Courtesy Hiru News

SLFP Central Working Committee decided to expel AHM Fowzie for violating the party`s code of conduct following disciplinary inquiry says SLFP General Secretary.

Ajith Siriwardana Courtesy The Daily Mirror

While claiming that UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa was too hasty to have contested the presidential election, Eksath Bhikku Peramuna Secretary Ven. Bopitiye Dhammissara Thera said he could have easily won it if he had contested the presidential election after another five years.

Addressing a news conference, the Thera commented that Mr. Premadasa should have contested the presidential election five years hence, with more peoples’ power.

He said if Speaker Karu Jayasuriya had contested the election as requested by civil society and religious leaders, he could have garnered more votes including Sinhala Buddhist votes.

Ven. Dhammissara Thera appreciated the moves taken by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to step down respecting democratic principles.

Going strictly according to the Constitution, the Prime Minister, Cabinet and the Government could have been in power till March next year. However, respecting the people’s mandate, they have decided to step down. It is a commendable move by the Prime Minister,” he said.

When asked about the change of the opposition leadership, the Thera said the decision regarding the opposition leadership should be taken according to the party constitution and by the working committee.

Ven. Mahagalkadawala Punnasara Thera commented that everyone should accept the new President and work in peace and reconciliation and added that no one has a right to harass anyone else.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is our president too. He is the president of all communities including Sinhala, Tamil and Muslims,” he said.

Ven. Karakole Piyadassi Nayaka Thera also speaking noted that those who lost the election should not resign from their posts but they should be determined to fulfil the aspirations of the people who supported them.

They should face defeat with fortitude and take it as a challenge to reorganise,” the Thera said. 

Kelum Bandara Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The United National Party (UNP) today nominated its leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to be appointed the Opposition Leader of Parliament despite a request by a section of the party to offer it to presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa, an official said.

According to the procedure, the post is offered to someone from the single largest party in the opposition. The UNP has become eligible for it after it stepped down from the government.

UNP General Secretary MP Akila Viraj Kariyawasam informed Speaker Karu Jayasuriya in writing that his party nominated Mr. Wickremesinghe as the Opposition Leader. He also requested the Speaker to arrange facilities in the parliamentary complex accordingly. 

Yohan Perera Courtesy The Daily Mirror

More than 40 MPs have handed over a document to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya requesting him to appoint NDF candidate Sajith Premadasa as leader of the Opposition, MP Ajith P. Perera told Daily Mirror today.

We handed over a letter to Speaker Jayasuriya requesting him to appoint Mr. Premadasa as Leader of the Opposition and this was in addition to the letter handed over by UNP General Secretary Akila Viraj Kariyawasam who had requested for the appointment of outgoing Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Opposition Leader. However we will wait for the decision of the Speaker,” he said.

A similar situation arose in 1994 where the late Gamini Dissanayake and Mr. Wickremesinghe vied for the post and the former was chosen in a vote at UNP Head Quarters Sirikotha.

Former UNP Chairman Kabir Hashim and Former Minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara are among those who have signed the agreement.

The Speaker’s office confirmed the receipt of a document calling for the appointment of Mr. Premadasa as Leader of the Opposition. 

Anyone puzzled as to what Tamils think & how that thinking translates to votes need to first keep in mind some realities that Tamils are psychologically kept mesmerized by – the dream of creating an utopian separate state. This was first birthed in 1949 with the formation of ITAK and kept alive via TULF’s Vaddukoddai Resolution in 1976 which formed the basis of the 1977 General Election Manifesto that enabled TULF to win 18 seats though securing only 6.75% of island vote. A. Amirthalingam went on to become the Opposition Leader & TULF the Opposition of Sri Lanka. When you read the demands that TULF made of which ITAK was a key party, you can link this up to the 13 demands placed by TNA at the recently concluded Presidential Elections and will provide the answer to how and why people voted. The GOSL must take action against these separatist elements immediately to reintegrate people to thinking of living peacefully in one nation under one law.

1977 election results –

UNP won 140 seats

SLFP won 8 seats

TULF won 18 seats though only securing 421,488 votes which was just 6.75% islandwide

Registered voters – 6,667,58

Valid votes – 6,243,573

https://web.archive.org/web/20110717002624/http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/General%20Election%201977.PDF

Tamil United Liberation Front
General Election Manifesto

(July 1977)

[The TULF that went to polls with this manifesto won a majority of votes from the northern province of Sri Lanka, but not in the Eastern Province. Nevertheless, the TULF used it to claim a mandate for secession from Sri Lanka and form an independent sovereign state (Arasu) of “Tamil Eelam” made up of the North and the East.

However, the TULF was NOT regarded as asking for a full separation and there were independent “Hard-Line” Tamil candidates who pushed the full separation objective and lost. In fact, Amirthalingam, the leader of the TULF came to a compromise agreement with J. R. Jayawardana, for obtaining extensive power devolution in the North and the East. This was considered as an act of treachery by the LTTE which assassinated Amirthalingam and other democratic Tamil leaders.

The Hill-country Tamils, led by Thondaman Sr. was not a party to the Vaddukkoddei (Batakotte) resolution of 1976.]

Introduction

The Sinhalese people who gained political power from the British drafted for themselves, in fulfillment of their sovereignty, a constitution which they put into operation, and the first general election after Ceylon was declared a republic is being held now.

The issue as to who would be put into seats of power will not be the only one that would be decided by the votes that people would cast at this election.

Do the Tamils and the Muslims who have lost their freedom accept a Constitution that has paved the way for the majority community, the Sinhalese, to usurp, in full, under a facade of sovereignty of the people, the totality of political power in this country? That is the issue to be resolved by the votes that our people would cast at this general election.

At the time the Republican Constitution was accepted by the Constituent Assembly and thereafter, very important changes took place among the political movements of the Tamils and in the midst of the Muslim people. The Tamil Parties that were at one another’s throat with conflicting goals came together, at last, to form the Tamil United Front. This became possible at a conference of the Tamil political Parties held in 1971 at Valvettiturai. Organisational consolidation followed at Trincomalee and in 1976 the Front came to be called the Tamil United Liberation Front.

A number of incidents that took place in the country along with certain actions of the Government following the proclamation of the republic led to a rethinking in the minds of Muslim people also. Particularly the Muslims in the Eastern and North-Western regions of Ceylon realised that their religion and language, lands and opportunities of employment were all being taken away from them and that in their own native land their lives and property too were insecure. They also realised that movements that accepted the leadership of the Sinhalese political parties would not defend even these basic rights of theirs. This realisation led to the formation of the Muslim United Front.

Bound together by the bonds of a common language and intertwining lives in a common territory and brought together by the common danger of total destruction, the Tamils and the Muslims realised the indispensability of joint action. Subject to the safeguards of preserving the identity of the Muslims and ensuring their sovereignty, the Muslim United Front joined the Tamil United Liberation Front as a constituent unit. The rights of the Muslim people in the Tamil State of Eelam will be amplified further in this manifesto. When we speak of the Tamil Nation, we refer to the entirety of the people in this country to whom the mother tongue is Tamil.

One Question: Freedom or Servitude?

The General election of 1977 is a crucial one to the Tamil Nation. So far as the Tamil territory is concerned, this general election is a clash between the only political movement of the Tamil Nation and the representatives of the various political parties of Sinhalese imperialism that keeps the Tamil nation under its heels. The election in the Sinhala territory decides the question as to which of their parties should come to power. And in the Tamil territory, the question to be resolved is whether the Tamils want their freedom or continued servitude. The Tamil United Liberation Front will use this election to resolve the issue.

History

Though Ceylon is a single state now, yet by facts of history, by the languages spoken by its inhabitants, by culture, tradition and by psychology, it is the common home of two nations and consists of two countries.

The present republic of Sri Lanka is in reality a union of Sinhala Land” and Tamil Eelam”.

The fact that the Tamil nation has been living in this country from pre-historic times enjoying its sovereign rights under a state of its own is recorded in no less an authority than the great work of Sinhalese history – Mahawamsa.

Even before the Christian era, the entire Island of Ceylon was ruled by Tamil Kings, Senan, Kuddikan and Elara (Ellalan) and thereafter for over thousand years, as a result of struggle for supremacy between the Tamil Kings and the Sinhalese Kings the capital of the Sinhalese Kings was gradually shifted southwards away from Tamil Centres. These are facts of recorded history.

It is also a fact that the entire Island was under the sway of Tamil Kings at times and the Sinhalese Kings at other times. From this background of alternating fortunes, emerged, at the beginning of the 13th century a clear and stable political fact.

At this time, the territory stretching in the western sea-hoard from Chilaw through Puttalam to Mannar and thence to the Northern Regions and in the East, Trincomalee and also the Batticaloa Regions that extended southwards up to Kumana or to the northern banks of the river Kumbukkan Oya were firmly established as the exclusive homeland of the Tamils.

This is the territory of Tamil Eelam.

For several centuries before the advent of Europeans to Ceylon in the 16th century, the Tamils have been living in this territory under their own Kingdom. Tamils reigned supreme in this country with their own national colours and their own military forces.

The Portuguese who for over a century were at times entering into treaty relationships with these Tamil Kings and at other times meeting them in losing battle – fronts finally, in the war of 1619, captured the Tamil King, Sankili Kumaran, and took him to Goa where he was hanged.

It was the assistance that King Sankili gave to the Kandyan King in transiting reinforcements from neighbouring South India for the latter’s war against the Portuguese that made the European power battle in full vigour for an indispensable capture of the Jaffna Kingdom.

The Tamil King was captured by the military might of the Portuguese aided by local Quislings. However, for three years thereafter, the Tamils continued to fight against foreign domination under the leadership of a coastal petty king Varnakulathihan. And they lost.

Neither the Sinhalese king nor the Sinhalese people did offer any assistance to the Tamils who were fighting to defend their state. It was their view that they and their country had nothing in common with the state of Tamil Eelam. This is exactly what we want the Sinhalese people to reiterate now.

The Portuguese who subdued the State of Tamil Eelam continued to govern it as a separate state. So did the Dutch who captured it, in turn from the Portuguese. The Cleghorn Minute clearly establishes that even under the Dutch, the judicial district of Jaffna patnam that covered the northern and eastern parts of the Island extended, in the west coast of the Island, from Puttalam to Mannar and in the east, southwards up to the limits of Kumana or the river Kumbukkan Oya that separated Batticaloa from the southern Sinhalese district of Matara.

This Tamil State was captured from the Dutch by the British who too continued to retain its separate status till 1833 when, for convenience of administration, it was brought under one all island authority, the Government of Ceylon. Totally disregarding the history, traditions and aspirations of peoples of these various states, the British brought together under one authority the state of Eelam which they captured from the Dutch, and Kandyan Kingdom which they overran in 1815 along with the Sinhalese Kingdom of Kotte.

Sovereignty of the Tamil Nation

The sovereignty of the people of Tamil Eelam changed hands from the Portuguese who defeated them in battle into those of the Dutch and later into those of the British. Ceylon was granted independence on the fourth of February 1948.

Though political power was transferred to the people of this country, yet the British Queen continued to be the repository of their sovereignty.

The republican constitution that came into operation with its acceptance by the Constituent Assembly on the 22nd of May 1972 severed this legal continuity and guaranteed the sovereignty of the people of Ceylon proclaiming that the people of Ceylon themselves were the repository of this sovereignty.

But the representatives of the Tamil Nation withheld their consent to this constitution and rejected it. 15 out of the 19 Members of Parliament elected by the Tamil people rejected it and boycotted the meeting of 22nd of May 1972 that was called to accept that constitution. It is clear that there is neither legal continuity nor the consent of the Tamil Nation to this constitution.

The sovereignty of the Tamil Nation and the statehood that was taken away from them, in the battlefield in 1619 by the Portuguese changed hands to the Dutch and later to the British by right of conquest. But it is clear that the Sinhalese Nation has not taken over the sovereignty of the Tamil Nation through legal continuity or by consent or by right of conquest. There is no doubt that the Tamil Nation, by standards of international law, does possess the right, on the basis of the right to self-determination, to re-establish its sovereignty and statehood and to draft for itself a constitution and thus to administer its own affairs, all by itself.

The Sinhala Nation imposing its reign over the Tamil Nation and the conversion of Tamil Eelam into a colony of the Sinhala State is undoubtedly nothing else but imperialistic rule. The present constitution is one that was drafted on the basis of the right of self-determination of the Sinhala Nation, on a mandate given by that nation for that purpose.

In the same manner, the Tamil United Liberation Front views the forthcoming general election as an opportunity to obtain the mandate of the Tamil Nation and on the basis of its right to self-determination, re-establish the independence of the State of Tamil Eelam, the expression of the sovereignty of the Tamil Nation.

With a view to dispelling the doubts of those who still wonder whether there is no alternative to the re-establishment of our sovereignty in our exclusive soil, we wish to record here briefly to what position of desperation the Sinhala imperialistic reign of the last 30 years has driven the State of Tamil Eelam and the Tamil Nation.

The Tamil Nation under Sinhala Domination

1. Citizenship Laws

The citizenship laws of this country were made within six months of the transfer of political power to the Sinhalese in 1948. As a result of this legislation, the Tamil labourers of the tea and rubber plantations in the central hills of Ceylon whose blood and sweat alone have built up and sustained the prosperity of this country were rendered stateless.

Out of the eight representatives elected to Parliament with their votes in 1947, not a single one could be returned in the general election of 1952 or ever thereafter.

Constituencies, for the demarcation of which their voteless numerical strength was taken into computation, returned Sinhalese representatives whose numbers were thus inequitably swelled in Parliament. The Sinhalese people who form about 70% of the population secured for themselves 80% of the seats in Parliament. The concept of ‘Safeguard to Minorities’ was distorted into ‘Safeguard to the Majority Community’ that ensured a position of excessive representation to the majority community.

One could see this very same position continued in the present Constitution as well. Thus, this disfranchisement of the plantation (Tamil) labour was the first step that paved the way for a series of denial of the political rights of the minorities with a view to enthroning Sinhalese imperialism.

Tamils and Muslims of Ceylon were made doubtful citizens by these Citizenship laws. In consequence they had to face a lot of miseries in their day to day life. And to inquire into these irritations and to provide relief to these people, the very government, in 1964, appointed a committee of government officers. The recommendations of this committee even after 13 years, today, are still in cold storage awaiting implementation.

To register a document of purchase of land made with his own savings, a Tamil or a Muslim outside the Northern and Eastern Provinces finds himself in the plight of having to pay a discriminatory tax of 100%.

Tamils and Muslims who are unable to establish that for two generations before 1948 they were born here are teeing shut out from business, travel, trade, employment opportunities etc. The first fruits of freedom to the Tamil Nation was disfranchisement, statelessness, status of illicit immigrant and a position of doubted citizens.

2. Colonisation

The aggression against Tamil Eelam by planned colonisation by the Sinhalese governments has been drastic and grave. Beginning with the government of the United National Party and those of the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party that followed, in turn, put into operation planned and state aided colonisation schemes by which lakhs and lakhs of Sinhalese people were planted in the homeland of the Tamil Nation that was once ruled by the Tamil kings from whom foreign imperialism wrested this Tamil homeland through force of arms.

Sinhalese people were put in occupation”, at state expense, of extensive tracts of the Eastern Province at Pattipalai Aru, Alla Kantalai, Padavikulam, etc. Illegal occupation of state owned lands by Sinhalese people with covert government support was legalised and their ownership regularised by the government. Lands and coconut estates taken over from the Tamils and Muslims in the Amparai district by the state, under the Ceiling on Lands Act are now being distributed to the Sinhalese people.

Lands owned by the Tamil and Muslim peasants and also lands which these people themselves developed and cultivated at places like Kondaivettuwan and Akkilaveli have been forcibly taken over and handed over, with government help, to the Sinhalese people.

Puttalam is yet another District where state conspired Sinhalese colonisation has deprived the local people of their territory.

While this government has been providing these facilities to the Sinhalese aggressors of Tamil Eelam, it let loose the army, under Special Emergency Regulations, against the hill country Tamil labourers who sought to make a living by opening and developing forest lands that lay unexplored and uncared for, at Punanai, in ‘the Eastern Province. A cadju plantation scheme started at Kondaichi, in the Mannar District, is now a Sinhalese colony of two thousand families.

In the very Tamil heartland of Jaffna, at Colombuthurai, a Sinhalese colony, like Amarasekera Pura, has been opened up.

The Eastern Province where, when the British left in 1948, there were hardly 10,000 Sinhalese, is now flooded with some 180,000 Sinhalese people.

The extent of this damage to the political power and influence of the Tamils is reflected in the newly created Parliamentary constituencies of Amparai and Seruwila which have engulfed some 1,500 square miles of Tamil territory.

