවය. මා මේ සටහනින් සාකච්ඡා කරන්නේ එවැනි වැදගත් කැබිනට් තීරණයක් වූ අධ්‍යාපනය විෂය සම්බන්ධයෙන් ගනු ලැබූ කැබිනට් තීරණයක් පිළිබඳවය.
මෙවර භාරකාර රජයේ අධ්‍යාපන විෂය භාර අමාත්‍යවරයා වන්නේ ඩලස් අලහප්පෙරුම මහතාය. මේ රටේ දේශපාලනයේ සිටින චෝදනාවලට භාජන නොවූ දේශපාලනඥයන් අතලොස්ස අතරින් එක් අයෙකු වන අලහප්පෙරුම මහතා තමන් වෙත ලැබෙන අභියෝග බරපතළ ආකාරයෙන් භාරගන්නා අයකු බව පසුගිය ආණ්ඩුව කාලයේ පෙනී ගිය කාරණයක්ය. මෙවර අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍යාංශයේ වගකීම වෙනුවෙන් ඔහු යෝජනා කර ඇති වැදගත් කැබිනට් තීරණ දෙකක් පසුගිය සතියේ අනුමැතියට යොමුවී තිබුණි.

ඒ යෝජනා දෙකින් එකක් වන්නේ අධ්‍යාපන සේවාව සංවෘත සේවාවක් බවට පත්කිරීමේ යෝජනාව වන අතර අනෙක් කැබිනට් පත්‍රිකාව වන්නේ විද්‍යාපීඨ සියල්ලම උපාධියක් ලබාදෙන ආයතන බවට පත් කිරීමේ යෝජනාවයි. මේ යෝජනා දෙකම මේ රටේ ජනතාවගේ අවධානයට විශාල වශයෙන් යොමු විය යුතු ඉතාමත් වැදගත් යෝජනා දෙකක් වන බව මගේ අදහසයි.

අපේ රටේ අධ්‍යාපනය සම්බන්ධයෙන් ගනු ලැබූ ඓතිහාසික තීරණ ගණනාවක්ම තිබෙන බව පැහැදිලිය. ඒ අතරින් කන්නන්ගර මැතිතුමාගේ නිදහස් අධ්‍යාපනය සංකල්පය, නුගවෙල මැතිතුමාගේ මධ්‍ය මහා විද්‍යාල වර්ධනය කිරීමේ සංකල්පය, ඊරියගොල්ල මැතිතුමාගේ තාක්ෂණ විද්‍යාල ඇති කිරීමේ සංකල්පය වැනි ඉතාමත් වැදගත් තීරණ අතරට ගැනෙන යෝජනාවක් බවට මේ ගුරු විද්‍යාල උපාධි ආයතන යෝජනාව ගත හැකි බව මගේ තේරුම් ගැනීමය.

ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතා ඉදිරිපත් කළ සෞභාග්‍යයේ දැක්ම වැඩසටහන මගින් යෝජනා කර ඇති ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ අතරින් ප්‍රධානත්වයක් මේ කියන අධ්‍යාපන ක්ෂේත්‍රයට සම්බන්ධ බව ද මෙහිදී සඳහන් කළ යුතුම කාරණයක්ය. රටේ වටිනාම සම්පත වන්නේ මානව සම්පත් බව පිළිගන්නා එම වැඩසටහන මගින් යෝජනා කරන්නේ දැනුම් ආර්ථිකයේ ශක්තිමතකු බවට පත් වෙන්නට නම් අප කළ යුතු වැඩසටහන් ගණනාවක්ම ඇති බවයි. මෙහිදී අවධානයට ගෙන ඇති විෂය පරාසය පෙරපාසල් අධ්‍යාපනයේ සිට විශ්වවිද්‍යාල අධ්‍යාපනය දක්වා සම්පූර්ණ කලාපයම ආවරණය වී ඇති බව පැවසීම නිවැරැදිය.

පාසල් අධ්‍යාපනය, අධ්‍යාපනයේ වර්තමාන ගැටලු සම්බන්ධයෙන් සෞභාග්‍යයේ දැක්ම වැඩසටහන මගින් අවධානය යොමු කරන්නේ එය ප්‍රධාන ගැටලු තුනක් ලෙසින් තේරුම් ගනිමින්ය. එනම් 1. විෂයමාලා සංවර්ධනය 2. ගුරු පුහුණුව සහ 3. යටිතල පහසුකම් සංවර්ධනය යන කාරණා තුන මුල් කරගනිමින්ය. මේ කරුණු අතරින් පැවති සෑම රජයක්ම පාහේ වැඩි වශයෙන් අවධානය යොමු කළේ යටිතල පහසුකම් වර්ධනය කිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් පමණක් බව අප හැමෝම දන්නා කාරණයක්ය. ගොඩනැගිලි හදන්නට සහ බඩුමුට්ටු බෙදන්නට හැම අධ්‍යාපන ඇමැතිවරයාම මහන්සි වුණේ ඒ මගින් තම තමන්ගේ නම ගැසූ අභිලේඛන හෙවත් ගල්පුවරු පිහිටුවිය හැකි නිසාය.

අධ්‍යාපන ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ තම තමන්ගේ ‘නම් ගැසීමේ සංස්කෘතිය’ කොතරම් නරක තැනකට වර්ධනය වූවාද යත් පසුගිය රජයේ අධ්‍යාපන ඇමැතිවරයා තමන්ගේ ඡායාරූපය දරුවන්ගේ පාසල් පොතේ පළකරන්නට පවා ලජ්ජා නැති තත්ත්වයකට පත්වූ බව නොරහසක්ය. මේ තත්ත්වයෙන් කැඩෙන්නට නම් අධ්‍යාපනයේ සංවර්ධනය යනු යටිතල පහසුකම් ගොඩනැගීමෙන් පමණක් නිමාවෙන දෙයක් නොවන බව තේරුම් ගැනීම ඉතාමත් වැදගත් බව පිළිගැනීම ඉතාමත් අවශ්‍යය. ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ වැඩපිළිවෙළේ ඇති යෝජනාව මගින් යටිතල පහසුකම් වර්ධනයට සමානවම විෂයමාලා සංවර්ධනය සහ ගුරු පුහුණුව තේරුම් ගැනීම ඉතාමත් වැදගත් කාරණයක්.

දියුණු රටක නම් විෂයමාලා සංවර්ධනය යන ඉතාමත් තීරණාත්මක හා සංවේදී විෂයයක්ය. විෂයමාලාව නිසි ආකාරයෙන් ගොඩ නැ​ෙඟන්නේ නැතිනම් රටක අධ්‍යාපනයේ දිසාව හරියට තීරණය කිරීමේ හැකියාවක් ලැබෙන්නේ නැත. විෂයමාලා සංවර්ධනය මගින් තේරුම්ගත යුත්තේ අපේ රටේ දරුවකු ඒ ඒ වයස් කාණ්ඩවලදී අවධානයට යොමු කළ යුතු විෂය පදනම කවරේද යන කාරණයයි.

අපේ රටේ මේ කලාපයම අද වනවිට තිබෙන්නේ ජාතික අධ්‍යාපන ආයතනයේ සිරවූ තත්ත්වයක වන අතර එය වඩාත් ශක්තිමත් ආකාරයෙන් හා නිර්මාණශීලීව ගොඩනැගීම රටේ අවශ්‍යතාවක් බව පිළිගැනීම ඉතාමත් වැදගත් කාරණයක්ය. ලෝකයේ අනෙක් රටවල දරුවන් සහ අපේ රටේ දරුවකු අතර බුද්ධියේ වර්ධනාත්මක සමානතාවක් ගොඩනැගුවේ නැත්නම් ගෝලීය පරිසරයකදී අපේ දරුවන් හුදකලාවීම හෝ පැත්තකට තල්ලුවීම අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම සිදුවන දෙයක් බව පිළිගැනීම ඉතාමත් වැදගත්ය. ඒ නිසාම විෂයමාලාවේ වර්ධනය කියන්නේ රටේ අනාගතයේ දිසාව තීරණය කිරීම තරම්ම වැදගත් කාර්යයක් බව මගේ අදහසය. මේ කාරණය සඳහා විධිමත් හා බුද්ධිමත් විසඳුමක් ගොඩනැංවීමේ උත්සාහයක් ගැනීමට රජයක අවධානය යොමුවීම රට පැත්තෙන් ඉතාමත් ඉදිරිගාමී තත්ත්වයක්ය.

පසුගිය කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලයේ අනුමත වූ යෝජනා දෙක ඍජුවම සම්බන්ධ වෙන්නේ විෂයමාලා සංවර්ධනයට නොව ගුරු පුහුණුව හා සංවර්ධනය පැත්තෙන්ය. ගුරු සේවය ශක්තිමත් තත්ත්වයකට වර්ධනය කිරීමේ මෑතකාලීන පියවර ගත්තේ දිවංගත රිචඞ් පතිරණ ඇමැතිතුමාගේ කාලයේය. එම කාලයෙන් පසුව මෙම වෘත්ති සම්බන්ධයෙන් ගනු ලබන ඉතාමත් වැදගත් ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණයක් ලෙසින් මෙම යෝජිත ගුරු සේවය විශේෂ ශ්‍රේණියක් ලෙසින් ගොඩනැගීම සැලකිය හැකිය. එසේම එවැනි සේවා කලාපයක් ලෙසින් වර්ධනය කිරීම සඳහා අත්‍යවශ්‍ය වන ගුරු සේවයේ ‘වරලත්’ තත්ත්වයක් නිර්මාණය කිරීමට යොමුවීම ද ඉතාමත් වැදගත්ය.

මෙවර කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලයේ අනුමත වූ අනෙකුත් වැදගත් යෝජනාව වූයේ මෙරට ගුරුවරුන් සඳහා විශේෂ පුහුණුවක් සමඟ ගැටගැසුණු උපාධි ලබාගත හැකි ආයතන බවට අපේ ගුරු අභ්‍යාස විද්‍යාල වර්ධනය කිරීමේ වැඩසටහනයි. දැනට රට පුරා විසිරී ඇති ගුරු විද්‍යාල ජාලය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලවල පීඨ බවට පත් කරමින් දැනට තිබෙන සම්පත් වර්ධනය කිරීම හරහා මෙම කාර්යය සිදු කරන්නට උත්සාහ දැරීම මෙහි ඇති තවත් වැදගත්කමක් බව මගේ අදහසය. අනෙක් අතට පාසල්වල උගන්වන ආචාර්යවරුන් යනු විෂය දැනුම අතින් ශක්තිමත් අය වූවත් ඉගැන්වීමේ ශක්‍යතාවය අතින් එතරම් බරපතළ ආකාරයකින් සංවර්ධනය වූ පිරිසක් නොවන බව පැහැදිලි කාරණයකි. එවැනි තත්ත්වයකදී මෙම ආකාරයේ උපාධි වැඩසටහනක් හරහා පුහුණුව හා ශිල්පීය ඥානය යන දෙඅංශය පිළිබඳවම අවධානය යොමු කිරීම ඉතාමත් වැදගත් කාර්යයකි.

අධ්‍යාපනයේ වර්තමාන තත්ත්වය පිළිබඳව ඩලස් අලහප්පෙරුම මහතා පළකළ අදහසක් පසුගිය දවසක පුවත්පත්වල තිබුණි. ඔහු කියා තිබුණේ වර්තමාන අධ්‍යාපනයේ ගැටලුව වන්නේ ‘19 වන සියවසේ යටිතල පහසුකම් මත සිටිමින් 20 සියවසේ දැනුමක් තිබෙන ගුරු පරපුරක් විසින් 21 වන සියවසේ දරුවන්ට අධ්‍යාපනය ලබා දෙන’ බවයි. මේ කථාව ඉතාමත් නිවැරැදි තේරුම් ගැනීමක් අපට ලබාදෙන බව පැහැදිලිය. අපේ යටිතල පහසුකම් පවතින්නේ 19 වන සියවසටත් පැරැණි තත්ත්වයක වන අතර දැනට සිටින ගුරුවරුන්ගේ බහුතරය වන්නේ 20 සියවසේ අධ්‍යාපනය ලැබූ අයවලුන්ය. මේ කාණ්ඩයේ ගුරුවරුන් වර්තමාන ඩිජිටල් තාක්ෂණය යටතේ වර්ධනය වූවන් නොවන අතර ඒ අර්ථයෙන් අප සිටින්නේ බරපතළ පැරැණි තත්ත්වයකය. ඒ පැරැණි තත්ත්වය වඩාත් බරපතළ ආකාරයේ හිදැසක් පෙන්නුම් කරන්නේ අපේ දරු පරපුර සිටින්නේ වර්තමාන ඩිජිටල් යුගයේ වීම නිසාය. මේ හිස්තැන පුරවාලිය හැකි ආකාරයෙන් රටේ අධ්‍යාපනය ගොඩනැගීම අත්‍යවශ්‍ය තත්ත්වයක් බව නව පාලනය විසින් පෙන්නුම් කිරීම රටේ වාසනාවක් බව මගේ අදහසය.

මේ තත්ත්වය වර්ධනය කරමින් වඩාත් ඉදිරිගාමී අධ්‍යාපනයක් ගොඩනැගීමට වත්මන් ඇමැතිවරයාට හා පාලනයට හැකියාව ඇති බව අප කාගේත් විශ්වාසය වන අතර එම විශ්වාසය සැබෑවක් බවට පත්වන දිනය දෙස බලාපොරොත්තු සහගතව රටම බලා සිටින බව මගේ යෝජනාවය.

පේරාදෙණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ දර්ශන අංශයේ
ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ කථිකාචාර්ය
ආචාර්ය චරිත හේරත්

DAYA MADAWITA Courtesy Island

This an Open Letter to the President, PM and all MPs to amend the Constitution to create ethnic and religious harmony in Sri Lanka.

First, I wish to congratulate His Excellency Gotabaya Rajapaksa, for his resounding win at the recent Presidential election.

I am writing this, as a patriotic Sri Lankan, with the hope the new President of Sri Lanka and the Members of Parliament including the PM will get the chance to read it and think seriously about implementing my proposals given below. If the President and the Prime Minister implement my proposals, the ethnic, religious and other problems of discrimination, or perceived discrimination in our country can be solved, while ensuring the unitary status of the country; and in doing so become the most respected political leaders of Sri Lanka. It is also a good chance for most of the MPs to do something worthwhile for the country by helping to pass new legislation incorporating my proposals.

My proposals, along with reasons why they are necessary, are given below:

All ethnic and religious problems, such as, Tamil, Muslim or any other problems can be solved easily by enshrining a Bill of Rights in the Constitution, which guarantees equal rights to every citizen of Sri Lanka irrespective of race, religion, caste, gender, disability or sexual orientation. Although the present constitution mentions about equal rights, it does not guarantee its implementation.

It is also important to ensure in the Constitution that all laws are applicable equally to every citizen, such as, land ownership, marriage and divorce laws etc. irrespective of race or religion. There shouldn’t be different laws or different court systems for different ethnic or religious groups or for different parts of the country.

Bring in anti-discrimination legislation preventing discrimination based on religion, race, caste or gender etc. Australian anti-discrimination legislation can be a good example. Then the Tamil politicians will have no legs to stand on, but ordinary Tamils, especially the low caste Tamils, will welcome it.

Appoint an independent and powerful commission to oversee this legislation with offices in provinces, with Assistant Commissioners with judicial powers to solve any problems of discrimination.

Get rid of the 13th amendment and abolish the Provincial Council system, which then becomes superfluous. The demands of Tamils for devolution of power to provinces and the colossal waste of money and corruption due to provincial councils can be eliminated. Instead, have District Development Councils as in the old days.

Amend the Constitution to change the present voting system so that the highest vote getter in each electorate is elected as in the 1972 constitution. This will eliminate in-fighting and minimise corruption. If you are keen to have proportional representation, restrict the number of such MPs to about 20%. This is the most important thing to eliminate corruption. Defeated candidates should never be allowed to enter the Parliament through the national list. The national list should be restricted to about 10 eminent citizens and not political stooges. This will ensure the election of educated, capable and honest men and women.

Amend the 19th Amendment to the Constitution restoring some of the powers of the president, such as, his ability to dissolve the parliament without time limits, and remove some unnecessary councils which hamper decision making.

If these proposals are implemented, there is no need for a new constitution, which would need a referendum. You will only need a 2/3rd majority in the parliament to amend the existing constitution. I am sure the President and PM will be able to convince most MPs, except some Tamil Vellala MPs, to vote for these proposals, and at the same time take the wind out of the sails of the Tamil separatists.

Background to the Ethnic Problems

Some Tamil politicians have been clamouring for a Tamil homeland amalgamating the Northern and Eastern Provinces and a federal constitution, which would effectively divide the country. Their argument for this is that they are discriminated against, even though they have the same rights as the Sinhalese. Any Tamil can aspire to reach any position in government service or in the private sector as present and historical records show. There have been Tamil Commanders of the three Forces, IGPs, Attorney Generals, Chief Justices, Heads of Departments and Governors of the Central Bank etc. Making Sinhala the only official language was a mistake, which was corrected later. I think the main reason for their grouse is that they lost the privileged positions they held before 1960, and their loss of control of the Government and semi-Government institutions, due to competition from educated Sinhalese and Muslims. When asked about discrimination, apart from the official language issue, the only thing my Tamil associates could come up with was the standardisation of marks for the University entrance. It applied, not only for students from Jaffna, but also for all other students from major cities, where the facilities were better than in rural schools. Anyway, they overcame the problem by sitting for the exams the second time around from rural schools.

Since President Premadasa’s time and specially, after the end of the Eelam war, the Tamils have been living among the Sinhalese in harmony without any problems.

The Muslims have been living in harmony with other ethnic groups until about the late 1990s, after which some Muslims became radicalised, which led to recent riots, as well as, the Easter Sunday bombings. I hope that the proposed amendments will prevent such happenings.

Conclusion

I have no doubt that our President Gotabaya Rajapaksa would love to be remembered as the Statesman who saved the country from foreign influences and unified the country (for the second time) without dividing it on ethnic lines. People, especially the Sinhalese, will hail him as the saviour of our country if he repeals the 13th Amendment, which all Presidents before him could not do. As we all know, this is the only country the Sinhalese have and we all want the President, as the Head of the State, to save the unitary status of the country and preserve it for future generations. If he allows a new constitution to devolve power to the provinces or let things go on as it is now, the people who voted for him will be disappointed. I hope and pray that our President has the wisdom and the ability to implement my proposals

May the Gods that protect our country bless our President, the PM and the MPs and guide them to do the right thing by implementing my proposals, and not give more powers to the Provinces or bring in a new constitution to divide the country!

DAYA MADAWITA

Rohana Aryaratna Horana Courtesy Island

Are you interested in spending a luxurious holiday or seeking political asylum in the cool climes of Switzerland? You only have to present a made-up story to its embassy, alleging your abduction by unknown persons, who arrived in a white van (magically transitioning into, perhaps a Kurahan hued vehicle), and questioned or interrogated you about the inner workings of the embassy. You must state that you are in no condition to meet anyone due to the trauma you had to experience during the so-called interrogation episode.

After that, you will be allowed to play a game of hide-and-seek with the authorities, and allowed to hide in the embassy precincts. Then you and your whole family will be taken to your destination in an air ambulance.

Recently, such a drama — directed and enacted by the defeated political elements, NGO henchmen, Tamil diaspora and the so-called neutral foreign powers — was staged, but neither the actual “victim” nor the mysterious “abductors” appeared on stage. Only the Pothegura, or story teller came forward and, in a rather mocking tone, said a princess had been abducted by several aboriginal (Vedda) characters and interrogated by torture, in such a nasty manner that she is unable to come on stage.

Now, the audience is in a perplexed state. Everyone seem to be asking Who, What and How, among several other questions, about the drama. Meanwhile a comment by a defeated politico, stating that the aboriginal characters had even inserted the barrel of a pistol into the victim’s mouth and threatened her, has complicated the issue. The question arises, how this politico got this information, or whether he too is part of this plot.

According to media reports the so-called victim, an employee of the Swiss embassy was reportedly abducted and was released after two hours of intense interrogation.

In the meantime one of the contenders of the recently held presidential election, who has been in “hiding” till now, has come out and vehemently protested, specifying the incident as a black mark against our motherland.

At the same time, a former soldier and the president of a citizen’s group staged a protest demo in front of the Swiss embassy against the Swiss incumbents’ attempt to tarnish the good name of Mother Lanka by indulging in false allegations.

Considering this allegation as a serious incident the present government has sought the help of the Swiss Ambassador Hanspeter Mock to help with the ongoing police probe and at the same time had presented the CCTV footage, GSPdata, telephone and Uber records to prove that such an incident never took place on that day.

The government issued a statement including the following:

“The Government of SriLanka, having taken serious note of the alleged criminal incident concerning a locally recruited staff member of the Swiss embassy in Colombo on Monday 25, November 2019, immediately ordered a thorough investigation into the matter.”

“While the embassy did not present the alleged victim to be interviewed by the law enforcement officials despite their request to do so, based on the information provided by the Swiss Mission on Friday 29 November 2019, the investigation was nevertheless conducted. The Ambassador was presented with clear evidence that the sequence of events and timeline of the alleged incident as formerly presented by the Swiss Mission on behalf of the alleged victim to CID, did not in any way correspond with the actual movements of the alleged victim on that date, as borne out by witness interviews and technical evidence, including Uber records, CCTV footage, telephone records and the GPS data.”

All these facts forces us to seek answers to so many questions.

Who is this so-called mysterious victim, who had allegedly been harassed and tortured?

What is her position in the Swiss Mission, for her to be abducted and questioned in this manner?

Why is she hiding or being hidden from the law enforcement authorities?

If she is refusing to give a statement due to ill health, then why was she not examined by a medical authority?

Without finding clear answers to the above questions the general public seem to be wondering whether this mysterious character’s role in the plot, written and directed by the defeated local politicos, so-called human rights harem-scarum, NGO henchmen and prejudicial foreign elements, is to discredit the present Government.

Is she trying to exploit the present situation and seek asylum in Switzerland?

In any case the sixty four thousand dollar question, that calls for a straight and transparent answer, is why the Swiss Embassy higher-ups including the Ambassador, do not allow the victim to be interviewed by the police or the Criminal Investigation Department officials.

Representatives of a respected country like Switzerland – which is famous for its prize-fighting efforts against human rights violations, and also highly respected as a symbol of neutrality, should act according to their so-called principles, and allow the law enforcement authorities to continue their investigations to reveal to the world the truth,and nothing but the truth.

Can they act independent of the script, that has been given to them by mysterious and unknown script writers?

It is the general view that the alleged abduction has been given wide publicity in the international media, by interested parties, with the idea of using it against SriLanka’s new government at the next UNHRC meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.

Meanwhile it is reported that the Swiss State Secretary Pascale Baeriswyl had summoned SriLanka’s Ambassador in Bern Karunasena Hettiarachchi, and had emphasised that the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) would support all measures to investigate and resolve the matter by due process of law.

At this moment we have to ask the question, whether the Swiss authorities are genuinely interested in resolving this issue by the due process of law?

When everything seems to be showing the hide and seek game, as well as their not-so-clear attitudinal behaviour, to have misfired, we are under the impression that the play, written to tarnish the image of the new SL government, has not gone according to the script.

When the Tamil diaspora, with their ill-gotten financial resources, had fattened the Swiss banks, how can we expect the Swiss authorities to play a neutral game at present?

This reminds us of the state of affairs during the Second World War. History shows how Switzerland , the respected neutral country had displayed their neutrality by playing both sides – the Allies and the Axis forces.

According to Jonathan Petropoulos, Professor of History at the Claremont-McKenna College in California, the Swiss were tainted not by their collaboration with the Reich, but by their postwar failure to confront a problematic past. To comprehend the magnitude of this “taint”, it is necessary both to understand Switzerland’s degree of involvement in Nazi crimes, and to place that involvement in the context of the wartime behaviour of the other three “neutrals.” (Sweden,Portugal and Spain).

He goes on to say “the Swiss bolstered the Nazi regime in many ways that can be summarised by the following categories: border policies, opportunities for trade and financial transactions.”

An investigation into Swiss collaboration with the Apartheid regime of South Africa, although hampered by restrictions on information allowed to it, revealed in 2005 that “neutral” Switzerland had even been involved in supplying equipment for manufacturing nuclear bombs to the pariah state.

