Courtesy Adaderana

The Attorney General’s Department has requested the Supreme Court for a fuller bench to consider the Fundamental Rights petition against the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the former Defence Secretary.

The FR petition has been filed against former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando and IGP Pujith Jayasundara for allegedly failing to act on prior information pertaining to the Easter Sunday terror attacks.

The petition was taken up before a three-judge bench consisting of Supreme Court Justices Sisira de Abrew, Murdu Fernando and Gamini Amarasekara this morning (31).

Additional Solicitor General Farzana Jameel, appearing on behalf of the Attorney General, informed the court that the AG has requested from the Chief Justice through a motion to consider the petition before a fuller bench as the case is of national importance.

Attorney-at-law Gamini Perera, who is appearing on behalf of the plaintiffs, informed the court that he had no objections to the AG’s request for a fuller bench.

The judge bench ordered to submit the petitions to the Chief Justice to decide on the further steps and decided to take it up again on June 06. 

The petition was filed by a father, who had lost his son and daughter in the attack on April 21, accusing the IGP and the former Defense Secretary of infringing the fundamental rights of the people by failing to prevent the attacks on churches and hotels even when intelligence information had forewarned.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Asigiriya and Malwatta chapters and His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith have strongly expressed opposition to any agreement that may enable foreign forces to set up bases in Sri Lanka.

Cardinal Ranjith called on Chief Prelate of Asgiriya Chapter Most Venerable Warakagoda Sri Gnanarathana Thero at the Asgiri Maha Viharaya in Kandy this evening (31).

The Working Committee of the Sangha Council at the Asgiriya Maha Viharaya and Anunayake Theros of Malwatta Chapter Most Ven. Niyangoda Sri Vijithasiri Anunayake and Most Ven. Dimbul Kumbure Sri Wimaladharma Thero also joined the event.

Courtesy Adaderana

President Maithripala Sirisena says that he is not in a hurry to make his decision on contesting for the upcoming presidential election.

The President, who is currently in India for the oath-taking ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking at a press conference held in New Delhi stated that he is waiting for the other political parties to decide their presidential candidates.

Further commenting, President Sirisena said the presidential election is slated to be held on December 7th.

The Elections Commission has made a statement in this regard, the President added.

Courtesy Adaderana

Police have recovered the laptop computer suspected to have been used by Zahran Hashim, the alleged mastermind behind the Easter Sunday terror attacks in Sri Lanka.

Police Spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekara said that the laptop was found in the Palamunai Lagoon in Akkaraipattu.

Based on information received by the State Intelligence Service’s Ampara office and extensive investigations, officers had seized Rs 5 million in cash allegedly hidden by Zahran’s Ampara District leader Shahul Hameed Hamis Mohamed a.k.a ‘Kalmunai Siyam’ a.k.a Abuhassan.

Of this cash, police had found Rs 1.5 million two days back while the remaining Rs 3.5 million was discovered today (31), Ada Derana reporter said.

Siyam, who was arrested two weeks ago, is currently being detained and interrogated while the moneys were found based on information extracted from him.

Siyam had reportedly given this sum of cash to his uncle and a portion of the money was found in the pockets of the trousers inside his almirah at home. The rest were found inside a CD player by intelligence officers and Ampara Police officers.

In addition to this, two gold chains, a pair of gold earrings and a gold ring have also been discovered.

Meanwhile the intelligence officers had recovered a laptop computer hidden by Siyam in a lagoon.

Siyam had told investigators that Zahran’s brother Zain had given him the laptop and the cash before the latter blew himself up on May 26.

Zahran’s brother had reportedly asked Siyam to safeguard the computer with utmost care.

Therefore intelligence officers believe that the laptop had been used by Zahran. Investigators are attempting to retrieve the data contained in the computer as they expect it to greatly benefit the ongoing investigations. 

Courtesy BBC

When bombs planted in churches and hotels killed more than 200 people in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, few had realised that the nation had a problem with Islamist militancy. One man who did, reports the BBC’s Secunder Kermani, was Mohammad Razak Taslim.

Lying on a hospital bed, Mohammad Razak Taslim’s face contorts with pain. The left side of his body is completely paralysed, but he reaches out with his right hand, trying to clutch at his wife and brother-in-law who stand anxiously over him.

His wife, Fatima, presses a handkerchief to his head. One side of his skull has caved in. It’s where he was shot in the head in March. Ever since, he’s been unable to speak, unable to walk.

Police believe Taslim was one of the first victims of the Sri Lankan extremist network, linked to the Islamic State group, that would go on to kill more than 250 people in a series of suicide bombings on churches and hotels on Easter Sunday in April.

According to officials he was shot on the orders of the ringleader of the attacks, Zahran Hashim.

Months before the bombings, Taslim, an earnest 37-year-old local politician from a Muslim-majority town in central Sri Lanka, had been at the forefront of efforts to investigate the extremists.

Taslim’s story encapsulates both how the country’s Muslim community actively tried to stop the emergence of radical elements in their midst, and how the authorities failed to recognise repeated warning signs ahead of the Easter attacks.

The town of Mawanella is just a few hours’ drive east of the capital, Colombo. It’s surrounded by a lush green landscape, and the area is dominated by Buddhist and Muslim communities.

In December last year, a number of Buddhist statues around the town were vandalised – an attempt, officials now believe, to inflame tensions and provoke communal rioting.

Taslim was a member of Mawanella’s town council, and also worked as the co-ordinating secretary for a national cabinet minister.

I met his wife, three young children and extended family at their modest home in a village outside Mawanella. Coconuts crashed noisily onto the roof from the trees above as Fatima told me about her husband.

Taslim often volunteered to help others in the community, she said. He had played a prominent role in organising support for residents affected by floods and landslides in previous years. So, when the Buddhist statues were desecrated, it was natural that he stepped up to help investigate.

“He always used to say people of different races and religions should live together in unity.

“He said, ‘What they did is wrong, our religion does not condone such acts…. We need to catch those responsible.'”

Police made a number of arrests, but the chief suspects, brothers Sadiq and Shaheed Abdul-Haq, disappeared.

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Find out more

The family networks behind the bombings

Children of the Easter Sunday carnage

What we know about the Easter bombings

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The pair would be placed on a “Most Wanted” list after the Easter Sunday bombings and arrested. Their alleged role in the attacks isn’t clear and they are yet to go on trial, but investigators believe Sadiq Abdul-Haq may have travelled to Syria in 2014 and met figures linked to the Islamic State group.

I met one young man in a village close to Mawanella who had been part of the brothers’ inner circle. He wanted to remain anonymous, but claimed they would preach that Sri Lanka “is the land of Allah, and no-one else can be worshipped… Non-Muslims have to convert or pay jizya (an Islamic tax).”

The brothers came from a deeply religious family, and their friend said they regularly talked about the obligations of jihad, both in a spiritual and a military sense.

A relative of the brothers, who was a leading figure in an Muslim student organisation they were all part of, told me he had regularly argued with them, telling them that “violent and aggressive behaviour is not accepted in Islam”. In 2015 the organisation expelled both brothers.

Their relative said the men had been deeply affected by communal riots around the nearby city of Kandy in 2018, when Buddhist mobs targeted Muslim-owned businesses and residents.

Sadiq Abdul Haq allegedly said: “They are taking away our lives, our properties… We have to do something,” the relative claimed.

After the Abdul-Haq brothers went on the run, Taslim was involved in efforts to track them down, and kept in touch with police investigating the case. At one point he walked with them deep into the jungle where it was thought the brothers were hiding.

In January detectives told him they had received new and startling information during the interrogation of some of those suspected of vandalising the Buddhist statues – a stash of explosives had been hidden in a remote piece of farmland about 100 miles away.

Taslim went with detectives to the site, a coconut grove in the north-west of the country. There police discovered nearly 100kg of explosives, detonators, tents and a camera.

Taslim’s wife says when he returned home, he was worried. “There must be more explosives out there,” he told her. “We must get together as a community, find those responsible and deal with them.”

The volume of explosives found should have alerted the authorities to the danger of a jihadist attack. But while four people were arrested, in a country where the security forces had long focused on the dangers posed by ethnic Tamil separatists, it seems the possibility of Islamist violence wasn’t regarded as a high priority.

It has now been revealed that the explosives found on the farmland are linked to some of those directly involved in the suicide bombings, including the ringleader, Zahran Hashim.

Hashim was a preacher from the east of Sri Lanka. He too had been flagged as an extremist long before the attacks.

Over the years, he had repeatedly fallen out with mainstream Muslim groups, both in his home town, and in other places he visited, including a village close to Mawanella.

He became well-known for uploading fiery videos on social media. In one, the background is an image from the 9/11 attacks.

Hilmy Ahamed, the vice-president of Sri Lanka’s Muslim Council, says he and other members of the council were shocked by the level of hate in the online sermons and raised concerns with the intelligence services.

But the authorities couldn’t manage to track Hashim down and prosecute him. Ahamed admitted he “never dreamt” that Hashim would go on to “become a threat to the entire nation”.

But we now know Hashim was plotting to carry out a deadly attack in Sri Lanka, and after the discovery of the explosives, it seems he was worried Taslim was getting in the way of his plans.

A senior Sri Lankan police source told me that one of Hashim’s close associates confessed that Hashim ordered Taslim be killed for acting as an “informant”.

In March, just over a month before the Easter attacks, a gunman quietly entered Taslim’s house in the early hours of the morning. He was lying in bed, next to his wife, and his youngest son. The gunman shot him once in the head.

“At first I thought the phone charger had exploded, but I looked and it was fine,” Taslim’s wife told me. “Then I tried to wake him up, and I could smell gunpowder… I reached out to him and I realised he wasn’t conscious. I thought he was dead.”

Taslim was rushed to hospital. He survived the attack, but it’s not clear if he will ever fully recover.

Sri Lanka’s army commander, Lt Gen Mahesh Senanayake, is now playing a leading role in the investigation into the Easter Bombings. He told me it had been confirmed that the “same network” was also responsible for the desecration of the Buddhist statues, the explosives hidden in the coconut grove, and the shooting of Taslim.

He admitted that the previous incidents should have made the authorities more alert to the dangers of a jihadist attack. Instead, warnings by the Indian security services in the days and hours leading up the bombings weren’t followed up, due to what the army commander referred to as problems with “intelligence sharing” between different departments.

Taslim’s family say, despite his injuries, he is able to understand what they say to him, and occasionally, to scribble responses. When he learned of the Easter attacks, his wife says he wrote her a message and began to cry, “I told you something like this could happen.”

In the aftermath of the bombings there have been episodes of anti-Muslim rioting in Sri Lanka, with shops attacked and at least one person killed. Claims that the community is harbouring terrorists have angered many Muslims, especially in light of the repeated attempts to help police or raise concerns with the authorities.

Taslim’s wife is proud of his sacrifice. “He would say to us, ‘I’ve given you everything you need, so we should work on reaching paradise in the afterlife… We have to help those around us, that’s what our religion teaches.'”

Dr. Daya Hewapathirane   

Muslim Hostility Since Ancient Times                                                            

Those professing Islam have been the biggest enemies of Buddhists and Buddhism throughout history. Buddhists have suffered extreme forms of violence, untold persecution and discrimination from Muslims since the 12th century, with the ruthless Muslim incursions of ancient Buddhist nations in the Central Asian and Himalayan regions. Prior to the arrival of Muslim invaders, all countries/regions associated with the ancient Silk Road, were inhabited by flourishing Buddhist communities. They included Afghanistan, Kashmir, Indus valley, present day Pakistan and Bangladesh. Muslim invasions were marked by widespread killing, torture and persecution of Buddhists and rampant destruction of Buddhist places of worship and learning, monasteries, historic monuments and Buddhist settlements and widespread confiscation of Buddhist properties. There are ample historic records which describe vividly the atrocities committed by Muslims against millions of Buddhists in several countries. Islam destroyed Buddhism not only in India but wherever it went. Before the onslaught of Islam, Buddhism was the religion of almost the whole of Asia – ancient countries/regions such as Bactria, Parthia, Afghanistan, Gandhar, Chinese Turkestan, along with Tibet and Inner Mongolia were Buddhist nations that formed almost the whole of the Asian continent. Buddhism was the dominant religion of the people of this vast area of the Asian continent. Islam destroyed and eliminated Buddhism from almost all these countries. In the late 12 century, Indonesia and Malaysia were Buddhist countries. With Muslim invasions most Buddhists in these countries were either killed or forced to convert to Islam. Most Buddhist shrines and settlements were destroyed.

For five centuries, from the 13^th to 17^th centuries, most parts of India were under Muslim rule. During this time, over 50 million Buddhists and Hindus were massacred by Islamists in greater India, which in the past included Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. It is a well known fact that Buddhism disappeared from India under the sword of Islam. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the great Indian Buddhist leader said that there is absolutely no doubt that the fall of Buddhism in India was due to the invasions of the Musalmans or the adherents of Islam. Ruthless Muslim invaders slaughtered thousands of Buddhists including monks in places such as Bihar, India. They destroyed the ancient illustrious Buddhist Universities of Nalanda, Vikramsila, Jagaddala, Odantipur among others. (For further details read my paper in Lankaweb – titled NALANDA: illustrious International Buddhist University 5th century CE to 12 century CE.)   At the end of 12th century, Muslim invaders demolished Nalanda university, burnt down its priceless library, and mercilessly massacred its scholars including Buddhist monks. Countless ancient Buddhist monuments were defaced or destroyed, virtually erasing the Buddhist faith from India. Forced conversion  of Buddhists and Hindu people to Islam was the order of the day. They razed to the ground many thousands of Buddhist monasteries with which the country was studded. The monks fled away in thousands to Nepal, Tibet and other places outside India. Muslim invaders killed thousands of Buddhists outright. How the Buddhist monkhood perished by the sword of the Muslim invaders has been recorded by Muslim historians themselves. Seen in this light the wanton and heartless destruction of the colossal Bamiyan Buddha statues by the Taliban as recent as in February 2001 does not seem out of place. Smashing the head of Brahma in Thao Maha Brahma or Phra Phrom Erawan Shrine in Bangkok was done by Muslim youth. It reflects the atavistic iconoclastic behaviour of Islam.

Although we proudly claim that Buddhism has survived for some 2300 years in Sri Lanka and founded on Buddhist teachings of non-violence, tolerance and  compassion, the Sinhala Buddhist community was able to withstand various threats and challenges and was able to protect Buddhism, we should not overlook the fact that Buddhism was wiped out from many countries and regions in the Asian continent in the not too distant past.  The exclusively Buddhist populations of places such as Afghanistan, present day Pakistan, a good part of the Indian sub-continent, Bangladesh, Nepal, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Maldives Islands were either murdered or converted to Islam. Ruthless Muslim invasions changed the Buddhist religious landscape of these places. Buddhist places of worship and reputed places of learning were demolished during Muslim invasions.

                                                                                                                                            More recently in 2001, in the name of Islam, the Taliban destroyed the world renowned monumental Bamiyan Buddha statues built in the 6^th century, citing that these were ‘idols’ which are forbidden under Sharia law in Islam. In contemporary times we witness a disastrous hardening of Islam into rigid fundamentalism, in which Muslims are resorting to violent terrorist means to aggressively proclaim their beliefs and zealously proselytizing non-Muslims. A fundamentalist and intolerant stance, taken by any religion, is offensive to followers of other faiths and to those of no faith at all. Disrespect, disregard and sheer indifference towards people of other religions, is a common character trait of Muslims, wherever in the world they live.  These negative attitudes have made them resort to crude forms of violence against people and property of other faiths, especially Buddhists. This is well evident today not only in places like Bangladesh, Southern Thailand and Myanmar, but also in our own motherland, the most recent being the bomb blasts in Catholic Churches and in prominent hotels in Colombo, killing and injuring many hundreds of innocent people.        

Deceit and Violence in Sri Lanka

Allah based Islam religion argues that they are required according to the word of Allah to propagate their religion by resorting to various means, one being the so-called Holy War” to convert or kill all unbelievers. Intimidation and terrorism are common methods used even in modern times. Threatening and discriminating against unbelievers is a common practice. Muslims believe the Koran is the word of Allah. They believe this because it says so in the Koran. It also says that a good Muslim must make continual war on all unbelievers until the entire world is Islamic. Radical Islamic ideology is being spread all over the Muslim world through schools popularly known as madrasas, also through the media and through mosques. They also resort to organized forms of disinformation and spread lies about other rival beliefs and ways of living. These are psychological blackmail techniques used by them to serve their selfish ends. They demonize other religions by using big lies.

Muslims are trying hard, using cunning and deceitful means to introduce their crude extremist Saudi Arabian cultural norms to our country, thereby undermining our traditional Sinhala Buddhist cultural norms. Their disgusting halal terrorist methods of animal slaughter, their unsightly and repulsive ‘gonibilla’ outfits, their nauseating loadspeaker shouting at odd times of the day disturbing entire neighborhoods, and using internet and other means to insult and discredit our Sangha community are some well known Muslim (Arabian) cultural garbage they are introducing to our land. They disregard the fact that they live in a predominantly Buddhist country and what they are doing is incompatible with the way of life and the social value system of this country.

It is clearly evident in recent years that there have been organized attempts on the part of extremist Muslims, the Wahhabis, to discredit and dishonour the Buddha Sasana and the Sangha Community of Sri Lanka. Their actions show their indifference and sheer disrespect and disregard for Buddhist cultural norms and values of this country. They appear to detest our Buddhist national culture and heritage. In fact they have resorted to the destruction of Buddhist monuments and archeological remains in the island, especially in the East. The Buddhist cultural heritage of this country is being undermined by Muslim extremists.in devious ways. In recent years, the extremist Muslims who have recently adopted the fundamentalist Wahhabi form of Islam imported from Saudi Arabia along with enormous amounts of Saudi funds, have been instrumental in causing serious problems in Sri Lanka having direct negative implications for the mainstream Buddhist community. In general, the Muslims are concerned only of themselves, their religion and their community. This is a reason why they cannot assimilate with mainstream communities in countries where they live or have immigrated to.

It was not long ago that Islamic fundamentalists and armed Muslim extremists were inciting violence against legitimate Buddhist activities in the East in the Pottuvil region. Muslims were encroaching upon and forcibly taking land that rightfully belongs to Buddhist temples on the southeast coast and elsewhere. Muslim illegal encroachment of the Wilpattu national conservation for exclusive Muslim enclaves is well known. Muslims have also demolished some significant Buddhist archeological sites and instrumental in destroying Buddha statues in several places in the East and recently in Mawanella. The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and several Islamic groups of Sri Lanka had the audacity to oppose the construction of Buddha’s statues on the island’s southeast coastal areas which contain Buddhist historic monuments and important archeological remains as part of the nation’s cultural wealth.

Muslim Proliferation by Reproducing Abundantly

As a means of propagating their believers, a well evident practice in all Muslim societies almost throughout the world is Fecundism or proliferation by reproducing abundantly. Their so-called true believers are encouraged and assisted to breed faster than non-believers. This is an ecologically disastrous population growth situation which can lead to far reaching, highly detrimental consequences affecting overall development of any country. In a deceitfully organized manner Muslim medical professionals have resorted to illegal sterilization of many Sinhala women in view of controlling the growth of Sinhala population. It is reported to be a common practice in popular Muslim business establishments to offer special benefits and privileges to female Sinhala employees who convert to Islam.

The Buddhist Approach of Non-Aggression 

Fanaticism and brutality and unethical and confrontational approaches adopted by Islam    and other theistic religious establishments, often in the past and Islam most evidently in present times, to promote their religious beliefs provide a stark contrast to the approach in Buddhism. The Buddha Dhamma is described as ‘ehipassiko’, inviting one to come and see for himself. There is no concept of coercion or proselytization in Buddhism. The Buddha taught the importance of patience, tolerance, and non-aggression, providing a splendid ideal of tolerance for Buddhists to follow. There is not a single occasion in the Buddhist scriptures of the Buddha being less than compassionate, not only to those who accepted his teachings but also to the followers of all faiths, not only to the good but also to the wicked, not only to humans but also to animals and to all living beings. In striking contrast to the spread of other world religions, which are replete with unethical and forcible conversions and sectarian strife, the history of Buddhism is remarkable for the complete absence of bloodshed in the name of the teacher.

Spirit of Tolerance and Accommodation of Others                                                                                  

History of our country reveals vividly that this spirit of tolerance and accommodation of others irrespective of their religious or other differences has been a common distinguishing characteristic of Sinhala Buddhists of this country from very early times. Judging from the fanaticism and confrontational attitudes and actions especially of  extremist Muslims in recent decades, it appears that this spirit of tolerance and accommodation on the part of Buddhists is not appreciated by them. It is being exploited as a weakness to pursue their self interests of promoting their religions and ways of life at the expense of Buddhism, Buddhist culture and Buddhist way of life

No Claim of Divine Authority in Buddhism

Buddhism does not accept an omnipotent God, a Creator, nor any revealed scripture. Because faith in God or a savior is not an issue for Buddhists, there is no reason for Buddhists to judge others, to condemn them for their beliefs, or to feel compelled to convert them. Buddhism is a religion which has never attempted to propagate itself and exterminate its enemies by war and tyranny. Buddhism recognizes that one of the most destructive delusions is excessive attachment to any view, which will thus appear virtuous and right for all people. The harm that can be done by fundamentalist attachment to ideologies and abstractions is far greater than that caused by attachment to wealth or material objects. 

Buddhism does not claim to be the one and only valid spiritual path. It is not based on, or claim divine authority. Gautama Buddha never claimed to be divine or sent by God. Buddhism does not attempt to suppress reason by dogma. Unlike most other religions, Buddhism isn’t so much about things to believe, as things to do. It is a technology of mind improvement. Therefore Buddhists often refer to themselves as practitioners rather than believers. The Buddha told his students to trust their own experience of the effectiveness of the teachings, and not believe things just because he said so. The Buddha’s teachings are to be judged by their effectiveness in promoting peace and spiritual realizations, rather than unverifiable claims to their origin.

Strengthen and Revitalize the Sinhala Buddhist Nation

The present generation of Sinhala nationals has a moral obligation to protect, preserve and promote the greatest of their inheritance, their unique nation, for the survival of their Buddhist cultural heritage and for the benefit of future generations. Concerned Sinhala nationals will under no circumstances allow the sovereignty, the distinct territorial integrity and the all-pervasive Sinhala Buddhist cultural character of the island be subject to any form of disarray or disintegration. They will not permit any force, internal or external, ethnic or religious, to subjugate or undermine the integrity of the Sinhala Buddhist culture of this island nation. Sinhala history is replete with valor and courage in battles against overly superior forces. The struggle against extremism and the looming division of this Sinhala island nation of ours demands our full national strength. Let all Sinhala nationalists rise to the occasion, forgetting for a moment their ‘other’ differences, and swear allegiance to the unity of this country by giving unswerving support to those commendable organizations that have emerged in recent times to save the nation from undesirable elements. The renewed loyalty that is fast emerging among the Sinhala nationals, particularly among the contemporary youth, is most encouraging.

Under the circumstances, a good part of our traditional Buddhist leadership – the Mahasangha has come to the forefront, providing leadership to the growing nationwide movement to counter this undesirable anti-national trend spearheaded by extremist elements of the Muslim community of Sri Lanka. The emergence of and initiatives taken by the Bodu Bala Sena and other Buddhist and patriotic organizations are timely and most admirable. In spite of untold and persistent challenges from various quarters – local and foreign, they are determined to provide necessary leadership to this movement, as a moral obligation to save the nation, the Buddha Sasana and the Buddhist heritage of our country. The courage, forthrightness, fearlessness, determination and foresight of the Bhikkhus of the Bodu Bala Sena and other Buddhist organizations that have sprung up in recent times to counter these undesirable trends are most praiseworthy. It is encouraging to note their rapidly expanding and widespread support base across the country and extending to the Sinhala Buddhist communities living overseas. It is time that all those who care for the survival of our nation, begin supporting this courageous movement, in all possible ways. The highly tolerant nature of the Buddhist community of Sri Lanka should not be taken for granted.They are becoming increasingly aware of the various forms of threats to which they are subject without good reason. As proven repeatedly in their nation’s long history of foreign aggression and misdemeanors, the Sinhala people, especially the Sinhala Buddhists will rise to the occasion when necessary, to save their Buddhist norms and principles which form the foundation of the national culture of their treasured motherland.   

