උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

වර්තමානයවන විට රට තුළ ආණ්ඩුවක් හෝ නීතියක් නොමැති බවත්, පවතින්නේ දේශපාලනික බලපෑම් මත ක්‍රියාත්මකවන නීතියක්බ වත් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී රෝහිත අබේගුණවර්ධන මහතා චෝදනා කරනවා.

අද පැවති ප්‍රවෘත්ති සාකච්ඡාවකදී ඔහු මේ බව සඳහන් කළ අතර ඊට මහාචාර්ය ජී.එල්. පීරිස් මහතාද එක්ව සිටියා.

Dr Sudath Gunasekara

29. Sept..2019.

Now thanks devas finally the dates for the Presidential Election 2019 (nominations 7th Oct & Election 16th Nov) have been declared at last by the Election Commission after so much of uncertainty and speculations, the biggest challenge before the Sinhala nation today (I mean the Nation of this land called  Sinhale /Sri Lanka for millennia that includes all citizens of the whole island S,T, M & all citizens in the country as it had been before 1815), is the selection and election  of the correct person as the head of the State” who can,

First, reclaim the Augean mess created by the politicians of this country for the past 71 years since 1948, more particularly during the last 4 ½ years.

Second, solve the sky high problems heaped up before this country, due to the blunders made by those who are supposed to have ruled this country since the so-called Independence in 1948 and thereafter, (again more particularly during the last 4 ½ years)

Third, restore and rectify the lost rights of the Sinhala nation in particular while safeguarding the legitimately due rights of all communities in this country and

Fourth, who can and who will decisively shape the future destiny of the Sinhala Nation?

This of cause is not an easy task. But it is also not intractable and unachievable if one has the will and the capacity. What is more is it has to be done at any cost to save the country and the nation just now and not later. Because, if you miss this golden opportunity you will never get it again.

The first priority in this Herculean task is putting an end to four and half years of absolute anarchy in this country, now almost bleeding to death, created by Ranil and Sirisena duo, overflowing with utter chaos and confusion as there was no government since Jan 2015. This has to be immediately followed up by restoring national security, law and order, good Governance and sanity, elimination of the pandemic virus of the tyranny of 71 years of British manipulated party and minority politics and containing external threats and undesirable foreign interference in domestic affairs, eliminating large scale robbery, corruption, extravagance and wastage of public funds, abuse of authority and misuse of power in the state sector and bringing up a new political culture by eliminating all corrupt and useless politicians and political cancers like the Provincial Councils, these being the basic prerequisites of good and just Governance. It has also to be followed up by laying a sound foundation for economic development and nation building to make this Island nation, once again a stable, strong, prosperous, and vibrant and a peaceful country and finally rebuilding the lost glorious heritage of this Sinhala nation.

The biggest challenge in this new mission before the Sinhala Nation is the selection and election of the correct Head of State at the forthcoming election as the President for the next six years.

First and foremost he has to be an extremely patriotic statesman, who has the character, stature and ability,  to restore all what the country’s past leaders failed to regain at the so-called Independence in 1948 or thereafter, up to date. For example the original name of the country, the nation’s rights over the motherland, native language, system of government and administration, judicial system and the status of the religion (Buddhism) as they existed at the time of annexation in 1815, to make this country a fully free, Independent and a sovereign nation;

Secondly, he also has to be a strong leader with far reaching vision and extra ordinary qualities of proven leadership and direction who can command the forward march of this broken and bankrupt nation in to a robust and vibrant nation that can make its own mark in the modern world.

Looking at the prevailing extremely chaotic and messy political situation in the country and how all anti Sinhala and anti-Buddhist forces both at Home (Tamil Tigers and Muslim Wahhabis extremist, communalists Colombo based foreign funded mentally sick and disoriented NGOO and the westernized fast dying kalu sudda kolombian cabal) and abroad (ex-colonial nations of the West led by UK and US together with their agencies like UNO,UNCHR, USAID, NORAD and Amnesty International, Tamil Diaspora  (LTTE remnants), ISIS and India) are trying to make capital out of that situation by organizing themselves with intrigue and all the political, economic and military power and trade mechanisms at their command to destroy this country and the Sinhala Buddhist civilization, we also have to select a leader who has proven qualities to resist and defeat all these pressure groups effectively and  who can mobilize the whole nation for the task of nation building at least for the next ten years.