Now that Switzerland seem to be taking a domineering stance regarding the so-called human rights violations by SriLanka, we are under the impression that their behavioural pattern, linked to the so-called abduction drama, also appears to be influenced by the Tamil diaspora monies in the Swiss banks, by the prejudicial influence of the other Western “Big Brothers”, and also by SriLanka’s defeated political elements.

And the latest development of the release of LTTE “criminals” by the Swiss judiciary reveals another aspect of so-called Swiss neutrality and their concern for human rights.

Meanwhile according to the latest developments, in order to solve this “messed up” diplomatic conundrum or shall we say fiasco, the Swiss embassy officials have allowed the so-called torture victim to visit the CID and allow her to be questioned. Now the responsibility of the Sri Lankan authorities is to examin whether her statement corroborates. Then only the Swiss authorities can help to fulfill her cherished desires.

Courtesy Ada Derana

The government has decided to establish a Multipurpose Development Task Force” as a Government Department with the aim of providing employment opportunities for qualified low income youth.

The President has observed that there are numerous unskilled employment opportunities in Government and Government affiliated institutions and that recruitments are made on political and other favorites irrespective of low income groups,” the Cabinet spokesman said. 

Accordingly the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by the President to establish a Multipurpose Development Task Force as a Government Department enabling to provide 100,000 employment opportunities for qualified low income youth. 

He said the recruitments of this task force will be made at a transparent district level and operations of the department is to be commenced by January 15, 2020. 

Meanwhile it was also considered by the cabinet of Ministers that the government, Govt. affiliated institutions and the private sector will be able to access the services of said force on a cost-effective basis.

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, December 12 (newsin.asia): The Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, has said that India and Sri Lanka have a long tradition of harmonious coexistence between man and nature.

Both countries have values that cherish, nourish and protect environment,” Sandhu told the 2nd International Symposium on Social Sciences here on Thursday.

India and Sri Lanka going green is not a new motto and has always been part of our very existence. India and Sri Lanka are only building on to our legacy,” he added.

The 2nd International Symposium on Social Sciences and Humanities is being organised by the National Centre for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences (NCAS) in collaboration withUniversity Grants Commission and Ministry of Higher Education of Sri Lanka on 12 and 13 December 2019.

The theme for this year’s symposium is ‘Development towards Sustainability’. High Commissioner Sandhu participated as the Chief Guest.

In his address, the envoy focused on the importance of innovation for a clean, green, smart and sustainable growth. He mentioned that India is home today to 26 unicorns ie. startup companies valued at over US$ 1 billion.

He also complimented the spirit of innovation amongst young Sri Lankan scientists who are now making satellites and are providing key elements of software to global giants such as Ebay and Syscolabs.

Noting the efforts made by India and Sri Lanka towards building a greener, cleaner planet, High Commissioner mentioned that India and Sri Lanka are Founding Members of important initiatives such as International Solar Alliance, which focusses on renewables.

India has announced a USD 100 million credit line to develop solar projects in Sri Lanka.

Both India and Sri Lanka have also been jointly funding research programmes in Science & Technology for close to a decade and are partners in South Asia satellite which aids socio-economic development and welfare needs of the region through tele-education, tele-medicine, disaster management support etc.

Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, High Commissioner said that ‘The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.’

The Indian envoy invited the young scholars to think of alternative models which are available, affordable and accessible, and also invited them to fully avail of the benefits of several scholarships and training programmes that are fully-funded by Government of India and are available to young scholars in Sri Lanka.

උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු නිව්ස්

හිටපු සෞඛ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය රාජිත සේනාරත්නගේ සමීපතමයෙකු මහරගම අපේක්ෂා රෝහලේ නම විකුණමින් රුපියල් කෝටි 100 ක මුදලක් එක්රැස් කිරීමේ ජාවාරමක නිරත වන බව එහි අධ්‍යක්ෂ විශේෂඥ වෛද්‍ය වසන්ත දිසානායක ප්‍රකාශ කළා.

එම ජාවාරම සම්බන්ධයෙන් වහාම පරීක්ෂණයක් සිදුකරන ලෙස ජනාධිපතිවරයාගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටින බවයි කොළඹ අද පැවති මාධ්‍ය හමුවකදී ඔහු කියා සිටියේ.

උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු නිව්ස්

පාස්කු ප්‍රහාරයට පෙර ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් පොලිස්පතිවරයා විසින් පොලිස් ස්ථාන වෙත යොමුකළ බව කියන ලිපිය තමන් වෙත නොලැබුණු බව පොලිස් නිලධාරීන් කිහිප දෙනෙකුම ජනාධිපති කොමිසම හමුවේ සාක්ෂි ලබා දෙමින් අද සඳහන් කළා.

මේ අතර උප පොලිස් පරීක්ෂක ලහිරු ප්‍රදීප් මහතා සාක්ෂි දෙමින් සඳහන් කළේ, අදාළ ලිපිය ප්‍රහාරයට පෙර ලැබුණු බවට සාක්ෂි දෙන මෙන් තමන්ට විවිධ බලපෑම් එල්ල වූ බවයි.

පාස්කු ඉරිදා එල්ලවූ ත්‍රස්ත ප්‍රහාරය සම්බන්ධයෙන් විමර්ශනය කිරීම සඳහා අභියාචනාධිකරණ විනිසුරු ජනක් ද සිල්වා මහතාගේ සභාපතීත්වයෙන් පත් කෙරුණු පංච පුද්ගල ජනාධිපති කොමිෂන් සභාව හමුවට පොලිස් නිලධාරීන් 5 දෙනෙකු කැඳවා තිබුණා.

පාස්කු ප්‍රහාරයට පෙර එම ප්‍රහාරය පිළිබඳ දැනුවත් කරමින් පසුගිය අප්‍රේල් මස 11 වැනිදා උසස් පොලිස් නිලධාරීන්ට අදාළ ලේඛනය යොමුකර තිබූ බවට පෙර සාක්ෂි විමසීම්වලදී සඳහන්ව තිබුණා.

අදාළ ලේඛනය ජනක කුමාර මහතා වෙත ඉදිරිපත් කරමින් නීතිපති දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටි නීතිඥවරයා විමසා සිටියේ අදාළ ලේඛනය පාස්කු ප්‍රහාරයට පෙර තමන් වෙත ලැබුණේ ද යන්නයි.

ඊට පිළිතුරු දෙමින් ප්‍රධාන පොලිස් පරීක්ෂක ජනක කුමාර මහතා පැවසුවේ පාස්කු ප්‍රහාරයට පෙර තමන්ට එවැනි ලේඛනයක් නොලැබුණු අතර එවැනි ලේඛනයක් දැක හෝ නොතිබූ බවයි.

නමුත් පාස්කු ප්‍රහාරය සිදුවීමෙන් අනතුරුව එදිනම පස්වරු 12.56 ට කොළඹ උතුර කොට්ඨාස භාර නිලධාරී සංජීව බණ්ඩාර විසින් වී.පී.එන්. මාර්ගයෙන් එම ලේඛනය තමන්ට යොමුකළ බව ඔහු සඳහන් කළා.

උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු නිව්ස්

පැහැර ගැනීමට ලක්වූවා යැයි පැවසූ ස්විට්සර්ලන්ත තානාපති කාර්යාල නිලධාරීනි ගානියා බැනිස්ටර් ෆ්‍රැන්සිස් නැමැත්තියට අධිකරණයේ අවසරයකින් තොරව විදෙස් ගතවීම තහනම් කරමින් පනවා තිබූ නියෝගය ලබන 17 වැනිදා දක්වා යළි දීර්ඝ කිරීමට කොළඹ ප්‍රධාන මහේස්ත්‍රාත් අධිකරණය අද නියෝග කළා.

ඒ, අදාළ සිදුවීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් සිදුකරන විමර්ශන වල ප්‍රගතිය පිළිබඳව අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව කොළඹ ප්‍රධාන මහේස්ත්‍රාත් අධිකරණයේ කරුණු දැක්වූ අවස්ථාවේදීයි.

පැහැර ගැනුණු බවට පැවසූ ගානියා බැනිස්ටර් ෆ්‍රැන්සිස් වෙනුවෙන් නීතිඥ සුදර්ශන ගුණවර්ධන සමඟ නීතිඥ උපුල් කුමරප්පෙරුම පෙනී සිටි අතර, අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව වෙනුවෙන් කරුණු දැක්වූයේ සහකාර පොලිස් අධිකාරී ඉන්දික ලොකුහෙට්ටි සහ ප්‍රධාන පොලිස් පරීක්ෂක රංජිත් මුණසිංහයි.

එහිදී අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටි රජයේ අධිනීතිඥවරයා ප්‍රධාන මහේස්ත්‍රාත්වරිය හමුවේ සඳහන් කළේ අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව ගානියා බැනිස්ටර් ෆ්‍රැන්සිස්ගෙන් මෙතෙක් ප්‍රකාශ සටහන් කරගෙන අවසන්ව නොමැති බවයි.

අධිකරණ නියෝගයට අනුව අදාළ තැනැත්තිය කායික සහ මානසික පරීක්ෂණයක් සඳහා අධිකරණ වෛද්‍ය නිලධාරීන් හමුවට යොමුකළ බව සඳහන් කළ රජයේ අධිනීතිඥවරයා, ඇයගේ මානසික සෞඛ්‍ය තත්ත්වය පිළිබඳව වැඩිදුර පරීක්ෂණය සඳහා ඇයව විශේෂඥ මනෝ වෛද්‍ය මණ්ඩලයක් වෙත යොමුකරන ලෙස අධිකරණ වෛද්‍ය නිලධාරිනිය නිර්දේශ කර ඇති බවද සඳහන් කළා.

ඒ අනුව කොළඹ ප්‍රධාන මහේස්ත්‍රාත් ලංකා ජයරත්න අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවට දැනුම් දුන්නේ අදාළ තැනැත්තිය විශේෂඥ මනෝ වෛද්‍ය මණ්ඩලයක් වෙත යොමුකර වාර්තාවක් ලබාගෙන එය ඉදිරි දිනකදී අධිකරණයට ඉදිරිපත් කරන ලෙසයි.

ගානියා බැනිස්ටර් ෆ්‍රැන්සිස් හෙට දිනයේ විශේෂඥ මනෝ වෛද්‍ය මණ්ඩලයක් වෙත යොමු කිරීමට සූදානම් කර ඇති අතර, එම වාර්තා ලැබීමෙන් අනතුරුව එය සමඟ, ඇය පිළිබඳව සිදුකරන ලද කායික වෛද්‍ය වාර්තාවද ඉදිරිපත් කළ හැකි බව අධිකරණ වෛද්‍ය නිලධාරිනිය දැනුම් දී ඇති බව මෙහිදී රජයේ ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ අධිනීතිඥවරයා දැනුම් දුන්නා.

මෙතෙක් අදාළ කාන්තාවගෙන් ප්‍රකාශ සටහන් කරගෙන අවසන්ව නොමැති බව අධිකරණයට දැනුම් දුන් රජයේ ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ අධිනීතිඥවරයා, ප්‍රකාශ සටහන් කරගෙන අවසන් කිරීම සඳහා ඇයව ලබන සඳුඳා දින යළි අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවට කැඳවන බවද ප්‍රධාන මහේස්ත්‍රාත්වරියට දැනුම් දුන්නා. <

මෙහිදී අධිකරණය හමුවේ කරුණු දැක්වූ ගානියා බැනිස්ටර් ෆ්‍රැන්සිස් වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටි නීතිඥ උපුල් කුමරප්පෙරුම සඳහන් කළේ තම සේවාදායිකාව අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව හමුවේ පැය 20 කට අධික කාලයක් දිගින් දිගටම ප්‍රකාශ ලබාදීමෙන් අනතුරුව මේ වනවිට යම් අසනීප තත්ත්වයකින් පසුවන බවයි.

එබැවින්, ස්විට්සර්ලන්ත තානාපති නිල නිවසේදී ඇයගෙන් ප්‍රකාශ ලබාගැනීමට ඇති හැකියාව පිළිබඳව සොයාබලන ලෙස නීතිපති දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවෙන් සහ අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවෙන් නීතිඥවරයා ඉල්ලීමක් කළා.

එහිදී අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටි රජයේ ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ අධිනීතිඥවරයා ප්‍රධාන මහේස්ත්‍රාත්වරියට දැනුම් දුන්නේ එම ඉල්ලීමට නීතිපති දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව සහ අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව විරුද්ධ බවයි.

ස්විට්සර්ලන්ත තානාපති නිල නිවස යනු ජාත්‍යන්තර නීතිය ක්‍රියාත්මක වන ප්‍රදේශයක් වන බැවින් එහි මෙරට නීතිය ක්‍රියාත්මක නොවීම නෛතිකමය වශයෙන් ගැටළු සහගත තත්ත්වයක් බව ප්‍රධාන මහේස්ත්‍රාත්වරිය එහිදී සඳහන් කළා.

එබැවින් සාමාන්‍ය ක්‍රියා පටිපාටිය ඔස්සේ ඇයගෙන් ප්‍රකාශ සටහන් කර ගන්නා ලෙස අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවට දැනුම් දුන් ප්‍රධාන මහේස්ත්‍රාත්වරිය මෙම සිදුවීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් සිදුකරන සියළු විමර්ශනයන්ගේ ප්‍රගතිය ලබන 17 වැනිදා අධිකරණයට වාර්තා කරන ලෙස දැනුම් දුන්නා.

මේ අතර, ගානියා බැනිස්ටර් ෆ්‍රැන්සිස් පසුගිය 08 වැනිදා අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව හමුවට පැමිණි අවස්ථාවේදී මංජුල පෙරේරා නම් පුද්ගලයෙකු ගානියාගේ නියෝජිතයෙකු ලෙස පෙනී සිටිමින් මාධ්‍යවේදීන්ට සඳහන් කළේ ඊට පසුදින ගානියා බැනිස්ටර් කොළඹ – බාන්ස් පෙදෙසේ පිහිටි නිවසකදී මාධ්‍ය වෙත ප්‍රකාශයක් ලබාදෙන බැවින් ඒ සඳහා පැමිණෙන ලෙසයි.

කෙසේ වෙතත්, හිරු ප්‍රවෘත්ති කණ්ඩායම සහ තවත් මාධ්‍යවේදීන් රැසක් ඊට පසුදින වන 09 වැනිදා එම ස්ථානයේ දිගු වේලාවක් රැඳී සිටියද ගානියා බැනිස්ටර් ෆ්‍රැන්සිස් හෝ මංජුල පෙරේරා එහි පැමිණියේ නැහැ.

මේ අතර, ගුවන් යානයක සිට ලබාගත් ඡායාරූපයක් ගානියා බැනිස්ටර්ගේ නියෝජිතයා ලෙස පෙනී සිටි මංජුල පෙරේරා අද පෙරවරු 07 ට ෆේස්බුක් ගිණුමට එක්කර තිබුණා.

ඔහු එම ඡායාරූපය ලබාගෙන තිබුණේ ඇමරිකා එක්සත් ජනපදයට අයත් විදේශ ගමන් බලපත්‍රයක් ප්‍රදර්ශනය කරමින්.

The Swiss profited from Nazism; banking gold stolen by occupied nations and holocaust victims. When Hitler began his reign of terror the first thing the Swiss did was to pass laws to guarantee anonymity to anyone transferring their savings to a Swiss bank. Was it a plan devised between Hitler and the Swiss, we may never know but Jews sent their wealth before many ended up ‘missing for ever’ in the torture chambers! The Jews that remained and wanted to regain their assets were refused entry by the Swiss. Their heirs who claimed the deposits in Swiss accounts were slapped with the law of confidentiality & payment was blocked with some Swiss banks demanding death certificates for those who perished in concentration death camps! Such was the ‘neutral’ behavior of the Swiss Govt.

Switzerland is renowned for being the financial refuge for stolen wealth which are protected by bank secrecy laws!

The Tax Justice Network produces a Financial Secrecy Index, ranking countries for the assistance their legal systems provide, to money-launderers, and to all people who seek to protect corruptly-obtained wealth. The higher the score, the more corrupt the government is. The last time this Index was published, in 2015, Switzerland was rated the world’s most-corrupt country, and Hong Kong was then #2.

Financial Secrecy Index — 2018 Results”, Switzerland is still #1 (most-corrupt), the U.S. is now #2.

The report says

the Swiss will exchange information with rich countries if they have to, but will continue offering citizens of poorer countries the opportunity to evade their taxpaying responsibilities. These factors, along with ongoing aggressive pursuit of financial sector whistleblowers (resorting at times to what appear to be non-legal methods) are ongoing reminders of why Switzerland remains the most important secrecy jurisdiction in the world today.”

According to the Swiss Bankers’ Association banks in Switzerland hold CHF 6.65 trillion ($6.5 trillion) in assets under management, of which 48 percent originated from abroad: this made Switzerland the world leader in global cross-border asset management, with a 25 percent share of that market. In terms of the narrower wealth management sector, Deloitte estimated that Switzerland was also the world leader with US$2.04 trillion in assets under management in 2014, compared to the $1.65 trillion and $1.43 trillion for the UK and US respectively.”

Switzerland & Nazi Germany Links

For over 70 years Swiss has been holding wealth not belonging to it. It is alleged that Swiss records cover only 10% of deposit accounts with the bankers claiming records got destroyed during normal course of business.

Switzerland also cannot erase its guilt of taking looted assets of concentration camp victims and giving Germany hard currency to buy war material from Sweden, Portugal, Spain, Argentina, Turkey.

In May 7, 1997, a report on the gold trade between the neutral states and Nazi Germany was published.

The Role of Swiss Financial Institutions in the Plunder of European Jewry https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/nazis/readings/sinister.html

Swiss admits holding wealth of Jewish holocaust victims

The Swiss National Bank publicly acknowledged it made profits on war time dealings in gold bullion with German Central Bank to the tune of 20million Swiss Francs.

Swiss National Bank Vice President Jean-Pierre Roth. Swiss Bank is being accused of melting the German Reichsbank gold to hide its origin!

”Even if Germany did steal gold from the countries it occupied and transferred it to the Swiss central bank, there is nothing to indicate that gold from concentration camps was among this,”

Jewish groups are demanding Swiss banks return the billions of dollars of unclaimed assets belonging to Holocaust victims, many who had put their money in Swiss banks before the persecution.   

Swiss Banks depositories for politicians’ wealth

Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos flew into exile in 1986 after rigging too many elections throughout 21 year rule and having both army & people turn against him. According to UK Guardian they went into exile carrying 23 wooden crates, 12 suitcases and bags, various boxes that contained clothes to fill 67 racks; 413 pieces of jewellery including 70 pairs of jewel-studded cufflinks; an ivory statue of the infant Jesus with a silver mantle and a diamond necklace; 24 gold bricks, inscribed To my husband on our 24th anniversary”; and more than 27m Philippine pesos in freshly-printed notes. The total value was $15m. The Philippine Supreme Court, claims the Marcos’s had accumulated up to $10bn while in office.

The Marcos’s on 20 March 1968 used false names to deposit $950,000 in four accounts with Credit Suisse, Marcos as William Saunders (he practised his new signature on the headed paper), Imelda Marcos as Jane Ryan. By February 1970, the Swiss accounts were so loaded, the couple added an extra layer of concealment, transferring their ownership to foundations registered in Liechtenstein. 

The Swiss is famous for cheese and chocolates but Swiss are also notorious for banking looted money and protecting that too.

Shenali D Waduge

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/swiss-bank-holocaust-fund_n_3597359?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAB1CHaYYrHMvvGsB0GLVn6u_sa9O9vImeN7adhhNRI9tfo9YEGlK4dMIv-wwvfj_P1OD2jFQoSEeofjZ7HOcJWByVZICE7NTcDmzcvdierfriV7pe5xHCTlOincL_gFzgjyKR2yBdjR3lOHGwzahVEi-iCSwDUt_RMvdrmlLwfuO

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/07/10bn-dollar-question-marcos-millions-nick-davies

උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු නිව්ස්

කුරුණෑගල ශික්ෂණ රෝහලේ වෛද්‍ය මොහොමඞ් සාෆි ෂිහාබ්දීන්ට එරෙහි චෝදනා විමර්ශණය සදහා සහකාර පොලිස් අධිකාරිවරයෙක් යටතේ නව කණ්ඩායමක් පත් කර ඇතැයි අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව අද කුරුණෑගල මහේස්ත්‍රාත් අධිකරණයට දැනුම් දුන්නා.

ඒ සිසේරියන් සැත්කම් අතරතුර මව්වරුන් වඳභාවයට පත් කිරිම සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඔහුට එරෙහිව ගොනුකර ඇති නඩුව අද කැඳවූ අවස්ථාවේදියි.

අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ නව අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ පොලිස් අධිකාරි ඩබ්ලිව්. තිලකරත්න පෞද්ගලිකවම අධිකරණය හමුවේ පෙනී සිටිමින් මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් කරුණු වාර්තා කල බවයි හිරු අධිකරණ වාර්තාකරු කියා සිටියේ.

එහිදී ඔහු වැඩිදුර වාර්තාවක් ඉදිරිපත් කරමින් අධිකරණයට දැනුම්දී ඇත්තේ සිද්ධියට අදාළ පූර්වගාමී විමර්ශන සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඇතැම් පාර්ශව සෑහීමකට පත් නොවූ බව දැනගන්නට ලැබුණු බවයි.

ඒ අනුව විමර්ශනය සඳහා සහකාර පොලිස් අධිකාරීවරයෙකුගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් වෙනත් කණ්ඩායමක් පත් කර ඇති බව ඔහු ප්‍රකාශ කළා.

අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ දක්ෂ පලපුරුද්දක් සහිත විශේෂඥ දැනුම ඇති නිලධාරින් අවශ්‍ය තරම් සිටින බව සඳහන් කළ අධ්‍යක්ෂවරයා යම් නිලධාරියෙක් හෝ නිලධාරීන් කිහිපදෙනෙකු ස්ථාන මාරුවී යාම හේතුවෙන් කිසිදු විමර්ශණයක් අතරමග නතර නොවන බවද කියා සිටියා.

ඔහු පැවසුවේ කිසිවෙකුගේ සැකයට භාජනය නොවන ලෙස විමර්ශන සිදුකල යුතුව ඇති බවයි.

ඒ අනුව ඉදිරි විමර්ශණ කටයුතු නිසි විනිවිද භාවයකින් යුතුව විශේෂඥ උපදෙස් සැළකිල්ලට ගනිමින් කරගෙන යන බව ඔහු අධිකරණය හමුවේ කියා සිටියා.

සැකකරුගේ මුල්‍ය හා අනෙකුත් වත්කම් සම්බන්ධයෙන් එල්ල වන චෝදනා පිළිබදව අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ මුල්‍ය විමර්ශණ අංශය වෙනම විමර්ශණයක් සිදුකරන බවත් මුදල් විශුද්ධිකරණ චෝදනා යටතේ ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඉදිරියේදි කරුණු වාර්තා කරන බවත් අධ්‍යක්ෂවරයා, අධිකරණයට දැනුම් දුන්නා.

මවකගේ ඇද ඉහපත් වාර්තාව වෙනස් කොට අලුත උපන් බිළිදෙකු වෙනත් පාර්ශවයකට ලබාදීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් එල්ල වන චෝදනාව පිළිබදවද වෙනම විමර්ශනයක් සිදුවන බවයි ඔහු සඳහන් කළේ.

විත්තිකාර වෛද්‍ය සාෆි ෂීහාබ්දීන් ඇප නියෝග කඩකර අවස්ථා දෙකකදි අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව හමුවේ පෙනි සිට නොමැති බව ද මෙහිදී හෙළි වුණා.

විත්තිකරු වෙනුවෙන් පෙනිසිටි ජනාධිපති නිතිඥ නවරත්න බණ්ඩාර අධිකරණය හමුවේ කියා සිටියේ සිද්ධියට අදාළව මෙතෙක් විනිවිදභාවයෙන් පරීක්ෂණ සිදුනොවූ බව අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තු අධ්‍යක්ෂවරයාගේ ප්‍රකාශයෙන් හැගී යන බවයි.