Dr. Daya Hewapathirane                                     daya.hewapathirane@gmail.com

Meera Srinivasan Courtesy  The Hindu

Investigations throw up troubling hints of how readily rage can court terror

At first, they were nameless. Nine suicide bombers,” is all authorities would reveal. In a little over a week, the police identified each of them and their stories began coming out. Now, a month after Sri Lanka’s savage Easter attacks, a messy web of disgruntled radicals has emerged, throwing up troubling hints of how readily rage can court terror.

Zahran Hashim, 33, radical preacher and alleged ringleader, found little acceptance in his hometown Kattankudy, in eastern Batticaloa. Mosques in the predominantly Muslim town rejected him outright. Their members even complained to authorities, before he went absconding in 2017 after a clash with a fellow priest who challenged his interpretation of Islam.

But soon, a team of young Muslim men — and one woman — from other, mostly Sinhala-majority, areas eagerly joined him on his Easter mission to carry out a suicide attack on churches and high-end hotels in and around Colombo and Batticaloa. All nine bombers were in their 20s and 30s.

Radicalised at different times, for different reasons, and in varying measure, they encountered Hashim on social media or in person. In him, they saw a mentor who could give their lives purpose and direction. With time and interaction, their shared cause” acquired considerable weight — enough for them to pledge their lives for it.

Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Terrorist Investigation Division (TID), leading the probe, have traced all nine to two jihadist organisations — National Tawheed Jamaath (NTJ), led by Hashim, and Jamathei Millathu Ibrahim (JMI), a less formal group of youth who had met on social media.

Marred by internal power struggles, the two organisations gradually became less relevant for Hashim’s team as its focus shifted to a new mission in the last six months. Their disparate locations — in geography or class — did not matter. They were bound by ideology and connected by technology.

And on April 21, the nine bombers killed over 250 people, including 45 children, drawing attention to the underground terror network they had built quietly and efficiently, even as the rest of Sri Lanka was enjoying a relative post-civil war calm.

Millionaire brothers

Uniformed soldiers and cops patrol the Dam Street-Old Moor Street junction in Pettah, Colombo’s busiest wholesale hub. A two-storeyed red building, with ‘Ishana, 37’ inscribed prominently, stands out in the packed row of shops, most of them painted white or green and selling rice, grocery, spice and tea. No. 37’s shutters are down.

Ishana Exports is a nearly three decade-old spice export company. Its founder Y.M. Ibrahim is widely known as a millionaire with modest beginnings, and an ever-ready philanthropist. He has friends of all political hues, and they all respect him. In natural course, his sons would have inherited his business, fortune, and possibly all that goodwill. Instead, they chose to become suicide bombers. The CID has detained their father for questioning.

An extremely mild-mannered and polite young man.” That is how a senior staff member at Ishana Exports remembers his boss’s son Inshaf Ahmed Mohamed Ibrahim. Even as a child he was not mischievous. He was a lovely child,” said a family member.

Inshaf, 33, went to the well-known D.S. Senanayake College in Cinnamon Gardens in the posh Colombo 7 locality. He didn’t go to university but learned the tricks of the spice trade.

Of nine siblings, only Inshaf and Ilham — the second and third sons — were directly involved in the business. Both were on the board of directors. Inshaf was more actively engaged, said company sources. The two often travelled on work, including to India.

Though he [Inshaf] was technically our boss, he never gave orders. He would say ‘can you please do this’, as if he were asking a favour,” said an employee, who asked not to be named. Ilham, 31, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to have evoked a similar warmth. Ilham was a loner, he rarely showed up at family events or spoke to people. He was very introverted. We hardly even know him,” said the family member.

It was not until a year ago that employees and family noticed a change in the two brothers.

Inshaf often objected to his father’s practice of taking short-term loans on interest for rotating cash. He said our religion does not permit borrowing money on interest and we must stop,” a senior employee recalled. It’s something Muslims often hear their preachers say, but their father — with a practical business sense — did not consider it an offence.Techies on the bench

• At least two arrests made after the attacks suggest that young IT professionals were among those associated with JMI.
• Investigators say they suspect Aadhil Ameez, 24, a software engineer who might have provided technical and logistical support to the bombers, to have been a link between different jihadist units.
• A Reuters report reveals that Ameez — who calls himself Aadhil Ax — has been under Indian surveillance from 2016, when he was found to be in touch with two suspects linked to a plot targeting Ahmedabad and with three Indians promoting the IS.
• Ameez was from Dharga Town, near Aluthgama on the southern coast, where Muslims faced large-scale, targeted violence in 2012. As in Digana in 2018, the attacks seemed part of a pattern. It was repeated last week in parts of Kurunegala and Gampaha, when mobs torched Muslim-owned shops and homes.
• Ameez is believed to have interned with IT company Virtusa in 2013, where one employee was recently arrested for suspected links with the Easter attacks. We don’t know if he played a role, but there are indications that this employee met Hashim on April 6,” said a senior investigating officer.

The sons were unwilling to compromise. They stepped down from the company’s board last year,” said the senior employee.

Inshaf continued to run a copper factory that he had set up some five years earlier, in Wellampitiya, 5 km from the family’s plush villa in the Colombo suburb, Dematagoda. Ilham managed a part of the spice sourcing for his father’s company.

Inshaf continued to visit the office, dealing with employees as cordially as before. A company source said there was no drastic change in Inshaf’s appearance. He only sported a slightly longer beard, I noticed. But many people do that.” He wore formals or the usual jeans and T-shirt.

He came last on April 18.” That was four days before he blew himself up at Colombo’s Cinnamon Grand Hotel, just as Ilham and mastermind Hashim did at the nearby Shangri-La hotel.

The same day, Ilham’s pregnant wife Fathima blasted explosives strapped to her body as the police surrounded the Dematagoda house, where Ilham’s family lived on the top floor. Their three children as well as three policemen died on the spot.

Investigators believe the brothers came in contact with Hashim via Facebook and private chat rooms. The bond seems to have grown over time, with Ilham becoming a key funder of the Easter plot, according to a top officer.

‘Radicalised abroad’

The CCTV footage from Taj Samudra that Sri Lankan television played, showed a restless Abdul Latheef Jameel Mohamed seated at a restaurant, fiddling with his backpack. Minutes later, he walked out after a botched suicide attack. Without a clue of the terror he was carrying on his shoulders, staff helped him wheel out his bigger bags to the porch. Five hours later, he blew himself up in a small hotel in a southern suburb of Dehiwala, killing at least two other guests.

As a teenager, Jameel was a motivated student. He pursued aerospace engineering at Kingston University in southwest London from 2006 to 2007, and later went to Melbourne for postgraduation. Australian immigration records show that he left Australia in 2013.

Jameel’s sister Samsul Hidaya told Daily Mail that he was normal” when he went to study in Britain. But after Australia, he returned to Sri Lanka a different man,” she was quoted as saying. The Australian reported that the police had marked Jameel for his apparent terrorist leanings, based on evidence linking him to IS recruiter Neil Prakash, one of Australia’s most wanted jihadists.

Others, however, believe Jameel was radicalised earlier, in the U.K., where he met notorious British Islamist Anjem Choudary. Jameel’s friends also told media that the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 had deeply affected him when he was in his early 20s.

According to investigators, Jameel returned to Sri Lanka in 2014, after a failed attempt to travel to Syria. He could go only up to Turkey,” an officer said. Back home, he lived with his wife and four children in Wellampitiya, the Colombo suburb where Inshaf’s copper factory is located.

Jameel and the Ibrahim brothers knew each other well,” said a senior investigator. Initially, it was Ilham who linked up with Jameel online. Later, they were all part of JMI.”

Like Jameel, Alawdeen Ahmed Muath too was a motivated student. He graduated in law from a college in Colombo and was registered to practise. Following his wedding a year ago, Muath mostly lived in Sainthamaruthu, his wife’s hometown in the Eastern Province. The town, less than an hour’s drive from Kattankudy, where Hashim was based, came into focus when troops found 15 bodies inside a house on April 27. After an overnight gun battle between security forces and suspects, three suicide bombers triggered explosions, killing themselves, six children and three women inside.

Among the dead were Hashim’s father and two brothers, including Rilwan Hashim, later identified by investigators as an explosives expert”. The jihadists were tenants on the first floor of a small house in a crammed tsunami resettlement colony. Muath, officers say, likely met the Hashims in Sainthamaruthu.

Muath would visit us now and then. He last came [home] on April 14 to see his sister’s newborn. His wife was pregnant, their baby was also due soon. Muath bought baby clothes and left for Sainthamaruthu,” his father said in court.

On Easter morning, Muath’s wife called the family to ask if they knew where he was. Then came news of the blast. On May 5, Muath’s baby was born, a fortnight after the father took his life and that of many others, at St. Anthony’s church in Colombo.

The precursor

Hashim’s network was not restricted to the nine Easter bombers. Over the years, he had found allies and fans in different cities. For instance, the Abdul-Haq brothers in Mawanella, some 25 km from Kandy, who were on the run from December 2018. That’s when Buddha statues in Mawanella, which is home to a sizeable Sinhala-Buddhist population, were vandalised. At least six people were arrested, but Mohammad Sadik Abdul-Haq and Mohammad Shaheed Abdul-Haq went into hiding. They were caught days after the Easter terror attacks.

Military intelligence sources said they have not found any evidence of the duo’s role in the Easter bombings, but other investigators indicated that Sadik likely trained some of the bombers.

Irrespective of their role, their backstory gives a peek into how some crucial links in Sri Lanka’s Islamist radical matrix go back years. Their story also reveals how raging anger can swiftly morph into a thirst for revenge, making an indoctrinator’s job easy.

Hashim visited a mosque near Mawanella over eight years ago and, typically, made more enemies than friends before being barred from preaching there. Hashim would frequently argue that our preachers were wrong in their practice of Islam. After a point, they realised he was a trouble-maker and asked him not to come,” said an official at the Mawanella masjid.

The brothers grew up in Mawanella in a pious family. Their father Ibrahim Moulavi was a well-respected preacher and a member of the local Jamaat-e-Islami, an influential socio-religious organisation. Sadik failed his A Levels but was known for his karate skills. He was very athletic,” the source said. Sadik and Shaheed met Hashim once or twice” at that time, said a source close to the family.

Investigators can’t confirm these earlier meetings, but believe the brothers gravitated towards Hashim later, in 2017, enticed by his doctrinal videos. From our investigation, it appears they got close in 2018, months before getting the statue vandalising assignment from Hashim,” a senior officer said.

Meanwhile, friends of the brothers were aware of their growing radicalism. In fact, the Jamaat-e-Islami and its youth wing, Sri Lanka Islamic Students’ Movement, expelled them four years ago. Sadik went to Turkey on a scholarship and promised to return in three months but stayed on for over four months. We heard he went to Syria from there,” said one member.

On his return, Sadik tried usurping leadership of the organisation, and was expelled. He grew a long beard, his wife began to wear the face veil, not very common among Muslims in Mawanella. Shaheed too changed his attire. Their father tried bringing them back on track. Instead, they tactfully drew Moulavi to their radical line,” said a relative. The father had to be expelled from Jamaat-e-Islami less than a year ago. He challenged our constitution,” said a member.

Then, the defacing of the Buddha statues put them back in the spotlight. Friends and family members of the duo point to two likely triggers for the brothers’ growing slant towards radicalism.

Mawanella experienced a spate of violent anti-Muslim attacks in 2001 that shook the town. Fearing more losses to business and property, Muslims did not retaliate. Sadik and Shaheed were in their late teens at the time.

In 2018, Digana, located 40 km east of Mawanella, witnessed one of the worst targeted attacks on Muslims in years. Following a road rage incident, at least one Muslim youth died, and Muslim-owned property worth millions was burnt down. Many saw the incident as a crude expression of a resurgent Sinhala-Buddhist extremism.

It must have impacted Sadik very much. Why Sadik, it affected all of us. I was very disturbed that these hardline groups were getting away with such deplorable actions,” says a young professional, in his early 30s, who knew the brothers from childhood. We all felt the same rage. The only difference was in how we chose to express it — emotionally or rationally. Sadik was always emotional and aggressive, the kind whose hands would speak first even when someone violated traffic rules.”

A few others in Mawanella, Kattankudy and Colombo echoed similar sentiments. As much as they vehemently condemned the terror attacks, they seemed to appreciate why their friends or relatives had turned radical. They say radicalism and terrorism have many roots. The feeling of injustice must surely be one,” said the young professional.

He recalled Hashim’s Facebook cover picture from late 2018. I remember it said in Arabic ‘we are going to conspire against your statues’. It must have spoken directly to Sadik and Shaheed’s anger.” As it turned out, Hashim — who staunchly opposed idol worship — chose the brothers for the statue vandalism that investigators, in retrospect, see as an important precursor to the Easter attacks.

A wedding and an alliance

The many hazy links Hashim had with radical youth appear to have firmed up into an informal alliance in 2016, at a wedding. Investigators said: It was at a wedding in Kattankudy. Many JMI members went for it. We think Ilham and Jameel were also there.” Beginning then, most in the group stayed in touch largely through WhatsApp and Telegram, even after Hashim went into hiding in 2017.

But the real close circle,” investigators said, was formed mid-2018, with no specific mission but probably as some sort of preparation” for a future attack. Investigators point to the clue they saw in the huge cache of explosives unearthed in January in Wanathawilluwa town, near Wilpattu national park.

The Easter plot itself seems to have come to shape much later. From our interrogation of suspects, it is evident that Hashim spoke of attacking churches,” said a senior officer. He thinks the plot was provoked by the Christchurch killings in New Zealand in which over 50 Muslims, kneeling in prayer, were shot dead.

Others are less certain. The Christchurch attack was mid-March. A well-coordinated, sophisticated attack of this nature will need meticulous planning and longer preparation time,” said a senior officer. There is little evidence to support that theory.”

In fact, one of the main questions that remains is whether the suspects had a direct channel to the IS leadership,” he said. Evidence shows that some suspects, including Jameel and Hashim’s brother Rilwan, were in touch with two of the five main Sri Lankan IS fighters who went to Syria some years ago. But none of the bombers had direct links with the IS leadership.

One of the Sri Lankan jihadists that Rilwan had been speaking to died in 2017; and another, whom Jameel knew, is in custody, reportedly in Turkey. They were two of the first five fighters who left from 2015 to Turkey and Syria. They left with their entire families. That is how politicians came up with that number,” he said, referring to the over 30 Sri Lankan youth” who, politicians say, joined the IS.

It is unclear if Hashim was independently in touch with the IS leadership. He often claimed to have received instructions from Sham,” referring to Syria, in his videos and conversations with recruits.

Investigators are also grappling with another contradiction — the target. Why did the Islamist radicals choose to attack a fellow minority community with whom they had no enmity?

In the raid in Sainthamaruthu, troops not only found explosives, but also white dresses that Buddhist women usually wear for temple visits or prayers. This has sparked doubts of whether the attacks were planned for the Buddhist festival of Vesak — May 18-19 — or for the July Kandy Perahara, known for its procession of traditional dancers and parades of elephants. Every year, tens of thousands of people are on Kandy’s streets to witness this spectacle.

Some investigators wondered if an initial plot, planned against Sinhala-Buddhists, had been hijacked by an external element” at a later stage. In other words, did an individual or group abroad use an already activated local radical group to put out its own message to the Western world? There are no clear answers yet.

It also looks as if JMI members initially hoped to join the IS in Syria. But after the ‘fall’ of the Caliphate in Iraq and Syria, they had to put off the plan, an official source said. Ever since, Ilham was desperate to execute an attack in Sri Lanka. He found his answer in the Easter plot.”

His brother Inshaf appears to have been roped in at the last stage. He had flight tickets booked for himself and his family for Mecca this May.

It was only weeks before the Easter weekend that they evolved into a proper team, with their specific roles charted out. In the final weeks, they communicated using ‘Threema’, an encrypted messenger service considered highly secure, according to an officer.

Now, after extensive searches and key arrests, officers are confident of having virtually eliminated the threat. However, investigators continue to connect the dots — old and new — to deconstruct the deadly operation. Gaps remain,” a senior officer admitted.

Further probes will reveal if the plot was accelerated after Christchurch or if the target shifted at some point, but what is clear is that the suicide bombers had harboured enough rage in recent years to willingly embrace terror and execute a ruthless act. After that, the date, venue and target were merely details.

(Most of the sources requested anonymity as the case is under investigation.)

meera.srinivasan@thehindu.co.in

අද (30) දින පැවැති ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදු ජන පෙරමුනේ මාධ්‍ය හමුව

අද (30) දින පැවැති මාධ්‍ය හමුවට සහභාගි වූ නියෝජිතයින්

■ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී පවිත්‍රා වන්නිආරච්චි මහත්මිය
■ හිටපු බස්නාහිර පළාත් සභා මන්ත්‍රීනි කෝකිලා හර්ෂණී ගුණවර්ධන මහත්මිය
■ ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන කාන්තා පෙරමුනේ සහ නිතීඥ පෙරමුනේ උප ලේකම් සාගලා අබේවික්‍රම මහත්මිය

පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී පවිත්‍රා වන්නිආරච්චි මහත්මිය
මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ පාලන සමයේ අපි කිසිදු අවස්ථාවක හදිසි විදුලිය මිලදී ගැනීම් කලේ නැහැ. රටේ විදුලි හිගය ගැනත්, හදිසි විදුලි මිලදි ගැනීම් නිසා පාරිභෝගිකයාටත්, රටටත් වුනු හානිය ගැන සලකා බලා අඩු මිලට විදුලිය නිපදවීමේ බලාගාර නිර්මාණය කලා. රුපියල් 7 පමණ පිරිවැයකින් යුත්  නොරොච්චෝලේ ගල් අගුරු බලාගාරය එයින් ප්‍රධානයි. මෙගා වොට් 40කින් යුක්ත උමාඔය ජල විදුලි බලාගාරය අපි දෙන අවස්ථාවේ 80%ක් වැඩ අවසන්. මෙගාවොට් 25 කින් යුක්ත රෝඞ්ලන්ඞ් බලාගාරය අපි 40%ක් වැඩ අවසන් කරලා තිබුණා. මෙගාවොට් 35ක්න් යුක්ත මොරගහකන්ද ජල විදුලි බලාගාරයෙන් 70%ක් වැඩ අවසන් කරලා තිබුණා. මෙගාවොට් 25කින් යුක්ත මොරගොල්ල විදුලිබලාගාරයෙන් 25%ක් වැඩ අවසන් කරලා තිබුනේ. අපේ යුගයේ මෙවැනි විදුලි බලාගාර රැසක් ඇරඹුවත් ගෙවුනු වසර කිහිපයේ මේ රජය කිසිදු විදුලි බලාගාරයක් හැදුවේ නැහැ. ඒ කාලයේ හදපු විදුලි බලාගාර කිසිවක් විදුලි බල පද්ධතියට එකතු කරන්න පියවර ගත්තෙත් නැහැ. ඉන්දියානු රජයත් එක්ක මෙගා වොට්500 ගල් අගුරු බලාගාරයක් සාම්පූර්වල හදන්න සුදානම් කළා.

ඒ සදහා ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජයත් ඉන්දියානු රජයත් එක්ව සමාගමක් හදලා සාම්පූර්වල ඒ සදහා අවශ්‍ය ඉඩම් අත්පත් කරගැනීමත් කළා. ඒකකයක් රුපියල් 9ට ජාතික විදුලි බල පද්ධතියට එක් කරන්නයි සූදානම තිබුනේ. 2017 වර්ෂයේ මේ බලාගාරය අපේ පද්ධතියට එක් කරන්නයි සූදානම තිබුනේ. ටෙන්ඩර් කැදවලා බලාගාරය පටන් ගන්න විතරයි තිබුනේ. මේ ආන්ඩුවට ඕන වුනේ මඩි තර කර ගැනීමට පුද්ගලික විදුලි බලාගාර ගේනනයි. සාම්පුර්වල බලාගාරය හදන කොටසට අනෙක් කොටසට ජපන් අපේ මණ්ඩලයත් එක්ව මෙගාවොට් 700 තවත් විදුලි බලාගාරයක් හදන්න සූදානම් වුනා. විදුලි බල මණ්ඩලයේ කොටස ජපන් රජය ආධාරයක් විදියට දෙන්න එකග වෙලා තිබුනේ. 2014 වෙද්දි විදුලි බල මණ්ඩලය ලාභ ලබමින් තිබුනේ. අද මේ වන විට මණ්ඩලය බිලියන 80ක් පාඩුයි. ඒ බර දරන්න වෙන්නේ  මේ රටේ මිනිස්සුන්ටයි. අපි සැලසුම් කළ විදියට අඩු මුදලකින් විදුලිය නිපදවූවා නම් අද විදුලි බිල 50%කින් අඩු කරන්න තිඉුණා. අපේ රජය සමයේ 98%ට විදුලිය දුන්නා. මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා විදුලි බල මණ්ඩලය මට දිලා කිව්වේ හැම නිවසකම විදුලි බල්බයක් දැලිවෙන්න ඕනේ කියලයි. ඉස්සර කදු මුදුනේ ගේකට විදුලිය ගන්නවා නම් ඒ මිනිස්සුන්ගේ වියදමෙන් කණු දාගන්න වුනා. කණු 10ක් විතර දාගෙන ගයිට් ගන්න ගියෝත් ඒ මිනිස්සුන්ට කවදාවත් විදුලිය ගන්න බැරි වෙන නිසා අපි පනත් වෙනස් කරලා සැම නිවසක් ඉදිරිපිටම කණුවක් හිටවූමේ වගකීම අපේ අමාත්‍යංශය ගත්තා. සමහර ගෙවල් තිබුණා ගේ දොරකඩ කණුවේ ඉදලා සම්බන්ධතාවය නිවසට ලබා ගැනීමේ විදයම් ගෙවා ගැනීමේ හැකියාව නැති’. අමාත්‍යංශ නිලධාරීන් කැදවලා වැඩිපුර පාරිභොගිකයෝ ඉන්න තරමට මණ්ඩලයට ලාභ නිසා සම්බන්ධතා ගාස්තුව මණ්ඩලයෙන් ගෙවලා අවුරුදු 5කදි බිලෙන් කැපෙන විදියට ඒ නිවෙස්වලටත් විදුලිය දුන්නා.
යුද්ධය ඉවර වෙන වෙලාවේ සම්පේෂණ පද්ධති බිද වැටිලා තිබුණා. අපේ සේවකයෝ ඉතා ඉක්මනින් ඒ සියල්ල යථාවත් කරලා ආණ්ඩුව භාර දෙන විට උතුරට 100%ක් විදුලිය දුන්නා. උතුරේ ජනතාව තමන්ගේ ජිවිකාව අරඹන තෙක් රජයයි විදුලි බලි ගෙව්වේ. විදුලි බල ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ අප ගෙන ගිය ක්‍රියාමාර්ග ඉදිරියට ගෙන ගියා නම් කවදාවත් විදුලිහිගයක් රටේ ඇති වෙන්නේ නැහැ. මේ අකාර්යක්ෂම, රට ගැන නොහිතන වැඩ බැරි වගකීම් විරහිත පාලකයින් අඩු මිලට විදුලිය දෙන්න අවශ්‍ය පියවර ගත්තේ නැහැ.
එවකට රටේ රජයන් පුද්ගලික බලාගාර එක්ක යම ්කාලයකටයි ගිවිසුම් අත්සන් කලේ.  විදුලිබලාගාර හදන්න ගත්ත ණය වල පොලිය, මුදල ගෙවලා අවසන් කරලා ලාභයක් ලැබෙන තත්ත්වයට එන්නත් ඒ ගිවිසුම්වල කාලය දුන්නා. ආයෝජකයින්ට වැය වුනු මුදල ලැබුනට පස්සේ ගිවිසුම් ඉදිරියට ගෙනියන්නේ අඩු මුදලට විදුලිය දෙනවා නම් විතරයි. මේ ආන්ඩුව අධීක මිලටම විදුලි ඒකක මිලදි ගැනීම් කරනවා. මේ ආන්ඩුව යටි හිතේ හොරකම තියාගෙනයි වැඩකරන්නේ. කෙරවලපිටියට ටෙන්ඩර් කැදවිමකින් තොරව නැවකින් විදුලිය ලබා ගන්න කැබිනට් පත්‍රිකාවක් දැනවා.

මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ කාලයේ අපි පැරණි විදුලි බල පනත වෙනුවට අලුත් විදුලිබල පනත ගෙනාවා. ටෙන්ඩර් කැදවිමකින් තොරව විදුලි බලාගාර ඉදිකරන්න ඒ අනුව බැහැ. ජාතික ව්‍යසනයක් ඇති වුනොත් පමණයි හදිසි මිලදි ගැනීම් කරන්න පුලුවන් වුනේ. අද කෙරවල පිටියේ මෙගාවොට් 200 විතරක් නෙවෙයි. ගාල්ල වරායටත් නැවක් ගෙනත් තව මෙගා වොට් 200ක් ගන්න හදනවා. ඉදිරියේ වර්ෂාව එනවා. මොකක්ද මෙගාවොට් 400ක් මිලදි ගන්න තියෙන අවශ්‍යතාවය. කෙරවල පිටියට නැවකින් විදුලිය ගන්න හදන කොට ලංකා විදුලි බලාගාරය අතුලු පාර්ශ්වික කමිටුවත්, ටෙන්ඩර් මණ්ඩලයත් එය ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කළා. සම්පේෂණ පද්ධතිය කෙරවල පිටියෙන් මෙගාවොට් 200ක් ගන්න ශක්තිමත් නැති බවයි ඔවුන් කිව්වේ. එහෙම ගන්නවා නම් අඩු මිලට විදුලිය ලැබෙන නොරොච්චෝලේ යම් කාලයකට නතර කරන්න වෙනවා. ඒක තාක්ෂණික කමිටුවත් ටෙන්ඩර් මණ්ඩලයත් ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කරලා තියෙන අවස්ථාවක දැන් ගාල්ලෙ වරායෙනුත් මෙගා වොට් 200ක් ගන්න සූදානම් වෙනවා.
අපේ රජය කාලයේ විදුලි බල නියාමන කොමිෂමක් ඇති කළා. මේවා කළ යුතු වුනේ විදුලි බල කොමිෂමේ නියාමනයට යටත්වයි. දැන් නියාමන කොමිෂමත්, ටෙක්ඩර් කිරීමත් පැත්තට දාලා මෙගා වොට් 400ක් ගන්නවා. රටේ අඩු මිලට විදුලිය ගන්න තියෙන බලාගාර ටිකපද්ධතියට එකතු කරන්නේ නැහැ. ලාභයට විදුලිය ගන්න තිබුණු සාම්පූර් බලාගාරය ඉදිකිරිම් කඩාකප්පල් කරලා. ගාල්ලෙන් විදුලිය ගන්න අපේ සම්පේෂණ පද්ධතිය ශක්තිමත් කරන්න මාස 4ක් වත් යනවා. ඒ කාලයේ ඇයි ටෙන්ඩර් කරලා ගන්නේ නැත්තේ. මේ ආණ්ඩුව ජනතාව ගැන නොහිතා තමන්ගේ මඩිය තර කර ගැනීම ගැන විතරයි  හිතන්නේ. අපේ රජයක් යටතේ විශේෂ බලතල සහිත කොමිෂමක් පත්කරලා මේවා සම්බන්ධයෙන් සොයා බලනවා.

හිටපු බස්නාහිර පළාත් සභා මන්ත්‍රීනි කෝකිලා හර්ෂණී ගුණවර්ධන මහත්මිය
මව්වරුන්ට වුනු දැවැන්ත අසාධාරණයක් ගැන මේ වෙද්දි අනාවරණය වෙමින් තිබෙනවා. කුරුණෑගල මහ රෝහලේ වෛද්‍ය සාෆි දැවැන්ත අසාධාරණයක් මව්වරුන්ට කළා කියන හැගිමඅ පේ හදවත් වල තියෙනවා. මවක්, ගැහැනියක් තමන්ට දරුවෙක් ලැබෙන්න ඉන්න අවස්ථාවක වෛද්‍යවරයෙක් ලගට යන්නේ දෙවිකෙනෙක් ගාවට යන හැගීමෙන්. දරුවෙක්ට එහා ගිය සම්පතක් අම්මා කෙනෙක්ට නැහැ. හැම අම්මා කෙනෙක්ම බලාපොරොත්තු වෙන්නේ ගුණ යහපත් දරුවෙක් රටට දායාද කරන්නයි. ස්වභාවිකව දරුඋපතක් කරන්න හැකියාව තිබියදිත් සීසර් සැත්කමක් කරන්න බලකරමින් තවත් දරුවෙක් බිහිකිරීමේ අවස්ථාව ඒ මවුවරුන්ට අහිමි කරන්න මේ වෛද්‍යවරයා මුල්වුනා කියන හැගිමයි අපේ හිතේ තියෙන්නේ. මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් රජය හා අමාත්‍යංශය කටයුතු කළ ආකාරය ගැන අපිට ලැජ්ජයි. පරීක්ෂණ මණ්ඩලයක් පත්කරන්නත් කළින් විෂයභාර ඇමැතිවරයා කියනවා මේ වගේ කාරණාවක් වෛද්‍යවරයෙක්ට කරන්න බැහැලු.

නමුත් ප්‍රසව හා නාරිවේද වෛද්‍යවරු කියනවා පැලෝපීය නාල අවහිර කිරිම මගින් නැවත වතාවක් දරුවෙක් බිහිකිරීමේ හැකියාව අහිමි වෙන්න පුලුවන් බව. මේක නින්දිත තත්ත්වයක්. මේ වෙද්දි මව්වරු 250ට වැඩිය පැමිණිලි ඉදිරිපත් වෙලා.මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් විදිමත් පරික්ෂණයක් කරන්න ස්වාධින් කොමිෂන් සබාවක් පත්කරන්න කියලා අපි ජනාධිපතිවරයාගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටිනවා. ඇමැතිවරයාගේ කමිටුව ගැන අපිට විශ්වාස නැහැ. එවැන්නක් වුනාද කියලා ලැපරොස්කොපි පරික්ෂණයක් මගින් හොයාගැනීමේ හැකියාව තියෙනවා.දරුවෙක් බිහිකිරීමේ හැකියාව නැති කරනවා කියන්නේ මිනි මැරීමක් වගෙයි. ලැපරොස් කොපි පරික්ෂණ මගින් මේ සිද්ධියේ ඇත්ත නැත්ත අනාවරණය කරගෙන වෛද්‍යවරයා වැරදිකරු නම් දිය හැකි උපරිම දඩුවම් දෙන්න. මේක මරණ දඩුවම පටන් ගන්න හොද අවස්ථාවක්. සමහර මව්වරුන් දෙවැනි දරුවෙක් බලාපොරොත්තුවෙන් වෛද්‍යවරු ලගට ගියා. පුද  පූජා පැවැත්වුවා. ඒ වුනත් දරුවෙක් නැහැ කිව්වා. මේ නිසා සමහර පවුල්වල ආරවුල් ඇති වෙලා. එක කාන්තාවක් කිව්වා මගේ ප්‍රශ්නයක් නෙවෙයි කියන එක මහත්තයා තේරුම් ගැනීමත් හිතට සහනයක් බව. මේකේ සත්‍යතාවයක් තියෙනවා නම් දිය හැකි උපරිම දඩුවම් දෙන්න.
මේ ආණ්ඩුව යටතේ කෙරුණු කිසිම පරික්ෂණයක් ගැන අපිට විශ්වාසයක් නැහැ. මහබැංකුව හොරාකෑම ගැන තිබුණු පරික්ෂණය වගේ නොකර මව්වරු වෙනුවෙන් නිවැරදි තීන්දුවක් අරන් මව්වරුන්ගේ හදවතට සහනයක් දෙන්නයිකියලා අපි රජයෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටිනවා.
ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන කාන්තා පෙරමුනේ සහ නිතීඥ පෙරමුනේ උප ලේකම් සාගලා අබේවික්‍රම මහත්මිය
දැන් සිවිල් හා දේශපාලන අයිතිවාසිකම් පිළීබද සම්මුති පනත යටතේ වෛරී ප්‍රකාශ යටතේ නඩු දාන්න පුලුවන් කියනවා.දැන් මේ සූදානම් වෙන්නේ  වංගුවක් ගහලා නීතිය නවලා අපේ භාෂණයේ නිදහස නැති කරන්නයි. මේ කරන්න යන්නේ අන්තවාදි හා ජාතීවාදි ප්‍රකාශ සමාජ මාධ්‍ය ඔස්සේ ප්‍රචාරණය විම වලක්වමින් ආන්ඩුවේ දුර්වලකම්වලට පහර දෙන සමාජජාලා ක්‍රියාකාරීකයින් දඩුවම් කිරීමේ අරමුනිනි. සමාජජාලා නොතිබුනා නම් රටේ සමහර සිදුවුනු දේවල් අපි දන්නේ නැහැ. මුදල් අමාත්‍යංශයේ මාධ්‍ය අධ්‍යක්ෂකවරයා ගිණි අවි උණ්ඩ 93ක් ලග තබා ගෙන අත් අඩංගුවට පත්වුනත් ඒවා වෙනකෙනෙක්ගේකියලා හවස් වෙද්දි නිදහස් වුනා.
ආන්ඩුවෙන් සියලු අවි ආයුධ ගෙනත් භාරදෙන්න පොදු සමාකාලයක් දිලා තිබුණා. ඒ වුනාට ආන්ඩුවේ තනතුරක් දරන මාධ්‍ය අධ්‍යක්ෂකවරයා ඒක දැනගෙන ඉදලා නැහැ. දැනගෙන හිටියා නම් සියගේ උණ්ඩ ටික ගෙනිහින් භාර දෙනවානේ. විපක්ෂ නායකවරයාගේ මාධ්‍ය අධ්‍යක්ෂකවරයා මෙහෙම දෙයක් කළා නම් දින නියමයක් නැතිව හිරේ. පාස්කු ප්‍රහාරය සම්බන්ධයෙන් පත්කරපු පාර්ලිමේන්තු තේරීම් කාරක සභාවේ නිතිඥ ජයම්පති වික්‍රමරත්න, ජනාධීපති නිතීඥ රාවුෆ් හකිම්, ආශු මාරසිංහ, ෆීල්ඞ් මාර්ෂල් සරත් ෆොන්සේකා, වෛද්‍ය නලින්ද ජයතිස්ස, එක්ක තේරීම් කාරක සභාවක ඉන්නම ඕනේ කෙනෙක් වෙන රවී කරුණානායකත් ඉන්නවා. මහ බැංකු හොරකමට චුදිතයෙක් වුනු, තමන්ගේ නෝනාට ගේ ලැබුණු හැටි නොදන්න මනුස්සයා තේරීම් කාරක සභාවක ඉදන් රටේ ජාතික ආරක්ෂව ගැන ප්‍රශ්න කරනවා. මොකක්ද මේ සභාව ගැන තියෙන විශ්වසනීයත්වය.
අපි මේ ගැන අදහස් දැක්වුවොත් ත්‍රස්තවාදය වැලැක්වීමේ පනත යටතේ වෛරි ප්‍රකාශ කළා කියලා හිරේ දාන්න පුලුවන්. ඒකෙන් ආන්ඩු ක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 14 වැනි වගන්තියේ තියෙන භාෂණයේ නිදහස අපිට ලැබෙන්නේ නැහැ. බුද්ධි අංශ ප්‍රධානි ඇවිත් කියනවා අප්‍රියෙල් 9 වැනිදා මෙහෙම දෙයක් වෙන බව දැනන් හිටිය බව. දැනුවත් කළත් අපදෙස් දුන්නේ නැහැ. ආරක්ෂක මණ්ඩලය මාස සෙ දෙකක් රැස්වුනේ නැහැ.
කපිල හෙන්ද්‍රවිතාරණ ඉන්න කාලේ මෙහෙම වුනේ නැහැ කියලා සරත් ෆොන්සේකා සදහන් කළාම බුද්ධී අංශ ප්‍රදානී මොකක්ද දුන්න අත්තරය. ඒ කාලේ හිටියා හොද ආරක්ෂක ලේකම්වරයෙක්. එතුමා මේ වගේ තොරතුරක් ආවා නමම්ඒ අවස්ථාවේම ක්‍රියාත්මක වෙනවා කිව්වලු. මුලු තේරීම් කාරක සභාවම ඒ පිළිතුරට හිනාවෙලා. අන්තවාදි සංවිධෘන තහනම් කළා නම් මෙවැනිනක් සිද්ධ වෙන්නේ නැති බව ජෙනරල් කොට්ටේගොඩ කියලා තියෙනවා. අන්තවාදි සංවිධාන තහනම් වුනාට ඒ තහනම නිසි විදියට වෙන්නේ නැහැ. අපිට මුස්ලිම් අයගේ ඇදුම් ඉවත් කරන්න ඕනේ නැහැ. තවමත් හිස වහගෙන ඔවුන් ප්‍රසිද්ධ ස්ථානවලට එනවා. අපිට මේ ගැනත් කිසිවක් කියන්න බැහැ. කිව්වොත් වෛරී ප්‍රකාශනයක් වෙනවා. මාධ්‍ය නිදහස දෙනවා. තොරතුරු දැන ගැනීමේ පනතක් සම්මත කළා. ඒ වුනාට භාෂණයේ නිදහස නැහැ. ඒ ගැන කතාකලොත් අර මාධ්‍ය අධ්‍යක්ෂකවරයාට වගේ ඇප ලැබෙන්නේ නැහැ. වෛරී ප්‍රකාශයනයක් කළා කියලා හිරේ දානවා.

අද (30) දින පැවැති ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදු ජන පෙරමුනේ මාධ්‍ය හමුව

අද (30) දින පැවැති මාධ්‍ය හමුවට සහභාගි වූ නියෝජිතයින්

■ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී සෙහාන් සේමසිංහ මහතා
■ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රි රමේෂ් පතිරණ මහතා
■ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී ජානක වක්කුඹුර මහතා

පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී ශෙහාන් සේමසිංහ මහතා
පාස්කු සිද්ධිය සම්බන්ධයෙන් සොයන්න පත්කරපු තේරීම් කාරක සභාවේ සභාපතිවරයා සහ තවත් මන්ත්‍රීවරු ඇවිත් හිටියේ නැහැ. මේක සැබැවින්ම ඛේදවාචකය ගැන හොයන්න පත්කරපු එකක්ද. විශේෂ තේරීම් කාරක සභාව හරහා රිෂාඞ් බදියුදින් නිවැරදිකරුවෙක් කරන්නයි කටයුතු කරන්නේ කියලා අපි මුල ඉදලාම කිව්වා.මේ තරම්බරපතල කාරණාවක් සම්බන්ධයෙන් පත්කරපු කාරක සභාවේ සියලුම මන්ත්‍රීවරු සහභාගි නොවීමත් පුදුමයක්. වසර ගණනාවක් තිස්සේ විපක්ෂයක් විදියට අපි කිව්වා බුද්ධි අංශ දුර්වල කිරීමක් වුන බව. මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් තොරතුරු රැස්කිරීමේී බුද්ධි අංශ ගැන විශ්වාස නොකර ඒ තෙරතුරු මග හැරීම නිසා මේ ප්‍රහාරය එල්ල වුන බව පැහැදිලියි. බුද්ධි අංශයේ අභ්‍යන්තරය ගැන ප්‍රශ්න කරන්න සරත් ෆෝන්සේකා මහතා ඇරෙන්න අනිත් අය සුදුසුද කියලා හිතන්න වෙනවා. මිලේනියම් ඛේදවාචකය හරහා බුද්ධි අංශය විනාශ වුනා වගේ තවත් එවැනිම කේධවාචකයකට රට මෙහෙයවිමක්ද මෙතැන වෙන්නේ කියලා අපිට හිතෙනවා. ඒනිසා බුද්ධි අංශවල අභ්‍යන්තරය සම්බන්ධයෙන් ප්‍රශ්න කිරීමේදි තෝරා බේරා ගෙන ප්‍රවේශමෙන් කටයුතු කළ යුතුයි. එකිනෙකාගේ බලය මොකක්ද කියන දේ නෙවෙයි මේ කාරක සභාව හරහා ජනතාව දැන ගන්න උත්සාහ කරන්නේ.
මේ ප්‍රශ්න කිරීම්වලදි ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණත්, රාජිත සේනාරත්න මහතාත් එකම මතයක් දැරීම අපිට ප්‍රශ්නයක්. බුද්ධි අංශය තොරතුරු ඒකාරාශී කිරීමට අනුගමනය කරන පිළීවෙත් පසුගිය කාලයේ රාජිත සේනාරත්න අනාවරණය කළා. එහෙම කරද්දි එතුමා නොසිටි අවස්ථාවක ජවිපේ නියෝජිතයා ඒකාරණය සම්බන්ධයෙන් විමසුවා. මේ වෙද්දි රාජිත සේනාරත්න ප්‍රමුඛ රජයත් ජවිපෙත් එකම කාරණයක් ඔස්සේ ගමන් කිරීම අපිට සැකයි.

බුද්ධි අංශ ප්‍රධානිට තින්දු තිරණගන්න බලයක්නැති බව කියනවා. එහෙමනම් කාටද බලය තියෙන්නේ. මේ ගැන ජනාධිපති මෛත්‍රිපාල සිරිසේන ජනාධිපතිත්, අගමැති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහත් රටට අනාවරණය කරන්න ඕනේ. ආරක්ෂක කමිටුව පෙබරවාරි මස සිට රැස් නොවුනේ රටෙට්ජාතික ආරක්ෂාව තුට්ටුවකට මායිම් නොකරන ආන්ඩුවක් කියන එක ගම්‍ය වෙනවා. එහි ප්‍රතිඵලය අපි දැක්කා. ආරක්ෂාව තහවුරු වෙලා කියලා රජය කිව්වත් ඒ අවධානම තවදුරටත් තිබෙන බව තේරුම් කාරක සභාවේ සාක්ෂි මගින් අපි දැක්කා. සරත් විජේසූරිය මහතා සාධාරණ සමාජයක් වෙනුවෙන් මේ රජය බලයට ගේන්න කැපකිරීමක් කළා. පැවැති රජය බරපතල ලෙස විවේඡනය කරලා දැන් එතුමා විසින්ම එතුමාට සාප කරගන්නවා. මේ රටට සැබැවින්ම ආදරය කරන රටේ අනාගතය ගැන අවබෝදයක් තිබුණු අය මොවුන් මේ රටේපාලනය සදහා නුසුදුසු බව දැක්කා. නමුත් සිවිල් සංවිධාන පෙරමුණට ඇවිත් සාමන්‍ය ජනතාවගේ ආකල්ප වෙනස් කලා. එතුමන්ලා මැදිහත්ව රටට කරපු හානිය ගැන පසුතැවීම ගැන අපි සතුටුයි. එතුමාලා 2015 කරපු වරද නිවරදි කර ගන්න බහුතර ජනතාව වැඩපිළීවෙල එක්ක එකතු වෙන්න. 2015 වගේම කුමන්ත්‍රණ මේ අවස්ථාවේදීත් රටේ දියත් වෙනවා. ඒ නිසා රැවටිමට ලක් වෙන්න එපා. 2015දි වගේම මැතිවරණයට මාස 5ක් තියා ඒ කුමන්ත්‍රණය දියත් වෙන්නේ රටේ දුර්වල නායකත්වයක් ගොඩනගන්නයි. තින්දු තීරණගන්න බැරි ආණ්ඩුවක් හදන්නයි. මගේ රට ලංකාවයි කියලා කට ඇරලා කියන්න බැරි නායකත්වයක් බිහි කිරීමේ මේ කුමන්ත්‍රණයට හසු වෙන්න එපා.
හදිසි නිතිය ඉවත් කරන්න බලපෑම් සිද්ධ වෙනවා. ජනතාවගේ පැත්තෙන් අනපේක්ෂිත ත්‍රස්ත ප්‍රහාරය නිසයි හදිසි නිතිය පැනවූවේ. හදිසි නිතිය ක්‍රියාත්මක වෙන්නේ කිසිදු ජන කොට්ඨාශයකට හානියක් කරන්න නෙවෙයි. රටේ ඇති වුනු තත්ත්වය සමනය කරන්නයි. ඒනිසා විවිධ රටවලින් එන බලපෑම් වලට ආණ්ඩුවයටත් වෙන්න අවශ්‍ය නැහැ. දෙමල ජාතික සන්ධානය ඛේදවාචකය අවස්ථාවේ හමුදා ආරක්ෂාව ඉල්ලුවත් දැන් හදිසි නිතිය ඉවත් කරන්නලු. මෙය දේශපලානඥයින්ගේ හෝ වෙනත් රටක අවශ්‍යතාවය මත සිදුවිය යුත්තක් නෙවෙයි අපේ බුද්ධි අංශ ලබා දෙන තොරතුරු මත පදනම් වෙලයි කරන්න ඕනේ.

මේ ත්‍රස්ත ප්‍රහාරය ගැන කතා කරන අවස්ථාවේ රටේ ආර්ථිකයකඩා බිදදමපු බැදුම්කරය යට ගසන්න අවශ්‍ය ක්‍රියාමාර්ග ගනිමින් සිටිනවා. සමහරුන් නිදහස්කර ගන්නත් ආන්ඩුව අත්සාහ කරනවා. මහ බැංකුව කොල්ලකෑම හා ජාතික ආරක්ෂාව අනතුරේ දැමීම හරහා රටට කරපු විනාශය  අතරේ බැදුම්කර හොරුන් නිදහස් කර ගන්න නම් සූදානම් වෙන්න එපා. පොලිසිය හරහා එකිනෙකාට එක එක විදියටයි නිතියක්‍රියාත්මක වෙන්නේ.මුදල් අමාත්‍යංශයේ මාධ්‍ය අධ්‍යක්ෂකවරයා අත් අඩංගුවට ගන්නේ සගවා තිබුණු පතොරොම් වගයක් එක්ක. ඒ වුනත් හවස වෙද්දි නිරුපද්‍රිතව නිදහස් වෙනවා. මංගල සමරවිර ඇමැතිවරයාත් දිගින් දිගටම ත්‍රස්තවාදය වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටිමින් ජාතිවාදය ඇති කිරීමේප්‍රකාශ නිකුත් කරද්දි ඔහුගේ අමාත්‍යංශයේ ප්‍රවෘත්ති අධ්‍යක්ෂකවරයා උණ්ඩ 93ක් එක්ක එසු වෙන්නේ. සමා කාලයක් ලබා දීලත් තිබුණු නිති විරෝධී දේවල් පොලීසියට භාර දෙන්න කියලා. එවැනි භාරදිමක් නොකල පුද්ගලයෙක්ව නිදහස්කරද්දි සැකයක් ඇති වෙනවා. ඔහු සාමන්‍ය නිතිය යටතට ගැනෙන්නේ නැද්ද. බැදුම්කර වංචාවට සම්බන්ධ පුද්ගලයින් කමුටිවේවේ සිටීම අසාධාරණයි. රවීකරුණානයක ඇමැතිවරයාට චෝදනා තිබීම නිසා ඇමැතිධූරයෙන් අයින් වෙන්නත් වුනා. කුරුණෑගල වෛද්‍යවරයාව නිදොස් කරගන්නත් ආන්ඩුව උත්සාහ කරන්නේ රිසාඞ් බදියුදීන්ව නිදහස් කරගන්න උත්සාහ කරන ආකාරයටමයි. විමර්ශන කටයුතු කරන නිලධාරීන් මාරු කරනවා. ආණ්ඩුකාරවරු තර්ජනාත්මක ප්‍රකාශ කරනවා. මේ නිසා පොලිසියට ස්වාධිනව කටයුතු කිරීමේ අවස්ථාව ලබා දෙන්නත් අවශ්‍යයි.

පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රි රමේෂ් පතිරණ මහතා
ආණ්ඩුවබලයට ගේන්න වෙහෙස දැරූ, දරදිය ඇද්ද සරත් විජේසූරිය මහතා ආණ්ඩුවබලයට පත්වීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් එතුමාටම සාප කරගන්නවා. සාපය වැදිලා තියෙන්නේ රටට සහ ජනතාවට මිස එතුමාට නෙවෙයි.  මේ රටේ ආරජිකත්වයයි එතුමාගේ ප්‍රකාශයේ තියෙන්නේ. නිතියේ ආධිපත්‍ය පිරිහිම ඇතුලු සමාජ විභේදනයේ කැඩපතක් මේ දිනවල මාධ්‍ය ඔස්සේ දකින්න ලැබෙන්නේ.