This is not an easy task by any means. But the crying need, to select and elect the correct iron man or woman who has the leadership and capacity to overcome all these challenges, with unwavering strength, remains the cornerstone of this whole mission. In the event of our failure to elect the CORRECT LEADEAR supported by an eminent team, the same past tragic process will continue and you will see the grand finale of the disappearance of the Sinhala nation and its civilization from the surface of this planet in no time.

I warn you all patriots that this is the last opportunity and the best chance god has given us to find the correct leader this country needs at this moment. April 21 incident is a forewarning on this prophecy and also in a way a blessing in disguise. In order to make the correct choice you have to first unite under the lion flag as one indomitable national force setting aside all your blind political, religious and all other petty parochial personal alignments.  Then and then only, you can defeat all these enemy forces to liberate the motherland. Whoever he is going to be, he should definitely be a strong and true Sinhala Buddhist who loves this country and the Sinhala nation. You should never make a mistake about that selection this time. The onerous of that historic national responsibility is now squarely cast upon you by destiny. Therefore it is your duty and prime responsibility by the nation and posterity to select such a person at this election as the days of the Sinhala nation and its 2500 year old unique Sinhala Buddhist civilization are clearly numbered. If you fail in your sacred duty by your country and your nation this time, you will be definitely witnessing very soon the disappearing of the Sinhala nation and the Sinhala Buddhist civilization from the face of this planet, as the days are definitely numbered.

The person you are going to elect should be a leader of the highest stature and proved leadership ability with full powers of an ancient benevolent Sinhala Buddhist King, who can carry out the vision of our ancient Kings such as Dutugamunu, Parakramabahua and Vijayabahu (1) and Anagarika Dharmapala, the undisputed modern day champion of Sinhala Buddhist revival, to make our dream of nation building a reality while conforming to and meeting the economic, social and technical challenges of the 21st century by transforming this Island nation to a miracle in Asia.

This is not difficult at all considering the location of this Island right at the centre of the Indian Ocean half way between the East and the West on the world’s most important trade route, with its enormous geographical and geopolitical advantages unmatched by any other country, with a mighty Indian Ocean extending from Africa in the West to Australia in the East and perhaps South Pole in the South. The only missing link we lack is the correct type of political leadership to make this dream a reality.

When you look in retrospect the way how blindly and with what servility and how faithfully the local successors to British colonial rule since 1948 (of cause with very few solitary exceptions like DS, SWRD, Mrs B, Lalith and MR, (of cause also in a limited way only) have carried out their British contract to the very letter yielding to their commands, as we were a bunch of uncivilized aborigines, and have ruined this country almost beyond redemption, without replacing the colonial system imposed on us by force with a home-made system of independent system of governance based on our own civilization a pointed out by Gunadasa Amarasekara in his Sabhyatwa Rajya), the need for such a new and towering native leadership has become extremely critical and all the more important today than at any time in the long history of this country.

All post 1948 Governments have totally and miserably failed to build up this country as a fully independent, free, sovereign, prosperous, vibrant a peaceful nation as it should really be. They all have blindly and meekly followed the Westminster system of alien governance as a British model in the East, aiding and abetting the colonial masters to continue their policies of subjugation, two way exploitation through their exports of goods and technology and imposing trade barriers on imports from colonies, continuing divide and rule policies by supporting the minority communities and suppressing all native resurgence movements. Their system of government, administration, judicial system, language and education and social and cultural values all persist up to date at the expense of all what is native, that was totally destroyed.  As such today we have almost reached the tether of our identity as a nation and the day the curtain will fall on this once glorious civilization on earth is not that far.

I am fully aware these introductory comments will be contested sometimes bitterly by those who don’t know their own history and see everything through the Western servile mentality. I also know definitely that it will stir up a hornets’ nest. But I strongly hang on to that perception and defend it as a true and an ardent Sinhala Buddhist. In defense of my argument for a leader of an ancient King of the like quoted above it suffice to state that this country has the unique record of having been ruled by 196 Kings from 543 BC up to 1815 AD unbroken, a claim no other country in the world can make. Therefore I am convinced that I have a right to have such a lofty and sweet dream.

 I am sure all patriotic Sri Lankan who are conversant with the 443 odd years of partial and nearly 150 years of full subjugation, oppression, depredation, destruction and cultural and social vandalism by the Western invaders from 1505 to date first by invasion and aggression and thereafter through their Machiavellian model of occidental democracy, which is completely alien and utterly irrelevant and absolutely unsuitable to our indigenous Sinhala Buddhist civilization context  will share this sentiments with me. Therefore I strongly go for restoring a system of Government under a strong Sinhala Buddhist leader, who will rule the country on the Buddhist principles of statecraft that formed the foundation of righteous and successful governance for millennia in this country, to rescue the motherland and the Sinhala nation from the present critical situation that has already reached the last stages of extinction and disappearance from the surface of this good earth.