එහෙත්, විමර්ශන සිදුකලේ සහකාර පොලිස් අධිකාරී බී.එස්.තිසේරා බවත්, එය අධීක්ෂණය කලේ පොලිස් අධිකාරි ශානි අබේසේකර බවත් නීතිඥවරයා විවෘත අධිකරණයේදී සඳහන් කළේ එම නිලධාරීන් අපක්ෂපාතී බව ද පවසමින්. <

කෙසේ වෙතත්, එහිදී ඔවුන් පොලිස් නිලධාරින් පමණක් බැවින් අපක්ෂපාතී නිලධාරින් යැයි සඳහන් කළ නොහැකි බවයි විනිසුරු සම්පත් හේවාවසම් කියා සිටියේ. ඒ අනුව නඩුවට අදාළ කරුණු පමණක් වාර්තා කරන ලෙස මහේස්ත්‍රාත්වරයා, විත්තියේ නීතිඥවරයාට දැනුම් දී තිබුණා.

ජිවිත තර්ජන හේතුවෙන් මේ වන විට කල්මුණේ ප්‍රදේශයේ ජිවත් වන විත්තිකරු ජනාධිපතිවරණ දිනට පසුදින කොළඹට පැමිණීමට බස් රථයක් නොමැති වූ නිසා, අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව හමුවේ පෙනී නොසිටි බවයි මෙහිදී නීතිඥවරයා අධිකරණය හමුවේ සඳහන් කළේ.

එසේම, ඊට අදාළව පොලිස් අධිකාරි තිසේරා සහ ප්‍රධාන පොලිස් පරීක්ෂක නිශාන්ත ද සිල්වා දැනුවත් කළ බව ද ඔහු කියා සිටියා.

මෙහිදී අගතියට පත් පාර්ශවය වෙනුවෙන් පෙනිසිටි නිතිඥ කල්‍යානන්ද තීරණාගම පෙන්වා දුන්නේ ඉදිරිපත් වි ඇති ප්‍රකාශ අනුව විත්තිකාර වෛද්‍යවරයා වසර දෙකහමාරක් තුල සිසේරියන් සැත්කම් 1784ක් සිදුකර ඇති බවයි.

එසේම ඔහු සිංහල මව්වරුන් සොයා ගොස් සිසේරියන් සැත්කම් සිදුකර ඇති බවද ඉදිරිපත් වි ඇති ප්‍රකාශ වලින් පැහැදිලි වන බව ඔහු අධිකරණයට පෙන්වා දුන්නා.

මෙහිදි විත්තිකරු වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටි ජනාධිපති නිතිඥ නවරත්න බණ්ඩාර ඔහුට දිගින් දිගටම බාධා කල අතර අවස්ථා කිහිපයකදීම ඔහුට අවවාද කිරිමට මහේස්ත්‍රාත්වරයාට සිදුවුණා.

එක් අවස්ථාවක මහේස්ත්‍රාත්වරයා සදහන් කලේ විවෘත අධිකරණයේදී නිතීිඥවරුන් හැසිරෙන ආකාරය අනුව ඔවුන් ඉගෙන ගත් පාසල ද අගෞරවයට පත් වන බව සිහි තබාගන්නා ලෙසයි.

එසේම, මෙහිදී ඇප කොන්දේසි ලිහිල් කරන ලෙසට විත්තියේ පාර්ශවයෙන් කළ ඉල්ලීමට අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව දැඩි විරෝධය පළ කර තිබෙනවා. ඒ අනුව, ඇප කොන්දේසි ලිහිල් කිරිම පිළිබඳව මීළඟ නඩු දිනයේදී තීන්දුවක් ලබාදෙන බවයි විනිසුරුවරයා ප්‍රකාශ කර ඇත්තේ.

කුරුණෑගල ශික්ෂණ රෝහලේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ වෛද්‍ය සරත් වීරබණ්ඩාර වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටි නිතිඥවරයා අධිකරණයට දැනුම් දුන්නේ තම සේවාදායකයාට එරෙහිව සෞඛ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශය සිදුකරන විමර්ශනයකදී විත්තිකාර වෛද්‍ය සාෆි ෂීහාබ්දීන් විවිධ බලපෑම් සිදුකර ඇති බවයි.

එම බලපෑම් මත රෝහල් අධ්‍යක්ෂකවරයාගේ වැඩ තහනමක් සිදුවුවහොත් එමගින් විමර්ශනවලට අගතියක් සිදුවිය හැකි බව ද නිතිඥවරයා අධිකරණය හමුවේ පෙන්වා දුන්නා.

අගතියට පත් පාර්ශවයේ තවත් නිතිඥවරයෙකු අධිකරණය හමුවේ කියා සිටියේ විත්තිකර සාෆි ෂීහාබ්දීන්ගේ බැංකු ගිණුම්වල අවසාන ශිර්ෂයන් පිළිබඳ පමණක් අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ මුල්‍ය විමර්ශණ අංශ නිලධාරින් විසින් අධිකරණයට දැනුම්දී ඇති බවයි.

එම ගිණුම් වල ක්‍රියාකාරිත්වය පිළිබද අධිකරණය දැනුවත් කර නොමැති බව සඳහන් කළ නිතිඥවරයා විත්තිකරුගේ ඇතැම් ගිණුම් වලට විශාල වශයෙන් මුදල් ලැබී ඇති බවට වන තොරතුරු අධිකරණයට ඉදිරිපත් කළා.

එසේම, විමර්ශන නිලධාරින්ට ස්ථාන මාරුවක් ලැබුණු විට ඉන් කම්පනයට පත්විය යුත්තේ අගතියට පත් පාර්ශවය බව පෙන්වා දුන් පැමිණිලි පාර්ශවයේ නීතිඥවරුන් විත්තිය කළබලයට පත්වීම පිලිබඳව ද, මෙහිදී අදහස් පළ කළා.

මෙම සිද්ධිය සම්බන්ධයෙන් කොළඹ විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ වෛද්‍ය පිඨයේ පිඨාධිපතිවරයාගෙන් විශේෂඥ වාර්තාවක් මීට පෙර කැඳවූ අතර, එය ලැබි ඇති බව මහේස්ත්‍රාත්වරයා විවෘත අධිකරණයේදි ප්‍රකාශ කලා.

එම වාර්තාව ලබා දි තිබුනේ මහාචාර්්‍යවරුන් පස්දෙනෙකු සහ වෛද්‍යවරුන් 09 දෙනෙකුගෙන් යුත් විශේෂඥ මණ්ඩලයක් විසින්.

එම වාර්තාවට අනුව වින්දිත කාන්තාවන් එච්.එස්.ජි පරික්ෂණයකට යොමු කිරිම සාර්ථක පියවරක් නොවන බවත්, වෙනත් පරීක්ෂණ දෙකක් නිර්දේශ කර ඇති බවත් මහේස්ත්‍රාත්වරයා පෙන්වා දුන්නා.

එසේම, සාක්ෂිවල පරස්පරතා පවතී නම්, එම ප්‍රකාශ යළි සටහන් කර ගන්නා ලෙසයි කුරුණෑගල මහේස්ත්‍රාත්වරයා අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවට නියෝග කළේ.

වැඩිදුර නඩු විභාගය ලබන මස 16 වනදා දක්වා කල් තැබුණේ ඉන් අනතුරුවයි.

මේ අතර, නඩු විභාගයෙන් අනතුරුව විත්තිකාර වෛද්‍ය සාෆි ෂීහාබ්දීන් අධිකරණ පරිශ්‍රය තුළට මෝටර් රථයක් ගෙන්වා ගෙන ඉන් පිටව යන ආකාරය ද, දක්නට ලැබුණු බවයි හිරු වාර්තාකරු ප්‍රකාශ කළේ.

Courtesy Hiru News

The CID informed the Kurunegala Magistrate Court today that a new investigative team under the supervision of an ASP has been appointed to probe the charges against Dr Shafi.

The case against Dr Shafi for sterilizing mothers at the time of performing caesareans was taken before the court today.

Our correspondent stated that the New Director CID, SSP W Thilakarathna personally appeared before the court to inform the future course of action by the CID.

He told the court that certain factions are not satisfied with the pre-investigations of the matter, therefore, a new team has been appointed under the supervision of an ASP to probe the matter again.<

He also said that the CID investigations should not be subjected to any doubt by any factions, therefore the future investigations would be carried out with full transparency.

The CID Director further informed the court that the charges against Dr Shafi on his financial and other wealth accumulation will be probed separately.

Hiru News

The overseas travel ban imposed on Garnier Banister Francis, the swiss embassy official who claimed to have been abducted has been extended until the 17th of this month.

Courtesy Hiru News

The Cabinet of Ministers have decided to change the ‘Z Score’ system for university admissions.

Minister of Education Dullas Alahapperuma stated that the government is also implementing a program to develop 1000 national school

KAMALIKA PIERIS

The Tamil separatist movement was not prepared to take the Eelam war defeat lying down. The war ended in May 2009. The very next year, TNA called for a day of mourning in May 17.2010 the government objected but the commemoration took place. May 18 became a day of tension in the North, said the media. May 18 is for them a stark reminder of all they have lost. The government was celebrating its victory, in Colombo while prohibiting any public memorial services in the North. 

After Yahapalana took power the Tamil Separatist Movement regained its confidence. Yahapalana rule saw the rise of an assertive Tamil separatism in the Northern Province.

 In December 2015 the University of Jaffna put up black flags and posters which deified Prabhakaran and a call for Eelam. There was a revival of the Pongu Thamil movement. This movement supported the nationhood of the Tamils, their right to self-determination and the framing of the North and East regions of Sri Lanka as the Tamil homeland , said analysts. 

In October 2016, the Tamil People’s Council (TPC) staged a protest march and rally campaign called the Eluga Thamil. ‘Eluga Tamil’ means ‘Rise Up Tamil’. the Ezhuga Thamil rally called for the return of land, finding missing persons, release of those detained without trial, resettlement of displaced people and demilitarization and restoration of full civilian rule.  It also had political demands.   They wanted a federal constitution, and the merger of North and East into one large Tamil controlled province.

This was a very successful   protest march and rally. Speakers   asked Tamil people to get on the streets and protest, because sending representatives to legislative bodies will not win Tamil rights. The rally is estimated t have drawn the largest crowd after the war. An estimated 10 to 15000 had attended. The rally was supported by the university and the civil society groups, This means that the intelligentsia of Jaffna were supporting the rally, said Jehan Perera.

S.I.Keethaponcalan commented on the rally. The campaign was organized not only to protest about the problems of the Tamil people, but also to kindle Tamil nationalism. This is exactly what the slogan of Eluga Thamil means. It asks the Tamil people to rise up. Eluga Thamil type events, which are marked by nationalist fervor, could turn violent easily. They need only a minor incident, an ignition, executed by a Tamil nationalist sympathizer or a motivated opponent. The direction taken by the TPC is clear, said Keethaponcalan. It is towards radical politics, which could, in the long run, turn violent.

Tamil Makkal Peravai Organisation held a hartal in 2017, demanding the merger of the North and East, dismantling of security forces camps in the area and the right to information about their missing persons. The event was organized by Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran. Districts observed a shutdown. Offices, businesses, schools and public transport came to a halt. There was a mass rally, in Jaffna. Stones were thrown at a Vavuniya bound bus carrying army personnel.

In 2018 students of Jaffna University announced a plan to observe Sri Lanka’s Independence Day on February 4 2018 as a Black Day”, reported the media. Since independence from Britain in 1948 successive Sri Lankan governments have continually denied the Tamils their legitimate rights and heaped disabilities on them. Black Day will bring to the attention of the world the fact that since independence from the British in 1948 and even ten years after the end of the war in the island, successive Sri Lankan governments have only discriminated against the Tamil people, and failed to address their basic concerns, they said.

Black day was observed in 2019.  The media reported that Led by the Students Union of Jaffna University, large numbers of men and women in several major towns wore black armbands or headscarves and demonstrated in public places demanding the release of lands occupied by the Sri Lankan army, information about the whereabouts of their missing kin, and justice to Tamils who were subjected to war crimes” by the Security Forces during the last phase of the war. Posters called upon the army to leave the Tamil lands.

In the Jaffna University campus, the Sri Lankan national flag was brought down and a Black Flag was hoisted. former Chief Minister of the Northern Province C.V.Wigneswaran participated in a protest at the Kandaswami Hindu temple in Kilinochchi. TNA did not support the activity. TNA said that Sri Lanka’s Independence Day could not be considered a Black Day.

Jaffna University students had a major protest on March 2019, to coincide with UNHRC session in Geneva.  They demand a hybrid court to investigate war crimes allegations against Sri Lanka. Several vehicles carrying the replicas of ‘war memorial’ built at the Jaffna University in memory of LTTE cadres paraded the streets.

Vijayakala Maheswaran, State Minister of Child Affairs, staged a protest of her own. In a speech delivered at the 8th Presidential Public Service programme titled ‘Nila Mehewera for Northern Province’ held at the Veerasingham Hall in Jaffna on July 3,2018  Vijayakala Maheswaran  called for the return of the LTTE.

Today we realize from our bottom of our heart how proud we are to have lived under the times of LTTE prior to May 18, 2009. We must resurrect the LTTE in the North and East, if we want to lead a peaceful life. If our school going children are to return home safely, the hands of the LTTE should be strengthened. The LTTE must come back for us to live and to be free,” she said.

Jaffna applauded. There were posters in Jaffna in support of Vijayakala. There was uproar in Parliament. National Sangha Council asked for her arrest. Protests against Vijayakala’s statement in Galle, Biyagama, Ampara. Sinhala Ravaya filed a case against her in Colombo.

Yahapalana government   ran to appease the separatists. In 2015  it removed the proscriptions on 8 banned pro LTTE  organizations,  British Tamil Forum, Canadian Tamil Congress,  Australian Tamil congress, Global Tamil forum, national council of Eelam Tamils, Tamil National council, Tamil Youth Organization , and World Tamil Coordinating committee.

Yahapalana government released 32 terrorists held under the PTA. a further 32 will also be released reported the media in 2015. Top sea Tigress, Pakeerathy   was discharged. She had fled to France in 2000.   dangerous LTTE cadres who were deemed by the previous government to be impossible to rehabilitate, were released without trial by the present government, observed Chandraprema. it was pardoning and releasing hardcore LTTE cadres. In 2016 the media reported that Yahapalana government had cleared more than 400 people with links to LTTE.

In 2016 a delegation of Sri Lanka ministers met the UK Tamil Diaspora in a public forum and responded to their concerns. The meeting was organization by the Nonresident Tamils of Sri Lanka. Harsha de Silva and Rosie Senanayake participated.  Rosie made a public apology for the 1983 riots.

After Yahapalana took power, the Northern Provincial Council became bold.  In April 2016 NPC unanimously adopted a resolution for setting up two states in the island merging North and East in one state. The resolution also proposed a separate state parliament for the north and east.

There would also be an autonomous state for the estate Tamils. There would be Muslim majority districts as autonomous provinces within the state. Muslims opposed this. It is ridiculous to make language the basis for a re-merger. Muslims have a distinct religious and cultural identity. There was also a petition in Supreme Court against this resolution.

A resolution demanding the UN Human Rights Council to establish a special court in Sri Lanka to probe allegations of war crimes and human right violations in the North at the last stage of war on terrorism was also passed by the NPC.

The TNA was courted by the western countries during Yahapalana rule. The list of foreign official who met the TNA leaders, Sampanthan and Sumanthiran included, US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee delegation, led by McClellen Thornberry, visiting US Assistant Secretary of State, Ambassador Alice Wells   visiting United States member of Congress F. James Sensenbrenner and His Chief of Staff Matt Bisenius and Rodney Frelinghuysen Chairman, House Appropriations Committee and Rep. Henry Cuellar.

From UK cameMinister of State for Asia and Pacific Mark Field   and Members of Westminster Foundation for Democracy.   A delegation from the European Parliament Committee on International Trade, including the Standing Rapporteur for South Asia, the visiting Belgium-Sri Lanka Parliamentary Friendship Group, the visiting Norwegian State Secretary for Development Cooperation   and a senior Japanese diplomat and United Nations administrator Yasushi Akashi also met the pair.

TNA leaders Sumanthiran and Sampanthan spent the full Yahapalana period, (2015-2019) telling fancy stories to these gullible visitors. There was a glorious return to the old Tamil Separatist arguments. They said the Tamils are separate nation, the Tamils have a homeland comprising of the northern and eastern provinces and they are entitled to the right of self-determination.

Before Colonial subjugation, there were Sinhala and Tamil Kingdoms in the Country, which were captured by different Colonial powers, differently, and at different times. These different territories were unified together in 1833 under British Colonial Rule.

TNA wanted a merger of North and East provinces citing ‘the two provinces largely represent Tamil majority’. They wanted a new constitution. The 1972 Constitution was framed by one of the two major Sinhala political parties without the consent of the Tamils. So was the 1978 constitution.

Tamil people in this country are hurt and offended that they are always being treated as second-class citizens. We have been insulted and humiliated. “We cannot go on like this Sampanthan said.

Tamils were subjected to physical violence whenever they made just political demands .This happened for several decades. The result was armed revolt by Tamil Youth for almost three decades .This was a classic instance, in which the Bullet filled the void created by failure in the process of the Ballot, said Sampanthan. Sampanthan is justifying LTTE terrorism, said critics.

There was a veiled threat. if Sri Lanka’s leaders failed to negotiate with all the people to evolve an acceptable political solution, We will not hesitate to do what we must to get a just solution.

The international community must ensure that the promises and the commitments given by the Sri Lankan government are adhered to and implemented. The international community cannot be a spectator anymore with regard to Sri Lanka, said the TNA.

People in many areas in North and East are staging protests over land, persons in custody and on the issue of missing persons. “These are matters that are of concern to our people and we want the international community to play an important role in finding solutions to these issues”.

The International community must ensure that the promises and the commitments given by the Sri Lankan Government are adhered to and implemented. The International community cannot be a spectator anymore with regard to Sri Lanka. The international community must clearly state their position and ensure the non-recurrence of the past.

Chief Minister Wigneswaran agreed. “The international community has a responsibility to protect the Tamil people, he said.” Wigneswaran had his own take on the Tamil issue. The Tamils of North and East of Sri Lanka do not consider themselves as minorities, Wigneswaran said. They consider themselves as the majority. They have been in the North Eastern Province for more than 2000 years.  It is in the last 100 years that intrusions and incursions have been made into the terrain of the Tamil speaking by people from elsewhere. 

Many Sinhalese forget that the Tamils of the North and East occupied our Island even before the birth of Buddha.  The Sinhalese have another wrong perception that Sri Lanka is the land of the Sinhalese. Long before the Sinhalese language was born out of Pali, Tamil and indigenous dialects, the Tamil Dravidians have been occupying this land for centuries.   

Dayan Jayatilaka wanted to know, how come the Sinhalese, the much ‘later’ inhabitants, were settled in the best and largest part of the island while the original ones were not? Why were these so-called original (Tamil) inhabitants stuck in the least arable, most inhospitable part of the island instead of strolling down to the rivers and the lush vegetation. 

Also, If the Tamils were the inhabitants of the island before the Buddha was born and the Sinhala language arose, where did those Tamils come from? And if they came from across the water, then It is that group who are entitled to the status of original inhabitants and owners, concluded Dayan.  

Bodu Bala Sena and Sinhala Ravaya wanted legal action taken against Wiggie” and Sampanthan on their recent statements.  A complaint was lodged with the police, saying they have breached the provisions of the Constitution.

There is a highly significant degree of aggression and hostility among the Tamils in Jaffna. Here are three instances. Television news showed villagers in Kilinochchi killing a single leopard with mammoties, sticks, and knives. They kept on attacking long after it was dead. (Derana news 21.6.18) A  fight over cinema tickets at a cinema hall in Vavuniya, extended on to  the main  road. Television cameras showed youths hitting each other, with great violence.(Derana news 12.1.19)

Twelve Sri Lanka Navy personnel were injured following a clash with illegal sand miners in, Kinniya. Four among the injured were critically injured. Muttur Police arrived at the scene and called for more police reinforcements from Sampur and China Bay stations to control the situation. A group of soldiers also came to the scene. Navy personnel fired in the air to disperse an unruly crowd of about 500 people who had gathered there to protect the sand miners and protest against the Navy presence.

There was hostility abroad too. In September 2016, Chief priest of Malaysian Buddhist temple, Sentul,  in Malaysia,  was assaulted by members of the Malaysian Tamilan Association and other groups when they heard that Mahinda Rajapaksa was to visit there.  They had abused the priest with vulgarities and then hit him.  They punched him in the face and also kicked him. The group had gathered at the temple as they wanted to give a stern warning to all Buddhist temples not to allow the mass murderer Mahinda Rajapaksa here. They said they would keep vigil to make sure that Mahinda Rajapaksa did not enter the temple.

There was belligerence of another sort at the UNHRC meeting of March 2018 in Geneva. The Tamil Separatist Movement was challenged by a team led by Nalaka Godahewa and Sarath Weerasekera. Unable to   answer, the representative of the Tamil Separatist Movement got ready to assault them. They were led away. The Sinhala team observed,” You are leaving the meeting that you yourselves organized.”(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8Qf_yMu4O8.)

There was defiance too. S. Pathmanapan, a Central Bank employee, who was summoned by the Presidential Commission of inquiry probing bond scam, to record a statement, has complained to the Supreme Court that he was aggressively questioned by some officials of the Attorney General’s Department, assisting the commission.

He has said that he was taken to the Chamber of Dappula de Livera, Senior Additional Solicitor General, who questioned him. Later, he was questioned by senior Deputy Solicitor General, Milinda Goonetillake. The questioning was aggressive. He was questioned in an arbitrary, unreasonable manner.

The petitioner requested Supreme Court to prevent the Attorney General’s Department from taking action against him. Among the respondents are seven officials of the Attorney General’s Department, the present Governor of the Central Bank, some members of the Monetary Board and the members of the commission. The first respondent is de Livera. (continued)

චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම, LL.B,. Ph.D.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.
         Serenity Prayer – Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971).

‭දෙවියනි, වෙනස් (චේන්ජ්) කල නොහැකි දේවල් එලෙස භාර ගැනීමට අවශ්‍ය උපශාන්ත භාවයත්, වෙනස්කල හැකිදේ වෙනස් කිරීමට අවශ්‍යධෛර්යයත්, ඒ දෙක අතර වෙනස (ඩිෆරන්ස්) දැනගැනීමට අවශ්‍ය ප්‍රඥාවත් මට ලබාදෙනු මැනව.

කාදිනල්තුමා විසින් නොබෝදා රුහුණු සරසවියේ උපාධි ප්‍රදාන උත්සවයේදී කල දේශණයක් ගැන ඇසූ මගේ මතකයට ආවේ පැණිවරකා ගහට හෙණ වැදුනා වගේ යන කියමනය. ඊට හේතුව එතුමා කැළෑව වෙනුවට ගස් දැක්දැක්කාද  (මිස් ද ෆොරස්ට් ෆෝ ද ට්‍රීස්) කියා සැකයක් මතුවීමය. එතුමාගේ දේශණයේදී සඳහන් කල, පූජ්‍ය/පූජක වරු දේශපාලනයේ නොයෙලිය යුතුය යන අදහස, පාස්කු ප්‍රහාරයට බොහෝ කලකට පෙර එතුමා විසින් කල, මුළු රටම ලංකාවේ තිබෙන සිංහල බෞද්ද්ධ පදනම පිළිගත යුතුය යන අදහස සමඟ ගැටෙනවා නොවේද යන්න මට ප්‍රශ්ණයක් වුනේ, මෙම දෙවන අදහස ඓතිහාසික ප්‍රකාශයක්සේ මා සැළකූ නිසාය. 1551 දී දොන් ජුවන් ධර්‍මපාල, ලංකාවේ එකම හා අන්තිම ක්‍රිස්තියානි රජුවූවාට පසුව, ලංකාවේ කතෝලික පල්ලි සවිධානයේ නායකතුමා විසින් 2017/18 දී කල මේ ප්‍රසිද්ද්ධ ප්‍රකාශය මුළු ලෝකයේම  විශේෂ සිදුවීමකි. පෝප් ජෝන් පෝල් හා පෝප් ෆ්‌රැන්සිස් විසින් මෑතකදී ජන කොට්ඨාශ වලින් සමාව ඉල්ලු අවස්ථා කීපයක්ම ඇතත් මෙය ඒවාට වඩා වෙනස් ක්‍රියාවකි. පෘතුගීසීන් ලංකාවට ඇවිත් අවුරුදු 500 ක් ගතවීමේ උත්සවයක් පෘතුගාල අගමැති ගෙන්‌වා ගෙන පැවැත්‌වීමට අගමැති රනිල් ඒ කාලයේ බලාගෙන සිටියේ අසවේදුලාගේ කෲරකම් අමතක කරදමාය. ඔවුන්ගේ කෲර ක්‍රියා නිසා ඊට දඬුවම් වශයෙන් දෙවියන් වහන්සේ ඔවුන්ට ලංකාව අහිමිකලා යයි පෘතුගීසි පූජකතුමෙක් ලියුවේය.