මහ බැංකු වංචාවේ චූදිතයෙක් මහ උජාරුවෙන් රටේ බුද්ධි අංශ ප්‍රධානීන්ගෙන් ප්‍රශ්න කරන හැටි අපි දැක්කා. දැන් මහ බැංකු අපරාධය ගැන ජනතාවට අමතක වෙමින් තිබෙනවා. පාතාල නායක මධූෂ්ව ජනතාවට අමතක වෙමින් තිබෙනවා. රටේ අරාජිකත්වයට වගකිව යුතු ප්‍රධානින් කටයුතු කරමින් සිටින්නේ ජනතාව සුඛිත මුදිත තත්ත්වයෙන් ප්‍රීතියෙන් කටයුතු කරන විදියටයි. ඇයි මේ රටේ ජනතාවට රට අනාරක්ෂිතයි කියලා දැනෙන්නේ. අප්‍රියෙල් 21 ප්‍රහාරයෙන් පස්සේ නිතියේ ආධීපත්‍ය බිද වැටෙන බව ජනතාවට දැනෙන දේවල් කිහිපයක් සිද්ධ වුනා. තඹ කර්මාන්ත ශාලාවේ සේවකයින් නව දෙනාට ඇප ලබා දීම, අන්තවාදය පෝෂණය කරන රිෂාඞ් බදියුදින් ඇමැතිවරයාව කොන්දේසි විරහිතව ආරක්ෂා කරන්නට ආණ්ඩුව කටයුතු කිරීම, එවැනි අන්තවාදින් පෝෂණය කිරීමත්, ශරියා නීිතිය ප්‍රචලිත කිරීමත් කරන බවට චෝදනා නැගෙන අසාත් සාලි ආණ්ඩුකාරවරයාව ආරක්ෂා කරන්න ජනාධිපතිවරයා ක්‍රියාකිරිම ආදිය නිසා ජනතාවට දැනෙන්නේ නිතිය ආදිපත්‍ය බිද වැටෙන බවයි. පරාජිත ඡන්ද අපේක්ෂකයින්ට මන්ත්‍රීධූර දුන්නේ ජනාධීපතිවරයා බව අපි කණගාටුවෙන් සිහිපත් කරනවා. නගරසභාවකට තේරෙන්න ඡන්ද ගන්න බැරිවුන අසාත් සාලි බස්නාහිර  පළාත් සභා ආන්ඩුකාර ධුරයට පත්කරලා තිබීම ඛේදවාචකයක්. මන්ත්‍රීවරයෙක් විදියටනගරසභාවට පත්වෙන්න බැහැ. අගනුවර ඇතුලු බස්නාහිර පලාත පාලනයට පත්කරනවා. මන්ත්‍රීවරයෙක් විදියට පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට එන්න ඡන්ද ගන්න බැරි හිස්බුල්ලා ජාතික ලයිස්තුවෙන් පත්කරලා පළාතේ ප්‍රදානියා බවට පත්කරන තරමට රටේප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදි කඩයිම් අතික්‍රමණය කරලා මූලධර්ම විනාශ කරලා තිබෙනවා. ඒ නිසා ජනතාවට නිතිය ක්‍රියාත්මක වෙන බවට හැ`ුගිමක් ඇති වෙන්නේ නැහැ. ජනාධීපතිවරයා අගමැතිවරයා ඇතුලු පුද්ගලයින් නිර්ලජ්ජිත විදියට නීතිය ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන ආයතනවලට බලපෑම් කරමින් නිදහසේ හැසිරෙනවා.

කුරුණැගල හා දඹුල්ල රෝහල් ආශ්‍රිතව වෛද්‍ය සාෆි කියන පුද්ගලයා ඇති කළ සිද්ධීයක් සම්බබ්ධයෙන් ආන්දෝලනාත්මක සිද්ධීයක් වාර්තා වෙනවා.   මේ සිද්ධීටය ජනතාව හමුවට ගෙන ඒම සම්බන්ධයෙන් අපි මාධ්‍යයට ස්තූතිවන්ත වෙනවා. මේ වෛද්‍යවරයා සම්බන්ධයෙන් පරික්ෂණ කරන්න ඕනේ වෛද්‍ය සභාවයි.  මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් අමාත්‍යංශ මට්ටමෙන් පත්කරලා තියෙන කමිටුව විශ්වාසනිය එකක් නොවන බව වෛද්‍යවරු හෙද හෙදියන් සදහන් කරලා තියෙනවා. සෞඛ්‍ය ඇමැතිවරයා ඉදිරි මැතිවරණ  ඉලක්ක කරගනිමින් කිසියම් පාර්ශවයක් වෙනුවෙන් පක්ෂ ග්‍රාහිව කටයුතු කරන බව ජනතාවට ස්ථිර වෙලා තියෙනවා. අද සෞඛ්‍ය ඇමැතිවරයා රටේ ආරක්ෂක මේකම්වරයා සම්බන්ධයෙන් කරපු ප්‍රකාශ සියල්ලක් බොරු බවට පත්වෙලා තියෙනවා. ඇමැතිවරයා වෛද්‍යවරයා සම්බන්ධයෙන් කරන ප්‍රකාශ තාක්ෂණිකව පිළිගන්නබැරි බවයි වෛද්‍යවරු කියන්නේ. වෛද්‍ය සභාව මගින් සාධනිය පරික්ෂණයක් කරලා දෛ්‍ය සාෆි සම්බ්නධයෙන් පියවරක් ගැනීම යුක්ති සහගත බවයි සමාජ මතය වෙලා තියෙන්නේ. නිතිය පිළිබදව විශ්වාසය බිද හෙලූ, ඡන්දයබලාපොරොත්තුවෙන් රටේ සමාජ සම්මතයන් බිද දමන ආන්ඩුවට සදාචාරාත්මකව රටේ ඉන්න බලයක් නැහැ. නමුත් ඔවුන්ගේ ක්‍රියාදාමය හරහා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ බලය අල්ලා ගෙන සිටීමේ හැකියාවක් ඔවුන්ට තිබෙනවා. වැඩි බහුතරයක් ඡන්ද ලබා ගත්තත් ශක්තිමත් ආන්ඩුවක් පිහිටුවා ගැනීමට නොහැකි වීම නිසයි අද මේ තත්ත්වය ඇති වෙලා තියෙන්නේ. මේ කාලින් අවශ්‍යතාතාවය ගැන දැන් නැවත කතිකාවතක් ඇති වෙලා. රටේ බහුතරයක් මුස්ලිම් ජනතාව අන්තවාදයට අකමැතියි. අන්තවාදින්ගෙන් තොරව ශක්තිමත් ආන්ඩුවක් බිහිකිරීම සමිබන්ධයෙන් රටේ කතිකාවතක් ඇති වෙලා තියෙන්නේ. අපි මේකට තාවකාලික යෝජනාවක් ඉදිරිපත් කරනවා. ජාතික ලයිස්තුවෙන් 29ක් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට පත්වෙනවා. බහුතරය ලබා ගන්නා දේශපාලන පක්ෂයට ලයිස්තුවෙන් මන්ත්‍රීධූර 15ක් ලබා දිය යුතුයි. එවැන්නකින්  වැඩි බහුතරය ලබා ගන්න දේශපාලන පක්ෂයට ආන්ඩුවක් පිහිටුවීමේ හැකියාවක් ලැබෙනවා. මේක සාධනීය මැතිවරණ ක්‍රමයක් හදුන්වාදෙන තෙක් තාවකාලික පියවරක් විදියට සුදුසුයි. රටේ ජන කොට්ටාශවල හදවත්තුල ඇතිව තිබෙන ඉරි තැලීම්, වේදනාවන් සමනය කරන්න අවශ්‍ය පියවර ඉදිරි රජයකදි ගන්න බවත් අපි සදහන් කරනවා.

පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී ජානක වක්කුඹුර මහතා
පාසලක වරදක් කලොත් විදුහල්පතිවරයා ඒ ස්ථානයෙන් ඉවත් කරලයි පරීක්ෂණය කරන්නේ. පොලිස් නිලධාරියෙක් වරදක් කලොත් ඔහුව අදාල ස්ථානයෙන් ඉවත් කරලයි පරික්ෂණය කරන්නේ. වෛද්‍යවරයාටත් ඒ ක්‍රමයයි පිළීගන්නේ. ඒ පරික්ෂණයට  බලපෑම් වෙන නිසයි. රිෂාඩි බදියුදින්ට විශ්වාස භංගය ගේන්නේ ඇමැතිධූරය අයින් කරන්න මිසක් ආන්ඩුවනේ ඉවත් කරන්න කියලා නෙවෙයි. ඔහු යටතේ ආයතන 42ක් තියෙනවා. සාධාරණ පරික්ෂණයක් කරන්න තියෙන බාධාව අයින් කරන්න. ඔහුව එජාපයේ තියාගත්තාට අපිට ප්‍රශ්නයක් නැහැ. දැන් ආන්ඩුවයි ජවිපෙයි දෙකම කියන්නේ වැරදි ඔප්පු කරන්න කියලයි. ආණ්ඩුවට වුවමනා වෙලා තියෙන්නේ මොහුව සුද්ධ කරන්නයි. මගේ කට්ටියක් අරන් යනවා කියලා රිෂාඞ් බදියුදින් කියලා තියෙන නිසයි මෙහෙම කරන්නේ. දෙකහි පනහා විශ්වාසභංලය කියපු කට්ටිය දැන් කියනවා පරික්ෂණයෙන් වැරදි කරු වුනොත් ඒ අයගේ ඡන්ද 38ක් දෙනවාලු. වැරදිකරු  වුනොත් ඒ අය ඕනේ නැහැ. උසාවි ගිහින් මන්ත්‍රීධූරයත් අපි නැති කරලා දෙන්නම්. මේ අය රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහට විරුද්ධව හැමදාම කිව්වේ මේ විදියටයි. අපි තරුණ ස්වාධින මන්ත්‍රීවරු කියන මේ කට්ටිය මොනවා හරි දෙනවා නම් නායකත්වය වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී හිටිනවා.
සමෘද්දි සහනාධාර බෙදන් ලක්ෂ 1800 උත්සව පවත්වනවා.සමෘද්ධී සහනාධාර දෙන්න කියලා නිලධාරීන්ගේ මට්ටමින් තොරතුරු අරන් තිබියදි සමෘද්දි අමාත්‍යංශය හරහා අවශ්‍ය අවශ්‍ය අයට හිමිකම් සහතිකපත් ලියනවා. ආවේ යහපාලනය කියලා. යහපාලනය නම් ජනතාවගේ පක්ෂ පාට බලන්න අවශ්‍ය නැහැ. සහනාධාරය හිමිවිය යුතු සියලු දෙනාට සහනාධාරය දෙන්න. වරදි වැඩ කලොත් අපේ ආන්ඩුවකින් පරික්ෂණයක් කරලා නිලධාරීන්ට විරුද්ධව කටයුතු කරනවා. ලක්ෂ 1800ක් වියදම් කරලා අත්සව තියද්දි අපේ මානව සම්පත පාසල් ලග ශිටගෙන ඉන්නවා. පාසල් 10000ට වැඩියි. අවම පාසලක 10ක් මුරට ඉන්නවා. එහෙම බලද්දි ලක්ෂයක් කිසිම වැඩක් නොකර පාසල් මුර කරනවා. රාජ්‍ය සේවකයා, කුළි වැඩක් කරන කෙනා, මන්ත්‍රීවරයා හැමෝම වෙනස්ක නැතිව පාසල මුර කරන්න ගිහින් ඉන්නවා. වැඩ කරන්න පුලුවන් ලක්ෂයකට වැඩි පිරිසක් පාසල් මුර කරනවා. 100% ආරක්ෂාව තහවුරු වෙලා නම් විදුහල්පතිවරුන්ට කියන්න දෙමව්පියන් ගෙන්වන එක නතර කරන්න කියලා. ආන්ඩුව අදුරේ අතගානවා මිසක් වැඩපිළීවෙලක් නැහැ. මේ නාස්ති කරන මුදල ලක්ෂ 5 ගානේ දුන්නා නම් පාසල් 500ට විතර කම්බි වැටක් ගහලා දෙන්න පුලුවන්. සමෘද්දි නියාමකලා ලවා මේ හිමිකම් පත් දෙන්න තිබුණා. දැන්වත් මේ නාස්තිය නතර කරලා දරුවන් ගැන හිතන්න. පාසල් මුරකරන මානව සම්පත රටේ දියුණුවට යෙදා ගන්නත් මේ අපතේ යවන සල්ලි වලින් පුලුවන්. පුපුරන ද්‍රව්‍ය හදුනා ගැනීමේ උපකරණයක් රුපියල් 10000ට විතර ගන්න පුලුවන්. මේ සල්ලිවලින් ඒ විදියේ උපකරණ අරන් පාසල් වලට බෙදලා දුන්නා නම් පාසල් ආරක්ෂක වැඩපිළීවෙල මීට වඩා සාර්ථකයි.
වෛද්‍ය සාෆි සම්බන්ධයෙන් නිවැරදි පරීක්ෂණයක් කරන්න ඕනේ. මේ රටේ එක ජාතියක් විනාශ කරන්නයි වෑයම් කරලා තියෙන්නේ. දරන් 250ක් පැමිණිලි ඇවිත්. එක රෝහලක 250ට පළමු දරුවා ලැබිලා දෙවැනි දරුවා ලැබෙන්නේ නැතිව යන්න පුලුවන්ද. මාධ්‍යට ස්තූතිවන්ත වෙනවා ජාතියක් වනසන්න යද්දි ඒ ජාතිය ආරක්ෂා කිරීම ගැන. අද මුස්ලිම් ජනතාව අන්තවාදීන්ට එරෙහිව එළියට බැහැලා. ඒ වුනාට ආණ්ඩුව අන්තවාදී කොටස් තවම රකිනවා. නගර සභාවේ කොමසාරිස්ව මාරු කරන්න, තමන්ට ඕනේ විදියට බලය පාවිච්චි කරන්න බස්නාහිර ආන්ඩුකාරවරයා පියවර ගන්නවා. හමුදාවට දොස් කියනවා. එක පෑන් පහරින් අන්තවාදී අදහස් දක්වන අය අස් කිරීමේ හැකියාව ජනාධිපතිට තියෙනවා. කෙටි කාලයකට හෝ ජනාධිපතිතුමා මේ ආන්ඩුකාරවරු ඉවත්කරලා ස්වාධීනව කටයුතු කළ හැකි අය පත්කල යුතුයි. ඒ තැන්වලට සියලු ජනතාවට එක හා සමානව සලකන අය පත්කළ යුතුයි.
මාස දෙකක් රටේ ආරක්ෂක කවුන්සිලය රැස්වුනේ නැහැ කියන්නේ රටේ ආරක්ෂාව බින්දුවට දාලා.  අපේ ආන්ඩුව කාලයේ සතියකට සැරයක් ආරක්ෂක මණ්ඩලය රැස්වුනා. මේ සිද්ධියට ආන්ඩුවේ සියලු දෙනා වගකිව යුතුයි. ලෝකයට ඕනේ විදියට වැඩ කරන්න ගිහින් අපිට ස්වාධීනව කටයුතු කරන්න තිබුණු අයිතිය නැති කරගෙන. මවුවරුන්ගේ මානව අයිතිවාසිකම් නැතිවීම ගැන හොයන්න කියලා මොන රටද කිව්වේ. මුස්ලිම් කෙනෙක්ට වුනාන්ම ඒ අයිතිවාසිකම් වෙනුවෙන් පෙල ගැහිලා එයි. ආන්ඩුව වෛද්‍යවරයා ආරක්ෂා කරනවා වෙනුවට සාධාරණ පරික්ෂණයක් කලේ නැත්නම් මිනිස්සු කඬේකට ගිහින් කන්න බයයි. වෛද්‍යවරයෙක් ලගට යන්න බයයි. මුස්ලිම් ජනතාව අන්තවාදයට එරෙහිව නැගිටින්න. ඒ වගේම මැතිවරණයක් පවත්වන්න.
මාධ්‍ය – හිටපු ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාට වෙඩි නොවදින රථයක් ගන්න යෝජනාවක් ඉදිරිපත් වෙලා තියෙනවාලු. එතුමා කැප කිරීමක් කරන්න ඕනේ නැද්ද
රමේෂ් පතිරණ – විප්කෂ නායකවරයාට නිල වශයෙන් හිමිවිය යුතු වාහන තුනෙන් දෙකක් සම්බන්ධන් මහතා ධූරයෙන් ඉවත් වෙද්දි අරන් ගිහින්. තියෙන එකම වාහනයත් ඇඹීලිපිටියේදි කැඩුනු නිසා සුදුසු ආරක්ෂාව සහිත වාහනයක් ඉල්ලා තිබෙනවා. එතුමා ආරක්ෂ කළ යුතු දේශපාලනඥයෙක් බව රටම දන්නවා.
ශෙහාන් සේමසිංහ – අලුත් වාහනයක් ගැන නෙවෙයි කතා කරන්නේ. තිබෙන වාහන සංචිතයෙන් ආරක්ෂිත වාහනයක් ඉල්ලන්නේ. මෙවැනි තත්ත්වයක මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා ආරක්ෂා විය යුතුයි. අපි හැමදාමත් එතුමාගේ ආරක්ෂාව ගැන කතා කළා. එක් වරක් එතුමා අනාරක්ෂීත කළා. ජනතාවගේ පැතුමත් එතුමාගේ නායකත්වය යටතේ ආරක්ෂීත රාජ්‍යයක් බිහිවීමයි.
මාධ්‍ය – එතුමාට නව රථයක් ලබා ගන්න ඉල්ලීමක් කළා කියලයි කියන්නේ.
ජානක වක්කුඹුර – ඒ යෝජනාව දාලා තියෙන්නේ අගමැතිතුමානේ. එතුමා ඊළග විපක්ෂ නායක වෙන නිසා එහෙම ඉල්ලිමක් කළාද දන්නේ නැහැ. විපක්ෂනායකවරයා විදියට දෙන්න තියෙන දේවල් දුන්නා නම් හරි. හිටපු විපක්ෂ නායකතුමාට සියලු දේ දිලා. වෙඩි නොවදින රථ නොදුන්නත් මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාව ජනතාව ආරක්ෂා කරනවා. තියෙන වාහන සංචිතයෙන් වාහනයක් ඉල්ලීමයි සිද්ධ වුනේ.

RT

https://www.facebook.com/1405726646383881/posts/2196427440647127?s=1527557860&sfns=mo

අනුරුද්ධ බණ්ඩාර රණවාරණ මාධ්‍ය ලේකම් ජාතික නිදහස් පෙරමුණ lanka C news

පාස්කු ඉරිදා දින ප්‍රහාරයේ ‘පාපය’ මේ වන විට යහපාලකයන්ගේ ගිණුමට බැර වී අවසන් බවත් ඒ නිසා ඉන් ගැලවීමට ‘තේරීම් කාරක සභා – රියැලිටි ෂෝ’ පෙන්වීමෙන් වැඩක් නොවන බවත් ඉන් සිදු වන්නේ මේ රටේ ජාතික ආරක්‍ෂාව තවදුරටත් අනතුරට පත්වීම පමණක් බවත් ජානිපෙ නායක විමල් වීරවංශ මහතා පෙන්වා දෙයි.

ඒ මහතා මේ බව පෙන්වා දුන්නේ පිටකෝට්ටේ පිහිටි ජාතික නිදහස් පෙරමුණේ ප්‍රධාන කාර්යාලයේ පැවැති මාධ්‍ය හමුවකදී ය.

එහිදී වැඩිදුරටත් අදහස් දැක්වූ විමල් වීරවංශ මහතා මෙසේ ද පෙන්වා දුන්නේය.

ඊයේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුව තුළ රඟ දක්වන ලද ‘මිලේනියම් සිටි පාවාදීමේ දෙවන කොටසේ’ දර්ශන දැකීමෙන් පසු ඇති වූ කම්පනය හේතුවෙන් මෙම මාධ්‍ය හමුව හදිසියේම කැඳවීමට සිදු වූවා. ඊයේ අපට මැනවින් සනාථ වූයේ ‘මේ වගේ ජාතික ආරක්‍ෂාව පිළිබඳ සත පහක හැඟීමක් නැති, එයත් සමඟ පන්දු කෙළින තකතීරු ආණ්ඩුවක් පවතින රටකට අයිඑස් ත්‍රස්තවාදීන් නොවෙයි, පිටසක්වලින් පැමිණ ගහලා ගියත් පුදුම වෙන්න දෙයක් නැහැ’ කියන එකයි. පාස්කු ඉරු දින ත්‍රස්ත ප්‍රහාරය සහ ඒහා බැඳුණු චෝදනා පිළිබඳ විමර්ශනය කිරීම යන කරුණු ඉදිරියට දමා ගෙනයි මේ තේරීම් කාරක සභාව පිහිටුවනු ලැබුවේ.

ඇත්තෙන්ම මේ ඊනියා තේරීම් කාරක සභාව පත් කිරීමේ රුදාව මේ ආණ්ඩුවට ඇති වුණේ අපි විපක්‍ෂය විදියට රිෂාඞ් බදුර්දීන්ට එරෙහිව විශ්වාසභංගයක් රැගෙන ආ නිසයි. ඒකාබද්ධ විපක්‍ෂය නියෝජනය කරන මන්ත්‍රී කණ්ඩායම සහ ශ්‍රීලනිපය නියෝජනය කරන මන්ත්‍රී කණ්ඩායම යන දෙකම එක්ව එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධාන මන්ත්‍රී කණ්ඩායම විදියට මේ ඊනියා තේරීම් කාරක සභාවට සහභාගී වීමෙන් වැළකුණේ එහි අරමුණු පිළිබඳව අපට තිබුණු බලවත් සැකය නිසයි.

‘රිෂාඞ්ගේ ලේ තැවැරුණු වස්ත්‍ර සෝදන ලොන්ඩරියක්’

තේරීම් කාරක සභාව මගින් ආණ්ඩුව එක් පැත්තකින් තමන්ගේ අත්වල තැවැරුණු ලේ සෝදා ගන්න උත්සාහ කරන බවත් අනෙක් පැත්තෙන් එය රිෂාඞ් බදුර්දීන්ගේ ලේ තැවරුණු වස්ත්‍ර සෝදා පවිත්‍ර කරන ලොන්ඩරියක් ලෙස කටයුතු කරන බවත් රිෂාඞ් බදුර්දීන්ට එරෙහි විශ්වාසභංගය විවාදයට ගැනීමට ජුනි 18, 19 වැනි දුර දිනයක් ලබා දෙන විට අපට තේරුම් ගියා. ‘මේ සැරසෙන්නේ ඊනියා තේරීම් කාරක සභාව මගින් එම දිනවලට කලින් ඔහු පිළිබඳ අතුරු වාර්තාවක් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කරන්නයි’ කියාත් අපට වැටහුණා. ඒ නිසා එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධාන මන්ත්‍රී කණ්ඩායමට ඒ ‘ලොන්ඩරියට’ සහභාගී වීමේ කිසිදු උවමනාවක් තිබුණේ නැහැ.