And this constitutes a 2/5th of the land area of the Eastern Province whose further development lies within these fertile lands, thus usurped. The Tamil Nation is confronted with the danger of being rendered a minority and being thus destroyed in its own homelands all over Tamil Eelam. The Nation realises the need to liberate its land to save itself from annihilation.

3. Language

Before the attainment of independence, a resolution was passed in the State Council, the legislature, in 1944 that Sinhalese and Tamil shall be the official languages. Every Sinhalese political party at that time accepted this policy.

But Mr. Bandaranaiyake’s government, in 1956, passed the Sinhala Only Act. The United National Party too supported it. At present, all the Sinhalese political parties have accepted the policy of ‘Sinhala Only’. This Act, which, in 1956, was an ordinary law, has in the Republican Constitution of 1972 been elevated to a constitutional status.

Regulations on the use of Tamil Language, which the Tamils secured for themselves as a result of several struggles with the government, have been deliberately dethroned in the constitution. Section 8 (2) of the constitution unequivocally stipulates that these regulations will not be treated as being a part of the constitution.

In consequence has developed a situation where the Tamil speaking public servants have to groan under the loss of equal opportunities with the Sinhalese officers in matters of employment, promotions, extension of service, increments etc. The real intention of the Sinhala Only Act is to create a situation that would keep out the Tamil officers and ensure the appointment of Sinhalese officers only, in government service.

The rulers are greatly successful in the endeavour. This is not an emotional issue as some are inclined to believe. In a country that is being overwhelmed with nationalisation, this is a life and death issue that affects the economic life of the Tamil Nation.

4. Religion

Buddhism has been given pre-eminence in the constitution and declared to be the only religion that would enjoy state protection. Other faiths have no right to any protection except the right of being practised, in private. Tamil Nation comprises Hindus, Christians and Muslims. And the constitution has thus placed on them the stamp of second-class citizens.

5. Culture

Though the Tamils and Sinhalese have lived in this country for over two thousand years, yet the Tamils have continued to preserve their individual culture based on their language. This culture and the traditions were nurtured even under Portuguese, Dutch and British imperialistic rule.

The vital reason behind this survival was that though the Tamils in Eelam were not strong in numbers, yet they never lost the opportunities of maintaining close bonds with the powerful fountain of Tamil culture across the Palk Strait, in Tamil Nadu, South India.

No doubt there were pre-eminent sons of Eelam like Arumuga Navalar, Swami Vipulananthar, Father Gnanapiragasar and others who rendered tremendous service to the growth of international Tamil culture. Yet, if the bonds of art and literature etc. with South India are snapped, it is certain that the culture of Tamil Eelam would weaken and turn into one that is Sinhalese based.

In recent times, the government of: this country not only imposed several restrictions on the import of cultural works, literature, quality films etc. from Tamil Nadu but also put obstacles to the visits of Tamil scholars and artists from Tamil Nadu. By the government policy of imposition of the Sinhala language several Sinhala words like poya, pola, laksala, salusala are creeping into the Tamil language in Eelam. With the curtailment of links with Tamil Nadu, on the one hand and the increasing tempo of Sinhala imposition on the other, Tamil language will undergo strange transformation and the identity of the Tamil culture will be destroyed and finally the Tamil Nation itself would disappear from this land. That is the goal that the government has set for itself.

6. Education

Through the help of Christian religious institutions under foreign colonial rule and later through great educational institutions the Tamil people established by themselves, for themselves the Tamil students of this country were in the forefront of education.

Sinhalese students in districts like Colombo, Kandy and Galle also enjoyed similar opportunities. It is imperative that the Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim students of the backward areas, deficient in such facilities, should be provided with those facilities and enabled to go forward. This is an obligation of the State. But several obstacles are put in the way of Tamil students outside the Northern and Eastern provinces in obtaining even elementary education. Several Tamil elementary schools are being closed down to provide accommodation for Sinhalese schools. Tamil sections in several Sinhalese schools are being destroyed. Some are not functioning because of non-appointment of sufficient number of teachers.

As a result Tamil students in several areas are compelled to study through the Sinhala medium. In the heartland of Tamil Eelam, in the Northern Province itself, a few people have been enticed with teaching jobs and Sinhala Buddhist schools have been opened and approved and Sinhala has been made the medium of instruction there. If the government could display so much of audacity here, then one could easily fathom the depth and fanaticism of Sinhala imperialism in the annihilation of the Tamil Nation.

In the sphere of education, it was in the university admissions of 1970, that the gravest injustice was perpetrated against the Tamil speaking students.

Large number of Tamil students qualified to gain university admission to the medical, engineering and science faculties that year were shut out through an inequitable device, designated standardisation.

While Sinhalese students who obtained 229 marks were admitted to the medical faculty, Tamil students who were admitted were required to obtain 250 marks. In the same manner, for admission to the Engineering Faculty of the Peradeniya Campus, a Sinhalese student had to obtain 227 marks whereas a Tamil student had to score 250 marks. It is intolerable that while a Tamil student with even 249 marks cannot gain admission, a Sinhalese student with 227 marks could do so, with ease.

For the last 7 years this standardisation has been in operation in various guises and in every faculty of the university, the number of admissions of Tamil students has been going down.

Here is an illustration: Of the total number of students admitted to the university in 1969, the percentage of Tamil students was 40.8. This figure has been steadily going down and it was 16.3 in 1974, it dropped still further in 1975 and 1976. One could see that the sections that were most affected by this injustice were the most backward ones in the Tamil community. Thus, parents who lacked the means to employ private tutors to get their children pushed through this drastic ordeal had to forget about higher education to their children. As a result, the student community was driven to the brink of frustration and engulfed by anxiety about their future Could anyone deny that the Sinhalese reign that has been responsible for the grave injury should be ended if this generation of youth is to live as human beings brimming with self-confidence.

7. Employment Opportunities

The very same discriminatory policies pursued in the sphere of education are being pursued in a worse manner in the field of employment.

Out of a 22% population of Tamil speaking people, not even a 2 (two) percent are selected for jobs in the armed forces. In the police force, at the level of the lowest rung, the constable, five percent of the places and in higher rungs an even smaller percentage of the places only, are offered. In the clerical and technical grades also, the percentage is the same.

Because equal opportunities in education were available in earlier times, Tamil students were able to gain enough places in the medical and engineering professions. Now, even in these spheres as a result of the impact of standardisation, a percentage far less than the one warranted by the percentage of the Tamil population is taken in. Vacancies in the minor grades in the Tamil areas are filled with people selected in divisional offices like Anuradhapura and Badulla in the Sinhalese areas.

As an example could be cited the recent selections of the Ceylon Electricity Board for vacancies in the Tamil district of Jaffna. Out of the people selected at the Anuradhapura office, 66 were Sinhalese and 2 (two) were Tamils.

In a country where, as a result of the policy of nationalisation, the private sector is shrinking, should we not ponder what tragedy would overtake the economic life of the Tamil Nation if the government should adopt such a form of discriminatory policies. If our country is to prosper, the reins of our destiny must not be left in the hands of others. We must become our own masters of our own Destiny. That is the irrevocable goal that the Tamil Nation has set for itself, now.

8. Economic Development of Tamil Eelam

The state owned factories in Tamil Eelam today were set up 20 years ago. Every single factory that was set up in this country, with foreign aid, was set up only in the Sinhalese Districts. Schemes like the Kachchai Salterns, the Kankesanturai harbour development, Fishery Harbour at Myliddy, all of which were started between 1965-1970 by a government in which the Tamil representatives too were members, have all been abandoned for the last seven years.

No major irrigation scheme of the government will help develop our Eelam. Save for the schemes like Gal Oya, Allai, Kantalai etc. whose deliberate motive was the planting of the Sinhalese population in the territory of Tamil Eelam, no irrigation scheme of any consequence that had as its objective, the welfare of either the Tamil or Muslim population in Eelam has ever been implemented during the last twenty years.

There were of course some minor schemes of whitewashing. When oil prospecting with Soviet aid was started in Mannar, the local Tamil and Muslim populations were ignored and 90% of the labourers were imported from the Sinhalese areas. In the private sector, obtaining licenses to start industrial ventures in the Tamil areas is a Herculean task. Even in some minor factories started in the Tamil areas, the majority of the employees are Sinhalese. Not only are the Tamil people ignored in the matter of employment opportunities in the state sector but also are the Tamil areas ignored in the economic development. They have been allowed to deteriorate into backward areas.

9. Racial Terrorism

For the last twenty years, racial terrorism has been let loose in this country, against the Tamil and Muslim population in a manner that reminded them that they were slaves who were not entitled to any rights or protection. Tamils and Muslims have been quite often the objects of violence of the Sinhalese hooligans instigated by government supported Sinhalese communal organisations and of the Police and the armed forces in whose hands they suffered untold misery by way of looting and arson in homes, shops and places of business, by grievous injuries, loss of life and property and violation against women.

In 1956, Tamils were attacked in Colombo and in a part of the Tamil territory of Eelam that had been turned into Sinhalese land, Amparai. Age old Tamil villages like Thuraineelavanai had to resort to fire arms in defence of their hearths and homes from attacks by Sinhalese hoodlums.

The communal fury against the Tamils in 1958 in the entire Sinhalese land is a chapter of dreadful blot in the history of this country. Thousands of Tamils were taken to Northern and Eastern provinces in commandeered ships and army protected convoys. Property worth several millions were lost, several hundreds lost their lives and thousands their homes.

Tamil women were raped; pregnant women were slaughtered to pieces on public highways. The Murugan Temple priest at Panadura was burnt alive. Several dead bodies were retrieved from one well alone at Maha Oya. While Sinhalese terrorism raged against the Tamils all over the country, the Sinhalese government arrested the Tamil leaders and put them behind bars. It was insult added to injury.

Military terror was let loose in the Tamil provinces against the Tamils who were engaged in a non-violent campaign of Civil Disobedience in 1961 to demand their language rights.

No civilised country could have witnessed a police attack as barbarous as the one that the Sinhalese police made against the Tamil people in their lakhs were listening in a state of rapture to a treat of a Tamil literary talk by Professor Nainar Mohamed on the last day of the Fourth International Tamil Research Conference where Tamil scholars from the world over had assembled, on January 10th 1974 in Jaffna. The rulers of this country refused either to hold an enquiry or even to express sympathy at the atrocity that resulted in 9 Tamil deaths. This tells its own tale of the manner the Sinhalese governments treat the Tamils in this land.

Pararasa, a bank clerk was shot dead by the police while he was returning from a temple festival, in Jaffna. Tamil leaders, who went to the office of the police superintendent, were set upon by the Sinhalese police in civil clothes.

Ledchumanan, the Tamil youth, who refused to be driven out into the street from his home in the tea plantations, was killed by the police. Homes of Tamil labourers at Gampola were looted and set ablaze. Unjustified Sinhalese police attacks and the fury of Sinhalese hooligans have, for the last few years been let loose against the Muslims also.

In 1976 alone, in no less than 40 places like Mahiyangana, Gampola, Panadura, Nikawartiya etc. unprotected Muslims were the targets of Sinhalese rowdies. Their losses ran into lakhs and lakhs of rupees.

On the 2nd of February 1976, seven of the Muslims at prayer inside a Mosque at Puttalam were ruthlessly massacred by the Sinhalese police, inside that holy spot. 271 houses, 44 shops 2 fibre factories belonging to the Muslims of Puttalam were set on fire, 2 Mosques were burnt down, 2 Muslim youths were burnt alive by the Sinhalese hooligans. The government was not willing to hold a public enquiry into the horrible murders. These incidents only reiterate the fact that the lives and property of Tamils and Muslims who are living as slaves in this country do not enjoy any protection from the Sinhalese governments.

10. Imposition of a New Constitution on the Tamil Nation

Drafting a new constitution and its imposition on the Tamil Nation is the climax of the dictatorial actions, samples of which were shown here.

The Ceylon Parliament, which became a symbol of perverted democracy when its citizenship laws helped grab 80% of Parliamentary representation by the 70% Sinhalese population, after the general election of 1970, was formed into a Constituent Assembly.

The deliberations of this Assembly were conducted under a state of emergency, proclaimed in 1971, where the freedom of speech and freedom of writing were all taken away from the people and while a strict press censorship was in force.

The two-thirds majority of the Government and the Sinhala communal majority were fully exploited.

All the Amendments to the Basic Resolutions introduced on behalf of the Tamil speaking people were rejected, in-toto, by the Sinhalese majority in the Assembly.

A federal scheme with an Autonomous Tamil states and an Autonomous Muslim state with three Sinhalese States put forward by the Federal Party, a constituent of the present Tamil United Liberation Front, as a solution to the racial problems of this country, was turn down by the Assembly even before being examined.

Neither any Sinhalese Party nor any member from the majority community came forward to discuss or offer any alternative scheme that could meet with the aspirations of the Tamil Nation.

Attempts made by the Tamil members to secure a place in the Constitution at least for the Regulations for use of the Tamil Language proved abortive.

The only outcome of these efforts was the introduction, in the Constitution, of section 8 (2) that categorically stated that these Regulations on the use of Tamil Language shall not form a part of the Constitution. Realising the futility of any continued participation, the Tamil representatives in the Constituent Assembly walked out.

The Assembly meeting of 22nd May 1972, which was summoned to pass the Constitution, was boycotted by 15 out of the 19 elected Tamil representatives.

Out of the four that voted in favour of the constitution, two lost their representative character after having been expelled from their party, the All Ceylon Tamil Congress; one was elected as a candidate of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (Federal Party) and was expelled from that party and thus lost his right of representation. The fourth was a member who contested on an anti-government platform and won as an independent.

Hence it is obvious that this constitution was rejected 100% by the Tamil people. The manner in which the unanimous opposition of the Tamil Nation was ignored and how the new constitution was imposed on them has only confirmed the psychology of the Sinhalese imperialistic masters that they are ruling over a slave Nation according to their own whims and fancies.

They have done away with the meagre safe guards provided for the minorities in the constitution left behind by the British, placed their own language and religion at such high a pedestal that no one could ever tamper with them and through this imposed constitution, made the Tamils their slaves without any share in the political power of this State.

Does the Tamil Nation have an alternative?

The leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, Mr. G.G. Ponnambalam before the withdrawal of British power, demanded balanced representation for the protection of minorities. Though the Soulbury Constitution rejected the demand, yet it incorporated a safeguard in Section 29 of that constitution. But the new Republican Constitution of 1972 has deleted that safeguard.

Mr. S. J. V. Chelvanayakam through his Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (Federal Party), toiled for 25 years to safeguard the rights of the Tamil Nation through the device of federalism. He entered into agreements with Premier Bandaranaike and his Sri Lanka Freedom Party and also with Premier Dudley Senanayake to obtain at least regional autonomy for the Tamil Nation. These agreements were later abrogated because of opposition from the Sinhalese people.

The demand for a federal solution was rejected by the Constituent Assembly even without a debate. Neither the six-point demand of the Tamil United Front nor the twenty-point demand of some Tamil elders ever had any reception.

What is the alternative now left to the Nation that has lost its rights to its language, rights to its citizenship, rights to its religions and continues day by day to lose its traditional homeland to Sinhalese colonisation?

What is the alternative now left to a Nation that has lost its opportunities to higher education through standardization, and its equality in opportunities in the sphere of employment?

What is the alternative to a Nation that lies helpless, as it is being assaulted, looted and killed by hooligans instigated by the ruling race and by the security forces of the State?

Where else is an alternative to the Tamil Nation that gropes in the dark for its identity and finds itself driven to the brink of devastation?

There is only one alternative and that is to proclaim with the stamp of finality and fortitude that we alone shall rule over our land that our fore fathers ruled. Sinhalese imperialism shall quit our Homeland”.

The Tamil United Liberation Front regards the general election of 1977 as a means of proclaiming to the Sinhalese Government this resolve of the Tamil Nation.

And every vote that you cast for the Front would go to show that the Tamil Nation is determined to liberate itself from Sinhalese domination.

Tamil Eelam – A Secular Socialist State

Hence the Tamil United Liberation Front seeks in the General Election the mandate of the Tamil Nation to establish an independent sovereign, secular, socialist State of Tamil Eelam that includes all the geographically contiguous areas that have been the traditional homeland of the Tamil speaking people in the country.

At the same time The Tamil United Liberation Front proclaims the following guarantees on the political, social and economic structure of the State of Tamil Eelam.

The Front declares that the Tamil State of Eelam will be established on the basis of these guarantees.

1. FOLLOWING SHALL BE THE CITIZENS OF TAMIL EELAM:

(a) All those people now living in the territory of Tamil Eelam.

(b) Tamil speaking persons from any part of Ceylon seeking citizenship in the State of Tamil Eelam.

(c) Tamil speaking people of Ceylonese descent living in any part of the world and seeking citizenship in the State of Tamil Eelam.