2019 පෙබරවාරි8 දින මා විසින් සිංහල බෞද්ද්ධ නායකයින්ගේ හැසිරීම විග්‍රහ කරමින් ලියූ ලිපියක ආරම්භක කොටසක්‌ මෙසේය:  [— සංහිඳියාව-යහපාලනය-ලිච්චවි ක්‍රමය-ඔරුමිත්තනාඩු යනාදී බේගල් වලින් හෙම්බත්‌ව සිටිනා රටකට, විශේෂයෙන් සිංහල බෞද්ද්ධයින්ට, මැල්කම් රංජිත් කාදිනල්තුමා විසින් මෑතදී කරණ ප්‍රකාශ හරියට කණට මීපැණි දමනවා වගේය. 1505 න් පසුව, ප්‍රථම වරට, ලංකාවේ සිංහල බෞද්ද්ධ පදනම ප්‍රසිද්ධියේ පිළිගත් ක්‍රිස්තියානි ආගමික නායකයා එතුමාය. උතුරු නැඟෙනහිර ප්‍රශ්ණය [ඔරුමිත්තනාඩු?] ව්‍යවස්ථා නීති මඟින් නොව හදවතෙන් විසඳාගත යුතුයයි පවසන එතුමා පාසැල්වල සිංහල හා දෙමළ ඉගැන්‌වීමේ අවශ්‍යතාවය අවධාරණය කරයි. සිංහල ස්ත්‍රීන් දෙන්නෙක් විවාහ කරගත් විග්නේෂ්වරන්ගේ පුත්තු දෙන්නා සිංහල දන්නවාද යන්න කෙසේ වෙතත්, පෙඩරල් බෙදුම්වාදයේ පප්පා ලෙස සැළකෙන චෙල්වනායගම්ගේත්, ඔහුගේ දෙමළ රාජ්‍ය පක්‍ෂයේ අනිකුත් නායකයින්ගේ දූ දරුවන්ටත් සිංහල ටියුෂන් ලබාදුන් බව නම් රහසක් නොවේ.

අඩුකුලවල දෙමළ තරුණ-තරුණියින්ට සයනයිඩ් කරල් දී, ප්‍රභාකරන් ඇතුළු අයගේ දරුවන් පිටරට යවා ඉගැන්‌වීම, ජේවීපී නායකයින් කොළඹ පුද්ගලික/ජාත්‍යන්තර පාසැල්වලට තම දරුවන් යැවීමට වඩා බරපතලය. යාපනයේ එකම සිංහල පාසැල පවා පෙඩරල්කාරයින්ට හිසරදයක් විය. දකුණේ දෙමළ නිලධාරීන්ට සිංහල ඉගෙන ගැනීම සඳහා නොමිලේ පන්ති හා පඩි සහිත නිවාඩු රජයෙන් සපයන ලදී. එහෙත් බාලා තම්පෝ වැනි වෘත්තීය සමිති නායකයින් කලේ ඒවා කඩාකප්පල් කිරීමට අනුබල දීමය. අදවන විට නෝර්වේ වැනි රටවල ඒ රටවල භාෂාව ඉගෙනගනිමින් පාරවල් අතුගාන, හෝටල්වල, කුස්සිවල වැඩකරණ ලංකාවෙන් ගිය දෙමළ ජනයා තම්පෝලාට, චෙල්වනායගම්ලාට ශාප කල යුතුය.

ලංකාවේ සිංහල බෞද්ද්ධ පදනම මුළු රටම පිළිගතයුතුයයි කාදිනල්තුමා කල ප්‍රකාශය, දැනට හැත්තා වයස්‌වල ඉන්නා චන්ද්‍රිකා නෝනාටත්, බුද්ද්ධ ප්‍රතිමා නුරුස්සන රෝසි සේනානායක කොළඹ නගරාධිපතිනියටත්, දයාන් ජයතිලක ඇතුළු පරණ හා අළුත් මාක්ස්වාදීන්ටත් දුන් අවවාදයකි. මාක්ස්වාදී ඇන් ඇම්ලා දළදා මාළිගාවට මල්වට්ටි අරන් යෑම දකින්නට 1964 තෙක් අවුරුදු 30 ක්ම බලා සිටින්නට සිදුවිය. විමල් වීරවංශ, සෝමවංශ අමරසිංහ යන අය ප්‍රමාදවී හෝ ජේවීපිය අතහැරියේදමේ නිසාය. මාලේවන ධර්‍මවිජය හිමි නමින් දැන් මහණව ඉන්නේ, 1971 දී ජේවීපී නායකයෙක්ව සිටි, දිගුකාලයක් අනාගාරික ධර්‍මශේඛරතුමා වශයෙන් රටට සේවය කල තැනැත්තාය.

පක්‍ෂ දේශපාලකයින්, යහපාලනකාරයින්, විදේශික බලවේග, ක්‍රිස්තියානි හා ශාරියා මූලධ‌‌ර්‌මවාදීන්, හා එන්‌ජී‌ඕ‌ ඩොලර් නඩ ‌ලංකාවේ බුද්ද්ධ ශාසනයට වටකරගෙන පහර දෙන අවධියක කාදිනල්තුමා ඉදිරියට ඒම සිංහල බෞද්ද්ධ ජනයා බෙහෙවින්ම අගය කලේය. එතුමා ඔවුන්ට පැණිවරකා ගහක් වැනි වූයේ 1880 දී කර්‌නල් ඕල්කොට් ගාල්ලෙන් ගොඩබට කාලය සිහිපත් කරවමිනි. ලෝකයේ ප්‍රථම සුදු බෞද්ද්ධයා ඒකාලයේදී සුද්දන්ට හිසරදයක් වූ අන්දමටම කාදිනල්තුමා 1978 න් පසු උදාවු අබුද්දස්ස කාලයේ අගවන 2018/19 වර්‌ෂ වලදී කළුසුද්දන්ට වාතයක්‌වූ බව නිසැකය. ඇත්තවශයෙන් සිතනවිට, පාස්කු ප්‍රහාර කුමණ්ත්‍රනය හෝටල් වලට එල්ලවූයේ සුද්දන් මරා සංචාරක ව්‍යාපාරය බකල් කිරීමට නම් එය පල්ලියට එල්ලවූයේ කාදිනල්තුමා බෞද්ද්ධයින්ට කඩේ යනවා යන මතයක් නිසාය කියාද අනුමාණකල හැකිය. 

කාදිනල්තුමාගේ මේ ප්‍රකාශ වැදගත් වන්නේ කතෝලික පල්ලිය දෙමළ බෙදුම්වාදීන්ට පක්‍ෂව සිටිනවා යන මතයක්ද රටේ පැවති නිසාය. අගමැති රනිල්ගේ මහප්පාවන ලක්‍ෂ්මන් වික්‍රමසිංහ ක්‍රිස්තියානි (කතෝලික නොව) පාදිලිතුමා චෙල්වනායම් දෙමළ මෝසස් යයි ඔහුගේ මළගෙදරදී කියා සිටියේය. මැලේසියාවෙන් පැමිණි චෙල්වනායගම්, දකුණු ඉන්දියානු ක්‍රිස්තියානි පල්ලියට අයත් වුණා පමණක් නොව, කොළඹ සිටි පෙඩරල් පක්‍ෂයේ බොහෝ නායකයින්ද ක්‍රිස්තියානීන් විය—.]

කාදිනල්තුමා තම මූලික අදහස් ඒ අන්දමටම පාස්කු ප්‍රහාර ජනාධිපති කොමිෂම ඉදිරියේද ඊයේ පෙරේදා කියා සිටියේය. ගුරුකන්ද විහාරයේ අදාහන පෙරහැරට ගල් ගැසීමට ගිය පෙලපාලියේ ක්‍රිස්තියානි පූජකයින්ද සිටීමෙන් පෙනීයන්නේ යම් කතෝලික නොවන මූලධ‌‌ර්‌මවාදී  නිකායික ක්‍රිස්තියානි පූජකයින් තාමත් බුදු හාමුදුරුවෝ කියන්නේ යක්‍ෂයෙක් යන මතයේ සිටින බවය. මේ යක්‍ෂ කතාව මා ඇසුවේ කඳුල වැඩසටහනේ බ්‍රදර් චාල්ස් තෝමස්ගේ, ලහිරුටීවි ඉන්ටර්විව් එකෙනි. එහිදී චාල්ස් තෝමස් කියූ තවත් කරුණක් නම් ආගමික නායකයින්ට සමහර අවස්ථාවලදී දේශපාලනයට සහභාගී වීමට සිදුවන බවය.

කාදිනල්තුමා රුහුණු සරසවියේදී නොබෝදා ප්‍රකාශකලේ පූජ්‍ය/පූජකවරු දේශපාලනයෙන් වැළකී සිටිය යුතුය යනුවෙනි. පූජ්‍ය යනුවෙන් හාමුදුරුවරුත්, පූජක වශයෙන් විධිමත් ආගමික සංවිධානවලට අයත් පියතුමන්, පාස්ටර්‍වරු හා මවිලවිවරුත් එතුමා අදහස් කලා වියයුතුය. උදාහරණයක් වශයෙන් යූ‌එන්‌පී භාණ්ඩාගාරික එරන් වික්‍රමරත්න, මූලධ‌ර්‌මවාදී පල්ලි 200ක පමණ නායක පාස්ටර්‍වරයාය. හාමුදුරුවරුන්ගේ පූජ්‍ය ත‌ත්‌වයට එක් හේතුවක් නම් ලොව වෙන කිසිම ආගමික සම්ප්‍රදායක, මහණවී සිවුරු දැරීමට පෙර පුතා දෙමව්පියන්ට වැඳීමත්, ඉන් මිනිත්තු කීපයකට පසු අළුත් සාමනේර හිමියන්ට දෙමාපියන් විසින් වැඳීමත් සිදු නොවීමය. දැන් අවලංගුකාසියක්‌වී සිටින පින්සිරි සමරවීරට අනුව නම් මේ අය හතර කේන්දරේ පාළුවූ වැලේවැල් නැති පවුල්වල දරුවන්‌ය!

මෙහිදී වැදගත් දෙයක් නම් පූජකවරුද රහසිගත ලෙස තම පල්ලි තුල දේශපාලනය කරනා බවය. එරන් වික්‍රමරත්න ඇමතිවරයෙක්ද විය. හාමුදුරුවරු එය එලිපිටම කරන්නේය. දඹර අමිල වැනි හිමිලා එය ජරාවටම කරන්නේ සංඝාධිකරණයක් තිබෙනවා නම් සිවුරු ගලවා දමන මට්ටමටය. සංක්‍යාණ විද්‍යාවේදී කතාකරණ නෝමල් කර්ව් (බෙල් කර්ව්) එකෙන් පෙන්වන්නේ හාමුදුරුවරුන්ගේ පමණක් නොව ඕනෑම මිනිස් සමාජ සංවිධානයක (පොලිසිය, ගිනිනිවන හමුදාව, දොස්තරලා, නීතීඥයින්, බස් ඩ්‍රය්වර්ලා, ගුරුවරු, වෘත්තිය සමිති) ඉතා හොඳ හා ඉතා නරක අය යන අන්ත දෙකක් තිබෙන බවත්, ඒ දෙක මැද සෙසු ගිහි-පැවිදි-පූජක පෘතග්ජන පංචස්කන්‌ධ සිටිනා බවය. රංජන් රාමනායක කලේ කාගේ හෝ කොන්ත්‍රාත්තුවකට අනුව මෙහි නරක අන්තය අල්ලාගෙන, එක මකුණයි ළමයෝ කන්නේ, ඇයි ඔක්කොම මකුණො මරන්නේ යන සිංදුව මතක්කර දීමය.

1799 කාලයේදී නෝත් ආණ්ඩුකාරයාගේ සිට ජපනුන් විසින් 1942 අප්‍රියෙල් 5 පාස්කු ඉරිදා කොළඹට බෝම්බ දැමීම දක්වා ඉතිහාසය විමසා බැලීමේදී මට පෙනීගියේ නෝත් දුටු පන්සල හා ගැමියා අතර තිබූ ගහට පොත්ත වැනි බැඳීම ලංකාවේ යුද ආඥාධිපතියාව සිටි අද්මිරාල් ලේටන් ද දැන සිටි බවය. ඇමෙරිකාවේ රූසවෙල්ට් ජනාධිපති එරට සිටි ජපන් ජාතිකයින් අවතැන්කර කඳවුරුවල හිර අඩස්ස්සියේ තැබුවා වැනිම ප්ලෑනක් ලංකාවේ හාමුදුරුවරුන් එකතුකර ගාල්කරන්නට ලේටන් විසින් පිලියෙල කලේ ජපනුන් ලංකාවට ගොඩබැස්සොත් හාමුදුරුවරු ජපනුන්ගේ පැත්ත ගනීවි යන බිය නිසාය. මෙය සුබාස් චන්ද්‍රබෝෂ්ගේ ඉන්දියන් නැෂනල් හමුදාව ජපන් ආධාර ඇතිව ඉන්දියාවට ඇතුළුවේ යයි තිබූ බයට සමානය.

මේ නිසාත්, යහපාලනකාරයින් විසින් 2015 සිට දිගට හරහට සිවුරු හා පන්සල් දඩයමක් ආරම්භ කිරීමත් නිසා, ගතානුගතික යුරෝපීකරණයවූ අය ලියූ ලංකා ඉතිහාස කතාව, අළුත් කෝණයකින්, එනම් එය පන්සල හා පාලකයා අතර ඇතිවූ ගැටුමේ කතාවක් ලෙස විමසා බැලීමට මට සිතුණි. ලංකාවේ හාමුදුරුවරුන්ට මුරදේවතාවුන් කියන්නේ කුමක්නිසාද යන්න මට වැටහුණේ ඉන් පසුවය. ස්‌ටැන්ලි තම්බයියා, ගනනාත් ඔබේසේකර, එ‌එල් සෙනෙවිරත්න වැන්නන් ත්‍රිපිටකය හා පන්සල පටලවා ගෙන ඇත්තේ මේ අන්දමට ඉතිහාසය දෙස නොබැලීම නිසා නොවේද කියා මට සිතුණි. ඔහුගේ, ද වර්ක් ඔෆ් කින්ස් (1999), යන පොතේ රජුන්ගේ වැඩ වලට හාමුදුරුවරු හොට නොදැමිය යුතුයයි (ඇඟිලි නොගැසිය යුතුයයි) ගැමියා ලවා එ‌ච් එ‌‌‌ල් ලොවට කියයි. මීට හේතුව ඔහු මාක්ස්වාදියෙක් වීමම නොව, ලංකාවේ ඉතිහාසය 1815 සිට නොව දුටුගැමුණු-වළගම්බා කාලයේ සිටම පණගන්වා ඇත්තේ පන්සල විසින් බව ඔහුට නොවැටහීමය.

මෙය සිදුවූයේ උතුරු ඉන්දියා සමය 1 & 2, දකුණු ඉන්දියා සමය 1 & 2, (ජී සී මෙන්ඩිස්), පෘතුගීසි, ලන්දේසි, ඉංග්‍රීසි යුගය, නිදහස් යුගය (හොරස් පෙරේරා) යනාදි වශයෙන් ඉතිහාසය බෙදා ලියූ කළුසුද්දන් විසින් ඔහුවත් අප සැමදෙනාවත් අප නොදැනම ලංකා ඉතිහාසයේ හිරකාරයින් කිරීමය. දුටුගැමුණු-වළගම්බා කාලයේ සිට පන්සල රජුන් රකින්නා, රජුන් තනන්නා, රට සදන්නා යන කාරිය ඉෂ්ට කලේ, ගම-වැව-දාගැබ යන යන සමාජ-ආර්ථික ත්‍රිත්‌වය යටතේය. එදාත්, අදත් ගම්වල පන්සල් ස්වාධීන, ස්වෛරී ඒකක මිස යම් යෝධ සංවිධානයක ලෝකල් ශාඛා නොවීය.

ඉතිහාසය වනාහි මෙසේ පාලක-පන්සල අතර පැවති නිරන්තර අරගලයක් ලෙස සළකන විට එහි අවස්ථා/අවධි පැහැදිලිව මතුවී පෙනේ. මේ එක් එක් කාලයේ/අවධියේ අදාල පසුබිම අනුව පහලවූ හාමුදුරුනමක් හෝ කිහිපනමක් හෝ සිටීමද විශේෂ කරුණකි. උදාහරණ වශයෙන් මෙහි පහතින් දැක්‌වෙන්නේ දැනට මට ඇති සීමිත දැණුමට අනුව හඳුනාගත් අවධිය:

1 – බුද්ධාගම කියන්නේ බොරුවක් යයි පැවසුණු අවධිය, 1798-1873 (වාරියපොළ සුමංගල/මිගෙට්ටුවත්තේ ගුණානන්ද)
2 – බුද්ධාගම පණ අදිමින් සිටි අවධිය, 1840–> (වලානේ සිරි සිද්ධාර්‍ථ)
3 -ඕල්කොට්-අනාගාරික ධර්‍මපාල අවධිය, 1880-1915–> (හික්කඩුවේ ශ්‍රී සුමංගල)
4 -ඩොනමෝර් අවධිය 1931-48, විද්‍යෝදය සමාජ සේවය (කළුකොඳයාවේ පඤ්ඤාශෙඛර)
5 – විද්‍යාලංකාර සේවය 1946–>විද්‍යාලංකාර ප්‍රකාශණය/භික්‍ෂුවගේ උරුමය
(යක්කඩුවේ ප්‍රඥාරාම/වල්පොල රාහුල)
6 – පංච මහා බලවේගය 1956-59 (හේන්පිටගෙදර ඥානසීහ/බද්දේගම විමලවංශ/කොටගම වාචිස්සර/කලල්‌ඇල්ලේ ආනන්දසාගර)
7 – අඳුරු යුගය- 1960-1978 පෙඩරල්කාරයින් බලවත්‌වීම හා නිල් කොල රතු පක්‍ෂ මාරුවෙන් මාරුවට බෞද්ද්ධයින් රැවටීම
8 – අධර්මිෂ්ඨ සමාජය 1978–2005 (මාදුළුවාවේ සෝභිත, ගැටඹේ පන්සලේ හාමුදුරුවෝ)
9 – සෝම හාමුදුරුවන්ගේ භූමිකාව; සිංහල බෞද්ද්ධ පුනර්ජීවනය- 2000-2003
10 – පිරිත් නූල් කඹ යුගය 2004-2010 (ඇල්ලේ ගුණවංශ/අතුරැලියේ රතන)
ජාතික හෙල උරුමය
11 – සර්‌වාගමික-බහුජාතික මතවාදය-සිවුර දඩයම් කල අවධිය 2010-2019 (ගලබොඩ‌අත්තේ ඥානසාර, බොදු බල සේනාව 2012 මැයි; අස්ගිරි ප්‍රකාශණය 2017 ජූනි 20; අස්ගිරි නිවේදනය 2017 ජූලි 4)
12 – සුළු ජාතිකයින්ට මහජාතිය පාවාදීම පරාජය කිරීම (2020–>සිව්දිගින් මතුවූ සිවුරේ අධිෂ්ඨානය)

(අස්ගිරි විප්ලවය යන ලිපියේ මෙම අවධි පිළිඹදව දීර්‍ග වශයෙන් විස්තර කර ඇත. එය කියවීමට පහත ලින්ක් එකට යන්න).

මෙහිදී කාදිනල්තුමාට ඇතිවිය හැකි ගැටළුවක් වන්නේ අනාදිමත් කාලයක සිට ලංකාවේ බෞද්ද්ධ පදනම ගොඩනැඟුනේ මෙසේ කාලයෙන් කාලයට රටේ හාමුදුරුවරුන් මැදිහත්‌ව, අඛන්ඩව කරණ ලද පරිශ්‍රමය නිසා වීමය. ඒ නිසා පූජ්‍ය පක්‍ෂය දේශපාලනයෙන් ඉවත්‌විය යුතුය කීමෙන් සිදුවන්නේ රටේ බෞද්ද්ධ පදනමේ අත්තිවාරමට අයිතිකාරයෙක් නැති කිරීමය. බෞද්ද්ධ පදනමට ඔක්‍ෂිජන් අහිමි කිරීමය. ප්‍රභාකරන්ගේ, ස්ටැන්ලි තම්බයියාලාගේ, සෙනෙවිරත්නලාගේ, දයාන් ජයතිලකලාගේ, රෝසි-චන්ද්‍රිකාලාගේ මහාවංශ විරෝධී ව්‍යාපාරයට නොසිතා, නොදැනම යම් තල්ලුවක් දීමය. බහුජාතික-බහුාගමිකකාරයින් අතවැනීමය.

කාදිනල්තුමා කියයුතුව තිබුණේ හාමුදුරුවරු පක්‍ෂ දේශපාලනයෙන් වැලකිය යුතුය යන්නය. ධ‌ර්‌මපාලතුමාව රටින් එලවාගත් අය ඉන් පසු ක්‍රියාකාරී හාමුදුරුවරුන්ට පොලිටිකල් මන්ක්ස් යයි නමක් පටබැන්ඳේය. යක්කඩුවේ ප්‍රඥාසාර හිමිඳුන් මේ ගැන ඩී‌එස්‌ට හොඳ උත්තරයක් දුන්නේය. පසුව මේ ඩී‌එස්‌ම හේන්පිටගෙදර ඥානසීහ හාමුදුරුවන්ගෙන් චන්දයට උදව් ලබාගත්තේය. කැඩිච්ච සිංහලෙන් කතා කල බොහෝ ඩොනමෝර් බෞද්ද්ධයින් 1931 සිට චන්ද සඳහා ගමේ හාමුදුරුවරුන් පස්සේ ගියේය.

හාමුදුරුවරු දේශපාලනය නොකලයුතුයැයි කෑගසන පිරිස්ම සිවුර පස්සේ යාමට හොඳම උදාහරණය 2014 දී මාදුළුවාවේ සෝභිත හිමියන් රවටා අතරමංකිරීම නොවේද? 2019 චන්දයෙන් වංක, දේශ ද්‍රෝහී යහපාලනකාරයින් පරාද කලේ රටේ හාමුදුරුවරු නොවේද? මේ යුද්ද්ධය නම් කවදාවත්ම දිනන්න බෑ යන මතය මිථ්‍යාවක් කර සිංහල ජනතාව මානසික වශයෙන් සන්නද්ධ කලේ ඇල්ලේ ගුණවංශ, අතුරැලියේ රතන, ගලබොඩ‌අත්තේ ඥානසාර වැනි හිමිවරු නොවේද? රට මුදාගැනීමේ සටනේදී තමන් නොකලේ ආයුධ අතට නොගැනීම පමණක් යයි ඇල්ලේ ගුණවංශ හාමුදුරුවෝ පවසයි. 2019 දී හාමුදුරුවරු පරාජයකල තවත් මිථ්‍යාවක් නම් සුළු ජාතික චන්ද නැතිව ජනාධිපතිට දිනන්න බෑ යන්නය.