‘ජාතික ආරක්‍ෂාව සමඟ කරන සෙල්ලම්’

ඊයේ නියෝජනය දෙස බැලුවොත් එක්සත් ජාතික පක්‍ෂයේ සහ ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ නියෝජතයන් පමණයි මේ ඊනියා තේරීම් කාරක සභාවට සහභාගී වී සිටියේ. පාස්කු ඉරිදා දින ප්‍රහාරය පිළිබඳ ගවේෂණයක යෙදෙන එතැන සිටි මහ බැංකු වංචාවේ ප්‍රධාන චූදිතයන් දුටුවාම සිනහ විය යුත්තේ කොතැනින්ද, යන පැනය අපට ඇති වුණා. තමන්ගේ නෝනාට ඇලෝසියස් ගෙයක් දුන්නාද, නැද්ද කියා මතක නැහැ, කියූ ‘දේශපාලන තොත්ත බබාලා’ පාස්කු ඉරිදා දින ප්‍රහාරය පිළිබඳව ජාතික බුද්ධි ප්‍රධානියාගෙන් ප්‍රශ්න කරන විලාසය දුටුවාම මේ රටට සිදු වී ඇත්තේ කුමක්දැයි සිතුණා. අපි දන්නවා, මේ පාස්කු ඉරිදා දින මරාගෙන මැරෙන ත්‍රස්ත ප්‍රහාරයට ප්‍රධානතම මූල්‍ය දායකත්වය ලබා දුන්නේ මොහොමඞ් ඊබ්‍රාහිම් නැමැති පුද්ගලයා බව. එසේම ඔහුගේ පුතුන් දෙදෙනකු මේ මරාගෙන මැරෙන ප්‍රහාරයට සම්බන්ධ වී සිටියා. ලේලිය හා ඒ පුතුන් දෙදෙනා ‘මිනිස් බෝම්බ’ ලෙස මරාගෙන මැරුණා. මේ මොහොමඞ් ඊබ්‍රාහිම් ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ 2015 මැතිවරණයේ ජාතික ලැයිස්තු අපේක්‍ෂකයෙක්. එහෙම වහාබ්වාදී ත්‍රස්තවාදය පෝෂණය කරපු ඊබ්‍රාහිම් ළඟ තියා ගත්තු ජවිපෙ නියෝජිතයෝ ඊයේ බුද්ධි ප්‍රධානින්ගෙන් ප්‍රශ්න කරනවා. ‘බුද්ධි අංශ මුදල් ගෙව්වේ කාට ද?’ කියා. මේක මේ රටේ ජාතික ආරක්‍ෂාව සමඟ කරන සෙල්ලමක්.

‘පාප කර්මයේ ලේ තැවරුණු චූදිතයෝ උඩ වාඩි වෙලා’

පාස්කු ඉරිදා දින ප්‍රහාරය පිළිබඳ කල් තියා දැනගෙන එය වැළැක්වීමට කිසිදු පියවරක් නොගෙන, අහිංසක ජනතාව සිය ගණනක් මරෙන්නට සැලැස්වූ මේ ආණ්ඩුව තමන්ගේ අත්වල තැවරුණු ලේ සෝදා ගැනීමට කරන නාඩගමෙන් සිදු වන්නේ මේ රටේ බුද්ධි නිලධාරන් හා බුද්ධි ක්‍රියාන්විතයන් සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම අනාවරණය වීම සහ ඒවා ලෝකය ඉදිරියේ සමච්චලයට හා හෑල්ලුවට ලක් වීම. අපි දන්නවා මේ පාස්කු දින ප්‍රහාරය සිදු වුණේ බුද්ධි අංශවල ප්‍රශ්නයක් නිසා නොවෙයි, කියා. පොලිස්පති හෝ ආරක්‍ෂක ලේකම් මත මේ වරද පටවන්න හැදුවාට ඊයේ වුවත් අනාවරණය වුණා, ‘මේ පිළිබඳව සාගල රත්නායක ඇමතිවරයාටත් දැනුම් දුන්නා’ කියා. අයිඑස් ත්‍රස්තවාදින් පිළිබඳව ආරක්‍ෂක මණ්ඩලය තුළ සාකච්ඡා වූ බව, පෙබරවාරි මාසයෙන් පසුව ආරක්‍ෂක මණ්ඩලය රැස් වී නොමැති බව, අන්තිමට රැස් වූ ආරක්‍ෂක මණ්ඩලයට ආරක්‍ෂක රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය රුවන් විජේවර්ධන සහභාගී වී නොතිබුණු බව යන කරුණු සියල්ලත් ඊයේ අනාවරණය වුණා. ජනාධිපති, අගමැති, කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලය, ‘අපි මේ පාප කර්මය කළා’ කියා පිළිගන්නේ නැතිව මීට විසඳුම් සොයන්න බැහැ. ඊයේ සිදු වූයේ මේ පාපකර්මයේ ලේ තැවරුණු වගඋත්තරකරුවන් උඩ වාඩි වෙලා, මේ රටේ බුද්ධි අංශ නිලධාරින් ගෙනල්ලා ‘සර් – සර්’ කියවා ගන්න එකයි, ඔවුන් අසීරුතාවට පත් කරන එකයි. ඔවුන්ට රට හමුවේ කිව හැකි දේවල් වගේම කිව නොහැකි දේවල් ද තිබෙනවා. මීට කලින් කුමන කාරක සභාව ද සජීවීව දුන්නෙ? මහ බැංකු වංචාව පිළිබඳ කෝප් කාරක සභාව සිදු කළ විමර්ශන සජීවීව දුන්නා ද? මේ තේරීම් කාරක සභාවේ කටයුතු සජීවීව දෙන්නේ එය ‘රියැලිටි ෂෝ’ එකක් නිසා ද? මේ ආණ්ඩුවේ ඉන්නේ ජාතික ආරක්ෂාවේ වැදගත්කම නොදන්නා තකතීරුවන් රැලක් බවයි පෙනීයන්නේ. ඔවුන් මේ රටේ බුද්ධි අංශ නිලධාරීන් සමඟ දැන් ‘මිනීමරු නාඩගමක්’ නටන්න පටන් අරන් තිබෙනවා.

‘වගඋත්තරකරුවන් කවුද, කියා රටම දන්නවා’

පාස්කු දින ප්‍රහාරයේ වගඋත්තරකරුවන් කවුද කියා මුළු රටම දන්නවා. කාදිනල්තුමන් ‘වගඋත්තරකරුවෝ කවුද?’ කියා වරක් රට හමුවේ පැවසුවා. වගඋත්තරකරුවන් සොයන්න ‘රියැලටි ෂෝ’ – තේරීම් කාරක සභා අවශ්‍ය නැහැ. ඒ නිසා අපි ඉතා වගකීමෙන් කියනවා ‘මේ පාපකර්මය වහාම නතර කරන්න’ කියා. මේ රටේ ජාතික ආරක්ෂාව සමග මේ විදියේ නාඩගම් නටන්න දෙන්න බැහැ. බුද්ධි අංශ නිලධාරීන් කියන්නේ සජීවී විකාශනවලට ගෙනල්ලා ප්‍රශ්න කරලා, කිව යුතු දේ – නොකිව යුතු දේ සියල්ල ප්‍රශ්න කළ යුතු අය නොවෙයි. බුද්ධි අංශයක වැදගත්කම නොදන්නා මේ මොට්ට ආණ්ඩුවට මේ විදිහට බුද්ධි අංශ නිලධාරීන්ගෙන් ප්‍රශ්න කිරීමට කිසිදු අයිතියක් නැහැ. ආරක්ෂක ඇමතිවරු, ආණ්ඩු තිබෙන්නේ බුද්ධි අංශවල අඩුපාඩු සකසා දෙන්න මිසක් මේ විදියේ රියැලිටි ෂෝ පවත්වා බුද්ධි අංශ විනාශ කරන්නෙ නොවෙයි.

‘මොළේ කළඳක් තිබෙනවා ද?’

මොළය කළඳක් හරි තිබෙනවානම් කථානායක කරු ජයසූරිය මහත්තයාට හිතන්න තිබුණා මේ වැඬේ සජීවීව දෙන එක හරිද වැරදිද, කියා. මේ ආණ්ඩුව හදන්නේ මේ පාපකර්මය ජනාධිපතිගේ ‘බිලට’ දාන්න. හැබැයි මේ විදිහට බුද්ධි නිලධාරීන් ගෙනවිත් ප්‍රශ්න කරන විට පෙනෙනවා, ජනාධිපති විතරක් නොවෙයි අගමැති, රාජ්‍ය ආරක්ෂක ඇමති ඇතුළු කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලයේම රෙදි ගැලවෙන බව. ඒ ගැන නම් අපට සතුටු විය හැකියි. ඒක වෙනම කාරණයක්.

‘තකතීරු කෝකියෝ’

දැන් බලන්න, ‘හෙන්දාවිතාරණට තිබුණු බලාධිකාරිය ඔබට තිබුණේ නැද්ද?’ කියා සරත් ෆොන්සේකා මහතා ප්‍රශ්න කරන විට ජාතික බුද්ධි ප්‍රධානියා කියූ දෙය. ‘මට එවැනි බලයක් ලබා දී තිබුණේ නැහැ’ කියායි ඔහු පවසන්නේ. හෙන්දාවිතාරණ මහතාට ජාතික බුද්ධි ප්‍රධානියා ලෙස බලය ලබා දී තිබුණේ හිටපු ආරක්‍ෂක ලේකම් ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්‍ෂ මහතායි. නමුත් දැන් මේ ජාතික බුද්ධි ප්‍රධානියාගේ තටු කපා දැමුවේ කවුද? ආරක්‍ෂක ලේකම් පත් කළ ජනාධිපති මේවා දන්නේ නැද්ද? ‘මේ විදියට ජනාධිපතිට – අගමැතිට ඇඟිල්ල දික් කරමින් කිසිදු ඒකාග්‍රතාවක් නැති, ප්‍රතිපත්තිමය එකඟතාවක් නැති තකතීරු කෝකියන් ටිකකට ජාතික ආරක්‍ෂාව රකින්න තියා මෙලොව දෙයක් කරන්න බැහැ’ කියා දැන් තහවුරු වී ඉවරයි. ‘ඒ නිසා මේ රටේ ජාතික ආරක්‍ෂාව සමඟ පන්දු කෙළින්නේ නැතිව ඔය රියැලිටි ෂෝ එක, නාඩගම වහාම නතර කරන්න’ කියා අපි යළිත් කථානායක කරු ජයසූරිය මහතාගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටිනවා. ‘බුද්ධි නිලධාරින්ගෙන් දැනගත යුතු දෙයක් තිබෙනවා නම් එය රහස්‍යභාවය සහිතව දැන ගන්න. වගකීම් සහගතව මේ කටයුත්ත කළ නොහැකිනම් එය නතර කරන්න’ කියන එකයි අපේ අවධාරණය.

‘මිලේනියම් සිටි පාවාදීම 02’

එදා මේ අය බුද්ධි අංශ ‘මිලේනියම් සිටි’වලදී පාවා දුන්නා. 2015 සිට බුද්ධි නිලධාරින් හිරේ දැමුවා. එවැනිම ආකාරයට බුද්ධි අංශ නිලධාරින් සහ බුද්ධි ක්‍රිියාන්විතයන් අනාවරණය කර ඒවා වනසා දැමීමටයි දැන් හදන්නේ. මේ තේරීම් කාරක සභාව තුළ ප්‍රශ්න කිරීම් කරන්නේ වහාබ්වාදී ත්‍රස්තවාදීන් බිහිවන ගර්භාෂය ඉවත් කිරීමට ද? එහෙම සැබෑ උවමනාවක් මේ අයට නැහැ. මේ අය පාස්කු දින ප්‍රහාරය තම දේශපාලන බලය රැක ගැනීමට භාවිතා කරන සෙල්ලමක් බවට පත්කර ගෙන අවසන්. තමන් පන්දු කෙළින්නේ පාස්කු දින ප්‍රහාරයෙන් මියගිය මිනිසුන්ගේ සොහොන් කොත් මත සිටගෙන බව අමතක කළ යුතු නැහැ.

පාස්කු ඉරිදා දින ප්‍රහාරයේ ‘පාපය’ දැන් ඔයාලාගේ ගිණුමට බැර වී අවසන්. ඒකෙන් ගැලවීමට මේ විදියේ ‘ගොං තකතීරු’ වැඩ කරන්න එපා! තමන්ගේ ගැලවීමට ජාතික ආරක්‍ෂාවට අදාළ සංවේදී තොරතුරු එළියට දමන මේ රියැලිටි ෂෝ එක වහාම නතර කරන ලෙස යළි යළිත් ආණ්ඩුවෙන් සහ කථානායකගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටිනවා”

මෙම මාධ්‍ය හමුවට ජානිපෙ ප්‍රචාරක ලේකම් මොහොමඞ් මුසම්මිල්, ගම්පහ දිස්ත්‍රික් නායක හිටපු බස්නාහිර පළාත් සභා මන්ත්‍රී ලලන්ත ගුණසේකර යන මහත්වරු ද එක්ව සිටියහ.

අනුරුද්ධ බණ්ඩාර රණවාරණ
මාධ්‍ය ලේකම්
ජාතික නිදහස් පෙරමුණ

FR J.C. PIERIS Courtesy The Island

A trident is a spear with three prongs (Trishulaya), a weapon of war, and America has a submarine missile aptly named Trident. This is what came to my mind when thinking of the three agreements with America, either already surreptitiously signed or to be signed.

1. The ACSA, Acquisition and Cross-Service Agreement, provides for joint military cooperation between Sri Lanka and the United States and includes logistic support, supplies, services and the use of airports and ports during “unforeseen circumstances”. While the 2007 ACSA permits US military vessels to anchor in Sri Lanka ports on a ‘one-off’ basis, the 2017 ACSA appears to be “open ended”.

2. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the two countries. Includes the provision relating to immunity being provided to foreign servicemen on Sri Lankan soil.  These were matters that related to diplomatic immunity, privileges and local laws.

3. US $480-million compact by the US Millennium Challenge Corporation Board requires Congressional approval in the US and Cabinet approval in Sri Lanka. The Compact will be composed of two projects: a Transport Project and a Land Project. The Transport Project aims to increase the relative efficiency and capacity of the road network and bus system in the Colombo Metropolitan Region, and reduce the cost of transporting passengers and goods between the central region of the country and ports and markets in the rest of the country. The goal of the Land Project is to increase the availability of information on private land and underutilized state lands or all land in Sri Lanka to which the Government is lawfully entitled or which may be disposed of by the Government (“State Lands”) in order to increase land market activity. The Land Project would increase tenure security and tradability of land for smallholders, women, and firms through policy and legal reforms.

About these infamous agreements, the Commander of the Army has said they may lead to a people’s uprising and that it is like writing your property to somebody else and committing suicide. The Attorney General has said they clearly abrogate the sovereignty of the people and the supremacy of the law of the country.

I am not an expert who can explain the legal-diplomatic intricacies of these agreements. All I want to say is that we the people are neither aware of these agreements nor are we consulted about them. Therefore we are not bound by them.

We have a government only in name. The primary duty of a government is to protect the people of the country. On the 21st April, Easter Sunday, it was shown to the whole world that the so-called government of Sri Lanka has miserably and absolutely failed in its primary duty. We do not have any more a legislature and an executive that governs the country. We have only an Ali Baba and 225 thieves, whose sole aim is to steal and rob the people’s wealth and sell the resources of the country for commissions and bribes. Therefore, we have a government only in name.

Hence I suggest to the drafting committee of the Autochthonous Constitution (Mr. Nagananda Kodituwakku and his team at the Vinivida Foundation) that the constitution mentions this ‘caveat’. We the people of Sri Lanka declare that we are not bound by international agreements between the present ‘nominal’ government of Yahapalanaya and the previous corrupt government. We declare we shall renegotiate them ‘ab initio’.

The Chinese aggression is non-militaristic but manipulated through corrupt underhand bribes and commissions. The USA aggression, however, is flexing military muscle with aircraft carriers in our territorial waters and Trident like agreements. India wants its share too, as if they didn’t have enough after the IPKF fiasco and the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.

We the people of this small island nation tell all these countries to keep off our country. We are neither friend nor foe of you. Leave us alone to first put our country in order. Then we shall come back to you, friends of all, but never ever the pawns of anybody.

FR J.C. PIERIS

By Dr Upul Wijayawardhana Courtesy The Island

Dental Doctor Rajitha has broken his vow of silence and we are being bombarded with his vocal barrage. Watching his press conference, my new-gained little faith in Yahapalanaya, as expressed in the article “Yahapalanaya, the curse? May be changing!” (The Island, 28 May), started evaporating, even before the ink was dry. His performance can only be described as a masterclass in absurdity, displaying the not-so-hidden agenda of Yahapalanaya. Wonder whether his great leader has put him up to this or Ranil is already regretting unlocking Rajitha’s mouth!

Judgement before

the hearing!

The Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC), appointed by the government, to ‘investigate’ Minister Bathiudeen and ‘others’ is nothing but a political ploy to circumvent the no-confidence motion against this minister, sans any honourability, became obvious when another doctor in the news, Parliamentarian Kavinda Jayawardena decided to resign. His initial hint that this may be at the behest of Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith was soon dispelled by the intervention, as usual forthright, by His Eminence who stated “I do not dispense political advice and M Ps should act according to their conscience”

Minister Senaratne, who replaced Kavinda Jayawardena in the PSC, in his inimical manner spewed accusations at journalists, condemning their attempts to push a ‘moderate Muslim’ like Minister Bathiudeen towards extremism, (mis) quoting how moderate Tamil Politicians were pushed to extremism in the past! A cynic may comment how much we have to fear from ‘extremist Muslims’ considering the danger from this moderate minister, but that is another story. The more important consideration is that by his statement, Rajitha made it abundantly clear that he had already arrived at the judgement, even before the hearing!

Is it proper for a person who has prejudged the issue, to sit on a PSC? Perhaps, it is too much to expect Rajitha to withdraw, as he has displayed repeatedly that the brain centre for shame has been dormant for ages, but is it not the duty of the Speaker to replace him? Or, will the Speaker turn a blind eye? More likely, considering the Speaker’s recent behaviour!

Face covering

It was disturbing to read about a young doctor, appointed to Homagama Hospital, refusing to remove her face covering and opting to resign than show her face to patients. She wished to defy current legislation, though under the emergency, for no good reason, as many Islamic scholars have pointed out that face-covering is not mandated in Islam, being a cultural dictate of Saudi Arabia. This behaviour of a young doctor, to say the least, is very disappointing,

Sterilisation scandal

Of late, one programme I never miss is Rangana de Silva’s excellent newspaper review, “Paththare Vistare”, broadcast on Hiru TV. In addition to the review of articles in Sinhala Newspapers, he shows relevant video-clips together with lovely cartoons and wonderful sarcastic poems that demonstrate the vast talent of our journalists. Unfortunately, these poems defy translation but mention must be made of the beautiful one in “Maubima”, which mocked Mangala as the tenth terrorist because his loose talk is as destructive as the bombs of terrorists.

I was shocked, to say the least, when in a programme last week, the news item in “Divaina”, the sister paper of “The Island”, was shown wherein it was alleged that a Muslim doctor may have performed illegal sterilisations in as many as 4000 Sinhala women. I could not believe my eyes, nor trust my ears that a member of my noble profession could act so unethically; to perform sterilisation procedures, without consent, during Caesarean sections. Numbers may have been an exaggeration, I thought, but even one is not permissible: it is unethical, illegal and a terrorist act, if carried out with a sinister motive could be interpreted as genocide.

I could hardly doubt the news item, considering the high esteem I hold Upali Newspapers in, but was shocked when in parliament, in reply to a question raised on this issue by an MP, the Speaker made this categorical statement: “On seeing this disturbing news item, I contacted the relevant authorities immediately. There is no truth whatsoever and the police have already started an investigation into the conduct of that newspaper”

What has gone wrong with Upali Newspapers, I wondered!

Next day, in Parliament, when the same MP inquired whether the Speaker would be giving the promised update, the reply was that there would be an inquiry. When the MP attempted to seek clarification as to whether the inquiry was about the doctor or the newspaper, the Speaker brushed it off.

What happened to Karu Jayasuriya, once a patriot who shunned his party to support the war against the LTTE, I wondered!

Subsequent turn of events has vindicated the position of “Divaina”, though two journalists have been questioned in lightening rapidity. There is absolutely no doubt that all the support needed, should be given to the police to conduct an impartial investigation into a potentially very severe criminal act. Any other investigation, however well intentioned, should, in no way, affect the police investigation. Any attempt at a cover-up must be thwarted.

Dr Shafi Shihabdeen

Dr Shihabdeen resigned from his post to contest the last general election, on the UNP ticket for Kurunegala District. Having failed to gain entry to parliament, instead of re-joining at the ‘bottom’ had he wished to practice as a government medical officer, as stipulated in the ‘Establishment Code’, he had been allowed to re-join with no loss at all, on the basis of a Cabinet Paper. Afterall, “some are more equal than others” proclaimed the pigs who controlled the government in George Orwell’s “Animal Farm”!

During the election campaign, in an interview to a Sinhala Newspaper titled “I am against Nationalist and Religious Politics”, Dr Shihabdeen has stated that he had done over 8000 Caesarean Sections and claimed he had done up to 8 in two hours. Allowing for even the fastest change-over, that gives less than 10 minutes for each operation, a world-record, albeit with the proviso that such hurried surgery is very likely to result in unwarranted complications.

My colleagues opine that it is impossible for even the most experienced Obstetrician to do a C-section in 10 to 15 minutes. Maybe, it was political talk or evidence of callous disregard of patient safety.

There had been an inquiry about his altering patient records (BHT) to grant custody of a child to someone other than the parents and a summary of the findings were shown by some TV channels. Though the guilty findings have been forwarded to the Ministry of Health, no action had been taken, the media claimed. If true, this is a gross dereliction of duty on the part of the authorities.

Dr Shihabdeen was taken into custody by Kurunegala Police for ‘inexplicable wealth’ and was handed over to CID for further investigations.

Unjust interventions

Rather than allowing the investigation to take its’ own course, as Dr Shihabdeen too is entitled to justice, there have been interventions on both sides, equally unjust.

Some doctors, who have convinced themselves of Dr Shihabdeen’s guilt, are making public pronouncements as to the amount of compensation to be paid to the victims. A Parliamentarian Buddhist Monk, whilst estimating the population loss, labels this an offence worse than the terrorist bomb blasts. I agree, if proved, it is a heinous crime and even if a single woman has had her fertility plundered, this doctor should spend the rest of his life in jail. But guilt must be proved first.

The most ludicrous intervention was by Governor Azath Salley. According to him, DIG of the area had taken Dr Shihabdeen to custody unfairly and at his request, the IGP has ordered the CID to take over the suspect. True, due to the political deficit created by Yahapalanaya postponing provincial council elections through fear of defeat, unelected political governors have become very powerful. But are they entitled to dictate justice?

The Governor justified preferential treatment given to this doctor after his election defeat and stated that his wealth is accumulated by various enterprises, which he claimed the doctor is entitled to operate whilst being a government servant.

The worst was implied action against the DIG and the Hospital Director. He had white-washed Dr Shihabdeen and already decided who is at fault. Is this Yahapalana justice?

Is it not long overdue, for Governors Salley and Hisbullah as well as Minister Bathiudeen to be sacked? If that cannot be done because of 19A, time has come for the people to decide whether 19A is a hindrance to security and progress.

The response of the Health Minister

The worst remark in that press conference was the one Rajitha must have considered to be his smartest. However, anyone with even a ‘kalanda’ of intelligence would consider it to be the most inappropriate: instead of the reassurance, that an extremely sensitive and important issue will be properly investigated, a rabble-rousing statement was made, adding to the suspicion that the UNP is still seeking a blood-bath. Without realising that he has added yet another ‘gate’, ‘Sterilisation-gate’, to their misdemeanours, Rajitha displayed all his remaining teeth triumphantly, after stating:

“You all would not have shown the same enthusiasm had the accused doctor been Sinhala!”

After such a racist remark, does he deserve to continue as Minister of Health? Probably not. But, certainly, the inquiry into this should not be within his remit as he has already displayed gross prejudice.

Silencing administrators

The Minister’s intentions are made even more clear by the attempted silencing of Senior Administrators heading large hospitals. I do hope they will defy, now that the atmosphere of suppression that has existed so far, has been lifted. It is obvious, in the name of Yahapalanaya, systematic political suppression has existed, preventing the exposure of misdeeds by the politically blessed.

What should happen now

It is reported that already over 200 women, who think they are affected, have come forward but patient agitation is not the correct way forward. There should be a systematic approach. Having had experience in investigating ‘medical malpractices’, may I suggest adopting the accepted procedure in instances like this, though cumbersome. Retired doctors, senior medical students may volunteer support for this task, which is labour intensive.

By meticulously going through medical records, like operation theatre registers, all patients who had C-sections performed by Dr Shihabdeen need to be identified and contacted to ascertain whether they have had subsequent pregnancies.

The second stage is the investigation of all those who have not had any subsequent pregnancies. Having excluded those who deliberately avoided pregnancies, others should be offered further investigations. There may be a significant number who decide against invasive tests, understandably, because in addition to discomfort there are risks involved. However, even if a few agree, there should be sufficient evidence to establish facts.

Another layer of mistrust has been created by these unfortunate incidents and it is incumbent on the government to sort these out, especially ‘attempted’ sterilisations, rather than yet another attempt at cover-up, which seems to be a preferred Yahapalana strategy up to now, unfortunately.

Courtesy The Island

National Front for Good Governance (NFGG) leader and entrepreneur Abdul Rahuman hits back at critics, who accuse him of having had links with the National Thowheed Jamath while Najah Mohamed, General Secretary of the outfit looks on. They vowed to pursue political objectives regardless of challenges in the wake of April 21 bombings.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

The National Front for Good Governance (NFGG) leader Abdul Rahuman, yesterday, said political parties contesting the Batticaloa electoral District at the last parliamentary polls in August 2015 had received an invitation from the now proscribed National Thowheed Jamat (NTJ) to discuss ways and means of ensuring a peaceful election.

The NTJ’s Zahran Hashim had been present at this meeting, Rahuman said, alleging that an attempt was now being made to link him as well as British College of Applied Studies aka BCAS Campus with those who perpetrated the Easter Sunday suicide bombing campaign.

Rahuman said so addressing the media at Mandarina Hotel, Galle road. The NFGG leader called the media in the wake Bodubala Sena General Secretary Ven. Galagodaatte Gnanasara Thera calling for his arrest and the proscription of NFGG over their alleged links to the April 21 bombing campaign which he called terrorism.

The government proscribed NTJ and two other organizations following the Easter attacks.

Ven. Gnanasara called a media briefing soon after President Sirisena pardoned him.

Rahuman said that one -time Chairperson of the University Grants Commission (UGC) Prof. Kshanika Hirumburegama functioned as the Dean of the BCAS Campus.

Rahuman, a Paradeniya University Engineering graduate emphasised that BCAS was only a higher education institute. He strongly condemned attempts to depict BCAS as a religious school and tarnish its image.

When The Island sought an explanation from Rahuman as to how he had contested August 2015 parliamentary polls as his NFGG received recognition only in 2017, he said that he contested on the SLMC ticket. Rahuman disclosed how he secured nomination as a result of what he described as a tripartite agreement involving the UNP, the SLMC and the NFGG. “The SLMC contested in Batticaloa on its own though in Trincomalee all contested under the UNP ticket. The NFGG fielded a medical doctor in the Trincomalee District.”

Another NFGG candidate had contested the neighbouring Trincomalee District also on the UNP ticket, Rahuman said.

Rahuman alleged that photographs taken at the meeting arranged by the NTJ in Kattankudy way back in 2015 had been used to link the NFGG to those involved in the Easter Sunday carnage.

Responding to another query by The Island, Rahuman said that his outfit had thrown its weight behind common candidate Maithripala Sirisena at the 2015 presidential election. At the previous presidential election in 2010, too, the NFGG had backed the common candidature of the then General Sarath Fonseka, Rahuman said, responding to another The Island query.

Rahuman strongly defended his right to meet with Zahran’s outfit as at that time it was a legitimate organization. Pointing out that in addition to him there had been many other politicians, including M.L.A.M. Hisbullah, who contested on the UPFA ticket, at the Kattankudy meeting, Rahuman said that Ven Gnanasara was trying to find fault with him for something that occurred after Zahran took a different path.

Rahuman said: “I was overseas when Ven Gnanasara called upon the government to arrest me and have my party proscribed over Easter Sunday attacks. Here I am!”

According to Rahuman, his outfit had held talks with the NTJ during 2015 and 2016 before Zahran went underground in March 2017. Asked whether Zahran had been in touch with him after his disappearance, Rahuman answered in the negative.

Declaring that there was absolutely no basis for Ven Gnanasara’s accusations directed at him, NFGG and BCAS, Rahuman claimed that these claims were based on a web report posted on Aug 28, 2007. Rahuman said that his response to the report, too, was promptly posted by Asia Tribune, hence there couldn’t be any ambiguity.

According to Rahuman following his split with the NTJ, the latter had targeted NFGG. He said that the NTJ targeted the NFGG at the last Local Government polls in Feb 2018 though the former didn’t contest.

Rahuman said that there were relentless politically motivated attempts to target them and various others.

Those who had conveniently ignored serious disputes between the NTJ and NFGG beginning 2017 accused him and SLMC candidate Shibly Farook of attempting to send Zahran abroad.

Rahuman said that his investments in Qatar in two restaurants, too, had been portrayed as something illegal by those who accused him of owning hotels.

Asked by The Island whether the accusations directed at the NFGG should be considered along with the recent arrest of Dr. Seigu Siyabdeen Mohamed Saafi of the Kurunegala hospital for allegedly carrying out a clandestine serialization project and also the taking into custody of wealthy businessman and Mohammed Yusuf Ibrahim on the JVP National List whose two sons carried out suicide blasts, Rahuman said investigations were still continuing. He asserted that the public shouldn’t reach conclusions on those matters until investigations were finalized.

Both at 2010 and 2015 presidential elections, the UNP-TNA-JVP-SLMC functioned as coalitions. On both occasions, candidates backed by them contested under Swan symbol.

Rahuman said that there were relentless politically motivated attempts to target them and various others.

Those who had conveniently ignored serious disputes between the NTJ and NFGG beginning 2017 accused him and SLMC candidate Shibly Farook of attempting to send Zahran abroad.

Rahuman said that the situation in the wake of the Easter violence should be examined against the backdrop of forthcoming presidential and parliamentary polls in Dec-January 2019/2020 and the parliamentary poll in 2020.

The public should be wary of those trying to divert attention from real issues, Rahuman said, insisting that he didn’t have anything to hide.

Rahuman dismissed calls for his arrest as he returned to the country after Ven. Gnanasara launched his fresh campaign.

Sandun A Jayasekera Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The exposure of certain national security and intelligence information during the Parliamentary select committee inquiry on Wednesday (29) came under heavy criticism by the UPFA today and termed it as a betrayal of the intelligence services of the country after the Millennium City fiasco in January 2002.

The UPFA was of the view that the members of the select committee which was appointed to probe into the allegations levelled in the No Faith Motion against controversial Minister Rishad Bathiudeen should not have asked questions from the defence officials on sensitive intelligence and national security issues and if and when asked, officials should not have answered.

Addressing the media at the SLFP head office yesterday, senior Deputy Vice President of the SLFP, former minister Nimal Siripala De Silva said the exposure of the highly sensitive information before the media during the select committee deliberations was extremely detrimental to the national security and intelligence service of the country.

These questions should not have been asked by the members of the select committee in the first place. The official should have declined to answer if and when asked those questions as they were directly connected to the national security because they had the right to do so by law,” Mr. De Silva said.

He recalled that the Millennium City disaster (exposure) took place in early 2002 after which the entire intelligence arm of the tri forces collapsed, top intelligence officers left the country and some of them were brutally murdered.

The exposure on Wednesday in Parliament before the media is not second to the betrayal in 2002 under the current security situation in the country. I have never seen or heard inquiries being held and officials are questioned on matters related to national security and intelligence of a country like this anywhere in the world,” Mr. De Silva charged.

UPFA General Secretary Mahinda Amaraweera said the select committee enacted a ‘Palu Gei Walan Bindeemak’ (smashing pots in an empty house) as there was no opposition representation in the committee.

There are sensitive matters related to national security, the media or the lawmakers should not know. As such an official has all the right to refuse to respond if any crucial question was asked for the sake of the country and in the name of the security establishment he is serving. But here, this did not happen. The officer goes ahead with decoding even the most secretive code names used during the exchange of intelligence information. This is very bad,” he added.

UPFA National organizer Duminda Dissanayaka said the UPFA would make a request to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya to prevent the select committee from behaving like this in future.

In reply to a journalist, Mr. Amaraweera said statement that the National Security Council (NSC) did not meet after February, 19 was incorrect and added in many instances all information related to NSC activities were not recorded or minuted as they are extremely sensitive.

The NSC met regularly in these months but did not keep records, that is the truth”, Mr. Amaraweera noted.

Mr. Dissanayaka said the media also has a responsibility and must not disseminate news that would affect the national security and added that the UPFA was opposed to the government’s consent to open select committee deliberations to the media.

There are matters the media should not be aware of or given publicity,” he emphasized.

Responding to a journalist, Mr. Dissanayaka said the UPFA and the SLFP would take the right decision at the right time on how to vote on the no confidence motion against minister Bathiudeen on June 19. (

Courtesy Ceylon Today

The transfers given to Muslim teachers to Tamil schools by the Eastern Province Governor M.L.A.M. Hizbullah have been cancelled by the Provincial Education Department according to the instructions of President Maithripala Sirisena.

SUNIL S. PALLENDENIYA (KURUNEGALA), WIJESINGHA WELIKANDA AND CHAMARA AMARASURIYA Courtesy Ceylon Today

Fifty two Sinhala Buddhist mothers have lodged complaints with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital charging that Dr. Shafi Shiha Abdeen had performed non-consensual sterilisation.

At the same time, 45 women, who had allegedly been sterilised by the doctor, had lodged complaints against him, with the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital by 5 p.m. on 26 May.

Hospital sources revealed that most of these mothers who had lodged complaints were expecting to conceive for a second time after having given birth to their first child.

Deputy Director of the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital, Dr. Chandana Kedangamuwa said that in the complaints lodged by the mothers, they had claimed that after giving birth they had hoped to get pregnant a second time.

They have alleged due to sterilisation carried out on them without their consent, by the doctor concerned, they had not been able to give birth a second time.

Hospital sources added that the tests on the women, who have lodged complaints, are to be conducted through a Committee to be formed shortly by the Ministry of Health.

Meanwhile, Police Department sources said that by yesterday (27), the CID had received seven complaints against Dr. Shiha Abdeen on his alleged sterilisation of women at the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital.

The CID said they have already launched investigations into the complaints.

Ada Derana

Courtesy Adaderana

The Attorney General’s Department today informed the Colombo Magistrate’s Court that charges will be filed against Minister Ravi Karunanayake for providing false information to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry appointed to investigate the Central Bank treasury bond scam.

The complaint pertaining to the investigations being carried out by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) against the minister for allegedly giving false evidence before the Bond Commission, was taken up before Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne on Thursday (30).

Senior State Counsel Lakmini Girihagama, appearing on behalf of the Attorney General (AG), informed the court that the department intends to file charges against Minister Ravi Karunanayake for giving false evidence after the investigations related to the incident are concluded.

She also stated that statements are expected to be recorded from Minister Karunanayake and his daughter in connection with the incident.

The Chief Magistrate postponed the hearing of the complaint to July 29 and instructed the CID to report on the progress of investigations to the court on that date.

Courtesy Adaderana

President Maithripala Sirisena has denied media reports claiming that he was informed of a possible terror plot during a meeting with senior police officers on April 08.

Media reports have publish the statements made by the Head of the National Intelligence Service,, while testifying before the Parliamentary Select Committee appointed to look into and report on the Easter Sunday terror attacks which took place in the country on April 21.

The media reports stated that the National Security Council did not meet after the month of February 2019.

However, issuing a statement today (30) the President’s Media Division stated that as there were media reports appearing unofficially on the proceedings of the NSC, it was decided to establish an NSC with a new format and this has been in operation for more than one year. 

The new NSC has been meeting every two weeks and, on some occasions the President has convened the meetings of the NSC every week,” the PMD said.

Furthermore it said that, on April 8, 2019, the President has convened the monthly meeting of the Inspector General of Police and senior police officers. 

This meeting was held for more than two hours and none of the police officers informed the President that advance reports on a possible terrorist attack had been received, the statement said.

Neither the Defence Secretary, Inspector General of Police nor any other officer had informed the President about a warning letter received from a friendly foreign country about the impending April 21 terrorist attacks.”

Hence, the President states that the media reports claiming that the President had been informed about the impending attack were absolutely false, the PMD said.

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, May 30 (Xinhua) — Sri Lanka targets at least 2.5 million tourists this year after several countries eased their travel advisories which were issued after deadly terror attacks killed over 250 people on the island last month, a minister said.

Sri Lanka’s Minister of Tourism Development, Wildlife and Christian Religious Affairs John Amaratunga told Xinhua that China is the first country to ease their travel advisory last week and Sri Lanka is expecting a strong increase in Chinese tourists from this month.

Amaratunga said that Sri Lanka is now a safe destination for travel after security forces apprehended at least 98 percent of suspects who were, directly and indirectly, involved in the Easter Sunday terror attacks.

He said security forces have ensured that further attacks and a radical uprising of this nature will not happen, and Sri Lankans can go back to their normal lives.

After the terrorist attacks, China and several other countries issued a travel advisory asking travelers not to travel here. This is understandable,” Amaratunga said.

Last week, I met the Chinese ambassador and assured him that Sri Lanka is a safe destination. I thank China, as they were the first country to ease the travel advisory and this will immensely benefit Sri Lanka tourism,” he added.

China has been one of the largest markets for Sri Lanka’s tourism industry with over 270,000 Chinese tourists visiting Sri Lanka last year, the minister said.

He said until April this year, over 98,000 Chinese tourists had visited Sri Lanka, higher than the same period last year.

More than 250 people, including over 40 foreigners, were killed after nine suicide bombers targeted churches and luxury hotels on April 21.

A local radical group, called the National Thawheed Jammath, was blamed for the attacks.

Dilrook Kannangara

The following article by Prof. Ekanayaka contained many irrelevancies and faulty logic. Allow me to point them out. He has not touched sufficiently about the ‘Sinhala’ part and focused mostly on the Buddhist part. He is mostly wrong on both counts.

http://island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=204747

Arguments before main arguments

There are no Sinhala Buddhist rivers, forests, mountains, catchment areas, etc. but Sinhala Buddhists had a way about looking after them well. What is now termed sustainable environmental practices were followed by them for millennia.

Places considered sacred by Sinhala Buddhists and are governed by them are open to all others to perform their religious acts as they please. Examples include Kataragama, Sripada and a number of Buddhist temples with Hindu shrines. Muslims, Christians and Hindus are free to perform their rituals and even have their own constructions in the vicinity. However, the converse is not true. Can a Muslim perform his rituals in a Hindu shrine or a Christian shrine or vice versa?

Sinhala Buddhist identity may mean the difference between life and death for the nation given Sri Lanka’s geopolitical situation. Three powerful rival camps are vying for power over the region which is increasingly becoming a playground of Hindu and Islamic extremism. India plunges deeper into Hindu extremism against Muslims and Pakistan and its allies are going in the way of Islamic extremism. If Sri Lanka is seen as a Hindu-aligned nation, it will earn the violent wrath of the other camp. If seen as a pro-Muslim nation, India will retaliate violently. If Sri Lanka becomes a secular nation, it will be up for grabs by both camps which will scuttle violently to do so. Being/becoming a Buddhist nation eliminates all these associations and gives the vitally important neutrality.

Argument 1: A large majority of the Sri Lankan population identify themselves as Buddhist

Absolutely. However, it doesn’t end there. Sri Lanka is not just an island that floats aimlessly in the Indian Ocean. It is deeply rooted in history just as many other nations. In fact, most nations (apart from those that were forcibly colonized with replaced populations) identify themselves with a language and a religion. The land of the English is England, the land of the Germans is Germany, the land of the Russians is Russia, the land of the Thai is Thailand, the land of the Swiss majority is Switzerland and so on and so forth. Everyone learns and speaks in the language of the majority. Minorities can use their language (or whatever language they prefer) among them and not necessarily with the state.

The island nation was only once known as ‘Sri Lanka’ in an old Indian text. It was mostly known with the association of Sinhala (Sinhale, Silen-deep, Serendib, Sihala Dwipa, Ceylon, etc. – all derivatives of the Sinhala identity). A canine native to the island came to be known as ‘Sinhala dog’. Just to repeat, this is not unusual around the world as above examples indicate.

Similarly, a large number of nations are identified, directly or indirectly, by its religious majority. Examples include a large number of Muslim nations, India (secular on paper but Hindu in reality), Christian nations and others that ascribe to their specific majority religious values and beliefs (e.g. In God We Trust”, …So Help Me God”). The Soviet Union and China before Xi were the only significant nations that defied this but they have since ended their hard stand. Why should Sri Lanka be any different?

Argument 2: There is a distinctly precious Buddhist culture which characterises and pervades society, underlies the Sri Lankan way of life and in some sense defines Sri Lanka

Sadly, the writer has only looked at existing societal deficiencies which are commonplace in most developing countries and even to an extent in developed countries. Lawlessness has nothing to do with ethnicity, language or religion. People of all ethnicities and religions engage in crimes. The Holy Sea may be an exception but that defies the writer’s logic. He fails to see the potential. The statement Sri Lanka is a Sinhala Buddhist country” is a call to uphold those precious values, take the nation from its current state of chaos, lawlessness, environmental destruction, narcotics, terrorism (strangely untouched in the long article), etc. Without stating an end point, one cannot go on a journey. The alternative is to remain chaotic as today.

Then the writer veers completely away from reality in trying to tie it up with 1956, 1958, 1971, 1983 and 1971. These events had nothing to do with the assertion Sri Lanka is a Sinhala Buddhist country. Sinhala was made the only official language in 1956 very peacefully, following a huge mandate received democratically with the support of some minorities and adhering to the only Constitution (1947) which was agreed to by all ethnic groups! If it discriminated anyone, they could have petitioned the Privy Council of the UK and get redress. But nothing of the sort happened. If 1956 was bad, USA, Japan, Australia, the UK, Germany and most stable and prosperous nations are also bad. The 1958 riot had nothing to do with language. It was the result of reaction of the Prevention of Social Disabilities Act of 1957 that tried to iron-out caste based discrimination. A pact was signed between the PM and a Tamil politician to resolve the situation. The pact resolved to keep Sinhala language as the sole official language! It was mostly about devolution of power to Tamil majority provinces in the north and the east so Tamils could administer their own affairs. Therefore the problems were elsewhere. Please read it.

JVP insurrections had nothing to do with Sinhala or Buddhism. Most developing countries experienced some form of violent communist uprisings. The Cold War between capitalists and socialists played out around the world and Sri Lanka was no exception.

Incidents in 1983 had nothing to do with Sinhala or Buddhism. It was a riot that maliciously targeted some Tamils following the killing of 13 soldiers by Tamil terrorists a few days earlier and a series of Tamil terrorist attacks (1978 bombing of an Air Ceylon passenger plane, killing Tamil mayors, police officers, etc. and evicting Sinhala people from Jaffna in 1977). None of these acts can be justified and they were done by opportunistic criminals with no language or religion driven motive. Most affected Tamils also spoke Sinhala and made no protest against the Sinhala language or Buddhism. In fact, they had just voted for the party that introduced Article 9.

Argument 3: Sri Lanka ‘belongs’ to the Sinhala Buddhists

Sri Lanka belongs to Sinhala Buddhists and all other citizens of the nation. As each individual has equal rights, 70% of Sri Lankans are Buddhists and 70% of the owners of the island nation are Sinhala Buddhists. No one believes that Sri Lanka belongs to Sinhala Buddhists only. The two assertions are vastly different. Article 9 of the Constitution is the law and the same law guarantees religious freedom to all others (Article 10). As a Christian, I have never been restricted from practicing my religion and I was never compelled to follow Buddhism or Buddhist practices some of which I sharply disagree with. There is no sting in Article 9.

The argument that anybody other than a Sinhala Buddhist cannot become president or prime minister is simply wrong and is divorced from the rest of the world. It took over 200 years for USA to produce an African American president. No European or Oceanic nation has produced an Indian or Chinese Prime Minister. India is yet to produce a Muslim prime minister (the president is merely ceremonial). Kadirgamar may have been appointed the Prime Minister if he didn’t fall victim to Tamil terrorism in 2005. In fact, the JHU (a party of Sinhala Buddhist monks) and JVP (Sinhala Buddhist elected representatives and one Muslim lady) proposed his name in 2004 for PM! These are the most Sinhala Buddhist political parties in parliament then.

It gets better. Sri Lanka has produced Muslim, Tamil and Christian war heroes who earned the highest bravery award (the prestigious Parama Weera Vibhushana) fighting to defend the nation. May be they were fighting under the leadership of Sinhala Buddhists which is beside the point.

I must hasten to add that Sri Lanka must not be a Buddhist theocracy and the national interest must not be surrendered to Sinhala, Buddhist or anything else. The national interest must be upheld at all cost. Wars must be fought when needed, criminals must be punished, people’s food choices must be respected and laws need to be discussed objectively with the nation’s benefit in mind. There is no contradiction.

In conclusion, it is fair to say there is nothing wrong in Sri Lanka being/becoming a Sinhala Buddhist nation where citizens of any language, religion or caste have equal individual rights commensurate with the UN Charter of Human Rights. There is no comparable concept called equal community rights.

– Dilrook Kannangara

Wimal Senanayake 

What is the need of the hour? That is what the Sinhalese should think clearly without being biased by politics and race. Ven Ratna said on the other day what has happened is equal to loss of about forty to fifty thousand Sinhalese children. Well that count may be a miniscule as more and more complaints are gradually arising from the rest of the country. The allegations against Dr Safi are more likely to be dropped slowly by the hidden political powers in operation. Therefore what is important for the ordinary people in the country is to look after your own interests with wisdom.     What is most pertinent now is not what happened. Then what?

WHAT COULD HAPPEN IF A SINHALA WOMAN GOES TO ANY ABDOMINAL OPERATION LIKE A CAESARIAN UNDER A MUSLIM DOCTOR.

We cannot say who is an extremist or not from outside. This doctor could have got a large sum of money from Middle East for doing these.

Although the caesarean operations are what in question but do not forget any Muslim surgeon doing any other operation in a woman’s tummy can easily access these fallopian tubes and damage them purposely. Therefore any Sinhalese woman before menopause should not be operated by a Muslim doctor.

Without a doubt the most intelligent step now is our Sinhala women to BOYCOTT any Muslim doctor for any tummy operation, be a caesarian or any other abdominal operation. The pregnant mothers should stop channeling Muslim VOGs and demand from the hospital to swap their clinics to a non Muslim VOG.The Sinhala patriotic groups should spread this message right across the country for our poor village women to understand the gravity of this issue. Stop in fighting politically & save our country. We can find out later what happened.

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

We have seen three radical persons in Sri Lanka who are from three sects of our society .All three killed majority Sinhalese .All of them are from lower cast in the society though one of sects do not have officially declared casts.

One of the Sinhalese radical was Rohana Wijeweera From Matara in the South,

Second one was a Tamil radical named Velupillai Prabhakaran who is from Jaffna in the North

Latest radical was  Saharan of Muslim faith  from Kattankudi in th East 

What does this say ?

Main reason for their activities are related to inability of Sinhala Ruling Class  to foresee their problems.

If we developed all the three provisions with no discrimination , the youths who have gone on a killing spree would not have resorted to such actions.

One might argue that action by Sabaran has no relationship to the development in the east .

As a counter argument you can say that provincial councils which were formed never integrated with the society to identify the  grievances ,leading to forming radical groups .Foreign forces supported them because we exported our youngsters to Middleast who were indoctrinated by them .After their return they acted blindly .

Their is no purpose of having army and navy camps in these areas on long run unless The Government intiate a rapid development program and also tax structures to monitor funds movements .

In USA  the movement of even a dollar is noticed by authorities .Then they find out the purpose .

It is high time that the Government spread out the society from Ghetto concept and commence rapid development in North East and south.When the youths start working for living  you will notice any irregular activity of fund movement and also uncommon activities.

How do we do that?

Put the whole country under emergency for few years and hand over the helm to a Benevolent Dictator and get rid of Provicial Councils .

Dr Sarath Obeysekeea 

Prof. Hudson McLean

Two of the LankaWeb contributors are “harping” on Sinhala Buddhists, which is confusing and creating a Tone of Discrimination within the Sinhala community.

My question is, “Are there Sinhala Muslims?” in the Sinhala community?

The Easter Sunday Massacre which murdered over 250 persons were largely Sinhala Catholic victims, and then a number foreign tourists, who visited Sri Lanka, as friends.

For three decades Sri Lanka was plagued by LTTE Tamil Terrorists, annihilated by the Government of Mahinda Rajapaksa, a national hero.

In April 2019, due to the Inept, Incompetence of the President and the Prime Minister, fighting for their piece of flesh, opened doors to Islamic Terrorism.

Sri Lankan citizens, generally the Sinhalese, whether they are Buddhist, Christian and Catholic, who have no animosity towards the Sinhala Buddhist, must stand in unison, to contain the Terrorism created and perpetrated by the Islamic Muslim Madrasses in Muslim countries, such as Bangladesh. and the South Indian funded Tamil Terrorism.

Do not try to divide the Sinhalese, as one writer said, since all Sinhala Christian & Catholic were Buddhists earlier.

Blood is thicker than water, and the Sinhala blood should stand together to overcome the current issue of Islamic Terror.

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Shridhar Prabhu  Advocate, Bengaluru, India

(Speech delivered by Mr. Shridhar Prabhu, Advocate, at the Ariyapala Hall, All Ceylon Buddhist Congress on December 29, 2017)

Venerable Dhamma Teachers, Respected Dr. (Mrs.) Anula and Dr. Ajita Wijesundere and all other Office bearers of the National Joint Committee, Respected Mr. Jagath Sumathipala, Hon’ble Vice President of World Fellowship of Buddhists, and other WFB Bearers, Mr. Senaka Weeraratna and Dignitaries on and off the dais, and my dear Dhamma sisters and Dhamma brothers of Sri Lanka!

Ayubowan from all your Dharma tradition sisters and brothers of Bharat.

It fills my heart with and untold joy to be amidst you on this august occasion.

We are on our pilgrimage in Sri Lanka from 23^rd December, 2017. I cannot possible describe about the solace that we have experienced from our visit of to the holy city of Anuradhapura, Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa and then Maha Nuwara. Being amidst you all, who are dedicated to the cause of Dhamma in itself is a pilgrimage.   

Today morning, we had been to a very special place called Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, arguably, the largest elephant orphanage in the world. It was indeed a heart melting moment for all of us to see the baby elephants. Pinnawala is a classic example as to how much compassion is filled in the heart of Sri Lanka.

It is such great endeavours by a Buddhist nation that makes all Buddhists across the world proud of our Dhamma and our people! The greatest contribution of Buddhism to the world is Metta and Karuna with which the Buddha encompassed not just mankind but the whole of creation all in all its forms and manifestations. Pinnawala is living monument to this great Buddhist tradition. I once again reiterate that I  am proud to be from India, homeland of the Buddha and proud to be a Buddhist and proud to be in Sri Lanka, a leading Buddhist Nation and Polity.

I hope I would not be exceeding my brief if I touch upon the aspect that Chapter II – Article 9 of Sri Lankan Constitution provides that

//The Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly it shall be the duty of the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana, while assuring to all religions the rights granted by Articles 10 and 14(1)(e).//

My humble request to you is that please preserve this great provision in Sri Lanka’s Constitution in letter and in spirit. Please don’t allow yourselves to be led astray by the insincere influence of foreign ideologies. By foreign I don’t mean from other countries, I mean that ethos that is foreign and alien to the scheme of Buddha’s teachings.

The architect of the Indian Constitution, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, a great Buddhist and proud son of India has made the following provisions:  

Aspect	Articles and provision
PART IV: DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF STATE POLICY, 48: Organisation of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry and 48A: Protection and improvement of environment and safeguarding of forests and wild life	Per 48, the Constitution requires the State to take steps for preserving and improving the breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter, of cows and calves in other milch and draught cattle.” Per 48A, the Constitution places a duty on the State to endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wild life of the country.” Per List III, Both Parliament and the legislature have the authority to make laws on the following: [p]revention of cruelty to animals,” protection of wild animals and birds,” [p]revention of the extension from one State to another of infectious or contagious diseases or pests affecting men, animals or plants.”
PART  IVA: FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES, 51A (g): Fundamental Duties	Per 51A, the Constitution places a duty on every citizen to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures.”

Though Directive Principles are directional in nature our Supreme Court has held that they are binding on us as polity. In fact, 24 of 29 States in India, including the State of Jamu Kashmir have laws and regulations banning cow slaughter or sale of cows.  This is because of the Buddha’s influence on our jurisprudence and constitutional framework. I would like to see, being a historic Buddhist nation respected throughout the world for spreading Buddhism, you too would incorporate provisions in any reform of your Constitution to impose a moral duty on all persons inhabiting in Sri Lanka to have compassion for living beings, including non – human animals.  The quality and esteem of a Constitution is enhanced when it also extends protection and care for the welfare of members of other species that share this planet with human beings.

Ban on Liquor – In fact, there is a liquor prohibition in the State of Gujarat ever since continuously from 1958. The State where the Buddha attained enlightened namely Bihar, too has done it recently and the same is a great living example for rest of India and the world.   

Answer to the present distortions of History

I come from India, the land of The Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and parinibbana. But unfortunately, Buddhists are miniscule minorities in this holy land! How!

There has been humungous amount of historical research on the decline of Buddhism. Three eminent personalities, who are responsible for the modern revival of Buddhism in India, have thoroughly researched on this subject and have authoritatively concluded that it is the Islamic advent that resulted in the decline of Buddhism.

This became pertinent for these three scholars to dispel untruths because a systematic Goebbelsian propaganda was unleashed by the pseudo secularists in India that it was the philosophical victory of Hinduism over Buddhism that led to the decline of Buddhism. In fact, many of the misinformed Hindu researchers themselves claimed that Adi Sankara defeated the Buddhists in Dialogues and Buddhists accepted defeat and quit India!! This is part of the systematic effort by the imperialist forces – both Arab and European – to pit Hindus against Buddhists and absolve themselves from having to account for their crimes against Buddhism on Indian soil.  

First and foremost, of the scholars who brought out truth – much before the two – was Anagarika Dharmapala. He worked with the oppressed masses of India decades before Ambedkar. While taking the Buddha Dhamma to the oppressed, he never pitted Dharmic traditions against one another. I would request you to kindly read this important article written on the occasion of the 150^th Birth Anniversary of Anagarika Dharmapala.

I would leave you with an article http://www.sundaytimes.lk/140914/plus/taking-the-dhamma-to-the-dalits-117240.html

The second eminent scholar was VIshwaratna Dr. Ambedkar.

Of all these three scholars It is utmost important to quote Dr. Ambedkar for important two reasons. Firstly, a vast majority of Buddhists in India are followers of Dr. Ambedkar.  Secondly, Ambedkarism remains the most distorted ideology today in India. Thirdly, because Ambedkar, known for his acidic polemic against Hinduism, never compromised on the narrative of truth. He never mixed his personal feelings when it came to academic research. It is Dr. Amebdkar who smashed the pseudo theory of Aryan invasion and Aryan and Dravidian divide and the pseudo secular theories perpetrated by the Stalinist historians. 

Ambedkar’s ideology was totally distorted by his later followers. The concept of ‘Bahujan’ was ‘lifted’ from Buddhist teachings and was used for petty political gains in India. In the name of Bahujan Samaj, Buddhists, especially the former untouchables, were asked to forge camaraderie with Muslims and Christians and destroy Hindus! In fact, Dr. Amebkar was falsely projected as an espouser of Abrahamic religions!   But please note what he has to say in this regard:

//There can be no doubt that the fall of Buddhism in India was due to the invasions of the Musalmans. Islam came out as the enemy of the ‘But’. The word ‘But’ as everybody knows, is the Arabic word and means an idol. Thus the origin of the word indicates that in the Moslem mind idol worship had come to be identified with the Religion of the Buddha. To the Muslims, they were one and the same thing. The mission to break the idols thus became the mission to destroy Buddhism. Islam destroyed Buddhism not only in India but wherever it went. Before Islam came into being Buddhism was the religion of Bactria, Parthia, Afghanistan, Gandhar, and Chinese Turkestan, as it was of the whole of Asia.

XXX

The Mussalman invaders sacked the Buddhist universities of Nalanda, Vikramshila, Jagaddala, Odantapuri to name only a few. They razed to the ground Buddhist monasteries with which the country was studded. The monks fled away in thousands to Nepal, Tibet and other places outside India. A very large number were killed outright by the Muslim commanders. How the Buddhist priesthood perished by the sword of the Muslim invaders has been recorded by the Muslim historians themselves. Summarizing the evidence relating to the slaughter of the Buddhist Monks perpetrated by the Musalman General in the course of his invasion of Bihar in 1197 AD, Mr. Vincent Smith says, “….Great quantities of plunder were obtained, and the slaughter of the ‘shaven headed Brahmans’, that is to say the Buddhist monks, was so thoroughly completed, that when the victor sought for someone capable of explaining the contents of the books in the libraries of the monasteries, not a living man could be found who was able to read them. ‘It was discovered,’ we are told, ‘that the whole of that fortress and city was a college, and in the Hindi tongue they call a college Bihar.’ “Such was the slaughter of the Buddhist priesthood perpetrated by the Islamic invaders. The axe was struck at the very root. For by killing the Buddhist priesthood, Islam killed Buddhism. This was the greatest disaster that befell the religion of the Buddha in India….

~ Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, “The decline and fall of Buddhism,” Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches, Vol. III, Government of Maharashtra. 1987, pp. 229 and 338

These opportunist elements should better read the following passage by Dr. Ambedkar:  

//Hinduism is said to divide people and in contrast Islam is said to bind people together. This is only a half-truth. For Islam divides as inexorably as it binds. Islam is a close corporation and the distinction that it makes between Muslims and non-Muslims is a very real, very positive and very alienating distinction. The brotherhood of Islam is not the universal brotherhood of man. It is brotherhood of Muslims for Muslims only. There is a fraternity, but its benefit is confined to those within that corporation. For those who are outside the corporation, there is nothing but contempt and enmity. The second defect of Islam is that it is a system of social self-government and is incompatible with local self-government, because the allegiance of a Muslim does not rest on his domicile in the country which is his but on the faith to which he belongs. To the Muslim ibi bene ibi patria [Where it is well with me, there is my country] is unthinkable. Wherever there is the rule of Islam, there is his own country. In other words, Islam can never allow a true Muslim to adopt India as his motherland and regard a Hindu as his kith and kin.//

(Source: http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/ambedkar_partition/412d.html)

For detailed reading:

• http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/ambedkar_partition/

For a brief overview

• https://www.newslaundry.com/2017/04/14/ambedkar-on-islam-the-story-that-must-not-be-told

In sum, Dr. Ambedkar was very critical of Hinduism but he never ever advocated destruction of Dharmic tradition of India. He never wished to join hands with the Abrahamic traditions and pit Buddhists against Hindus. 

It is on purpose that I have dedicated a good part of my speech on Dr. Ambedkar because he is the most respected and most popular Indian Buddhist personality today. Political parties and ideologues across the spectrum – from ‘Secularists’ to ‘Communists’ – Nationalists to Internationalists – swear by his name and claim to be the successors of his legacy.

You may be a little irritated, if not confused as to why am I wandering on the peripheral issues instead of straightaway coming to the core issue of Challenges confronting Buddhists in Asia, with special reference to South Asia and South-East Asia.

In fact, the decline of Buddhism from its motherland India, is central and most critical to the enquiry on ‘Challenges confronting Buddhists in Asia’. The enquiry of decline of Buddhism in India is nothing but an enquiry on Indic-ness and indigenousness in India. And as long as India ignorant of this reality, Asia will also be in a blissful slumber. As long as Hindus and Buddhists in India are busy with their infighting, India will never be able to forge an alliance with the rest of Buddhist world. This is not a theoretical proposition. In fact, this was practically and successfully achieved by the enemies of Dhamma for the last one hundred years!

This harmed Hindus and Buddhists in equal proportions. Hindus within India because of their numerical strength, military might and other historical advantages Hindus could successfully thwart some of the external aggressions to their Dharma and Nation. However, Hindus outside India in rest of Asia especially in Pakistan, Bangladesh are so much affected that they are now almost on the verge of extinction within a few years.

The challenges of Buddhists are even more critical because we neither have numbers on our side nor do we have the military might to counter the external aggression.  Most importantly, we have not even realised that we are in danger of history repeating itself in the remaining Buddhist countries.

Bangladeshis camouflaged as Rohingyas

Let us take the concrete case on hand – the Rohingya issue.  I personally feel that we should shun the usage of the term ‘Rohingyas’  – because they are basically Bangladeshis using the smokescreen of  the label ‘Rohingyas’. Thus having said that, I agree that there are multiple dimensions to this issue. I also agree that it is against Dhamma to compartmentalise human suffering into Muslim suffering and Buddhist suffering. But let’s examine the harsh truth.

As per the undisputed official census records of Myanmar, when they gained independence in 1948, there was very few Muslims in Arakhan State. By 1973 Muslims were about one million. In 1983 Muslims constituted about 19% of the Arakhan State in Myanmar. In 2014, Muslim Population grew to 56%. And today, more than 80–96% of the population near the border with Bangladesh and the coastal areas is Muslim.

I would like to ask the International Media, which is branding the Buddhists of Myanmar as Terrorists, a simple question. Today, officially, there are about 10% Muslims in Germany, France and Netherlands. What will this international media do if this population increases up by 80% in say twenty years from now, as it has happened in Myanmar.

Why is the western media not writing about Arunachal Pradesh, in North East India, wherein once indigenous religions were a majority and today the population of Buddhism has been reduced to 11% in last two decades!

Now, let’s not dive into the number game. Let’s see, at a thematic level, what challenges we, Buddhists are faced with.

Let’s begin with Bangladesh, the home to Chakmas or Sakhyas, the community to which Buddha belonged. It is the Sakhyas residing in the northern hills of Bangladesh who have kept the ancient Buddhist culture alive. That is why this Sakhya community is being systematically chased and attacked. Take for instance, the Kathina Chivara Dana ceremony of Chakmas.  For the first time I had the good fortune of seeking this unique festivity in October, 2014. It is at this juncture that I realised that if Chakmas are extinct there will be no bestowal of cloths to our Venerable Bhikkhus. If Sakhyas die, the most basic and sacred Buddhist traditions will be extinct.

India has helped provide citizenship to Sakhyas. The recent initiative of Citizenship Act by Assam is an endeavour by the present Central Government of India to help Hindus and Buddhists of the region.

Wherever Buddhists are ruled by authoritarian regimes – China, Cambodia, Vietnam and to some extent Nepal etc., we have immensely suffered. But these issues are beyond us to resolve. So, it is better that these issues be addressed as national issues of their respective regimes. Hence, I would not wish to touch the controversial Tibetan issue and problems of other Chinese Buddhists.

India and Sri Lanka – Our Constitutional Issues in a democratic polity

Let us now consider India and Sri Lanka together.   

Constitutions of India and Sri Lanka guarantee fundamental rights to citizens as well other persons. Consider Article 12 of the Constitution of Sri Lanka

Article 12.

(1) All persons are equal before the law and are entitled to the equal protection of the law.

(2) No citizen shall be discriminated against on the grounds of race, religion, language, caste, sex, political opinion, place of birth or any one of such grounds

This Article is pari materia tothe Indian constitutional provisions:

Article 14.

The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.

19. (1)

All citizens shall have the right— (a) to freedom of speech and expression; (b) to assemble peaceably and without arms; (c) to form associations or unions 1[or co-operative societies]; (d) to move freely throughout the territory of India; (e) to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India; 2[and] 3** * * * (g) to practise any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business

Utilising these rights guaranteed to the noncitizens, in India, series of cases are being filed on behalf of the foreign nationals – especially, Bangladeshis (so called Rohingyas included). Constitution is being invoked to seek residence and then slowly citizenship. In India, as per Union of India’s official statement there are about 20 Million Bangladeshis illegally residing in India. This is equal to the total population of Sri Lanka! 

Both Sri Lanka and India have acceded to the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice for dispute adjudication.  This will also be used against us in so far as the foreign elements will invoke various Human Rights Conventions and institute proceedings against us before the ICJ. This is likely to be the future. Constitutional and International Jurisprudence will be the two biggest armouries in the hands of adversaries of the Dharma traditions. While they would deny fundamental rights to their own citizenry, they would be very prompt in demanding all kinds of rights from us. The western world, being solely interested in arms trading, will always encourage violent conflicts within a nation and between nations and in the process cause the destabilisation of Asia.

So-called liberals in India make so much about Article 370 in India. Thanks to this Article, notwithstanding the fundamental rights on residence guaranteed to Indian citizens, the citizens residing elsewhere in India can be permanent residents of the State of Jammu Kashmir. However, it is estimated that in Jammu City (the Winter capital of Jammu Kashmir – wherein lakhs of Kashmiri Pandits are forcibly living under displacement from their homes in Kashmir Valley) alone, around ten thousand Bangladeshi Muslims are staying there under the garb of Rohingyas. How can this be permitted?

Small and Subtle- which we can’t ignore.

Ladakh sector of Jammu Kashmir is dominated by Buddhists. However, in Kargil Town, Buddhists are struggling to construct a temple. Forget Sri Nagar, we are not able to construct a small temple in Kargil! The whole world speaks about Kargil victory of India. But how many of us know that Buddhists are living as outcastes in their own hometown in Kargil? While Leh is 80 per cent Buddhist and 20 per cent Muslim, the numbers are exactly the reverse in Kargil, which is predominantly Muslim now. It is estimated that 90% interreligious marriages in Kargil are between a Muslim boy and Buddhist girl. A new term called Love Jihad has come to be coined in India, wherein, it is suspected that boys from their own religions are brain washed to seek and marry a non-Muslim girl and convert her to their faith. Many liberals have denounced it as a hoax until the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India had directed the apex investigating body National Investigative Agency to conduct a thorough investigation into the ‘Hadia matter’. See http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/sc-orders-nia-probe-into-kerala-girl-s-conversion-marriage/story-uRu5MqsLshNOO4iqRZidKM.html for more details.

There are small and subtle challenges in our regions. I have carefully observed certain things in Sri Lanka. Buddhists here worship Hindu gods such as Ganesh, Velu Murugan etc. While I see one positivity that both Dharmic traditions are being respected. However, Buddhists of Sri Lanka will be neither here nor there if such blind practices are perpetrated. This seems to one of the core but subtle challenge that Buddhists in Sri Lanka need to resolve internally. Though these issues are very small but we can’t ignore the same.

I being an outsider, may be pardoned if I have overstepped my brief in sounding instructive in my approach, particularly when such scholarly and erudite people are amidst us in this audience.

The way forward

I am a total novice to the affairs of Sri Lanka. However, in my estimate, Buddhists in Sri Lanka may be far less than 70% as is being claimed on the basis of 2011 census. Even presuming without admitting that Buddhists are in such big numbers, mere numerical majority does not guarantee any safety.

The whole of organised media conglomerates in most of Asia including Sri Lanka are controlled by non-Dharmic forces and they are hell bent upon denigrating and lowering the image of Dharmic nations such as India and Sri Lanka, through a sustained campaign of vilification of Hindu and Buddhist monks and their leaders.

Recently, I read an article in ‘Christian Today’ bashing Buddhists in Sri Lanka.

The article us titled The World’s Biggest Christmas Tree Hasn’t Helped Sri Lankan Christians”

Read: http://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2017/december/sri-lanka-guinness-worlds-biggest-christmas-tree-christians.html) and claims that Christians in Sri Lanka are persecuted in huge numbers. The author with a Sikh name (ghost-writer in every sense of the term) goes on to defame Sri Lanka in general and Buddhists in particular. Any onlooker of international affairs would think that Sri Lanka is a gas chamber for Christians! Now, the so-called liberals and intelligentsia are fast to grab this opportunity to attack the Dharma as the cause of all the trouble in these respective countries.

As an interesting aside, let me tell you that as practicing Buddhist, I have always been sceptical of prophecy and astrology. However, on a jocular note I must confess that, whenever I read Mr. Senaka Weeraratna’s articles, I revisit my views on astrology. It is astonishing that about four to five months before the last Indian General Elections in 2014, Mr. Senaka Weeraratna had predicted in an analysis of the Indian political landscape, that Mr. Modi will be the Prime Minister of India and it would be great opportunity for Sri Lanka in particular and the Buddhist world in general to take stock of this possible change in the Government of India and act accordingly. Though a popular opinion was already in favour of Modi, there were several influential sections within India who had seriously doubted Modi’s ascendance to power. Being so much far away and being a distant observer of Indian politics, I am amazed at the acumen and commitment of such personalities in Sri Lanka. Whenever I see Mr. Senaka Weeraratna’s writings, I am enthused about the future of the Dhamma in Sri Lanka and in rest of India.

It is largely because of Sri Lanka that Buddhism is alive in India and rest of the world today. It is Venerable Anagarika Dharmapala who played the pioneering role in the revival of Buddhism in India. It is primarily Sinhalese monks from Sri Lanka who gave Deeksha to Dr. Ambedkar.

To understand the appreciate the phenomenal contributions of Sri Lanka to my India, please see what Acharya Buddharakhita has written about the birth of the Maha Bodhi Society in India

//On the occasion of 2500 Buddha Jayanti I decided to resign from Nalanda Post Graduate Institute, went to Buddhagaya to meditate and offered one lakh deepa puja for one full month. I got a clear mind about future activities. That is how, when Mrs. Bianca Moonasinghe the niece of Venerable Anagarika Dharmapala, and the wife of the General Secretary of Sri Lanka Maha Bodhi Society, and the head of Mahabodhi ladies committee, approached me saying that she got some land given by Maharaja of Mysore which was lying idle and some people had encroached on the land and nothing is happening, etc. I accepted the offer with the condition that I will not be another bhikkhu employee as in other centers of Maha Bodhi Society. Ours will be an independent society, and as President I will conduct activities in a practical way through seva and sadhana programs. She was more than happy and that is how I came to Bangalore on 5th June 1956.

Today, am before you as a Upasaka associated with Maha Bodhi Society, one of the largest Buddhist organisations in India. (Ref: http://www.mahabodhi.info/). //

In fact, it is our Dharmic brothers, the Hindus, who helped Maha Bodhi society. In fact, it was Mr. Shyamaprasad Mukherji, founder of Bharatiya Jan Sangh (predecessor of BJP the party of Mr. Modi) and India’s first Industry and Supply Minister, who helped Anagarika Dharmapala to build a glorious temple in Buddha Gaya and that’s how Buddhism was revived.

Mr. Shyama Prasad was also affiliated with the Buddhist Mahabodhi Society. In 1942, he succeeded Dr. M.N. Mukherjee to become the President of the organisation. The relics of Gautam Buddha‘s two disciples Sariputta and Maudgalyayana, discovered in the Great Stupa at Sanchi by Sir Alexander Cunningham in 1851 and kept at the British Museum, were brought back to India by HMIS Tir. A ceremony attended by politicians and leaders of many foreign countries was held on the next day at Calcutta Maidan. They were handed over by our first Prime Minister Nehru to his cabinet colleague Mr. Mukherjee, who later took these relics to Cambodia, Burma, Thailand and Vietnam. Upon his return to India, he placed the relics inside the Sanchi Stupa in November 1952. Mr. Modi regards Mr. Mukherji as his revered Guru in every sense of the term. So, you may imagine in how much high esteem Mr. Modi holds Buddhism.

As an interesting aside, if I may share with you that Mr. Senaka Weeraratna had written an article on the need for a noise free environment at the Maha Bodhi Temple at Buddha Gaya – the centre of Buddhism where the Buddha attained enlightenment. A serene and peaceful atmosphere conducive to deep meditation and contemplation, is no longer possible at the Maha Bodhi Temple because of the constant disturbance of calls to prayer (Azan) emanating from a loudspeaker(s) at a newly constructed mosque just 60 meters away plus other  mosques in the Buddha Gaya temple complex.

Now, that’s a very small matter as compared to this narrative: In July, 2008, a series of 21 Bombs were blasted in Ahmedabad killing 56 people and severely injuring 200 and more. Now, these terror suspects were arrested in Buddha Gaya in September, 2017!! What were these dreaded terrorists doing in Buddha Gaya? Tausif Khan, the master mind (called as Master ji) was the main person accused of these blasts! Now, we have to ask, how safe are our holy places?