2. Political power shall be decentralised so that no one region or no one religion is allowed to dominate over any other region or religion thus ensuring regional autonomy for the people in the various regions in the pattern of federalism obtaining in Switzerland. The Tamil United Liberation Front guarantees that particularly Muslims who form a part of the State of Tamil Eelam will be established in the Regions where they are in a majority as an autonomous province with the right to secede on the basis of the right to self-determination.

3. The Tamil United Liberation Front guarantees that neither a Tamil majority region nor a Muslim majority region will be allowed to be colonised by the other group thus ensuring that no group of people is reduced to a minority in its own Region.

4. Caste system along with the atrocity of untouchability and the grave injustice of attributing social superiority or inferiority by birth will be totally eradicated and any such practice subjected to rigorous punishment by law.

5. The State of Tamil Eelam shall be a secular one where all the religions practised by the people in the State will receive equal protection and aid.

6. Tamil shall be the official language of the State of Tamil Eelam, while the Sinhalese living in the State will be provided the right to be educated in their own tongue and to transact their business with the state in their own language. Similarly guarantees will be sought from the Sinhala State about the language rights of the Tamil-speaking people living in that state.

7. In Tamil Eelam, which shall be a scientific socialist State

(a) Exploitation of man by man will be prevented by law;

(b) Dignity of labour will be protected.

(c) While the private sector will be permitted within limits imposed by law, means of production and distribution will be state owned or subject to state control.

(d) Full protection will be afforded to tenant cultivators and residents on privately owned lands.

(e) Economic development of the Tamil State of Eelam will be on the basis of Socialist planning.

(f) A ceiling will be fixed on the wealth an individual or a family could accumulate.

8. While the Socialist State of Tamil Eelam would follow a policy of non-alignment, it would, in the international field, lend its support to the anti-imperialist forces and democratic liberation movements.

9. The State of Tamil Eelam will develop friendship with the progressive forces in the Sinhalese State and would on the basis of fraternity, work out a peaceful solution for the mutual problems facing the two nations.

Liberation – how will it be achieved?

The Tamil Nation must take the decision to establish its sovereignty in its homeland on the basis of its right to self-determination.

The only way to announce this decision to the Sinhalese government and to the world is to vote for the Tamil United Liberation Front.

The Tamil speaking representative who get elected through these votes, while being members of the National State Assembly of Ceylon, will also form themselves into the NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF TAMIL EELAM” which will draft a constitution for the State of Tamil Eelam and to establish the independence of the Tamil Eelam by bringing that constitution into operation either by peaceful means or by direct action or struggle.

The National Assembly of Tamil Eelam will draw up and implement plans relating to the economic development social progress, protection of territory, educational development etc.

Action will be taken to enlist international support to achieve the freedom of Tamil Eelam.

Other programmes of work

The problems of the Tamil-speaking people outside Tamil Eelam are getting complicated today. Particularly the up country Tamil workers are being forcibly driven out of their places of work and places of residence by the Sinhalese government and government abetted Sinhalese hooligans. It is quite clear that the terrible act of arson on the homes of Tamil labourers and the police firing that caused the death of the Tamil youth, Ledchumanan, in the Devon estate, have been pre planned and deliberate.

The Tamil United Liberation Front will fight for the rights of these workers who have toiled for the prosperity of this country, to live in their own homes with security of employment fully guaranteed.

The Tamil United Liberation Front will work for the basic human rights and political, social and economic rights of the Tamil-speaking people living in any part of Ceylon.

At the same time, the Tamil United Liberation Front will set up a special organisation to prepare plans for the well-being of and to give all assistance to the Tamil Speaking people who wish to migrate to Tamil Eelam to set up their lives in their new homes.

It is indispensable that every person who is a member of the Tamil Nation that aspires to be free must be able to live in enjoyment of human rights, in full. Hence, as an important aspect of the liberation movement, intensive steps will be taken for the abolition of the caste system and social disabilities imposed on any section the Tamil people.

Tamil United Liberation Front will take steps to develop friendship with the progressive forces, in South Ceylon, that recognise and are sympathetic towards, the aspirations of the Tamil Nation and with countries that are sympathetic towards the freedom movements particularly with the anti imperialist forces abroad.

Conclusion

The Tamil Nation is at a turning point in its history. The unity we have achieved has made the Sinhalese imperialists take a fresh look at the situation. In this background, as a first step towards the realisation of the freedom of the Nation, the unanimous verdict of the Tamil-speaking people is indispensable. Hence we appeal to you to set aside your passions for, or prejudices against, individual candidates, to forget differences of region, caste or religion and, with the one and the only determination of making the Tamil Nation master of its Destiny.

VOTE

Ø     For the Tamil United Liberation Front.

Ø     For the emancipation of the Tamil Nation.

Ø     For the Freedom of Tamil Eelam

https://www.sangam.org/FB_HIST_DOCS/vaddukod.htm?fbclid=IwAR2c1sW5K2hR8vfudl1Rxlrs2_hT4VpP1cGZ6i7BJ4Flnedp_zA-FxT-x_0

Is this not the essence re-introduced via TNA’s 13 demands which the UNF candidate accepted and assured to deliver if TNA delivered the required votes.

SEE HOW MUCH THESE SENTIMENTS ARE STILL ALIVE – https://www.facebook.com/Jaffna5/

Integration cannot take place when such thoughts and demands are embedded in the thinking of the Tamil leaders who pass these thoughts on to the Tamil people & voters.

Shenali D Waduge

By Dr Upul Wijayawardhana Courtesy The Island

November 20, 2019, 7:07 pm

Towering majestically over the fertile green plains of Anuradhapura, dotted with the traditional symbols of our heritage: lakes and Dagobas, Ruwanveliseya rises to the heavens of a azure blue sky adorned with gently floating feathery silken clouds, reminding us of a glorious past, which we should be able to recreate, if only we had the will and determination. I am sure many would fail to realise that Ruwanweliseya, built in 140 BCE by King Dutugemunu after reunification of Sri Lanka, though surpassed in height by Jetawanaramaya built four centuries later by King Mahasena becoming the third tallest structure in the world, was among the 10 tallest man-made structures in the ancient world. That was no mean feat considering Sri Lanka, from a global perspective, is only a tiny pearl in the Indian Ocean. Perhaps, Ruwanweliseya is even more important to Buddhists than the Sacred Temple of the Tooth, as it is recorded that two quarts or one Drona of the Gauthama Buddha’s relics are enshrined in the stupa, which is the largest single collection of Buddha’s relics anywhere in the world.

Ruwanweliseya, which has witnessed silently many an event, be good or bad, of our Island Nation’s history over the past 21 centuries, witnessed an unique event in the morning of November 18th; the swearing-in of the first elected President who is not a career politician, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, seventh elected President of Sri Lanka, being a decorated army officer and a public servant who proved himself. Though coming from a political family of the deep South, he never opted to politics, instead of moving to the USA on completion of his tenure in the Sri Lanka Army. His elder brother Mahinda, who became the President at a time the country was ravaged by the evil of Tiger terrorism, summoned the help of ‘malli’ to eradicate terrorism, which many an expert opined was a task impossible. Gota became the Defence Secretary and was able to do the impossible by annihilating the terrorists in May 2009, with the political support of ‘ayya’ and the efficient execution of his plans by the three services and the police led by their respective chiefs. This was to the utmost relief of all Sri Lankans but to the annoyance of the doomsters and liberalists who covertly support terrorists. Gota then took the task of Urban Development, the beautified City of Colombo and many others standing to his testimony.

Unfortunately, the drunkenness of power permeated his ‘ayya’s’ administration too and the Sri Lankan voter decided, quite rightly, to kick-off that regime in 2015. However, the Yahapalanaya, that replaced with promises of a golden era, turned out to be nothing but a mirage, with politicians vying with each other for the robbery of public property and some of them subjugating the honour and the pride of the country too. An idiotic politician, in the garb of the foreign Minister, had the audacity to co-sponsor a resolution against his own country, an act of treachery hitherto unknown, to curry favour with Uncle Sam. Others, who claim to be patriotic now, acquiesced by their silence. Hounding Gota became their pastime!

Gota, being a forward-thinking strategist, stared planning a mission with the help of intellectuals and professionals by setting up forums like ‘Viyath Maga’. Meanwhile his malli, Basil built from scratch, a new political force, realising the inevitable destruction of both major political parties, the UNP and the SLFP, by the unwholly alliance of Yahapalanaya, which was a marriage of convenience – a ploy to keep some power-hungry politicians in command. The nomination of Gota from the SLPP was inevitable, whilst the UNP was fighting a destructive internal battle. Sajith won that battle but lost the war: Pohottuwa, the bud bloomed!

Irrespective of what his minions did, Gota stuck to his promise of a decent campaign, not criticising his opponents but stating his policy in a presidential manner whereas Sajith’s campaign was typified by his never-ending declarations of his own greatness. What Sajith was silent about the voters understood. the TNA-led group placed 13 demands, which was rejected outright by Gota, and extended support to Sajith resulting in an unprecedented Tamil vote to Sajith. Sajith accommodated Muslim politicians, tainted with accusations of supporting terrorism even, to be rewarded with a massive endorsement from that community too. Further, there was an organised campaign to promote fake news against Gota. Though I was not surprised by the attempts of the likes of Rajitha, who had egg-on-face after his exploits with white-van criminals, I was shocked how a junior colleague of mine was dissipating fake-news with glee! Fortunately, our villagers displayed greater awareness and common-sense, voting in droves for Gota to ensure a victory that saved the integrity of our country. Had Sajith being elected, what he would have had to do to please the minorities who supported him in droves, is best left to the imagination.

What is the significance of this Gotabaya victory?

First, it moves power away from the two main parties: the UNP and the SLFP, which is no bad thing. In fact, it may lead to a fourth force to oppose the SLPP, as shown by the promptness with which Sajith stepped-down from his position in the UNP. I do hope, even if he plans to set up a new party, Sajith would shun away from the likes of Mangala, who has introduced a new concept to Buddhism: Desarana, dropping the Sangha from the Triple Gem, may be after listening to the discourses of some Buddhist monks, at UNP meetings, who advised getting supporters of Gota drunk with Arrack to prevent them voting!

Even more significant is the lesson taught to the leaders of minority parties, who are exploiting their electorate for personal gain, that the era of ‘Tail waging the Dog’ is over. Gota, in a calm, measured, truly presidential address to the nation, after the swearing-in ceremony in front of Ruwanweliseya, stated this very elegantly. He said “Although I was convinced that I could win this election with the vote of the majority Sinhalese, I extended an invitation to the minorities to join in my victory which, unfortunately, fell below my expectations.” However, he assured fair treatment to all and it is time for the leaders of minorities to change their attitude, one of cooperation than confrontation, for the betterment of their electorate. It was interesting that the first Tamil politician to congratulate the new president was former CM Vigneswaran, well known for his venom spewing at the Sinhalese. Perhaps, he is trying to wrestle power from TNA and these are the snakes Gota should avoid like the plague!

It also signals shift of power from Colombo to the South which a Southerner like me should say: “High time”. For far too long, South was the most neglected, not the North contrary to popular belief. I should not miss the rare opportunity of my claim to fame: Gota was born in Palatuwa, the village next to mine! President Sirisena promised a shift to Polonnaruwa but soon got lost in the glamour of Colombo, finally opting for a magnificent residence in Colombo than in Polonnaruwa, in retirement or not, as he even does not know what he will do next!

Another important consideration is the security situation, not the long term but the immediate. I may be accused of harbouring a delusion, but am concerned because we have still not identified the masterminds behind the Easter Sunday attack, all the investigations carried out by Yahapalanaya being nothing but white-washes. The best way to challenge Gota is by unleashing terror, immediately, and I would not be surprised if the masterminds are already at work. I am sure Gota is well aware of this and already at the task of revamping our intelligence and security services, allowed to rot by Yahapalanaya to appease their foreign masters. Apparently, the words of wisdom painted on a three-wheeler in Kandy was:

Russia palanaya Putin Ape palanaya pitin

Do hope that dark era is behind us!

After strengthening the security situation, which is nothing new to him, Gota and Mahinda are faced with the uphill task of salvaging the economy, whilst attempting to keep to the election pledges. A minor miracle is needed for this but the two brothers did exactly that 10 years ago. For the sake of my beloved Motherland and the millions of expectant citizens, I do hope Gota and Mahinda would be able to do the impossible, again!

They are our only hope, between prosperity and a revolution!

An Anguished Citizen

Recently Ranil has been going around the country doing Pooja’s and celebrating his 40 years in politics. As far as I can see he was a miserable failure as a politician. It was like 40 years of mayhem. He failed to win elections 29 times, tried to win in 2010 with Sarath Fonseka in front and failed. Then in 2014 he and CBK started a campaign of lies via social media against incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa with funding from foreign NGOs. He promised cars for all, WiFi for the youth and free cell phones. Our idiotic voters fell for it and elected My3 the SLFP traitor who had hoppers with MR and then left him to contest as President of a joint front. They had secret talks with TNA and the Tamil diaspora attended by Mangala Samaraweera in Singapore and at the elections had 94% turn out of Tamils for the joint party. In spite of all these efforts, they won by a very small margin (449,072 votes). There was a lot of cheating as was shown by Dilrook Kanangara and Ravi Randeniya. 

See: https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2015/08/14/cheating-at-the-election/

See Maithripala then and now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvntVXWtoII

My3 broke the law when he appointed RW as the Prime Minister while the Parliament already had D. M. Jayaratna. The reason he gave was that “the West wanted it so”. I assume the West was Britain/USA nexus. In turn, Ranil changed the Cabinet when there was an existing cabinet and appointed his own henchmen. He brought the Finance Ministry under his control and then appointed Arjun Mahendran as head of Central Bank while he was still a Singaporean citizen. He also appointed Paskaralingam whose bad reputation is well known by all Sri Lankans, as head of Treasury. Arjun then did the Rs. 5,000 Million insider trading bond scam. Very little has been done to investigate this matter and bring the miscreants to justice. Ranil is the chief perpetrator since he appointed Arjun Mahendran. My3 could have prevented the gigantic second bond scam that took place in 2016 if he had removed Arjun Mahendran. He is too weak to say no to Ranil.

See: https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2017/02/07/bond-scam/

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd43BclpYWo

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogefGxwseWg

See: https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/arjuna-mahendran-is-innocent-another-betrayal-by-yahapalanaya/

Even in the August Parliamentary election, My3 broke the law. First, My3 brought a court action to prevent the CC of UPFA from a meeting. Then he got information from National Intelligence that UPFA is going to win 113 seats. According to his own words in order to prevent his own party SLFP/UPFA from winning and to ensure that UNP wins, he wrote a 5-page letter to MR telling him that he will not be appointed as Prime Minister under any circumstances. He then went on tv and read it out to the public to reinforce his letter. He then removed the General Secretaries of both parties (UPFA & SLFP) and appointed his own. He removed the 13 members of the CC and appoints his own. All this was done during the period where the Election commissioner has said there should be no electioneering.  Was this not electioneering by My3 for the UNP during that period? All these actions confused our voting public. On top of that many have pointed out false ballot papers, counting errors etc. Democracy is a laugh in Sri Lanka. Nowhere else in the world will the party leader work for the opposition so strenuously. The election in January was flawed due to an unbelievable number of voter increase in North, East and Nuwara Eliya. As far as I can see both elections have been cheated. After the elections, the members of the gazetted National List were removed and My3 appointed people who had lost the vote to the National List. 

