Chanaka Bandarage

The International Covenant on Civil and Political rights (ICCPR) came into being in 1976. It is a multilateral treaty.  More than 175 states have thus far ratified it.

The treaty imposes obligations only upon states – the parties to the Covenant (hereinafter, ‘the Convention’).

Eg. In the US, the Convention only applies to the US government’s actions in all states and counties and to private contractors who carry out US government functions. It does not operate against individuals.

The purpose and objective of the Convention is to keep governments constantly under checks and balances in relation to their human rights record on citizens.

The treaty does state in the Preamble that individuals have duties and responsibilities to other individuals and to the community that they belong.   

It is wrong for a country that is a party to this Convention to adopt the Convention domestically with the primary intention of punishing its citizens who engage in alleged human rights violations. The writer states that Sri Lanka has done exactly that.  In the local enactment, Sri Lanka has not adopted most of the duties and responsibilities that it undertook in the Convention for its citizens.

The cardinal rule in international law is that the domestic adoption of a treaty should substantially mirror the obligations that the state has vouched in the international Convention/treaty.  

This means, when the treaty is domestically adopted, the state reiterates its obligations enunciated in the Convention/treaty.

This is how the nations have adopted this treaty domestically.

Sri Lanka acceded to the treaty on 11 June 1980. But, one could correctly argue that the adoption of the ICCPR treaty obligations was domestically done by the 1978 Constitution. Eg, Article 14 of the Constitution which has 9 sub Articles (14a) – (14i):

14. (1) Every citizen is entitled to – (a) the freedom of speech and expression including publication; (b) the freedom of peaceful assembly; (c) the freedom of association; (d) the freedom to form and join a trade union; (e) the freedom, either by himself or in association with others, and either in public or in private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching; (f) the freedom by himself or in association with others to enjoy and promote his own culture and to use his own language; Freedom of speech, assembly, association, occupation, movement; (g) the freedom to engage by himself or in association with others in any lawful occupation, profession, trade, business or enterprise; (h) the freedom of movement and of choosing his residence within Sri Lanka; and (i) the freedom to return to Sri Lanka.

Article 14 along with Articles 10, 11, 12, 13, (and 14A – enacted in 2015) of the Constitution are some of the obligations that Sri Lanka has vouched in the Convention. 

Put simply, though some key obligations are missing, Articles 10 – 14 and (14A) of the Constitution very clearly reflect our human rights obligations of the Convention.

Articles 10 – 14 and (14A) are very powerful provisions. One can bravely say that they are in effect our ‘Bill of Rights’. 

Very few countries can boast of granting so many rights to their citizens through the Constitution. Australia still does not have a Bill of Rights embodied in their Constitution.  Instead, they have a powerful set of separate human rights Acts.

As through our Constitution we enjoy so much of fundamental rights that are enunciated in the Convention, it is not unfair to say that the government in 2007 ‘cunningly’ used the ICCPR Convention to enact the new local Act – International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Act, No. 56 of 2007 (hereinafter the ICCPR Act); its substantive intention was to prosecute its own citizens who are engaged in racial/religious vilification etc.

The government had every right to enact such legislation, it erred in portraying the new Act as the local version of the Convention. It gave the Convention’s name to the new Act.

If a government commits gross human rights violations against an individual, the aggrieved party is able to bring-in civil law action against that government for breaching its Convention obligations. The current ICCPR Act does not allow citizens such a compensation regime/relief mechanism.

Fortunately, they can claim compensation/relief from the government through other avenues – eg. applying for equitable writs in the Court of Appeal, the citizen’s right to bring in a fundamental rights application against the government as provided by Article 126 of the Constitution.

To illustrate how individuals can use the ICCPR Convention to its own, utmost advantage –

This writer initiated 2 class actions in the Federal Court of Australia in 1997 against the then Australian government, using the ICCPR Convention.  They were:

Phillip Ruddock v Gamini Wasantha (in the Federal Court’s Canberra registry) – number of plaintiffs, about 50 Sri Lankan nationals. This matter was later transferred to the Sydney registry.

Phillip Ruddock v Naomal Fernando (in the Federal Court’s Melbourne registry) – number of plaintiffs,  about 150 Sri Lankan nationals.

Later, both cases were merged into one.

The course of action arose upon the then Australian Immigration Minister (Mr Phillip Ruddock) revoking a humanitarian visa issued to Sri Lankan citizens living in Australia. It was the subclass 435 visa.

The Minister issued a regulation ordering the Sri Lankans who were on that visa to depart Australia within a matter of few weeks.

The subclass 435 visa was a special visa issued only to Sri Lankans to remain in Australia for an indefinite period of time owing to the violent civil wars that prevailed in Sri Lanka then, particularly the JVP insurrection.  Sri Lankans who had arrived in the country in early 1990s as tourists, students and on few other visas were upon application issued with the subclass 435 visa. They were allowed to work, and were entitled to Medicare.

This writer was approached by the Sri Lankans who were unfairly affected by this regulation. He drafted applications in the Federal Court of Australia alleging that by revoking the subclass 435 visa the Australian government breached its obligations owed to the subclass 435 visa holders. Effectively, Australia acted contrary to the ICCPR Convention, which it was a signatory.

The Australian courts accepted the applications and the writer argued the matter successfully for several years in Australian Courts.

The Sri Lankans were happy; most of them are now well settled in in Australia.

This is a classic illustration as to how the ICCPR Convention operates to individuals benefit.

Rather than codifying all of its Convention obligations upon itself (so that the citizens human rights are protected), what Sri Lanka did in 2007 was imposing sanctions against its citizens.

The Convention is designed to embark on good governance by the states; Sri Lanka’s ICCPR Act is primarily designed to punish its citizens who breach it.

Proponents of the ICCPR Act state that the government in 2007 correctly adopted the Convention; only Articles 19 and 20 of the Convention were correctly used by it to enact section 3 of the domestic Act (the ICCPR Act’s main provision). 

With respect, this understanding is wrong:

Firstly, the Convention’s Article 20 is the local Act’s section 3. Secondly, the Article 19 has not been adopted.

Section 3 reads as follows-  ‘No person shall propagate war or advocate national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence.’

Note, Article 20 of the Convention is not specifically directed upon individuals/citizens.

This section 3 encompasses a high criminal element.  Individuals who breach this section could be sentenced up to 10 years in jail (note, a person who engages in rape/sexual assault receives a jail sentence only from 7 – 20 years).

Per section 3, that person can be arrested without a warrant and bail can be granted only by the High Court, that is also in exceptional circumstances.

This is clearly a very high handed adoption of the Convention.

It is clear that the Articles 19 and 20 relate to civil procedure – that the Convention never intended to impose criminal sanctions against those who breach Articles 19 and 20.

The writer is unaware of any other country that has turned round the Convention so dramatically to suit their own ulterior objectives. Again, here, under the domestic Act, rather than using the Convention as a guide to uplift its own human rights conduct, the government uses it to punish its own citizens criminally.  

Effectively in Sri Lanka, the government has tinkered the Convention to fulfill its bad, ulterior objective – hound down those whom it does not like.

Our Courts are bound to follow the law as prescribed by legislation, enacted by the legislature. Thus, the Courts cannot be criticized for dealing with and sanctioning individuals who have committed offences under the local ICCPR Act. The Courts are innocent in this instance.

There are cases before the Courts brought under the Act, the writer does not at all intend to discuss them/their merits.

Article 14 (a) of our Constitution is very clear about the Citizen’s Right to Freedom of Speech. The local ICCPR Act seems to be in conflict with this. In such a situation Article 14 (a) should prevail over the domestic ICCPR Act’s provision(s), to the extent of the inconsistency.

Of course, no one should be given a free hand to denigrate religions and great religious leaders. The duty of the government is to enact special laws to prosecute those who commit such offences. They are the blasphemy laws.  We already have some. Eg, sections 291A and B of the Criminal Code, to mention a few.

If a person constantly utters filthy, obscene language against another in public (say, using social media); it is a despicable act. The whole society should condemn and castigate that person.

But, if he/she has not done anything to cause communal/religious disharmony, how can he/she be charged under section 3 of the ICCPR Act? They are not serious enough offences to send a person to jail. He/she may be charged under Common Law’s breach of public nuisance. The aggrieved people can sue him/her in civil defamation.

Is section 3 a re-introduction of criminal defamation in Sri Lanka in disguise? The government must come in the open and clarify.

Rather than sending to jail, such unfortunate people should be assigned to an asylum for substantive mental health treatment.

In the last 30 years it has become increasingly difficult for a Sinhala Buddhist to stand up to fight for their own justice. The words ‘Sinhala Buddhist Rights’ have somewhat become prohibited words in this country. So much ethnic hatred is propagated by separatist Tamil MPs/Politicians/Tamil Diaspora – not only when they are in western countries but also inside Sri Lanka. These people constantly utter utmost racist remarks and engage in serious racist acts. The writer is in possession of a dossier of such conduct.  

They are the biggest obstacle to foster positive ethnic relations. Even Buddhist monks have been barred from visiting ancient Buddhist temples in the North and the East. Buddhist artifacts are being destroyed in the North and the East on regular basis.

To the writer’s knowledge, in the recent past, these racist culprits have not been kept in remand custody after arrest for substantial periods of time (under the ICCPR Act or any other law). If he is wrong, he is ready to accept.

The Sinhalese have been denied the right to settle in Tamil speaking areas of the North and the East. Basically, the Sinhalese are confined to only 7 provinces of this tiny island (just 2/3 land mass). This inhibits the expansion of the Sinhala race as opposed to Tamil and Muslim races.

Tamils and Muslims can live anywhere that they wish. This is alright.

The Sinhalese are not only discreetly estopped from purchasing land in the North and the East, they are even prevented from obtaining land on lease. This is Sri Lanka’s biggest human rights violation today.

This is propagating discrimination against the Sinhalese – a major breach of the section 3 of the ICCPR Act.

The inability of the Sinhalese to live in the North and the East is also contrary to Article 14 (h) of the Constitution, and customary international law.

No one dares talk about this; even the Maha Sangha. Everyone demonstrates an eerie silence about it. One reason for this is that as stated earlier, fighting for Sinhala Buddhist rights is somewhat a taboo in contemporary Sri Lanka.  Such people are castigated and downgraded sometimes by the Sinhalese themselves. 

People are so scared that the local ICCPR Act would operate and hound them down. There are examples where Sinhala activists have been unfairly arrested under the local ICCPR Act  and under other laws.

Suppression of the Sinhala Buddhist culture and values greatly escalated in the last 30 years, mainly thanks to the politicians who governed the country and majority of the electronic media that is very much anti-Sinhala Buddhist. Now, the social media has also taken up this mantle. Buddhist monks are constantly referred to as ‘Yellow Pests or Pets’ .

And, we proudly proclaim we have the Article 9 to protect and foster Buddhism!

Due to the deliberate bad impression that is being created about ‘Sinhala’ and ‘Buddhism’, children and young people continue to stride away from our great Sinhala culture, values, behaviours and Buddhist teachings/education. They are being fast attracted into other cultures and religions, in a massive way. A good example is the rise and rise of the evangelical groups/cults in this country, like the Born Again, Jehovahs, Adventists, Mormons, Pentecostals etc.

No wonder that the Sinhala race especially the Sinhala Buddhist is sliding down.  It is not a dying race, but certainly would become a minority of this land, quite likely within this 21^st century.

ethos8@bigpond.com

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

හන්තාන සඳගිරි සෑය බෞද්ධ විහාරයේ ධාතුන් වහන්සේ පිටතට වැඩමවා පැයක් යන්නට පෙර මහ වැස්සක් ඇද හැලුණු බව එහි විහාරාධිපති ගඟසිරිපුර ධම්මාලෝක හිමියෝ සඳහන් කරති.

මීට පෙර ද ධාතුන් වහන්සේ වැඩම වූ සෑම පිංකමකම වර්ෂාව ඇදහැලුණු බවද උන්වහන්සේ කියා සිටිති.

සඳගිරි සෑය පින්කම් වලට වර්ෂාව ඇද බව ඒ අවට සැමදෙනා ම සඳහන් කරන බව ද පවසන උන්වහන්සේ කෙසේ වෙතත් මේ හේතුව නිසාම වර්ෂාව ඇද හැලුණේ යැයි තමන් වහන්සේ නොකියන බව ද පවසති.

“නීතියේ සිංහල නුගමුල” ෆීන්ක්ස් නීති සාර සංග්‍රහය,වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන

ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 121(1) ව්‍යවස්ථාව ප්‍රකාරව, ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේ අභියෝගයට ලක් කරන ලද ආයුර්වේද (සංශෝධන)” නමැති පනත් කෙටුම්පත සම්බන්ධයෙන් ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේ තීරණය ගරු කථානායකතුමා වෙත ලැබී ඇති බව නියෝජ්‍ය කථානායක ගරු අජිත් රාජපක්ෂ මහතා 2023 අගෝස්තු 10 පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට නිවේදනය කළේය.

ඒ අනුව ආයුර්වේද (සංශෝධන)” නමැති පනත් කෙටුම්පතේ ව්‍යවස්ථානුකූලභාවය සම්බන්ධයෙන් ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේ  තීරණය මතු සඳහන් පරිදි වේ:—

(1)     පනත් කෙටුම්පතේ 2, 3, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40 සහ 41 වගන්ති ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 9 ව්‍යවස්ථාවට අනනුකූල වන අතර 84 ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (2) ඡේදය යටතේ අවශ්‍ය විශේෂ බහුතරය සහ 83 ව්‍යවස්ථාව ප්‍රකාරව ජනමත විචාරණයකදී ජනතාව විසින් අනුමත කරනු ලැබීමෙන් පමණක් සම්මත කරනු ලැබිය හැකි ය. පනත් කෙටුම්පතේ 2, 3, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40 සහ 41 වගන්තිවල ආයුර්වේද භෛසජ්ජක සහ  භෛසජ්ජක යන වචන ඉවත් කිරීමෙන් සංශෝධනය කළහොත් අනනුකූලතාවය අවසන් වනු ඇති බව නිවේදනයේ සඳහන් වේ.

(2) පනත් කෙටුම්පතේ 46(4) වගන්තිය ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 12(1) ව්‍යවස්ථාවට අනනුකූල වන අතර 84 ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (2) ඡේදය යටතේ අවශ්‍ය විශේෂ බහුතරයෙන් පමණක් සම්මත කරනු ලැබිය හැකි ය. ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ තීරණයේ 53 පිටුවේ දක්වා ඇති සංශෝධන පනත් කෙටුම්පතට සිදු කළහොත් මෙම අනනුකූලතාවය අවසන් වනු ඇත;

(3) පනත් කෙටුම්පතේ 11(3) වගන්තිය ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 12(1) ව්‍යවස්ථාවට අනනුකූල වන අතර 84 ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (2) ඡේදය යටතේ අවශ්‍ය විශේෂ බහුතරයෙන් පමණක් සම්මත කරනු ලැබිය හැකි බවද නිවේදනයේ දැක්වේ. ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ තීරණයේ 54 පිටුවේ දක්වා ඇති සංශෝධන පනත් කෙටුම්පතට සිදු කළහොත් මෙම අනනුකූලතාවය අවසන් වනු ඇත;

(4)  ප්‍රධාන පනත සංශෝධනය කිරීමට අපේක්ෂා කරනු ලබන වෙනත් කරුණු අතර, ප්‍රධාන පනතේ 13(1) වගන්තියේ (ඉ) සහ (ඊ) උපවගන්ති ඉවත් කරනු ලබන පනත් කෙටුම්පතේ 13 වගන්තිය ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 12(1) ව්‍යවස්ථාවට අනනුකූල වන අතර 84 ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (2) ඡේදය යටතේ අවශ්‍ය විශේෂ බහුතරයෙන් පමණක් සම්මත කරනු ලැබිය හැකි ය. ප්‍රධාන පනතේ 13(1) වගන්තියේ (ඉ) සහ (ඊ) උපවගන්ති ඉවත් නොකිරීමෙන් මෙම අනනුකූලතාවය අවසන් වනු ඇත;

(5) පනත් කෙටුම්පතේ 24(1)(අ), 25 සහ 46(2) වගන්ති ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 12(1) ව්‍යවස්ථාවට අනනුකූල වන අතර 84 ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (2) ඡේදය යටතේ අවශ්‍ය විශේෂ බහුතරයෙන් පමණක් සම්මත කරනු ලැබිය හැකි ය. එම වගන්ති ඉවත් කිරීමෙන් අනනුකූලතාවය අවසන් වනු ඇත; සහ

(6) පනත් කෙටුම්පතේ 46(1) වගන්තිය ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 12(1) ව්‍යවස්ථාවට අනනුකූල වන අතර 84 ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (2) ඡේදය යටතේ අවශ්‍ය විශේෂ බහුතරයෙන් පමණක් සම්මත කරනු ලැබිය හැකි ය. ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ තීරණයේ 55 පිටුවේ දක්වා ඇති සංශෝධන පනත් කෙටුම්පතට සිදු කළහොත් මෙම අනනුකූලතාවය ඉවත් වනු ඇත.

ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේ තීරණය අද දින සභාවේ වැඩකටයුතු දැක්වෙන නිල වාර්තාවේ මුද්‍රණය කළ යුතු බවටද නියෝජ්‍ය කථානායකවරයා නියෝග කළේය.
(මූලාශ්‍රය පාර්ලිමේන්තු වෙබ් අඩවියෙන්)

ඒ අනුව එකී සංශෝධන සිදුකර සාමාන්‍ය බහුතර ඡන්දයෙන් ආයුර්වේද සංශෝධනය සම්මත කර ගැනීමට හැකිය.

මෙකී ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ තීරණය සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් පාර්ලිමේන්තු හැන්සාඩ් වාර්තාවට ඇතුළත් කරන ලෙස පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරයෙකු ඉල්ලා සිටියහොත් එකී තීරණය මැනවින් කියවා බැලීමට ජනතාවට අවස්ථාව සැළසේ.

පාර්ලිමේන්තු බලතල හා වරප්‍රසාද පනතේ 3, 9 වගන්ති සහ පාර්ලිමේන්තු ස්ථාවර නියෝග 13, ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 3, 9, 10, 12,14.1අ, 14.1ඇ, 14.1ඉ,18,19, 20*, 23 ව්‍යවස්ථා අනුව ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණය තීරණ සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් හැන්සාඩ් ගත කරන ලෙස කතානායකගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටීමට පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරුන්ට  අයිතිය, වරප්‍රසාද ඇත.

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“නීතියේ සිංහල නුගමුල”
ෆීන්ක්ස් නීති සාර සංග්‍රහය,
වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන
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Politics

INITTIATION OF THE ARAGALAYA AND $4b COMES AT A COST

Explosive water conflicts

Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu state, is the first major city in India to go dry, causing innumerable problems for its 11 million residents. The neighboring state of Karnataka is now officially the most arid state in India and faces myriad challenges, especially in rural communities.

Because of water shortages, both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are in conflict with each other – a water war of sorts. One recent headline in the Indian press reads: Cauvery’s battle for survival amid TN, Karnataka water sharing dispute.” No resolution is in sight soon. (Cauvery is a river that runs through the two states.)

India faces a severe water crisis, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi knows it. It represents such an existential threat to stability across the subcontinent that orderly governance and sustainable economic development are in jeopardy if the government fails to address the problem adequately. 

Modi has been stumping for water” for years. He, together with the Rajya Sabha (upper house of Parliament) and Lok Sabha (lower house), and the people, need to sort out the mess; the plight of a couple hundred million thirsty people is serious business. 

In early October, the PM announced the Jal Jeevan Mission, an effort not only to get all the people to understand the severity of the problem” but to enlist their support in conservation. This decentralized approach to water management will help relieve pressure on water resources. 

The Jal Jeevan Mission is the latest in a long series of efforts by India to improve its management of water resources, especially rainwater and aquifers, as well as methods of collection, storage, transmission, leakage prevention, usage, and minimization of pollution. No small task. 

A huge problem

The magnitude of the problem has been known for years. The conclusions of the 2018 Composite Water Management Index by NITI Aayog, India’s premier government think tank, were alarming: India [was] placed at 120th amongst 122 countries in the water quality index, with nearly 70% of water being contaminated.”

By most credible accounts, that is, by those basing their studies on science rather than trying to cash in” on the crisis, the water problem continues to get worse. 

India is suffering from the worst water crisis in its history and millions of lives and livelihoods are under threat. Currently, 600 million Indians face high to extreme water stress and about 2 lakh [200 thousand] people die every year due to inadequate access to safe water. The crisis is only going to get worse.” Shocking. 

NITI Aayog’s 2019 Composite Water Management Index is also unequivocal: As the water crisis worsens, production capacity utilization and new investments in capacity may both decline, threatening the livelihoods of millions, and commodity prices could rise steeply for consumers due to production shortages.” 

Modi fully grasps the significance of the problem: India’s development and self-reliance is dependent on water security and water connectivity.… If the country is not concerned about water preservation and does not prevent the wastage of water, the situation will deteriorate in the coming decades. It is our responsibility that the water given to us by our ancestors should be made available for our future generations.”

The Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center recently presented insightful observations on water-energy-food confrontations in India.

The consequences of overdrawing groundwater in most Indian cities include increased water toxicity, challenges to irrigation, depletion of nearby lakes and rivers, and water rationing. India draws the most groundwater in the world, with more than 27 million borewells in existence, and more are being drilled daily, further depleting over-stressed groundwater levels.

As underscored in the 2019 Index, In fact, the unchecked extraction of groundwater by farmers is driving the country’s groundwater crisis, with 61% of wells declining in levels due to extraction rates exceeding recharge rates.” The situation has become so dire that there are districts calling for bans on borewell drilling.

With less than 5% of the globe’s fresh water and more than a billion people, Indians suck out of the ground more water than any other country in the world, 90% of which is used for farming. Is India’s uprising in the agricultural sector a consequence of the water crisis? 

Written byManzoor-ul-Hassan Courtesy Newsbytes

Prime Minister Narendra Modi—during the no-confidence motion debate in the Parliament on Thursday—blamed former PM Indira Gandhi for “gifting” the disputed Katchatheevu Island to Sri Lanka.Located between Rameswaram (India) and Sri Lanka, Katchatheevu was traditionally used by both Indian and Lankan Indian fishermen.However, under the “Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime Agreement” in 1974, Gandhi ceded Katchatheevu as Sri Lankan territory.Here’s everything to know.

PM Modi’s remarks about Katchatheevu in Lok Sabha

During his speech during the no-confidence motion debate, PM Modi mentioned Katchatheevu Island while hitting out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his now-expunged “murder of Bharat Mata” remarks.”Katchatheevu is an island between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. Somebody gave it to another country. It happened under the leadership of Indira Gandhi,” PM Modi said.”Wasn’t that part of Maa Bharati there?”

MK Stalin urged PM Modi to initiate retrieval process  

The Katchahtheevu issue once again assumed prominence in July when Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin urged PM Modi to initiate its retrieval process during the Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe‘s India visit.The transfer of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka—by the Centre, without the state government’s consent in the 1970s—badly impacted the livelihood of the Tamil fisherfolk, Stalin said in a letter to PM Modi.

Know about Katchatheevu Island 

Katchatheevu is a small uninhabited island in Palk Strait that connects the Bay of Bengal to the Arabian Sea.India claimed the territory until 1976, but it is now administered by Sri Lanka following the India-Sri Lanka Maritime Boundary Agreements signed between 1974-76.Now, Indian fisherfolk can’t engage in fishing activities in and around the region, which has almost 285 acres of land.

Here’s what issue is about 

Indian and Lankan fishermen once used to fish in each other’s waters without conflict.However, issues reportedly emerged when India and Sri Lanka signed maritime boundary agreements that restricted Indian fisherfolk from fishing around Katchatheevu.The problem turned serious when fish and aquatic life in the Indian continental shelf depleted—resulting in more Indian fisherfolk entering Lankan waters, including Kathchateevu, and began facing the consequences.

How LTTE’s presence impacted conflict

Until 2010, Lanka restricted the mobility of its fishermen in certain waters and heavily guarded its maritime border in Palk Strait during the era of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)—a separatist organization.Indian fishermen reportedly saw this as an opportunity and ventured to Katchatheevu.However, in 2010, when the Lankan civil war ended, the country’s fisherfolk resumed their activities in Palk Strait.

Tamil Nadu government’s fight with Centre over Katchatheevu

In 1974, Gandhi reportedly signed several maritime treaties with Sri Lankan President Sirimavo Bandaranaike and ceded Katchatheevu Island to Sri Lanka.Years later, the Tamil Nadu Assembly also passed a resolution in 1991 seeking the retrieval of Katchatheevu Island through the resolution.Notably, in 2008, then-Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa also petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the Katchatheevu accords.

Frequent clashes impact livelihood of fishing community members

Tamil Nadu fisherfolk often clash with Lankan authorities over their fishing activity around Katchatheevu, with frequent arrests of fishermen and boat seizures by the Sri Lankan Navy.However, political experts believe it is only a political talking point and not an electoral issue.PM Modi’s latest statement has raised eyebrows as the Modi government has also previously reiterated that Katchatheevu is part of Lanka.

By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando Courtesy Ceylon Today

A few decades ago, immigrant communities in England comprised a few Africans and Western Indians. They were permitted to enter Britain for ‘cheap’ labour, as the average Englishmen hesitated to work and be on the National Assistance (dole). The first generation of Irish masters in the building industry was allowed to enter next. Later, some (mainly the Irish) became tycoons in road construction, motorway maintenance and house construction.

As a result, much of Africans and some Asians became the basis of the working strength of the British Railway and underground and local councils for cheap labour. At the same time, in the hospital, many females chose to select a Nursing career by Registering with the Nursing Council. There are three grades of nurses in the Council – one may become a registered nurse in Psychiatry (RMN); (SRN) State Registered Nurse, and the Auxiliary nurse (someone who performs duties such as washing and dressing patients, making beds, and hospital).

Only a few professionals had gone to England with work permits from bourgeois countries. The first generation of Africans and West Indians were very peaceful people, unlike what we get today, the second and the third generation. At the same time, the Asians concentrated on their families and focused on their families relaxedly.

Unlike today, it was pleasurable to walk down London streets at night without being bothered about being mugged. Once, I lived in West London, a trendy place where many Sri Lankans lived. During weekends socialising became part of the routine. My wife and I walked to Holland Park to their bedsitter and peacefully returned home in the early morning. They now live in a large house in Sydney, Australia, and his wife is really into gardening. It still brings me nostalgic memories of how we used to enjoy Friday evenings at their bedsitter, enjoying ourselves thoroughly and taking a relaxed stroll along Holland Park.

Change of Environment

Over the years, however, the seemingly second and third generations of Immigrants out of the first batch and their behavioural patterns of the young have changed dramatically. They have become boisterous, unruly and undisciplined. In contrast, today, the city is full of people who are drug addicts, similar to Lanka, and psychopaths and mentally disturbed patients are released from mental hospitals to the community as a direct result of the Late Margaret Thatcher’s Government policies, which made so many psychiatric hospitals to close down.

In the early stages, the Sri Lankan community in London mainly consisted of a few professionals who migrated to the UK on work permits, which enlarged the immigration population. One of the professionals known to every Sri Lankan was a doctor who used to live at Stafford Place, Colombo 10 before she emigrated to London. This doctor was another mother to all Sri Lankans. She arrived in the UK in 1951 and commenced medical practice as a General Practitioner. She died at the age of 82.

Many Sri Lankans were registered with her. She had genuine feelings for Sri Lankan students, in particular. She was considered a second mother. On every occasion, a Sri Lankan student went to see her. She gave the student Vitamin B Complex tablets and said, Please keep yourself warm in winter.”

She greeted all her patients with a broad smile as one entered her consulting room. Without any enquiry, wrote on the prescription, Vitamin B complex tablets irrespective of whether the patient required it or not. She was a natural second mother to students and Sri Lankans, and she knew, ‘as a general rule’, that students did not have a square meal. Therefore, she used to prescribe students five mg of Valium to calm their nerves, considering the stress factor in London.

Whenever there was a complex issue relating to the patient’s health, she would refer the patient to a specialist or a hospital instead. Many GPs were thinking of their budget allocation. It is a Health Regulation that if a patient visits a GP’s surgery more than twice for the same complaint, the GP should refer the patient to a specialist or hospital for treatment.

tilakfernando@gmail.com

By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando

By Shamindra Ferdinando  Courtesy The Island

Rebel SLPP MP Prof. Channa Jayasumana yesterday (11) said that former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa should make his position clear on his successor Ranil Wickremesinghe’s move to fully implement the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.

Reiterating his strong opposition to President Wickremesinghe’s controversial plan, the Anuradhapura District MP stressed that Gotabaya Rajapaksa couldn’t keep silent as the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government embarked on a strategy inimical to national interests. Prof. Jayasumana represents a group of about 13 SLPP MPs. The group includes former External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris, Dullas Alahapperuma and Prof. Charitha Herath.

Parliament elected the UNP leader as President in late July last year to complete the remainder of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s five-year term won at the last presidential election in Nov. 2019, Prof. Jayasumana said. Having won a landslide victory, promising a new Constitution that reflected Sri Lanka’s triumph over separatist terrorism, how could the wartime Defence Secretary remain silent when his mandate was being brazenly used to do away with the country’s unitary status.

Referring to President Wickremesinghe’s latest declarations in Parliament, pertaining to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, enacted in late 1988, the failure on the part of the former President to take a clear stand on this issue could be misconstrued as his tacit support to the current agenda. How the wartime Defence Secretary could allow the abuse of his mandate, the MP asked.

Responding to a query broached by The Island, the academic said that 133 MPs, who voted for Wickremesinghe at the July 20 election in Parliament to elect an MP to complete the ousted leader’s term, wouldn’t have anticipated him taking such far reaching decisions.

Prof. Jayasumana voted for Dullas Alahappeuma who altogether polled 82 votes whereas JVP candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake managed to secure just three votes. Prof. Jayasumana addressed this issue in the wake of TNA delegation meeting Public Security Minister Tiran Alles to discuss the latest developments.

Acknowledging that the SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam, during All-Party Conference (APC), chaired by President Wickremesinghe, on 26 July, declared that they were not on the same page, Prof. Jayasumana urged the SLPP parliamentary group, headed by Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, to issue an official statement in this regard.

Appreciating the significant financial support extended by India during Sri Lanka’s hour of need, MP Jayasumana said but it wouldn’t be fair at all to pressure the incumbent government on the 13th Amendment. We do not want to revisit the origins of terrorism but India cannot absolve itself of the responsibility for creating an environment here in the ’80s to facilitate its devolution project,” Prof. Jayasumana said.

The MP said that if the former President and the SLPP, still the largest party represented in parliament, didn’t intervene immediately, they would be held accountable for breaking up the country. The outcome could be far worse than the debilitating current crisis blamed on mismanagement of the national economy, Prof. Jayasumana said.

The former President should be answerable to 6.9 mn voters who exercised their franchise for him at the last presidential poll, the MP said. Similarly, the SLPP couldn’t turn its back on those who gave the young party nearly 2/3 majority, Prof. Jayasumana said.

Having recognized the LTTE, way back in 2001, as the sole representative of the Tamil speaking people, thereby justifying Tiger terrorism, the TNA was now demanding federal status, Prof. Jayasumana said, urging the incumbent President to seek fresh mandates at presidential and parliamentary polls if he genuinely wanted to go ahead with the 13th Amendment.