ඩී එස්-ඩී බී ජයතිලක වැනි අය විසින්, සුද්දන්ගේ අල්ල සිපගන්නවා වෙනුවට හා පොන්නම්බලම්ලාට බය නොවී අනුගමණය කල හැකි, ඉතාමත් සාර්‍ථකවූ ජාතික ව්‍යාපාරයක් 1940 දී ලංකාවේ ව්‍යාප්තවෙමින් පැවති නමුත් ඔවුන් දෙන්නා සුද්දන් හා එක්ව එය කඩාකප්පල්කර දැමුවේය. මැලේරියා ලෙඩ්ඩුන්ට කොළඹින් ගෙනගොස් බඩු බෙදාදුන් මාක්ස්වාදීන්ටද එය වහකඳුරුසේ විය. ලංකාවේත් හෝචිමින් කෙනෙක්, චේගුවේරා කෙනෙක් සිටියා නම් ඔවුන් කළුකොඳයාවේ ප්‍රඥාශෙඛර නාහිමියන්ගේ එම අපරාධ මර්‍ධන හා ග්‍රාම ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණය නම් වැඩසටහන හා එක්වනු නිසැකය. කරුණු 200 කින් සංයුක්තවූ එය අද ගම් අල්ලාගෙන නටන එහෙත් ගම පක්‍ෂ පාට අනුව බෙදා ඇති දේශපාලක හොරුන්ට ලියූ මාර්‍ගදේශකයක් වැනිය. අද ලංකාවේ ඇති ඔරුමිත්තනාඩු කලබගෑණියට විසඳුමද ඒ ව්‍යාපාරයමය. දේශපාලක හොරුන් නොව, ගම් මට්ටමෙන් ජනයා බලවත් කලහැකි එලෙසය.  ධර්‌මපාලතුමාගේ ආභාශය ලැබූ කළුකොඳයාවේ හිමිඳුන් කියා සිටියේ පන්සල්වල සිට බණ කියනවාට වඩා සමාජ සේවයක් කිරීමට හාමුදුරුවරු බැඳී සිටිනා බවය.  ශ්‍රී පාලිය සැදූ විල්මට් පෙරේරා විසින් පානදුරේ හොරණද මෙවැනිම ව්‍යාපාරයක් ආරම්භකලත් එය අසාර්‍ථක විය.

2020 පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණයේදී යහපාලන රොඩු කුණුකන්දල් සෝදාදමා තුනෙන් දෙකකට වැඩි ආසන සංඛ්‍යාවක් ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභයට ලබා දීමේ ජාතික මෙහෙවරට කර ගහන්නේ කවරෙක්ද යන්නට කාදිනල්තුමාගේ පිලිතුර කුමක් විය හැකිද? ඒ සඳහා ඉහත සඳහන් උපශාන්ත යාඥාව අනුගමණය කරන්නට යයි හාමුදුරුවරුන්ට කියන්නට පුළුවන්ද? ජාතියේ මුරදේවතාවුන් යන සංකල්පය හා එය නොපෑහේ. පොලොන්නරුවේ ශිව දේවාල යට හමුවූයේ බෞද්ද්ධ විහාර නටබුන්‌ය. අයෝධ්‍යාවේ රාම-බැබ්‍රි හින්දු-පල්ලි ගැටුමේදී ඒ යට තිබී හමුවූයේ බෞද්ද්ධ නටබුන්‌ය. මක්කම ගල යට තිබෙන්නේ ශ්‍රීපාදය කියා මතයක් තිබෙන්නේ මකුලාගම යන අරාබි නගරය ගැන බෞද්ද්ධ සාහිත්‍යයේ සඳහන් වන නිසාය. කුරගල, දෙවනගල, මුහුදු මහා විහාරයේ, ගුරුකන්ද විහාරයේ, මඩකලපුව මංගලාරාමයේ, මුලතිව් නයාරු විහාරයේ ප්‍රශ්ණවලට නව ගුන වැල ගැන ගැන ඉඳීම සෙරනිටි ප්‍රේයර් එකට අනුව කලයුතුවන දේය.

මෙම සෙරෙනිටි ප්‍රේයර් එක මට පෙන්වා දුන්නේ මා මිලිටරි විද්‍යාලයකට සම්බ‌න්‌ධව සේවය කරද්දී හමුවුන විශ්‍රාම ගිය කාන්තා නිලධාරිනියක විසින්‌ය. ඈ ඉරාකයේ සිටිද්දී එක්තරා තරුණ නිලධාරියෙක් නිතර නිතරම සේවයට ප්‍රමාදව පැමිණීම යනාදී විනය විරෝධී ක්‍රියාවල යෙදීම කාර්‍ය්‍යයාලයේ විනය පව‌ත්‌වා ගෙන යාමට ප්‍රශ්ණයක්‌වූ නිසා ඇය ඉහළ නිලධාරීන්ට ඒ ගැන වාර්‌තා කලත් වැඩක් නොවූයේ ඒ තරුණයාගේ පියා යුද හමුදාවේ ඉහළම නිලධාරියෙක්‌වූ නිසාය. අන්තිමේදී ඇය ඇගේ හමුදා ඒකකයේ චැප්ලින් (ක්‍රිස්තියානි පූජකයා) ලඟට ගොස් මේ කතාව කියා සිටිවිට ඔහු මේස ලාච්චුව ඇර අයට ඔහුගේ බිස්නස් කාඩ්‌එක දුන්නේය. එහි මුද්‍රිතව තිබුණේ මේ සෙරෙනිටි යාඥාවය.
මේ සමඟ ඇති වීඩියෝවේ 5:33 සිට බලන්න. හාමුදුරුවරු කොළඹ ඉන්නා අයට රට බේරා දුන්නේ කෙසේද යන්න ඉන් එළිවේ.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzF4QCqe8fw

cwije77@outlook.com
,

1. 2007 මදකට පසු බෑමට ලක්වූ ආගමික කල්ලි අද රජය පවා බිඳ වැට්ටීමට ක්‍රියාකොටගෙන යයි.
2. සිංහලයන්ව  නීතිවිරෝධී අන්‍යගමිකරණයට ලක්කොට නීතියට මුවාවී හැරවූ සිංහල බෞද්ධයන් අප රට හා සම්බුද්ධ සම්බුද්ධ ශාසනයේ  පැවැත්මට   විරුද්ධව අදද උසිගන්වමින් සිටි.
3. රටේ රාජ්‍ය නායකයන්ගේ අඹු දරුවන් හා බිරින්දෑ වරුන් විශාල ලෙස  අන්‍යගමිකරණයට ලක්වෙයි එය වහා වහා නැවත්විය යුතු කුමන්ත්‍රණයකි.  
4. ස්විට්සර්ලන්ත තානාපති කාර්යාලයේ සේවයේ නියතු ගානියා බැරිස්ටර් ෆ්‍රැන්සිස් නැමැත්තිය සිංහල කාන්තාවක් බැව් හෙළිදරව් වී තිබේ. ඇයගේ මුල් නම ශ්‍රියාලතා පෙරේරා වූ  අතර ඇය ආගම වෙනස් කිරීමෙන් පසු ගානියා බැරිස්ටර් ෆ්‍රැන්සිස් ලෙස නම වෙනස් කරගෙන තිබේ. නාමය වෙනස් කිරීමට හෝ  රටට හා ඊට එරෙහිව ඇය ලවා ප්‍රකාශ, බොරු නාටක දියත් කිරීම පිටුපස සිටින රාජ්ජ්‍ය හා ආගම් විරෝධී කල්ලි සිටීද ? ඔවුන් කව්රුන්ද ?.
6. බොන්  ඒගේයින් ඇදහිලිවන්තයන්ට කුඩා මොළයක් ඇති බව ඩියුක් සරසවිය 2011 දී පමණ සොයා ගත්තේය.
7. ශ්‍රියාලතා පෙරේරා හෙවත් ගානියා බැරිස්ටර් වූ  ෆ්‍රැන්සිස්ස්විස්ටර්ලන්ත තානාපති කාර්යායේ තේ හදන සේවිකාව ලෙස රැකියාව කර ඇති මෙම නිලධාරිනිය නිශාන්ත සිල්වා කන්දප්පාව ස්විස් යැවීමට ඍජුව දායක වී ඇති බවට කරුණු තහවුරු වී ඇති බවටද ජාතික සංවිධාන චෝදනා කරයි.
9. රටේ ආරක්ෂක හමුදාවලට මහා විනාශයක් සිදු කළ පුද්ගලයෙකු ආරක්ෂා කිරීම සඳහා සහ නව ජනාධිපතිවරයාගේ ප්‍රතිරූපයට හානි දුකිරීම සඳහා රඟ දැක්වෙන ස්විස් නාටකය සිංහල බුද්ධිමතුන් ඉතා ගැඹුරින් අධ්‍යන කල යුතු අතර 2015 දී පමණ ජිනීවාහිදී ආරම්භ වූ රණවිරුවන් දඩයම් කිරීමේ ක්‍රියාවලියේ එක් දිගුවක්  විවිධ දේශපාලනික මත ඔස්සේ සමාජ ගතවී පසුගිය (2019 ) පූර්ණ මැතිවරණ සමයේ  මඬ ව්‍යාපාරයක් වශයෙන් ක්‍රියාත්මක විය.
8. ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව හෝ  වෙනස්කොට තම දේව රාජ්ජ්‍යට පාර කපා ගැනීමට දඟලන නළියන පාස්ටර් වරු සිටින බව ඔබ දන්නේද ?.
9. දේශපාලනය නාමයෙන් අප රට  සිංහල බෞද්ධ වපසරියෙන් ඔබ්බට ගෙනයාමට විශාල මුදල් සම්බාරයක් වියදම් කරමින් සිටි.
10. උපක්ක්‍රමිකව විවිධ දේශපාලන අදහස් ඇති පුද්ගලයන් නායකයන් කොට සිංහල බෞද්ධ අප අනත්වාදීන්, ජාති වාදීන් ලෙසත් හංවඩු ගසා සිංහල බෞද්ධ මත නොදරන දේශපාලන අදහස් ඇති තරුණ පිරිස් වැඩිකොට ක්‍රමානුකුලව එම පුද්ගලයන් අප සමග කොටවා තම ධින දේශපාලනික නියායන් රහසේ ක්‍රියාත්මක කරයි.
11. ඇමෙරිකානු ජනධිපති වී සිට ජොර්ජ් බුෂ් මහතා 1985 දී  බොන්  ඒගේයින් එවැන්ජලිස්ත කිතුනුවකු ලෙස හැරවනු  ලැබුවේ බිලී ග්‍රැහැම්ගේ උපකාරයෙනි. මෙවන් කුඨ උපක්‍රම සහිත ආගමික කණ්ඩායම් ඉදිරියේදී හෝ දැනට සිටින ( සිංහල බෞද්ධ ) ජනාධිපතිවරුන් ඔවුන්ගේ උන්මන්තක ආගම් වලට කොටු කරගැනීමට පිඹුරුපත් ඇඳ ඉවර බව විවධ පුද්ගලයන්ගේ පවුල් හා තොරතුරු මාධ්‍ය වලින් ඉදිරි පත් කොට තොරතුරු විමසුමේදී හොඳින් වැටහේ. 
12. ජාතිවාදී සිංහල බෞද්ධයන් නව ජනාධිපතිවරයා පත්කරගත් බවට දොස් නගන අතර රටට වන අනතුර නොදැන (පක්ෂ වාදී බව නිසා ) අනෙකුත් පක්ෂවලට සම්බන්ධ  සිංහල බෞද්ධයන් (අපේම පිරිස් ) ලවා  රට දෙකඩ කිරීමේ කුමන්ත්‍රණය දියත් කිරීමේ නාටකය පිටු පස සිටින්නේද  අර කලින්කි ජාතිවාදී,ආගම් වාදී කල්ලිම බව ඔවුන්ගේ දෛනික කතාබහ, ඇවිදීම්, කෙරුම් සහා ප්‍රකාශ තේරුම් ගැනීමෙන් මනාව වටහා ගත හැක.
13. මේ රට සිංහල බෞද්ධ නොවන බව ප්‍රකාශ කිරීම සුළු කොට නොසලකන්න එය තනි පුද්ගලික මත නොවේ එම හැඟීම් එම පුද්ගලයන්ගේ සන්තානයේ ඇති කරන්නේ ඉහතින් කි ආගමක්,ජාතියක් නැති දේශපාලන නඩ, නිරාගමික නඩ හා අන්තවාදී ආගමික කල්ලි බව හොඳින් වටහාගන්න.
14. ගණිකාවන් , නපුංසකයන් දේශපාලනයේ ප්‍රධාන තේමාවට හිතා මතා ඔබ්බවා ගන්නේ හිතා මතා සිංහල බෞද්ධ වපසරිය හා එහි ගැබ්වී තිබෙන ශිෂ්ටාචාර හා සභ්‍යත්වය හිමින් සීරුවේ නැති කිරීමටයි.
15. පැහැර ගැනීමට ලක්වූ බව කියන ගානියා ප‍්‍රැන්සිස් නමැති ස්විස් තානාපති කාර්යාලයේ නිලධාරිනිය බේරා ගැනීම සඳහා මෙරට එන්ජී ඕ ප‍්‍රධානීන් පස් දෙනකු දැඩි උත්සාහයක යෙදෙන බව රජයට දැනට අනාවරණය වී ඇත. එන්ජී ඕ  තුල වැඩිමනක් වශයෙන් දැඩි ආගමික උන්මන්තකයන්,ජාති වාදීන් සිටින බව සිංහල බෞද්ධයන් දැන සිටිය යුතුයි.
16. සිංහල බෞද්ධය නායකයන් විසින් කරනා සත්‍ය ප්‍රකාශයන් පවා පොදු ජනතාව  අතරේ හැල්ලුවට් ,පරිභවයට ,අපකීර්තියට ලක්කිරීමට නවීන ඝනයේ සමාජ වෙබ් අඩවින් භාවිතා කිරීම හා එමඟින් තම පිල වැඩිකරගැනීමට උත්සහා කිරීම.
17. සිංහල බෞද්ධ වපසරිය ඔස්සේ හැදුන වැඩුන පුද්ගලයන් ක්‍රමානුකුලව ජාතික ආගමික හැගීම් වලින් ගලවා රටට එරෙහි වාමාන්සික (විවධ) දේශපාලනික කල්ලි වලට ගොනු කර මුදල් හදල් ඩොලර්, පවුම් දී බලයට හා ධනයට කැදර කොට  සිංහල බෞද්ධ මතයට එරෙහිව උසිගන් වමින් සිටි.
18. ප්‍රසිද්ධ දේශපාලකයන්ගේ පුතා හා සමහර දුවරු නීතිවිරෝධී අන්‍යගමිකරණයට කාලයක් තුල යටත් කොට (සමහර තැන්හිදී විවාහ තුලින් පවා ) ඔවුන්ගේ සිංහල මත ක්‍රමානුකුලව මර්ධනය කොට තම නව ආගම හා දෙවියන්වෙනුවෙන් රහසිගතව ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට සලස්වයි.
19. මුස්ලිම් පිරිස් දැඩි අන්තවාදී මත දරන පුද්ගලයන් කොට අරාබි වසන්තය මෙහි පැලපදියම් කිරීමට දිවා රාත්‍රී නොබලා ක්‍රියා කරන මැති ඇමති හා නොයෙකුත් කුඨ පුද්ගලයන් සිංහල බෞද්ධ රට හා සිංහලයන් කෙරෙහි දැඩි වෛර යකින් පසුවන බව ඉතා පහසුවෙන් සොයාගත හැක.
20.  ගෝඨාභය ජනාධි පතිතුමන් බලයෙන් පහකිරීමට කුමන්ත්‍රණ කරන්නනේ අන්තවාදී ආගමික කල්ලි නායකයන් හා රට ඉදිරියේදී කලී කැලි වලට කැඩීමට හා කොටි ඩයස් පෝරාවට උඩගෙඩි දුන් යුධ විරෝධී මානසිකත්වයෙන් පෙළුන මානසික හිඟන්නුන්ගේ  සංකල්ප වලින් පිරි සිංහල බෞද්ධ විරෝධී කණ්ඩායම්ය.
21. සිවිල් සංවිධාන ක්‍රියාකාරීන් ලෙස පෙනී සිටින  විශාල පිරිසක් රටට එරෙහි බලවේග හා එක්වී දිගටම ක්‍රියා කරගෙන යයි.
22.  රටේ ආරවුල් ඇතිවුන සැමවිටම සති ගණන් නිශ්ශබ්ද සිට (පසුගිය පාස්කු ප්‍රහාරය පසු පවා ) නැවත බුද්ධිමතුන් ලෙස සමාජයට පෙනී සිටීමට උත්සහා කරන පුද්ගලයන් ,කණ්ඩායම් විශේෂිත අධීක්ෂණයකට ලක්කොට මෙම ඉහත කි සමාජ ආරවුල් ඇතිකිරීමට ඔවුන්ගේ යම්කිසි දායකත්වයක් ඇතිදැයි රහස් ක්‍රම මඟින් සොයා බැලිය යුතුය.
23. සමාජ ආරවුල් වැඩියෙන්ම ඇතිකොට රට ගිණි ගන්නා තත්වයට සැමදා පත්කරන්නේ ඉහතින් සඳහන් කල එන්ජිඕ හා සිවිල් සංවිධාන ක්‍රියාකාරීන්ය. (ඔබගේ දරුවන් මේ මග මරුවන්ගෙන් ආරක්ෂා කරගන්න )
24. පැරදුනු අසිංහල බලවේග ඉදිරි මැතිවරණ දිනීම අරමුණුකොටගෙන භික්ෂුන් වහන්සේලා
පිටුපස නැවතත් යන්නේ උන් වහන්සේලාවද  නැවත රවටා මුලා කොට අහම්බෙන් ගැලවුණු රට විනාශය කරා නැවතත් රැගෙන යාමටයි. (නොරැවටෙන්න )
25. පන්සලේ ස්වාමින් වහන්සේලා සිරගත කරනවිට, පින් කැටෙටත් ඉබ්බන් දානවිට, අන්තර් ජාතික බහු මානසිකත්වයෙන් සිට මේ සිංහල බෞද්ධ රටක් නොවන බව කියන විට අඳ,ගොළු,බිහිරන් සේ සිටි පිරිස් මියගිය පක්ෂ නැවතත් ගොඩනැගීමට කරලියට ඇවිත් තිබේ ජාතිය ආගම රට විනාශ වනවිට ඒ ගැන මොකුත් නොකට සිටි, ඒ නිශ්ශබ්ද පිරිස් ‘අන්ත වාදී ආගමික බෝම්බ කරුවෙකුට වඩා අති භායනක බව සිතා ගන්න.
26. කිනම් පක්ෂයක ඔබ සිටියත් නායකයන්ගේ උගුල් වලට කත්  ඇද මේ අපේ මවුබිම (ඒකීය සිංහලේ ) විනාශ කිරීමට අත් උදවු කාරයෙකු නොවන්න.
27. උගුල් සහිත දේශපාලනික බලවේග සමග කටයුතු නොකරන්න.
28. දෙමළ ඊළම පිටු දකින්න.
29. නැගෙනහිරට වෙනම මුස්‌ලිම් පරිපාලන කලාපයක්‌ ලබාදෙන ලෙස හා ඒවාට උඩගෙඩි දෙන දේශපාලන නායකයන් මෙරටින් පන්නා දමන්න.
30. දෙමළ ජාතික සන්ධානයේ මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් අල්ලගෙන රටට එරිහි බලවේග නිර්මාණය කරන  පුද්ගලයන් පිටුදකින්න.
31. සියලු අධිරාජ්‍යවාදී බලවත්තු යුද්ධය සඳහා තමන්ගේම සූදානම ඇතිකර ගනිමින් සිටිති. ලොව තතු දෙස හොඳින් ඇස් කන් යොමුකරන්න. අපේ රට ඔවූ නොවුන් අතර ඇතිවිය හැකි ලෝක යුද්ධ වලට පටලවා ගැනීමට වෙහෙස ගන්නා බව දැනටමත් වැටහී තිබේ. ඒ සඳහා අපේ රටේ ඇති බිම් කොටස් වරායවල් පවා නොදෙමු.

ලිපියේ ඉහතින් දක්වන ලද්දේ ඉතා සුළු කරුණු ප්‍රමානයක් වේ. හොඳින් නැවත නැවත ඉහත කරුණු කියවා  අධ්‍යනයක යෙදෙන්න ඉන්දියානු සාගරයේ නාවික මාර්ගයන්ගේ සන්ධිස්ථානයක ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාව පිහිටීමම  යුද සැලසුම්වල අත්‍යවශ්‍ය අංගයක් ලෙස එක්සත් ජනපද අධිරාජ්‍යවාදය දකි. චීනයට එරෙහි සිය මිලිටරි සූදානම සඳහා පමනක් නොව, කලාපයේ අනෙකුත් ආන්ඩු වලට එරෙහි කුමන්ත‍්‍රන සඳහා මොවුන් ඉදිරියේදී ක්‍රියා කිරීමට ඉඩ තිබේ. ප්‍රජා තන්ත්‍ර වාදය, යහා පලනය , සමගි කම, එකමුතුකම, අන්තර් ජාතික සබඳ කම් රැකගැනීම ,ජාත්‍යන්තර ප‍්‍රජාවගෙන් හුදෙකලා වීම වැලක්වීම යන සටන් පාට ඔස්සේ එන්නේ ඒ ඇමෙරිකාවේ ,යුරෝපයේ ආධිපත්‍යයමය. ඇමෙරිකානු ආගම් මේ බලෙන් ස්ථාපනය කරන්නේද ඒ අරමුනින්මය, මේවා දේශපාලකයන් හට නොපෙනේ.
මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ රජයද බිඳ වැට්ටුවේ ඉහත කි නාටක මාලාවම එළිදක්වාය. එමෙන්ම වොෂින්ටනයේ කූට උපායන්ට ගොදුරුවූ පලමුවැන්නා රාජපක්ෂ නොවේ. ජපන් අගමැති යුකියෝ හටොයාමා හා ඔස්ටේ‍්‍රලියානු අගමැති කෙවින් රඩ් යන දෙදෙනා ඉවත් කිරීමේ  කුමන්ත‍්‍රනය පිටුපස එක්සත් ජනපදය සිටියේය.

දැනට පත්වුණු, පත්වී තිබෙන ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ ප්‍රමුඛ මේ රාජ්‍ය බිඳ වැට්ටීමට දිවා රාත්‍රී කටයුතු කරන්නේ එක්සත් ජනපද අධිරාජ්‍යවාදය හා සියුම්ව සබැඳි බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය (යුරෝපයේ)  හා  ඔවුන්ගේ ඉත්තන් බවට පත්වී සිටින වාමාන්සික හා අනෙකුත් දේශපාලන පක්ෂය.( ඔවුන් සම්ප‍්‍රධායික එක්සත් ජනපදය හා බි‍්‍රතාන්‍යයෙන් අධිරාජ්‍යවාදී හාම්පුතුන් ගේ සුවච කිකරු ගෝලයන් ).

තවද නොරටුන් හා විජාතින් (විවිධ ආගමික කල්ලිද ,දෙමළ හා මුස්ලිම් පක්ෂද  ) තම හිනා මානය නිසා  අරාබියට,අසල්වැසි ඉන්දියාවටද,එක්සත් ජනපදය හා බි‍්‍රතාන්‍යයටද කත් අදිමින් බොරු බේගල් තුලින්  තව තවත් උඩගෙඩි දෙමින් ඉහතකි අධිරාජ්‍යවාදින්ගෙන්  විවධ ආවරණ ලබමින් සිටි.

මේවා ජාතිකමය ,සංස්කෘතිකමය ,දේශපාලනික වශයෙන් පරාජය කල යුතු බලවෙගවේ. වල් පල් දොඩවමින් නොව ඉතා තීක්ෂණ බුද්ධියෙන් යුතුව විසඳා ගත යුතු ප්‍රශ්ණ රාශියකි තරුණ හෝ මහළු යයි නොතකා අද දිනම ඉදිරිපත්වී ඔබ මේ සිංහල බෞද්ධ දේශය රැකගන්න.

”යම් මිනිසෙකු මෙලොවට් උපන් මොහෙතෙදීම ඔහු උපදින පරිසරයෙන්ම හුස්ම පොද ගනී, තමා  කන්නේ බොන්නේ ඒ පරිසරයෙන්මය ,ඉතින් අපි තාම හැදුණු වැදුනු පරිසරයට ණය ගැතියි. පළමුවෙන්ම අප ”අම්මා” කියා තමාගේ අම්මාව අමතන්නේ තමන්ගේ මවුබසිනි එතැනින්ම අප සතු ජාතියද ඇතිවෙයි. එම ජාතියට අපි සදා ණය ගැතියි. අපට ඇස පහදා දීමට උපකාරීවූ එම භාෂාව අපේ අතීත මුතුන් මිත් තන්ගෙන් ලද උරුමයකි. ඔවුන් වෙනුවෙන් කලයුතු යුතුකම් රාශියකි. එබැවින් රට,දැය, සමය ,ආගම පනමෙන් සුරකින්න. එවන් කාර්යක නිරතවන්නා  ඉතා උතුම් මිනිසේකි”.