See:  https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2015/08/25/i-wrote-that-letters-sacked-secretaries-because-i-received-intelligence-reports-that-upfa-is-on-the-verge-of-winning-president-%E0%B6%BD%E0%B7%92%E0%B6%BA%E0%B7%94%E0%B6%B8%E0%B7%8A-%E0%B6%BD/

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX_RF6_jQzw

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53Z2fwfgC8s

Prof. Nalin de Silva proves that My3 only got 40% of the Sinhala vote. See:  https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2016/01/14/press-conference-of-chinthana-parshadaya-held-on-13th-january-2016-on-the-new-constitution-and-theravada-kathikavatha/

Some of the crimes against the Sinhalese committed by CBK, My3 and Ranil are as follows:

• When 1000 soldiers were cut off without water at Elephant Pass, CBK and her nephew Rohan Daluwatte who was the army commander, did nothing to help those men who died of thirst. She could have done so many things to help these men. Instead as Chief Commander, she did nothing !! When the LTTE blew up 11 air Lanka planes the insurance money is supposed to have gone straight into her personal account. This is unforgivable. Also read about CBK’s robbery. http://www.sundaytimes.lk/081012/News/sundaytimesnews_20.html With all this money she gathered she was able to go abroad and live in the U.K. for 10 years and educate her children. She is a member of Club de Madrid which is an international group with ex-leaders from all over the world. You can read a full account of her crooked activities in Victor Ivans’s brilliant book “Rogue Queen”.
• RW kept trying to hand over the North and East to appease Prabhakaran. He even stopped a crucial military operation in 2001 where the army knew the exact location of Prabhakaran and was ready to take him out. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZWO5fWDikQ  See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjmw8kxbMPU
• Between him and CBK they prolonged the war by listening to the so-called mediators from Norway who were brought in by CBK. The Norwegians were more interested in making the LTTE win than bringing a peaceful resolution. Under their direction container loads of equipment and maybe even armaments were brought in through the customs without inspection on Ranils instructions and send directly to the LTTE. Ranil demoralized the army be limiting them to the barracks and ensuring that they were not given enough money to even maintain the vehicles and munitions. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxbGojMb1xc
• Ranil tried to give 2/3 of the land to LTTE along with the Norwegians on a bogus Peace deal which was used by the LTTE to strengthen their defense systems. Entire container loads of equipment were allowed to go to the Wanni to LTTE on Ranil’s instructions. See http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=1146733. 
• He was involved in the release of the names of the 80 odd long-range Military Intelligence group to the Parliament which resulted in the names going public. The LTTE then hunted them down and killed every one of them. Some of them were captured and tortured by them to get more names. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_City_incident
• Gonawela Sunil was in jail for 10 years for the rape of a doctor’s daughter. As soon as JR came into power, on the advice of RW, he released G’Sunil. After that wherever RW went Gonawela Sunil went too as his “bodyguard”. Sunil was collecting “kappam” from the bagging plant operators at the Fertilizer manufacturing plant. Was he sharing this with RW? Since he was protected by RW he must have, at least to buy voters? Gonawela Sunil also managed to drill into a pipeline from the refinery which was sending gasoline to Kolonnawa. He was sucking it up and selling it on the black market. Again who protected him from prosecution? !!  Finally, a rival gang member shot him. That was the end of the strange relationship between Gonawela Sunil and RW. 
•  During the uprising of the JVP both in the 1970’s and the 1988-90 period it is estimated at almost 80-90,000 youth was killed most of them who were innocent. Most of the killing was done by the UNP regime while Ranil was one of the Ministers who were in charge of bringing the JVP uprising under control. He is supposed to have set up the Batalanda torture chamber under one Douglas Pieris. It is estimated that at least 15,000 youth were tortured in the most bestial manner and then killed supposedly under the direction of Ranil Wickremasinghe. The commission which was set up to inquire into these crimes recommended that Ranil’s civic rights be removed. This was not implemented by CBK. Why? All these innocent Sinhala children are crying out for justice. There are no UNHRC officials to inquire into these crimes by the UNP and Ranil. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9t4Tv9cy60
• He was also involved with Batalanda murders of mostly JVP lawyers, I believe, from what I heard. At the Fertilizer plant housing scheme one of the houses was acquired by RW for interrogating suspected JVP members. Many people apparently heard the screams from this house in the middle of the night when people were tortured. People also used to see bodies floating down the Kelani river. The Batalanda Commission report recommended that RW’s civil rights be removed. As usual, in Sri Lanka, nothing happens to Colombians and those with memberships in International Organizations like the International Democratic Union of which Ranil is a member. 

See Maithri talking against RW in 1994:  https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2016/01/10/batalanda/

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqSW3cKNb7k

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Av-d2qJ0Ys

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV6_o9txURc

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgVyaHJGhc45. 

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9t4Tv9cy60

• Ranil has been insulting to Buddhism. He pretends to be Buddhist but is actually neither Buddhist or Christian when one looks at his actions at Batalanda. Anyone with an iota of humanity would not have what he is supposed to have done. 

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RddXfSU0aSE

• Ranil has always been trying to sell Sri Lanka to foreigners. Every time he got some power into his hands he set about trying to convert our economy to a capitalist economy notwithstanding the fact that Sri Lanka is designated as a Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. When he was elected as the PM he started privatizing almost 991 profit-making state enterprises. Some places like the Sevanagala Sugar factory was privatized and the new owners removed the assets and ran it to the ground. Then when MR came into power he brought most of them back to being state enterprises. Now before Ranil leaves he wants to sell the most important strategically important ports to Chinese and Indians. As soon as he came into power the first step he took was to change the law which prohibited the sale of land to foreigners so that foreigners could buy large acreages of land. 
• Pure Capitalism does not work. There are many top economists who have written on the topic. One of the most outspoken has been Dr. Richard Wolf. His famous talk Capitalism hits the fan is given below. His solution to the ills of pure capitalism is to have democracy in the workplace. The Mondragon Corporation in Spain is actually a large number of Co-operatives under the umbrella of Mondragon. This was set up with the blessings of the Catholic Church. In the USA there are many companies which are run as co-operatives where the employees participate in the decision making of the company affairs by being on the board. In Germany which has been very successful any company with over 2000 employees has to have at least 50% of employees on the board. This is why unlike the USA Germany is very successful. In 2008 when the recession hit many companies in the USA laid off people in millions. In Germany, the Govt informed the companies not to lay off anyone. They suggested that they can reduce the number of hours of employees but keep all employed. In return, the German Govt paid the wages of the companies who had reduced the number of hours of employees so that no one lost any money. The net result was that the people had money in the pocket and were spending it thereby keeping the economy rolling. They hardly felt the recession, unlike the stupid USA Corporations.

Please watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZU3wfjtIJY ( Capitalism Hits the Fan – Richard Wolff)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WhZXhRS3F4 ( Austerity and Neoliberalism in Greece with Richard Wolff and Barry Herman | The New School)

• Ranil is supposed to have agreed to a bridge to Sri Lanka from India in 2002. We can be sure it is on his agenda if he remains as PM. In an export-oriented economy which is what Ranil wants one of the main requirements is cheap labor. In order to do that, he has destroyed the agrarian economy and impoverished the rural folk. MR was trying to make the country self-sufficient in food and most commodities. In fact, before the Yahapalanaya came into power Sri Lanka was self-sufficient in rice. Now we are importing rice from Thailand, Burma, and even Bangladesh. How pathetic. 

See:http://www.atimes.com/article/sri-lankans-oppose-bridge-with-india/

• The UN has become just a puppet of powerful countries to bully small defenseless countries. Sri Lanka has been pummelled by the UN and the UNHRC on bogus War crimes charges without any proof. Please see this excellent article on this subject: https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2016/09/06/who-monitors-the-monitors-iii/ On his instructions presumably, Mangla Samaraweera co-sponsored a resolution against Sri Lanka. 
• It is very obvious that Ranil Wickremasinghe has no love for the country or the people. He has been a stooge of the powerful countries right from the beginning. He came into power as the PM illegally on Jan 8’15 after the Presidential election when the spineless My3 was elected as President and he then appointed RW as PM when there was an existing PM and a Parliament with a cabinet. 
• Ranil then caused the Central Bank bond scam by appointing a foreigner as the Governor of Central Bank who proceeded to do a bond scam which has cost Sri Lanka a massive amount of money. Part of this money was used by him for the General Election in Aug 2015 which the UNP won only narrowly. Again the spineless My3 created a so-called National Govt as a coalition of the UNP and all the MPs who were rejected by the people who were brought in under the National List by the spineless My3. 
•  The current Parliament is a comedy since the TNA which got only 16 seats is the Opposition while the 52 SLFP members who did not join the coalition are in the wilderness without any official recognition. All the JO group members are harassed at every turn by another illegal group called the FCID created by RW. He seems to get all these brilliant ideas which are obviously coming from the think tanks of the powerful countries. 
•  Ranil is supposed to be trying to bankrupt the country so that we are helpless like Greece and he is also supposed to be trying to lease out 5000 acre lots of land to foreigners for 100-year leases. This will enable the Tamil diaspora to lease out most of the North and East for exclusive use by the Tamils thereby creating a separate state. He has already given 15,000 acres on a 99-year lease to a Chinese company based in Hong Kong presumably with British interests. This is a great crime against the country since if it was managed the way MR was doing it would have paid for itself in about 5 years. In the days of the King of Kandy traitors like this were pulled apart to pieces by elephants which is what he deserves.

The biggest problem Sri Lanka has is that the entire Colombo group is more or less very Westernized. They are so Westernized that they are more Western than the Westerners themselves! They talk with a big accent and if you go to any of the clubs you find the men and the women are like from another age of the West. They drink only whiskey, brandy, and imported liquor. You see girls dancing and with girls and kissing each other trying to emulate the West. They travel in luxury limousines like BMWs and Benzes. The children are sent to International Schools, as a result, they are completely divorced from the realities of Sri Lanka. The poor go to the middle east to make the foreign exchange which is used by these Colombians to maintain their lifestyle at the expense of the development in the country. If you look at the number of luxury vehicles you cannot imagine that the country is paying 94% of its earning to pay the foreign debts. These parasites are the biggest supporters of the UNP and Ranil. 

The other groups are the Christian Catholic groups who want to convert the entire island to their religion (which is mythology) as has been done in South Korea, etc. The foreign companies who have now put deep roots in Sri Lanka also want to make sure they are secure so they support the UNP and Ranil. One of these days the dominoes will fall and when that happens there will be a massive upheaval hopefully for the better for all who are truly patriotic and love Sri Lanka. 

Any other Govt which comes into power after this ridiculous puppet Govt must carry out a plan to correct all the mistakes that have been done over the years by successive Govts. We must rename the country as “Sinhale” which was the name of the country in the Treaty the British signed with the Chieftains of Sri Lanka in 1815 when they handed over the country to them.  They must have an inquiry into the activities of Ranil Wickremasinghe over the years and prosecute him. When the Batalanda commission found him guilty and removed his civic rights how did he manage to run for PM? Why is that no one raised any arguments against him? 

By Gandara John

In January 2015, the Americans heavy-handedly interfered in Sri Lanka’s Presidential Election, pumping into the country massive sums of monies through their preferred conduits like the Evangelical Church and Foreign-Government Funded Organisations (FGFO), better known as NGOs and collectively described by Western Civilisation as ‘Civil Society’.

On 08 Jan 15 Rajapaksa was defeated, narrowly, and Sirisena limped into office, sheepishly.

On the next day – 09 Jan 15 – Sirisena, eclipsed his egg-hopper flop of November 2018, when he executed a Constitutional Coup, appointing Wickramasinghe as Prime Minister while the sitting Prime Minister yet enjoyed the confidence of Parliament.

On 26 Jan 15,  the puppet regime drafted to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka as its Governor, Mahendran, an ill-reputed Singaporean money launderer who enjoyed the confidence  of the US and Wickramasinghe. (See Mahendran’s job profile).

With an American puppet regime in saddle, with American mercenaries controlling key Government institutions, the last phase of the American plan to take-over Sri Lanka took shape.

At the time the puppet regime took control of the country, the country’s economy was relatively healthy ‘with a GDP growth rate of 5%. The growth rate was well above its regional peers. Sri Lanka was the second wealthiest nation in South Asia after the Maldives and according to the World Bank, ‘an upper middle-income nation’.  Sri Lanka had met the Development Goal target of halving extreme poverty and was on track to meet most of the other targets, outperforming other South Asian countries(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Sri_Lanka)

The density of vehicles in Colombo at that time, was not a nightmare as it is now, with speeds averaging 22 KMPH at peak hours (See Prof Amal Kumarage’s comments to the Sunday Times http://www.sundaytimes.lk/120212/News/nws_18.html)

With the Government just 40 days into office Karunanayake, the Finance Minister at the time, and Mahendran were ordered  to report to Washington.

On 17^th/18^th  February 2015, Karunanayake and Mahendran met with Indrawati (MD of the World Bank), Lagarde (MD of the IMF), Toloui (Asst Sec for Treasury), Biswal (Asst Sec of State for South Asia) and senior officials of the White House (members of the Global Economics and Finance Department); accompanying them was Kariyawasam who was then a servant of the Sri Lankan public too. (See Sri Lanka embassy web site of 19 Feb 15).

Karunanayake, on instructions, requested a loan of 4 Billion USD from the IMF. Lagarde, in response, indicated that she would be happy to have further discussions on this matter in Colombo (See IMF website of 18 Feb 15).

Lagarde wanted Sri Lanka to take immediate steps to meet some IMF conditions which  reportedly included tax reforms, increased privatisation of State owned enterprises,  crippling of the transport system, reducing Central Bank Intervention in the Foreign Exchange market, cutting-down the country’s Foreign Exchange Reserves and suspending the 1.4 Billion USD Chinese investment in the China Port City project. (see https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/03/20/sril-m20.html)

To ensure that instructions were complied with,  Lagarde despatched to Colombo an IMF monitoring team led by Todd Schneider and Changyong Rhee (Director Asia-Pacific Dept of the IMF); and the World Bank sent a team led by Annette Dixon (Vice President for South Asia).

Eight days later, on 27 Feb 15, Karunanayake introduced a tax scheme which enabled the import of vehicles that were 3 years old; previously, the import ceiling had been 2 years.  (http://www.autobay.lk/import-your-vehicle/duty-rates-27-february-2014/).

The flood gates were opened; from an average of 3,200 vehicles per month being imported in 2014, there was over a 400% increase in 2015. In the month of September 2015 alone, the number of vehicles imported was a staggering 14,301, an all time high.

Subsequent to Karunanayake’s decision on 27 Feb 15,  in the nine months that followed, 486,000 vehicles were imported. (https://www.lankabusinessonline.com/sri-lanka-vehicle-registrations-hit-another-high-in-sept-jbs/).

In October 2015, the old regulations (the pre 27 Feb 15 period regulations), were brought back. Karunanayake had diabolically closed the stable door after the horse had bolted; Karunanayake was successful in crippling the traffic in Colombo, which today averages a speed of 6 KMPH at peak times.

Karunanayake was the pathfinder to the MCC; the MCC now had the justification to intervene in Sri Lanka’s ‘transport’ sector.

On the same day, 27 Feb 15, Wickramasinghe, Samarawickrema, Hashim, Karunanayake and Mahendran, as reported, staged the country’s biggest robbery, when they looted the Central Bank in broad daylight.

The looting of the Central Bank and initiating measures to gridlock Colombo vehicular traffic, were done under the watchful eyes of the two monitoring teams from the IMF and the World Bank, who had their boots on the ground in Colombo, at that time.

On 04 Mar 15, the IMF team-leader Schneider, speaking from Colombo, rejected the 4 Billion USD loan request made by Karunanayake purportedly because Sri Lanka did not qualify; he said, There is no need for a bailout; Sri Lanka’s Foreign Reserves are comfortable”.

The stage was set. With no IMF monies forthcoming, with measures taken to deliberately run down the economy (on the advice of the IMF), Sri Lanka would be receptive when the MCC made overtures to the country.

In December 2015, Sri Lanka was selected for a MCC threshold program; the threshold program is one where much lesser monies are pledged by the US in return for the ‘targeted’ country grooming itself to stated US standards, values and vision. If the country does not groom itself accordingly, the country is not even eligible to be considered by the MCC .

The MCC is a diabolic program; initially, the ‘victim’ country allows itself, of its own volition, to be mentally colonised and subjugated to US standards and dictates; subsequently, if such country is approved by the MCC, the ‘victim’ country then agrees to be physically colonised and occupied through  the terms of the MCC Compact that are spelt out.

In 2015, Sri Lanka had not groomed itself entirely to the satisfaction of the US, and her application was rejected; she was required to do more.

In 2016 the Bandits  looted the Central Bank once again. The MCC selected the country for the Compact program in December 2016.

When in 2017,  the MCC reviewed how well Sri Lanka had groomed herself to US standards, Sri Lanka had, by then, repealed the Foreign Exchange Control Act and replaced it with the ‘Foreign Exchange Act’ which did not allow the Central Bank to control money laundering; Sri Lanka legislated a New Income Tax Act prepared in the US. Furthermore, Sri Lanka’s GDP growth rate was down to 3.1

Sri Lanka was selected for the MCC Compact in 2017

In the MCC Executive summary, at https://www.mcc.gov/resources/story/story-cbj-fy2019-executive-summary,

to the US Congress, it is pointed out that the Sri Lankan Compact will advance US values and interests that will support stability in a region of significant strategic importance; the MCC Compact with Sri Lanka advances US security in the region. 

 The summary goes on to say that Sri Lanka’s Compact is aimed at reducing transport congestion in the Western Province and providing access to land for US agricultural and industrial investors, thus optimising the use of State Lands for commercial purposes by the US.

Interestingly, like Sri Lanka, the MCC has selected Cabo Verde, an island Nation off the coast of West Africa for a Compact programme; the MCC reveals that the country is strategically at the crossroads of mid-Atlantic air and sea routes and with the MCC programme in place, the US is able to access the Land of that country and transfer land Titles to US Companies, within 3 days, thus advancing security and stability in West Africa.

The MCC programme is the crux of US colonialism.