Those pushing for the13th Amendment had conveniently forgotten the way the then President J.R. Jayewardene forcibly enacted it in line with the Indo-Lanka Accord signed the year before, an irate lawmaker said. The MP said that political parties couldn’t be unaware that the implementation of the 13th Amendment was to take place after the disarming of all Indian trained terrorist groups in 1987.

The LTTE retained a conventional fighting capacity till 2009 and was defeated in May 2009, the Minister said, adding that there couldn’t be any justification in granting police powers to a region that challenged the country’s unitary status.

By Nishel Fernando  Courtesy The Daily Mirror

• Aims to address shortage of human capital, especially inSTEM fields
• Urgent requirement for vocational training centres and universities to bridge skill gap highlighted
• President Wickremesinghe expresses concerns over exodus of STEM graduates

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Amid the current human capital shortage, in particular the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) graduates increasingly looking to migrate, the government said it has plans to establish a number of new universities and vocational training centres with greater participation of the private sector on an urgent basis. 

Speaking at the 36th Annual Conference of the Organisation of Professional Associations (OPA) in Colombo this week, President Ranil Wickremesinghe emphasised that the most pressing issue confronting the country currently is the scarcity of human capital, a consequence of outward migration triggered by the onset of the economic crisis 
In the short term, if we do good, some of them might come back.

Don’t think that’s going to resolve our issue. We haven’t got the human capital we need. Today, when I speak to any company, they say they need human capital. I travel around and stay in hotels and there are always people who come and talk to me.

Now with the last year, I don’t find them anymore. They have long gone. Then, I spoke to people who replaced them. Now, when I go, I can’t even find them. This is what has been happening,” he said. 

In this background, Wickremesinghe emphasised the urgent need for the establishment of vocational training centres and universities to address the skill gap and meet the demands of a competitive economy.  

He outlined the plans to collaborate with the private sector institutions to create a robust framework for education and training. There are 300-400 vocational training centres. We need to run them with the private sector and get the chambers to develop. We need to train teachers for our education system. Fortunately, we can take two to three years to achieve that.  

But our problem is with the universities. Those who are in the STEM subjects are leaving in large numbers. We are going to establish universities with the private sector and other agencies. Some will be for-profit universities, others like SLIIT will be on a non-profit basis,” he elaborated. 

Wickremesinghe said Chennai-based Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) has already agreed to establish a campus in Kandy while SLIIT is in the process of expanding the number of campuses, which would be soon elevated to
university status. 

In addition, he revealed that a number of foreign universities have filed applications to set up medical colleges in the country. In addition, the government is also looking at setting up four to five universities by combining several institutes. 

Meanwhile, Wickremesinghe presented the proposed legislative changes, including the devolution of powers to provincial councils, which would allow provincial councils to approve new universities under the streamlined procedures. 

He emphasised that Sri Lanka’s future success hinges on the strategic handling of both financial and human resources and noted that these factors are pivotal for the country to have a competitive economy.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Following improved activity from the shippers to Iran following the ‘Tea for Oil’ agreement, this week’s Colombo Tea Auction saw increased demand for the better teas in the High and Mid Grown sector and Low Grown Small Leaf/Tippy teas.

However, the total auction offerings were marginally lower and totalled 5.9 million kilogrammes.

The Ex-Estate offerings totalled 0.84 million kilogrammes. There was improved demand, particularly for the
better teas.The Best Western BOPs appreciated up to Rs.200 per kilogramme, whilst the others were firm and up to Rs.100 per kilogramme dearer. 

The corresponding BOPFs gained Rs.100 per kilogramme and more following special inquiry. In the Below Best and Plainer categories, the clean leaf BOPs gained Rs.20-30 per kilogramme, whilst the others were firm and lower by a similar margin for the poor leaf types. 

The corresponding BOPFs followed a similar trend, with the clean leaf teas appreciating by up to Rs.50 per kilogramme and more for select invoices, whilst the others were barely steady. The Nuwara Eliya BOPs were irregular, whilst the corresponding BOPFs had hardly any invoices on offer. The Uda Pussellawa BOP/BOPFs – Clean leaf types, were up to Rs.50 per kilogramme dearer, whilst the others were Rs.20-30 per kilogramme easier. Improved activity for the Uva seasonal teas and BOPs ranged between Rs.1,300-3,100 per kilogramme, whilst the corresponding BOPFs ranged between Rs.1,000-1,800 per kilogramme. The other Uva BOP/BOPFs gained up to Rs.100 per kilogramme.  

The High and Mid Grown CTC teas – BP1s, had hardly any offerings and tended easier. The PF1s – clean leaf bright liquoring teas, were firm and tended dearer, whilst the others were irregular and mostly easier. The corresponding Low Grown BP1s met with less demand and were irregularly easier, whilst the PF1s commenced firm and appreciated up to Rs.100 per kilogramme as the sale progressed.

The Low Growns comprised of 2.4 million kilogrammes. The Leafy, Semi-Leafy and Tippy teas met with good demand. Improved activity from shippers to Iran following the ‘Tea for Oil Agreement’ and consequently, Small Leaf categories gained substantially. 

In the Leafy catalogues, the well-made OP1s/BOP1s were firm to dearer, whilst the balance appreciated. The OPs, in general, were dearer. The well-made OPAs were easier, whilst the balance gained. The PEKs – Select Best and Best together with the clean leaf Below Best, gained sharply in value, whilst the balance too gained to a lesser extent. The Select Best PEK1s were easier, whilst the balance sold around last week’s levels. 

In the Tippy catalogues, the Select Best FBOPs were firm. The Best and Below Best appreciated substantially, whilst the balance gained to a lesser extent. The well-made FF1s together with the clean leaf Below Best gained considerably, whilst the balance was dearer to alesser extent. 

In the Premium catalogues, the very Tippy teas met with improved demand and were dearer. The Best and Below Best together with the cleaner teas at the bottom appreciated, whilst the balance was firm. 

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that he is aware that not many in the political circles are fond of him personally. The President made these remarks addressing the 36th Annual Conference of the Organization of Professional Associations (OPA) of Sri Lanka at Kingsbury, Colombo.

Wickremesinghe said that he had to consider coming out of semi-retirement, because he knew he could turn the country around and stabilize the economy.

“Despite all the criticisms I accepted the job. Then there was a chance of turning the economy around much faster. “I must thank everyone in the political system who rallied around, not because they like me — I don’t think there are very many who personally like me. But certainly they knew the job had to be done,” the President said.

President Wickremesinghe also underscored the necessity of building on this initial success, highlighting the importance of constructive solutions over political distractions. (Kalani Kumarasinghe)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Moscow has initiated direct employment opportunities for Sri Lankan skilled migrant workers in the Russian Federation, in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Agency (SLFEA), a fully-owned state organisation in Sri Lanka. 

The Embassy of Sri Lankan in Moscow said in an announcement that the effort is the first of its kind. 

Under this initiative, the first group consisting of 58 seamstresses arrived in the Russian Federation on August 2, 2023, to be employed at two  renowned textile manufacturing plants located in the Nizhny Novgorod region. 

The embassy facilitated the said employers to enter into agreements with the SLFEA to recruit these 58 seamstresses, without the involvement ofintermediate agencies. 

Discussions are underway in a progressive manner with the regional government authorities in Nizhny Novgorod to create more than 700 employment opportunities available for Sri Lankan skilled seamstresses.

The embassy, in liaison with the relevant authorities, is in the process of devising a mechanism in order to create more employment opportunities for Sri Lankan skilled migrant workers in the Russian Federation and other countries of accreditation, under a number of technical categories.

Courtesy Adaderana

The existing charges applicable to obtain a  licence for the public exhibition of any foreign or local films, stage dramas, musicals or performing shows under the Public Performance Act has been amended.

Accordingly, the relevant amendment was made by way of an Extraordinary Gazette notification issued on Friday (11 Aug), by the Minister of Mass Media.

As per the gazette in question, any person or entity applying for a legal licencse for the public exhibition of a foreign film, inclusive of the trailer, will be required to pay a fee of Rs. 40,000, while the fee for that of a local film will amount to Rs. 15,000, both of which include the trailers as well.

However, to exhibit solely the trailer, the fee charged amounts to Rs. 1,500, the gazette notification read.

Meanwhile, the license will be issued within five working days from the submission of the relevant application forms and other related documents, however, an additional fee is required in the event the license is required within a shorter period of time.

By Sena Thoradeniya

Beginning with the third part of this essay we give examples to illustrate the unholy alliance that existed between the British Colonialists and Kandyan Chieftains perpetuating Colonial Administration in Ceylon. This aspect will be discussed under several sub-headings.

At the outset it should be mentioned that there are certain limitations to this study:

(1) We have not taken into consideration slavishness of Native Headmen in the Maritime Provinces (of Colombo, Kalutara, Chilaw (of NWP), Galle, Matara and Hambantota Districts) and Tamil Native Headmen (of Northern and Eastern Provinces);

(2) Kandyan Chieftains of Central Province, North Western Province (excluding maritime area), North Central Province, Sabaragamuwa and Uva provide examples for the study we made;     

(3) Our analysis is more or less descriptive in nature. All entries are arranged in chronological order.

In this part five areas will be discussed:

(1) Special privileges granted to Kandyan Chiefs by the British;

(2) Unusual and peculiar promotions given, what was unheard under Kandyan Kings;

(3) Chieftains as Presidents of Village Tribunals and Unofficial Magistrates;

(4) Additional Office held and Chiefs as Justices of Peace;

(5) How sons and other close relatives succeeded office holders (after their demise or retirement) making the office hereditary.  

1. Special Privileges

(1.1) On 21^st of November 1818 the Governor Robert Brownrigg issued under his seal to mark his esteem authorising Ratwatte, Dissava of Matale to sit on a chair in the Mangul Maduwa (Audience Hall). Kandyan chieftains either stood or knelt before the King when the King was in the Audience Hall.    

(1.2) Pilimatalawwe (iv- alias Kapuwatte), the second Adigar in the reign of the last King, suspected of having encouraged the 1818 uprising, was taken prisoner and kept in custody in Colombo. In 1820 he was released from confinement by the Governor, Edward Barnes. The Governor informed the Resident in Kandy that it was his wish that the Adigar should be employed in a suitable office. A license was granted to Pilimatalawwe by the Governor Barnes on 14^th August 1821 to ride in a palanquin between Mahaveli Ganga and the ancient Gravets of Kandy. The Governor further delivered a license to him to sit on a chair in the Audience Hall. He ordered to restore the box of jewels belonging to him and to pay a sum of 4000 Rixdollars (300 pounds) as a gratuity from the Government in consideration of the losses sustained by him in 1818. In May he was appointed Maha Gabada Nilame. He signed as Kapuwatte Maha Nilame.

Ordinary villagers whose houses, household property and barns burnt and plundered, homesteads, land with crops, paddy fields and irrigation work destroyed, cattle slaughtered and taken away, were not paid any reparation even after 205 years!  

(1.3) Pilimatalawwe (the son of first Adigar who was executed in 1812 by the last King for treason), late Dissava of Sath Korale, a leader in the Uva-Wellassa uprising was exiled for life to Isle of France changing the death sentence for some special reasons. Around 1833 he was released and allowed to come back to Ceylon. Pilimatalawwe wrote a letter to Captain Cooper dated 21^st January 1833 informing his arrival to Colombo. He thanked him for releasing him, his kindness, tendered his compliments to the Secretary there and the doctor who attended on him.  He may have written this letter as a sign of courtesy. Nothing wrong in it.

In February he was granted permission to proceed to Kandy for three months and return to Colombo at the expiration of three months. But the interesting part of this saga smells foul. Petitioning to the Supreme Courts he gives his reasons for joining the rebels” against the British. He also complained that his salary of 100 Rix Dollars was hardly sufficient to live decently.

No other middle level prisoner who returned to Ceylon from exile was a paid a salary.

A letter sent by Pilimatalawwe while he was a prisoner in the isle of France to Robert Brownrigg (after Brownrigg had relinquished his duties as Governor of Ceylon) states reasons for joining the rebels” and requests him to solicit his Britannic Majesty to pardon him” and other prisoners for their first offence”.  He writes that it was his father who with the permission of the King sent two ambassadors to India and requested the English to come to assist the Sinhalese and expel the Dutch from Ceylon”. He further states that when the English came his father sent an army of 7000 Sinhalese soldiers and 60 Malays with coolies to join the English, but he could not display the power of his army as the war was soon terminated. 

(1.4) The British confiscated the Morahela Nindagama lands of Dissava of Wellassa and Batticaloa for joining the freedom struggle and Governor Robert Wilmot Horton in 1837, gave them (around 7000 acres) to Mahawelatenna Mohottala who supported the British, on the birthday of King William IV together with a silver urn.

  Whereas the loyalty and good conduct of Mahawelatenne Mudiyanse have entitled him to some mark of Royal favour and munificence and it is our desire to mark the sense, we entertain the same by personal grant of lands”. Later he was created” an Adigar, a case of a lower ranker Mohottala receiving the highest position of Adigar. Thus, British colonial administrators created” such Adigars and Dissaves granting Royal favour and munificence” for the servility of these office holders.  

(1.5) Dehigama was the Udagabada Nilame and Rate Mahattaya of Yatinuwara in the last King’s reign. He was loyal to the British in 1818 and by Proclamation of 18 November 1818, his lands were declared free of duty during his life and that of his heirs. Later he was made an Assessor in the District Courts. One of his family members who became a Christian functioned as a Member of the Legislative Council for a brief period.

(1.6) According to J.H.F. Hamilton C.C.S. (1888) the land where Medamahanuwara palace was situated was sold by the British to Mampitiye Rate Mahattaya in 1828. Mampitiye sold it to Madugalle Rate Mahattaya. Even ancient palaces were not spared by the Britishers.

(1.7) Millawa, the Dissava of Wellassa, was a signatory of the Kandyan Convention of 1815. He was suspected as a sympathiser of 1818 Freedom Struggle and his land was confiscated. He was taken to Colombo as a prisoner; he died there and buried in Kotahena.  His sons who took their mother’s name Dunuwila held high positions as Dissavas, Rate Mahattayas, Diyawadana Nilames, Interpreters and Police Inspectors, Police Magistrates under the British. Dunuwila Loku Banda, the Inspector of Police helped the British troops to ruthlessly suppress the agitators in 1848 at Kandy. (In 1896 R. Dunuwila was the Police Magistrate at Chilaw).

(1.8) Kandyan Chiefs who were converted into Christianity were offered high office. Both Iriyagama Rate Mahattaya and Andarawewa, President of Village Tribunal were Christians.

(1.9) In 1907 Meedeniya, Rate Mahattaya of Tun Korale and Patha Bulathgama proceeded to England on leave.When in England he had the honour of being presented to the King.

(1.10) W. Dunuwila Dissava was selected to represent the Kandyan community at the Coronation of King George V on June 22, 1911 and left for England in May.

(1.11) P. B. Bulankulama Dissava was awarded a Long Service Sannas in recognition of his 42 years of service to the Government. He was earlier rewarded for the great assistance he gave in finding labour for the construction of the Northern Railway in 1900 by the Government with a grant of a gold medal”, wrote Seymore Government Agent of NCP.

Chief Buddhist prelates were used even after 1818 as informants:

On 25 July 1836 the Governor William Horton presented the Act of Appointment to Induruwe Sumangala Medhankara Unnanse appointing him as the Chief Priest of Saffaragam in the Southern Province with the instructions, to make known to the constituted authorities of Government of all treasons or traitorous conspiracies against His Majesty’s Government.”

A similar Act was presented to him on 17 September 1836 by the same Governor appointing him as the Chief Priest of Adam’s Peak with the same instructions, to give information of all treasons and conspiracies”.

Although privileged some office holders abused powers of high office they held. A. F. Molamure Rate Mahattaya of Atakalan Korale, Sabaragamuwa built an anicut in the village of Ranwala for his use at government expense.

2.Promotions

(2.1) S.M. Burrows, Assistant Government Agent of Matale wrote in 1877 that the dignity of Dissava of Matale North and East was revived and the office conferred upon Dullewa Adigar” and he will work concurrently with the Assistant Agent. Read again what Burrows had written about Dullewa in 1889. A.C. Lawrie (1896) wrote that the Governor conferred the rank of Adigar on Dullewa but silent about later developments. Conferring Adigarships to their faithful servants was a ruse employed by the British colonialists. In 1890  the Legislative Council sanctioned Dullewa’s appointment as Adigar of Matale. 

During the reign of Kandyan kings there were only two Adigars, Udagampaha and Pallegampaha respectively.

(2.2) Another scion of a former office holder who rose to the rank of Dissava was Dorakumbura of Matale.  Appointed to a minor rank in 1826 as Atapattuwa Lekam, in 1836 he was made a Korala of Gampaha Siya Paththwa and in 1849 Deputy Coroner; In 1857 he was appointed Rate Mahattaya of Matale North and in 1872 Rate Mahattaya of Matale South respectively. In 1884 he was granted the honorary rank of Dissava by Governor Arthur Gordon.

Kandyan kings never had honorary Dissavas in their provincial administration.

(2.3) Dorakumbura was the President of Matale South Gamsabava and member of District Road Committee.  After serving 64 years he retired in 1890 and was allowed to receive a full pension and to hold the office of Justice of Peace (JP), the first Kandyan honoured with the title JP and Inquirer into Deaths. He was succeeded by a Keppetipola.

(2.4) S. M. Burrows Acting Assistant Government Agent of Nuwara Eliya proposed to appoint an additional Korala to Kotmale Division in 1899.

(2.5) Nugawela Rate Mahattaya was created” Dissawa, writes J.P. Lewis, Acting Government Agent of Central Province in 1902.

(2.6) A comical thing happened in North Central Province in 1903. Nikawewa, retired Rate Mahattaya of Hurulu Palatha was invested with the rank of Dissava of Nuwara Kalaviya, a high office which had been in abeyance for over 70 years.  Government Agent L. W. Booth writes the revival of this high office is not only a high honour to the recipient but confers distinction on the whole body of the Chiefs and is a recognition of the important place which the North Central Province has once more assumed among the principal divisions of the Island”. According to Booth the high rank given to a retiree confers distinction” to other Chiefs and makes NCP on par with other provinces in the Island. But NCP remained one of the most under-developed, impoverished provinces in the Island.

(2.7) In 1906 a Rubber Exhibition” was held at Peradeniya. Exhibition buildings was decorated in Kandyan style with painted pillars and coloured clothes.  For the interest shown by Mr. William Dunuwilla, Police Magistrate of Matale in the erection and adornment of the rubber exhibition buildings and the prompt manner in which they were got ready in time for the opening” he was granted the title of Dissava by the Governor and duly invested on the King’s birthday” wrote JP Lewis, Government Agent of Central Province.

Luckily there was no social media. Otherwise he would have dubbed Rubber Dissava”!

(2.8) Nugawela Rate Mahattaya who was seconded to assist him was gazetted a JP for the District of Kandy.

(2.9) In 1906 Hulugalla Rate Mahattaya of a division in NWP was created” an Adigar.

(2.10) Illangantillake of the Police Courts, Kurunegala was appointed a President of Village Tribunal in 1906.

(2.11) In 1907 P.B. Ratwatte, the first probationary attached to the Kandy Kachcheri was appointed as Rate Mahattaya of Tumpane. This was a new method adopted in appointing Chief Headmen.

(2.12) In 1908 J. C. Lankatillaka Kachcheri Muhandiram of Badulla was appointed RM of Wellawaya.

(2.13) G.H. Dimbulana of the Provincial Road Committee of Badulla appointed RM of Wellassa in the same year.

(2.14) Mahawelatenna who went on retirement was reinstated as Rate Mahattaya of Meda and Kadawatha Korales, Sabaragamuwa in 1908. On his retirement in 1912 he was made a JP and an Unofficial Magistrate.

 (2.15) In 1909 on the King’s birthday three Kandyan chiefs were conferred with higher ranks:

(a) the rank of Dissava on Moneravila Keppetipola Loku Banda retired Rate Mahattaya of Matale South. (Thus, retired officials were also elevated to higher ranks, a thing that had never happened during the reigns of Kings of Kandy).

(b) the rank of Rate Adikaram on Weerasekera Mudiyanselage Kalu Banda Korala of Udispattuwa, Uda Dumbara. Rate Adikaram was aninferior post to that of Rate Mahattaya and the majority of the officials who held this rank hailed from Matale Maha Disava.

(c) the rank of Disava Lekam on Samarasinghe Mudiyanselage Punchi Rala Korala of Gangawata Korale, Yatinuwara. (In the reign of Kandyan Kings Disava Lekam or Disava Mohottala was an officer appointed by a Disava to represent his interests in the Disava).

 Lewis Government Agent of Central Province wrote: The last two were the first cases in which these ranks were conferred during British rule so far I am aware. The ranks have been revived in order to provide Kandyan headmen of the status of Koralas and others with titles corresponding to those of Muhandiram, Arachchi etc. issued for the Low Country Sinhalese, from which they are debarred”.

 (2.16) In 1910, P. A. C. Ekneligoda who was the Kachcheri Muhandiram of North Central Province was promoted as Kachcheri and Gravets Muhandiram.

(2.17) Among those who received Coronation honours in 1910, was L. B. Yatawara retired RM of Patha Hewaheta . He was conferred the rank of Dissava for serving 35 years.

(2.18) On the occasion of His Majesty’s birthday, rank of Rate Lekam was bestowed on Batangala Banda Korale of Kalupita Pattu South, Kegalle in 1911. 

(2.19) The rank of Dissava was conferred on J.H. Meedeniya RM of Tun Korale and Patha Bulatgama in June 1912.

 (2.20) When L. B. Halangoda RM of Matale East left owing to ill-health in 1912, acting appointment was given to D.B. Uduwawala, Gansabava Clerk.

(2.21) On the occasion of King’s birthday in 1913 L.B. Nugawela RM of Beligal Korale, Kegalle was made a JP.

(2.22) On his retirement Mahawelatenna was made a JP and Unofficial Police Magistrate in 1913.

(2.23) In 1920 on the King’s birthday the rank of Adigar was conferred on J. H. Meedeniya retired Dissava who was a Member of the Legislative Council, regarded as the senior retired Chief Headman.  The Assistant Government Agent of Kegalle District, A. W. Seymore wrote,” the people of the District made several spontaneous demonstrations of their satisfaction over this appointment”. Seymore did not know how demonstrations” were organised, whether they were spontaneous” or not.

 (2.24) When Tennakone Rate Mahattaya of a division in North Western Province retired after 46 years of service in 1920 he was given the rank of Hon. Dissava.

 (2.25) K. B. Welagedeara RM of Kotmale died in 1921; S. B. Talwatta of Kandy kachcheri was appointed in his place.

(2.26) L.B. Bogahalanda RM of Dambadeni Hatpttuwa retired after47 years of service in 1921. He was succeeded by T. W. Maralanda, President of Weuda Villi Hathpaththuwa.

(2.27) In 1923 on the King’s birthday E. A.  Elapatha, Rate Mahattaya of a division in Sabaragamuwa was honoured with the rank of Dissava, in recognition of his long and meritorious services”, wrote G.F.R. Browning Government Agent of Sabaragamuwa.

(2.28) When L.B. Bulakulama retired as Rate Mahattaya of Nuwaragam Palatha in NCP in 1923, he was made a Dissava.

(2.29) In 1927 C. B. Hindagala, President of VT of Walapone and Uda Hewaheta was succeeded by R. B. Kulugammana, Vernacular Writer” of Nuwara Eliya kachcheri.

(2.30) J.R. Nugawela, President of VT of Devamedi Hathpattuwa NWP, was appointed as RM of Uda Hevaheta, Nuwara Eliya District in 1930.

(2.31) G.J.B. Kiriella, President of VT of Navadun Korale of Sabaragamuwa was   appointed as RM of Kukul Korale in the same year.

(2.32) C. P. Dunuwila, Clerk in Nuwara Eliya kachcheri appointed as President of VTs of Uda Hevaheta and Walapone when R. B. Kulugammana retired on the recommendations of a Medical Board in 1932.  

(2.33) L. Nugawela Dissava of NWP was given the rank of 2^nd Adigar on the king’s birthday, a very strange appointment. Nugawela was the RM of Katugampola Hathpattuwa who retired in 1930 after serving 39 years and 6 months. Only during Kandyan Kings’ reigns we had a 1^st Adigar and a 2^nd Adigar.

(2.34) On the same occasion P. B. Madahapola RM of Hiriyalapattu was made a Dissava.

(2.35) At the death of P. A. C. Ekneligoda, Kachcheri and Gravets Mudliyar of Ratnapura in 1932, K. B. Kaduruwewa Kachcheri Muhandiram succeeded him.

(2.36) In 1936 S. L. B. Dharmakeerthi, RM of Matale North was succeeded by H. B. Tenne, President of VT of Matale North. In place of Tenne S.A. Yatawara, Proctor S.C. was appointed.

(2.37) T. W. Maralanda , RM of Weuda Villi Hatpattuwa NWP retired in 1939 and was made a Dissava.

3. Presidents of Village Tribunals and Unofficial Magistrates

Some RMs were appointed either as Presidents of Village Tribunals or Unofficial Police Magistrates.  

(3.1) In 1898 T. B. Yatawara RM of Uda Palatha and Panabokke RM of a division in Matale were made Unofficial Police Magistrates.

(3.2) Dunuvila in 1902 was made Police Magistrate in Matale.

(3.3) A new post of President of VT in Uda Palatha, Uda Bulathgama and Patha Hewaheta was created in 1905 and A.B. Galagoda RM of Yatinuwara was given it on a salary of Rs. 1452/= per annum with a travelling allowance Rs.360/= per annum.

(3.4) Rambukwelle RM of Uda Dumbara  was the President of VT of Uda Dumbara. When Rambukwelle went on sick leave in 1905 RM of Patha Dumbara acted for him and P. B. Ratwatte a probationer was sent as RM of Patha Dumbara to act for him. Rambukwella died in December same year.

(3.5) T. B. Katugaha, RM of Yatikinda wasappointed as President of VT in Patha Dumbara in 1907 and W.R. Bibile, RM of Butthala was reinstated as RM Buththala in the same year.

(3.6) In 1920 T.H.E. Moonamale was made police Magistrate of Dandagamuwa, NWP and in the same year newly created President of VT of Beligal Korale, Kegalle was conferred on Polgasdeniya.

(3.7) (a) L. B. Hulangamuwa RM of Matale East was appointed as President of VT of Matale East relieving the RM of Matale East of his judicial functions. (b) J. R. Nugawela RM of Uda Hevaheta left on transfer as President VT of Uda Dumbara and Patha Dumbara in 1936. Some held both offices concurrently. 

4. Additional Office and Justices of Peace

Additional work given enhanced the positions of Kandyan Office Holders.

Rate Mahattayas were appointed as members of various Commissions in recognition of their loyal service; Dullewa as a member of Buddhist Temporalities Commission, Dullewa Banda as a member of the Grain Commission, J.H. Meedeniya Rate Mahattaya of Tun Korale as a member of the Commission which considered the question of Agricultural Banks are few examples. In addition, some functioned as members of Provincial Road Committees, District School Committees/ Rural Education Committees (Government Agent as Chairman of both Committees), Sanitary Boards (e.g. R. E. Paranagama RM of Patha Dumbra in 1919 and A.J.W. Marambe, retired RM of Uda Bulathgama (compiler of Tri Sinhale Kadaim Potha, pioneer in the study of kadaim poth – boundary books). 

In 1923, W.A. Udugama RM was made Vice Chairman of Matale Urban District Council. Koralas were appointed as Attendance Officers (schools).

As in the reign of Kandyan Kings Kandyan Headmen concurrently held positions of RM or Dissava and the position of Diyawadana Nilame or Basnayaka Nilame positions.

Almost all Rate Mahattayas and Dissaves after retirement were appointed as Justices of Peace (JP). Those days JPs had wide powers: visiting police stations, attending drills, supervising musketry, being available at times of emergency, ready to take charge of any police station and give orders in the event of any disturbance, fire, serious accidents and other calamities.

5. Hereditary Office

Sons, sons-in-law, nephews, brothers, brothers-in-law and other close relatives succeeded office holders (after their demise or retirement) making the office hereditary as in ancient times. Chieftains were allowed to serve even if they reach ripe age. They retired only on account of old age or ill-health, allowing their kinsmen to succeed them. Thus, colonialists too made certain positions hereditary.    

(5.1) A Keppetipola was appointed Rate Mahattaya of Matale South in 1890. He was none other than Monaravila Keppetipola’s grandson.  He retired in 1902 after serving 36 years having served as RM of Matale North for 10 years and RM of Matale South for 12 years respectively.  His father, Monaravila’s son Loku Banda was sent to Colombo as approved by Governor Edward Barnes to be educated in English says Lawrie. In 1822 he was permitted by the Governor to visit his grandmother at Matale for three months. Another version of this story is that Keppetipola’s son was sent to Christian College, Kotte (present Sri Jayawardenapura Maha Vidyalaya) and he died there.

Sanction was received by the Assistant Government Agent, Matale to appoint Keppetipola Rate Mahattaya’s son H.D. Keppetipola who was acting for his father as Rate Mahattaya of Matale East two cocoa seasons”. 

(5.2) In 1890 son of Dorakumbura Dissava, Dorakumbura Korala was made President of Village Tribunal of Matale East.

(5.3) In 1894 William Ellawela who held the post of Rate Mahattaya of Navadun Korale in Sabaragamuwa for 28 years and 9 months retired. His retirement was formally accepted by the Governor at a Durbar held in Old Fort at Ratnapura. At the same time his son Francis Ellawela was appointed to succeed him.

(5.4) In 1903 When Kachcheri Muhandiram Nugapitiya died his brother succeeded him. This was a case of brother succeeding brother as in the ancient times.

(5.5) Soon after Nikawewa retired RM was invested with the rank of Dissava in 1903, his son-in-law K. B. Panabokke was appointed Rate Mahattaya of Kalagam Palatha, NCP.

(5.6) When T.B. Ekneligoda, retired from his office of Rate Mahattaya of Kuruvita Korale, Sabaragamuwa he was appointed JP for the province. He was succeeded by his nephew J.W. Ekneligoda in 1904.

(5.7) Nugawela Disava , Rate Mahattaya of Harispattuwa retired in 1905 after 45 years of loyal and faithful service”. He was succeeded by his son P.B. Nugawela: in recognition of the unbroken service of his family to British Government”. 

(5.8) In 1906 Maduwanwala Rate Mahattaya of Kolonna Korale (hero of modernmyth makers), Sabaragamuwa retired after 21 years of service. He was succeeded by his brother-in-law Kalawane P. Banda. In the ensuing parts we will discuss how he organised elephant kraals for the pleasure of Governors and British Royalty.

(5.9) In 1908 J. C. Lankatillake, a Kachcheri Muhandiram was appointed Rate Mahattaya of Wellawaya. Later in 1920 on his transfer to Udukinda, he was succeeded by V. E. Lankatilake, his family member.

(5.10) At the demise of Ellawela his son succeeded him as Rate Mahattaya.

(5.11) When Alawathugoda Rate Mahattaya of Walapane retired in 1913 he was succeeded by his son.

(5.12) Dingiri Banda Korale of Laggala Udasiyapattuwa retired in 1912 and was succeeded by his brother Kiri Wasthu.    

(5.13) When C.B. Nugawela Rate Mahattaya of Udunuwara resigned in 1912 after serving 44 years, his family member T.B. Nugawela succeeded him.

(5.14) P.B. Alawathugoda RM of Walapone retired in 1913; he was succeeded by his son M.B. Alawathugoda who at the time held the post of President of VT of Nuwaragam Palatha in NCP.