කෙස් ගහ පවා වෙන රටවල මිනිසුන්නේ
උස් නිදහස පිණිස සටනට සැරසෙන්නේ
හිස් මොළ තියෙද්දිත් මේ වග නොතකන්නේ
ඇස් ගෙඩි දෙකට හෙණ ගැහිලද සිහලුන්නේ
(එස්.මහින්ද හිමි)

 ඔබ සැමට තෙරුවන් සරණයි !

සුර්ය වංශ රත්න විභූෂණ පාලිත ආරියරත්න

සෙන්කඩගල සිංහ ද්වාරයේ සිට

2019-12-11 -උඳුවප් පොහොය දින:

උඳුවප් පොහොයදෙවන පෑතිස් මහ රජුගේ ආරාධනය අනුව සංඝමිත්තා රහත් මෙහෙණින්වහන්සේ ශීී‍්‍ර මහා බෝධි දකුණු ශාඛාව ලංකාවට වැඩම කළේ උඳුවප් පොහෝදාය.ලංකාවේ මෙහෙණි සස්න ආරම්භයද මෙදිනමය.එයින්  ලාංකික කාන්තාවන්ට ලැබුණු නිදහස අපමණය.බෝධීන්වහන්සේ වැඩම කරවීම නිසා බෝධි පූජා පැවැත්වීම ද ආගමික චාරිත‍්‍රයක් බවට එදා සිටම පත්විය. මේ අනුව උඳුවප් පොහොය ද ශී‍්‍ර ලාංකික බෞද්ධයන්ට අතිශය වැදගත් දිනයක් බව කිව යුතුය.

Hiru News

The Minister of Foreign Relations Dinesh Gunawardana says that the statements made by the allegedly abducted Swiss Embassy staffer are contradictory.

Therefore, it is reported that the Embassy staffer Gania Banister Francis will be summoned to the CID again to make a fresh statement in the next few days. She has already given statements to the CID on 3 previous occasions.

When the case was taken before the court on December 9, the lawyer appeared for the Embassy staffer Garnia Francis, Upul Kumarapperuma told the court that a local and a foreign doctor attached to the Embassy inspected Garnia Francis and concluded that she was sexually abused by her abductors.

CID also suspects why she did not complain about the incident to the police even three weeks after the so-called abduction. In addition, it is revealed that Garnia Banister Francis received her current name after she was converted to a fundamentalist Christian group.

Meanwhile, it is also revealed that the person who appeared as Garnia Francis’s agent, Manjula Perera is the son of a former UNP Kelaniya Organizer Bevan Perera. At the same time, photographs of Manjula Perera posing for pictures with UNP top leaders are circulating on social media.

Meanwhile, Foreign Relations Minister Dinesh Gunawardana said that the incident could be treated as an attempt to put the government in trouble. Minister Gunawardana was addressing the media in Kandy today

by Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy Island

December 10, 2019, 9:05 pm

August 17, 2016: Ambassador Keshap, Chief Minister of the Northern Province C.V. Wigneswaran and Minister of National Coexistence, Dialogue and Official Languages Mano Ganesan, on their way to Palaly onboard US Air Force plane C130. Wigneswaran, in his conversation with Keshap, accused the government of poisoning detained LTTE combatants.

Against the backdrop of a deepening crisis, caused by Switzerland providing political asylum to Inspector Nishantha Silva, his wife and three children, followed by accusations over alleged abduction of a local female Embassy employee, the writer examined a spate of high profile propaganda projects, carried out by interested parties, against the country, over the years.

Last week’s Midweek column inquired into as to how Sri Lanka pathetically failed to exploit Lord Naseby’s contradiction of UN war crimes charges, in Oct 2017, Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) bid to deceive the public in 2007, exposure of those propagating lies over Mannar mass graves early this year, a man alleged to have been killed by the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI), in late 2009, surfacing in Tamil Nadu, in May, 2014, Australia providing a new identity to one-time leading JVP activist, Kumar Gunaratnam, in 2013, and a missing LTTE child soldier showing up in an award-winning French movie.

In a way, Switzerland cannot be blamed for seeking to exploit Sri Lanka’s weakness, especially in the wake of wartime Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s election as the President just 10 days before. In line with the overall Western strategy, Switzerland accommodated Inspector Nishantha Silva in its asylum programme, caused media furore over an alleged abduction in Colombo, and then questioned the LTTE’s terrorist tag in a high profile case heard there.

The Swiss Federal Court ruled that the LTTE was not a criminal organization. The court acquitted 12 persons of charges filed by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG).

In its indictment, the OAG accused them of violating the Swiss Penal Code by raising funds for the LTTE between 1999 and 2009. Following its nine-year investigation, the OAG accused them of financially supporting the World Tamil Coordinating Committee (WTCC).

But, in June 2018 the Federal Criminal Court found that the hierarchical link between the LTTE and WTCC could not be sufficiently established. The judges also felt there was not enough proof to consider the LTTE a criminal group.

In April, 2019 the OAG appealed against the verdict, insisting that the accused had supported a criminal group.

In a decision, published on Tuesday, Dec 03, the Federal Court upheld the previous ruling, noting that Article 260 in the Swiss Penal Code was designed to combat organized crime of a mafia nature though it has also been applied to terrorist groups, such as al-Qaeda or the Islamic State (IS). The LTTE was not regarded as a criminal organization, at the time the funds were raised, stated the Federal Court.

Over 100 LTTE cadres in

custody poisoned

Sri Lanka never took tangible measures to counter those who propagated lies in a deliberate attempt to ruin the country. They could not stomach the LTTE’s annihilation on the Vanni east front, a decade ago. One-time Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran was one such person. Wigneswaran and a section of the Tamil media, in August 2016 accused the military of killing over 100 LTTE combatants, in custody by poisoning them. The PTI and NDTV were among international media which reported unsubstantiated allegations.

Accusers placed the number of such deaths at 104. Accusations were made while the U.S. Pacific Command’s ‘Pacific Angel’ exercise was underway in the Jaffna peninsula.

Wigneswaran boldly declared that the U.S. Air Forces medical team, in Jaffna would examine the former rehabilitated LTTE cadres, who, he alleged, had fallen sick because they were injected with poisonous substances at government detention or rehabilitation centres.

The then State Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardene and Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne dismissed the vicious accusations. Wijewardene offered the international community access to rehabilitation facilities. What the Minister didn’t realize was that by Aug 2018, the vast majority of ex-LTTE combatants had been released.

The US conveniently refrained from making its position clear on Wigneswaran’s claim when the writer raised the issue with the US Embassy in Colombo. There had never been such a claim before TNA’s Wigneswaran sought to humiliate Sri Lanka. It would be pertinent to mention that one-time LTTE subordinate, the TNA, backed common candidate Maithripala Sirisena at the 2015 presidential poll having earlier supported Gen. Sarath Fonseka at the previous poll. On both occasions, the TNA delivered all northern and eastern electoral districts to Fonseka and Sirisena, who contested on the New Democratic Front (NDF) ticket with the ‘Swan’ as its symbol. The TNA did the same for Sajith Premadasa in the North and the East at the last presidential, though the South overwhelmingly defeated the UNPer.

In answer to several questions The Island posed, regarding ex-LTTE cadres being poisoned, US embassy said: “Operation Pacific Angel is providing assistance, based on the specific needs of the local communities. Among the nearly 70 members of this multilateral assistance programme – including some medical staff and engineers from Bangladesh, Nepal, and Maldives, as well as the United States – are over 40 doctors providing basic medical services: dental procedures; physical therapy; general medical assistance; and optometry. These are the only services being provided.”

The writer asked the US Embassy whether it could confirm that US Pacific Command personnel, conducting medical tests on ex-LTTE cadres, allegedly poisoned by the previous government; whether they would be moved to overseas medical facility for further tests; whether the GoSL had been informed of the development; when did the TNA request the US intervention and whether the US military had conducted similar tests in other countries. For obvious reasons, the US side-stepped The Island queries.

The five-day ‘Operation Pacific Angle’ was launched, in Jaffna by the then US Ambassador in Colombo Atul Keshap.

The New Indian Express quoted Wigneswaran as having said that the US Air Force’s medical team would examine ex-LTTE cadres who had been sick because they were injected with poisonous substances by the Sri Lankan armed military while they were undergoing detention or rehabilitation. Wigneswaran, according to the New Indian Express, had told the NPC (Northern Provincial Council) that he had mentioned the plight of the former combatants in his conversation with the US Ambassador, Atul Keshap, and asked if the USAF team could examine them and give an independent report.

Wigneswaran’s allegations died a natural death. The TNA, or the US, never discussed the issue publicly.

SLN blamed for killings carried out by the LTTE

The Sri Lanka Navy was accused of killing a group of Tamil Nadu fishermen, in early 2007, in Indian waters. Accusations placed the then Rajapaksa government in an extremely difficult position. Wartime Navy spokesman Captain D.K.P. Dassanayake (now Commodore) played a significant role in exposing the blatant lie. The writer worked closely with Dassanayake on many stories, during the war and there couldn’t be a better example than the early 2007 accusations as regards fishermen’s deaths to underscore the need to counter propaganda. Dassanayake played a significant role in countering the propaganda, directed at Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda’s Navy. Ironically, Dassanayake, himself, is now embroiled in disappearance of at least 11 Tamils, mostly in 2008. The previous UNP-led government bungled the investigation by politicizing it for obvious reasons. Dassanayake, who served with those who had been deployed off Chalai, in 2009, to intercept LTTE movements and then carried out a clandestine operation, overseas, with a small Navy team, with the backing of the DMI, found himself in real trouble over disappearance cases. Dassanayake’s team commandeered an LTTE owned ship ‘Princess Cristina’, anchored in a foreign harbour, to Colombo harbour, in Dec 2009. The writer was among those who had an opportunity to go on board the vessel immediately after its arrival at the Colombo port where a beaming Dassanayake, and his team, were received by the then Navy Chief VA Thisara Samarasinghe.

Let me discuss how the Navy tackled the missing Tamil Nadu fishermen’s case leading to the disclosure of a big lie, thanks to a chance detection made by the Maldivian Coast Guard. Dassanayake worked tirelessly to bring out the truth. He proved that there was a huge difference between just repeating battlefield reports and actually handling media for strategic purpose. The Island coverage wouldn’t have been a reality without Dassanayake’s role. Interestingly, the Defence Ministry and the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) never bothered to examine the incident as part of their overall efforts to counter lies. They never did until the end of the war, in May 2009. The Rajapaksa government made some efforts to put the record straight, in the wake of the devastating March 2011 UN report that accused the military of killing over 40,000 in 2009. However, the government failed. The public are owed an explanation as to why millions of USDs were squandered on US and UK PR firms and whether any government personality personally benefited from such projects.

The Indian case is a glaring example of deception meant to undermine the war effort against the LTTE.

In late March 2007 Karunanidhi sought the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s intervention in the wake of an attack on a Tamil Nadu fishing craft, about 35 nautical miles off Kanyakumari, well within Indian territorial waters. In a letter, dated March 31, 2007, addressed to PM Singh, Karunanidhi alleged: “… an unidentified group of attackers opened fire on a Tamil Nadu fishing boat.” He was referring to the killing of five Tamil Nadu fishermen on March 29, 2007. Quoting a fisherman who had survived the attack, the Tamil Nadu leader said that two boats, which approached the ill-fated boat from “the Sri Lankan side and without any provocation or warning, indiscriminately opened fire on the Indian boat. All the attackers, numbering about 20, were youngsters, either bare bodied or in casual dress.”

Karunanidhi made several allegations as well as recommendations to Premier Singh. Karunanidhi warned Singh that unless some stern measures were taken by the government to make Indian waters safe, the situation was likely to get out of control. Alleging that a third party might have carried out the attack, Karunanidhi urged Singh to establish the identity of attackers as well as their international connections. Karunanidhi also called for enhanced Indian Navy and Coast Guard presence in the Tamil Nadu seas and to bring the entire naval effort under a unified command.

The Sri Lankan Navy strongly denied the Tamil Nadu leader’s claims, made in the wake of a section of the Indian media accusing the SLN of the massacre.

When the SLN strongly countered the Indian media reports, Karunanidhi made a ridiculous attempt to assert that some smugglers, with international links might have killed the fishermen. The SLN insisted that there was no basis for claims that there was a third party operating in the sea.

Interestingly, on the day of the Kanyakumari massacre, there had been a high level SLN delegation in New Delhi. The delegation responded to what SLN headquarters called was unfounded allegation. The SLN recalled how the Norwegian – led Scandinavian truce monitoring mission accused an unknown third party of attacking a Chinese fishing vessel about 22 nautical miles north of Mullaitivu on March 19, 2003. The attackers mowed down 16 Chinese and two Sri Lankans on ‘FU Yuan YU 225’. The monitoring mission asserted that neither the LTTE nor the Sri Lankan government could have carried out the attack. Although those who had survived the attack as well as the crew of another Chinese vessel also operating in the area told the mission of the LTTE’s culpability, chief of monitors, retired Major General Tryggve Tellefsen requested the government and the LTTE to find, disarm and arrest ‘criminal elements’ operating on their own.

Both the truce monitoring mission and the Tamil Nadu administration went out of their way to protect the LTTE. Their approach towards terrorism baffled many (Lanka challenges bid to shield Tigers, with strap line Killing of five Tamil Nadu fishermen – The Island, April 5, 2007).

The Indian Coast Guard made a crucial but chance breakthrough on April 11, 2007. Having spotted two ‘vallams’ 26.5 nautical miles southeast of Kanyakumari, a Coast Guard vessel had ordered them to stop. It was among nine ships backed by three maritime aircraft engaged in a special operation in the wake of the Kanyakumari massacre. The Coast Guard swiftly apprehended the ‘vallams’ and took 12 persons into custody.

A section of the Chennai-based media quickly identified the arrested persons as armed Sinhala men. The widely read Dinakaran, affiliated to the ruling DMK, on a front-page report declared that 12 fishermen were in custody. But the arrested consisted of six Sri Lankan Tamils and six Tamil Nadu fishermen. The six Sri Lankans were identified as Arul Gnanadasan (20), C. Robin (23), S. Selvakumar (19), M. Pannibose (28), D. Arul (19) and Ravi Kumar (24). Under interrogation, the Indians claimed that they had no option but to rescue the Sri Lankans stranded off Kanyakumari in a trawler named ‘Maria.’ The Indian Coast Guard seized the two ‘vallams’, about 14 nautical miles away from the ‘Maria’.

India ignored an SLN request for an opportunity to interrogate the arrested Sri Lankans, whom the Navy believed had been involved in the Kanyakumari massacre. The SLN strongly suspected that the six arrested Sri Lankan Tamils were LTTE cadres assigned for a special operation aimed at transferring armaments from the high seas to the Vanni, via Indian waters. The Coast Guard detection and subsequent revelations embarrassed the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister; though he pretended he wasn’t bothered at all (Indian Coast Guard seizes ‘Maria’, six Lankan Tamils-The Island April 16, 2007).

Although India arrested several LTTE cadres, during 2007, beginning with the apprehension of three persons, along with two Indians on February 13, 2007 off Kodiyakarai, the SLN was never given an opportunity to question them (Lanka wants access to ‘terror’ suspects in Tamil Nadu custody-The Island April 19, 2007).

In spite of the DMK’s attempts to whitewash the LTTE, the ‘Q’ branch of the Indian Criminal Investigation Department (CID), on April 27, 2007, accused the LTTE of carrying out the Kanyakumari massacre. The ‘Q’ branch asserted that the six Sri Lankans arrested in the company of Tamil Nadu, men on April 11, 2007, were members of special Sea Tiger squads deployed to ferry arms, ammunition and equipment from an LTTE ship on the high seas. According to a two-page note issued by the then Tamil Nadu Director General of Police, the group in Indian custody was among the units given this task. The arrested persons claimed that members of another Sea Tiger squad carried out the Kanyakumari massacre, whereas the SLN believed the group in custody was responsible. The police chief said that the boat involved in the March 29, 2007, attack also bore the inscription ‘Maria.’

The ‘Q’ branch made another extremely important revelation into clandestine LTTE operations. The investigation resulted in one of the most important findings made during 2007, thanks to a chance detection made by the tiny Maldivian Coast Guard, a couple of weeks later. Under interrogation, those Sea Tiger cadres, arrested on April 11, 2007, revealed that another squad had seized a large Indian fishing vessel, ‘Sri Krishna’, on March 4, 2007 close to the Indo – Lanka maritime boundary. The seized vessel’s crew comprised 12 men-10 from Kanyakumari and one each from Thoothukudi and Kerala. The arrested persons claimed that the Sea Tigers commandeered the vessel after having transferred the crew in an LTTE craft to the Vanni. The ‘Q’ branch made the revelation in the backdrop of some interested parties alleging that the SLN either seized or destroyed ‘Sri Krishna’ (LTTE massacred Indian fishermen, seized large vessel with 12 men with strap line Tamil Nadu probe reveals-The Island April 29, 2007).

LTTE Political Wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan accused the SLN of seizing Sri Krishna.

A humiliated Karunanidhi informed the State Assembly of the LTTE’s direct involvement in a spate of incidents. The DMK leader had no option but to acknowledge the LTTE’s complicity in attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen. However, the opposition AIADMK didn’t make a big issue about it. Then much to the surprise of all, the Centre intervened on behalf the LTTE. No less a person than the then Defence Minister, A.K. Anthony, reiterated the hotly disputed charge that the SLN was continuing attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen in the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar. Anthony was responding on May 9, 2007 to a query raised by C. Perumal in the Rajya Sabha.

Perumal was evidently acting at the behest of the LTTE lobby. Reporting a slight increase in such attacks, Minister Anthony accused the SLN of killing 77 Tamil Nadu fishermen between 1991 and 2007 period. India totally overlooked a spate of incidents as well as the findings made by the ‘Q’ branch.

Sri Lanka strongly denied Indian claims alleging complicity on the part of some Indian officials in the LTTE terror campaign (India shields Tigers despite compelling evidence of attacks on TN fishermen with strap line…overlooks Kanyakumari massacre, seizure of Sri Krishna with 12 men, castigates SLN in Rajya Sabha-The Island May 11, 2007).

What Tamil Nadu, as well as India, never expected was the Maldives intervening in the clandestine LTTE arms smuggling operation. That intervention was made by the Maldivian Coast Guard on May 16, 2007. The Maldivian Coast Guard engaged a vessel carrying the Sri Lankan flag after the latter fired at a Maldivian fishing craft. Following a 12-hour standoff, the Maldivians sank the craft flying the Sri Lankan flag. There had been some Indian naval personnel on-board the Maldivian craft at the time of the confrontation. The Indian presence ensured that their government knew what exactly happened in the Maldivian waters. The Maldivians rescued five persons who jumped overboard from the sinking vessel, subsequently identified as ‘Sri Krishna’. The rescued men told the Maldivians and their Indian instructors (The Indians were helping the Maldivian Coast Guard personnel to familiarize with CG vessel Huravee, gifted by New Delhi to Male) the circumstances under which they were found in Maldivian waters, while engaged in transferring armaments from a floating warehouse. Sri Krishna’s skipper, Simon Soza had been among the five rescued by the Maldivians. The Sea Tigers admitted that the remaining Indians (other members of ‘Sri Krsihna’ crew) were being held in a camp in the Vanni (Maldives sink Indian craft hijacked by Sea Tigers-The Island May 18, 2007).

The sinking of the ‘Sri Krishna’ was the second high profile incident involving an Indian trained terrorist group in Maldivian territory. The raid on Male during the first week of November, 1988 by sea borne PLOTE (People’s Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) terrorists at the behest of a Colombo-based Maldivian businessman, Abdulla Luthufee was the first. Interestingly, the Indian Navy sank MV Progress Light commandeered by Luthufee’s mercenaries in a bid to reach Sri Lankan waters. The writer had the opportunity to interview Luthufee, both at his residence and the home of the writer.

Had the SLN had an effective deployment in the seas off the northwestern coast, it could have thwarted an LTTE plan to shift the remaining crew of ‘Sri Krishna’ from the Vanni mainland to Tamil Nadu. The LTTE transferred altogether 11 Indians on May 18 and dropped them at two different locations. Had Soza died during the confrontations, the LTTE would have quietly killed the Indians to cover-up the Sri Krishna episode. The Maldives promptly responded to an SLN request to question those in their custody. Their interrogation helped SLN efforts to break the enemy sea supply route (LTTE frees Indians after losing ‘Sri Krishna’ with strap line SLN gains access to Sea Tigers in Maldivian custody-The Island, May 20, 2007).

Soon after the Maldivians had intercepted the ‘Sri Krishna’, the Norwegian embassy in Colombo sought information from the Maldivian High Commission in Colombo regarding the incident. The Norwegians probably got in touch with the Maldivians at the behest of the LTTE. However, by the time Norway got in touch with the diplomatic mission, the Maldivians had cleared SLN intelligence to interrogate those in their custody (Foreign embassy tried to help LTTE arms vessel escape with strap line Sinking of ‘Sri Krishna’ by the Maldivian Coast Guard-The Island May 26, 2007).

Sri Lanka needs to examine the wider picture when probing the conduct of the Switzerland Embassy in Colombo.

(To be continued on Dec 18)

By Tamara Kunanayakam,
former Ambassador/ Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the U.N. at Geneva

December 11, 2019, 6:06 pm

“If you know the enemy and know yourself,you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” Sun Tzu, The Art War, 5th Century BC

The recent dramatic events involving the Swiss Embassy came as a surprise to most Sri Lankans. Just as the large majority was looking ahead to a new era with a President they had just elected, a non politician with a simple lifestyle, yet determined, who they believed would be capable of returning to their lives, a sense of security, peace, economic development, the shot came from a quarter they least expected. From a small country in the Alps known for its neutrality, chocolate, cheese and snow capped mountains.

The context

To understand events and their significance, all things must be placed in their context. On 16 November, CID Inspector Nishantha Silva decamped without official permission to Switzerland and obtained asylum in that country. Only a week before, the Yahapalana regime, installed and virtually administered by the US in particular, was badly defeated. The new President Gotabaya Rajapaksa received a clear mandate never to allow anyone to infringe upon the nation’s sovereignty or betray the country’s independence at the behest of any foreign power, to strengthen the domestic economy, and reject the infamous US-led Human Rights Council resolution 30/1 co-sponsored by the Yahapalana government.

The months preceding his election had seen widespread opposition and public anger against secret defense agreements negotiated or signed with the United States – MCC, ACSA and SOFA – that implied a surrender of sovereignty and military occupation of the entire island, the loss of land and strategic resources, privatisation of public services and institutions, a mass displacement of population, the entanglement of Sri Lanka in wars with friendly nations in the region, and the threat to peace and security.

‘Exfiltration’ of Chief Inspector Nishantha de Silva

Inspector Nishantha Silva is not a ‘Mr Nobody’. He was Head of the CID’s Organized Crimes Investigation Division tasked by the previous pro-Western Yahapalana regime to produce evidence, real or fabricated, against targeted political opponents and the armed forces for use in high profile criminal cases of particular interest to the West. Significantly, Silva was charged with investigations within the framework of the infamous US-led Human Rights Council resolution 30/1, with external actors directly involved, the purpose being to prepare case files for use in war crimes proceedings controlled by the US and its allies. His was the work begun by the Darusman Panel and continued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The entire exercise was part of the US efforts to militarily occupy the island nation, strategically located in the Indian Ocean, to advance its hegemonic agenda for a “Free and Open Indo Pacific” (FOIP), a sinister security system bringing together two distinct regions and Oceans in a “a networked security architecture” under US leadership “to fight and win” a war against China.

IP Silva was obviously decamping to escape justice in Sri Lanka hounded by allegations (and exposure) of fabricating evidence, false arrests, and forcing people to turn state witness to implicate Gotabaya Rajapaksa in particular. In a high profile case in which officers of the Sri Lankan Navy were accused of involvement in the disappearance of 11 persons, a case highlighted in the 2019 OHCHR report, the key prosecution witness made a special statement to the Colombo Fort Magistrate implicating IP Silva and another key witness for fabricating evidence.

The expeditious manner in which the Swiss authorities facilitated his surreptitious evacuation together with his entire family and the important means placed at his disposal – overnight visas issued on a weekend and asylum in Switzerland – smells of an exfiltration operation triggered by the massive electoral defeat of a pro-Western regime and the West’s need to protect “an asset in place,” a vital source of intelligence. The operation permitted Switzerland and Western allies, which have systematically been part of initiatives against Sri Lanka at the Human Rights Council, to gain control over highly sensitive, confidential and strategic information, including statements, records, personal files and finger prints of 1,500 intelligence officers.

The exfiltration must have been planned and organised in advance. Silva was not off on a skiing holiday in the Alps, he would not be returning to face disciplinary action for leaving the country without prior approval, a police inquiry on the manner he conducted investigations, court proceedings, possible imprisonment, and now, theft of highly sensitive and strategic information and its likely transfer to foreign governments for hostile intent.

‘War crimes’ proceedings in national courts?

It is likely the files thus exfiltrated are for use against Sri Lanka at the March sessions of the Human Rights Council. They may also be used, along with similarly questionable ‘evidence’ gathered by the Darusman Panel and OHCHR, in “war crimes” proceedings in national courts of one or more Western countries under the controversial universal jurisdiction doctrine whereby courts in one country may judge certain crimes committed outside its territory, regardless of the nationality or country of residence of the accused or the victim. Such use of national courts is on the rise with ad hoc international criminal tribunals and hybrid courts in discredit. National courts may be the West’s next best option for Sri Lanka, in view of its failure to impose hybrid courts on the country.

Switzerland is among the some 15 countries (including the US, UK, Canada, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Australia, and Israel) that have conducted investigations, initiated prosecutions and held trials based on universal jurisdiction or arrested and extradited persons to a third country for prosecution.

Intelligence-for-Evacuation swap

It may be assumed that the extraordinary speed in which the Swiss authorities evacuated IP Silva was in exchange for intelligence in his possession. Espionage may be defined as “the process of stealing information for a hostile intent from opponents, concerning strategic and national security issues, and other information considered confidential and of vital importance for a state”. It necessarily implies organisation, institutionalisation and leadership by an opponent government to achieve among other things, military or political objectives.

The Swiss intervention constitutes a violation of Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and the principle of non intervention laid down in the UN Charter, essential conditions for ensuring and developing friendly relations. The 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which sets the rules for facilitating the development of friendly relations, and the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, stipulate that reporting by diplomatic missions must be in conformity with international law, which prohibits interference in the national affairs of the receiving state and requires that the rule concerning exhaustion of remedies in local courts is in no way affected.

The result has been a significant deterioration in the relations between the countries, incompatible with purposes of the United Nations, in particular that relating to developing “friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples”.

Swiss allegations of abduction of local embassy employee – a tall story grown taller

Swiss accusations of ‘abduction/detention’ of a local embassy employee, a Sri Lankan citizen, followed hot on the heels of their exfiltration of CI Silva only the day before.

What we have is a convoluted version from the Swiss authorities without facts or evidence, a tall story that has grown ever taller and more complicated in the telling resulting in generalised disbelief in the incident actually occurring. How credible is it, for instance, that the mobile phone of a local employee contained highly confidential information of strategic importance to Switzerland, more important than that stolen by IP Silva?

It is apparent that the Swiss authorities were in contact with the alleged victim throughout, with the Ambassador speaking to the authorities on her behalf. In all likelihood, she was kept on Embassy premises with no justification provided for holding a Sri Lankan citizen, a local employee not entitled to diplomatic immunity, incommunicado for two weeks.

Having demanded an investigation into the incident and claimed that the alleged victim’s health had so deteriorated warranting airlifting to Switzerland by air ambulance, the Embassy refused to accede to Sri Lanka’s requests to allow the alleged victim to make a complaint so that investigations may be conducted, denying access to a Sri Lankan citizen, even withholding her name. By its failure to cooperate with the host state, the Swiss authorities have obstructed the course of justice and Sri Lanka’s ability to fulfill its obligations. The re-appearance of the local employee on Monday, 9 Dec. cannot be attributed to any cooperation by the Swiss Embassy, but to a Court order preventing her from leaving the country until that date and requiring that she give a statement before then.

By refusing to cooperate with the authorities of the host State, the Swiss Embassy acted in a manner incompatible with the UN Charter-based duty to cooperate. The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations stipulates that In carrying out the functions of the mission, diplomats from sending states are duty bound to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving state, the duty not to interfere in internal affairs, the duty not to misuse diplomatic premises for wrongful purpose, i.e, for purposes that are incompatible with the functions of the mission, and the duty not to affect in any way the rule concerning the exhaustion of remedies in the local courts, when applicable.

The only tangible facts available are those relating to the CID Inspector Nishantha Silva. The context and timing of the accusation of alleged ‘abduction / detention’ may serve multiple purposes, which, in the writer’s view, include :

(a) to discredit the newly elected President Gotabaya Rajapaksa against whom the Western media had already orchestrated a massive campaign based on prejudice and lies ;

(b) to add the case of alleged abduction to the documentation being gathered by OHCHR for use in a war crimes tribunal as evidence of intimidation by the new President and his Government. The OHCHR website has published the statements by the Swiss authorities, but none issued by Sri Lanka. The only other news item in this respect is a news report by the website Sri Lanka Brief, which links the alleged ‘abduction’ to IP Nishantha de Silva;

(c) as ‘fake target’ to coverup the ‘Silva exfiltration affair’ and turn the tables on Sri Lanka so that the ‘accused’ becomes Sri Lanka, not Switzerland;

(d) as a lure to send the new Government off on a wild goose chase allowing the West the time and space to prepare the offensive in Geneva, in March 2020; and,

(e) to keep the public entertained as the all but forgotten agreements with the US – MCC, SOFA, and ACSA – resurface from their temporary retreat.

Swiss– Sri Lanka relations, how friendly?

Contrary to widespread belief, Switzerland is not a neutral country, consistently siding with the US and the European Union in conflicts between the West and Global South.

In the United Nations, It forms part of the Western regional group and associates itself routinely with the US and European Union in sponsoring politically motivated resolutions, including against Sri Lanka. It was among the 17 mostly Western countries, including the US, that requested holding of the 2009 Special Session on Sri Lanka, which was announced on 19 May 2009, the final day of the war against the terrorist LTTE organisation. Other landmark resolutions it has co-sponsored that have gradually increased external interference in Sri Lanka, include the April 2013 resolution that for the first time requested an external entity, OHCHR, to submit a “comprehensive report” on Sri Lanka; the March 2014 resolution that authorised international monitoring and international investigations, also in the form of OHCHR, which extended their scope beyond human rights to “related crimes”; and the March 2015 resolution 30/1 that called for a hybrid court and comprehensive reform of the State, its laws and institutions.

Switzerland does not consider LTTE a criminal organisation, its members are permitted to freely conduct political and fundraising activities. Their involvement in money laundering is public knowledge, as is their practice of intimidation, extortion, blackmail, and physical violence against other Tamils. According to the Swiss Attorney General’s Office, nearly 60 million Swiss Francs were remitted to Sri Lanka between 1999 and May 2009. Recently, on 3 December, the Federal Supreme Court acquitted 12 persons accused of either belonging to a criminal organization, the LTTE, or of providing funds. The Court ruled that the Swiss Penal Code was not designed for organizations that committed terrorist acts in which the terror was not an end in itself, but pursued predominantly different goals. Recognising that LTTE had committed terrorist attacks, it held that its primary goal was rather to lead a conventional armed struggle, the quasi-state administration of territory and recognition of the independence of its ethnic community.

Swiss mainstream media, which has a broad European readership in German, French and Italian-speaking countries, has also consistently supported the LTTE’s separatist agenda. The candidacy of Gotabaya Rajapaksa for Presidency and his subsequent election saw an escalation of falsification ad infinitum of the conditions prevailing during the last phase of the war and accusations of war crimes.

Friendly relations and sovereign equality

A principal purpose of the United Nations is “to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples”. The Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States, further defines the principles upon which international relations must be based. The rules for diplomatic relations that would contribute to the development of friendly relations among nations are laid down in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

In both the exfiltration affair and the alleged “abduction/detention affair, the actions of the Swiss authorities and its diplomatic mission in Colombo constitute infringements of Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and the related non intervention principle, which is an essential condition for ensuring and developing friendly relations between nations.

Damage, self-inflicted

In the opinion of this writer, the Foreign Ministry has yet to respond to the attacks on sovereignty, in spite of international law being on its side. For the present at least, Switzerland seems to have won the day, having successfully maneuvered Sri Lanka’s attention away from its own extremely unfriendly act, which will have grave consequences for the country’s future stability, security and development.

By singularly focusing on the alleged ‘abduction/detention’ affair, the Foreign Ministry has let itself be diverted from the CI Silva’s exfiltration, the gravity of which is incomparable with the alleged abduction of a minor employee to obtain information stored on her mobile phone. Espionage is an act that affects the fundamental interests of the State. And yet, according to sources referred to in a recent article in The Island by Shamindra Ferdinando, “Sri Lanka hadn’t so far raised the issue of the police officer being given refuge in Switzerland”. Sources had also suggested that raising it had been “pre-empted” by the Swiss accusation of abduction of a local employee (The Island, 28.11.2019)

Why was this conscious decision taken not to pursue the damaging case of possible espionage and exfiltration? Why did the Foreign Ministry fail to protest Swiss intervention in the country’s internal affairs and its refusal to cooperate? These deeply unfriendly acts are clearly incompatible with the principle of sovereignty and the related principles of sovereign equality of states and non-intervention, which are non-derogable peremptory norms of general international law that form the basis of the United Nations Charter, as they do the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961), and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (1963).

The damage has also been done. OHCHR has already published on its website the Swiss version of the “abduction/detention” allegation, with the obvious intention of adding the ‘case’ to its “war crimes” documentation for use in future proceedings outside Sri Lanka. Statements by Sri Lankan authorities are not reflected on the website. Western media with its global antennas have gone to town on the alleged “abduction/detention” they attribute to the “return of the Rajapaksa brothers,” taking care not to leave out a reference to so-called “war crimes”. It is seldom that a foreign media carries a correction, or, if it does, it will be so that nobody notices or cares!

Now, for all intents and purposes, Sri Lanka finds itself cornered and trapped on terrain chosen by the opponent, literally on Swiss territory, on the defensive, fighting windmills and running in circles even as the battle front is being readied elsewhere and the US self-defense ‘agreements,’ MCC, SOFA, and ACSA, lurk in the shadows.

Turning the tables on Sri Lanka

Had there been an understanding of the opponent, events could have been anticipated and speedy and effective action taken on the CI Silva exfiltration affair, in which Switzerland stood on weaker ground, possibly preempting the alleged “abduction” or limiting the damage caused. The failure to do so allowed the Swiss authorities to turn the tables on Sri Lanka, thus becoming the accused instead of the accuser. The upshot was a defensive statement made on 28 Nov. by the Foreign Ministry reaffirming “unequivocally its commitment to give effect to the obligations undertaken as a State Party to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961), to facilitate the smooth functioning of diplomatic missions in Sri Lanka”.

It is anybody’s guess why the Foreign Ministry thought it necessary to make such a statement when Sri Lanka had not failed in fulfilling any of its obligations as a receiving State, which, under the Vienna Convention, include not violating mission premises, protecting diplomats and their families from any form of arrest or detention, protecting all forms of diplomatic communication, exempting from taxation, and providing immunity from civil and administrative jurisdiction.

There is no indication either that Sri Lanka had failed to facilitate the “smooth functioning” of the Swiss mission, whose functions are to : (a) represent Switzerland; (b) protect its interests and its nationals “within the limits permitted by international law”; (c) negotiate with the Government of Sri Lanka; (d) ascertain “by all lawful means” conditions and developments in Sri Lanka, and report thereon to its Government; and (e) promote friendly relations between the two states and develop their economic, cultural and scientific relations.

If Sri Lanka had not failed in its obligations vis-a-vis the Swiss Embassy or in the duty to facilitate its smooth functioning, why then did Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry consider it necessary to reassure the Swiss authorities of its “unequivocal ” commitment?

Sri Lanka has the right to demand respect. As such, it’s foreign policy must be based on respect for international law and multilateralism, ensuring that its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity are fully respected at all times and the principles of sovereign equality, non intervention and non interference fully complied with.

It is the duty of all States to develop friendly relations with others, irrespective of their political, economic and social systems or the levels of their development, in a manner that conforms with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

Beware of MCC, SOFA, and ACSA!

It is to be hoped that Sri Lanka will not adopt an ‘Ostrich Foreign Policy’ hoping that its troubles will go away! ‘War crimes tribunals’ are a real threat, but they are only the means to achieving the strategic ends of the country imposing it, necessarily a Western country. In the case of Sri Lanka, it is no secret that it is the US that has been leading the Human Rights Council resolutions, directly or indirectly through its Western allies. The end it seeks is also known. It is an end that will embroil Sri Lanka in America’s “lethal” wars for “self-preservation,” fighting friendly nations in its own neighbourhood, causing death and destruction.

Sri Lanka, ‘Beware of MCC, SOFA, and ACSA’!

By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy Island

December 11, 2019, 8:24 pm

The government would soon decide on a future course of action in respect of controversial Inspector Nishantha Silva taking refuge in Switzerland.

Authoritative sources told The Island that the alleged abduction of a local employee of the Swiss Embassy in Colombo close on the heels of Silva, his wife and three children leaving the country on Nov 24 had distracted the government.

Silva was attached to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and entrusted with handling several high profile cases, including a spate of abductions, blamed on the Navy.

Sources said that Sri Lanka was now in a position to raise the police officer’s matter following investigations into the abduction of Senior Migration Officer (SMO) Garnier Banister Francis (formerly named Sriyalatha Perera).

The final decision could be delayed due to the complexity of the case, a senior government official said.

Well informed sources said that disciplinary action could be initiated against Inspector Silva as he had left the country in violation of the Establishment Code.

The Swiss Embassy, in a brief statement, issued on November 29, 2019, denied having received a request from the Sri Lankan government for the extradition of IP Silva attached to the CID.

The CID has questioned the embassy employee for nearly 20 hours since last Sunday, (08).

Swiss Ambassador Hanspeter Mock was rushed to Bern for urgent consultations. Foreign Ministry consulted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was in New Delhi regarding the Swiss move to deploy an air ambulance for the embassy employee’s transfer. The government took up strong position that the accuser couldn’t be allowed to leave the country without following immigration formalities.

The case will be taken up today (Dec 12) before the Fort Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne.

Well informed sources said that the embassy employee had made statements that contradicted Swiss Ambassador Mock’s complaint as well as the subsequent written complaint to the police on Nov 27 and Nov 29, respectively.

Minister Mahinda Amaraweera told The Island yesterday that the incident involving local employee of Swiss had been discussed at the Cabinet meeting chaired by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Tuesday, at the Presidential Secretariat. The minister said they were of the view that interested parties had staged what he called abduction drama to cover up Nishantha Silva’s episode and also embarrass the new government.

By Prof. Gamini Keerawella, Ph.D. Executive Director Regional Centre for Strategic Studies, Colombo- Courtesy Island

The rapid economic growth witnessed by China and India and the acquisition of near blue-water naval capabilities along with other power projection competence by these powers has ushered a new politico-strategic environment in the Indian Ocean.

Consequent to the economic and politico-strategic resurgence of Asia along with other changes in international politics, the center of gravity in global politics in the new millennium is gradually moving towards Asia. It is now estimated that Asia will surpass North America and Europe combined in global power based on GDP, population size, military spending and technological investment by 2030. According to the World Bank, South Asia solidified its lead as the fastest growing region in the world in 2016. WTO rated China the second largest merchandise trader in the world in 2016. Accordingly, China has risen to the second largest economy in the world, surpassing Japan in the new century. Today, China lays claim to the second largest navy in the world.

The shifting of the center of gravity in global politics from the West to Asia has made the Indian Ocean a pivotal global geo-strategic space in global politics. The uninterrupted flow of hydrocarbon energy resource from the Persian Gulf is vital for the continued breathing of the global economy. The Indian Ocean has become the principal conveyor belt for the international coal trade where China and India are now the top two importers and South Africa, Indonesia, and Australia together account for more than half the world’s exports of thermal coal. The Indian Ocean ports handle about 30 percent of global trade. Nearly 40 percent of the world’s offshore petroleum is produced in the Indian Ocean and two-thirds of global seaborne oil trade transits the Indian Ocean, rounding South Asia. As a result, South Asia’s position in the global order has also changed. South Asian advances in the knowledge industry linked with the IT revolution are also very impressive today. The impact of the lead in ‘colonizing the cyberspace’ by South Asia is reverberated in the Silicon Valley too. South Asian brainpower is a critical factor in the Western corporate world.

The geo-strategic importance of South Asia is further enhanced by the ascendancy of India. With a population of over a billion and an impressive growth rate above the world average, India has become an aspiring global power. India is the third largest oil importer, after USA and China. In the last two decades, India has taken impressive strides in the area of knowledge industry and R&D. India is ranked fourth in the Global Fire Power (GFP) ranking, based on each nation’s potential for conventional war-making capabilities across land, sea and air1. Today, India’s military is the third largest and its air force the fourth largest with 1,080 combat aircrafts. The Indian Ocean is critically important to the economic and politico-strategic interests and calculations of the two emerging Asian giants: India and China.

The changing strategic contours in the post-Cold War Indian Ocean were mirrored in the new foreign policy approaches and perspectives of India. In this regard two developments are to be noted. The first is the ‘Look East’ policy. The Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao first announced it in 1991 and the subsequent governments of Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1998-2004) and Manmohan Singh (2004-2014) made it a key foreign policy direction. The focus of the Look East policy was to strengthen economic and strategic relations with the South East Asian Countries. In 1992, India became a ‘Sectoral Dialogue Partner’ of ASEAN. After protracted negotiations, the ASEAN–India Free Trade Area (AIFTA) came into effect in 2010. At the same time, India endeavored to develop its cooperation with Asian regional groupings, such as the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). In order to promote Look East policy further, Prime Minister Narendra Modi changed it to ‘Act East’ policy. The ‘Look East Act East’ policy is a clear manifestation of India’s changed foreign policy priorities.

The second is the new strategic partnership with the United States. The close strategic relationship with the Soviet Union was a key pillar of the Indian foreign policy since 1971. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, however, India changed its strategic gear that paved the way for growing strategic convergence between India and the United States. Heralding a new era in U.S.-India relations, the ‘Agreed Minutes on Defence Relations Between the United States and India’ was signed in 1995. Since then, the U.S.-India strategic partnership has strengthened significantly. In 2015, ‘Agreed Minutes on Defence Relations’ was renewed and upgraded as ‘Framework for the U.S.-India Defence Relationship’ to achieve greater interaction and cooperation between the armed forces. A further step in that direction was taken in 2018 by signing the COMCASA (Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement) to facilitate interoperability between the two militaries and sale of high-end technology. It paved the way for the establishment of the U.S.-India 2+2 Ministerial dialogue in September 2018. Accordingly, the security relationship with the United States gained real substance under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In the changing geo-politics and geo-strategic conditions in Asia and in the Indian Ocean, the United States also placed unprecedented weight on Asia in its foreign policy in the new millennium. It is reflected in ‘Pivot Asia’ strategy, which President Barack Obama first outlined in his address to the Australian Parliament on 17 November 2011. In the light of growing prosperity in Asia, the ‘Pivot Asia’ strategy aimed to (i), strengthen US bilateral security alliances in Asia, (ii), intensify working relationships with regional states and the US, and (iii) boost regional trade and investment.

The change of terminology from the ‘Indian Ocean’ to the ‘Indo-Pacific Region’ underlies evolving defence and strategic praxis on the part of some key actors of the region.

Walter C Lodwig III employed the term ‘Neo-Nixon Doctrine’ to analyze this foreign policy demarche which was aimed at calibrating U.S. interests and regional commitment by counting on major democratic powers in the Indian Ocean in the context of the relative decline of US power in the emerging multi-polar world1. In 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton remarked,

“The Asia-Pacific has become a key driver of global politics. Stretching from the Indian subcontinent to the western shores of the Americas, the region spans two oceans — the Pacific and the Indian — that are increasingly linked by shipping and strategy.… Harnessing Asia’s growth and dynamism is central to American economic and strategic interests and a key priority for President Obama. Open markets in Asia provide the United States with unprecedented opportunities for investment, trade, and access to cutting-edge technology. Our economic recovery at home will depend on exports and the ability of American firms to tap into the vast and growing consumer base of Asia.”1

The term ‘Indo-Pacific Region’ gained rapid strategic currency first in US strategic thinking and subsequently, in strategic discourse in Japan, Australia and India this context.

From the Indian Ocean to the Indo-Pacific Region

The change of terminology from the ‘Indian Ocean’ to the ‘Indo-Pacific Region’ underlies evolving defence and strategic praxis on the part of some key actors of the region. Traditionally, the Pacific and Indian Oceans were seen as largely separate strategic spheres. For the Indo-Pacific construct, the Indian and the Pacific Oceans constitute a single and interdependent strategic and economic space. Before ‘Indo-Pacific’ entered the geo-political and geostrategic discourse, the term ‘Asia Pacific’ has been used since the late 1980s to identify a zone of emerging markets that have been experiencing rapid economic growth. Though the two terms sound similar, they are somewhat different. The term Asia Pacific gained currency especially after the establishment of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in 1989. As India is not considered a part of the region of Asia-Pacific, India is not included in APEC. The ‘Asia-Pacific’ is more of an economic conception, rather than a security related notion.

In contrast, the Indo-Pacific combines broadly the Indian and the Pacific Oceans and the landmass that surround them into a single integrated theatre. As it is still an evolving concept, its exact parameters are not yet precisely defined1. It encompasses both economic as well as geo-political and geo-strategic domains. The Indo-Pacific is primarily a maritime space and its focus was mainly on maritime security and cooperation. The new urge for maritime security and cooperation in Indo-Pacific relates to evolving geo-politics and geo-strategies. In short, the construct of Indo-Pacific manifests the shift in global power and influence from the West to the East.

The United States, India, Australia, and Japan are in the forefront in promoting the concept of Indo-Pacific region. The initiative of ‘strategic rebalancing’ to the Asia-Pacific by the Obama administration reflected the shift. Its declared objective was to promote rules-based political, economic and security regimes for Asia. The United States joined the regional East Asia Summit (EAS) grouping, concluded agreements with Australia and the Philippines to allow U.S. troop rotations, and pledged to shift U.S. naval posture to give greater weight to the Asia-Pacific. In 2016, the Obama administration initiated the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which the Trump administration abandoned later. Instead, President Donald Trump called for a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” (FOIP) at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Vietnam in November 2017. Though the free and open Indo-Pacific concept echoes many elements of previous administrations’ policies, it still remains amorphous. Nevertheless, the term Indo-Pacific becomes the buzzword in US policy in Asia. According to the Indo-Pacific Strategy Report, published by the US Department of Defence in June 2019,

“The Indo-Pacific is the single most consequential region for America’s future. Spanning a vast stretch of the globe from the West coast of the United States to the Western shores of India. The region is home to the world’s most populous state, most populous democracy, and largest Muslim majority state, and includes over half of earth’s population. Among the ten largest standing armies in the world, 7 resides in the Indo-Pacific; and 6 countries in the region possess nuclear weapons”1.

The Report further stated, “The United States is a Pacific nation. Our ties to the Indo-Pacific are forged by history, and our future is inextricably linked…. The past, present, and future of the United States are interwoven with the Indo-pacific”1. Australia has been pushing the Indo-Pacific concept since the Australian Prime Minister aired it in New Delhi in 2008. The concept of Indo-Pacific is the frame of both the 2016 Defence White Paper and the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper of Australia. In August 2016, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced the ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy’ at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development held in Kenya. It has now become the official policy of Japan. In June 2019, Japan outlined three pillars of Japan’s effort to realize free and open Indo-Pacific: promotion and establishment of the Rule of Law, freedom of trade, freedom of navigation etc.; pursuit of economic prosperity; and commitment for peace and stability1. During its annual Summit, ASEAN released a joint statement in June 2019 called ‘Asian Outlook on Indo-Pacific’, defining Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean regions as a single interconnected region. As Nazia Hussain observed, “the Asian Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) is an initial step towards formally incorporating ASEAN Centrality in the evolving Indo-Pacific concept. The AOIP has been much anticipated as different powers assert their conceptions of the Indo-Pacific region in which ASEAN claims a key role”1.

Why does the US pursue vigorously the concept of Indo-Pacific? It is an attempt to calibrate its geo-economic, geo-political and geo-strategic interests in the changing global context. First of all, America wanted to be an integral part of ‘the arc of prosperity’. When the Indian and the Pacific Oceans are integrated into a single strategic theatre, the United States will become an in-side power. Before that, the United States is considered an extra-regional power in the Indian Ocean. To cite an example, in the Indian Ocean Peace Zone deliberations at the UN IOPZ Ad Hoc Committee in the 1970s, the US was considered an extra-regional state. In Indo-Pacific, the United States is inside the region that would bestow an added rationale for it to maintain bases in the Indian Ocean region. More importantly, US view the concept as a geo-strategic advice that can be used to checkmate and balance China by mobilizing ‘democracies’- India, Australia and Japan- in a critical geo-political theatre.

India also found promise in the new construct of Indo-Pacific to further its economic and strategic interests. Hence, the Indian political leaders and the strategic community have been pushing the construct of Indo-Pacific assiduously since 2010. The Indo-pacific concept offers an ideological rationale for India’s ‘Look East Act East’ policy. The concept Indo-Pacific region offers India with a wider area of strategic maneuverability beyond the Indian Ocean as an emerging global power. The Indian policy makers and strategic community are happy with the term Indo-Pacific as it inadequately serves India’s changing geo-strategic interests. They view “Indo-Pacific” construct as a space for closer partnership with the East Asian market economies. While maintaining trade links with China, India seeks to develop a credible strategic deterrence against China through strategic partnership with democracies in the Indo-pacific. The emerging strategic alliances between India, US, Australia and Japan in the Indo-Pacific enhance India’s political and strategic standing, regionally and globally.

In order to examine the political and strategic implications of India’s strategic flying eastward for South Asia in the emerging geo-political framework of Indo-Pacific Region, first of all, it is necessary to define South Asia. What is really meant by ‘South Asia’? The term South Asia bags different notions, depending on the context of its use and the underlying stake of its construction. The term has been presented as a civilizational entity, a geographical description and also as a political idea. The geo-political construct of South Asia is basically a political idea. Geo-politically what is South Asia? Is it the region as a unit or the countries in the region or both? It should be noted that South Asia is one of the least integrated regions in the world. The intra-regional trade in South Asia accounts for only 5% of its total trade, manifesting a low degree of regional economic bonding1. As a geopolitical construct, South Asia is something more than India. But, the conspicuous feature of South Asia is the central and asymmetrical presence of India in South Asia. India’s centrality in South Asia is geo-political. None of the South Asian countries interact with another without touching or crossing Indian land, sea or air space. India’s preponderance over all others in South Asia based on its size, power, resources and development is also an undeniable reality.

With the identification of India in Indo-Pacific space along with new strategic partnerships, its position in the global constellation of power has gone up. India’s place in the global diplomatic high table is well secured. It is pertinent to quote what Rex Tillerson said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC in October 2017 about India after assuming the post of US Secretary of State:

“The United States and India are increasingly global partners, with growing strategic convergence. Indians and Americans don’t just share an affinity for democracy: we share a vision of the future. ….In this period of uncertainty and somewhat angst, India needs a reliable partner on the world stage. I want to make clear, with our shared values and vision for global stability, peace and prosperity, the United States is that that partner”1.

Raising of the international standing of India does not mean that South Asia’s position is also equally enhanced. South Asia has been one of the most conflict-ridden regions in the world. India and Pakistan was born in an environment of conflict and continue to remain so even after 70 years, getting locked into multiple levels of conflict and rival foreign policy approaches. The relationship between India and its other neighbors constantly fluctuates in an environment of mutual fear and suspicion. One of the key questions that arises in the context is whether India can move forward in the Indo-Pacific framework by leaving out the South Asian geo-strategic baggage. It will take some time for India to bring hegemonic stability to the South Asian region with its enhanced power posture. Barry Buzan captures this situation lucidly:

“There is no change in the general pattern of amity and enmity. The two biggest powers in the region, India and Pakistan, remain at each other’s throat. The law level war between Indian and Pakistani intelligence services continues, expressed in accusations, and probable realities, of mutual interference of each other’s domestic politics, including sponsoring insurgency and terrorism. The nuclear rivalry between India and Pakistan is ongoing, as is the cycle of apparently warning diplomacy and return to confrontation that produce no basic change”.

What would be the strategic reverberations of the emergence of Indo-Pacific construct as far as other smaller states in South Asia including Sri Lanka are concerned? When South Asia is repositioned in the new strategic map of Indo-Pacific, it is no longer the center as in the case of the Indian Ocean. In the Indo-Pacific strategic construct, Southeast Asia becomes the center of the strategic theatre as South Asia is drifted westward on the map. It appears at a glance that the strategic significance of small states in South Asia is somewhat scaled down in the larger Indo-Pacific region. However, it must be emphasized that the conjuring up of the construct of Indo-Pacific by no means reduced the geo-political and geo-strategic significance of the Indian Ocean. It is expected that small States in the South Asia would benefit from growth dynamics of Southeast Asia and East Asia through Indo-Pacific construct. However, it also depends on how these countries leverage their linkages in the new strategic space to induce the growth centers in Indo-Pacific to transfer cutting-edge technology through investment and expand their market opportunities in Indo Pacific. The success of this drive is also conditional on a number of political and economic variables and it could have been achieved in the Indian Ocean framework also.

The spectacular rise of China offers both economic opportunities as well as vulnerabilities to the countries in the Indian Ocean littoral, including South Asia. China should be sensitive to these vulnerabilities aired in political discourses in South Asian countries. In the context of new strategic competition, if not rivalry, between the United States and China, these concerns are utilized by US to wean South Asian countries off from China. The ‘Indo-Pacific Strategy Report’ of 2018, published by US Department of Defence addresses this concern:

“While investment often brings benefits for recipient countries, including the United States, some of the China’s investments result in negative economic effects or costs to host country sovereignty. Chinese investment and project financing that bypass regular market mechanisms results in lower standards and reduced opportunities for local companies and workers, and can result in significant debt accumulation. One-sided and opaque deals are inconsistent with the principles of a free and open Indo-Pacific, and are causing concern in the region”1.

The defining factor of the geo-strategic conditions of the Indo-pacific region would be complex relations between India and China. The rapid pace of the rise of China and its more proactive foreign policy created a ‘security dilemma’ for both India and the United States. Hence, there is a strategic convergence between India and US in checkmating China. The United States finds India’s enhanced position useful to marginalize China in global politics and in the strategy of checkmating China in critically important Indo-Pacific with strategic alliance with Japan and Australia. It should not be forgotten that, as has been illustrated in many occasions, India always wants to keep its options open even though it strategically walks with the United States and its allies. India does not want to jeopardize its growing trade and other economic relations with China by playing overtly in the hands of the anti-Chinese forces. Even in the context of close Indo-Soviet strategic alliance in the 1970s, India’s did not endorse the Asian Collective Security Plan proposed by the Soviet Union, despite the earnest call made by Leonid Brezhnev in his speech before the Indian Parliament in November 1973. In 2018, India concluded a deal with Russia to purchase S-400 Air Defense System, ignoring US warning.1 Further, India’s readiness to ink the ‘Agreement on Reciprocal Logistical Support (ARLS) with the Russia in September 2019 reveals India’s eagerness to keep its options wide open.

Open and free Indo-Pacific region, if it is presented without covert geo-political ‘baggage’, would benefit all the stakeholders. It could be the point of convergence for a common action plan. In this context, as Robert D, Kaplan emphasized, the United States, as the established blue-water global power in the Indian and Pacific oceans, needs to redefine its role to suit the changed geo-strategic conditions, counting more on its soft power potential, rather than on the military power, to maintain its preponderance. According to Kaplan,

“For the first time since the Portuguese onslaught in the region in the early 16th century, West’s power there is in decline, however subtly and relatively. The Indians and the Chinese will enter into a dynamic great-power rivalry in these waters, with their shared economic interests as major trading partners locking them in an uncomfortable embrace. The United States, meanwhile, will serve as a stabilizing power in this newly complex area. Indispensability, rather than dominance, must be its goal”1

When the Indo-Pacific construct is perceived from an economic perspective, it is not an exclusive concept. By making an Indo-Pacific power, rather than remain as an Asia-Pacific power, the Indo-Pacific concept would provide China with a logistical rationale to pursue its geopolitical strategy linked with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the main foreign policy endeavor of China at present. However, China bears some reservations on the concept because of the way in which the concept has been projected. The fact that China is a critical geo-political and geo-strategic player in the Indo-Pacific region should not be forgotten. The integration of China and synergizing its economic strength with the rest of the economies in the Indo-Pacific to ensure and sustain ‘Asian prosperity’ in the new millennium is critically important for regional and global peace and stability. Furthermore, the Indo-Pacific construct can be viewed as a step towards the new phase of globalization propelled by the 4th industrial revolution. As far as interests of the small states in South Asia are concerned, the Indo-pacific Region should not be a theatre of a ‘New Cold War’ between China and the United States.

Courtesy THE MYANMAR TIMES

Thank you, Mr President and Members of the Court. It is an honour to appear as Agent of the Union of the Republic of Myanmar in these proceedings, in my capacity as Union Minister of Foreign Affairs. For materially less resourceful countries like Myanmar, the World Court is a vital refuge of international justice. We look to the Court to establish conditions conducive to respect for obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law, one of the fundamental objectives of the United Nations Charter.

In the present case, Mr President, the Court has been asked to apply the 1948 Genocide Convention, one of the most fundamental multilateral treaties of our time. Invoking the 1948 Genocide Convention is a matter of utmost gravity. This is the treaty that we made following the systematic killing of more than six million European Jews, and that my country wholeheartedly signed as early as December 30, 1949 and ratified on March 14, 1956. Genocide is the crime that the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda applied in response to the mass-killing of perhaps 70 percent of the Tutsis in Rwanda. It is the crime that was not applied by the Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to the displacement of approximately one million residents of Kosovo in 1999. Neither was it applied by that Tribunal nor by this Court when deciding upon the exodus of the Serb population from Croatia in 1995. In both situations international justice resisted the temptation to use this strongest of legal classifications because the requisite specific intent to physically destroy the targeted group in whole or in part was not present.

Regrettably, The Gambia has placed before the Court an incomplete and misleading factual picture of the situation in Rakhine State in Myanmar. Yet, it is of the utmost importance that the Court assess the situation obtaining on the ground in Rakhine dispassionately and accurately. The situation in Rakhine is complex and not easy to fathom. But one thing surely touches all of us equally: the sufferings of the many innocent people whose lives were torn apart as a consequence of the armed conflicts of 2016 and 2017, in particular those who have had to flee their homes and are now living in camps in Cox’s Bazar.

Mr President and Members of the Court, the troubles of Rakhine State and its population, whatever their background, go back into past centuries and have been particularly severe over the last few years. Currently, an internal armed conflict is going on there – between the Arakan Army, an organised Buddhist armed group with more than 5000 fighters, and the regular Myanmar Defence Services. None of the speakers yesterday made any reference to this. The Arakan Army seeks autonomy or independence for Rakhine – or Arakan as it was called – finding inspiration in the memory of the historic Kingdom of Arakan. This conflict has led to the displacement of thousands of civilians in Rakhine. Standard security restrictions – such as curfew and check-points – are in place at present in the conflict zone and affect the situation of civilians there, regardless of their background.

Mr President, on October 9, 2016, approximately 400 fighters of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army – known as ARSA – launched simultaneous attacks on three police posts in Maungdaw and Rathedaung townships in northern Rakhine, near the border with Bangladesh. ARSA claimed responsibility for these attacks, which led to the death of nine police officers, more than 100 dead or missing civilians, and the theft of 68 guns and more than 10,000 rounds of am-munition. This was the start of an internal armed conflict between ARSA and Myanmar’s Defence Services which lasted until late 2017. The selective factual propositions contained in The Gambia’s Application actually concern this conflict.

In the months following the October 9, 2016 attacks, ARSA grew in strength in the Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung townships in northern Rakhine. It resorted to threats and intimidation against local villagers in order to gain support and allegiance, executing suspected informers. According to, among others, the International Crisis Group, ARSA received weapons- and explosives-training from Afghan and Pakistani militants.

In the early morning of August 25, 2017, several thousand ARSA fighters launched coordinated attacks on more than 30 police posts and villages, and an army base in northern Rakhine. Most of the attacks took place on the narrow Maungdaw plain, which is framed by densely forested hills to the east, and the border with Bangladesh to the west. Indications are that ARSA’s objective was to seize Maungdaw township.

It may aid the Court to briefly consider the historical significance of Maungdaw. When Britain made Burma a colonial entity separate from British India in 1937, the border between Burma and India was drawn along the river Naf, where we find today’s border between Bangladesh and Myanmar. The historical Kingdom of Arakan had extended much further to the north than the river Naf, including most of what is today Chittagong District in Bangladesh. Members of some Rakhine communities therefore felt that the border drawn by the British was too far south; others, that it was too far north. Myanmar has never challenged this border since independence in 1948.

Britain did not lose control over what is today Maungdaw township during World War II. From September 1942, a number of local Muslim families offered fighters to the British irregular V-Force set up to collect intelligence and to initially absorb any Japanese advance. Many Muslims gave their lives in combat against the Japanese in Rakhine. The sacrifices made by Muslim fighters motivated a call for the creation of an autonomous Muslim space in northern Rakhine, centred on Maungdaw. Whether or not this was encouraged by British officers, Britain rejected this call as soon as it had reoccupied Burma, before independence in 1948. The Muslim-Buddhist intercommunal violence of 1942 recurred in 1948 and several times after that. This cycle of violence has negatively affected life in northern Rakhine, making it the second poorest state in Myanmar.

Mr President and Members of the Court, may I go back to the situation in Rakhine on the morning of August 25, 2017. More than thirty police stations and villages, and one military base, had been attacked before sunrise in a highly coordinated fashion, by an organised armed group operating along a densely forested hill-range that provides ample opportunity to hide. Many of the ARSA fighters had been recruited from local villages in the weeks and months preceding the attack. Myanmar’s Defence Services responded to the attacks of ARSA fighters by the use of ground forces. There were armed incidents in more than 60 locations. The main clashes occurred in 12 places: In Min Gyi (Tola Toli) village, Chut Pyin village, Maung Nu village, Gutar Pyin village, Alai Than Kyaw village, Myin Lut village, Inn Din village, Chein Kharli (Koetan Kauk) village, Myo Thugyi ward, Kyauk Pandu village, wards of Maungdaw Town, and southern Maungdaw.

Mr President, allow me to clarify the use of the term clearance operation” – nae myay shin lin yeh” in Myanmar [language]. Its meaning has been distorted. As early as the 1950s, this term has been used during military operations against the Burma Communist Party in Bago Range. Since then, the military has used this expression in counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations after attacks by insurgents or terrorists. In the Myanmar language, nae myay shin lin yeh” – literally clearing of locality” – simply means to clear an area of insurgents or terrorists.

It is still not easy to establish clear patterns of events in these 12 locations. Many ARSA fighters died. There may have been several hundred casualties in some of the 12 locations. There was some inter-communal violence. Buddhist and Hindu minority communities also feared for their security after the original ARSA attacks and many fled from their homes.

It may be worth noting that the use of air power in military operations was avoided as far as possible to minimise the risk of collateral damage. However, in one incident, in order to be able to extract a unit surrounded by hundreds of ARSA fighters, the use of a helicopter was required. There was shooting from the helicopter which resulted in fatalities, which may have included noncombatants.

Mr President, it cannot be ruled out that disproportionate force was used by members of the Defence Services in some cases in disregard of international humanitarian law, or that they did not distinguish clearly enough between ARSA fighters and civilians. There may also have been failures to prevent civilians from looting or destroying property after fighting or in abandoned villages. But these are determinations to be made in the due course of the criminal justice process, not by any individual in the Myanmar Government.

Please bear in mind this complex situation and the challenge to sovereignty and security in our country when you are assessing the intent of those who attempted to deal with the rebellion. Surely, under the circumstances, genocidal intent cannot be the only hypothesis.

Under its 2008 Constitution, Myanmar has a military justice system. Criminal cases against soldiers or officers for possible war crimes committed in Rakhine must be investigated and prosecuted by that system. On November 25, 2019, the Office of the Judge Advocate General announced the start of a court-martial for allegations linked to the Gutar Pyin village incident, one of the 12 main incidents referred to earlier. The Office also let it be known that there will be additional courts-martial if further incriminating evidence is brought by the Independent Commission of Enquiry. The ICOE is an independent special investigation procedure established for Rakhine allegations by the President of Myanmar, chaired by a former Deputy Foreign Minister from the Philippines, with three other members, including a former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations from Japan.

On November 26, 2019, this Commission announced that it had taken about 1500 witness statements from all affected groups in Rakhine, and that it has interviewed 29 military personnel who were deployed to the affected townships in northern Rakhine during the military operations from August 25, 2017 to September 5, 2017, as well as 20 police personnel who were stationed at the police posts that were attacked on August 25, 2017. There is currently no other fact-finding body in the world that has garnered relevant first-hand information on what occurred in Rakhine in 2017 to the same extent as the Independent Commission of Enquiry and the Office of the Judge Advocate General in Myanmar.

This fact reinforces my sense that I should refrain from any action or statement that could undermine the integrity of these ongoing criminal justice processes in Myanmar. They must be allowed to run their course. It is never easy for armed forces to recognise self-interest in accountability for their members, and to implement a will to accountability through actual investigations and prosecutions. I respectfully invite the Members of the Court to consider for a moment the record of other countries. This is a common challenge, even in resource-rich countries.

Recent cases in the news headlines illustrate that even when military justice works, there can be reversals. This can also happen in Myanmar. As part of the overall efforts of the Myanmar Government to provide justice, a court-martial found that 10 Muslim men had been summarily executed in Inn Din village, one of the 12 locations of serious incidents referred to earlier. It sentenced four officers and three soldiers each to ten years in prison with hard labour. After serving a part of their sentences, they were given a military pardon. Many of us in Myanmar were unhappy with this pardon.

Other cases are undertaken without controversy. In the Mansi case, for example, a court-martial sat close to the location in Kachin State where three internally displaced civilians were killed. It sentenced six soldiers, each to 10 years in prison, in January 2018. Relatives of the victims and local civil society representatives were invited to the sentencing.

The Office of the Judge Advocate General in Myanmar is by our standards well-resourced, with more than 90 staff and a presence in all regional commands throughout the country. I am encouraged by the Gutar Pyin court-martial, and I expect the Office to continue its investigations and prosecutions based on reliable evidence collected in Rakhine and from persons who witnessed what happened there.

Can there be genocidal intent on the part of a state that actively investigates, prosecutes and punishes soldiers and officers who are accused of wrongdoing? Although the focus here is on members of the military, I can assure you that appropriate action will also be taken against civilian offenders, in line with due process. There will be no tolerance of human rights violations in the Rakhine, or elsewhere in Myanmar.

Mr President, there are those who wish to externalise accountability for alleged war crimes committed in Rakhine, almost automatically, without proper reflection. Some of the United Nations human rights mandates relied upon in the Application presented by The Gambia have even suggested that there cannot be accountability through Myanmar’s military justice system. This not only contradicts Article 20(b) of the Constitution of Myanmar, it undercuts painstaking domestic efforts relevant to the establishing of cooperation between the military and the civilian government in Myanmar, in the context of a Constitution that needs to be amended to complete the process of democratisation. That process is now underway at the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, the Union Parliament.

The emerging system of international criminal justice rests on the principle of complementarity. Accountability through domestic criminal justice is the norm. Only if domestic accountability fails, may international justice come into play. It would be inconsistent with complementarity to require that domestic criminal justice should proceed much faster than international criminal justice. A rush to externalise accountability may undermine professionals in domestic criminal justice agencies. What does the appearance of competition between domestic and international accountability do to the public’s trust in the intentions of impatient international actors?

No stone should be left unturned to make domestic accountability work. It would not be helpful for the international legal order if the impression takes hold that only resource-rich countries can conduct adequate domestic investigations and prosecutions, and that the domestic justice of countries still striving to cope with the burden of unhappy legacies and present challenges is not good enough. The Gambia will also understand this challenge with which they too are confronted.

Mr President and Members of the Court, these reflections are relevant to the present hearing because the Applicant has brought a case based on the Genocide Convention. We are, however, dealing with an internal armed conflict, started by coordinated and comprehensive attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, to which Myanmar’s Defence Services responded. Tragically, this armed conflict led to the exodus of several hundred thousand Muslims from the three northernmost townships of Rakhine into Bangladesh – just as the armed conflict in Croatia with which the Court had to deal led to the massive exodus of, first, ethnic Croats and later, ethnic Serbs.

As I have already stated, if war crimes have been committed by members of Myanmar’s Defence Services, they will be prosecuted through our military justice system, in accordance with Myanmar’s Constitution. It is a matter for the competent criminal justice authorities to assess whether, for example, there has been inadequate distinction between civilians and ARSA fighters, disproportionate use of force, violations of human rights, failure to prevent plundering or property destruction, or acts of forcible displacement of civilians. Such conduct, if proven, could be relevant under international humanitarian law or human rights conventions, but not under the 1948 Genocide Convention for reasons Professor William Schabas will elaborate in a moment.

Mr President, allow me to share one further reflection in this Great Hall of Justice. International law may well be our only global value system, and international justice a practice that affirms our common values. Leaders of States and relevant inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations should also be cognisant of their responsibility to express and affirm fundamental values. Feeding the flames of an extreme polarisation in the context of Rakhine, for example, can harm the values of peace and harmony in Myanmar. Aggravating the wounds of conflict can undermine unity in Rakhine. Hate narratives are not simply confined to hate speech – language that contributes to extreme polarisation also amounts to hate narratives.

Several international actors face a challenge here. But Myanmar could also have done more since the 1980s to emphasise the shared heritage and deeper layers of unity among the diverse peoples of our country. Cycles of inter-communal violence in Rakhine going back to the 1940s should be countered not just by practical measures aimed at sustainable development and rule of law, but also by nourishing a spiritual mindset of unity. It is a moral responsibility of leaders to guard the aspirations of people for harmony and peace.

U Thant, the third United Nations Secretary-General, had understood this. He wrote in his memoirs View From the UN published in 1974: I even believe that the mark of the truly educated and imaginative person facing the twenty-first century is that he feels himself to be a planetary citizen” (p. 454). Encouraging this added layer of identity – a sense of planetary citizenship – is of fundamental importance for peaceful relations between nations as well as ethnic and religious groups.

A commitment to broadening the mindset must go hand in hand with practical steps to improve lives. Even before the events of 2016-2017, Muslim, Buddhist and other communities in Rakhine faced what the Kofi Annan Advisory Commission described as complex challenges of low development and poverty rooted in enduring social conflict between the communities. The Myanmar government is committed to addressing these challenges. Together with our partners, we are now striving to ensure that all communities enjoy the same fundamental rights. To expedite citizenship verification and application, a mobile team is already in operation. All children born in Rakhine, regardless of religious background, are issued with birth certificates. Arrangements have been made to enable more Muslim youth to attend classes at universities across Myanmar. With the support of international and local partners, scholarships will also be made available to students from all communities living in Rakhine. The government has started a social cohesion model project in Maungdaw township, to promote social harmony among all communities. Inter-faith fora have been encouraged. These are some of the steps taken to improve livelihoods, security, access to education and health, citizenship, and social cohesion for all communities in Rakhine. Three IDP camps have already been closed, and an IDP-camp closure strategy has been adopted. Myanmar is also committed to voluntary, safe and dignified repatriation of displaced persons from Rakhine under the framework agreement reached between Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Mr President, how can there be an ongoing genocide or genocidal intent when these concrete steps are being taken in Rakhine?

To conclude, Mr President and Members of the Court, Rakhine today suffers an internal armed conflict between the Buddhist Arakan Army and Myanmar’s Defence Services. Muslims are not a party to this conflict, but may, like other civilians in the conflict area, be affected by security measures that are in place. We pray the Court to refrain from taking any action that might aggravate the ongoing armed conflict and peace and security in Rakhine. Right now, in northern Rakhine an army base near Paletwa is under attack by a group of more than 400 Arakan Army fighters, and some 200 insurgents have surrounded a military column near Ann City in Rakhine.

Since Myanmar gained independence in 1948, our people have not known the security of sustainable development that is the fruit of peace and prosperity. Our greatest challenge is to address the roots of distrust and fear, prejudice and hate, that undermine the foundations of our Union. We shall adhere steadfastly to our commitment to non-violence, human rights, national reconciliation and rule of law, as we go forward to build the Democratic Federal Union to which our people have aspired for generations past. We look to justice as a champion of the reconciliation and harmony that will assure the security and rights of all peoples.

Mr President and Members of the Court, I thank you for your kind attention and ask that you now call upon Professor William Schabas to continue the Myanmar submissions.