Dr Sudath Gunasekara (SLASS) Permanent Secretary; To Mrs Sirimavo Bndaranayaka and Ex-President Sri Lanka State Administrative Services Association (1991-1994)

Comments on the Press release by the Speakers Office (19^th Nov) on the present political situation.

Mahanuwara 20.11. 2019.

The Press release by the Speakers Office

1 Parliament to be dissolved on March 1, 2020, as required by the constitution, to make way for a parliamentary election in April

2 Members of Parliament voluntarily to give a 2/3 majority to dissolve the Parliament and hold a general election immediately

3 The Prime Minister to voluntarily resign and allow the new President to form an interim Government until the next General election is held in terms of the Constitutional provisions.

Of these three alternatives the last in my opinion is the best solution both for pragmatic and practical reasons.

Obviously in the first place neither Ranil nor his team including the UNP and SLMS or any other three wheeler Party in the UNF including the UNP Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has any legitimate right or moral right to decide as to when and how the Parliament should be dissolved under the present situation, as the whole set of these politicians has been decisively defeated and rejected by the people at the election just concluded.  It is true that the Constitution has stipulated the conditions on the dissolution of Parliament. But an illegitimately constituted Parliament which also has functioned illegitimately for the past four and half years and ruined the country, as it did, has no legal or moral right to decide on matters involving the sovereignty of the people. Therefore it is high time they understand at least now that the sovereignty lies with the people and it is inalienable and the Parliament is only one body out of the three, the Parliament, the Executive and the Judiciary together are empowered to exercise people’s Sovereignty.  The executive powers of the people including the Defense of Sri Lanka shall be exercised by the President of the Republic elected by the people by virtue of constitutional powers vested in him to exercise his powers to fulfill his duty by the people in order to protect their sovereignty. Now that the President was elected almost by 70 % of the people in the country and it is their wish and will that should prevail. Therefore the President has the legitimate power to decide as to what he should do next. Therefore obviously Ranil and his bunch of treacherous political rejects should immediately allow the President to form an interim Government of his own until the Parliament is dissolved (for the good of the people) on the 2^nd of March in terms of the Constitution.

This in my opinion would be the best solution as that exactly was the wish of the people’s mandate given to the President at this election and also the view of the right thinking people of this country.  Actually not only Ranil and his failed Cabinet, If they have an iota of shame and self-respect (which of cause they don’t have as we all know), as all of them have been rejected wholesale by the people in their seats and districts. But since there is a need for Parliament to function until let them wait as MPP until the Parliament dissolved in March for the following reasons.

1 For the people to see an immediate change and feel some relief and be happy over their decision  taken to elect Gotabhay Rajapaksa as their President without allowing them to wait for another six months counting their fingers in frustration and disgust.

11 To reduce the pressure on the Government coffers and the inconvenience to general public.

111 Even those MPP who have not completed 5 years to qualify for the pension will like it and they will support the new government

1V what is more is even Ranil also can continue till next elections at least as the Leader of the Opposition as it is his life ambition and birth right.

V It will motivate UNP MPP to support the new Government at least in their own interest of getting the personal benefits which are their only interests, under the guise of service to people.

In this backdrop all patriotic people must demand the illegitimate government of Ranil to resign immediately hand over the Government to Opposition to make democracy meaningful though it is unduly belated.

V1 Lastly they also can see their War Hero, their idol, Mahinda Rajapaksa back in his seat as their Prime Minister

Option 1.

The first option suggested by Ranil and Co.  has to be definitely ruled out as the whole country has rejected Ranil’s Government he should not be allowed to continue even for one day as Prime Minister playing his dirty tricks any more as he did in 2018 and also as he and his entire outfit also has been right royally rejected by the people.  And as it also goes against the will of the people since almost all his Ministers and MPP have lost their seats none of them has a legitimate right to remain in power any more. Even his MPP, almost all have demanded him to resign and allow Gotabhaya to form an interim government until election are held in April or early May hand over the government to the newly elected President respecting the people’s landslide verdict. Already about 12 of his Cabinet Ministers have resigned by this time. So what moral right has he got to stick on to the PM chair like leach? He should desist from any more dirty coups lest he is pulled out with his legs by the mobs. The UNP supporters might do it before any other as he has ruined the UNP without leaving any room to recover again. Does he think the colossal damage, destruction and betrayals he has done to this country and the Sinhala Nation is not yet enough? May be why he wants to stick on

Option 2

2 Members of Parliament voluntarily to give a 2/3 majority to dissolve the Parliament and hold a general election immediately

Perhaps seemingly the best, for the people to get a new Government elected. But again in view of the

1 Difficulties of finding the money again for another election immediately after having spent nearly 800 billion for a Presidential election and the inconvenience it will cause to the general public and the Public Servants  

11 the cumulative ill effects that it will have on the already ailing economy by dragging anarchy and political instability for another six months, this suggestion should also be rejected.

Mahinda Rajapaksa Leader of the Opposition

20 November 2019

I was saddened to hear of the passing away of former Prime Minister Hon. D.M.Jayaratne. He was one of my oldest political friends and a comrade in the progressive politics of this country. When I was first elected to Parliament in 1970, Hon. D.M.Jayaratne also entered Parliament as the MP for Gampola. He was a powerful platform orator and a formidable debater in our party.

In 1977 when the Sri Lanka Freedom Party went into the opposition, and our party experienced difficult times, he was a leader who played an important role in safeguarding the party. In 1989 he and I once again entered Parliament as opposition MPs. During that era, the anti-democratic and anti-people activities of the UNP government reached its peak. During those dark days, Hon. D.M.Jayaratne was a pillar of strength to his political party and the opposition in general.

In 1994, Hon.D.M.Jayaratne and I became Ministers for the first time in the SLFP led government formed that year. In 2010 when I was elected President for the second time, Hon. D.M.Jayaratne was appointed as the Prime Minister.  During his long career as a Parliamentarian, he earned the respect and affection of people of the country in general and especially the people of the Kandyan provinces whom he represented in Parliament. He also had the good fortune to receive the blessings of the Venerable Mahanayake Theras and the Maha Sangha.

As a Minister, Hon.D.M.Jayaratne showed a special interest in agriculture and environmental protection. His name will always be associated with the Ambuluwawa environmental project which was his brainchild. It is now a major tourist attraction in the country. I wish to convey my heartfelt condolences to his wife Mrs Anula Yapa and his son Parliamentarian Anuradha Jayaratne and other members of his family and the people of the Kandyan provinces and the country in general, who looked up to him as a leader.

Mahinda Rajapaksa

Leader of the Opposition

මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ විපක්‍ෂ නායක

2019 නොවැම්බර් 20

ශ්‍රී ලංකා ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී සමාජවාදී ජනරජයේ හිටපු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ගරු දි.මු ජයරත්න මැතිතුමාගේ අභාවය පිළිබඳව මාගේ බලවත් සංවේගය මෙයින් ප්‍රකාශ කර සිටිමි. ගරු දි.මු ජයරත්න මැතිතුමා මාගේ පැරණිම දේශපාලන මිත්‍රයෙක් සහ අප ප්‍රගතිශීලී කඳවුරේ සගයෙක් යැයි කිවහොත් එය නිවැරදිය. මා පළමු වරට පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඡන්දයෙන් තේරීපත් වූ 1970 වසරේදී දි.මු ජයරත්න මැතිතුමාද ගම්පොල ආසනය නියෝජනය කරමින් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට තේරී පත්වූයේය.  ඔහු අප පක්‍ෂයේ දක්‍ෂ කථිකයෙකු ලෙසද ප්‍රබල විවාද කරුවෙකු ලෙසද කැපී පෙනුනි.

1977 දී අප පක්‍ෂය විපක්‍ෂයේ අසුන්ගත් පසු දි.මු ජයරත්න මැතිතුමා විපක්‍ෂයේ දේශපාලනඥයෙකු වශයෙන්  ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්‍ෂය අර්බුද වලට මුහුණ දුන් අවස්ථාවලදී පක්‍ෂය ආරක්‍ෂා කර ගැනීම සඳහා වැදගත් භූමිකාවක් ඉටුකළ නායකයෙකි. 1989 දී ඔහු සමඟ මමද නැවතත් විපක්‍ෂයේ මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් බවට පත්වූයෙමු. එම වකවානුවේදී එජාප ආණ්ඩුවේ ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍ර විරෝධී මෙන්ම ජනතා විරෝධී ක්‍රියාකාරකම් උච්ච අවස්ථාවකට පත් වූ අතර එම අවස්ථාවලදී දි.මු ජයරත්න මැතිතුමා තම පක්‍ෂය මෙන්ම විපක්‍ෂය වෙනුවෙන් ප්‍රබල සෙන්පතියෙකු ලෙස ක්‍රියා කළ බව අපේ මතකයට නැගේ.

1994 දී ගරු දි.මු ජයරත්න මැතිතුමාත් මමත් පළමු වරට ඇමති වරුන් බවට පත්වූයෙමු.  2010 සිට 2015 දක්වා මා ජනාධිපති වශයෙන් පත්වූ අතර  අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ධූරයට පත් වූයේ දි.මු. ජයරත්න මැතිතුමාය. එතුමාගේ පාර්ලිමේන්තු කාර්යභාරය තුළ  මුලු රටේමත්, විශේෂයෙන්ම කන්ද උඩරට ප්‍රදේශයේ පොදු ජනතාවගේ ඉමහත් ආදරය දිනාගෙන ක්‍රියා කළේය.  ගරුතර මහා නායක නාහිමිපාණන් වහන්සේලා ප්‍රමුඛ මහා සංඝරත්නයේ ආශිර්වාදයද එතුමාට නිරතුරුවම ලැබිණි.

දි.මු. ජයරත්න මැතිතුමා අප රටේ කෘෂි කර්මාන්තයටත් පරිසර සංරක්‍ෂණයටත් විශේෂ ඇල්මක් දැක්වූ ඇමතිවරයෙකු විය.  එතුමාගේ සංකල්පයක් මත නිර්මාණය කරන ලද අම්බුලුවාව පරිසර ව්‍යාපෘතිය එතුමාගේ නමත් සමඟ බැඳි ඇති අතර එය දෙස් විදෙස් සංචාරකයින්ගේ ආකර්ෂණය දිනා ගැනීමටද සමත් වී ඇත. ගරු දි.මු ජයරත්න මැතිතුමාගේ අභාවය පිළිබඳව එතුමාගේ  ආදරණීය බිරිඳ අනුලා යාපා මැතිනිය, මහනුවර දිස්ත්‍රික් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී ගරු අනුරාධ ජයරත්න මැතිතුමා සහ දියණියන්ටත් පවුලේ සියලුම නෑදෑ හිතවතුන්ටත් එතුමාට මහත්ලෙස ආදරය කළ කන්ද උඩරට ජනතාව ඇතුළු ශ්‍රී ලංකාවාසී සියලු දෙනාටත් මාගේ බලවත් සංවේගය මෙයින් ප්‍රකාශ කර සිටිමි. 

මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ

ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ විපක්‍ෂ නායක

By Noor Nizam – Peace and Political Activist, Political Communication Researcher, SLFP/SLPP Stalwart and Convener – “The Muslim Voice” – November 20th., 2019.

Pakistan is a good friend of HE. Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the Sinhalese Nation of Sri Lanka where the minority communities had lived in “Peace and Harmony”, if not for the problems the Minorities created themselves for political greed and selfishness.

Sri Lankan majority community will never forget the UNSTINTING SUPPORT Pakistan gave Sri Lanka in the war against the most ruthless terrorist group the LTTE organization and to defeat the so-called Tamil Tigers. The communication between PM Imram Khan and HE. Mahinda Rajapaksa is much appreciated and welcome by the Muslims of Sri Lanka at this moment of history making in our “Maathruboomiya”. HE. Mahinda Rajapaksa should accept the invitation extended my PM Inram Khan and make an official vist to Pakistan (Islamabad) at the earliest. 

Pakistan investments should be encouraged and more trade between the two brotherly nations should prosper as a result of the new friendship extended, while we maintain an Equilibrium in international relations with our neighbours. With regards to bilateral relations, this is the correct moment for Pakistan to extend all support and assistance to Sri Lanka to get through with the budened debt crisis that the country is facing presently. Pakistan should also offer more educational scholarships to Sri Lankans in educations, especially in the technical trades and designate more experts in the field of Technical exoerts in agriculture and especially in animal husbandry and “Dairy Farming”. Pakistan should come forward to take over and “turn around” the large “Dairy Farms” that the West, Australia and NewZealand has dumped on Sri Lanka under the pretext of assisting to increase milk production, but really sold thousands of cattle (milk cows) that are NOT Acclimatized to the weather conditions of Sri Lanka. 

They have been sold to Sri Lanka at large prices on strict country to country loans and fraudulent deals, one of the causes of Sri Lanka’s present debt crisis. This is how the West operate bilaterally  to criple the economy of growing nations like Sri Lanka. Pakistan with a track record of having developed the dairy indusrty to become one of the largest diary industrial producers out beating even European countries with having the 3rd., largest cattle breed in the world, should come forward to assist Sri Lanka to follow their foot-steps in the dairy industry. The Sahiwal and the Red Sindhi breeds may suit Sri Lanka the best and Pakistan should try to introduce these breeds to help Sri Lanka’s Dairy Industry. Unlike the production systems in the developed countries, milk production systems in Pakistan represent smallholding with subsistence- or market-oriented-level farming followed by peri-urban or commercial-level farming. This can be an answer to failing Diary Indusrty of Sri Lanka.

Pakistan has also to make sure that no undesirable persons enter Sri Lanka, with the assistance of the Sri Lankan security forces and the Immigration authorities and help Sri Lanka to prevent the flow of drugs into Sri Lanka by nefarious characters operating through Pakistan soil. 

A visit by HE. Gotabaya Rajapaksa to Islamabad in the near future, can pave the way for Pakistan’s engagement in Sri Lanka for the betterment of both brotherly Nations.

By Kalani Kumarasinghe Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, November 20 (Daily Mirror): Over the past weeks, women’s rights were heavily debated as front-runners of the Sri Lankan presidential campaigns pursued the female vote like never before. Sri Lanka had its Presidential election on November 16.

The promises the candidates made included free childcare. The ruling party candidate Sajith Premadasa drew much attention with his promise to give sanitary pads for women.

Elections have come and gone, but one important issue needs to be discussed. On average a woman has her menstrual period from three to seven days. The average woman menstruates from age 13 until age 51, adding up to a total of some 450 of period cycles for roughly 38 years.

This amounts to 2,280 days of menstrual periods. That’s nearly six and a half years of a woman’s life. Thus, she has to have a sanitary pad with her at all times. The physical discomfort and cramps can be the worst part of the entire experience, but in most countries, it’s not the only one.

In Sri Lanka a pack of 10 sanitary napkins can cost from Rs. 120 to Rs. 560. If an average woman experiences a 5-day period cycle per month, that can add up to a yearly cost of Rs. 1440 to Rs. 6720, and that too if a woman only requires a single pack.

Many women would however agree that this is not often the case. Although the prices may seem fairly affordable, women’s and children’s sanitary products in Sri Lanka, like in many other countries, are subjected to taxation. But in Sri Lanka, the problem is particularly acute because sanitary products are heavily taxed.

Until last year, the taxation on imported sanitary pads, tagged under luxury goods, was more than 100 percent. Let’s look at the breakdown.

52% of Sri Lanka’s population is female, with approximately 4.2 million menstruating women. Menstruation is a biological process that is not optional. Many activists believe that levying taxes on sanitary pads which is also a health requirement is simply unjust.

The opposing argument however is that sanitary products are not optional, yet cannot be made tax free as there are many diverse brands for sanitary products and their variants, and some of them are marketed by multinationals. The question remains, as to whether it is fair to tax a woman’s physiology?

Anuki Premachandra, Communications Manager of Advocata Institute said that policy reforms are needed to effectively tackle the issue of discrimination.

Being a Sri Lankan woman is difficult. We battle gender and cultural norms every day and now we have to fight for something beyond our control. It is unfortunate that in a country with 52% women, we have a tax as high as 62% on a product that we have no choice, but to purchase. This is not just an issue of affordability. It is an issue of respect, and of discrimination,” she said.

Advocata, an independent policy think tank based in Colombo, conducting research on the topic has suggested policy reforms which include the removal of several taxes. The think tank encourages the following reforms:

• The Ministry of Finance should remove PAL (7.5%) and General Duty (30%) components from the current taxation structure pertaining to essential menstrual hygiene products in Sri Lanka, bringing the total tax levied on these products down to 18.7% (VAT 15% + NBT 2%)
• The Minister of Finance, in conjunction with the Minister of Health, should declare the reduction in taxes through an extraordinary gazette

Periods can get political

It’s not just in Sri Lanka that women’s menstruation is a political issue. While advocates worldwide are pushing for recognition of a woman’s right to manage her periods, with affordable healthcare options, the concept of ‘menstrual equity’ has become a point of debate. The concept is focused on increasing the availability and affordability of menstrual hygiene products for individuals with limited access and also to raise awareness about reproductive health.

It also aims to promote policies to provide menstrual products in schools, prisons and in some countries even in law-making bodies.

In the United Kingdom, MP Danielle Rowley shocked the House of Commons by announcing she was on her period while calling on ministers to help women who are trapped in period poverty”. A New York Congressman who purchased sanitary products for his staffers meanwhile was embroiled in a debate when he was informed that he was not allowed to allocate funds for women’s hygiene products.

These incidents highlighted a very real issue, period poverty can be an actual problem, even in developed nations such as the UK or the US.

But the most successful political story comes from our neighbour India, where a controversial 12% tax on feminine hygiene products, was slashed, a victory hailed by activists who lobbied for the cause for over a year.

It’s not just the tax

In South Asia, menstruation can come with a host of myths and beliefs. While the discourse on menstruation is usually shrouded in secrecy, in Sri Lanka, it’s yet another curiosity. It is common for periods to come with its own set of issues, including religious places which prohibit entry to menstruating women.

Some myths involving menstruation can also be unhealthy as they promote unhygienic practices. However, in the same country, it is common practice for a family to celebrate and host a meal for family and friends, when a girl attains age or experiences her first menstruation cycle.

Some countries have made bold, positive moves to help bring the menstruation discussion to the center stage. Kenya and Uganda abolished sales tax on menstrual hygiene products, while Zimbabwe subsidizes local manufacturers. The Kenyan government also provides funding for pads in schools.

In 2016 Sri Lanka’s Women and Child Affairs Minister attempted to tackle the controversial issue by introducing a menstrual leave system, where working women would be allowed to request a leave of absence per month, if suffering from severe discomfort owing to menstruation.

Minister Chandrani Bandaranayake attempted to model the system after one practiced in China.

Some intriguing issues about menstruation

We asked over 170 women about the use of sanitary products. The majority of women who took the survey were between the ages of 19 to 30 years, living in urban and suburban areas. 79% of the women said they were uncomfortable discussing menstruation or menstrual health in public. A majority highlighted that imported sanitary products, which they preferred to use over local products, were expensive.

Courtesy Adaderana

Political sources say that the new Cabinet of Ministers of the new government is also likely to be appointed tomorrow (21).

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa is due to be sworn in as the new Prime Minister tomorrow.

Accordingly, Mahinda Rajapaksa would be sworn in as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka at the Presidential Secretariat at 1 pm tomorrow.

Further, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has decided to resign from the premiership and is due to inform the President officially tomorrow.

Courtesy Adaderana

MP Harin Fernando stated that neither he nor Sajith Premadasa is ready to further engage in politics unless there is a change in the current leadership of the United National Party (UNP).

Speaking at a press conference held today (20th) Fernando said another party will have to be formed if it should happen so.

He said the party itself says that the party got Sajith Premadasa into this problematic situation.

When inquired what the next step would be if Ranil Wickremesinghe refuses to step down from UNP leadership, Fernando said that they will move forward by forming a new party.

Stating that Sajith Premadasa had informed that he would not continue in politics if certain positions in the party don’t see a change, Fernando stated that if it doesn’t happen, they would find another path to move forward.

The former Sports Minister further said that he is happy that the incumbent President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has engaged a different kind of politics today.

අරවින්ද අතුකෝරල  lanka C news

ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන සංධානයේ මාධ්‍ය හමුවේ දී පිවිතුරු හෙළ උරුමයේ නායක නීතිඥ උදය ගම්මන්පිල මහතා මෙම අදහස් පල කරන ලදී.

මැතිවරණ ජයග්‍රහණයට වේදිකාවේ වැඩිම දායකත්වයක් ලබාදුන් අයට අපේ ප්‍රණාමය පුද කරන්නට අවශ්‍යයි. සමීක්ෂණයක් කර බැලුවා කවුද වේදිකාවේ වැඩිම දායකත්වයක් දැක්වූයේ ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතා ජනාධිපති කිරීම සඳහා කියලා. මමනම් හිතන් හිටියේ එහි පළමුවැනි තැනට අපේ විමල් වීරවංශ මන්ත්‍රිතුමන් පැමිණේවි කියලා. එහෙත් සමීක්ෂණයට අනුව නම් වැඩිම දායකත්වයක් දක්වලා තියෙන්නේ සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස මහතා. එතුමා කතා කරන්න, කතා කරන්න, ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමාගේ ඡන්ද වැඩිවෙලා තියෙනවා. දෙවෙනියට වැඩිම දායකත්වය දක්වලා තියෙන්නේ අපේ රාජිත සේනාරත්න අමාත්‍යතුමන් සහ එතුමන්ගේ සහය නළු නිළි කැලයි. තුන්වැනිව වැඩිම දායකත්වය මංගල සමරවීර මැතිතුමා සහ හතර වෙනියට පාච රණවක ඇමතිතුමා දායකත්වය දක්වා තියෙනවා. සරත් ෆොන්සේකා මහතා ද මෙම ලැයිස්තුවේ ඉන්නවා. ඔවුන් මේ ජයග්‍රහණයේ කොටස්කරුවන් විදියට කවුරුත් සමරන්නේ නැහැ. ඒ නිසා ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමාගේ ජයග්‍රහණය වෙනුවෙන් එතුමන්ලා දැක්වූ දායකත්වයට ප්‍රණාමය පුද කරන්නට මේක මුලින්ම අවස්ථාවක් කර ගන්නවා.

මානසික ප්‍රචණ්ඩ ක්‍රියා වැඩිම ජනපතිවරණය

ජනාධිපතිවරණ සමයේ දී ප්‍රචණ්ඩ ක්‍රියා එජාපයෙන් සිදු නොවුණු බවට කෙරෙන ප්‍රකාශ වැරදියි. භෞතික ප්‍රචණ්ඩ ක්‍රියා වෙනුවට මානසික ප්‍රචණ්ඩ ක්‍රියා තමයි එජාපය සිදු කලේ. බොරු නඩු 17ක් ගොනු කරලා ගෝඨාභය මැතිතුමා දූෂිතයෙකු කියන්න මුලින් උත්සාහ කළා. ඊ ළඟට ලංකාවේ පුරවැසියෙකු නොවේ, තවමත් ඇමෙරිකානු පුරවැසියෙක්, සුදු වෑන් වලින් තරුණයින් උස්සලා මිනී මෝරුන්ට කන්න දුන්නා, පාස්කු ප්‍රහාරය ගෝඨාගේ සැලැස්මක්, ගෝඨා රට පනින්න සූදානමක් යනාදි වශයෙන් මොනවාද නොකිව්වේ?

ගෝඨාභය මැතිතුමා දූෂිතයෙක්, මිනීමරුවෙක්, දේශද්‍රෝහියෙක් යන ප්‍රතිරූපය හදන්න දවස පුරා මාධ්‍ය හරහා බොරු වැපිරෙව්වා. ඒ බොරු නිසා මිනිස්සුන්ගෙ සිත් ව්‍යාකූල වුණා. ඒක ඇත්තෙන්ම මානසික ප්‍රචණ්ඩ ක්‍රියාවක්. අපිට මතකයි පාච රණවක මැතිතුමා ලෙස්ටර් ජේම්ස් පීරිස් මැතිතුමාගේ ඡායාරූපය පවා විකෘති කරමින් කූට ලේඛනයක් හැදුවා 2015 ජනාධිපතිවරණයේදී. එදා හදපු කූට ලේඛන වලට එදා ප්‍රචාරය කළ බොරු වලට නිසි නීතිමය ක්‍රියාමාර්ග නොගත් නිසා තමයි 2019 ජනාධිපතිවරණය වන විට බොරුව, මඩ සහ කූට ලේඛන කීපගුණයකින් වර්ධනය වෙලා ජනාධිපතිවරනයේදී ජනතාවට එරෙහිව ප්‍රචණ්ඩව එල්ල වුණේ. ඒ නිසා මී ළඟ ජනාධිපතිවරණයේ දී ජනතාවට සත්‍ය පමණක් ලැබීමට නම් කූට ලේඛණ සාදමින් බොරු වැපිරූ අයට තදින්ම නීතිය ක්‍රියාත්මක කළ යුතුයි.

දෙමළ සහ මුස්ලිම් ජනතාව ගෝඨාභය මැතිතුමාට ඡන්දය ලබා නොදුන්නේ ඇයි කියන ප්‍රශ්නයට පිලිතුරක් ලබා දිය යුතුයි. එජාපය මේ මැතිවරණය ජය ගන්න උත්සාහ කලේ බොරු වැස්සකින්. අපට ඒ පිළිබඳ තොරතුරු ලැබුණු නිසා ඒ්වා හෙලිදරව් කරමින් ඒ පිළිබඳ ඇත්ත ජනතාවට කියන්න අපට පුළුවන් වුණා. නමුත් අපට දෙමළ කතා කරන සමාජය ඉදිරියේ මෙම බොරු හෙලිදරව් කිරීමට සමත් මානව සම්පත් තිබුණේ නෑ. ඒ නිසා දකුණේ ජනතාව බොරු වැස්සෙන් බේරුණා. නමුත් උතුරේ ජනතාව බොරු වැස්සට අහු වුණා.

වලිගය විසින් සිංහයා නැටවූ යුගය ඉවරයි

මේ රටේ බහුතර ජනතාව බඩ ගැන වෙනුවට රට ගැන හිතපු මැතිවරණයක් ලෙස පසුගිය ජනාධිපතිවරණය හඳුන්වන්න පුළුවන්. නොමිලේ කෑම, නොමිලේ ඇඳුම්, නොමිලේ නිවාස, නොමිලේ තව තව දේවල් ප්‍රතිවාදි අපේක්ෂකයා පොරොන්දු වෙන විට ඒ සියල්ල ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කරලා මව්බිමේ සුරක්ෂිතතාව වෙනුවෙන් ජනතාව ඡන්දය දුන්නා. මීට පෙර ජනාධිපතිවරණ වල දී අන්තවාදින් සහ බෙදුම්වාදින් රටට සතුරු කොන්දේසි දමමින් ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂකයින් සමග කේවල් කළා. මෙවරත් දෙමළ ජාතික සංධානය අතිශයින්ම අන්තවාදි බෙදුම්වාදි යෝජනා 13ක් ඉදිරිපත් කළා. රට පාවා දී ලැබෙන ජනාධිපතිකමට වඩා පරාජය උතුම් කියලා ගෝඨාභය මැතිතුමා ඒ යෝජනා ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කළා. නමුත් ජනපතිකම වෙනුවට මව්බිම තෝරා ගත් ඒ උතුම් මිනිසා ජනතාව විසින් ජනපති ධූරයට ඔසවා තැබුවා.

වලිගය විසින් සිංහයා වනපු යුගය මෙවර ජනාධිපතිවරණයෙන් අවසන් වුණා. දැන් උදා වී තිබෙන්නේ සිංහයා විසින් වලිගය වනන යුගයයි.

ජවිපෙට මී ළඟ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ හිමි එක් මන්ත්‍රි ධූරයයි

ඇපත් නැතිවුන ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ ගැනත් අප කතා කරන්නට අවශ්‍යයි. මෙම මැතිවරණයේ දී ශෝචනීයම ඉරණම අත් වුණේ ජවිපෙටයි. දැවැන්ත වියදමක් කරපු, රට පුරා පෝස්ටර් වලින් නහවපු, ගාළු මුවදොර පිට්ටනිය පුරවලා පෙන්නපු ජවිපෙට ලැබුණේ ඡන්ද 3%යි. ඒ පිට්ටනියට ආපු අයගෙන් පවුල් පිටින් ඡන්දය දුන්න නම් ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණට මීට වඩා ඡන්දයක් ලැබෙන්නට ඕනෑ.

මෙම මැතිවරණය පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණයක් වුණා නම් එක් එක් පක්ෂයට ලැබෙන මන්ත්‍රි ධූර ගණන මම ගණනය කළා. ජවිපෙ 5% සීමාව ඉක්මවා ගොස් මන්ත්‍රි ධූරයක් ලැබීමට සළු වී තිබෙන්නේ හම්බන්තොට දී පමණයි. ඒත් යාන්තම් 6.2% පමණයි. ඒ ප්‍රතිශතය මන්ත්‍රි ධූරයක් ලබා ගැනීමට ප්‍රමාණවත් නෑ. ඒ අනුව ලංකාවේ කිසිම දිස්ත්‍රික්කයකින් මන්ත්‍රිධූරයක් ලබාගන්නේ නෑ. ඒ වගේම ජාතික ලැයිස්තුවෙන් ජවිපෙට හිමි වන්නේ එක මන්ත්‍රි ධූරයක් පමණයි. ඒ කියන්නේ ජවිපෙ පාර්ලිමේන්තු දේශපාලනය ආරම්භ කළ අවස්ථාවේ 1994 දී හිමි වුණු එක් මන්ත්‍රි ධූරයට අවුරුදු 25කට පස්සේ නැවත ගමන් කරනවා කියන එකයි.

ඒක දෛවයේ සරදමක් කියලයි හිතෙන්නේ. පසුගිය වසර පහ පුරා අගමැති රනිල්ගේ රට පාවා දෙන ඩීල් වලට ජවිපෙ සහය ලබා දෙන බ්‍රෝකර් කම කලැයි චෝදනාව අනුර කුමාර මැතිතුමාට එල්ල වුණා. ඕනෑම ඩීල් එකක දී බ්‍රෝකර්ට ගෙවන 3% කොමිස් එක ජනතාව විසින් අනුර කුමාර මැතිතුමාට ලබා දීලා තිබෙනවා. එමඟින් ඔබ එජාපය සමග ඩීල් දැමීමේ බ්‍රෝකර්වරයාය කියන එක ජනතාව නිල වශයෙන් ප්‍රකාශ කරලා තියෙනවා. එනිසා ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණට තවමත් ඡන්දය දෙන, රටට ආදරය අය සිටින නිසා අප ඒ පාක්ෂිකයන්ට කියනවා, මේ මහා ප්‍රෝඩාව සාතිශය බහුතරයක් ජනතාව ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කළා. ඔබටත් මේ බ්‍රෝකර් ගාස්තුවෙන් කොටසක් ලැබෙන නිසා ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ සමග ඉන්නවා නම් කමක් නැහැ. එහෙමම ඉන්න. රට හදන්න නම් රට රකින්න නම් අපිත් එක්ක එකතු වෙන්න කියලා අප ජවිපෙ සාමාජිකයන්ට ආදරණීය ඉල්ලීමක් කරනවා.

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Courtesy Hiru News

In a special statement, he said that despite having a majority in Parliament, he accepted the mandate given to Gotabhaya Rajapaksa by the people and will move away for the President to form a government as required.

During his tenure as Prime Minister, Mr. Wickremesinghe said that he received insults and praise. Good and bad remarks, in closing he thanked everyone that spoke well of him and not, those who insulted him and those who praised him.

Courtesy Hiru News

According to the customary practice of a newly elected president, President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa paid homage to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy this morning.

He was received by the Maligawa Chief Custodian Pradeep Nilanga Dela Bandara and his deputies at the entrance of the Temple.

Later, President Rajapaksa engaged in a casual conversation with the people gathered there to wish him.

President Rajapaksa arrived at the Malwathu Temple thereafter

Thereafter, President Rajapaksa paid a courtesy call on the chief prelate of Asgiri Chapter the Most Venerable Warakagoda Sri Gnanananda Thera and received his blessings.

Then the president paid a courtesy call on the chief prelate of the Ramanngya Nikaya the most venerable Napane Pemasiri Thera at the Menikhinna Sri Vidyasagara Pirivena.

Courtesy Hiru News

MP Wimal Weerawansa states that legal action will be taken against individuals who forged documents during the period of the presidential election.

At a media briefing held in Colombo today, he further stated that the FCID will be restructured.

Courtesy Hiru News

Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapakshe, will be sworn in as the Prime Minister at 1pm tomorrow, according to the media secretary the opposition leader, Rohan Weliwita,

He will assume duties at the Prime Minister’s office at 3pm tomorrow.

උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු නිව්ස්

මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා හෙට පස්වරු 1ට අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ධුරයේ දිවුරුම් දීමට නියමිත බව විපක්ෂ නායක මාධ්‍ය ලේකම් රොහාන් වැලිවිට මහතා පවසනවා.

මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා හෙට පස්වරු 1ට ජනාධිපති ලේකම් කාර්යාලයේදී ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතා ඉදිරියේ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා ලෙස දිවුරුම් දෙනු ඇති.

මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ධුරයක දිවුරුම් දෙන තෙවන අවස්ථාව මෙයයි.

එම දිවුරුම් දීමෙන් අනතුරුව මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා පස්වරු 3ට අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය කාර්යාලයේදී නිල වශයෙන් රාජකාරී ඇරඹීමට නියමිත බව රොහාන් වැලිවිට මහතා සඳහන් කළා.

උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු නිව්ස්

නව ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ අද පෙරවරුවේ ශ්‍රී දළදා සමිඳුන් වැඳ පුදාගෙන ආශිර්වාද ලබාගත්තා.

ඒ, රාජ්‍ය නායකත්වයට පත්වීමෙන් අනතුරුව දළදා සමිඳුන්ගේ ආශිර්වාද ලබාගැනීමේ සාම්ප්‍රදායික චාරිත්‍රයට අනුවයි.

පෙරවරු 10.20 ට පමණ මහනුවර ශ්‍රී දළදා මාළිගාව වෙත පැමිණි ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ පිළිගනු ලැබුවේ මහනුවර නගරාධිපති කේසර සේනානායක විසින්.

එහිදී ජනාධිපතිවරයා දැකබලාගැනීමට විශාල පිරිසක් එම ස්ථානයට එක්රැස්වී සිටියා.

රතු පළස මතින්  ශ්‍රී දළදා මාළිගාවේ ප්‍රධාන වාහල්කඩ අභියසට පැමිණි ජනාධිපතිවරයා, දියවඩන නිලමේ ප්‍රදීප් නිලංග දෑල සහ සතර මහා දේවාලවල නිලමේවරුන් විසින් සම්ප්‍රදායානුකූලව පිළිගනු ලැබුවා.

දියවඩන නිලමේවරයා විසින් ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ දළදා සමිඳුන් වැඩ සිටින මාලය වෙත කැඳවාගෙන යනු ලැබුවේ ඉන් අනතුරුවයි.

දළදා සමිඳුන් වැඳ පුදාගෙන පිටතට පැමිණි ජනාධිපතිවරයා එම ස්ථානයේ රැස්ව සිටි ජනතාව අතරට ගොස් ඔවුන් සමඟ සුහද පිළිසඳරක යෙදීමටද අමතක කළේ නැහැ.

අනතුරුව ජනාධිපතිවරයා දළදා මැදුරේ අමුත්තන්ගේ සමරු පොතේ සටහනක් තැබුවා.

මෙහිදි ජනාධිපතිවරයා වෙත දියවඩන නිලමේ ප්‍රදීප් නිලංග දෑල විසින් සමරු තිළිණයක්ද පිළිගන්වනු ලැබුවා.

අනතුරුව ප්‍රථමයෙන් ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහනුවර – මල්වතු මහා විහාරයට පැමිණියා.

එහිදී මහා සංඝ රත්නය ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂට සෙත් පිරිත් සජ්ජායනා කරමින් ආශිර්වාද කළා.

එහිදී මල්වතු පාර්ශවයේ අනුනායක අතිපූජ්‍ය නියංගොඩ විජිතසිරි හිමියන් අනුශාසනාවක් සිදුකරනු ලැබුවා.

ඉන් අනතුරුව ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ අස්ගිරි මහා විහාරය වෙත පැමිණ මහා විහාර මංගල උපෝසථාගාරයට ද පැමිණි අතර, අස්ගිරි පාර්ශවයේ මහනායක අතිපූජ්‍ය වරකාගොඩ ශ්‍රී ඤාණරතන නාහිමියන් බැහැදැක ආශිර්වාද ලබාගත්තා.  

අනතුරුව ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ, මැණික්හින්න – හූරිකඩුව – ශ්‍රී විද්‍යා සාගර පිරිවෙණට පැමිණ රාමඤ්ඤ නිකායේ මහානායක අතිපූජ්‍ය නාපානේ පේමසිරි නාහිමියන්ගෙන් ආශිර්වාද ලබාගත්තා.

පසුව ජනාධිපතිවරයා ගැටඹේ ශ්‍රී රාජෝපවනාරාමයට ගොස් රාමඤ්ඤ නිකායේ ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ කාරක සංඝ සභික පූජ්‍ය කැප්පෙටියාගොඩ සිරිවිමල නාහිමියන් බැහැදැක ආශිර්වාද ලබාගෙන තිබෙනවා.

උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු නිව්ස්

පාස්කු ඉරිදා සිදුවූ ත්‍රස්ත ප්‍රහාරය සම්බන්ධයෙන් විමර්ශනයට ස්වාධීන සහ අපක්ෂපාතී විශේෂ පූර්ණ බලය සහිත කොමිෂන් සභාවක් පත් කරන ලෙස එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධාන ගම්පහ දිස්ත්‍රික් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී නිමල් ලන්සා ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂගෙන් ඉල්ලීමක් කරනවා.

ජනාධිපතිවරයා වෙත ලිපියක් යොමු කරමින් ඔහු සඳහන් කර ඇත්තේ අදාළ ත්‍රස්ත ප්‍රහාරයෙන් ජීවිත අහිමිවූ සහ දරුණු ලෙස තුවාල සිදුවූ අයගේ වැඩිම පිරිස කතෝලික සහ කිතුණු බැතිමතුන් බවයි.

එම නිසා කතෝලික ජනතාවගේ පමණක් නොව ශ්‍රී ලාංකික ජනතාවගේ ඒකායන බලාපොරොත්තුව සහ ඉල්ලීම මෙම ප්‍රහාරය පිළිබඳව සැබෑ තතු හෙළිදරව් කරගැනීම බව පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී නිමල් ලන්සා එම ලිපියේ සඳහන් කර තිබෙනවා.

එමඟින් වැඩිදුරටත් සඳහන් කර ඇත්තේ බෝම්බ ප්‍රහාරයෙන් තුවාල ලැබූ සහ අබාධිත වූ පිරිස් සඳහා සාධාරණ වන්දියක් සහ සොයාබැලීමක් පසුගිය රජය මගින් සිදුකර නොමැති බවයි. එම ජනතාවගේ ප්‍රශ්න ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට සුදුසු වැඩපිළිවෙලක් සකස් කරන ලෙසද මන්ත්‍රීවරයා ඉල්ලා සිටිනවා.

එමෙන්ම පාස්කු ඉරිදා ත්‍රස්ත ප්‍රහාරයට සම්බන්ධ මරාගෙන මැරෙන බෝම්බකරුවන් ජාත්‍යන්තර ත්‍රස්ත සංවිධාන සමඟ සබඳතා පවත්වා ඇති බවට සැකයක් මතුව ඇති බැවින් ඒ පිළිබඳව අධ්‍යයනය කළ යුතු බවත් එහි සඳහන්.

පසුගිය රජයෙන් මේ පිළිබඳව සොයාබැලීම සඳහා පත් කළ පාර්ලිමේන්තු තේරීම් කාරක සභාව සහ එහි ක්‍රියාකාරීත්වය පිළිබඳව කාදිනල් හිමිපාණන් පවා සෑහීමකට පත් නොවූ බව මන්ත්‍රීවරයා ලිපියෙන් පෙන්වා දී තිබෙනවා.

උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු නිව්ස්

දුෂණ වංචා සිදුකළ මංගල සමරවීර ඇතුලූ හිටපු අමාත්‍යවරුන්ට එරෙහිව නිතීය ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරිමට කටයුතු කළයුතු බව රාවණා බලය සංවිධානයේ කැඳවුම්කරු පුජ්‍ය ඉත්තැකන්දේ සද්ධාතිස්ස හිමියන් පවසනවා.

උන්වහන්සේ මේ බව කියා සිටියේ කොළඹ අද පැවති මාධ්‍ය හමුවකට එක්වෙමින්.

මේ අතර මංගල සමරවීර, රාජිත සේනාරත්න, රංජන් රාමනායක, පාඨලී චම්පික රණවක ඇතුළු චෝදනාවලට ලක්වූ අමාත්‍යවරුන්ට එරෙහිව නීතිය ක්‍රියාත්මක කළ යුතු බව මහා සංඝරත්නය අවධාරණය කරනවා.

උන්වහන්සේ මේ බව සඳහන් කළේ විවිධ ප්‍රදේශවල පැවති ප්‍රවෘත්ති සාකච්ඡා කිහිපයකට එක්වෙමින්.

Lankaweb Post Election Editorial

Nov.19th 2019

Perhaps the long-awaited New Era for Sri Lanka has dawned amidst firecrackers , Magul Bera and chants of Jayawewa!! which has echoed throughout the night in a post-election celebration which is not only memorable but significant in the manner the tumultuous victory was achieved as the opposition never gave up the fight almost until the end and the minority voters who opposed the SLPP rallied in vast numbers where the Sinhala voters and their supporters who in all probabilities knew the priorities and what was at stake. They stood strong in the face of all opposition and delivered the victory through their vote and the Universal Franchise which was theirs by right.

Of course there will be trepidations based on the various interpretations by various people who feel isolated by virtue of their own insecurities and the conflicts of the past which need to be allayed as this now is a leadership of stoic integrity and patriotism towards the Nation, who is also compassionate and understanding with a vast array of skills and capabilities towards leadership that Sri Lanka so desperately needed and the prognosis for the overall well being of Sri Lanka appears to be excellent as the ghosts of the past need to be driven away and replaced by a positive advancement towards the progress and development of the Nation and all her inhabitants need to be united with no differences beyond the reality that they are all Sri Lankans under the same Lion Flag without differences of caste. creed, religion or ethnicity and need to put all their resources behind the New Leader and the foreseeable success story that awaits them as Sri Lankans. It was significant that the swearing-in of the new President was in the now tranquil surroundings of the ancient city of Anuradhapura where so many battles were fought by the Magnificient Kings of Lanka yet graced by the serene environment of the Ruwanweli Seya and the  Sri Maha Bodhiya of great religious significance for the Buddhists as well as all Sri L

We have always wondered why the BBC is better known as the British Bullshit Corporation and now we can understand why. That together with Mindshare’s Power to the People’s Report claiming BBC has no credibility kind of puts the icing on the cake on the value of BBC’s opinion. Why is BBC so worried about Sri Lanka’s new President?

We would like BBC to correct the notion that Sri Lanka had a civil war – it didn’t. Sri Lanka suffered terrorism and LTTE was an enemy of all including Tamils whom LTTE killed in no small numbers.

What are the human rights violations the BBC claims the President has committed? Name them and provide the evidence instead of abusing the pen to make allegations.

We have some news for you BBC – ethnic tensions were all created when UNP governments were in power especially the 1983 riots and the present PM leader of the UNP even apologized for the burning of the Jaffna library.

Dynastic family politics is something part and parcel of Asian politics – the Nehrus and Gandhi ruled India and still dictate politics, the UNP except under R Premadasa is a party of family members passing leadership to another, we have had a father, mother and daughter leading Sri Lanka. Take the present Parliament – there are loads of family members inside it. Its trivial exercise and waste of space to be naming all from both ruling and opposition parties. So if the brothers saw an end to 30 years of terror – what is the problem BBC has? Getting rid of the terror is what people wanted – 4 Presidents failed to do so and it took the guts of the 5^th President to give the orders to eliminate the LTTE as commander in chief of the Armed Forces.

BBC is so concerned about Sri Lanka’s casualties – where was the BBC when JVP was killing innocent people in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s – was BBC silent because the victims were Sinhalese? UNP was killing JVP who were Sinhalese and JVP were killing the UNPers who were Sinhalese.

BBC says ‘thousands of people disappeared’ where – is this number omitting the close to 300,000 that the Sri Lankan Army saved from the clutches of the LTTE? BBC says ‘many are said’ to be tortured or killed – how many is many? Can we have some numbers and details please. Instead of just dropping allegations just to go to print. Have you tried looking up the refugees and asylum seekers in the UK, EU, Canada, Australia against the names of the could be ‘disappeared’, you may be surprised to find your missing living amongst you. We heard there are agencies that people pay to be burnt with cigarette butt ends, a white doctor will issue certificate claiming injuries are ‘recent’ the assumption is that the culprits are the army and voila that seals asylum after a training session that teaches people to cry, runs through what they need to say – a virtual rehearsal before seeking asylum.

By the manner that people have disappeared according to BBC it is a wonder that there are minorities living in Sri Lanka and baffling how their population is increasing inspite of disappearances and never returning stories.

Yippie –it’s the white van story back again in circulation. How about telling us who disappeared – when – their names – from where … a little bit of statistics would really help. Otherwise it is going to end up like the stunt pulled by the present Health Minister bringing a driver with a bogus beard and a story that has become a laughing stock across the island. So much for white van drama! That became an election blooper!

So BBC finds fault with the President’s ‘tough stance on security’ – do you mean to say the President must close his eyes and allow all vultures to enter Sri Lanka, make their bases, plan their attacks and kill innocent people? Well it may provide breaking sensational news but we value everyone’s life and the President as head of the State jolly well should too.

Well ‘alleged’ war crimes is just that ‘alleged’ and you can be doing a Goebbels 24×7 but international terrorism experts themselves have debunked these allegations.

BBC we suggest you do not lose any sleep worrying about who gets elected because Sri Lanka has been electing people to office and they come with the people’s mandate. So, if the people vote anyone into power it is the people’s choice and if anyone doesn’t like that choice – tough luck. We don’t tell Britain who to vote or who not to vote. You can elect May, Boris or have no choice in removing the Queen. But we respect the choice of Britain and the British. It is their leaders, so be it.

Everyone does have the freedom to speculate but it falls short when it is attempting to create fear and drum unnecessary tensions – obviously, colonial British carries a legacy of divide and rule and these genes must be working in the staff of the BBC too.

Easter Sunday attack took place despite numerous warnings being ignored. It was a total unnecessary death and people have every right to demand assurance of their safety and security. What is BBC’s problem if candidates campaigned to assure a Sri Lanka without terror? We almost forgot LTTE had its international headquarters in London even after UK banned LTTE in 2001.

Perhaps BBC should dig out the report by Human Rights Watch on LTTE Funding the Final War LTTE intimidation and extortions in the Tamil Diaspora” this will give you an amazing list of examples of how Tamils lived in fear and that fear was felt more in Tamil areas where LTTE ruled – where from poor & low caste Tamil families, children were kidnapped and turned into child soldiers. The sad accounts of their families and the children who lived to share their stories should embarrass BBC for trying to whitewash the LTTE and divert blame to others.

To the authors Upasana Bhat & Maryam Azwer – perhaps you should travel to Sri Lanka and interact with not the same set of people jabbering gibberish because they are paid activists but talk to ordinary people and find out the truth because these fairy tales certainly will get claps from the usual culprits but it just seals the BBC’s lack of credibility and tarnishes its image. Travel to Sri Lanka, try to get an appointment with the new President, have your questions but be ready to publish his answers without bias or without tweaking & twisting.

Media must report the truth not indulge in smear campaigns. Place the facts and allow the readers to make up their minds – don’t force the readers to think like BBC.

Shenali D Waduge

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-50389014

S. M. D. P. Harsha Senanayake Researcher- Social Scientists’ Association M.A. International Relations (New Delhi), B.A (Hons.) International Relations (Colombo)

The election had taken place to elect the 7^th executive president of Sri Lanka was concluded by marking a decisive victory by Gotabaya Rajapaksa; former defence secretary and brother of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Sri Lanka’s former wartime defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has claimed victory in Presidential election, with over 50 per cent of the votes precisely 52.25% with the total votes of 6, 924, 255. The results manifest as the highest number of votes conceived by a presidential candidate since 1994. Even former President Mahinda Rajapaksa who reappeared for the election in 2009 with immense Sinhala Buddhist sustenance and with the consecration of wast majority of the citizen as the president who terminated the three decades prolong war between Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the government of Sri Lanka could not able to assertion votes like his brother Gotabaya did in 2019.

Surprisingly, the presiding party candidate Minister Sajith Premadasa represent National Democratic Party conceded the presidential election and congratulated his rival Rajapaksa on his election as the seventh president of Sri Lanka beforehand official confirmations of the victor of the election. However, Sajith Premadasa assertions 41.99% percentage while acquiring 5,564,239 votes in total. In his letter Premadasa thanks all the citizens that vote for him as well as those who worked tirelessly on his campaign. Premadasa noted that this was the most peaceful presidential election in the history of the country, adding that this was the straight result of the democratic improvements and institutional reforms that took place over the past five years.

Premadasa mentioned further and requests Gotabaya Rajapaksa to take the democratic process forward while strengthening and protecting the democratic institutions and values that enabled this peaceful election. He also called on the president-elect to ensure that the post-election environment is peaceful and that no citizen is persecuted for supporting him.