 With this lofty ideal in mind I venture here to present a brief critical evaluation of the pluses and minuses of political parties and the aspirant Presidential candidates to enable the intelligent and patriotic people in this country to make the correct decision in selecting and electing the ideal or at least the most suitable person at the forthcoming Presidential election, who can take the country and the people to the above destination.

 I must also warn the voters that this is the last chance you will get to make the correct decision. Looking at the way how the two traditional major national political parties and their self-centered leaders have failed in the past and continue to behave even now and how the crafty Tamil and Muslim politicians play their cards to achieve their sinister motives of converting this land in to a mono Tamil or  a Muslim State, I reiterate that if you miss this golden opportunity to give up all your traditional, outdated and blind party affiliation like UNP, SLFP or JVP and misguided ideological convictions and immediately rally round the Lion flag and elect a strong and patriotic Sinhala Buddhist leader of the correct type, you are doomed and cursed as a nation and a country. You are not left with any option, but to go for direct action in the manner I have outlined above. If you fail now in this mission you will not have a country or a Sinhala nation to talk about, even in your dreams.

You all know how the Tamils and Muslims are united and globally organized determined to wipe out the Sinhala Buddhist civilization in this country and replace it with their own. The entire ex-colonial western world is behind them to get the minorities to do what they could not do from 1505 up to date. It is only your unity under the lion flag with one voice that can defeat this global enemy. Unlike in the past where we had to confront only with South India, today we have to deal with a global enemy.

As you all know Tamils think and behave as Tamils and Muslims do the same as Muslims even in their dreams. When it comes to elections they all ways vote only their community men.  So why can’t you also think, behave and act as Sinhalese at least now without blindly and slavishly thinking  and acting as UNP, SLFP and JVP or any other and dig your own grave as a nation the same way we have been doing over the entire past since Independence. May be you are living complacent thinking that we are the majority. Forget that. Today our numbers have no meaning. Politically minorities have become the deciding factor. They have already established full control over the Sinhala Nation by now. If you carefully look at the national economy, ownership of land, particularly in urban areas, rate of population increase, their financial power and their international lobbying power in relation to what we Sinhalese have, you will see where we stand as a nation.   

The division created by the British among Sinhala people such as Kandyans and Low Country has now almost disappeared. Even the caste differences are fast disappearing with the expansion educational and occupational opportunities and increasing social mobility and also through inter-caste marriages.    The division as Buddhists and Catholics/Christians also has narrowed down. All these factors have resulted in a closer integration of the Sinhala people on a common denomination. The most encouraging strength behind this new we Sinhala” consciousness and unity as one force is the newly created unity between the Sinhala Buddhist and Sinhala Catholics in the wake of the 21st April Easter disater. Full credit for this newly born sense of Sinhala solidarity and togetherness should go to the exemplary leadership and solidarity demonstrated by Rev Cardinal Malcolm Ranjit in his recent remarks on the status of Buddhism and other religions and the Sinhala people in this Island nation. I think his comments have completely removed the division between Sinhala Buddhists and Sinhala Catholics. This in my opinion is the most important political development in the Sinhala electorate ever since Independence. I only wish that the Sinhala Catholic and Christian politicians will follow suit to further cement this religious harmony to bring the Sinhala nation under one flag disregarding what faith they profess. This in my view is a happy and welcome departure from the traditional divisions that divided the Sinhala people in to socially and politically antagonistic segments. This is a very welcome trend we must build upon to unite the Sinhala nation.

Therefore under these critical circumstances I appeal to you all patriotic citizens over 1, in the name of my motherland and my Nation to give up and renounce all your present political and other alignments and wait for my advice in Part 11 to be followed in a day or two in this column.

Next in part 11 to be followed, I will give you a brief analysis about the present status of the main Sinhala political parties and the candidates nominated  for the Presidency  to prove that none of them or their so-called leaders can meet the above requirements to rescue this country from the present crisis.

කුලශ්‍රී කාරියවසම් උපුටා ගැන්ම අරුන

නීතිපති දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවෙ අනෙකුත් රජයේ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවලින් සුවිශේෂී වෙන්නෙ කොහොමද?

මූලිකවම ගත්තම නීතිපති දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව කියන්නෙ, අර්ධ අධිකරණමය ක්‍රියාදාමයක් පවත්වාගෙන යන ආයතනයක්. මේ නිසා දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ සෑම නිලධාරියකුගෙන්ම ආගමික නායකයකුගෙන්ම අපේක්ෂා කරන තරම් පාරිශුද්ධත්වයක් බලාපොරොත්තු වෙනවා. ඒ නිසයි නීතිපති දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව අනෙක් දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවලින් සුවිශේෂී වෙන්නෙ.
මේ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවට වසර 135ක කීර්තිමත් ඉතිහාසයක් තියෙනවා. රටට අග විනිසුරුවරුන් ගණනාවක් මේ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ බිහි වෙලා තියෙනවා. එංගලන්තයේ ප්‍රිවි කවුන්සිලයේ නඩු විසඳීම සඳහා පවා විනිසුරුවරුන් ගිහින් තියෙනවා.

නමුත් අපට නීතිය හදන්නත් පුළුවන්. නීතිය කඩන්නත් පුළුවන් කියන දිල්රුක්ෂි ඩයස් මහත්මියගේ ප්‍රකාශයත් එක්ක ඒ ගෞරවය කෙලෙසිලා නේද?

ඔව්. ඒක ඉතාම අවාසනාවන්ත තත්ත්වයක්. දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ වසර 135ක කාලය තුළ පළමු වරට සොලිසිටර් ජනරාල්වරයකු වැඩ තහනමකට ලක්වෙලා. මේකට හේතු වුණේ පසුගිය වසර 4 1/2ක කාලය තුළ නැවක් හා සම්බන්ධ සිද්ධියක් නිසා ඇතිවුණ පීඩනය. දිල්රුක්ෂි මහත්මිය කියන කාරණය ඇත්තද කියල කවුරුත් හොයන්නෙ නැහැ. එසේ නොකර ඇයව වැරදිකාරිය කරල තියෙනවා. ඇයට කලින් ඔය සිද්ධිය සම්බන්ධයෙන් වින්දිතයෙක් බවට පත්වුණේ මමයි.
ඔබ කොහොමද මේ සිද්ධියේ වින්දිතයෙක් බවට පත්වුණේ?

මේ සිද්ධිය වෙනකොට මම ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ අතිරේක සොලිසිටර් ජනරාල් විදියටයි වැඩ කරමින් සිටියේ. අපරාධ කාරණා සම්බන්ධ අංශය තිබුණේ මගේ යටතේ. ඔය කාලේ වරායේ ආයුධ සහිත නැවක් ගැන කතාවක් තිබුණා. මම සාමාන්‍යයෙන් රෑ 7 – 8 වෙනකම් කාර්යාලයේ ඉන්නවා. ඉතින් දවසක් සවස 6.30ට විතර අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ ශානි අබේසේකර මහත්මයා තවත් නිලධාරීන් හත් දෙනෙක් සමග මගේ කාර්යාලයට ආවා. ඇවිත් ඔහු මට කීවා ගාල්ලේ අවි නැව ගැන නඩුව හෙට ගාල්ල මහෙස්ත්‍රාත් අධිකරණයේ ගන්නවා. මේකෙ සැකකරුවන් හැටියට ඉදිරිපත් කරන්නේ කවුද කියල අපට නිශ්චිත අවබෝධයක් නැහැ. අපි දන්නෙත් නැහැ මේ පරීක්ෂණය ගෙනියන්න ඕන කොහොමද කියලා. මේ ගැන උපදෙසක් දෙන්න කීවා.

මම ඔහුට කිව්වා මම මේ ගැන කිසි දෙයක් දන්නෙ නෑ. මගෙ කනිෂ්ඨ නිලධාරියෙක් ළඟට මම ඔහුව යොමු කළා. මම ශානිට කිව්වා ඒ නිලධාරියා හමු වුණාට පස්සේ යළි මාව හමුවෙන්න කියලා.

ඔබ අපරාධ අංශය භාර ප්‍රධානියා නම් මේ ගැන ඔබ නොදැන හිටියෙ කොහොමද?

මම නොදැන අපේ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව මේ සිද්ධියට මැදිහත් වෙලා තියෙන බව මමද දැනගත්තෙ එදයි. කොහොම නමුත් ශානි මම කිව්ව විදියට ආපහු මාව මුණ ගැහුනෙ නෑ. ඒ නිසා මම ඔහුට කෝල් එකක් දීලා ඇහුව මොකද වුණේ කියලා. එතකොටයි ඔහු මට කිව්වේ අපි ඇවන්ගාඩ් සිද්ධිය සම්බන්ධයෙන් ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ, නිශ්ශංක සේනාධිපති ඇතුළු හත් දෙනෙක් අත්අඩංගුවට ගන්න යන්නෙ කියලා. මම ඔහුට කිව්වා මේ නැව් සිද්ධිය ගැන නිසි ගොනුවක් නැහැ. පරීක්ෂණයක් අවසන් කරල නැහැ. ඒ නිසා කිසි කෙනෙක් අත්අඩංගුවට ගන්න එපා කියලා. මූලික අයිතිවාසිකම් නඩුවකට යන්න වෙයි. ඒ නිසා කිසි දෙයක් කරන්න එපා කිව්වා.

ඉන් පස්සේ මොකද වුණේ?

ඒ සිද්ධියෙන් පස්සේ මේ ආයුධ නැව සම්බන්ධ කාරණයට අදාළ ලිපි ගොනුව මගෙ අතට ආවා. එදා ඉඳන් හැමදාම උදේට නීතිඥ සංගමයේ සභාපති වගේම ආයෝජන මණ්ඩලයේත් සභාපති වුණ නීතිඥ උපුල් ජයසූරිය මහත්තය මගේ ඔෆිස් එකට එන්න පටන් ගත්තා. සමහර අවස්ථාවල මම එන්නත් කලින් එයා ඇවිල්ලා මට කියනවා අපි දන්නව ඔයා අවංක නිලධාරියෙක්. ඔබ පසුගිය රජයේ මන්ත්‍රීවරුන්ට නඩු පැවරුවා. ඒ වගේ ගෝඨාභය ඇතුළු පිරිස අත්අඩංගුවට ගන්න උපදෙස් දෙන්න කියලා මට කියනවා.

ඒ විදියට බලපෑමක් තියෙද්දීත් ඔබ නිශ්ශංක සේනාධිපතිට විදේශ ගත වෙන්න අවසර දෙනව

ඔව්. මම ඒ තීරණය ගත්තෙ ඉතාමත් වෘත්තීයමය විදියට. දවසක් උදේ මම කාර්යාලයට එනකොට අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ මේ කාරණය භාර කටයුතු කරන සහකාර පොලිස් අධිකාරී තිසේරා මහත්තයා මාව හම්බවුණා කාර්යාල දොරටුව ළඟදි. එයා මට කිව්වා සර්, අපට ලොකු ප්‍රශ්නයක්. නිශ්ශංක සේනාධිපති රට යන්න හදනවා. නයිජීරියාවට කියලා. ඉතිං මම ඇහුව මොකක්ද ප්‍රශ්නය කියල. එතකොට කියනව අප එයාගෙ පාස් පෝස්ට් එක අත්අඩංගුවට අරන් තියෙන්නේ. දැන් එයා ඒක ඉල්ලනවා. මොකද කරන්නේ කියලා.

මං කිව්වා. ඕගොල්ල ගිහින් හැමෝගෙම පාස්පෝට් අත්අඩංගුවට ගන්නවා. එහෙම කරන්න එපා. ඒක නීතිවිරෝධීයි. ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ විනිසුරු ඒ.ආර්.බී. අමරසිංහගේ නඩු තීන්දුවක් තියෙනවා නිසි පරීක්ෂණයකින් තොරව පුද්ගලයකුගේ පාස්පෝට් එක අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීම නීති විරෝධීයි කියලා. ඒක මානව හිමිකම් උල්ලංඝනය කිරීමක්.

ඒ නිසා මම කිව්වා ඔය ගොල්ල නිසියාකාර බැඳුම්කරයක් තියාගෙන ඇපකරුවන් මත පාස්පෝට් එක නිදහස් කරන්න කියලා.

ඔබ එහෙම උපදෙසක් දුන්නෙ විජේදාස රාජපක්ෂ හා තිලක් මාරපන අමාත්‍යවරුන්ගේ ඉල්ලීමට නොවේද?

නැහැ. ඇත්තෙන්ම ඔවුන් ඒ ගැන මට කතා කළා. විජේදාස රාජපක්ෂ අධිකරණ ඇමැති තිලක් මාරපනත් ඇමැතිවරයෙක්. ඒ වගේම ඔහු සේනාධිපතිගෙ නීතිඥයා. ඔවුන් මට කිව්වේ අපි බලපෑමක් කරනවා නෙවෙයි. නීත්‍යනුකූල විදියට සේනාධිපතිගෙ පාස්පෝට් එක නිදහස් කරන්න පුළුවන්ද කියලා බලන්න කියලා මම ඔවුන්ට කිව්වා ඔබලා මට කතා කරන්න අවශ්‍ය නැහැ. මොකද මම දැනටමත් සේනාධිපතිගෙ පාස්පොට් එක රිලීස් කරන්න උපදෙස් දීලා තියෙන්නෙ කියලා.
ඊට පස්සේ ආපහු දවසක් උපුල් ජයසූරිය මාව හම්බ වෙන්න ආවා. මූණත් නරක් කරගෙන මට කිව්වා ඔබ අර මනුස්සයට රට යන්න දුන්න නේද කියලා. මම කිව්වා ඒක සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම නීත්‍යනුකූලයි කියලා. ඒ වෙලාවේ උපුල් ජයසූරිය මට කිව්වා අගමැතිතුමාට ඔබව හමුවෙන්න අවශ්‍යයි කියලා මම ඔහුට කිව්වා අගමැතිතුමාට මාව හමුවෙන්න අවශ්‍ය නම් ඒ පණිවුඩය එන්න ඕනේ ඔබ හරහා නෙවෙයි. මගේ ප්‍රධානියා වන නීතිපතිතුමා මාර්ගයෙන් කියලා.

ඒ විදියට අගමැතිතුමාගේ දැනුම්දීමක් ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කිරීම ප්‍රශ්නයක් වුණේ නැද්ද?

නැහැ. නමුත් ඊට පස්සේ දවසක විනිසුරු උපාලි අබේරත්නගේ දරුවකුගේ විවාහ මංගල්‍යයකට මම ගිහින් ඉන්න කොට උපුල් ජයසූරිය මට කෝල් කළා. ඔහු රහසින් වගේ මට කිව්වා අගමැතිතුමා මම එනතුරු බලා ඉන්නව කියලා. මට තේරුණා ඔහු මට කතා කළේ අගමැතිතුමා ළඟ ඉඳගෙන කියලා. ඒ නිසා නොයා ඉන්න එක අශීලාචාරයි වගේ නිසා මම කිව්වා මම එන්නං කියලා. ඒ යනකොට මම හිතුවා සද්භාවයෙන් මේ නඩුව ගැන තොරතුරු දැනගන්න පෞද්ගලික හමුවීමක් වෙන්න ඇති කියලා.

නමුත් මම අරලියගහ මන්දිරයට යනකොට එතැන මහ විශාල රැස්වීමක්. ඒක අගමැතිතුමාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් පවත්වපු FCID එකේ රැස්වීමක්. ඇමැතිවරු රාශියක් හිටියා. රාජිත සේනාරත්න, පාඨලී චම්පික රණවක, ජවිපෙ නායක අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක, වැලිඅංග කියන නීතිඥයා උපුල් ජයසූරිය වගේම අර්ජුන් මහේන්ද්‍රනුත් හිටිය. ඒ වගේම පොලිස්පතිවරයා, රවී වෛද්‍යලංකාර, හා ත්‍රිවිධ හමුදාපතිවරුන් හිටිය. නීතිපති දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ මට වඩා කනිෂ්ඨ නිලධාරියකුත් හිටිය. නීතිපති දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ නිලධාරීන් ඒ රැස්වීමට කැඳවීම නීති විරෝධියි. මම අපේ නිලධාරීන්ගෙන් ඇහුවා ඔබ මොකද මෙතැන කරන්නෙ කියලා.

ඔන්න දැන් නඩු ගැන කතා කරනවා. එකින් එක අරගෙන පොලිස්පතිතුමාගෙන් අහනවා මොකක්ද තත්ත්වය කියලා. ඇවන්ගාඩ් නඩුව ගැන කතා කරන්න පටන් ගත්තා. එකපාරටම චම්පික රණවක ඇමැතිවරයා අතින් මේසෙට ගහමින් ආවේශවෙලා වගේ කියනවා නිලධාරියෙක් සේනාධිපතිට රට යන්න පාස්පෝට් එක නිදහස් කරල තියෙනවා. ඔහු දැන් නයිජීරියාවට ගිහිල්ලා සල්ලි සේරම වෙනත් රටවලට යවල ඇති මේ පරීක්ෂණය කරන්න වෙන්නෙ නැහැ මේ විදියට කියලා.
එතකොට මම කිව්වා. ඇමැතිතුමා ඔහුගෙ පාස්පෝට් එක නිදහස් කරන්න කියලා උපදෙස් දුන්නේ මම. මම ඒක කළේ නීතියට අනුව. මොකද තාම මේ පරීක්ෂණත් ඉවර නෑ කියලා. අනිත් එක ඔබතුමාලා අපිට කෑගැහුවට ඔබලාගෙ ඇමැතිවරුන් වන විජේදාස රාජපක්ෂ හා තිලක් මාරපන වගේ අයත් මේ ගැන මට කතා කළා කියලා. එතකොට ඔන්න චම්පික කියනවා ඒක තමා බලන්න ඇමැතිවරුත් මේවට උදව් කරනවා. මේ ඇමැතිවරු දෙන්න මේ දූෂණ කමිටුවෙත් ඉඳගෙනයි මෙහෙම කරන්නෙ වගේ කතා.

ඔය ගැන තමා මේ මෑතක විජිත හේරත් මන්ත්‍රීවරයා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ කිව්වේ මම ඇවන්ගාඩ් චූදිතයන්ට උදව් කළා කියලා. දැන් ඔය රැස්වීම ඉවර වෙලා මම අරලියගහ මන්දිරයෙන් එළියට එන්න එනකොට මට හම්බවුණා පාඨලී ඇමැතිතුමා. ඔහු මට කතා කරල ඇහුවා සුහද ඔබ හිතන්නෙ මේ ආයුධ කාගෙ කියලද කියලා. මම කිව්වා ආයුධ තියෙන නැවක් ගැන ආරක්ෂක ලේකම්වරයා නොදැන ඉන්න විදියක් නැහැ. අපි ඒ ගැන හොයලා බලන්නං කියලා. එතකොට ඔහු මට කියනවා ඔබ ගෝඨාව අත්අඩංගුවට ගන්න. අපි ඔබ ගැන බලාගන්නං කියලා. මම ඒකට උත්තරයක් දෙන්නෙ නැතුව පිටවෙලා ආවා.
රවී කරුණානායක ඇමැතිවරයා කියලා තිබුණා ඔබ ඇමැතිවරුන්ට ගරු කරල කතා කරන්නෙ නැහැ කියලා.

ඒක වුණේ මෙහෙමයි. ඔය කාලේ මෙහෙ හිටපු බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය මහ කොමසාරිස් මගේ පෞද්ගලික මිත්‍රයෙක්. මම ඔහුව හඳුනන්නෙ ඔහු මම ඉගෙනගත්ත විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ නීතිය පිළිබඳ මහාචාර්යවරයෙක් විදියට කටයුතු කරපු නිසා. එතුමා ලංකාවේ සේවය අවසන් කරල යෑම වෙනුවෙන් ඉතාම ළඟ කිහිප දෙනකුට රාත්‍රි කෑමක් දුන්නා. මම ඒ කෑමට ගිහින් එළියට එනකොට රවී කරුණානායක ඇමැතිතුමා එමින් හිටියා. ඔහු මාව පැත්තකට අරන් ගිහින් මගෙන් ඇහුවා ඇවන්ගාඩ් නඩුවට මොකද වෙන්නේ කියලා. මම කිව්වා සමාවෙන්න ඇමැතිතුමා නඩු කටයුතු අපට ඇමැතිවරුන් සමග කතා කරන්න බැහැ කියලා. එතකොට ඔහු කිව්වා ඔබ කොහොමද මට එහෙම කියන්නෙ. අපිට ඇමැතිවරු හැටියට මේව ගැන අහන්න බැරිද වගේ කතා. මම මොකුත් නොකිය ආවා. පස්සේ රවී කරුණානායක පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේදී මට බැන්න. මම ඔහුට සැලකුවේ පියන් කෙනෙක් විදියට කියලා.

ඒ කියන්නේ මේ සිද්ධිය ගැන කතා​ නොකරපු කෙනෙක් නැහැ වගේ?

ඔව්. එක එක්කෙනාගෙන් කෝල් එනවා මේ ගැන අහල. ඒ අතරේ මාධ්‍යයෙන් සිරසයි – ටී.එන්.එල්. එකයි දිගින් දිගටම මට ගහනවා. ඔය අතරේ අරලිය ගහ මන්දිරයේ දිගටම මේ ගැන මීටින් තිබුණා. ඒ හැම මීටිමකටම අපිව ගෙන්නුවා. බැරිම තැන මම නීතිපතිතුමාට කිව්වා මේ දේශපාලකයන්ගේ රැස්වීම්වලට යන්න මට බැහැ කියලා. කාරණා දෙකක් නිසා එකක් තමා අපිට වරදක් නැතුව බැණලා අපිත් ඒකට උත්තර දුන්නොත් මොනව වෙයිද දන්නෙ නෑ. අනිත් එක රාජ්‍ය නිලධාරීන් හැටියට රජයේ කටයුතු ගැන ප්‍රසිද්ධියේ හැමදෙයක්ම කතා කළ නොහැකි වීම. අපට යම් යම් කරුණු ගැන නිදහසේ කතාකරන්න බැහැ. සීමාවක් තියෙනවා. ඒත් නීතිපතිතුමා කිව්වා මේක අලුත් ආණ්ඩුවක්. අගමැතිතුමාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් තියෙන රැස්වීමක් නිසා යන්න කියලා.

ඉතින් මම අකැමැත්තෙන් යනවා. මේ මීටිමට දවසක් අර මම මුලින්ම සඳහන් කරපු අපේ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ කනිෂ්ඨ නිලධාරියත් මේ මීටිමට කැඳවල තිබුණා. මලික් සමරවික්‍රම ඔහුගෙන් ඇහුවා මේ ගැන ඔහුගේ නිර්දේශය කුමක්ද කියලා. ඔහු කියනවා මේක විශාල අපරාධයක්. මේවගේ දෙයක් කරපු අයට නිදැල්ලේ ඉන්න දීපු අවස්ථාවක් මීට පෙර තිබිලා නැහැ. ඒ නිසා ගෝඨාභය ඇතුළු 7 දෙනාම අත්අඩංගුවට ගත යුතුයි කියලා.

ඒ අවස්ථාවේදීත් මම කිව්වා මම ඒකට විරුද්ධයි. මේ විදියට අත්අඩංගුවට ගන්න බැහැ කියලා. මේ වෙලාවේ අගමැතිතුමා කිව්වා දැන් නීතිපති දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ මත දෙකක් තියෙන නිසා මේක අපි නීතිපතිතුමාට භාර දෙමු කියලා. නීතිපතිතුමා මගෙනුත් අර කනිෂ්ඨ නීතිඥයගෙනුත් වගේම දැන් අගවිනිසුරු වන එවකට මගේ යටතේ හිටපු අතිරේක සොලිසිටර් ජනරාල් ජයන්ත ජයසූරිය හා කපිල වෛද්‍යරත්නගෙනුත් මේ ගැන වාර්තා කැඳෙව්වා.

මම අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීමට විරුද්ධයි. කනිෂ්ඨ නීතිඥයා කියනවා හත්දෙනෙක් අත්අඩංගුවට ගත යුතුයි කියලා. ජයන්ත ජයසූරිය හා කපිල වෛද්‍යරත්න කියනවා සේනාධිපති හා ඔහුගේ ලේකම් පමණක් අත්අඩංගුවට ගත යුතුයි කියලා.

තවමත් අවශ්‍ය තීන්දුවක් නැහැ?

ඔව්, මේ ගැන දිගටම අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේ මීටින් තියෙනවා. ඔය මීටින්වලට එනව. එවකට අල්ලස් හෝ දූෂණ විමර්ශන කොමිසමේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් වුණේ දිල්රුක්ෂි ඩයස් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහත්මිය. ඇය මේ නඩුවට සම්බන්ධ වෙන්නේ ඒ විදියට. මගේ අදහසේ හැටියට ඇය ඒ රැස්වීම්වලට පැමිණීම සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම වැරදියි. මොකද අල්ලස් හෝ දූෂණ කොමිසම ඉතාම ස්වාධීනව කටයුතු කළ යුතු ආයතනයක්. ඒ නිසා තමයි 1994දී අල්ලස්, දූෂණ කටයුතු ගැන කටයුතු කිරීම නීතිපති දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවෙන් ඉවත් කරලා අල්ලස් හෝ දූෂණ විමර්ශන කොමිසම වෙනම ආයතනයක් ලෙස ආරම්භ කළේ. පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ සියලු දෙනා ