Gotabaya Rajapaksa swept to power in the recent presidential polls in Sri Lanka, marking the return to centre stage of his powerful political family on the island nation. Asanga Abeyagoonasekera, director general of the Institute of National Security Studies Sri Lanka, spoke with Rudroneel Ghosh about the political and regional implications of the election result:
What are the main factors that contributed to Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s victory in this election?
There were mainly three factors. First is the economy which has plummeted to 2.7% GDP growth, the lowest in a decade. This had sharply escalated the cost of living for ordinary Sri Lankans. Outgoing PM Ranil Wickremesinghe of United National Party (UNP) was the one who was running the economy so the economic failures were blamed on him, which helped Gotabaya. Second, the bipartisan model between UNP and elements of Sri Lanka Freedom Party which was introduced in 2015 had serious flaws and it ended up with a constitutional crisis last year which saw a serious rift between the executive president and the PM. People saw this as instability in governance and realised this wasn’t the way to go forward.
And third is the security threat that emerged after the Easter Sunday bombing this year which claimed more than 250 lives. This factor helped Gotabaya project himself as a solution because he is from the defence apparatus and solved the big ethnic crisis involving the Tamil Tigers that affected Sri Lanka for 30 years. So he was seen as someone who would strengthen the national security. Gotabaya’s main challenger was Sajith Premadasa of UNP but there was a trust deficit between the people and UNP, especially after the Easter bombing and the report of the parliamentary select committee that highlighted serious intelligence gaps and administration flaws in the previous regime.
Would you say there was ethnic polarisation, with Tamils largely voting one way and the majority Sinhalese in another way?
Clearly, deep polarisation was seen in this election. In the 2015 presidential polls, Tamils and Muslims voted for Maithripala Sirisena who secured victory. If you see then President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s statements after that election loss, he clearly said that he did not believe he lost the polls because the majority Sinhalese had voted for him. So from 2015 to now, you can see the Rajapaksa brothers worked on winning the Sinhalese vote even more and Gotabaya this time has certainly won an even greater portion of the majority community than his elder brother did earlier. In fact, Gotabaya says in his inaugural speech after the result, I was elected by the Sinhalese vote, and my expectation from the Tamil and Muslim electorate was not met. But I want you all to join me now.”
With Mahinda too now returning as PM, what does the return of the Rajapaksas mean for Sri Lankan politics?
Most people are rejoicing. They have come back after just four short years and this clearly shows that the bipartisan government that was created in 2015 did not deliver. The interesting thing would be the differences in Gotabaya’s policies and Mahinda’s policies. Gotabaya has mentioned in his manifesto that he will stick to meritocracy and technocracy, and change the political culture. We have to see how he will implement these values. Overall, people are seeing the Rajapaksas as a solution to economic woes and security threats. Now it is up to them to deliver.
Will Gotabaya’s victory see more Chinese involvement in Sri Lanka?
Mahinda had a very pro-China position and he upgraded relations with China to a strategic level. Gotabaya has mentioned in his post-result address that he will not get into global power struggle and will bring Sri Lanka into a neutral position. So he is talking about creating a non-aligned policy for Sri Lanka. The difference between Mahinda and him here is that he has been in the West. He was a US citizen until election time. We have to see if Gotabaya can balance the US, China and India spheres in Sri Lanka. But China is obviously our largest economic and trading partner. The Chinese are very much there in our development projects. How Gotabaya is able to balance China’s infrastructure diplomacy with other nations’ interests here will be interesting to see. But relations between Sri Lanka and China are strong. And the Rajapaksas have showcased this strong relationship in the past.
How do you see New Delhi-Colombo relations panning out now, with Gotabaya as president?
Gotabaya has said he will have a strong relationship with New Delhi. Plus, he has been working with Indian foreign service officers and knows the Indian set up well. But I think there will be a significant difference in the way he builds his relationship with New Delhi as compared to his brother. We will also see this difference in the way he builds his relationship with south India and the Tamil community. Overall there will be a stronger Lanka-India relationship.
The hard-fought seventh Presidential election in Sri Lanka has just ended with a convincing victory for former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa. His achievement in securing over 52 per cent of the votes cast in the face of reservations expressed by minorities in that island-nation must be seen as an important development for South Asia and the extended Indo-Pacific region.
We now hear that his first State visit after formally assuming office on 18 November will be to India on 29 November. India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has just concluded an unannounced two-day visit to Colombo (on Monday and Tuesday) to have what he described as a ‘warm meeting’ with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to convey a message of ‘partnership for shared peace, progress, prosperity and security’ with New Delhi.
Recent observations appearing in the public domain suggest that all four of the above-mentioned factors could pose a significant diplomatic and strategic challenge for both countries given the past Rajapaksa regime’s pronounced tilt towards China.
There is currently a view that Sunday’s Presidential election result in Sri Lanka will most certainly have a bearing on the presence of both India and China in the Indian Ocean region, especially in the context of Beijing, which has been making impactful inroads.
Editorials appearing in various Indian media through the week seem to be somewhat cautious and sceptical. One such editorial in an Indian daily said: “It is possible that Rajapaksa would like to change course and build better relations with India.”
However, it further goes on to say: “New Delhi must prepare for a pro-China tilt in Colombo, some spillover of Lanka’s Tamil politics to Tamil Naduâ¦. India must act as a constructive partner in the face of the likelihood of continued political tussle in Sri Lanka till the November 2020 (Parliamentary) elections.”
I spoke with two former Indian diplomats – K.P. Fabian and G. Parthasarathy – recently on their assessment of the election result in Sri Lanka.
Ambassador Fabian said: “India will have to play its cards carefully given Sri Lanka’s closeness to China in the recent past.”
“(Gotabaya) Rajapaksa has won primarily because of the majoritarian Sinhala vote bank and the Buddhist clergy. Premadasa, on the other hand, has secured more votes from the 15 per cent Tamil and 10 per cent Muslim communities in Sri Lanka,” he stated further, adding “Long term, Sri Lanka will have to maintain good relations with its immediate neighbours.” Ambassador Parthasarathy reiterated New Delhi’s long-held view that the China factor is deeply ingrained in Sri Lanka’s political psyche.
The election result could see India’s relationships changing not only with Sri Lanka, but also with Myanmar, the other neighbouring country scheduled to hold elections in 2020.
He said both countries have an “intrusive and less-than-healthy Chinese presence” and “the Chinese take an above-normal interest in the domestic politics of both these countries.”
He also felt that Sri Lanka and the Rajapaksa family personally would continue to be under international scrutiny for alleged serious human rights violations committed during the civil war between Government troops and the LTTE in the 1980s and 1990s. If past precedent is anything to go by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa would continue to receive support from Beijing, he maintained.
These are challenging and difficult times for South Asia and the extended Indo-Pacific region. The Indian Government has wisely gone ahead with an outreach towards Colombo and the new President, but will reiterate clear red lines that it would not like to see being crossed.
As one editorial said earlier this week, New Delhi would welcome Colombo engaging with Beijing so long as it does not “affect Indian security interests.”
Malaysia – India
Malaysia is showing increasing interest in procuring India’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas. Kuala Lumpur recently put out a tender for supply of 36 new light combat aircraft and if it reaches an agreement with New Delhi, it will be the first foreign sale undertaken by the Indian Government-owned aerospace and defence company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
India’s Tejas is competing with China’s JF-17, South Korea’s T-50 Golden Eagle, Russia’s YAK-130, BAE Systems’ armed Hawk and Sweden’s Gripen. There is a concern, however, that the proposed deal may not take off due to diplomatic and trade ties between both countries currently being strained over Kuala Lumpur’s recent negative remarks on New Delhi’s move to change the special quasi-autonomous status of the former State of Jammu and Kashmir.
China and Bangladesh
China and Bangladesh continue to seek ways to improve bilateral trade ties. Both Governments have just inked a $72 million joint venture to implement a mega water project in the emerging smart city township of Purbachal on the outskirts of Dhaka in phases by 2023.
The joint venture between the Chinese United Water Corporation and Delcot Water Limited of Bangladesh is the first Public Private Partnership (PPP) water sector project in Bangladesh.
The over 6,000-acre Purbachal is the biggest planned township coming up to Dhaka’s north-east.
China is already implementing $10 billion worth of infrastructure projects in Bangladesh. Apart from Purbachal, the other major projects coming up are a Chinese Economic and Industrial Zone, the Payra Power Plant, the 8th China Bangladesh Friendship Bridge and the International Exhibition Centre.
China and Afghanistan
On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said Beijing is keeping all communication lines open for holding the intra-Afghan talks in China.
He said China supports comprehensive and inclusive “Afghan-led, Afghan-owned” peace reconciliation processes and is willing to provide a platform for dialogue and exchanges.
(Ashok Dixit is a New Delhi-based media consultant and a former senior editor with two of India’s leading multi-media news agencies ANI and IANS. He is also the son of India’s former National Security Advisor and Foreign Secretary J.N. Dixit)
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa today (21) requested Archbishop of Colombo, His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith to nominate a representative from the archdiocese for the proposed committee on Easter Sunday attacks which is to be established soon.
Meanwhile, Cardinal Ranjith has urged President Rajapaksa to take legal action against those who are responsible for the attacks despite their status, ethnic community or religious beliefs.
President Rajapaksa called on Cardinal Ranjith at his official residence in Colombo today.
The Cardinal, during the cordial discussion, commended President Rajapaksa for the initiatives he has taken so far.
Cardinal Ranjith told the President: We cannot say justice was delivered to the nearly 300 people who lost their lives during the Easter Sunday attacks. Proper investigations have not been done on those who are alleged to be responsible for the attacks. In a way, they have tried to brush everything under the carpet. We must look into every aspect and area that led to these bombings and murders. We cannot allow anyone who acted to cause harm to these people to walk free, in spite of their social status, community of faith. We hope your government will ensure that justice will be delivered to those who were affected by the incident.”
Responding to this request, President Rajapaksa said: First, I will appoint an independent committee to look into this matter and to find out who was behind it and how it happened. Second, I have already taken action to prevent such attacks from taking place in the country once again. I have appointed the best person as the Defence Secretary who is highly experienced. I have instructed him to re-build our intelligence units. I instructed him to re-establish the security networks that existed during my time as the Defence Secretary. He has also been instructed to focus on intelligence gathering and arrest those who are still free. Thirdly, as investigations continue, I will bring justice to the families of victims who haven’t been compensated in any way. These are the three aspects I am planning to focus on. You would have more confidence in the process if one of your representatives too is appointed to the proposed independent committee. That is why I waited until this discussion and haven’t appointed the committee yet. I have already an appointment to give my testimony before the current committee.”
The President further stated that what he is referring to is not about giving statements but about appointing a representative of the Cardinal to the committee.
When Cardinal Ranjith said many other countries have their own secret services to work on intelligence and terrorist threats, the President said: We too had such intelligence service, but they were systematically compromised. There wasn’t a better intelligence service than ours back then. It was out intelligence units that located all safe houses of the LTTE in the south, but the best intelligence unit belongs to the Army because their skills were hones over 30 years of conflict. But unfortunately, they were rendered powerless. I am sure that if we allow them to continue their work without hindrances, terrorism will not rear its head again in the country.
In response, Cardinal Ranjith said their work shouldn’t also be influenced by politics.
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been sworn-in as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, before newly elected President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
The event, graced by many other distinguished guests, is taking place at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo.
New Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa will shortly assume duties in his new post.
Former President Maithripala Sirisena and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who officially stepped down this morning, were also present on the occasion.
Earlier today, former Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe stepped down from his position and tendered his resignation to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Meanwhile the interim Cabinet of Ministers, which was scheduled to be appointed today, has been put off until tomorrow (22), political sources told Ada Derana.
Mahinda Rajapaksa had served as Opposition Leader of Sri Lanka until his appointment as the new Premier today.
This is the third time Mahinda Rajapaksa is taking office as the Premier. He had been appointed Prime Minister after the UPFA had gained a slim majority at the Parliamentary Elections of 2004.
He had briefly served as Prime Minister again, for a period of just 52 days, during the time of the constitutional crisis in the country in October last year.
Two brothers are holding the top positions in the government for the first time in the history of Sri Lanka.
Colombo, November 21 (newsin.asia): It is sad to see the communal attitude of some Sri Lankans including people around me. I felt like sharing this story with you all. Please spare a moment and read it.
Pictured with me are Sri Lankan Tamils who had fled to Tamil Nadu by boat to save their lives at the height of the war.
During my higher studies in Kerala, India, I wanted to meet Sri Lankans living in Tamil Nadu refugee camps and write about them.
Although I went with two of my friends from Chennai, I had second thoughts on whether the refugees would speak to me because I am a ‘Sinhala Buddhist’. However I did go to a camp anyway with the belief that as people of my country, they will talk to me.
What happened there is what you all need to know.
They first wondered why I had come to visit them all the way from Kerala. But after doubts were cleared they took me in and welcomed me as if I was like one of their family. They told me that I was the first Sri Lankan to visit them at the camp since they left Sri Lanka and settled in the camps in the 1990s.
The refugees told me how nicely they used to live in harmony and peace before the war in Sri Lanka, how dismal their lives in the refugee camp are and how longingly they dream about returning to their motherland.
But at the same time they were scared to go back, ambivalent about as to how fellow Sri Lankans will welcome them as a considerable number of them had affiliations with LTTE members in the past. They said all they wanted was to die in the country of their birth.
Simona, a 70-year-old mother of five, had a son in the LTTE who died at the age of 22 in the war. Her husband had also died in a shell attack.
Before the war, we were living happily and peacefully with Sinhala people. We had a beautiful life in Sri Lanka,” she recalled.
The inmates of the camp did not let us leave without having lunch which was made in one of the houses in the camp. We were served rice with potatoes, beans and boiled eggs.
Those women who, I felt, were like my mother or aunt, hugged me and wished me good health. I was in tears.
As a journalist and a Sri Lankan, that day is cherished as one of the most unforgettable days in my life.
Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim or Burgher, we are all Sri Lankans. But we are labeled as Buddhists, Tamils, Muslims or Burghers. It is true that there are extremists in every religion. But, why are we looking at everyone with the same lens? We all have such short lives. Why waste time spreading hate? Wouldn’t it be the greatest victory for Sri Lanka if we all can get together as one strong army and work for a brighter future?
Colombo, November 20: Indian Foreign Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar’s air-dash to Colombo with a friendly message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi within two days of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s stunning victory in the November 16 Sri Lankan Presidential election, has put Indo-Lanka relations on a new trajectory.
India-Sri Lanka relations had deteriorated badly in the final phase of Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Presidency (2005-2014) because of the latter’s tilt towards China, India’s rival in the Indian Ocean Region.
New Delhi felt that the tilt had compromised its strategic and economic interests in the geo-strategically located island country. When Mahinda Rajapaksa was defeated in the January 8, 2015 election, he blamed India and the West for it, though the actual cause of his defeat was his alienation from the majority of Sri Lankans, including the majority community, the Sinhalese.
With the advent of the Good Governance” government of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in 2015, India expected Colombo to give it the economic and strategic space it deserved. But except for some projects like the Emergency Ambulance Service and the rural housing project, nothing major was given to India while the Rajapaksa-era dalliance with China continued.
Hambantota harbor was controversially given to a state-owned Chinese company for 99-years for just US$ 1.2 billion on the specious ground that the country could not meet its overall debt repayment obligations.
In April 2017, India and Sri Lanka signed a comprehensive MOU covering a number of joint venture projects in the field of energy and infrastructure. India proposed to convert the China-built but empty Mattala Airport into a humming air hub in strategically placed South Sri Lanka. But negotiations on it proved to be long drawn out and fruitless.
India was keen on constructing a container terminal in Colombo given the fact that 70% of the port’ s business was with India. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was for it but the Ports Minister and the President were against. Now, it is to be run by a joint venture between Sri Lanka, Japan and India. India’s plan to economically develop Trincomalee remained on paper and a long pending project to build a 500 MW coal fired power plant in Sampur was called off in the eleventh hour by President Sirisena.
The state of affairs annoyed New Delhi and it was reported that Modi ticked off one of the top leaders visiting India.
However, despite disappointments New Delhi still believed that it is better to have a non-Rajapaksa government in Colombo than a pro-China” Rajapaksa regime, though all Indian projects under Rajapaksa’s rule, like the project to built 50,000 houses in the war affected North-East and the railway projects, were accepted and completed ahead of time.
Nevertheless, a time progressed, relations with the Rajapaksas were re-established by High Commissioner Taranjit Singh Sandhu, an experienced Sri Lanka hand. At the request of Mahinda Rajapaksa, a meeting with Modi was arranged when the latter was on a visit to Colombo. The Rajapaksas had by then realized that antagonizing India would do them no good. They were pleased with the meeting with Modi. They decided to accommodate India’s strategic interests in the island vis-à-vis China. Even then suspicions about the Rajapaksas remained.
But Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s somewhat unexpectedly stunning victory over the ruling party’s Sajith Premadasa by 1.3 million bought home the fact that he has the solid support of the majority of Sri Lankans if not the minority Tamils and Muslims. Therefore it made sense to welcome him and build upon the goodwill generated in the meetings between Modi and Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Not surprisingly, Modi was the first foreign head of government to tweet his congratulations to Gotabaya and also to call him up on the phone. The language of the congratulatory message and Modi’s invitation to Gotabaya to visit New Delhi motivated Gotabaya to reply not only warmly but also mention the need for cooperation in the field of development, and more importantly, in the security sphere.
The Rajapaksas had sensed that Indian Ocean Security, now under challenge from emerging China, is of primary concern to New Delhi and that offering cooperation in keeping order in the ocean would be extremely comforting to India.
The exchange of the messages was quickly followed by the visit to Colombo of the Indian Foreign Minister Dr.S.Jaishankar, the trusted Modi-man in the Foreign Ministry with hands-on experience of handling Sri Lanka, as a foreign service officer.
The meeting with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Tuesday was described by Jaishankar in his tweet thus: A warm meeting with Sri Lanka President@GotabayaR.conveyed PM@narendramodi’s message of a partnership for shared peace, progress, prosperity and security. Confident that under his leadership #IndiaSri Lanka relations would reach greater heights.”
Jaishankar also met former President and opposition leader Mahinda Rajapaksa who will lead the political team when he is appointed Prime Minister shortly. Jaishankar also announced that Gotabaya would be visiting New Delhi on November 29, which will be his first foreign trip as Lankan President.
In his meeting with Modi, the Indian Prime Minister will seek the revival of project proposals gathering dust as a result of the previous government’s indifference. Indian Ocean security and India-Sri Lankan cooperation in ensuring that China does not change the rules of the game as it had done in South China Sea will be discussed. Cooperation will also be sought in keeping track of Islamic radicalism in Sri Lanka and India and taking timely action.
It appears that the Gotabaya regime will give in to reasonable Indian demands in the matter of its security and even agree in principle that India will be Sri Lanka’s primary security provider.
India would be welcome to execute development projects, but China is likely to continue to have a major role in infrastructure development because of its ability to fund ventures and execute them fast.
China Factor
China, which has a major presence in Sri Lanka through infrastructure projects, is not going to go away. And this was made clear by President Xi Jinping in his congratulatory message to Gotabaya. Xi underlined the fact that Sri Lanka is a part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and expressed confidence that the Gotabaya Administration would strengthen cooperation under the BRI.
Tension With US
While ties with China will continue to be smooth and Gotabaya will handle India sensibly and diplomatically, a rough ride is expected vis-à-vis the United States because of its penchant for raising war crimes issues and going back to the unsavoury past, which Gotabaya is opposed to.
The voting pattern in the Presidential election shows that Gotabaya got elected mainly with the support of the majority Sinhalese community and that community is against going back to the alleged war crimes. The issue shows their armed forces, which rid the country of terrorism and separatism, in bad light.
Gotabaya’s voters will never agree to their soldiers to be dragged before any internationalized war crimes judicial mechanism. The majority community will never allow the government to sign the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the US which could turn Sri Lanka into an American military base.
In a statement on Monday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said that the United States wants to work with Sri Lanka in deepening good governance and promoting justice, reconciliation and human rights.” He also said he wanted the two countries to cooperate in fostering a free and open Indo-Pacific region where all countries can prosper.”
Although Rajapaksa has publicly stated that he would treat all Lankan communities equally and has appealed to the Tamil and Muslims join his journey towards prosperity, the latter two communities still see him in his war-time avatar of a no-nonsense and tough as nails Defense Secretary with a pledge to destroy the separatist and terrorist LTTE. For the Muslims, Gotabaya is still the spirit behind the Buddhist extremist Bodu Bala Sena (BBS).
The fears lurking among the minorities could be fanned by communal parties in the coming parliamentary and provincial elections. With the UN Human Rights Commission meeting periodically to discuss Sri Lanka, human rights groups both in Sri Lanka and abroad, would keep ethnic animosities alive.
This could give the US a handle to interfere in Sri Lanka and twist its arm. These possibilities will make Gotabaya wary about the US. US-Lanka relations are unlikely to be a happy in contrast to relations with India and China.
The Maha Sangha reiterated that legal action should be taken immediately, against ministers who have allegations against them including Mangala Samaraweera, Raajitha Senaratne, Ranjan Ramanayake, and Patali Champika Ranawaka.
These views were expressed during several media briefings held across the country.
SLFP Central Working Committee decided to expel AHM Fowzie for violating the party`s code of conduct following disciplinary inquiry says SLFP General Secretary.
While claiming that UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa was too hasty to have contested the presidential election, Eksath Bhikku Peramuna Secretary Ven. Bopitiye Dhammissara Thera said he could have easily won it if he had contested the presidential election after another five years.
Addressing a news conference, the Thera commented that Mr. Premadasa should have contested the presidential election five years hence, with more peoples’ power.
He said if Speaker Karu Jayasuriya had contested the election as requested by civil society and religious leaders, he could have garnered more votes including Sinhala Buddhist votes.
Ven. Dhammissara Thera appreciated the moves taken by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to step down respecting democratic principles.
Going strictly according to the Constitution, the Prime Minister, Cabinet and the Government could have been in power till March next year. However, respecting the people’s mandate, they have decided to step down. It is a commendable move by the Prime Minister,” he said.
When asked about the change of the opposition leadership, the Thera said the decision regarding the opposition leadership should be taken according to the party constitution and by the working committee.
Ven. Mahagalkadawala Punnasara Thera commented that everyone should accept the new President and work in peace and reconciliation and added that no one has a right to harass anyone else.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is our president too. He is the president of all communities including Sinhala, Tamil and Muslims,” he said.
Ven. Karakole Piyadassi Nayaka Thera also speaking noted that those who lost the election should not resign from their posts but they should be determined to fulfil the aspirations of the people who supported them.
They should face defeat with fortitude and take it as a challenge to reorganise,” the Thera said.
The United National Party (UNP) today nominated its leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to be appointed the Opposition Leader of Parliament despite a request by a section of the party to offer it to presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa, an official said.
According to the procedure, the post is offered to someone from the single largest party in the opposition. The UNP has become eligible for it after it stepped down from the government.
UNP General Secretary MP Akila Viraj Kariyawasam informed Speaker Karu Jayasuriya in writing that his party nominated Mr. Wickremesinghe as the Opposition Leader. He also requested the Speaker to arrange facilities in the parliamentary complex accordingly.
More than 40 MPs have handed over a document to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya requesting him to appoint NDF candidate Sajith Premadasa as leader of the Opposition, MP Ajith P. Perera told Daily Mirror today.
We handed over a letter to Speaker Jayasuriya requesting him to appoint Mr. Premadasa as Leader of the Opposition and this was in addition to the letter handed over by UNP General Secretary Akila Viraj Kariyawasam who had requested for the appointment of outgoing Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Opposition Leader. However we will wait for the decision of the Speaker,” he said.
A similar situation arose in 1994 where the late Gamini Dissanayake and Mr. Wickremesinghe vied for the post and the former was chosen in a vote at UNP Head Quarters Sirikotha.
Former UNP Chairman Kabir Hashim and Former Minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara are among those who have signed the agreement.
The Speaker’s office confirmed the receipt of a document calling for the appointment of Mr. Premadasa as Leader of the Opposition.
Anyone
puzzled as to what Tamils think & how that thinking translates to votes
need to first keep in mind some realities that Tamils are psychologically kept mesmerized
by – the dream of creating an utopian separate state. This was first birthed in
1949 with the formation of ITAK and kept alive via TULF’s Vaddukoddai
Resolution in 1976 which formed the basis of the 1977 General Election
Manifesto that enabled TULF to win 18 seats though securing only 6.75% of
island vote. A. Amirthalingam went on to become the Opposition Leader & TULF
the Opposition of Sri Lanka. When you read the demands that TULF made of which
ITAK was a key party, you can link this up to the 13 demands placed by TNA at the
recently concluded Presidential Elections and will provide the answer to how
and why people voted. The GOSL must take action against these separatist elements
immediately to reintegrate people to thinking of living peacefully in one
nation under one law.
1977 election results –
UNP won 140 seats
SLFP won 8 seats
TULF won 18 seats though
only securing 421,488 votes which was just 6.75% islandwide
Tamil United Liberation FrontGeneral Election
Manifesto
(July 1977)
[The TULF
that went to polls with this manifesto won a majority of votes from the
northern province of Sri Lanka, but not in the Eastern Province.
Nevertheless, the TULF used it to claim a mandate for secession from Sri Lanka and
form an independent sovereign state (Arasu) of “Tamil Eelam” made up
of the North and the East.
However, the TULF was NOT regarded as asking
for a full separation and there were independent “Hard-Line” Tamil candidates
who pushed the full separation objective and lost. In fact, Amirthalingam, the
leader of the TULF came to a compromise agreement with J. R. Jayawardana, for
obtaining extensive power devolution in the North and the East. This
was considered as an act of treachery by the LTTE which assassinated
Amirthalingam and other democratic Tamil leaders.
The Hill-country Tamils, led by Thondaman Sr. was not a party to the
Vaddukkoddei (Batakotte) resolution of 1976.]
Introduction
The Sinhalese people who gained political power
from the British drafted for themselves, in fulfillment of their sovereignty, a
constitution which they put into operation, and the first general election
after Ceylon was declared a republic is being held now.
The issue as to who would be put into seats of
power will not be the only one that would be decided by the votes that people
would cast at this election.
Do the Tamils and the Muslims who have lost their freedom accept a
Constitution that has paved the way for the majority community, the Sinhalese,
to usurp, in full, under a facade of sovereignty of the people, the totality of
political power in this country? That is the issue to be resolved by the votes
that our people would cast at this general election.
At the time the Republican Constitution was
accepted by the Constituent Assembly and thereafter, very important changes
took place among the political movements of the Tamils and in the midst of the
Muslim people. The Tamil Parties that were at one another’s throat with conflicting
goals came together, at last, to form the Tamil United Front. This became
possible at a conference of the Tamil political Parties held in 1971 at
Valvettiturai. Organisational consolidation followed at Trincomalee and in 1976
the Front came to be called the Tamil United Liberation Front.
A number of incidents that took place in the
country along with certain actions of the Government following the proclamation
of the republic led to a rethinking in the minds of Muslim people also.
Particularly the Muslims in the Eastern and North-Western regions of Ceylon
realised that their religion and language, lands and opportunities of
employment were all being taken away from them and that in their own native
land their lives and property too were insecure. They also realised that
movements that accepted the leadership of the Sinhalese political parties would
not defend even these basic rights of theirs. This realisation led to the
formation of the Muslim United Front.
Bound together by the bonds of a common language
and intertwining lives in a common territory and brought together by the common
danger of total destruction, the Tamils and the Muslims realised the
indispensability of joint action. Subject to the safeguards of preserving the
identity of the Muslims and ensuring their sovereignty, the Muslim United Front
joined the Tamil United Liberation Front as a constituent unit. The
rights of the Muslim people in the Tamil State of Eelam will be amplified
further in this manifesto. When we speak of the Tamil Nation, we refer to the entirety
of the people in this country to whom the mother tongue is Tamil.
One Question: Freedom or Servitude?
The General election of 1977 is a crucial one to
the Tamil Nation. So far as the Tamil territory is
concerned, this general election is a clash between the only political movement of the Tamil
Nation and the representatives of the various political parties of Sinhalese
imperialism that keeps the Tamil nation under its heels. The
election in the Sinhala territory decides the question as to which of their
parties should come to power. And in the Tamil territory, the question to be
resolved is whether the Tamils want their freedom or continued servitude. TheTamil United
Liberation Front will use this election to resolve the issue.
History
Though Ceylon is a single state now, yet by facts
of history, by the languages spoken by its inhabitants, by culture, tradition
and by psychology, it is the common home of two nations and consists of two
countries.
The present republic of
Sri Lanka is in reality a union of Sinhala Land” and Tamil Eelam”.
The fact that the Tamil nation has been living in
this country from pre-historic times enjoying its sovereign rights under a
state of its own is recorded in no less an authority than the great work of
Sinhalese history – Mahawamsa.
Even before the Christian era, the entire Island of
Ceylon was ruled by Tamil Kings, Senan, Kuddikan and Elara (Ellalan) and
thereafter for over thousand years, as a result of struggle for supremacy
between the Tamil Kings and the Sinhalese Kings the capital of the Sinhalese
Kings was gradually shifted southwards away from Tamil Centres. These are facts
of recorded history.
It is also a fact that the entire Island was under
the sway of Tamil Kings at times and the Sinhalese Kings at other times. From
this background of alternating fortunes, emerged, at the beginning of the 13th
century a clear and stable political fact.
At this time, the territory stretching in the western
sea-hoard from Chilaw through Puttalam to Mannar and thence to the Northern
Regions and in the East, Trincomalee and also the Batticaloa Regions that
extended southwards up to Kumana or to the northern banks of the river
Kumbukkan Oya were firmly established as the exclusive
homeland of the Tamils.
This is the territory of Tamil Eelam.
For several centuries before the advent of
Europeans to Ceylon in the 16th century, the Tamils have been living in this
territory under their own Kingdom. Tamils reigned supreme in this country with
their own national colours and their own military forces.
The Portuguese who for over a century were at
times entering into treaty relationships with these Tamil Kings and at other
times meeting them in losing battle – fronts finally, in the war of 1619,
captured the Tamil King, Sankili Kumaran, and took him to Goa where he was
hanged.
It was the assistance that King Sankili gave
to the Kandyan King in transiting reinforcements from neighbouring South India
for the latter’s war against the Portuguese that made the European power battle
in full vigour for an indispensable capture of the Jaffna Kingdom.
The Tamil King was captured by the military might
of the Portuguese aided by local Quislings. However, for three years
thereafter, the Tamils continued to fight against foreign domination under the
leadership of a coastal petty king Varnakulathihan. And they lost.
Neither the Sinhalese
king nor the Sinhalese people did offer any assistance to the Tamils who were
fighting to defend their state. It was their view that they and their country had
nothing in common with the state of Tamil Eelam. This is exactly what we want
the Sinhalese people to reiterate now.
The Portuguese who subdued the State of Tamil
Eelam continued to govern it as a separate state. So did the Dutch who captured
it, in turn from the Portuguese. The Cleghorn Minute clearly establishes that
even under the Dutch, the judicial district of Jaffna patnam that covered
the northern and eastern parts of the Island extended, in the west coast of the
Island, from Puttalam to Mannar and in the east, southwards up to the limits of
Kumana or the river Kumbukkan Oya that separated Batticaloa from the southern
Sinhalese district of Matara.
This Tamil State was captured from the Dutch by
the British who too continued to retain its separate status till 1833 when, for
convenience of administration, it was brought under one all island authority,
the Government of Ceylon. Totally disregarding the history, traditions and
aspirations of peoples of these various states, the British brought together
under one authority the state of Eelam which they captured from the
Dutch, and Kandyan Kingdom which they overran in 1815 along with the
Sinhalese Kingdom of Kotte.
Sovereignty of the Tamil Nation
The sovereignty of the people of Tamil Eelam changed
hands from the Portuguese who defeated them in battle into those of the Dutch
and later into those of the British. Ceylon was granted independence on the
fourth of February 1948.
Though political power was transferred to the
people of this country, yet the British Queen continued to be the repository of
their sovereignty.
The republican constitution that came into
operation with its acceptance by the Constituent Assembly on the 22nd of May
1972 severed this legal continuity and guaranteed the sovereignty of the people
of Ceylon proclaiming that the people of Ceylon themselves were the repository
of this sovereignty.
But the representatives of the
Tamil Nation withheld their consent to this constitution and rejected it. 15
out of the 19 Members of Parliament elected by the Tamil people rejected it and
boycotted the meeting of 22nd of May 1972 that was called to accept that
constitution. It is clear that there is neither legal continuity nor the
consent of the Tamil Nation to this constitution.
The sovereignty of the Tamil Nation and the
statehood that was taken away from them, in the battlefield in 1619 by the
Portuguese changed hands to the Dutch and later to the British by right of
conquest. But it
is clear that the Sinhalese Nation has not taken over the sovereignty of the
Tamil Nation through legal continuity or by consent or by right of conquest.
There is no doubt that the Tamil Nation, by standards of international law,
does possess the right, on the basis of the right to self-determination, to
re-establish its sovereignty and statehood and to draft for itself a
constitution and thus to administer its own affairs, all by itself.
The Sinhala Nation imposing its reign over the
Tamil Nation and the conversion of Tamil Eelam into a colony of the Sinhala State
is undoubtedly nothing else but imperialistic rule. The present constitution is
one that was drafted on the basis of the right of self-determination of the
Sinhala Nation, on a mandate given by that nation for that purpose.
In the same manner, the Tamil United Liberation Front views the
forthcoming general election as an opportunity to obtain the mandate of the
Tamil Nation and on the basis of its
right to self-determination, re-establish the independence of the State of
Tamil Eelam, the expression of the sovereignty of the Tamil Nation.
With a view to dispelling the doubts of those who
still wonder whether there is no alternative to the re-establishment of our
sovereignty in our exclusive soil, we wish to record here briefly to what
position of desperation the Sinhala imperialistic reign of the last 30 years
has driven the State of Tamil Eelam and the Tamil Nation.
The Tamil Nation under Sinhala
Domination
1. Citizenship Laws
The citizenship laws of this country were made
within six months of the transfer of political power to the Sinhalese in 1948.
As a result of this legislation, the Tamil labourers of the tea and rubber
plantations in the central hills of Ceylon whose blood and sweat alone have
built up and sustained the prosperity of this country were rendered stateless.
Out of the eight representatives elected to
Parliament with their votes in 1947, not a single one could be returned in the
general election of 1952 or ever thereafter.
Constituencies, for the demarcation of which their
voteless numerical strength was taken into computation, returned Sinhalese
representatives whose numbers were thus inequitably swelled in Parliament. The
Sinhalese people who form about 70% of the population secured for themselves
80% of the seats in Parliament. The concept of ‘Safeguard to Minorities’ was
distorted into ‘Safeguard to the Majority Community’ that ensured a position of
excessive representation to the majority community.
One could see this very same position continued in
the present Constitution as well. Thus, this disfranchisement of the plantation
(Tamil) labour was the first step that paved the way for a series of denial of
the political rights of the minorities with a view to enthroning Sinhalese
imperialism.
Tamils and Muslims of Ceylon were made doubtful
citizens by these Citizenship laws. In consequence they had to face a lot of
miseries in their day to day life. And to inquire into these irritations and to
provide relief to these people, the very government, in 1964, appointed a
committee of government officers. The recommendations of this committee even
after 13 years, today, are still in cold storage awaiting implementation.
To register a document of purchase of land made
with his own savings, a Tamil or a Muslim outside the Northern and Eastern
Provinces finds himself in the plight of having to pay a discriminatory tax of
100%.
Tamils and Muslims who are unable to establish
that for two generations before 1948 they were born here are teeing shut out
from business, travel, trade, employment opportunities etc. The first fruits of
freedom to the Tamil Nation was disfranchisement, statelessness, status of
illicit immigrant and a position of doubted citizens.
2. Colonisation
The aggression against Tamil Eelam by planned
colonisation by the Sinhalese governments has been drastic and
grave. Beginning with the government of the United National Party and those of
the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party that followed, in
turn, put into operation planned and state aided colonisation schemes by which
lakhs and lakhs of Sinhalese people were planted in the homeland of the Tamil
Nation that was once ruled by the Tamil kings from whom foreign imperialism
wrested this Tamil homeland through force of arms.
Sinhalese people were put in occupation”, at
state expense, of extensive tracts of the Eastern Province at Pattipalai Aru,
Alla Kantalai, Padavikulam, etc. Illegal occupation of state owned lands by
Sinhalese people with covert government support was legalised and their
ownership regularised by the government. Lands and coconut estates taken over
from the Tamils and Muslims in the Amparai district by the state, under the
Ceiling on Lands Act are now being distributed to the Sinhalese people.
Lands owned by the Tamil and Muslim peasants and
also lands which these people themselves developed and cultivated at places
like Kondaivettuwan and Akkilaveli have been forcibly taken over and handed
over, with government help, to the Sinhalese people.
Puttalam is yet another District where state
conspired Sinhalese colonisation has deprived the local people of their
territory.
While this government has been providing these
facilities to the Sinhalese aggressors of Tamil Eelam, it let loose the army,
under Special Emergency Regulations, against the hill country Tamil labourers
who sought to make a living by opening and developing forest lands that lay
unexplored and uncared for, at Punanai, in ‘the Eastern Province. A cadju
plantation scheme started at Kondaichi, in the Mannar District, is now a
Sinhalese colony of two thousand families.
In the very Tamil heartland of Jaffna, at
Colombuthurai, a Sinhalese colony, like Amarasekera Pura, has been opened up.
The Eastern Province where, when the British left
in 1948, there were hardly 10,000 Sinhalese, is now flooded with some
180,000 Sinhalese people.
The extent of this damage to the political power
and influence of the Tamils is reflected in the newly created Parliamentary
constituencies of Amparai and Seruwila which have engulfed some 1,500 square
miles of Tamil territory.
And this constitutes a 2/5th of the land area of
the Eastern Province whose further development lies within these fertile lands,
thus usurped. The Tamil Nation is confronted with the danger of being rendered
a minority and being thus destroyed in its own homelands all over Tamil Eelam.
The Nation realises the need to liberate its land to save itself from
annihilation.
3. Language
Before the attainment of independence, a
resolution was passed in the State Council, the legislature, in 1944 that
Sinhalese and Tamil shall be the official languages. Every Sinhalese political
party at that time accepted this policy.
But Mr. Bandaranaiyake’s government, in 1956,
passed the Sinhala Only Act. The United National Party too supported it. At
present, all the Sinhalese political parties have accepted the policy of
‘Sinhala Only’. This Act, which, in 1956, was an ordinary law, has in the
Republican Constitution of 1972 been elevated to a constitutional status.
Regulations on the use of Tamil Language, which
the Tamils secured for themselves as a result of several struggles with the
government, have been deliberately dethroned in the constitution. Section 8 (2)
of the constitution unequivocally stipulates that these regulations will not be
treated as being a part of the constitution.
In consequence has developed a situation where the
Tamil speaking public servants have to groan under the loss of equal
opportunities with the Sinhalese officers in matters of employment, promotions,
extension of service, increments etc. The real intention of the Sinhala Only
Act is to create a situation that would keep out the Tamil officers and ensure
the appointment of Sinhalese officers only, in government service.
The rulers are greatly successful in the
endeavour. This is not an emotional issue as some are inclined to believe. In a
country that is being overwhelmed with nationalisation, this is a life and
death issue that affects the economic life of the Tamil Nation.
4. Religion
Buddhism has been given pre-eminence in the
constitution and declared to be the only religion that would enjoy state
protection. Other faiths have no right to any protection except the right of
being practised, in private. Tamil Nation comprises Hindus, Christians and
Muslims. And the constitution has thus placed on them the stamp of second-class
citizens.
5. Culture
Though the Tamils and Sinhalese have lived in this country for over
two thousand years, yet the Tamils have continued to preserve their individual
culture based on their language. This culture and the traditions were nurtured
even under Portuguese, Dutch and British imperialistic rule.
The vital reason behind this survival was that though the Tamils
in Eelam were not strong in numbers, yet they never lost the opportunities of
maintaining close bonds with the powerful fountain of Tamil culture across the
Palk Strait, in Tamil Nadu, South India.
No doubt there were pre-eminent sons of Eelam like
Arumuga Navalar, Swami Vipulananthar, Father Gnanapiragasar and others who
rendered tremendous service to the growth of international Tamil culture. Yet,
if the bonds of art and literature etc. with South India are snapped, it is
certain that the culture of Tamil Eelam would weaken and turn into one that is
Sinhalese based.
In recent times, the government of: this country
not only imposed several restrictions on the import of cultural works,
literature, quality films etc. from Tamil Nadu but also put obstacles to the
visits of Tamil scholars and artists from Tamil Nadu. By the government policy
of imposition of the Sinhala language several Sinhala words like poya, pola,
laksala, salusala are creeping into the Tamil language in Eelam. With the
curtailment of links with Tamil Nadu, on the one hand and the increasing tempo
of Sinhala imposition on the other, Tamil language will undergo strange
transformation and the identity of the Tamil culture will be destroyed and
finally the Tamil Nation itself would disappear from this land. That is
the goal that the government has set for itself.
6. Education
Through the help of Christian religious institutions under foreign
colonial rule and later through great educational institutions the Tamil people
established by themselves, for themselves the Tamil students of this country
were in the forefront of education.
Sinhalese students in districts like Colombo,
Kandy and Galle also enjoyed similar opportunities. It is imperative that the
Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim students of the backward areas, deficient in such
facilities, should be provided with those facilities and enabled to go forward.
This is an obligation of the State. But several obstacles are put in the way of
Tamil students outside the Northern and Eastern provinces in obtaining even
elementary education. Several Tamil elementary schools are being closed down to
provide accommodation for Sinhalese schools. Tamil sections in several
Sinhalese schools are being destroyed. Some are not functioning because of
non-appointment of sufficient number of teachers.
As a result Tamil students in several areas are
compelled to study through the Sinhala medium. In the heartland of Tamil Eelam, in the
Northern Province itself, a few people have been enticed with teaching jobs and
Sinhala Buddhist schools have been opened and approved and Sinhala has been
made the medium of instruction there. If
the government could display so much of audacity here, then one could easily
fathom the depth and fanaticism of Sinhala imperialism in the annihilation of
the Tamil Nation.
In the sphere of education, it was in the university admissions
of 1970, that the gravest injustice was perpetrated against the Tamil
speaking students.
Large number of Tamil students qualified to gain university
admission to the medical, engineering and science faculties that year were shut
out through an inequitable device, designated standardisation.
While Sinhalese students who obtained 229 marks
were admitted to the medical faculty, Tamil students who were admitted were
required to obtain 250 marks. In the same manner, for admission to the
Engineering Faculty of the Peradeniya Campus, a Sinhalese student had to obtain
227 marks whereas a Tamil student had to score 250 marks. It is intolerable
that while a Tamil student with even 249 marks cannot gain admission, a
Sinhalese student with 227 marks could do so, with ease.
For the last 7 years this standardisation has been
in operation in various guises and in every faculty of the university, the
number of admissions of Tamil students has been going down.
Here is an illustration: Of the total number of students admitted
to the university in 1969, the percentage of Tamil students was 40.8. This figure has been steadily going down and it was 16.3 in 1974,
it dropped still further in 1975 and 1976. One could see that the sections that
were most affected by this injustice were the most backward ones in the Tamil
community. Thus, parents who lacked the means to employ private tutors to get
their children pushed through this drastic ordeal had to forget about higher
education to their children. As a result, the student community was driven to
the brink of frustration and engulfed by anxiety about their future Could
anyone deny that the Sinhalese reign that has been responsible for the grave
injury should be ended if this generation of youth is to live as human beings
brimming with self-confidence.
7. Employment Opportunities
The very same discriminatory policies pursued in
the sphere of education are being pursued in a worse manner in the field of
employment.
Out of a 22% population of Tamil speaking people, not even a 2 (two)
percent are selected for jobs in the armed forces. In the police
force, at the level of the lowest rung, the constable, five percent of the
places and in higher rungs an even smaller percentage of the places only, are
offered. In the clerical and technical grades also, the percentage is the same.
Because equal opportunities in education were
available in earlier times, Tamil students were able to gain enough places in
the medical and engineering professions. Now, even in these spheres as a result
of the impact of standardisation, a percentage far less than the one
warranted by the percentage of the Tamil population is taken in. Vacancies in
the minor grades in the Tamil areas are filled with people selected in
divisional offices like Anuradhapura and Badulla in the Sinhalese areas.
As an example could be cited the recent selections
of the Ceylon Electricity Board for vacancies in the Tamil district of Jaffna. Out of the
people selected at the Anuradhapura office, 66 were Sinhalese and 2 (two) were
Tamils.
In a country where, as a result of the policy of
nationalisation, the private sector is shrinking, should we not ponder what
tragedy would overtake the economic life of the Tamil Nation if the government
should adopt such a form of discriminatory policies. If our country is to
prosper, the reins of our destiny must not be left in the hands of others. We
must become our own masters of our own Destiny. That is the irrevocable goal
that the Tamil Nation has set for itself, now.
8. Economic Development of Tamil
Eelam
The state owned factories in Tamil Eelam today were set up 20 years
ago. Every single factory that was set up in this country, with
foreign aid, was set up only in the Sinhalese Districts. Schemes like the
Kachchai Salterns, the Kankesanturai harbour development, Fishery Harbour at
Myliddy, all of which were started between 1965-1970 by a government in which
the Tamil representatives too were members, have all been abandoned for the
last seven years.
No major irrigation scheme of the government will
help develop our Eelam. Save for the schemes like Gal Oya, Allai, Kantalai etc.
whose deliberate motive was the planting of the Sinhalese population in the
territory of Tamil Eelam, no irrigation scheme of any consequence that had as
its objective, the welfare of either the Tamil or Muslim population in Eelam
has ever been implemented during the last twenty years.
There were of course some minor schemes of
whitewashing. When oil prospecting with Soviet aid was started in Mannar, the
local Tamil and Muslim populations were ignored and 90% of the labourers were
imported from the Sinhalese areas. In the private sector, obtaining licenses to
start industrial ventures in the Tamil areas is a Herculean task. Even in some
minor factories started in the Tamil areas, the majority of the employees are
Sinhalese. Not only are the Tamil people ignored in the matter of employment
opportunities in the state sector but also are the Tamil areas ignored in the
economic development. They have been allowed to deteriorate into backward
areas.
9. Racial Terrorism
For the last twenty years, racial terrorism has
been let loose in this country, against the Tamil and Muslim population in a
manner that reminded them that they were slaves who were not entitled to any
rights or protection. Tamils and Muslims have been quite often the objects of
violence of the Sinhalese hooligans instigated by government supported
Sinhalese communal organisations and of the Police and the armed forces in
whose hands they suffered untold misery by way of looting and arson in homes,
shops and places of business, by grievous injuries, loss of life and property
and violation against women.
In 1956, Tamils were attacked in Colombo and in a
part of the Tamil territory of Eelam that had been turned into Sinhalese land,
Amparai. Age old Tamil villages like Thuraineelavanai had to resort to fire
arms in defence of their hearths and homes from attacks by Sinhalese hoodlums.
The communal fury against the Tamils in 1958 in
the entire Sinhalese land is a chapter of dreadful blot in the history of this
country. Thousands of Tamils were taken to Northern and Eastern provinces in
commandeered ships and army protected convoys. Property worth several millions
were lost, several hundreds lost their lives and thousands their homes.
Tamil women were raped; pregnant women were
slaughtered to pieces on public highways. The Murugan Temple priest at Panadura
was burnt alive. Several dead bodies were retrieved from one well alone at Maha
Oya. While Sinhalese terrorism raged against the Tamils all over the country,
the Sinhalese government arrested the Tamil leaders and put them behind bars.
It was insult added to injury.
Military terror was let loose in the Tamil
provinces against the Tamils who were engaged in a non-violent campaign of
Civil Disobedience in 1961 to demand their language rights.
No civilised country could have witnessed a police
attack as barbarous as the one that the Sinhalese police made against the Tamil
people in their lakhs were listening in a state of rapture to a treat of a
Tamil literary talk by Professor Nainar Mohamed on the last day of the Fourth
International Tamil Research Conference where Tamil scholars from the world
over had assembled, on January 10th 1974 in Jaffna. The rulers of this country
refused either to hold an enquiry or even to express sympathy at the atrocity
that resulted in 9 Tamil deaths. This tells its own tale of the manner the
Sinhalese governments treat the Tamils in this land.
Pararasa, a bank clerk was shot dead by the police
while he was returning from a temple festival, in Jaffna. Tamil leaders, who
went to the office of the police superintendent, were set upon by the Sinhalese
police in civil clothes.
Ledchumanan, the Tamil youth, who refused to be
driven out into the street from his home in the tea plantations, was killed by
the police. Homes of Tamil labourers at Gampola were looted and set ablaze.
Unjustified Sinhalese police attacks and the fury of Sinhalese hooligans have,
for the last few years been let loose against the Muslims also.
In 1976 alone, in no less than 40 places like
Mahiyangana, Gampola, Panadura, Nikawartiya etc. unprotected Muslims were the
targets of Sinhalese rowdies. Their losses ran into lakhs and lakhs of rupees.
On the 2nd of February 1976, seven of the Muslims
at prayer inside a Mosque at Puttalam were ruthlessly massacred by the
Sinhalese police, inside that holy spot. 271 houses, 44 shops 2 fibre factories
belonging to the Muslims of Puttalam were set on fire, 2 Mosques were burnt
down, 2 Muslim youths were burnt alive by the Sinhalese hooligans. The
government was not willing to hold a public enquiry into the horrible murders.
These incidents only reiterate the fact that the lives and property of Tamils
and Muslims who are living as slaves in this country do not enjoy any protection
from the Sinhalese governments.
10. Imposition of a New
Constitution on the Tamil Nation
Drafting a new constitution and its imposition on
the Tamil Nation is the climax of the dictatorial actions, samples of
which were shown here.
The Ceylon Parliament, which became a symbol of
perverted democracy when its citizenship laws helped grab 80% of Parliamentary
representation by the 70% Sinhalese population, after the general election of
1970, was formed into a Constituent Assembly.
The deliberations of this Assembly were conducted
under a state of emergency, proclaimed in 1971, where the freedom of speech and
freedom of writing were all taken away from the people and while a strict press
censorship was in force.
The two-thirds majority of the Government and the
Sinhala communal majority were fully exploited.
All the Amendments to the Basic Resolutions
introduced on behalf of the Tamil speaking people were rejected, in-toto, by
the Sinhalese majority in the Assembly.
A federal scheme with an Autonomous Tamil states
and an Autonomous Muslim state with three Sinhalese States put forward by the
Federal Party, a constituent of the present Tamil United Liberation Front, as a
solution to the racial problems of this country, was turn down by the Assembly
even before being examined.
Neither any Sinhalese Party nor any member from
the majority community came forward to discuss or offer any alternative scheme
that could meet with the aspirations of the Tamil Nation.
Attempts made by the Tamil members to secure a place
in the Constitution at least for the Regulations for use of the Tamil Language
proved abortive.
The only outcome of these efforts was the
introduction, in the Constitution, of section 8 (2) that categorically stated
that these Regulations on the use of Tamil Language shall not form a
part of the Constitution. Realising the futility of any continued
participation, the Tamil representatives in the Constituent Assembly walked
out.
The Assembly meeting of 22nd May 1972, which was
summoned to pass the Constitution, was boycotted by 15 out of the 19 elected
Tamil representatives.
Out of the four that voted in favour of the
constitution, two lost their representative character after having been
expelled from their party, the All Ceylon Tamil Congress; one was elected as a
candidate of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (Federal Party) and was expelled
from that party and thus lost his right of representation. The fourth was a
member who contested on an anti-government platform and won as an independent.
Hence it is obvious that this constitution was
rejected 100% by the Tamil people. The manner in which the unanimous opposition
of the Tamil Nation was ignored and how the new constitution was imposed on
them has only confirmed the psychology of the Sinhalese imperialistic masters
that they are ruling over a slave Nation according to their own whims and
fancies.
They have done away with the meagre safe guards
provided for the minorities in the constitution left behind by the British,
placed their own language and religion at such high a pedestal that no one
could ever tamper with them and through this imposed constitution, made the
Tamils their slaves without any share in the political power of this State.
Does the Tamil Nation have an
alternative?
The leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, Mr. G.G. Ponnambalam
before the withdrawal of British power, demanded balanced representation for
the protection of minorities. Though the Soulbury Constitution rejected the demand, yet it
incorporated a safeguard in Section 29 of that constitution. But the new
Republican Constitution of 1972 has deleted that safeguard.
Mr. S. J. V. Chelvanayakam through his Ilankai
Tamil Arasu Kadchi (Federal Party), toiled for 25 years to safeguard the rights
of the Tamil Nation through the device of federalism. He entered into
agreements with Premier Bandaranaike and his Sri Lanka Freedom Party and also
with Premier Dudley Senanayake to obtain at least regional autonomy for the
Tamil Nation. These agreements were later abrogated because of opposition from
the Sinhalese people.
The demand for a federal solution was rejected by the Constituent
Assembly even without a debate.
Neither the six-point demand of the Tamil United Front nor the twenty-point
demand of some Tamil elders ever had any reception.
What is the alternative now left to the Nation
that has lost its rights to its language, rights to its citizenship, rights to
its religions and continues day by day to lose its traditional homeland to
Sinhalese colonisation?
What is the alternative now left to a Nation that
has lost its opportunities to higher education through standardization, and its
equality in opportunities in the sphere of employment?
What is the alternative to a Nation that lies
helpless, as it is being assaulted, looted and killed by hooligans instigated
by the ruling race and by the security forces of the State?
Where else is an alternative to the Tamil Nation
that gropes in the dark for its identity and finds itself driven to the brink
of devastation?
There is only one alternative and that is to
proclaim with the stamp of finality and fortitude that we alone shall rule over our land that our
fore fathers ruled. Sinhalese imperialism shall quit our Homeland”.
The Tamil United Liberation Front regards the general election of
1977 as a means of proclaiming to the Sinhalese Government this resolve of the
Tamil Nation.
And every vote that you cast for the Front would go to show that the
Tamil Nation is determined to liberate itself from Sinhalese domination.
Tamil Eelam – A Secular Socialist
State
Hence the Tamil United Liberation Front seeks in the General Election
the mandate of the Tamil Nation to establish an independent sovereign, secular,
socialist State of Tamil Eelam that includes all the geographically contiguous
areas that have been the traditional homeland of the Tamil speaking people in
the country.
At the same time The Tamil United Liberation Front proclaims the following guarantees
on the political, social and economic structure of the State of Tamil Eelam.
The Front declares that the Tamil State of Eelam
will be established on the basis of these guarantees.
1. FOLLOWING SHALL BE THE CITIZENS OF TAMIL EELAM:
(a) All those people now living in the territory of Tamil Eelam.
(b) Tamil speaking persons from any part of Ceylon
seeking citizenship in the State of Tamil Eelam.
(c) Tamil speaking people of Ceylonese descentliving in any part of
the world and seeking citizenship in the State of Tamil Eelam.
2. Political power shall be decentralised so that no one region or no one religion is allowed
to dominate over any other region or religion thus ensuring regional autonomy
for the people in the various regions in the pattern of federalism
obtaining in Switzerland. The Tamil United Liberation Front guarantees that
particularly Muslims who form a part of the State of Tamil Eelam will be
established in the Regions where they are in a majority as an autonomous
province with the right to secede on the basis of the right to
self-determination.
3. The Tamil United Liberation Front guarantees that neither a Tamil
majority region nor a Muslim majority region will be allowed to be colonised by
the other group thus ensuring that no
group of people is reduced to a minority in its own Region.
4. Caste system along
with the atrocity of untouchability and the grave injustice of attributing
social superiority or inferiority by birth will be totally eradicated and any such practice subjected to rigorous
punishment by law.
5. The State of Tamil Eelam shall be a secular one where all the religions practised by the people
in the State will receive equal protection and aid.
6. Tamil shall be the official language of the State of Tamil
Eelam, while the Sinhalese living in the State will be provided the right to
be educated in their own tongue and to transact their business with the state
in their own language. Similarly guarantees will be sought from the
Sinhala State about the language rights of the Tamil-speaking people living in
that state.
7. In Tamil Eelam, which shall be a
scientific socialist State
(a) Exploitation of man by man will be prevented
by law;
(b) Dignity of labour will be protected.
(c) While the private sector will be permitted
within limits imposed by law, means of production and distribution will be
state owned or subject to state control.
(d) Full protection will be afforded to tenant
cultivators and residents on privately owned lands.
(e) Economic development of the Tamil State of
Eelam will be on the basis of Socialist planning.
(f) A ceiling will be fixed on the wealth an
individual or a family could accumulate.
8. While the Socialist State of Tamil Eelam would
follow a policy of non-alignment, it would, in the international field, lend
its support to the anti-imperialist forces and democratic liberation movements.
9. The State of Tamil Eelam will develop
friendship with the progressive forces in the Sinhalese State and would on the
basis of fraternity, work out a peaceful solution for the mutual problems
facing the two nations.
Liberation – how will it be
achieved?
The Tamil Nation must take the decision to establish its sovereignty
in its homeland on the basis of its right to self-determination.
The only way to announce this decision to the Sinhalese government
and to the world is to vote for the Tamil United Liberation Front.
The Tamil speaking representative who get elected through these
votes, while being members of the National State Assembly of Ceylon, will also
form themselves into the NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF TAMIL EELAM” which will draft
a constitution for the State of Tamil Eelam and to establish the independence
of the Tamil Eelam by bringing that constitution into operation either by
peaceful means or by direct action or struggle.
The National Assembly of Tamil Eelam will draw up
and implement plans relating to the economic development social progress,
protection of territory, educational development etc.
Action will be taken to enlist international
support to achieve the freedom of Tamil Eelam.
Other programmes of work
The problems of the Tamil-speaking people outside
Tamil Eelam are getting complicated today. Particularly the up country Tamil
workers are being forcibly driven out of their places of work and places of
residence by the Sinhalese government and government abetted Sinhalese
hooligans. It is quite clear that the terrible act of arson on the homes of
Tamil labourers and the police firing that caused the death of the Tamil youth,
Ledchumanan, in the Devon estate, have been pre planned and deliberate.
The Tamil United Liberation Front will fight for
the rights of these workers who have toiled for the prosperity of this country,
to live in their own homes with security of employment fully guaranteed.
The Tamil United Liberation Front will work for
the basic human rights and political, social and economic rights of the Tamil-speaking
people living in any part of Ceylon.
At the same time, the Tamil United Liberation
Front will set up a special organisation to prepare plans for the well-being of
and to give all assistance to the Tamil Speaking people who wish to migrate to Tamil
Eelam to set up their lives in their new homes.
It is indispensable that every person who is a
member of the Tamil Nation that aspires to be free must be able to live in
enjoyment of human rights, in full. Hence, as an important aspect of the
liberation movement, intensive steps will be taken for the abolition of the
caste system and social disabilities imposed on any section the Tamil people.
Tamil United Liberation Front will take steps to
develop friendship with the progressive forces, in South Ceylon, that recognise
and are sympathetic towards, the aspirations of the Tamil Nation and with
countries that are sympathetic towards the freedom movements particularly with
the anti imperialist forces abroad.
Conclusion
The Tamil Nation is at a turning point in its
history. The unity we have achieved has made the Sinhalese imperialists take a
fresh look at the situation. In this background, as a first step towards the
realisation of the freedom of the Nation, the unanimous verdict of the
Tamil-speaking people is indispensable. Hence we appeal to you to set aside
your passions for, or prejudices against, individual candidates, to forget
differences of region, caste or religion and, with the one and the only
determination of making the Tamil Nation master of its Destiny.
Is this not the essence
re-introduced via TNA’s 13 demands which the UNF candidate accepted and assured
to deliver if TNA delivered the required votes.
Integration cannot take place when such thoughts and demands are embedded in the thinking of the Tamil leaders who pass these thoughts on to the Tamil people & voters.
Towering majestically over the fertile green plains of Anuradhapura, dotted with the traditional symbols of our heritage: lakes and Dagobas, Ruwanveliseya rises to the heavens of a azure blue sky adorned with gently floating feathery silken clouds, reminding us of a glorious past, which we should be able to recreate, if only we had the will and determination. I am sure many would fail to realise that Ruwanweliseya, built in 140 BCE by King Dutugemunu after reunification of Sri Lanka, though surpassed in height by Jetawanaramaya built four centuries later by King Mahasena becoming the third tallest structure in the world, was among the 10 tallest man-made structures in the ancient world. That was no mean feat considering Sri Lanka, from a global perspective, is only a tiny pearl in the Indian Ocean. Perhaps, Ruwanweliseya is even more important to Buddhists than the Sacred Temple of the Tooth, as it is recorded that two quarts or one Drona of the Gauthama Buddha’s relics are enshrined in the stupa, which is the largest single collection of Buddha’s relics anywhere in the world.
Ruwanweliseya, which has witnessed silently many an event, be good or bad, of our Island Nation’s history over the past 21 centuries, witnessed an unique event in the morning of November 18th; the swearing-in of the first elected President who is not a career politician, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, seventh elected President of Sri Lanka, being a decorated army officer and a public servant who proved himself. Though coming from a political family of the deep South, he never opted to politics, instead of moving to the USA on completion of his tenure in the Sri Lanka Army. His elder brother Mahinda, who became the President at a time the country was ravaged by the evil of Tiger terrorism, summoned the help of ‘malli’ to eradicate terrorism, which many an expert opined was a task impossible. Gota became the Defence Secretary and was able to do the impossible by annihilating the terrorists in May 2009, with the political support of ‘ayya’ and the efficient execution of his plans by the three services and the police led by their respective chiefs. This was to the utmost relief of all Sri Lankans but to the annoyance of the doomsters and liberalists who covertly support terrorists. Gota then took the task of Urban Development, the beautified City of Colombo and many others standing to his testimony.
Unfortunately, the drunkenness of power permeated his ‘ayya’s’ administration too and the Sri Lankan voter decided, quite rightly, to kick-off that regime in 2015. However, the Yahapalanaya, that replaced with promises of a golden era, turned out to be nothing but a mirage, with politicians vying with each other for the robbery of public property and some of them subjugating the honour and the pride of the country too. An idiotic politician, in the garb of the foreign Minister, had the audacity to co-sponsor a resolution against his own country, an act of treachery hitherto unknown, to curry favour with Uncle Sam. Others, who claim to be patriotic now, acquiesced by their silence. Hounding Gota became their pastime!
Gota, being a forward-thinking strategist, stared planning a mission with the help of intellectuals and professionals by setting up forums like ‘Viyath Maga’. Meanwhile his malli, Basil built from scratch, a new political force, realising the inevitable destruction of both major political parties, the UNP and the SLFP, by the unwholly alliance of Yahapalanaya, which was a marriage of convenience – a ploy to keep some power-hungry politicians in command. The nomination of Gota from the SLPP was inevitable, whilst the UNP was fighting a destructive internal battle. Sajith won that battle but lost the war: Pohottuwa, the bud bloomed!
Irrespective of what his minions did, Gota stuck to his promise of a decent campaign, not criticising his opponents but stating his policy in a presidential manner whereas Sajith’s campaign was typified by his never-ending declarations of his own greatness. What Sajith was silent about the voters understood. the TNA-led group placed 13 demands, which was rejected outright by Gota, and extended support to Sajith resulting in an unprecedented Tamil vote to Sajith. Sajith accommodated Muslim politicians, tainted with accusations of supporting terrorism even, to be rewarded with a massive endorsement from that community too. Further, there was an organised campaign to promote fake news against Gota. Though I was not surprised by the attempts of the likes of Rajitha, who had egg-on-face after his exploits with white-van criminals, I was shocked how a junior colleague of mine was dissipating fake-news with glee! Fortunately, our villagers displayed greater awareness and common-sense, voting in droves for Gota to ensure a victory that saved the integrity of our country. Had Sajith being elected, what he would have had to do to please the minorities who supported him in droves, is best left to the imagination.
What is the significance of this Gotabaya victory?
First, it moves power away from the two main parties: the UNP and the SLFP, which is no bad thing. In fact, it may lead to a fourth force to oppose the SLPP, as shown by the promptness with which Sajith stepped-down from his position in the UNP. I do hope, even if he plans to set up a new party, Sajith would shun away from the likes of Mangala, who has introduced a new concept to Buddhism: Desarana, dropping the Sangha from the Triple Gem, may be after listening to the discourses of some Buddhist monks, at UNP meetings, who advised getting supporters of Gota drunk with Arrack to prevent them voting!
Even more significant is the lesson taught to the leaders of minority parties, who are exploiting their electorate for personal gain, that the era of ‘Tail waging the Dog’ is over. Gota, in a calm, measured, truly presidential address to the nation, after the swearing-in ceremony in front of Ruwanweliseya, stated this very elegantly. He said “Although I was convinced that I could win this election with the vote of the majority Sinhalese, I extended an invitation to the minorities to join in my victory which, unfortunately, fell below my expectations.” However, he assured fair treatment to all and it is time for the leaders of minorities to change their attitude, one of cooperation than confrontation, for the betterment of their electorate. It was interesting that the first Tamil politician to congratulate the new president was former CM Vigneswaran, well known for his venom spewing at the Sinhalese. Perhaps, he is trying to wrestle power from TNA and these are the snakes Gota should avoid like the plague!
It also signals shift of power from Colombo to the South which a Southerner like me should say: “High time”. For far too long, South was the most neglected, not the North contrary to popular belief. I should not miss the rare opportunity of my claim to fame: Gota was born in Palatuwa, the village next to mine! President Sirisena promised a shift to Polonnaruwa but soon got lost in the glamour of Colombo, finally opting for a magnificent residence in Colombo than in Polonnaruwa, in retirement or not, as he even does not know what he will do next!
Another important consideration is the security situation, not the long term but the immediate. I may be accused of harbouring a delusion, but am concerned because we have still not identified the masterminds behind the Easter Sunday attack, all the investigations carried out by Yahapalanaya being nothing but white-washes. The best way to challenge Gota is by unleashing terror, immediately, and I would not be surprised if the masterminds are already at work. I am sure Gota is well aware of this and already at the task of revamping our intelligence and security services, allowed to rot by Yahapalanaya to appease their foreign masters. Apparently, the words of wisdom painted on a three-wheeler in Kandy was:
Russia palanaya Putin Ape palanaya pitin
Do hope that dark era is behind us!
After strengthening the security situation, which is nothing new to him, Gota and Mahinda are faced with the uphill task of salvaging the economy, whilst attempting to keep to the election pledges. A minor miracle is needed for this but the two brothers did exactly that 10 years ago. For the sake of my beloved Motherland and the millions of expectant citizens, I do hope Gota and Mahinda would be able to do the impossible, again!
They are our only hope, between prosperity and a revolution!
Recently Ranil has been
going around the country doing Pooja’s and celebrating his 40 years in
politics. As far as I can see he was a miserable failure as a politician. It
was like 40 years of mayhem. He failed to win elections 29 times, tried to win
in 2010 with Sarath Fonseka in front and failed. Then in 2014 he and CBK
started a campaign of lies via social media against incumbent President Mahinda
Rajapaksa with funding from foreign NGOs. He promised cars for all, WiFi for
the youth and free cell phones. Our idiotic voters fell for it and elected My3
the SLFP traitor who had hoppers with MR and then left him to contest as
President of a joint front. They had secret talks with TNA and the Tamil
diaspora attended by Mangala Samaraweera in Singapore and at the elections had
94% turn out of Tamils for the joint party. In spite of all these efforts, they
won by a very small margin (449,072 votes). There was a lot of cheating as was
shown by Dilrook Kanangara and Ravi Randeniya.
My3 broke the law when
he appointed RW as the Prime Minister while the Parliament already had D. M.
Jayaratna. The reason he gave was that “the West wanted it so”. I
assume the West was Britain/USA nexus. In turn, Ranil changed the Cabinet when
there was an existing cabinet and appointed his own henchmen. He brought the
Finance Ministry under his control and then appointed Arjun Mahendran as head
of Central Bank while he was still a Singaporean citizen. He also appointed
Paskaralingam whose bad reputation is well known by all Sri Lankans, as head of
Treasury. Arjun then did the Rs. 5,000 Million insider trading bond scam. Very
little has been done to investigate this matter and bring the miscreants to
justice. Ranil is the chief perpetrator since he appointed Arjun Mahendran. My3
could have prevented the gigantic second bond scam that took place in 2016 if
he had removed Arjun Mahendran. He is too weak to say no to Ranil.
Even in the August
Parliamentary election, My3 broke the law. First, My3 brought a
court action to prevent the CC of UPFA from a meeting. Then he got information
from National Intelligence that UPFA is going to win 113 seats. According to
his own words in order to prevent his own party SLFP/UPFA from winning and to
ensure that UNP wins, he wrote a 5-page letter to MR telling him that
he will not be appointed as Prime Minister under any circumstances. He then went
on tv and read it out to the public to reinforce his letter. He then removed
the General Secretaries of both parties (UPFA & SLFP) and appointed his
own. He removed the 13 members of the CC and appoints his own. All this was
done during the period where the Election commissioner has said there should be
no electioneering. Was this not electioneering by My3 for the UNP during
that period? All these actions confused our voting public. On top of that many
have pointed out false ballot papers, counting errors etc. Democracy is a laugh
in Sri Lanka. Nowhere else in the world will the party leader work for the
opposition so strenuously. The election in January was flawed due to an
unbelievable number of voter increase in North, East and Nuwara Eliya. As
far as I can see both elections have been cheated. After the elections, the
members of the gazetted National List were removed and My3 appointed people who
had lost the vote to the National List.
Some of the crimes
against the Sinhalese committed by CBK, My3 and Ranil are as follows:
When 1000 soldiers were cut off without water at Elephant Pass, CBK and her nephew Rohan Daluwatte who was the army commander, did nothing to help those men who died of thirst. She could have done so many things to help these men. Instead as Chief Commander, she did nothing !! When the LTTE blew up 11 air Lanka planes the insurance money is supposed to have gone straight into her personal account. This is unforgivable. Also read about CBK’s robbery. http://www.sundaytimes.lk/081012/News/sundaytimesnews_20.html With all this money she gathered she was able to go abroad and live in the U.K. for 10 years and educate her children. She is a member of Club de Madrid which is an international group with ex-leaders from all over the world. You can read a full account of her crooked activities in Victor Ivans’s brilliant book “Rogue Queen”.
RW kept trying to hand over the North and East to appease Prabhakaran. He even stopped a crucial military operation in 2001 where the army knew the exact location of Prabhakaran and was ready to take him out. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZWO5fWDikQ See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjmw8kxbMPU
Between him and CBK they prolonged the war by listening to the so-called mediators from Norway who were brought in by CBK. The Norwegians were more interested in making the LTTE win than bringing a peaceful resolution. Under their direction container loads of equipment and maybe even armaments were brought in through the customs without inspection on Ranils instructions and send directly to the LTTE. Ranil demoralized the army be limiting them to the barracks and ensuring that they were not given enough money to even maintain the vehicles and munitions. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxbGojMb1xc
Ranil tried to give 2/3 of the land to LTTE along with the Norwegians on a bogus Peace deal which was used by the LTTE to strengthen their defense systems. Entire container loads of equipment were allowed to go to the Wanni to LTTE on Ranil’s instructions. See http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=1146733.
He was involved in the release of the names of the 80 odd long-range Military Intelligence group to the Parliament which resulted in the names going public. The LTTE then hunted them down and killed every one of them. Some of them were captured and tortured by them to get more names. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_City_incident
Gonawela Sunil was in jail for 10 years for the rape of a doctor’s daughter. As soon as JR came into power, on the advice of RW, he released G’Sunil. After that wherever RW went Gonawela Sunil went too as his “bodyguard”. Sunil was collecting “kappam” from the bagging plant operators at the Fertilizer manufacturing plant. Was he sharing this with RW? Since he was protected by RW he must have, at least to buy voters? Gonawela Sunil also managed to drill into a pipeline from the refinery which was sending gasoline to Kolonnawa. He was sucking it up and selling it on the black market. Again who protected him from prosecution? !! Finally, a rival gang member shot him. That was the end of the strange relationship between Gonawela Sunil and RW.
During the uprising of the JVP both in the 1970’s and the 1988-90 period it is estimated at almost 80-90,000 youth was killed most of them who were innocent. Most of the killing was done by the UNP regime while Ranil was one of the Ministers who were in charge of bringing the JVP uprising under control. He is supposed to have set up the Batalanda torture chamber under one Douglas Pieris. It is estimated that at least 15,000 youth were tortured in the most bestial manner and then killed supposedly under the direction of Ranil Wickremasinghe. The commission which was set up to inquire into these crimes recommended that Ranil’s civic rights be removed. This was not implemented by CBK. Why? All these innocent Sinhala children are crying out for justice. There are no UNHRC officials to inquire into these crimes by the UNP and Ranil. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9t4Tv9cy60
He was also involved with Batalanda murders of mostly JVP lawyers, I believe, from what I heard. At the Fertilizer plant housing scheme one of the houses was acquired by RW for interrogating suspected JVP members. Many people apparently heard the screams from this house in the middle of the night when people were tortured. People also used to see bodies floating down the Kelani river. The Batalanda Commission report recommended that RW’s civil rights be removed. As usual, in Sri Lanka, nothing happens to Colombians and those with memberships in International Organizations like the International Democratic Union of which Ranil is a member.
Ranil has been insulting to Buddhism. He pretends to be Buddhist but is actually neither Buddhist or Christian when one looks at his actions at Batalanda. Anyone with an iota of humanity would not have what he is supposed to have done.
Ranil has always been trying to sell Sri Lanka to foreigners. Every time he got some power into his hands he set about trying to convert our economy to a capitalist economy notwithstanding the fact that Sri Lanka is designated as a Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. When he was elected as the PM he started privatizing almost 991 profit-making state enterprises. Some places like the Sevanagala Sugar factory was privatized and the new owners removed the assets and ran it to the ground. Then when MR came into power he brought most of them back to being state enterprises. Now before Ranil leaves he wants to sell the most important strategically important ports to Chinese and Indians. As soon as he came into power the first step he took was to change the law which prohibited the sale of land to foreigners so that foreigners could buy large acreages of land.
Pure Capitalism does not work. There are many top economists who have written on the topic. One of the most outspoken has been Dr. Richard Wolf. His famous talk Capitalism hits the fan is given below. His solution to the ills of pure capitalism is to have democracy in the workplace. The Mondragon Corporation in Spain is actually a large number of Co-operatives under the umbrella of Mondragon. This was set up with the blessings of the Catholic Church. In the USA there are many companies which are run as co-operatives where the employees participate in the decision making of the company affairs by being on the board. In Germany which has been very successful any company with over 2000 employees has to have at least 50% of employees on the board. This is why unlike the USA Germany is very successful. In 2008 when the recession hit many companies in the USA laid off people in millions. In Germany, the Govt informed the companies not to lay off anyone. They suggested that they can reduce the number of hours of employees but keep all employed. In return, the German Govt paid the wages of the companies who had reduced the number of hours of employees so that no one lost any money. The net result was that the people had money in the pocket and were spending it thereby keeping the economy rolling. They hardly felt the recession, unlike the stupid USA Corporations.
Ranil is supposed to have agreed to a bridge to Sri Lanka from India in 2002. We can be sure it is on his agenda if he remains as PM. In an export-oriented economy which is what Ranil wants one of the main requirements is cheap labor. In order to do that, he has destroyed the agrarian economy and impoverished the rural folk. MR was trying to make the country self-sufficient in food and most commodities. In fact, before the Yahapalanaya came into power Sri Lanka was self-sufficient in rice. Now we are importing rice from Thailand, Burma, and even Bangladesh. How pathetic.
The UN has become just a puppet of powerful countries to bully small defenseless countries. Sri Lanka has been pummelled by the UN and the UNHRC on bogus War crimes charges without any proof. Please see this excellent article on this subject: https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2016/09/06/who-monitors-the-monitors-iii/ On his instructions presumably, Mangla Samaraweera co-sponsored a resolution against Sri Lanka.
It is very obvious that Ranil Wickremasinghe has no love for the country or the people. He has been a stooge of the powerful countries right from the beginning. He came into power as the PM illegally on Jan 8’15 after the Presidential election when the spineless My3 was elected as President and he then appointed RW as PM when there was an existing PM and a Parliament with a cabinet.
Ranil then caused the Central Bank bond scam by appointing a foreigner as the Governor of Central Bank who proceeded to do a bond scam which has cost Sri Lanka a massive amount of money. Part of this money was used by him for the General Election in Aug 2015 which the UNP won only narrowly. Again the spineless My3 created a so-called National Govt as a coalition of the UNP and all the MPs who were rejected by the people who were brought in under the National List by the spineless My3.
The current Parliament is a comedy since the TNA which got only 16 seats is the Opposition while the 52 SLFP members who did not join the coalition are in the wilderness without any official recognition. All the JO group members are harassed at every turn by another illegal group called the FCID created by RW. He seems to get all these brilliant ideas which are obviously coming from the think tanks of the powerful countries.
Ranil is supposed to be trying to bankrupt the country so that we are helpless like Greece and he is also supposed to be trying to lease out 5000 acre lots of land to foreigners for 100-year leases. This will enable the Tamil diaspora to lease out most of the North and East for exclusive use by the Tamils thereby creating a separate state. He has already given 15,000 acres on a 99-year lease to a Chinese company based in Hong Kong presumably with British interests. This is a great crime against the country since if it was managed the way MR was doing it would have paid for itself in about 5 years. In the days of the King of Kandy traitors like this were pulled apart to pieces by elephants which is what he deserves.
The biggest problem Sri Lanka has is
that the entire Colombo group is more or less very Westernized. They are so
Westernized that they are more Western than the Westerners themselves! They
talk with a big accent and if you go to any of the clubs you find the men and
the women are like from another age of the West. They drink only whiskey,
brandy, and imported liquor. You see girls dancing and with girls and kissing
each other trying to emulate the West. They travel in luxury limousines like
BMWs and Benzes. The children are sent to International Schools, as a result,
they are completely divorced from the realities of Sri Lanka. The poor go to
the middle east to make the foreign exchange which is used by these Colombians
to maintain their lifestyle at the expense of the development in the country.
If you look at the number of luxury vehicles you cannot imagine that the
country is paying 94% of its earning to pay the foreign debts. These parasites
are the biggest supporters of the UNP and Ranil.
The other groups are the Christian
Catholic groups who want to convert the entire island to their religion (which
is mythology) as has been done in South Korea, etc. The foreign companies who
have now put deep roots in Sri Lanka also want to make sure they are secure so
they support the UNP and Ranil. One of these days the dominoes will fall and
when that happens there will be a massive upheaval hopefully for the better for
all who are truly patriotic and love Sri Lanka.
Any other Govt which comes into power
after this ridiculous puppet Govt must carry out a plan to correct all the
mistakes that have been done over the years by successive Govts. We
must rename the country as “Sinhale” which was the name of the
country in the Treaty the British signed with the Chieftains of Sri Lanka in
1815 when they handed over the country to them. They must have an inquiry
into the activities of Ranil Wickremasinghe over the years and prosecute him.
When the Batalanda commission found him guilty and removed his civic rights how
did he manage to run for PM? Why is that no one raised any arguments against
him?
In January 2015, the
Americans heavy-handedly interfered in Sri Lanka’s Presidential Election,
pumping into the country massive sums of monies through their preferred
conduits like the Evangelical Church and Foreign-Government Funded
Organisations (FGFO), better known as NGOs and collectively described by
Western Civilisation as ‘Civil Society’.
On 08 Jan 15
Rajapaksa was
defeated, narrowly, and Sirisena limped into office, sheepishly.
On the next day – 09
Jan 15 – Sirisena, eclipsed his egg-hopper flop of November 2018, when he
executed a Constitutional Coup, appointing Wickramasinghe as Prime Minister
while the sitting Prime Minister yet enjoyed the confidence of Parliament.
On 26 Jan 15,
the puppet regime drafted to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka as its
Governor, Mahendran, an ill-reputed Singaporean money launderer who enjoyed
the confidence of the US and Wickramasinghe. (See Mahendran’s job
profile).
With an American
puppet regime in saddle, with American mercenaries controlling key Government institutions,
the last phase of the American plan to take-over Sri Lanka took shape.
At the time the
puppet regime took control of the country, the country’s economy was relatively
healthy ‘with a GDP growth rate of 5%.The growth rate was well above
its regional peers. Sri Lanka was the second wealthiest nation in South Asia
after the Maldives and according to the World Bank, ‘an upper middle-income
nation’. Sri Lanka had met the Development Goal target of halving extreme
poverty and was on track to meet most of the other targets, outperforming other
South Asian countries(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Sri_Lanka)
The density of
vehicles in Colombo at that time, was not a nightmare as it is now, with speeds
averaging 22 KMPH at peak hours (See Prof Amal Kumarage’s comments to the
Sunday Times http://www.sundaytimes.lk/120212/News/nws_18.html)
With the Government
just 40 days into office Karunanayake, the Finance Minister at the time, and
Mahendran were ordered to report to Washington.
On 17th/18th
February 2015, Karunanayake and Mahendran met with Indrawati (MD of the World
Bank), Lagarde (MD of the IMF), Toloui (Asst Sec for Treasury), Biswal (Asst
Sec of State for South Asia) and senior officials of the White House (members
of the Global Economics and Finance Department); accompanying them was
Kariyawasam who was then a servant of the Sri Lankan public too. (See Sri Lanka
embassy web site of 19 Feb 15).
Karunanayake, on
instructions, requested a loan of 4 Billion USD from the IMF. Lagarde, in
response, indicated that she would be happy to have further discussions on this
matter in Colombo (See IMF website of 18 Feb 15).
Lagarde wanted Sri
Lanka to take immediate steps to meet some IMF conditions which reportedly included tax reforms, increased privatisation of State
owned enterprises, crippling of the transport system, reducing Central
Bank Intervention in the Foreign Exchange market, cutting-down the country’s
Foreign Exchange Reserves and suspending the 1.4 Billion USD Chinese investment
in the China Port City project. (see https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/03/20/sril-m20.html)
To ensure that
instructions were complied with, Lagarde despatched to Colombo an IMF
monitoring team led by Todd Schneider and Changyong Rhee (Director Asia-Pacific
Dept of the IMF); and the World Bank sent a team led by Annette Dixon (Vice
President for South Asia).
The flood gates were
opened; from an average of 3,200 vehicles per month being imported in 2014,
there was over a 400% increase in 2015. In the month of September 2015 alone,
the number of vehicles imported was a staggering 14,301, an all time high.
In October 2015, the
old regulations (the pre 27 Feb 15 period regulations), were brought back.
Karunanayake had diabolically closed the stable door after the horse had
bolted; Karunanayake was successful in crippling the traffic in Colombo, which
today averages a speed of 6 KMPH at peak times.
Karunanayake was the
pathfinder to the MCC; the MCC now had the justification to intervene in Sri
Lanka’s ‘transport’ sector.
On the same day, 27
Feb 15, Wickramasinghe, Samarawickrema, Hashim, Karunanayake and Mahendran, as
reported, staged the country’s biggest robbery, when they looted the Central
Bank in broad daylight.
The looting of the
Central Bank and initiating measures to gridlock Colombo vehicular traffic,
were done under the watchful eyes of the two monitoring teams from the IMF and
the World Bank, who had their boots on the ground in Colombo, at that time.
On 04 Mar 15, the IMF
team-leader Schneider, speaking from Colombo, rejected the 4 Billion USD loan
request made by Karunanayake purportedly because Sri Lanka did not qualify; he
said, There is no need for a bailout; Sri Lanka’s Foreign Reserves are
comfortable”.
The stage was set.
With no IMF monies forthcoming, with measures taken to deliberately run down
the economy (on the advice of the IMF), Sri Lanka would be receptive when the
MCC made overtures to the country.
In December 2015, Sri
Lanka was selected for a MCC threshold program; the threshold program is one
where much lesser monies are pledged by the US in return for the ‘targeted’
country grooming itself to stated US standards, values and vision. If the
country does not groom itself accordingly, the country is not even eligible to
be considered by the MCC .
The MCC is a diabolic
program; initially, the ‘victim’ country allows itself, of its own
volition, to be mentally colonised and subjugated to US standards and dictates;
subsequently, if such country is approved by the MCC, the ‘victim’ country then
agrees to be physically colonised and occupied through the terms of the
MCC Compact that are spelt out.
In 2015, Sri Lanka
had not groomed itself entirely to the satisfaction of the US, and her
application was rejected; she was required to do more.
In 2016 the
Bandits looted the Central Bank once again. The MCC selected the country
for the Compact program in December 2016.
When in 2017,
the MCC reviewed how well Sri Lanka had groomed herself to US standards, Sri
Lanka had, by then, repealed the Foreign Exchange Control Act and replaced it
with the ‘Foreign Exchange Act’ which did not allow the Central Bank to control
money laundering; Sri Lanka legislated a New Income Tax Act prepared in the US.
Furthermore, Sri Lanka’s GDP growth rate was down to 3.1
Sri Lanka was
selected for the MCC Compact in 2017
to the US Congress,
it is pointed out that the Sri Lankan Compact will advance US values and
interests that will support stability in a region of significant strategic
importance; the MCC Compact with Sri Lanka advances US security in the
region.
The summary
goes on to say that Sri Lanka’s Compact is aimed at reducing transport
congestion in the Western Province and providing access to land for US
agricultural and industrial investors, thus optimising the use of State Lands
for commercial purposes by the US.
Interestingly, like
Sri Lanka, the MCC has selected Cabo Verde, an island Nation off the coast of
West Africa for a Compact programme; the MCC reveals that the country is
strategically at the crossroads of mid-Atlantic air and sea routes and with the
MCC programme in place, the US is able to access the Land of that country and
transfer land Titles to US Companies, within 3 days, thus advancing security
and stability in West Africa.
Dr Sudath Gunasekara (SLASS) Permanent Secretary; To Mrs Sirimavo Bndaranayaka and Ex-President Sri Lanka State Administrative Services Association (1991-1994)
Comments
on the Press release by the Speakers Office (19th Nov) on the
present political situation.
Mahanuwara
20.11. 2019.
The
Press release by the Speakers Office
1
Parliament to be dissolved on March 1, 2020, as required by the constitution,
to make way for a parliamentary election in April
2
Members of Parliament voluntarily to give a 2/3 majority to dissolve the
Parliament and hold a general election immediately
3 The
Prime Minister to voluntarily resign and allow the new President to form an
interim Government until the next General election is held in terms of the
Constitutional provisions.
Of these three alternatives the last in my
opinion is the best solution both for pragmatic and practical reasons.
Obviously in the
first place neither Ranil nor his team including the UNP and SLMS or any other three
wheeler Party in the UNF including the UNP Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has any
legitimate right or moral right to decide as to when and how the Parliament should
be dissolved under the present situation, as the whole set of these politicians
has been decisively defeated and rejected by the people at the election just
concluded. It is true that the
Constitution has stipulated the conditions on the dissolution of Parliament.
But an illegitimately constituted Parliament which also has functioned
illegitimately for the past four and half years and ruined the country, as it
did, has no legal or moral right to decide on matters involving the sovereignty
of the people. Therefore it is high time they understand at least now that the
sovereignty lies with the people and it is inalienable and the Parliament is
only one body out of the three, the Parliament, the Executive and the Judiciary
together are empowered to exercise people’s Sovereignty. The executive powers of the people including
the Defense of Sri Lanka shall be exercised by the President of the Republic
elected by the people by virtue of constitutional powers vested in him to
exercise his powers to fulfill his duty by the people in order to protect their
sovereignty. Now that the President was elected almost by 70 % of the people in
the country and it is their wish and will that should prevail. Therefore the
President has the legitimate power to decide as to what he should do next.
Therefore obviously Ranil and his bunch of treacherous political rejects should
immediately allow the President to form an interim Government of his own until the
Parliament is dissolved (for the good of the people) on the 2nd of
March in terms of the Constitution.
This in my
opinion would be the best solution as that exactly was the wish of the people’s
mandate given to the President at this election and also the view of the right
thinking people of this country.
Actually not only Ranil and his failed Cabinet, If they have an iota of
shame and self-respect (which of cause they don’t have as we all know), as all
of them have been rejected wholesale by the people in their seats and
districts. But since there is a need for Parliament to function until let them
wait as MPP until the Parliament dissolved in March for the following reasons.
1 For the people
to see an immediate change and feel some relief and be happy over their decision
taken to elect Gotabhay Rajapaksa as
their President without allowing them to wait for another six months counting
their fingers in frustration and disgust.
11 To reduce the
pressure on the Government coffers and the inconvenience to general public.
111 Even those
MPP who have not completed 5 years to qualify for the pension will like it and
they will support the new government
1V what is more
is even Ranil also can continue till next elections at least as the Leader of
the Opposition as it is his life ambition and birth right.
V It will
motivate UNP MPP to support the new Government at least in their own interest
of getting the personal benefits which are their only interests, under the
guise of service to people.
In this backdrop all patriotic people must demand the illegitimate
government of Ranil to resign immediately hand over the Government to
Opposition to make democracy meaningful though it is unduly belated.
V1 Lastly they also can see their War Hero, their
idol, Mahinda Rajapaksa back in his seat as their Prime Minister
Option 1.
The first option
suggested by Ranil and Co. has to be definitely
ruled out as the whole country has rejected Ranil’s Government he should not be
allowed to continue even for one day as Prime Minister playing his dirty tricks
any more as he did in 2018 and also as he and his entire outfit also has been
right royally rejected by the people. And as it also goes against the will of the people
since almost all his Ministers and MPP have lost their seats none of them has a
legitimate right to remain in power any more. Even his MPP, almost all have
demanded him to resign and allow Gotabhaya to form an interim government until
election are held in April or early May hand over the government to the newly elected President respecting the people’s
landslide verdict. Already about 12 of his Cabinet Ministers have resigned by this
time. So what moral right has he got to stick on to the PM chair like leach? He
should desist from any more dirty coups lest he is pulled out with his legs by
the mobs. The UNP supporters might do it before any other as he has ruined the
UNP without leaving any room to recover again. Does he think the colossal
damage, destruction and betrayals he has done to this country and the Sinhala
Nation is not yet enough? May be why he wants to stick on
Option 2
2 Members of Parliament voluntarily to give a 2/3 majority to
dissolve the Parliament and hold a general election immediately
Perhaps
seemingly the best, for the people to get a new Government elected. But again
in view of the
1 Difficulties of finding the money again
for another election immediately after having spent nearly 800 billion for a
Presidential election and the inconvenience it will cause to the general public
and the Public Servants
11 the cumulative ill effects that it will
have on the already ailing economy by dragging anarchy and political
instability for another six months, this
suggestion should also be rejected.
I was
saddened to hear of the passing away of former Prime Minister Hon.
D.M.Jayaratne. He was one of my oldest political friends and a comrade in the
progressive politics of this country. When I was first elected to Parliament in
1970, Hon. D.M.Jayaratne also entered Parliament as the
MP for Gampola. He was a powerful platform orator and a formidable debater in
our party.
In 1977 when the Sri Lanka Freedom Party went into the
opposition, and our party experienced difficult times, he was a leader who
played an important role in safeguarding the party. In 1989 he
and I once again entered Parliament as opposition MPs. During that era, the anti-democratic
and anti-people activities of the UNP government reached its peak. During those
dark days, Hon. D.M.Jayaratne was a pillar of strength to his political party
and the opposition in general.
In 1994, Hon.D.M.Jayaratne and I became Ministers for the first
time in the SLFP led government formed that year. In 2010 when
I was elected President for the second time, Hon. D.M.Jayaratne was appointed
as the Prime Minister. During his long career as a Parliamentarian,
he earned the respect and affection of people of the country in general and
especially the people of the Kandyan provinces whom he represented in
Parliament. He also had the good fortune to receive the blessings of the
Venerable Mahanayake Theras and the Maha Sangha.
As a
Minister, Hon.D.M.Jayaratne showed a special interest in agriculture and
environmental protection. His name will always be associated with the
Ambuluwawa environmental project which was his brainchild. It is now a major
tourist attraction in the country. I wish to convey my heartfelt condolences to his wife Mrs
Anula Yapa and his son Parliamentarian Anuradha Jayaratne and other members of
his family and the people of the Kandyan provinces and the country in general,
who looked up to him as a leader.
By Noor Nizam – Peace and Political Activist, Political Communication Researcher, SLFP/SLPP Stalwart and Convener – “The Muslim Voice” – November 20th., 2019.
Pakistan is a good
friend of HE. Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the Sinhalese Nation of Sri Lanka where
the minority communities had lived in “Peace and Harmony”, if not for
the problems the Minorities created themselves for political greed and
selfishness.
Sri Lankan majority community will never forget the UNSTINTING SUPPORT Pakistan gave Sri Lanka in the war against the most ruthless terrorist group the LTTE organization and to defeat the so-called Tamil Tigers. The communication between PM Imram Khan and HE. Mahinda Rajapaksa is much appreciated and welcome by the Muslims of Sri Lanka at this moment of history making in our “Maathruboomiya”. HE. Mahinda Rajapaksa should accept the invitation extended my PM Inram Khan and make an official vist to Pakistan (Islamabad) at the earliest.
Pakistan investments
should be encouraged and more trade between the two brotherly nations should
prosper as a result of the new friendship extended, while we maintain an
Equilibrium in international relations with our neighbours. With regards to
bilateral relations, this is the correct moment for Pakistan to extend all support
and assistance to Sri Lanka to get through with the budened debt crisis that
the country is facing presently. Pakistan should also offer more educational
scholarships to Sri Lankans in educations, especially in the technical trades
and designate more experts in the field of Technical exoerts in agriculture and
especially in animal husbandry and “Dairy Farming”. Pakistan
should come forward to take over and “turn around” the large
“Dairy Farms” that the West, Australia and NewZealand has dumped on
Sri Lanka under the pretext of assisting to increase milk production, but
really sold thousands of cattle (milk cows) that are NOT Acclimatized to the weather conditions of Sri
Lanka.
They have been sold to
Sri Lanka at large prices on strict country to country loans and fraudulent
deals, one of the causes of Sri Lanka’s present debt crisis. This is how the
West operate bilaterally to criple the economy of growing nations like
Sri Lanka. Pakistan with a track record of having developed the dairy indusrty
to become one of the largest diary industrial producers out beating even
European countries with having the 3rd., largest cattle breed in the world,
should come forward to assist Sri Lanka to follow their foot-steps in the dairy
industry. The Sahiwal and the Red Sindhi breeds may suit Sri Lanka the best and
Pakistan should try to introduce these breeds to help Sri Lanka’s Dairy
Industry. Unlike
the production systems in the developed countries, milk production systems in
Pakistan represent smallholding with subsistence- or market-oriented-level
farming followed by peri-urban or commercial-level farming. This can be an
answer to failing Diary Indusrty of Sri Lanka.
Pakistan has also to
make sure that no undesirable persons enter Sri Lanka, with the assistance of
the Sri Lankan security forces and the Immigration authorities and help Sri
Lanka to prevent the flow of drugs into Sri Lanka by nefarious characters
operating through Pakistan soil.
A visit by HE. Gotabaya Rajapaksa to
Islamabad in the near future, can pave the way for Pakistan’s engagement in Sri
Lanka for the betterment of both brotherly Nations.
Colombo, November 20 (Daily Mirror): Over the past weeks, women’s rights were heavily debated as front-runners of the Sri Lankan presidential campaigns pursued the female vote like never before. Sri Lanka had its Presidential election on November 16.
The promises the candidates made included free childcare. The ruling party candidate Sajith Premadasa drew much attention with his promise to give sanitary pads for women.
Elections have come and gone, but one important issue needs to be discussed. On average a woman has her menstrual period from three to seven days. The average woman menstruates from age 13 until age 51, adding up to a total of some 450 of period cycles for roughly 38 years.
This amounts to 2,280 days of menstrual periods. That’s nearly six and a half years of a woman’s life. Thus, she has to have a sanitary pad with her at all times. The physical discomfort and cramps can be the worst part of the entire experience, but in most countries, it’s not the only one.
In Sri Lanka a pack of 10 sanitary napkins can cost from Rs. 120 to Rs. 560. If an average woman experiences a 5-day period cycle per month, that can add up to a yearly cost of Rs. 1440 to Rs. 6720, and that too if a woman only requires a single pack.
Many women would however agree that this is not often the case. Although the prices may seem fairly affordable, women’s and children’s sanitary products in Sri Lanka, like in many other countries, are subjected to taxation. But in Sri Lanka, the problem is particularly acute because sanitary products are heavily taxed.
Until last year, the taxation on imported sanitary pads, tagged under luxury goods, was more than 100 percent. Let’s look at the breakdown.
52% of Sri Lanka’s population is female, with approximately 4.2 million menstruating women. Menstruation is a biological process that is not optional. Many activists believe that levying taxes on sanitary pads which is also a health requirement is simply unjust.
The opposing argument however is that sanitary products are not optional, yet cannot be made tax free as there are many diverse brands for sanitary products and their variants, and some of them are marketed by multinationals. The question remains, as to whether it is fair to tax a woman’s physiology?
Anuki Premachandra, Communications Manager of Advocata Institute said that policy reforms are needed to effectively tackle the issue of discrimination.
Being a Sri Lankan woman is difficult. We battle gender and cultural norms every day and now we have to fight for something beyond our control. It is unfortunate that in a country with 52% women, we have a tax as high as 62% on a product that we have no choice, but to purchase. This is not just an issue of affordability. It is an issue of respect, and of discrimination,” she said.
Arunachalam Muruganantham of Tamil Nadu, who invented a low cost sanitary pad making machine
Advocata, an independent policy think tank based in Colombo, conducting research on the topic has suggested policy reforms which include the removal of several taxes. The think tank encourages the following reforms:
The Ministry of Finance should remove PAL (7.5%) and General Duty (30%) components from the current taxation structure pertaining to essential menstrual hygiene products in Sri Lanka, bringing the total tax levied on these products down to 18.7% (VAT 15% + NBT 2%)
The Minister of Finance, in conjunction with the Minister of Health, should declare the reduction in taxes through an extraordinary gazette
Periods can get political
It’s not just in Sri Lanka that women’s menstruation is a political issue. While advocates worldwide are pushing for recognition of a woman’s right to manage her periods, with affordable healthcare options, the concept of ‘menstrual equity’ has become a point of debate. The concept is focused on increasing the availability and affordability of menstrual hygiene products for individuals with limited access and also to raise awareness about reproductive health.
It also aims to promote policies to provide menstrual products in schools, prisons and in some countries even in law-making bodies.
In the United Kingdom, MP Danielle Rowley shocked the House of Commons by announcing she was on her period while calling on ministers to help women who are trapped in period poverty”. A New York Congressman who purchased sanitary products for his staffers meanwhile was embroiled in a debate when he was informed that he was not allowed to allocate funds for women’s hygiene products.
These incidents highlighted a very real issue, period poverty can be an actual problem, even in developed nations such as the UK or the US.
But the most successful political story comes from our neighbour India, where a controversial 12% tax on feminine hygiene products, was slashed, a victory hailed by activists who lobbied for the cause for over a year.
It’s not just the tax
In South Asia, menstruation can come with a host of myths and beliefs. While the discourse on menstruation is usually shrouded in secrecy, in Sri Lanka, it’s yet another curiosity. It is common for periods to come with its own set of issues, including religious places which prohibit entry to menstruating women.
Some myths involving menstruation can also be unhealthy as they promote unhygienic practices. However, in the same country, it is common practice for a family to celebrate and host a meal for family and friends, when a girl attains age or experiences her first menstruation cycle.
Some countries have made bold, positive moves to help bring the menstruation discussion to the center stage. Kenya and Uganda abolished sales tax on menstrual hygiene products, while Zimbabwe subsidizes local manufacturers. The Kenyan government also provides funding for pads in schools.
In 2016 Sri Lanka’s Women and Child Affairs Minister attempted to tackle the controversial issue by introducing a menstrual leave system, where working women would be allowed to request a leave of absence per month, if suffering from severe discomfort owing to menstruation.
Minister Chandrani Bandaranayake attempted to model the system after one practiced in China.
Some intriguing issues about menstruation
We asked over 170 women about the use of sanitary products. The majority of women who took the survey were between the ages of 19 to 30 years, living in urban and suburban areas. 79% of the women said they were uncomfortable discussing menstruation or menstrual health in public. A majority highlighted that imported sanitary products, which they preferred to use over local products, were expensive.
MP Harin Fernando stated that neither he nor Sajith Premadasa is ready to further engage in politics unless there is a change in the current leadership of the United National Party (UNP).
Speaking at a press conference held today (20th) Fernando said another party will have to be formed if it should happen so.
He said the party itself says that the party got Sajith Premadasa into this problematic situation.
When inquired what the next step would be if Ranil Wickremesinghe refuses to step down from UNP leadership, Fernando said that they will move forward by forming a new party.
Stating that Sajith Premadasa had informed that he would not continue in politics if certain positions in the party don’t see a change, Fernando stated that if it doesn’t happen, they would find another path to move forward.
The former Sports Minister further said that he is happy that the incumbent President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has engaged a different kind of politics today.
In a special statement, he said that despite having a majority in Parliament, he accepted the mandate given to Gotabhaya Rajapaksa by the people and will move away for the President to form a government as required.
During his tenure as Prime Minister, Mr. Wickremesinghe said that he received insults and praise. Good and bad remarks, in closing he thanked everyone that spoke well of him and not, those who insulted him and those who praised him.