(5.15) When L.B. Bulakulama retired as Rate Mahattaya of Nuwaragam Palatha in NCP in 1923, he was made a Dissava and the post was remained in the Nuwarawewa family by the appointment of his son”.

The importance of political aspect of this practice, camouflaged as the advantages of training young Kandyans of good family” was described by Kegalle Assistant Government Agent Price, in his 1889 Report.

END OF PART III

Dr Sudath Gunasekara

Indira Gandhi government gave Katchatheevu Island to Sri Lanka: PM Modi(PTI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday blamed the Congress for the partition of India and also said it was the Indira Gandhi government which gave the Katchatheevu Island to Sri Lanka in 1974. 

The island, located between Rameswaram (India) and Sri Lanka, was traditionally used by both Sri Lankan and Indian fishermen. In 1974, then Prime minister Indira Gandhi accepted Katchatheevu as Sri Lankan territory under the “Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime Agreement”.

“These people divided mother India into three parts for politics..,” the prime minister said in Lok Sabha, launching a blistering attack on the Congress during his reply to a debate on a no-confidence motion.

The prime minister said the DMK government in Tamil Nadu keeps writing to him urging to bring Katchatheevu back to India.

“Katchatheevu is an island between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. Somebody gave it to another country. It happened under the leadership of Indira Gandhi,” he said.

“Wasn’t that part of Maa Bharati there?” Modi asked in an apparent response to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s remark during the debate on Wednesday.(PTI)

Mr President RW this is the time to re-think about your MOUs with this  with all his dealing with Tamils in Sri Lanka and the seemingly  friendly hand We inSri Lnka remember how he expanded his hands by giving a loan of  US $  50 sometime back to buy fuel badly needed from India where we had to pay the loan interest which means  a total of 50+50 +in + the repatriated profit will definitely will be closer to more than US$  350 M This displays the  true colours of  Indian Modis policies towards its neighboursto light .

විමල් පටබැඳිගේ – ශාස්ත‍්‍රවේදී, නීතිඥ, විශ‍්‍රාමික සොලිසිටර්

2 වෙනි කොටසෙන්

ඓතිහාසික තොරතුරු සහ පුරාවිද්‍යා සාධක අනුව ව්‍ය.ව. 13 වෙනි සියවසේ සිට ව්‍ය.ව. 16 වෙනි සියවසේ මුල් කාලය තුළ ද යාපාපටුනේ, යාපන අර්ධද්වීපයේ, පවා ස්ථාවර ද්‍රවිඩ/දෙමළ පදිංචියක් හෝ පාලනයක් පැවති බව තහවුරු නොවේ.

3 වෙනි කොටස

ව්‍ය.ව. 19 වෙනි සියවසට පෙර යුරෝපීය ආක‍්‍රමණිකයන් සිතියම් මගින් දැන සිටියේ නුවරකලාවිය සහ වන්නි ප‍්‍රදේශය (පළමු පළාත් බෙදීමෙන් උතුරු පළාතට ඇතුළත් කරන ලද භූමිය* අලි ඇතුන් සහ වන මෘගයන් බහුල ව ගැවසෙන, ඝණ වනාන්තර සහිත කඳුකර ප‍්‍රදේශයක් ලෙස ය. (* එමෙන් ම ව්‍ය.ව. 19 වෙනි සියවසේ අවසාන කාලයේ ද නැගෙනහිර පළාතේ තඹලගම (තම්පලකාමන්*, කොටසර (කොට්ටියාර්* සහ මඩකලපුව ඝණ වනාන්තරයක්25 (* ලෙස පැවති බව ඉංගිරිසි පාලන නිලධාරීන් වාර්තා කොට ඇත. 

උතුරු සහ නැගෙනහිර පළාත් දෙකට ඇතුළත් යාපාපටුන, කොට්ටියාර්, තිරිකුණාමලය, මඩකලපුව, කල්පිටිය, අරිප්පු, මන්නාරම ආදී ප‍්‍රදේශ ද සහිත සම්පූර්ණ භූමිය ව්‍ය.ව. 18 වෙනි සියවසේ අවසානය දක්වා වූ කාලයේ ද සිංහල රජුගේ පාලන අධිකාරිත්වය යටතේ පැවති බව බෝල්දිඅස්26 (* සඳහන් කරයි. එමෙන් ම එය ලන්දේසීන් පවා පිළිගත් කරුණකි.(* යාපාපටුන සහ බටහිර නැව්තොටු ආශි‍්‍රත ප‍්‍රදේශවල බලවතුන් වූ ලන්දේසීන් 1766ට පෙර රටේ වෙළඳ කටයුතු සඳහා අවසර ලබාගැනීමට වාර්ෂිකව සෙන්කඩගල රාජ්‍යයට පුද පඬුරු ගෙන ගොස් ඇත. ලන්දේසීන් අත්පත් කරගෙන සිටි ප‍්‍රදේශවල ලන්දේසි නිලධාරීන් පවා නියමිත පරිදි සෙංකඩගල රාජ්‍ය භාණ්ඩාගාරයට වාර්ෂිකව බදු ගෙවන ලද බව සර් ජෝන් ඩොයිලි එළිදරවු කරයි.(* 

පුර්තුගීසි විසුරේ දොන් කොන්ස්ටන්ටිනෝ ඩි බ‍්‍රගන්සාගේ නියමය අනුව පුර්තුගීසි භටයන් ව්‍ය.ව. 1561 වසර ආරම්භයේ දකුණු ඉන්දියාවෙන් (පුම්කාලේ* ද්‍රවිඩයන් බොහෝ පිරිසක් ගෙනවිත් වන්නියට අයත් මන්නාරම් ප‍්‍රදේශයේ පදිංචි කරවා ඇත. ඒ ප‍්‍රදේශයේ (පුම්කාලේ* බිෂොප් විසින් කතෝලික භක්තිකයන් බවට පත් කරන ලැබූ ඔවුන් තන්ජෝරයේ නායක් පාලකයන්ගේ හිංසා පීඩාවලින් මිදීමේ සහ ඉඩම් ලබා ගැනීමේ අශාවෙන් පුර්තුගීසීන් සමග පැමිණි බව ටි‍්‍රනිඩාඬේ සඳහන් කරයි. (* ද්‍රවිඩ භූමියෙන් මිනිසුන් ගෙනාවේ පුර්තුගීසි නායකයන්ගේ, වෙළෙන්දන්ගේ සහ හමුදාවේ කුදුමහත් සේවා කටයුතු සපුරා ගැනීමේ සහ ආරක්‍ෂිත භූමියක් පිහිටුවා ගැනීමේ ද අරමුණු ඇතිව ය. මෙය යුරෝපීයයන් වන්නියේ මලබාර්/ද්‍රවිඩ කොලනි පිහිටුවීමේ වාර්තාගත පළමු අවස්ථාව ය. එමෙන් ම පුර්තුගීසීන් ව්‍ය.ව. 1619 දී පැහැරගත් යාපාපටුන මුදාගැනීම සඳහා සෙනරත් රජු 1623 හමුදා යැවීමෙන් පසු කිලාලි කලපුවේ දකුණු තෙරට යාබද වන්නි ප‍්‍රදේශයේ උතුරු බිම් තීරය වගා කටයුතු සඳහා තමන් ගෙන්වා ගත් ද්‍රවිඩයන්ට බෙදා දුන් බව ව්‍ය.ව. 1645 දී සඳහන් කරන දොන් පිලිප්පේ මස්කරඤ්ඤා30 (* ඒ බිම් කොටස් බෙදීමේ දී ඉතා පැහැදිලි ලෙස ම සිංහල ”ගම” යන වචනය භාවිත කොට ඇත. ව්‍ය.ව. 17 වෙනි සියවසේ මුල් භාගයේ ද මේ ප‍්‍රදේශය සිංහල ජනාවාස පිරි භූමියක් වූ බව එළිදරවු කරයි. එමෙන් ම යාපාපටුනට ආසන්න වන්නි ප‍්‍රදේශයේ උතුරු සීමාවේ බිම් තීරුවේ ද්‍රවිඩ ජනයා පදිංචි කරවීම හෙළි කරයි. බොහෝ විට යාපන අර්ධද්වීපයේ තම බලය රැුකගැනීම සඳහා සිංහල රාජ්‍යයට එරෙහි ව මිනිස් පවුරක් ලෙස පිහිටුවා ගැනීමක් විය හැකි ය. 

කෝටටේ ධර්මපාල රජු (1551-1597* විසින් කරන ලද ප‍්‍රදානයක් අනුව ඔහු මියගිය පසු පුර්තුගීසීන් යාපාපටුන තමන්ට අයිති බව කියා ඇත. එහෙත් සීතාවක රාජ්‍යය සහ සෙන්කඩගල රාජ්‍යය ප‍්‍රධාන බාධක විය. ආර්ථික වාසි සඳහා වරින් වර වන්නිය ආක‍්‍රමණය කළ පුර්තුගීසීන් වන්නිවරයෙකු යටත් කිරීමෙන් පසු ඔහුගේ ප‍්‍රදේශය හරහා සතුරන්, සිංහල හමුදා ගමන් කරතොත් ඒ බව පුර්තුගීසීන්ට දැනුම් දීමට ගිවිසුමෙන් බැඳ ගැනීම31(* 17 වෙනි සියවසේ ද වන්නිය සම්පූර්ණයෙන් ම පුර්තුගීසීන්ට යටත් නොවූ, සිංහල ප‍්‍රදේශයක් වූ බව රිබෙයිරෝ එළිදරවු කරයි. 

ලන්දේසි කාලයේ පවා වන්නිය සම්පූර්ණයෙන් ඔවුන්ගේ යටත් ප‍්‍රදේශයක් නොවී ය. 1766 වසර තෙක් ඔවුන් යටතේ පැවතියේ (පුර්තුගීසීන්ගෙන් අල්ලාගත් මන්නාරමට අමතරව* වන්නියේ හෙට්ටිකුලම්පත්තුව (ඉංගිරිසීන් ලකුණු කළ වවුනියා දිස්ති‍්‍රක්කයේ චෙඞ්ඩිකුලම* පමණ කි. (* අනෙක් ප‍්‍රදේශ සිංහල රජුගේ අණසක යටතේ පැවතුණි. ව්‍ය.ව. 1766 සිංහල සහ ලන්දේසි ගිවිසුම එය සනාථ කරයි.33( * එමෙන් ම දෙවෙනි විමලධර්මසූරිය (1687-1707* සහ කීර්ති ශී‍්‍ර රාජසිංහ (1747-1781* රජුන් ලන්දේසී බල ප‍්‍රදේශ තුළ වූ වැලිගම සහ කැළණිය ප‍්‍රදේශවල ද ඉඩම් පැවරීම් සිදු කොට ඇත.(* ව්‍ය.ව. 18 වෙනි සියවසේ අවසන් කාර්තුව තෙක් වන්නි ප‍්‍රදේශයේ ලන්දේසි හෝ වෙනත් විජාතික පාලනයක් පැවති බව ඓතිහාසික වාර්තා සහ තත් කාලීන සිතියම් සනාථ නොකරයි. 

ව්‍ය.ව. 13 වෙනි සියවස සහ 19 වෙනි සියවස අතර කාලය තුළ දිවයිනේ නැගෙනහිර ප‍්‍රදේශය, තිරිකුණාමලය, මඩකලපුව සහ අම්පාර (දිගාමඬුල්ල* දිස්ති‍්‍රක්ක හා සම්බන්ධ ඓතිහාසික, සංස්කෘතික සහ සමාජ කරුණු නැගෙනහිර පළාතේ වෙන් වූ දෙමළ දේශපාලනයක් හෝ දෙමළ ආධිපත්‍යයක් පැවති බව තහවුරු නොකරයි. යාපන අර්ධද්වීපෙට යාබද ඊශාණදිග ප‍්‍රදේශය, නැගෙනහිර සහ ගිනිකොනදිග ප‍්‍රදේශවල දේශපාලන ගැටළු සමග බද්ධ වීම සඳහා ඊශාණදිග භූමි ප‍්‍රදේශය තුළ ව්‍ය.ව. 13 වෙනි සියවස තුළ හෝ 19 වෙනි සියවසේ අවසාන කාලය වෙන තෙක් ද්‍රවිඩ වාර්ගිකයන් ස්ථිරව පදිංචි වී සිටි බවට සාධක නැත. යුරෝපීය ආක‍්‍රමණිකයන්ගේ මැදිහත් වීමට පසු විශේෂයෙන් ම ඉංගිරිසි කොලනිවාදී පාලනය යටතේ දිවයිනේ ඊශාණදිග ප‍්‍රදේශයේ පමණක් නොව නැගෙනහිර පළාතේ ද ද්‍රවිඩ/දෙමළ කොලනි පිහිටුවීම ආරම්භ විය.

යාපන අර්ධද්වීප දකුණු සීමාව සහ නැගෙනහිර පළාතේ උතුරු සීමාව අතර ප‍්‍රදේශය තුළ කුරුඳුගමුරට=කුරුන්දි=කුරුන්දන්වූර්,35 (* මානාවතුරට = මානාමත්ත (*, ඡුාවාගච්ඡෙරිරට, මාරච්චිරට, බලතඩිරට, මඩුවල්ලියාරට, කනුකිනියාරට, පදී (පදවිය*, ගිරිකණ්ඩ, කෝකාලයරට, පුල්මුට්ටේ, තිරියාය, පල්ලවවංක, මුලතිව් ආදී ප‍්‍රදේශ, රැුටිය, රටලදු, රටලද්දා, දිසාවේ ආදී පදවි නාමයෙන් හඳුන්වන ලද රාජ්‍ය පාලන නිලධාරියෙකු යටතේ පැවති සිංහල බෞද්ධ ජනාවාස බව ගම්පොළ රාජ්‍ය යුගයට අයත් ශී‍්‍ර ලංකා කඩඉම්පොත, සෙංකඩගල (මහනුවර* රාජ්‍ය යුගයට අයත් ති‍්‍ර සිංහලේ කඩඉම්පොත ආදී කඩඉම්පොත්වලින් (* සහ මහාවංසය, පූජාවලිය, නිකාය සංග‍්‍රහය ආදි ඓතිහාසික ලේඛනවලින් සහ පුරාවිද්‍යා සාධකවලින් හෙළි වෙයි. 

ගම්වල ගොඩනගා තිබූ, ¥රාතීතයේ සිට පැවති පුරාණ වැව් සහ වෙහෙර විහාර සියල්ල ම වාගේ විනාශ වෙමින් සහ විනාශ කරමින් පැවති බව ඉංගිරිසි පාලන නිල වාර්තාවලින් එළිදරවු කෙරෙයි. ව්‍ය.ව. 19 වෙනි සියවසේ අවසාන කාලයේ ආණ්ඩුවේ ඒජන්ත ජේ.පී. ලූවිස් මේ සම්බන්ධ තොරතුරු අති විශාල ප‍්‍රමාණයක් වාර්තා කොට ඇත.38(* බෞද්ධ පුරාවිද්‍යා භූමි ලෙස නිශ්චිත ලෙස හඳුනා ගනු ලැබූ ස්ථාන පනහක් පමණ ලේඛන ගත කොට ඇත. ව්‍ය.ව. 2012 දී මුලතිව් දිස්ති‍්‍රක්කයේ කුරුන්දන්වූර් (කුරුන්දන්කුලම්* නමින් හඳුන්වනු ලබන, මිහිඳු හිමියන් පවා වැඩසිටි ලෙස සැලකෙන, පුරාණ කුරුඳුගමුරට (කුරුන්දි* ප‍්‍රදේශයේ ඛල්ලාටනාග රජු (ව්‍ය.ව.පූ. 109-103* විසින් ගොඩනගන ලද,39 (* ව්‍ය.ව.පූ. යුගයේ සිට පැවති අංග සම්පූර්ණ බෞද්ධ විහාර සංකීර්ණයක නටබුන් සහ පුරාණ සිංහල ප‍්‍රාකෘත (බ‍්‍රාහ්මී* සෙල්ලිපි සොයාගෙන ඇත. සමීක්‍ෂණ මගින් ස්ථාන තව තවත් සොයාගනිමින් ඇත. (යාපනේ, වන්නිය, මන්නාරම සහ නැගෙනහිර පළාතේ ප‍්‍රදේශ සම්බන්ධ සත්‍ය ඉතිහාසය සනාථ කරන සාධක ලැබෙන හෙයින් පුරාවිද්‍යා පර්යේෂණ කැණීම් සහ ගවේෂණවලට එරෙහි ව සමහර වර්ගවාදී ද්‍රවිඩ/දෙමළ සංවිධාන සහ දේශපාලකයන් බාධා කරමින් විරෝධතා දක්වමින් ඇත. වර්ගවාදීන්, ජාතිවාදීන් මානව ශිෂ්ටාචාර විරෝධීන් වී ඇත.* වංසකථා ඇතුළු පුරාණ ලේඛනවල කුරුන්දි, කුරුඳුගමුරට ආදී ලෙසින් සඳහන් කොට ඇති සිංහල රාජ්‍ය පාලන ඒකකයට අයත් වූ භූමි ප‍්‍රදේශය, ඉංගිරිසි කොලනිවාදීන් විසින් වර්තමාන මුලතිව් දිස්ති‍්‍රක්කය නිර්මාණය කිරීමට යොදාගෙන ඇත. ඉංගිරිසීන් මුහුදුබඩ පළාත අහෝසි කොට සීමා වෙනස් කොට වන්නි ප‍්‍රදේශය යළි නිර්මාණය කිරීමට පෙර සහ මලබාර් කොලනි පිහිටුවීමට පෙර නැගෙනහිර පළාතේ උතුරු සීමාවේ සිට යාපන අර්ධද්වීප සීමාව (කිලාලි කලපුව* දක්වා වූ භූමි ප‍්‍රදේශය, දිවයිනේ ඊශාණදිග ප‍්‍රදේශය සිංහල බෞද්ධ ජන්ම භූමියක් විය. 

…… 4 වෙනි කොටසට

නීතියේ සිංහල නුගමුල” ෆීන්ක්ස් නීති සාර සංග්‍රහය,වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහ

1. සංශෝධිත සිංහල  කෙටුම්පතේ ඇති පාඨ අතර වෙනස්කම්/ විෂමතාවන් සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඒවාට අදාල හේතු දක්වා තිබේද යන්න සහ එම වෙනස්කම්/ විෂමතාවන් මුල් සිංහල පනතට අදාලව හේතු දක්වා තිබේද යන්න.

2.  සංශෝධිත සිංහල පනත් කෙටුම්පතේ ඇති පාඨ අතර වෙනස්කම්/ විෂමතාවන් සම්බන්ධයෙන් නීති පැනවීමේ භාෂාව අදාලව අනුගමනය කළ යුතු ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 23 ව්‍යවස්ථාව අනුව ක්‍රියා කර තිබේද , නැද්ද යන්න සම්බන්ධයෙන් හේතු දක්වා තිබේද යන්න.

3. සිංහල පනත් කෙටුම්පතේ පවතින වෙනස්කම්/ විෂමතාවන් මුල් සිංහල පනතට අනුව සැළකීමේදී ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 23 ව්‍යවස්ථාව අනුව ක්‍රියාකර තිබේද නැද්ද යන්න සම්බන්ධයෙන් හේතු දක්වා තිබේද යන්න.

4. ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 9 වන උපලේඛනයේ 1 වන ලැයිස්තුව වන
පළාත් සභා ලැයිස්තුවේ ඇති අංක 11.1, 11.2, 12, 36.5 අයිතමය යටතේ ඇති කාරණා පනත් කෙටුම්පතේ දක්වා ඇති හෙයින් ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 154 උ.3 ව්‍යවස්ථාව අදාල වන්නේද නොවන්නේද යන්න සම්බන්ධයෙන් හේතු දක්වා තිබේද යන්න.

5. කතානායකවරයා වෙත පෙත්සමක පිටපතක් ලබා නොදීම මත එක් පෙත්සම්කරුවෙකු ඉවත් කිරීමේදී නියමිත කාලය තුළ තැපැල් කර තිබේනම් එය පසුව ලැබීම දෝෂයක් බවට තීරණය කර නොමැති  2012 ඔක්තෝබර් 09 වැනිදා දිවිනැගුම පනත් කෙටුම්පත සම්බන්ධයෙන් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ කතානායකවරයා
ලබා දුන් තීරණය සළකමින් එකී හේතු දක්වා තිබේද යන්න.

(ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 3, 12, 20, 23, 24, 79, 118, 120, 121, 123, 154 උ.3, 170 ව්‍යවස්ථා ඇසුරෙන්)

http://neethiyalk.blogspot.com/2023/08/2023.html?m=1

“නීතියේ සිංහල නුගමුල”
ෆීන්ක්ස් නීති සාර සංග්‍රහය,
වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන

 අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව, ඉන්දියාව සහ නේපාලයේ ත්‍රිවිධ හමුදාවන් සහ තරුණ තරුණියන්ගේ සහභාගිත්වයෙන් බුදුන් උපන් ලුම්බිණියේ සිට ඉන්දියාවේ සිද්ධස්ථාන හරහා කොළඹ දක්වා පැවැත්වීමට නියමිත ප්‍රදර්ශනාත්මක යතුරුපැදි  සවාරිය පිළීබඳ මූලික සාකච්ඡාවක් අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් 2023.08.10 දින අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේදී පැවැත්විණී.

 කුසිනාරා, බුද්ධගයා, ශාවස්ත්‍රී, සාරානාත් සංකස්ස යන ප්‍රදේශ හරහා පැමිණෙන  යතුරුපැදි සවාරිය මහාරාෂ්ඨ ප්‍රාන්තයේ අජන්තා එල්ලෝරා පසු කරමින් දකුණු ඉන්දියාවට පැමිණ රාමේෂ්වරම් හරහා කොළඹට පැමිණීමට නියමිතව තිබේ.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව, නේපාලය, ඉන්දියාව යන රටවල් තුන අතර ආගමික හා සංස්කෘතික සම්බන්ධතා අගය කළ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා යතුරුපැදි  සවාරිය සඳහා රජයේ පූර්ණ සහයෝගය ලබාදෙන බවට සහතික විය.

සංස්කෘතික අමාත්‍යාංශයේ මෙහෙයවීමෙන් ලබන දෙසැම්බර් මාසයේ මෙම යතුරුපැදි  සවාරිය පැවැත්වීමට නියමිත අතර මේ පිළිබඳව කතානායක මහින්ද යාපා අබේවර්ධන සහ විෂයභාර අමාත්‍යවරුන් සමගද සාකච්ඡා පවත්වා තිබේ.

 යතුරුපැදි සවාරියේ ප්‍රධාන සංවිධායකයින් වන ඉන්දියාවේ මහාරාෂ්ඨ ප්‍රාන්තයේ රාහුල් පටේල් සහ ප්‍රශාන්ත් කරුල්කර් මෙම සාකච්ඡාවට සහභාගී වූහ. 

 අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය.

DAILY MIRROR

Eastern Province Governor Sendhil Thondaman yesterday issued an order to the Chief Incumbent of Boralukanda Rajamaha Vihara to temporarily halt the ongoing construction and clearing activities at the temple premises. Ven. Viharadhikari Sukhitha Wansatissa Thera said the Trincomalee Town and Gravets Divisional Secretary has informed him in this regard. The temple is located at Periyakulam on Nilaveli Road, Trincomalee.

As per instructions conveyed over the phone by Trincomalee District MP R. Sampandan to the Eastern Governor on the 8th, the Divisional Secretary has provided written notice to halt these activities. The written order, sent by Divisional Secretary Ponnaiah Daneswaran, temporarily suspends the development work at Boralukanda Rajamaha Vihara, based on verbal directives received via phone calls from Trincomalee District Parliament Member Sampanthan and Governor Sendhil Thondaman, due to strong opposition from the local community surrounding the temple.

Copies of the relevant order have been sent to the Governor’s Secretary, District Secretary, Trincomalee Senior Superintendent of Police, Nilaveli Police OIC, and Iluppukulam Grama Niladhari.

Efforts to contact Eastern Governor Sendil Thondaman were unsuccessful, and the Governor’s secretary was reached instead. However, there was no response to the request for the Governor’s viewpoint. (Amadoru Amarajeewa)

ලංකාදීප

මට කාත් එක්කවත් වෛරයක් නැහැ. සමාජය නිවන භික්ෂූන් පිරිහීමේ දොරකඩ ඇද වැටිලා. පීලි පැනපු සමජෙක ඉන්න නිසා උපේක්ෂා සහගතව ඉන්නවා. බොදුබල සේනා සංවිධානයේ ලේකම් ගලගොඩඅත්තේ ඥානසාර හිමි සමඟ ලංකාදීප Online රතුකට්ට විත් අශන්ති වරුණසූරිය සම්පුර්ණ වැඩසටහන ඉදිරියේදී බලාපොරොත්තු වන්න

Reported By: Poornima Murali Courtesy News18

The wrangle between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka over Katchatheevu, the 285-acre island on the Palk Strait, has taken centre stage now, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticising the former PM Indira Gandhi for ceding the land in 1974. The then chief minister M Karunanidhi had written to the prime minister underscoring the historic allegiance of the land to the Raja of Ramnad.

Was it (Katchatheevu) not part of Bharath Mata,” PM Modi said in Parliament while responding to the opposition’s no-confidence motion against his government.

The Prime Minister’s comments came against the backdrop of Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin’s reminder to raise pending issues over the island with Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe during a visit in July.

Stalin in a letter to PM Modi said: The transfer of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka, by the Union Government, without the state government’s consent, has deprived the rights of the Tamil Nadu fishermen and adversely impacted their livelihoods.” The DMK president also reiterated the attempts by Karunanidhi including an appeal to the then Prime Minister in 2006 to retrieve Katchatheevu island.

Tamil Nadu’s periodic reminders and the Centre’s finger-pointing at the 1974 decision have been a regular feature in the state’s political landscape. While not an electoral issue, the ceding of Katchatheevu has often been leveraged as a tool to hit out at the DMK, for it happened during their rule. Another agreement, signed during the Emergency in the absence of a government in Tamil Nadu, clearly demarcated areas where fishermen on either side are disallowed to conduct their activity.

The agreement between India and Sri Lanka on the maritime boundary between both countries in the Gulf of Mannar and the Bay of Bengal was signed on March 23, 1976. It read: The fishing vessels and fishermen of India shall not engage in fishing in the historic waters, the territorial sea and the exclusive zone of Sri Lanka nor shall the fishing vessels and fishermen of Sri Lanka engage in fishing in historic waters, the territorial sea and the exclusive economic zone of India, without the express permission of Sri Lanka or India, as the case may be…”

Tamil Nadu’s fishermen have been frequently facing conflict with Lankan authorities in their usual fishing activity around Katchatheevu. As recently as last month, nine Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu’s Ramanathapuram district were arrested by the Lankan navy between Katchatheevu and Neduntheevu.

The frequent arrests and seizure of boats by the Lankan navy impact livelihoods among Tamil Nadu’s fishermen, which has been a slow-burning issue, fuelling discontent with the state governments. Even during the time of J Jayalalithaa, the Katchatheevu retrieval has been a political point. In June 2016, three months before her hospitalisation and subsequent death, chief minister J Jayalalithaa met with Prime Minister Modi, and one among her points of emphasis was the retrieval of Katchatheevu and a permanent solution to the problem.

Political observer N Sathiya Moorthy said: It is a constant talking political point but never an electoral issue. If you look at the last several elections, no party has won or lost because of the Katchatheevu issue in Ramanathapuram district. It is also pertinent to note that the Prime Minister has mentioned it in Parliament. The Government of India as an institution over the past several decades has reiterated that it is a closed chapter and Katchatheevu is part of Sri Lanka. The Modi government has also reiterated this point more than once.”

 BY SHWETA SHUKLA Courtesy Aviation A2Z

Emirates, which formerly held a 40 percent stake in SriLankan Airlines, might consider responding to the Sri Lankan government’s intention to privatize the airline.

Photo: By Oliver Holzbauer, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53168656

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COLOMBO- According to CEO Richard Nuttall, SriLankan Airlines (UL), poised for privatization and having achieved an operating profit for the first time in 15 years, could become an attractive acquisition target for Gulf-based airlines such as Emirates (EK) and Indian Carrier Air India (AI).

Nuttall indicated that carriers from the Gulf region could capitalize on the airline’s favorable position among its neighboring Asian countries. He told this to The National.

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He emphasized that India is a significant market with great potential for expansion, presenting an appealing prospect for all interested parties.

Among the potential contenders, Nuttall suggested that Emirates, which formerly held a 40 percent stake in SriLankan Airlines, might consider responding to the Sri Lankan government’s intention to privatize the airline.

Emirates held partial ownership of SriLankan Airlines for a decade until the Sri Lankan government acquired all the airline’s shares in 2008. During that year, SriLankan reported a profit of approximately $30 million.

However, under government management over the subsequent seven years, the airline incurred losses amounting to $875 million.

When questioned about the potential involvement of Dubai-based Emirates in the bidding process, Mr. Nuttall clarified that he could not speculate on the intentions of Emirates or other entities from the Gulf.

He mentioned that the government’s approach is to seek expressions of interest within the next few months, and they are aiming for an expedited process.

Triple Trouble for Carrier

SriLankan Airlines has faced a triple blow due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the coordinated Easter suicide bombings in 2019 by Isis, and the financial disruptions experienced last year.

In spite of these challenges, Mr. Nuttall, who possesses experience with eight different airlines, has led the company to achieve an operating profit. This profit could have been notably substantial if not for the inherited debts.

He explained, With a turnover of $1 billion, the business generated a profit of $100 million. However, a major portion of this profit had to be allocated to cover finance charges.” He further emphasized the airline’s operational efficiency, expressing optimism that it will eventually become a profitable venture.

This profit marks the first time since the airline’s management by Emirates in 2008 that it has managed to stay out of the negative financial territory.

Further augmenting income is within reach, especially with the ambitious plan to increase the fleet size from 23 aircraft to 40 within three to five years.

Untapped Indian Market

According to the 57-year-old CEO hailing from Yorkshire, England, there are substantial gains awaiting in the untapped market of India.

During discussions at his Colombo office, he emphasized,

The grand opportunity lies in India. Collaborating with us opens the door to the Indian market from all angles. Hence, I believe this is a compelling attraction for Gulf carriers.”CEO Richard Nuttall, SriLankan Airlines (UL)

Despite India being the world’s most populous nation with 1.4 billion inhabitants, its commercial aircraft count stands at a mere 0.5 per million people. At the same time, China and the United States boast three and thirty aircraft, respectively.

Given the lengthy five-year wait for new commercial aircraft, forming a partnership with a major airline would be immensely advantageous in effectively capitalizing on the expansive Indian market.

We are geographically adjacent to the most densely populated country globally. If we secure an airline investment, it could potentially empower us with increased purchasing capabilities and expertise in specific domains.”CEO Richard Nuttall, SriLankan Airlines (UL)

Tata Air India Group potential Bidder?

While Gulf investors remain a potential option, Indian media sources have also indicated that Tata Enterprises, a prominent industrial conglomerate, might be considering investment following their recent acquisition of Indian Airlines.

With a background that includes roles at Saudi Airlines and Royal Jordanian, Mr. Nuttall proposed that an alliance with Tata Enterprises could be a strategically fitting arrangement.

This is due to Sri Lanka’s geographical proximity to India and its cultural understanding. Additionally, the airline presently serves 14 cities in India.

Highlighting Sri Lanka’s extensive pristine coastline, he emphasized that the country represents the nearest international-friendly beach to India by a considerable margin.”

Furthermore, the airline’s establishment could provide a Gulf carrier with a substantial hub in southern Asia, facilitating onward connections to China, Australia, and Southeast Asia.

Mr. Nuttall underscored that passengers in India who wish to fly east currently have to backtrack for three or four hours to major hubs like Mumbai or Delhi on the west coast before continuing eastward. In essence, we offer you a hub in the southeast, expanding your relevance in multiple directions for numerous cities.”

SriLankan Airlines Privatization Likely in Coming Year

n the previous year, the newly appointed Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe, made a commitment to privatize the airline due to its ongoing losses.

Even if we proceed with the privatization of SriLankan Airlines, this is a burden that we must share, even among the less affluent citizens of this nation who haven’t experienced air travel,” he remarked.

However, during a meeting this year, Ashok Pathirage, Chairman of SriLankan Airlines, stated that over the past three years, we have not received any financial support from the Treasury, not even a single dollar.”

It is understood that the government will determine the privatization steps in the forthcoming year.

SriLankan’s primary revenue sources encompass the substantial diaspora in the UK, Australia, and the Middle East, alongside the Indian market.

Additionally, its unique appeal lies in being situated in an unspoiled tourist destination with a welcoming local population, devoid of excessive development.

I have never encountered a place where so many people have shared, ‘Wow, the most wonderful vacation I’ve had was in Sri Lanka,’” conveyed Mr. Nuttall, who is married and has two teenage children. The people here are genuinely interested and hospitable, fostering a much more personal and human interaction than in other places.”

The new Sri Lankan government’s objective is for him to restore the airline to pre-Covid levels and then assess what potential buyers might desire beyond that.”

Stay tuned with us. Further, follow us on social media for the latest updates.

By Yeshi Seli Courtesy The New Indian Express

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan Ambassador Milinda Moragoda said that India played a significant role in Sri Lanka’s recovery.

NEW DELHI: In an Ambassador-level trilateral meeting, India, Japan and Sri Lanka, spoke about ways to forge ties that would lead to a free and open Indo Pacific.

“The Japanese PM, Fumio Kishida, had highlighted that South Asia as one of the major pillars in Free and Open Indo Pacific. Japan attaches primary importance to ties to India and Sri Lanka as they are indispensable partners,’’ said Japanese Ambassador to India, Hiroshi Suzuki in Delhi on Thursday.

He was speaking on the opening session of the India-Sri Lanka-Japan Trilateral Cooperation.

Ambassador Suzuki also said that they attached a lot of importance to transparent and equitable debt restructuring where all countries take part, he also complimented India’s financial support to Sri Lanka which helped in their debt restructuring. He also said that there should be equal treatment for all creditor countries when it comes to Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan Ambassador, Milinda Moragoda said that India played a significant role in Sri Lanka’s recovery.

“The role of private sectors from both India and Japan have to be enhanced by way of more investments in Sri Lanka. There are four pivotal collaboration areas between India, Japan and Sri Lanka. These include low-carbon power generation, energy hub development, logistics and connectivity and people to people contacts. These proposed collabs aim to strengthen Sri Lanka’s connectivity and trade potential as well as promoting tourism, education, training and skills development,’’ said Ambassador Moragoda.

Meanwhile, Puneet Agrawal, Joint Secretary (Indian Ocean Region) Ministry of External Affairs said that connectivity lay at the core of India’s approach to economic revival of Sri Lanka.

“In terms of maritime connectivity, we are focused on resumption of passenger ferry service between India and Sri Lanka. There is an emphasis on energy, power connectivity and Japan is a reliable partner for both India and Sri Lanka,’’ Agrawal added.

By Dilrukshi Handunnetti Courtesy The New Indian Express

13A has been discussed from ethnic or security standpoints, but not adequately from the political standpoint, with little emphasis on achieving long-lasting peace.

Hot on the heels of his Indian tour, President Ranil Wickremesinghe convened an all-party conference (APC) on July 26 to discuss the future of one of Sri Lanka’s most controversial constitutional amendments ever made: the 13th.

Enacted following the 1987 Indo-Lanka Peace Accord, it paved the way for the creation of nine provinces as devolved units with a temporary merger of the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

A contentious topic at the best of times, there is general agreement that the provincial councils (PCs) have been made to fail by the Lankan government due to the latter’s refusal to empower the provincial administrations meaningfully. The PCs have often appeared as entities that drain public resources and do not serve the public.

From time to time, many Southern political parties have portrayed the PCs as a mechanism designed to undermine the island’s sovereignty and territorial integrity—especially before the demerger of the Northeast was achieved. This impression has largely taken root in the South, and both the PCs and the call for power-sharing are viewed by many Southern parties and sections of the public as supporting the ‘Tamil cause’ or laying the foundation for ‘separatism’. Very little has been done to address these fears and win public confidence vis-à-vis power-sharing as a practical way to build trust among communities and for all people to live with a sense of equality and exercise political rights.

The PCs are also seen as a ‘solution’ thrust upon Sri Lanka by India through a show of power by the latter at a time when it was highly sympathetic to the Tamil political cause wherein certain groups were fighting for a separate homeland for Tamils. There is also a history of Tamil militant groups being trained in parts of South India, so India’s interest in power devolution in the island continues to feed suspicions among some sections.

This inherent distrust of intentions is compounded by the idea that power-sharing may result in emboldened Tamil parties undermining Sri Lanka’s sovereignty. In short, implementing 13A in full will require significant political will and a genuine effort to educate the South on devolution and its merits, apart from addressing the fears harboured by them.

The Amendment’s history and evolution will not make it easy for President Wickremesinghe to garner support among the Southern political parties despite his consistency in pursuing reconciliation—with power-sharing at the core of it. Little wonder that when the APC was convened, political leaders questioned his motives for wanting to bring up the old Amendment, especially when the country’s main concern was to overcome the financial crisis.

Many suspected that this was done for reasons ranging from political expediency targeting possible elections next year to paying India back for the emergency assistance it provided during the recent economic crisis.

These concerns were possibly also fuelled by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to ensure a life of respect and dignity” for the Tamil people of Sri Lanka and the full implementation of the 13th Amendment. We hope Sri Lanka will fulfil the aspirations of the Tamil people. We hope Sri Lanka will fulfil its commitment to implement the 13th Amendment and hold Provincial Council elections,” the Indian Premier said during the meeting with President Wickremesinghe.

For his part, the president expressed his genuine desire to implement the Amendment fully. He told party leaders that Sri Lanka should either retain PCs with adequate devolution of power or abolish them. Unlike in the past, or as seen during election campaigns where beating the controversial Amendment is done regularly to garner Southern votes, even arch-critics of power devolution did not condemn the Amendment or the PC system. Instead, they questioned the necessity to prioritise it at this juncture.

On July 31, the Tamil National Alliance claimed the party was consistent on the demand for power devolution since 1956 and urged PC polls be held without delay.

Twenty-five years later, many sour points around 13A remain, with India’s motives questioned by many Sri Lankans. It is not seen as a genuine attempt to devolve power but is seen as a strategy that was chalked out over two decades ago to recognise Tamil political aspirations and contain the raging armed struggle at that time. Some fear it would not be treated as adequate, given that Tamil militancy had to be militarily quashed in 2009 after a series of failed political negotiations. India’s role in 13A remains a point of rancour.

While the South dabbles in the debate on the sincerity of the move and national security vis-à-vis power devolution, it is already too late for the Northern and Eastern communities. They genuinely feel that successive governments have failed to recognise their political grievances and take timely decisions to demonstrate political sincerity through power-sharing mechanisms.

There is a lot of water under the bridge. The political leaders from the North and South of Sri Lanka need to overcome their hardline positions, acknowledge all valid concerns from both sides and address them sincerely.

Irrespective of the backdrop against which it was introduced, the 13th Amendment is now a part of Sri Lanka’s Constitution. For the longest time, it has been discussed from ethnic or security standpoints, but not adequately from the political standpoint, with little emphasis on achieving long-lasting peace and reconciliation. Whenever a discussion from this standpoint did happen, it was often a case of us vs them, replete with mistrust, making progress impossible.

Provincial Councils were established in 1988. A quarter century later, it would be politically regressive to avoid discussing the steps necessary for the island government to enable the effective functioning of these councils.

The biggest challenge would be to alleviate fears and find genuine answers to generate public trust in the system and to find, from the proposals submitted to the president, futuristic ideas to move forward. To fully implement 13A would mean winning the confidence of both the Sinhalese and Tamils. The ghosts need exorcising and genuine concerns from both ends should be addressed to effectively end the cloak and dagger game.

The government—hard as the task may seem—must work to win the confidence of the Sinhalese and demonstrate the value of power-sharing so as to achieve a peaceful Sri Lanka. A genuine commitment must be made to the Tamil people to fully implement 13A, so that they can peacefully coexist with the island’s Southern citizens.

 Lanka Lead News

ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා පසුගිය දා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ දී ඉදිරිපත් කළ සිය කතාවේ දී ඔහු ප්‍රකාශ කළේ 13 එහා ගිය බලය බෙදීමේ යෝජනාවක් බව ජනාධිපති නීතිඥ මනෝහර ද සිල්වා මහතා පවසයි.

රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතාගේ නායකත්වය යටතේ 2017 සැප්තැම්බර් මස 21 වැනි දා බලය බෙදීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් මෙහෙයුම් කමිටුවක් පත් කළ බවද, එම කමිටුවේ  ද්‍රවිධ සන්ධානයේ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී සුමන්තිරන් හා නීතිඥ ජයම්පති වික්‍රමරත්න සිටි බව හා එම මෙහෙයුම් කමිටුව මගින් නිර්දේශ ගණනාවක් ඉදිරිපත් කර තිබූ බවත් මනෝහර ද සිල්වා මහතා පවසයි.

ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 2වැනි වගන්තිය වූ ඒකීය රාජ්‍යය යන්න වෙනස් කිරීමට එම කමිටුවන් යෝජනා වී තිබූ බවත්, ජනාධිපතිවරයා මෙවර ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට සැරසෙන්නේ එම යෝජනාවලිය බවත් ඒ මහතා හෙළිකරයි.

ඒ මහතා මේ පිළිබඳව සඳහන් කර සිටියේ ඊයේ (10) ශ්‍රී ලාංකාව දෙකඩ කිරීමට එරෙහි සංධානය විසින් 13 වන සංශෝධනය සම්පූර්ණයෙන් බලාත්මක කිරීම පිළිබඳව මහජන විනිශ්චය ප්‍රකාශයට පත්කිරීම සඳහා සම්බුද්ධත්ව ජයන්ති මන්දිරයේ දී පැවැති මහජන විනිශ්චය සභාව අමතමිනි.

සවිස්තරාත්මක වීඩියෝව නරඹන්න…

Lanka Lead News

ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතාගේ පාර්ලිමේන්තු කතාවේ දී ආණ්ඩුපක්ෂයේ සංවිධායකවරයා 13+ දෙන්න එකඟ යැයි පවසද්දී, විපක්ෂ නායකවරයා පළාත් සභා මැතිවරණය පැවැත්වුවහොත් ජනාධිපතිවරයාගේ අණ පනත්වලට සහාය ලබාදීමට සූදානම් බව ප්‍රකාශ කළ බවත්, ඉන්දියාව මේ වන විට බලපෑම් කරමින් සිටින්නේද පළාත් සභා මැතිවරණය පැවැත්වීම සඳහා බවත්, මේ සියලු බලවේග අවසානයේ එකතුවන්නේ කොතනට දැයි පැහැදිලි වන බවත් දේශහිතෛෂී ජාතික ව්‍යාපාරයේ මහ ලේකම් වෛද්‍ය වසන්ත බණ්ඩාර මහතා පවසයි.

ඒ මහතා මේ පිළිබඳව සඳහන් කර සිටියේ ඊයේ (10) ශ්‍රී ලාංකාව දෙකඩ කිරීමට එරෙහි සංධානය විසින් 13 වන සංශෝධනය සම්පූර්ණයෙන් බලාත්මක කිරීම පිළිබඳව මහජන විනිශ්චය ප්‍රකාශයට පත්කිරීම සඳහා සම්බුද්ධත්ව ජයන්ති මන්දිරයේ දී පැවැති මහජන විනිශ්චය සභාව අමතමිනි.

අමෙරිකාවේ දෙවැනි ලේකම් වික්ටෝරියා නූලන්ඩ් ගේ පිටපතට, මෙරට අමෙරිකානු තානාපතිනී ජූලි චංග් අධ්‍යක්ෂණය කරන, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ඉන්දියානු තානාපති හා අමෙරිකාවේ නිල නොවන තානාපති මිලින්ද මොරගොඩ නිෂ්පාදනයෙන් සහාය වන, ඉන්දියාවේ ආරක්ෂක උපදේශක අජිත් ජොවාල් ගේ සංගීතයට අනුව රඟ දැක්වෙන ‘ගෝඨා ගෝ හෝම් – රනිල් කම් බැක්‘  නාටකයේ දෙවන කොටස මේ මොහොතේ රට තුළ රඟ දැක්වෙන බවයි වෛද්‍ය වසන්ත බණ්ඩාර මහතා පෙන්වා දෙන්නේ.

මෙම ක්‍රියාවලිය ආරම්භයේ සිටම දෙමළ ඩයස්පෝරාව මුදල් පොම්ප කළේ ද ජනවරමක් නැති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා පිටිපස්සෙ දොරෙන් ඇතුළට ගෙන ජනාධිපති පුටුවේ වාඩිකරවීමට බව ද, හිටපු ජනාධිපතිවරු 7 දෙනෙකු නොකළ 13 සම්පූර්ණයෙන් බලාත්මක කිරීමේ කාර්යය දැන් ඔහු විසින් ඉටුකරමින් සිටින බවද ඒ මහතා පවසයි.

13 මෙතෙක් ක්‍රියාත්මක නොවූයේ එහි ඇති ව්‍යවස්ථා බාධක කිහිපයක් නිසා බව පෙන්වා දෙන වසන්ත බණ්ඩාර මහතා, ඒවා ඉවත් කළ සැනින් ෆෙඩරල් රාජ්‍යයක් බිහිවන බව ද පෙන්වා දෙයි.

ෆෙඩරල් රාජ්‍ය යනු ඊළමේ කළලය බවත්, ෆෙඩරල් ලබාදුනහොත් ඉතා කෙටි කාලයකින්ම ඊළාම් බබා බිහිවන බවත් ඒ මහතා වැඩිදුරටත් පවසයි.

සවිස්තරාත්මක වීඩියෝව නරඹන්න…

Lanka Lead News

රිකුණාමලය බොරළුකන්ද රජමහා විහාරයේ සංවර්ධන කටයුතු නතර කරන ලෙස නැගෙනහිර පළාත් ආණ්ඩුකාර සෙන්දිල් තොණ්ඩමන් මහතා ලබාදී ඇති නියෝගය සම්බන්ධයෙන් අප්‍රසාදය කළ කරමින් අර්බන් සිටිසන් සංවිධානයේ සභාපතිනී ෂර්මිලා ගෝනවල මහත්මිය ආණ්ඩුකාරවරයාට ලිපියක් යොමුකර තිබේ.

එම ලිපිය මගින් ෂර්මිලා ගෝනවල මහත්මිය දන්වා ඇත්තේ මෙම සිදුවීම බෞද්ධ ජනතාවගේ හදවත් කම්පනය කරන සිදුවීමක් බවත්, රටේ ආගම් අතර අසමගිය ඇතිකරන මෙවැනි ක්‍රියාවලින් වැළකී සිටින ලෙසත් ය.

මෙම ක්‍රියාව හරහා ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවෙන් බුද්ධාගමට ලබාදී ඇති ප්‍රමුඛස්ථානය බරපතළ ලෙස උල්ලංඝනය කර ඇති බවද ඒ මහත්මිය පෙන්වා දෙයි.

අදාළ ලිපිය පහළින්…

By: EU Observer

As Macron pivots to the BRICS and things fall apart in West Africa, Europe is preparing to boost its naval presence in the north west Indian Ocean “to uphold freedom of navigation” in the world’s trade jugular.

Modelled on existing EU anti-piracy missions in the Gulf of Guinea and Horn of Africa regions, it would operate in a new “MAI [maritime area of interest]” covering a vast swathe of water from the Red Sea, to Madagascar, the Maldives, and the Strait of Hormuz.

“Member states deploying assets [warships] in the new NWIO [north west Indian Ocean] MAI … would be a good opportunity” to “enhance the EU’s diplomatic influence” there, the foreign service said.

It would “strengthen relations with maritime industry, enhancing the EU’s status as a global maritime security provider”, the note said. And it would “open new opportunities for strategic dialogue with key partners, such as India,” it added.

“There is not much we can say at this stage,” the EU foreign service told EU observer, when asked about the project.

“As the high representative [EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell] has mentioned in the past, the EU is currently exploring ways to ensure an enhanced naval deployment by our member states in the [Indian Ocean] region, taking into account the lessons learned from the first pilot case of the [EU naval mission] … in the Gulf of Guinea,” it said. But plans were well under way, its internal “concept note” indicated.

‘Area of interest’ map in EU foreign service’s ‘concept note’ .

“For the NWIO MAI, most stakeholders are already aware of the EU’s ambitions … MS [member states] are ready to commit assets,” it said.

It tabled a series of follow-up meetings on legal and operational niceties.And it painted a picture of a smouldering region that was crucial to world trade.

“Tensions and alliances reverberate on the African shore of the Red Sea where Gulf countries (Saudi Arabia and UAE), together with Egypt, are competing against Turkey and Qatar, as well as China and Russia, for ports and influence, as well as on interpretation of Islam,” it said.

Further afield, there had been no recent “significant [maritime] security incidents” in the Strait of Hormuz, the EU foreign service noted.

But there were “numerous” missile attacks on Saudi Arabia by pro-Iranian rebels in Yemen, Iraq was “unstable”, while the US and China were building up assets in a “maritime power play” in the Arabian Sea, the EU said.

“The recent Taliban takeover in Afghanistan has triggered fears of a renewed wave of terrorism in the region” from “dormant cells, in particular in the Arabian Peninsula”, it also warned.

“There is … international strategic competition present in the western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, within which Bab el-Mandeb [a stretch of water between Djibouti and Yemen] and the Strait of Hormuz are the geographical epicentres,” it said.

The EU’s Horn of Africa anti-piracy mission, Atalanta, was currently “contributing to securing the Bab El Mandeb Strait”, the EU foreign service noted.

Nine countries, including eight EU ones and Norway, also have naval forces in the so-called Agenor mission, which sail around the Strait of Hormuz area to “de-escalate” tension.

And in a part of the world where hard power counted, the “show of force, deterrent effect” of Atalanta and Agenor have been “key features” of their effectiveness, the EU foreign service said.

Trade jugular

Its note spelled out why Indian Ocean security was vital to European interests.

“The Red Sea is one of the busiest maritime corridors in the world, channelling an important proportion of global trade – and nearly all exchanges between Europe and Asia – each year,” the EU foreign service said.

But the fight against local piracy, such as “maritime trafficking and/or smuggling” was “still in its infancy” there, it said.

The wider north western Indian Ocean was “one of the most dynamic centres of economic growth in the world,” it added.

Its future was “dependent on safe and secure sea lines of communication … to link trade between Middle East, Africa, East Asia, and Europe”, the EU said.

Some “80 percent of the world’s trade passes through the Indian Ocean,” it said.

Some 20 percent of global oil production goes via the Strait of Hormuz.

Source: EUobserver

මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍යාංශය

මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍ය ටිරාන් අලස් මහතා සහ දෙමළ ජාතික සන්ධානයේ මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් පිරිසක් අතර 13 වෙනි සංශෝධනයේ පොලිස් බලතල බෙදීම සම්බන්ධව විශේෂ සාකච්ඡාවක් ඊයේ දින(9)  පස්වරුවේ මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍යාංශයේදී පැවැත්විණි.

මෙම සාකච්ඡාවේදී මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍ය ටිරාන් අලස් මහතා පොලිස් බලතල ඉල්ලා සිටීමට හේතූන් විමසා සිටියේය.

එහිදී දෙමළ සන්ධානයේ මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් විසින් ලෝකයේ අනෙකුත් රටවල් උදාහරණයට ගනිමින් බලය බෙදීමේ අවශ්‍යතාව පැහැදිලි කෙරුණු අතර දෙමළ ජාතිකයින් මුහුණදෙන ගැටලු පිළිබඳවද මෙහිදී සාකච්ඡාවට බඳුන් විය.පොලිස් බලතල නොබෙදා එම ගැටලු විසඳීමේ හැකියාව පිළිබඳව අමාත්‍යවරයා විසින් මෙහිදී සාකච්ඡා කෙරිණි.

මෑත කාලයේ එංගලන්තය සහ ඉන්දියාව වැනි දියුණු රටවල් වල පවා බලය බෙදීම ඉතා විශිෂ්ඨ අයුරින් සිදු වූ බව පෙන්වා දුන් දෙමළ සන්ධාන මන්ත්‍රීවරු එහිදී භාවිතා කරන ක්‍රමවේදයන් ලංකාව තුල ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට හැකි බව පැහැදිලි කළේය. එහිදී ටිරාන් අලස් අමාත්‍යවරයා එංගලන්තය සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවෙහි දේශපාලන සමාජීය සංස්කෘතීන් සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම වෙනස් බව පෙන්වා දුනි.

දෙමළ ජනතාවට සහ දෙමළ දේශපාලන නායකයින්ට දහතුන්වැනි සංශෝධනය ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමේ උවමනාව කුමක්ද යන්න මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍යවරයා මෙහිදී ප්‍රශ්න කළේය. 

13 වැනි සංශෝධනය ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමේ අවශ්‍යතාවය වන්නේ, දිස්ත්‍රික් කමිටු මගින් ගනු ලබන තීන්දු තීරණ ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම සඳහා දුර බැහැර ගෙවාගෙන කොළඹට පැමිණෙන්නට සිදුවීම හා ඇතැම් ආණ්ඩුකාරවරුන්ගේ තීන්දු තීරණ ක්‍රියාත්මකවීමේ ගැටළුවක් තිබීම නිසා යැයි දෙමළ ජාතික සන්ධානයේ මන්ත්‍රීවරු පැවසූහ. 

එසේම පොලිස් බලතල ලබාදීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් යෝජිත කරුණු වලට අලුතින් කිසිවක් එක් නොවෙන නමුත් ජාතික පොලිස් කොමිසමට අමතරව පළාත් පොලිස් කොමිසමත් පත් කිරීමේ අවශ්‍යතාවයක් මතුවන බව ද ඔවුහු මෙහිදී පෙන්වා දුන්හ.

මේ වන විට උතුරු ප්‍රදේශය පුරාවට මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය සහ අපරාධ සිදු වීමේ ප්‍රවණතාවය ඉහළගොස් ඇති බවත් තරුණ දරුවන් බොහොමයක් අධික ලෙස මත්ද්‍රව්‍යයට ඇබ්බැහි වී ඇති බවත් දෙමළ ජාතික සන්ධාන මන්ත්‍රීවරු පැවසූහ.

එවැනි කරුණු සම්බන්ධයෙන් පවතින තොරතුරු ඕනෑම අවස්ථාවක මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය හා පාතාල සංවිධාන සම්බන්ධයෙන් පත් කරන ලද විශේෂ පොලිස් කමිටුවට ලබා දෙන ලෙසත් එලෙස ලබා දෙන තොරතුරු වල රහස්‍යභාවය ආරක්ෂා කිරීමට කටයුතු කරන බවද  මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍යවරයා මෙහිදී සහතික විය.

නියෝජ්‍ය පොලිස්පති දේශබන්දු තෙන්නකෝන් මහතාගේ සභාපතිත්වයෙන් අදාල විශේෂ පොලිස් කමිටුව ක්‍රියාත්මක කර ඇති බවත් ඕනෑම අවස්ථාවක ඊට අදාළ තොරතුරු නියෝජ්‍ය පොලිස්පතිවරයා සමඟ සාකච්ඡා කිරීමට හැකි බව ද අමාත්‍ය ටිරාන් අලස් මහතා පැවසුවේය. 

මෙම හමුව සඳහා මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම් වියානි ගුණතිලක මහතා,පොලිස්පති සී.ඩී.සී.ඩී.වික්‍රමරත්න මහතා,බස්නාහිර පළාත් ජේෂ්ඨ නියෝජ්‍ය පොලිස්පති දේශබන්දු තෙන්නකෝන් මහතා ඇතුලු පොලිසියේ ඉහල නිලධාරීන් සම්බන්ධ වූ අතර දෙමළ ජාතික සන්ධානය නියෝජනය කරමින් එම්.ඒ.සුමන්තිරන් මහතා, ෂානක්කියන් රාසමාණික්කම් මහතා,ධර්මලිංගම් සිද්ධාර්ථන් මහතා,චාල්ස් නිර්මලනාදන් මහතා සහ සෙල්වම් අඩෙක්කලනාදන් මහතා සහාභාගී විය.

දෙමළ ජාතික සන්ධානයේ මන්ත්‍රීවරුන්ගේ ඉල්ලීම පරිදි දෙසතියකින් මීළඟ සාකච්ඡාව පැවැත්වීමට දෙපාර්ශවයම එකඟ විය

වීඩියෝ ලින්කුව: https://we.tl/t-HSU8yBJ04N

අකිල තෙන්නකෝන්

මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය ලේකම්

මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍යාංශය

by Garvin Karunaratne

Every country trains thousands in vocations and leave them with a certificate of competance. The lads and lassies who hold these certificates do not have the ability or the finance to open up ventures. Some end up driving three wheelers and every junction in Sri lanka has a horde of three wheelers.

It so happened that I was myself involved in merging vocational education with self employment creation. This did happen in Bangladesh when I served as the Commonwealth Fund Advisor in Youth to the Ministry of Labour and Manpower. The programme of Youth Self Employment I initiated and established in 1982, had today created employment ventures for over three million youths.

In my words:

  The country of Bangladesh was taken over in a bloodless coup d’etat in one night when I served there. In a few days the new Minister, Air Vice Marshall Aminul Islam held a meeting to evaluate the training programmes of the Department of Youth Development.  The two Secretaries, Heads of Departments and myself from the Ministry and the Secretary to the Treasury and a few Secretaries to other important ministries were present. The Minister went through the programmes run by the Department and was highly critical. In the end, he ordered me to state the contribution that I could make for Bangladesh.

I recommended that there should be a self-employment creation programme in addition to the training programmes that the Department implemented. At that time the Department trained 40,000 youths a year in a variety of vocations. The Youths should have passed the fifth standard- we never rejected any interested youth- we even taught them to read and write. Literacy classes held for the youths who had forgotten to read and write commenced at night and continued till midnight at the residential training centers. However, without special support, the vast majority of the trained youth continued to be unemployed scraping the barrel for life. I suggested that the trained youth should get further training to establish enterprises and get on their feet as producers. The Secretary to the Treasury, the highest officer in the country strongly objected, stating that a self-employment programme was something that can never be established. He said that the prestigious United Nation’s ILO(International Labour Organization) had tried in the earlier three years to establish a self-employment programme at Tangail in Bangladesh and though they had brought in a number of foreign experts and spent a vast amount of money they had miserably failed. He said that the Government will not undertake another try because the failure of the ILO meant that this could not be done and he added that a self-employment programme had never been established anywhere in the world. I replied that though the ILO had failed I will succeed because I had the experience of establishing many youth enterprises in Sri Lanka for over a dozen years and can assure that I do have the experience,  the ability and the academic qualifications to establish such a programme. I stated that the ILO may have failed but that I can assure success. The Secretary to the Treasury was taken aback. He was the highest official in the land and never expected me to challenge him. Generally, an officer of that rank was in every country held in high esteem and not even a Secretary of another Ministry would contest him. The battle went on with other Secretaries of Ministries also joining him to the effect that I did not have the capacity to do what the ILO failed to do with all their unlimited resources. The arguments went on and they questioned me in detail as to how I proposed to teach economic management to illiterate youths. I replied that I have found it easy to teach illiterate farmers and illiterate youths and have had success in teaching them basic elements of economics. I stated that it was not difficult to teach practicing youths and farmers how to count the cost of inputs, to calculate the cost of labour, building up elements that led to the calculation of profit and loss and the workings of the theory of supply and demand in a basic manner. … I detailed how in earlier projects  I had successfully involved uneducated youths and how we made them think and how they mastered not only skills but also management skills…It was a situation where we as youth workers will work with them while they struggled to become self-employed”.

The grueling arguments between the Secretary to the Treasury and me went on for over two hours with the Hon Minister being a patient listener. Finally, the Minister stopped us arguing and asked as to the number of programmes Bangladesh had to provide self-employment training to youths. The Secretary to the Treasury said there were none. Then the Minister asked for the number of illiterate youths who were unemployed and who had to contend to be scraping the barrel for life. This was the category of youths who were trained by the Youth Ministry in various vocations. The answer was in millions. The Minister without a minute’s hesitation ruled that I would be allowed to establish a self-employment programme in his Ministry of Manpower and Labour, The Youth Development Department was within his Ministry. The Secretary to the Treasury was quick to stump me by stating that  that he will not be providing any funds, to which I replied that I will not need any new funds and will manage with savings from approved training budgets  and needed power to rewrite the remits of all officers to include tasks of training in self-employment. The Minister approved my request.

The rest is history. I was charged with the responsibility to design and implement a self-employment programme and train the staff to continue it after my two-year consultancy was over.  I with the full resources of the Youth Development Department commenced work the very next day, with training the staff in economic management and addressing youths in training centers motivating them to use their knowledge and open up ventures. We promised them a countrywide extension service. Some trainees opened up a few enterprises managed by them, handled by their younger brothers and sisters during the week when they were in training at our training centers during the week. The staff of Deputy Directors of Youth in charge of Districts and the Lecturers of training Centers was full of patriotism to work long hours with no overtime. The Hon Minister too went on inspections to see the youths at work in their small farms and work enterprises- sewing, woodwork, etc.. In around one and a half years I was working with 2000 youths  and of them those that had started at the beginning were successful in drawing net incomes equal to that of a clerical officer in the government service. I trained members of the elite Bangladesh Civil Service and  the directors of the Youth Ministry to continue the programme after my consultancy ended. 

By 1990, 22,626 youths had undertaken self-employment projects and the 3 Residential Training Centers had been increased to  64 Training Centers. By 2011, the Government of Bangladesh reported to the IFAD of the FAO(one of its founders), that two million youths had become self-employed. This Programme continues even today, training 160,000 youths a year and the Department of Youth Development spends 95 % of its work time and resources in training youths to become self-employed, the one and only such programme creating employment in the entire world. By now(2023) easily the number self employed is easily over three million.

This is a design that can be immediately implemented in all vocational training programmes.

Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D, former G.A. Matara

10 th August 2023

garvin_karunaratne@hotmail.com

Lanka Lead News

ආයුර්වේද සංශෝධන පනත් කෙටුම්පතේ ඇතැම් වගන්ති ව්‍යවස්ථාවට අනුකූල නොවන බැවින් ඒවා සම්මත කරගැනීම සඳහා විශේෂ බහුතරයක් සහ ජනමත විචාරණයක් අවශ්‍ය බව ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණය පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට දැනුම් දී ඇති බව වාර්තා වේ.

මෙම පනත් කෙටුම්පත පිළිබඳ ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේ තීරණය නියෝජ්‍ය කථානායක අජිත් රාජපක්ෂ මහතා විසින් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට අද (10) දැනුම් දෙමින් මේ බව ප්‍රකාශ කර ඇති බව සඳහන්ය.