Of course on the Azan problem, one needs to remind our Muslim brothers with great compassion that even before the loud speaker was invented, Islam was the second largest religion in the world. Hence, they need not place such heavy reliance on UnIslamic means (constantly disturbing non – Muslims by use of loudspeakers attached to Mosques built in close proximity to major centres of non – Muslims religions) to spread their religion.

Success Story of Jains – Numbers never matter

The biggest challenge faced by the Sri Lankan (mainly Sinhala) Buddhists seems to be akin to that of Hindus in India. Buddhists seem to be in blissful complacence rejoicing their so called ‘numeric majority’. In fact, we should draw lessons from miniscule minority Dharmic Traditions such as Jainism in India.

There are around four Million Jains in India. This constitutes about 0.032% of the Indian population. Thing being the case, the largest political Party in India BJP, which is the ruling Party of India is headed by a Jain called Amit Shah! One of the largest industry conglomerates in India – Adanis and Sun Pharama are owned by Jains. Largest circulated English Daily in India – Times of India is owned by Jain Family and Malayalam Daily Matrubhumi is by a Jain. Governor of Gujarat and Chief Minister of Gujarat are Jains. Acharya Rajanish or Osho was a Jain. I can go on and on.

Jains in India have shown as to how their strategic alignment at the political and industry level can work. Jains have shown the way forward for the Buddhists across the world.  We have to politically, strategically, economically align with the Dharma traditions – with Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Indigenous religions across the World. This seems to be our future. And there lies our capacity for preservation and fostering of our religion.

Only with strategic alignment Dharma will survive and be Victorious

Be that as it may. Let’s leave the past to take care of itself. Buddhists of India and Sri Lanka should make most of the benign regime of India today. Modi government wants to take the message of Dharma across the globe. India, as the able successor and leader of Dharmic traditions is now fostering Buddhism. We should join hands in two ways. One at an idea level, we should support the international endeavours of the Indian Government. As a small contribution, I must share with you, I am already in talks with the office of the Additional Solicitor General of India South India and Indian Law Ministry. They are very keen to come to Sri Lanka. We can propose to hold a conference of Lawyers of Indic and Indigenous faiths and religions to chalk out an international strategy in our common interest. 

Now, apart from these kinds of endeavours to be initiated at personal levels, there is something we need to do collectively. One thing is for sure. Dhamma can only be practiced and protected collectively. When the whole world is antagonistic to you, how can you individually remain Dharmic? Hence, practising Dharma means growing more and more strategic at macro level. This is more crucial and vital task than personally observing Dharmic rituals and faiths.

World has always been skewed and strategic. Neutrality, non-alignment and secularism are always for others consumption and never for self-practice.  Only Dharmic people are advised to be secular. In fact, the world has never been ‘secular’ and will never be in future. 

As individuals, people may be atheists, rationalists, irreligious. However, as polity they are always religion minded or strategically aligned to one religion or the other.  It is a popular misconception that the world is growing less and less religious today.  This is a popular myth perpetrated to confuse and  mislead the Dharmic people.

Out of the 7.6 Billion people living in the world today, nearly 2.1 Billion people are Christian and 1.3 Billion people follow Islam. Now, we tend to think that the west has grown less religious. It is not true. The UK officially is a Christian country even from the ancient times. The USA has huge tax exemptions and encourages free contributions to church. In fact, but for the USA the ‘conversion shop’ of the missionaries would have been long closed. It is a popular myth that Nordic countries are non-religious. The official religion on Denmark, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Estonia is (Lutheran) Christianity. Russia is a very rigid follower of Orthodox Christianity. About 70% of church revenues come from church tax (Kirchensteuer). Apart from a lot of major cantons of Switzerland, the official religion of Argentina, Bolivia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Liechtenstein, Malta and Monaco is Roman Catholicism. Greek Orthodox Church and Finnish Orthodox Church are official religions in respective jurisdictions. Church of England is established by law. Queen is the official head of the world-wide Anglican Communion.

The members of Church of Sweden pay church fee, which varies between municipalities, but can be as much as 2%.  Church and state are separated as of 2000; however, the burial tax (begravningsavgift) is paid by everyone regardless of membership. Italy pays 0.8 percent Church Tax. In Austria, it is compulsory to pay church tax at the rate of 1.1 percent.

In short, EU, NATO etc., are nothing but de facto Christian strategic alliances.

About 57 countries today are members of one of world’s largest and most strategic organisation known as Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The bond between the Islamic countries is so much strong and cemented that Article 3(e) of the Conditions for Accession to Observer Status at OIC  says:

 A state applying for observer status shall not be in conflict with any of the OIC member states.”

While none of the member states of OIC is secular in any sense of the term, they always pressurise a non-Muslim country to observe secularism. Islamic world always acts strategically and collectively. From smallest to the most critical of the issues confronting Muslims, they speak in one language and they are always on one page!

Now, communism itself is a State religion. Thus, China, North Korea have their respective gods, popes and pupils. Nepal, the only Hindu country, was turned into a secular state.

In short, only Dharmic States that are forced to go secular. In fact, secularism is a tool and subtle ploy to kill Dharma. If all these rationalists and intellectuals really intend to promote ‘ secularism ‘ let them start with the NATO and OIC Nations. Why target the unorganised ones such as ours?

It is precarious reality that Buddhism today is the most unorganised religion in the world. Except Sri Lanka I don’t think the very thought of organising ourselves at a strategic level has come to the mind of any other nation with a Buddhist population.

In 1950s Sri Lanka gave to the World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB), the most revolutionary and strategic development of its time. The Buddhist Flag adopted during this time is also the most important development. But. World has become much more strategic ever since then but we, unfortunately, have remained stagnant ever since then. We either progress or perish.

In my humble opinion, the Buddhists of the world today have to strategically align with India.  When I say align, it does not mean efface our identity and merge.  It means only align with consciously retaining our identity and interests.

Due to a variety of conspiracies, there is large scale misunderstanding about India. We think, India is all about Tamils and that all Tamils are against Sri Lanka. It is not at all true. An overwhelming majority of Indians, Tamils included, we love Sri Lanka. We are spiritually indebted to Sri Lanka in so many ways. If not for Hindu leaders such as Shyamaprasad Mukerji, the Mahabodhi Temple could not have been constructed by Anagarika Dharmapala.

AIADMK, the party in power in the province of Tamil Nadu for last ten years or so has been deadly against LTTE. It is only a few fringe elements within small pockets of India who have had a temporary misunderstanding with Sri Lanka. Now all that is a thing of the past.

In fact, I must share with you, C. Iyothee Thass (20^th May, 1845 – 1914), a leading Tamil spiritual leader, was the pioneer of Buddhism in India. Even before Dharmapala and Dr. Ambedkar, it was Thass who pioneered the efforts to revive Buddhism. Iyothee Thass met Colonel H. S. Olcott with his followers and expressed a sincere desire to convert to Buddhism. According to Thass, the Paraiyars of Tamilakam were originally Buddhists With Olcott’s help, Thass was able to visit Ceylon and obtain diksha from the Sinhalese Buddhist monk Bhikkhu Hikkaduwe Sumangala Nayake Thero. On returning, Thass established the Sakya Buddhist Society in Madras with branches all over South India. The Sakya Buddhist Society was also known as the Indian Buddhist Association and was established in the year 1898. Even today, there is a Buddha Vihara in Wheelers Town in Bengaluru started by Iyothee Thass. 

Modi regime today is aggressively pushing for Buddhist unity. In fact, India has been strongly supporting the International Buddhist Confederation. It is being supported right at the level of Prime Ministers Office. India’s approach today is wholly changed.  Modi’s first visit round of when he assumed office as PM was to a series of Buddhist countries. India is not playing big brother but a caring mother for Buddhist nations. We, the Buddhists, must make most of this. We must strengthen the hands of Modi regime in our own best interests.

We must engage India to promote global strategic cooperation inter se the Dharmic World. The heart of India will always remain Buddhist. Our national emblem, Ashoka Chakra in the centre of our flag symbolises that India is predominantly Buddhist within its heart. This is what a leading journalist had to say some time ago:

//Why was the code word to announce the success of Pokharan-1 in 1974 Buddha is smiling”? My friend and former colleague Vinay Sitapati (look for his fine biography of P V Narasimha Rao, Half-Lion, next week) finds the answer in his research. It seems Raja Ramanna was also aware of the history of Vaishali’s destruction by Magadha. The legend is, Buddha was upset about it and thought the war could have been avoided if Vaishali too had deterrent military power rather than its so-called direct democracy so nobody would take hard decisions. You can only have peace between equally strong or equally weak nations,” he is supposed to have said; that’s why Ramanna told Indira Gandhi Buddha is smiling” as India had acquired its deterrence. //

India without Buddhism will always be incomplete. Hence, India and Sri Lanka are natural allies. The bonding of Dhamma between us has always remained and will ever remain.

I take this opportunity to offer my salutations to Venerable Mitirigala Dhammanissanti Thera with whose blessings I am sure that the cause of Dhamma is being espoused in the rightful manner by Mr.Senaka Weeraratna.  I must tell you that I am here before you only because of him and I wholeheartedly owe this all to him.

I am deeply indebted to the National Joint Committee for providing me this opportunity. Dr. Wijesundere family has been a constant source of inspiration in the Dhamma work. My sincerest gratitude to  Jagath Sumithipala, Vice President of the World Fellowship of Buddhists for taking out time from his busy schedule. I once again seek blessings from all Dhamma Teachers.

I pray that may Lord Buddha shower his choicest blessings on the people of Sri Lanka. Let the cause of Dhamma be victorious. Let the Buddhist Brotherhood and Dharmic Unity of Sri Lanka and India be victorious!

Bharat Mata Ki Jai! Vande Mataram!! Jaya Jaya Sri Lanka. Long live the World Fellowship of Buddhists Long Live National Joint Committee of Sri Lanka!! Long Live the Unity and Integrity and Sovereignty of Sri Lanka!! 

Buddham Saranam Gacchami!

Dhammam Saranam Gacchami!

Sangham  Saranam Gacchami

Metta!!

Bio Sketch of Mr. Shridhar Prabhu

Shridhar Prabhu is the Managing Partner of Navayana Law Offices, a Bengaluru based niche’ law Firm specialising in Energy Laws. Mr. Prabhu though based in Bengaluru practices in various High Courts and Tribunals throughout India.

Shridhar Prabhu was born on 25^th December, 1976. He completed his Pre University education in Karnataka College Dharwad and obtained his Bachelor of Academic Laws and LL.B (Five Years Integrated) Degree from Bangalore University Law College (BULC).

He was a leading student activist during his undergraduate days at BULC.  He was an Executive Committee Member of the BULC and Chairperson of the Model Parliament Committee of BULC. 

After graduating in 2001 Mr. Prabhu had worked under leading lawyers practising in Delhi handling work in the Supreme Court of India, Delhi High Court and Central Administrative Tribunal of India. He returned to Bengaluru in 2002 and after a brief stint of working with the private sector, Mr. Prabhu branched in to and specialised in Energy Laws. He holds a string of appointments as a Legal Advisor to a number of Industry Associations and trade bodies.

Mr. Shridhar Prabhu has been associated with the Maha Bodhi Society, Bengaluru, as legal advisor. With his team of like minded Lawyers in High Court of Karnataka, Mr. Prabhu has been active in the Advocates Association Bengaluru, organising a Dhamma Discourse Programme High Court of Karnataka with Venerable Bhante Ananda and Venerable Bhante Sugatananda involving the Judges of High Court of Karnataka and Advocate General of Karnataka State. Mr. Prabhu writes in Kannada language on contemporary social and political themes to various online and offline publications. 

He is a practising Buddhist and is associated with various organisations involved in the dissemination of Buddhism.

He is happily married to Mangala Prabhu, an Advocate and is blessed with two sons – Manthan (12) and Bhuvan (5).

DR. NIMAL SAMARASINGHE Courtesy The Island

MP Ven. Aturaliye Ratana Thera listening to mothers at the Kurunegala Teaching Hoispital who complained that they had not conceived since undergoing caesarean surgery by Dr. Seigu Shiyabdeen Mohammed Safi. Pic by Nishan S. Priyantha

The police have urged the public to inform the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) if they have any complaints against Dr. Seiugu Shafi for having carried out any illegal sterilization. This may open a can of worms with many startling news to emerge. Irrespective of whether these allegations against a single doctor can be proven or not, the Department of Health is thrust with an urgent need to act appropriately and methodically, to prevent such horrible consequences happening to unsuspecting innocent patients in the future. Rather than trying to put these allegations under the carpet, the department should take immediate steps to prevent such abuses by surgeons with warped minds.

It is paramount to investigate whether such inhuman acts are spread across the country, by doctors following the teachings of fundamentalist religious groups. On the one hand there are complaints of sterilizations on Sinhala Buddhist women without consent, and on the other hand quite the opposite on Muslim women who should have had sterilizations, but being signed off as done without actually performing the procedure on them.

The Department of Health should take immediate steps to encourage

whistleblowing among the surgical staff performing Obs and Gyn. surgery. The nurses, midwives and junior doctors should be given clear guidelines in this respect.

As these tubes can be rendered ineffective by simply applying pressure by instruments like artery forceps, on the sly, during any Obstetric or Gynaecological intra-abdominal procedure; a check list system has to be set in place after each procedure.

All the surgical nurses in the Obs and Gyn theatre should be trained how to check the fallopian tubes once the surgeon has finished one’s surgery. This is a simple technique, which can be carried out by trained hands. Therefore, after each procedure by a surgeon, irrespective of his identity, the status of the fallopian tubes should be checked before the closure, at least by two such trained senior surgical nurses in attendance in the theatre.

Until the nurses and junior doctors doing Surgical and Obs and Gyn placements are trained properly, the VOGs and the Surgeons should display the healthy fallopian tubes to the junior doctors and to the theatre head nurse after each procedure, before closing the abdomen. Desperate situations call for desperate measures, as this could be a wide spread conspiracy across the country.

Women should be offered the choice to undergo tests such as hysterosalpingogram to ascertain the patency of their fallopian tubes, after any abdominal procedure where doubt arises.

For the Health Minister to suggest that such abuse cannot be done as there are nurses, labourers and anaesthetists in the theatre, indicates he has no idea how a surgeon performs his work.

The Department of Health has a huge responsibility to address this issue forthwith, with utmost diligence, and to set in place definite plans to prevent such abuse by doctors misguided by religious extremism. In fact, such steps should be extended to cover all intra-abdominal operations on women.

 මහින්ද නිල්වැල්ල කර්තෘට ලියුම් උපුටා ගැන්ම දිවයින

 ‘‘අන්තවාදීන් සන්නද්ධ වීම ගැන 2016 දී බුද්ධි අංශ මා ඉදිරිපිටදී ජනපතිට වාර්තාවක් දුන්නා’’ යයි සඳහන් කරමින් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්තී‍්‍ර පූජ්‍ය අතුරලියේ රතන හිමියන් පසුගියදා කොළඹ පදනම් ආයතනයේදී ආන්දෝලනාත්මක ප‍්‍රකාශයක් සිදු කළහ. රතන හිමියන්ගේ එම ප‍්‍රකාශය රාජ්‍ය බුද්ධි අංශ කි‍්‍රයාකාරීත්වය හා රටේ ජාතික ආරක්ෂාව පිළිබඳ බපතරළ සැක සංකා මතු කරන බැවින් ඒ පිළිබඳව ප‍්‍රශ්න කිරීම සිවිල් පුරවැසියන්ගේ වගකීමය.

 ඉහත ප‍්‍රකාශය සම්බන්ධ දෙසුම විiුත් හා මුද්‍රිත මාධ්‍ය හරහා තදින් සමාජගත කර ඇති බැවින් ඒ හරහා රටේ ආරක්ෂාව පිළිබඳ සමාජය තුළ මතුව ඇති සැක සංකා හා ප‍්‍රශ්නාර්ථයන්ට පැහැදිලි පිළිතුරක් ජනාධිපතිවරයා වහා ලබාදිය යුතුය. 

 රතන හිමියන් එහිදී ප‍්‍රකාශ කළ එක් කාරණයක් නම් ආයුධ ගැනීම් ගැන වාර්තා අතේ තිබුණත් ආණ්ඩුව මුස්ලිම් දේශපාලනඥයන්ට බියේ කිසිවක් නොකළ බවත් බුද්ධි අංශ නිලධාරීන් විසින් 2016 දී අන්තවාදීන් පිරිසකගේ සන්නද්ධ වීම පිළිබඳව හා කණ්ඩායම් අතර වෙඩි තබා ගැනීම් පිළිබඳ වාර්තාවක් ජනාධිපතිවරයාට ලබාදුන් බවත් එම අවස්ථාවේදී තමන් ද එහි සිටි බවත්ය. රතන ස්වාමීන් වහන්සේ මෙම ප‍්‍රකාශය කළේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුව තුළදී නම් මෙය සමාජය එතරම් ගණනකට නොගෙන බැහැර කිරීමට ඉඩ ඇති මුත් මෙම ප‍්‍රකාශය කරනුයේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවෙන් පිටත වගකිවයුතු පිරිසක් ඉදිරිපිටදී නිසා එය එලෙස සාවi හුදු දේශපාලනික ප‍්‍රකාශයක් සේ සලකා බැහැර කළ නොහැක. මන්ද උන්වහන්සේ මෙම ප‍්‍රකාශය කරනුයේ උන්වහන්සේ නායක ස්වාමීන් වහන්සේ ද හිඳුවාගෙන මේ මොහොතේ රටේ කාගේත් ගෞරවය, ආදරය මෙන්ම විශ්වාසය දිනාගත් මැල්කම් රංජිත් කාදිනල් තුමන් ද ඇතුළු ආගමික පූජක තුමන්ලා මෙන්ම පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්තී‍්‍රතුමන්ලා ද ඇතුළු සම්භාවනීය සභාවකදී වන බැවිනි. උන්වහන්සේට එහිදී තහවුරු කිරීමක් අවශ්‍ය වූයේ පාස්කු ඉරිදා ත‍්‍රස්ත ප‍්‍රහාරයට සෘජුවම වගකිවයුත්තේ ජනාධිපතිවරයා බව ඒත්තු ගැන්වීම විය හැක. රටේ ජාතික ආරක්ෂාවට වගකිවයුත්තේ ජනාධිපතිවරයා වන බැවින් එහි තාර්කික බව අපි බැහැර නොකරමු. එනමුත් මෙහිදී මතුවන ප‍්‍රධාන කාරණාව නම් රාජ්‍ය බුද්ධි අංශ තම බුද්ධි වාර්තා පරිහරණය කරනුයේ මෙතරම් වගකීම් විරහිත ලෙස ද යන්නයි. ජනාධිපතිවරයාට යොමු කරන බුද්ධි වාර්තාවක් අදාළ නොවන පුද්ගලයකු අතට පත් වූයේ කෙලෙසද යන්න බරපතළ ප‍්‍රශ්නයකි. එක්කෝ එම වාර්තාව ජනාධිපතිවරයාට 

 පිළිගන්වන අවස්ථාවේ එම බුද්ධි නිලධාරියා අසල සිටින සෙසු අයටත් පැහැදිලි වනසේ එය කියවා භාර දුන්නා විය යුතුය. නොඑසේ නම් ජනාධිපතිවරයා සමඟ තිබූ පෞද්ගලික හිතවත්කම නිසා ජනාධිපතිවරයා විසින්ම උන්වහන්සේට මෙය කියවීමට සැලැස්වූවා විය යුතුය. එසේත් නැත්නම් සදාචාර විරෝධී ක‍්‍රමයකට උන්වහන්සේ මෙය තමන් අතට ගෙන කියවා බැලූවා විය යුතුය.

 කෙසේ නමුත් රාජ්‍ය රහස් ලේඛනයක් මෙලෙස උන්වහන්සේ අතට පත්වූයේ කෙලෙස ද යන්න සොයා බැලිය යුතුය. කැබිනට් පති‍්‍රකා පවා කැබිනට් ඇමැතිවරයකු අතට පත් කරනුයේ ඉතාමත් ආරක්ෂිත ආකාරයෙන්ව තිබියදී ජාතික ආරක්ෂාව සම්බන්ධ කාරණා පිළිබඳ අනුගමනය කර ඇත්තේ මෙතරම් අනාරක්ෂිත හා වගකීම් විරහිත ආකාරයට නම් ජාතික ආරක්ෂාව පිළිබඳ බරපතළ ප‍්‍රශ්නයක් මතුවීම වැළැක්වීම නොහැකිය.

 මින් මතු වන අතුරු ප‍්‍රශ්න ගණනාවක් ද ඇත. ඒ සඳහා රතන හිමියන් විසින්ම පිළිතුරු ලබා දෙන්නේ නම් අපි කෘතඥ වෙමු. 

 1. ඉහත බුද්ධි වාර්තාව පිළිබඳ එවකට තම නායකයා ලෙස අග‍්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා දැනුවත් කිරීමට පියවර ගත්තේද? නොඑසේ නම් මන්ද?

 2. මේ පිළිබඳ පාර්ලිමේන්තුව තුළ ගත හැකිව තිබූ කි‍්‍රයාමාර්ග කිසිවක් ගැනීමට උන්වහන්සේ උනන්දු නොවූයේ මන්ද?

3. අද ත‍්‍රස්තවාදීන් සමඟ ගනුදෙනු කරන්නේ යැයි චෝදනා ලැබ සිටින මැති ඇමැතිවරු එදා උන්වහන්සේගේ සමීප මිතුරන් වීම නිසා මේ පිළිබඳ තොරතුරු ඒ අය අතට පත් නොවූයේ යැයි සහතික කළ හැකිද?

 4. මෙවැනි තත්ත්වයන් යටතේ බුද්ධි තොරතුරු පෙරළා ත‍්‍රස්තවාදීන් අතට පත් නොවූයේ යැයි ඇති තහවුරුව කුමක්ද?

Courtesy Adaderana

The complaints received by the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital regarding the conceiving complications which appeared following the caesarean sections performed by Dr. Mohamed Shafi have risen to 120.

On May 26th, the Police urged the public to come forward with any complaints of Dr. Seigu Siyabdeen Mohamed Shafi having carried out illegal sterilization.

69 complaints were lodged against Dr. Shafi yesterday (28), while 50 were received during the course of today.

Meanwhile, as of this morning (29), 11 complaints have been received by the Dambulla Base Hospital concerning complications in conceiving after being treated by Dr. Shafi during caesarean surgeries.

Dambulla Police stated that all the complaints that are filed against Dr. Shafi are being directed to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

42-year-old Dr. Shafi was arrested on Friday (24) over earning assets through suspicious means. It was reported that he is a member of Minister Rishad Bathiudeen’s All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) and had contested the last General Election from the Kurunegala District under the UNP.

He was later handed over to the CID for further investigations.

The Health Ministry yesterday (28) appointed a six-member committee, which consists of doctors specializing in obstetrics and gynaecology, to investigate the activities of Dr. Mohamed Shafi.

Allegations are levelled against him that he had performed numerous illegal sterilization on mothers who underwent C-sections during their first delivery.

The Health Ministry today (29) stated that the committee has commenced probing the allegations against Dr. Shafi and a report on the preliminary investigations will be submitted within a week, Acting Director General of Health Services Dr. Lal Panapitiya said.

He advised pregnant mothers not to have any undue fears regarding pregnancy clinics at hospitals.

Courtesy Adaderana

Despite the forewarnings given to former Defence Secretary and the Inspector General of Police on possible terrorist attacks at several places in the country, the National Security Council was not convened until after Easter attacks took place, says Chief of State Intelligence Service of Sisira Mendis.

Prior to the attacks, the Security Council last assembled on February 19th, the State Intelligence Chief stated testifying before the Special Parliamentary Select Committee probing the attacks on Easter Sunday.

Defence Secretary General (Rtd) Shantha Kottegoda was also summoned to today’s meeting to testify before the Select Committee.

The inaugural meeting of the Special Parliamentary Committee commenced at 9.00 a.m. this morning (29).

The Committee should produce its report either within 03 months from its inaugural meeting or before the completion of the 03 months on a date set by the parliament. Its interim report is to be submitted within a two weeks’ time period.

On May 23rd, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya announced the members of the Special Select Committee, chaired by Deputy Speaker Ananda Kumarasinghe, appointed to probe and report on the coordinated terrorist attacks that took place on April 21.