Meanwhile, Rajapaksa who earned a majority votes of the South said his victory should be rejoicing peacefully as Sri Lankans. As we usher in a new journey for Sri Lanka, we must remember that all Sri Lankans are part of this journey. Let us rejoice peacefully, with dignity and discipline in the same manner in which we campaigned, the President-elect said. However, with the lessons drew from the election results stress that Gotabaya has to ensure further to unite the nation and position as a Sri Lankan since more than 90 per cent of votes from North, North East, Digamadulla and Nuwara Eliya entail by wast majority of Tamils and Muslims and other minorities of country voted in favour of Sajith Premadasa, and Rajapaksa was clever to triumph bearly 5- 6% from these respective areas. This sound strange, however, the long-time political turbulences and the political campaigned commanded by Rajapaksa family embrace the Sinhala Buddhist sentiments and spread discontent and anxiety within the mentalities of individuals who are not adequate into the conventional socio-economic-political culture and religious outfit. The two political fronts Podujana Eksath Peramuna and National Democratic Front represented two ideological camps and conceded varieties of supporters epitomize diverse and competitive political ideologies. Major Tamil and Muslim political parties including All Ceylon Makkal Congress, Jathika Hela Urumaya, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, Tamil Progressive Alliance, Democratic People’s Front, National Union of Workers, Uo- Country aggregate under the superior umbrella of NDF and TNA- decided to support NDF candidate Sajith Premadasa during the presidential election. Since 2005 Mahinda Rajapaksa regime embraces the inkling of Sinhala Buddhist Nationalism and cited Sri Lanka as a Sinhala Buddhist country, predominantly those who congregated with Mahinda Rajapaksa regime after 2009 systematically spread the idea of Sinhala Buddhist nationalism over the country while producing faultlines between majority and minority groups. Organisations emerge during post-civil war Sri Lanka comprising Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) and Sinhala Rawaya touch the nerves of Sinhala Buddhist mentality to acknowledge and adoration Rajapaksa as the prime saviour of the Sinhala Buddhist Nationalism since all major Tamil and Muslim political parties gathered with NDF.

The political front constructed around the pivotal point of Rajapaksa family consists of Ceylon Workers’ Congress, Eelam People’s Democratic Party, Jathika Nidahas Peramuna, National Congress, Mahajana Nidahas Peramua, Socialist Alliance, Communist Party of Sri Lanka, Democratic Left Front, Desha Vimukthi Janatha Pakshaya, Lanka Sama Samaja Pakshaya, Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya and Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal while Sri Lanka Freedom Party decided to hold hands with Gotabaya Rajapaksa during the presidential election. The political map and the voters’ behaviour in the election indicate this diverse and the ethnic divisions custom on the nationalism and religionism. Particularly, Nothern and North East voted for the Premadasa to secure multiculturalism and embrace equality and justice since the Rajapaksa family and its supporters exercise Sinhala Buddhist sentiments to eradicate voices of minorities and exclude them from the national political debate. The Yapahalana (Good Governance) regime has done and endeavoured to complete a notable amount of exertion to promote reconciliation and national unity while addressing the concerns of post-civil war Sri Lanka despite the method choose and the success. In contrast, Rajapaksa campaign brought the Sinhala Buddhist sentiments to the national political campaigned to win around 70 per cent of Sinhala voters around the country.

National Result of the Presidential Election 2019

According to the illustration, it is very vibrant that Nothern Sri Lanka has willingly voted for Sajith Premadasa who promised to preserve uncluttered policy without racial, ethnic or religious appearances. Mainly people who voted for Premadasa believe that Sajith Premadasa and United National Front led National Democratic Front consider the voices of Tamils and Muslims since United National Front led government was sensitive on the issues related to civil war including missing people, reparations, transnational justice and decentalisation of power.

The Politicisation of Fear and Radical Others

Conversely, the election results have exposed other side of the coin which was the fear among Sinhala Buddhist majority and mostly fear within the Christian community after the Easter attack. Followed by the Easter attack national security discourse and catastrophes of Yahapalana (good governance) government to deliver national security converted a vital concern of the country. The political tug and war between President Maithreepala Sirisena and PM Ranil Wickramasinghe discovered that Yapahalana (good governance) government was not competent to foil the Easter attack even the government received warnings from local and international security and intelligence agencies. The disappointment over the government amplified with certain statements delivered by government ministers and administrative officers over the Easter attack. The neglection of the security and vivid political statements have questioned the legitimacy of the Yahapalana (good governance) government and their capacity to afford national security and shield citizens of Sri Lanka. Majority of citizens and the victims of the Easter attack considered that Yahapalana (good governance) government did least to convey justice and mostly the presidential committee was appointed by President Maithree had seen as a major political drama by utmost organizations of civil society, religious leaders and public since government not provide strong indicts and evidence against people and high officials who responsible for the Easter attack.

Mahinda Rajapaksa and his camp underlined and stressed national security and national security concerns as a fundamental threshold of his campaign since 2005 and mainly after military victory against LTTE in 2009. During his election campaign, Rajapaksa politicised varies types of fears and insecurities within the mentalities of majoritarian society and therefore Mahinda vehicled national and international political behaviour as the underpinning of the construction of fear and anxiety. For instance, with the immediate effect of the US-led resolution against Sri Lanka on human right violations, Rajapaksa regime constructed and politicized fear and insecurity within the convictions of Sinhala Buddhist majority by emphasizing international engagements could downplay the national sovereignty and those engagements can drive soldiers toward the death penalty. The construction of fear and insecurity assisted to manifest divisions within the society, particularly patriots and betrayers of the Sinhala Buddhist state came to picture while Rajapaksa regime who constructed fear and insecurity has accepted by the majority of Sinhala population as the sole representation and the custodian of the Sinhala Buddhist society and the state while UNP and its coalition which consist Tamil and Muslim political parties painted as the puppets of the western world.

Nonetheless, with the Easter attack, the construction of fear and insecurity played a superior protagonist and predominantly Rajapaksa regime utilises enduring political tension between President Maithreepala and PM Wickramasinghe to triumph the support of Sinhala Buddhists and Christians by promoting Gotabaya Rajapaksa; the former secretary of defence as the superlative candidate to promote and secure the national security. Notably, Sinhala Buddhists and wast majority of the Christian community voted in favour of Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the reason behind this political turn was to fetch a strong leader who prioritises national security. The protracted process of politicization of fear and anxiety made people consider Gotabaya as the superlative candidate for do so. For instance, traditional political fortresses of UNP led NDF including Badulla, Kandy, Colombo, Puttalam districts, were won by Gotabaya Rajapaksa while Sajith Premadasa secured the lowest percentage of votes which was recorded in those areas since 1994. Specially Katana electoral division was beaten by the Easter attack won by Gotabaya Rajapaksa while altering its traditional prejudice towards UNP. The following election results illustrate the winning portfolio of two candidates.

Electoral District Results

Construction of fear and insecurity cannot be grasped as the solitary reason for polling behaviour of the Sinhala Buddhist society and the voters of South. Old-style UNP devotees and followers highly comprise of districts such as Colombo, Kandy, Matale and extensive of them did not cast the vote in the recent presidential election in favour of Sajith Premadasa to express disappointment on Ranil Wickramasinghe since traditional devotees reliance Ranil Wickramasinghe should be stepped down from the party and let new face to lead the party forward.

However, what imperative to understand is that; political behaviour of voters in North and why did North cast their votes in favour of Sajith Premadasa. Mostly Tamils and Muslims neglected by the political campaign of Rajapaksa with its resilient propaganda of Sinhala Buddhist nationalism and minority communities might comfortable to functioned with Yahapalana (good governance) government effortless than Rajapaksa regime. However, what people cannot perceive is the polarization of North and South of the island. In 2015 election wast majority of people in North and North East voted for the former president of Maithreepala Sirisena and remarkably those who voted for Sirisena voted Sajith with a higher percentage. Particularly Sajith was talented to secure 10 per cent supplementary votes from Jaffna and 7 per cent from Vanni districts compared to Sirisena. Even though Sajith Premadasa was competent to secure the majority votes from Digamadulla and Batticaloa, the percentage slightly lower than the votes secured by NDF’s candidate in 2015 election while the percentage of Trincolamee increased by 4 per cent. What essential to cognise here is that the decrease of votes in favour of Sajith Premadasa from the rest of the country and significantly in South. Despite all other reasons, what crucial to highlight would be the failure of Yahapalana regime to promote reconciliation and national unity in a successful means followed by the polarization of the society.

Why Sajith secured less percentage of votes in South and the riposte would be the political dissatisfaction of people towards the UNP led government based on various reasons. The lack of political and economic stability of the country, inability of the government to afford adequate security measures and the rise of terrorists and radical groups constructed fear and insecurities within the minds of the majoritarian society, however, Wickramasinghe government failed to capture those concerns. What prerequisite to understanding here is why North and North East has taken the side of Sajith Premadasa, not Gotabaya. The problems and political concerns mentioned previously received similar attention from the people of North, conversely, failures of national peacebuilding process and reconciliation undertakings of the country could not fetch the people towards unilateral emotional attachment or towards a shared notion of survival. It has polarized two ethnicities further and particularly rather than collecting people to solitary ambition good governance regime has given privilege and space to provincial leaders to endorse own political agendas with the intention of collecting votes in favour of UNP led governments. This increased the political divisions of the country while North has voted against the majority of Sinhalese and South voted to eradicate voices of North.

Way forward

Newly elected President Gotabaya has to ensure further to form a shared Sri Lankan identity by accumulating divided pieces of the puzzle while accepting and acknowledging diverse opinions and requirements of multiple ethnic, religious, racial groups. During the first presidential speech, Gotabaya Rajapaksa has mentioned that he was chosen as the president, not because of the votes of the minority communities but it solely grounded on the commitments and votes of Sinhala Buddhist citizens of the country. However, by succeeding the teachings of Buddhist philosophy and as the president of Sri Lanka Gotabaya promised to performance as the president of each and every individual of the country despite the differences. Gotabaya’s first priority should be incorporate North and North East people and minority communities in Sri Lanka into the mainstream political process while constructing a unified identity as Sri Lankas by embracing the diversity. This model should exclude two radical culminations which are infrastructure development without ideological development and let radical extremist political parties to implement narrow political agendas in North and South which can polarize the society. Already Gotabaya has shown that his vision and mission is not going parallel with traditional political ideology.

President Rajapaksa’s first pronouncements have been reassuring to the country at large. He asked his supporters to celebrate the victory peacefully. Violence is not only physical. There is currently a spate of very negative comments especially on social media against the ethnic and religious minorities who did not vote for him. This may be Gotabaya’s overenthusiastic supporters. Some of these comments fall into the category of hate speech and President Rajapaksa needs to call for an end to this as one of his first steps in reassuring the ethnic and religious minorities and in reuniting the divided polity.

In addition, Gotabaya as requested government officers to place only the seal of the republic on the walls of their offices and not his photograph. This is a novel tradition, followed by developed nations. But not in Sri Lanka till now. It gives a symbolic indication of the modernizing the vision of the new president, which is to draw a distinction between the state and government. The challenge will be to implement these rules-based and professional approach to all levels of the polity.  However, political innovation and creativity should not be mixed with nepotism and corruption. If Gotabaya failed to address the diversity and construct unity; North and North East people will choose bullet instead of ballet again.

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By Shivanthi Ranasinghe Courtesy Ceylon Today

In January 2015, Sri Lanka embarked on a new political journey. It was supposed to be the new era of good governance. However, in all seriousness whether Sri Lanka was ready for Good Governance is highly debatable. One of the main goals of those who voted for the Yahapalana Government was somehow to bring the lawbreakers of the Rajapaksa Administration to justice. If there was any economic discourse, it was to disparage on  strategic economic assets such as the Hambanthota Port as ‘white elephants’. The theme in general was to the effect that even if the Yahapalana Government could not achieve anything else, it is fine as long as the thieves in the Rajapaksa Administration are caught and punished.

When the only thing a person asks from his Government is punishment metered to another, it betrays that person’s overall ignorance in matters of governance. This ignorance is punctuated time and again when people ask stupid questions such as “what has this country done for us”, “no matter who comes to power, it is the same” etc. However, after five years of Yahapalana Government, people have realized that governments do play a role in our lives. Perhaps this lesson, albeit a cruel one, was the one true service the Yahapalana Government gave to the people.

The economy was mismanaged to the point that our growth rate, which was just second only to China in the Asian region, is only now comparable with Afghanistan. Nearly half a million people have lost their livelihoods since 2015. We lost strategic assets such as the Hambantota Port to a foreign entity. The other assets such as the oil tanks in Trincomalee, Maththala Airport and the Northern terminal in the Colombo Port was dangled before India in the most tantalising manner. In the space of three years, the Yahapalana Government presented nine different finance plans. This obviously did not inspire confidence in foreign investors.

Yet, their failure did not seem to bother the Yahapalana Government either. Almost all their decisions such as suspending the Port City, cancelling the Airbuses for Sri Lankan Airlines backfired. In the end, we had to pay huge penalties for each of these mistakes. On the other hand, projects that the Yahapalana Government promised such as the Volkswagen manufacturing plant never came true. In either of these instances, the Yahapalana Government has neither acknowledged their failure nor apologized for it. Therefore, naturally they had never studied what really went wrong for them to take the ill advised decisions that they did.

In fact, in matters of management, the first acts of the Yahapalana Government derailed the economy. Within days of assuming power, the operations of the Avant Garde Maritime were clamped. This was a venture that brought both revenue in the form of forex and employment, especially to the retired servicemen, to the country. This is all the more significant because providing suitable employment for retired servicemen is a challenge other countries are struggling to solve. Hence, Avant Garde’s creative solution that harnesses the lifetime training of servicemen to solve a contentious global issue cannot be understated.

The Central Bank Bond scams were one crime that the Yahapalana Government could neither hide or deny. Despite the years that passed since the two scams, the Yahapalana Government had not been able to sweep it under the carpet. The reason being, more than the actual loss of money, it is the unravelling of ten years of hard work that stabilized the interest rates. The Rajapaksa Administrator inherited a 91 per cent national debt to GDP ratio and a country ravaged by the worst tsunami experienced in living memory, not to mention a failed peace process with a brutal terrorist organisation. Yet, by kick-starting the economy, they managed to assure their creditors that they can pay back the loans.

With that assurance, the lenders were comfortable to reduce the interest rates while extending the payment period. When interest rates fell, the then Rajapaksa Administration was able to use that savings into infrastructural development. This in turn generated more employment and money started moving within the country. This created more economic opportunities for people. For instance, many in middle class started to import a hybrid vehicle or two and re-sell it. Thus, they were able to pocket a handsome Rs 200,000-300,000 with each sale.

In the same manner, a number of cottage  industries sprung up. Key among these was the weaving industry that catered to providing school uniform materials. Before 2005, the entire bulk needed was imported, but since then, taking baby steps, this was developed into supplying to meet the domestic needs. However, for reasons beyond comprehension these steps were reversed by the Yahapalana Government. The bond scams especially reversed the interest rates from single digits back to double digits. This in turn is increasing our entire cost factor.

The national security was bungled right royally by the Yahapalana Government. In the aftermath of the Easter Sunday, the lapses to the security were exposed. The fact that the then Army Commander General Mahesh Senanayaka came foreword as a presidential candidate exposes the office bearers’ attitude. Despite having an extensive military intelligence arm, the Army Commander claimed that he did not get a forewarning of the attacks. He even had the audacity to state that he got to know of these attacks from the Internet.

Two things must be noted. One is that the Sri Lankan military intelligence performed sophisticated operations as the MOSAD and the CIA when combating the LTTE. Yet, according to the Army Commander Senanyake, the MI had not kept him abreast of the rising Islam extremism. How did a unit that was capable in penetrating into the LTTE and Tamil Diaspora activities in Europe and east Asia failed to note the rising Islamism within the country is a question that needs to be pondered and answered seriously.

There were many forewarnings to the Easter Sunday Massacres apart from the detailed warnings received from Indian intelligence. The vandalising of the Buddha statues, execution-style killing of the two Police Officers at a checkpoint and the discovery of explosives that are of unfamiliar substance should have alerted General Senanyake. He should have directed the MI under him to feed him with the developments rather than wait for the terrorists to show up at his doorstep.

When General Senanayaka ought to have resigned afterwards, he chose to offer himself as the leader of the country. The fact that he failed to execute his responsibility obviously had not been factored by him. He is not alone in this aspect.

The very foundation of the Yahapalana Government was built on negativity in its extreme. In the years after the end of the war, through a concentrated plan the then Rajapaksa Administration was vilified. Yet, the accusers were all failed characters. Disregarding their own ineffectiveness and the resulting cost to the country in terms of lives and money, they present themselves as the panacea.

Today, a new era had begun. The past five years had taught the people that the Government has a role to play. Without it, the economy would not be managed and people will lose jobs, living costs will rise and the country will lose credibility. National Security too will get affected. Any other freedom does not make sense without National Security.

Those who voted for the new Government did so with a lot of hope. Strength to the new Government so that the people will not be punished as they were for the past five years. It is also hoped that the voter too had learnt a lesson and now aspires for a rule centred on development and not persecution.

ranasingheshivanthi@gmail.com

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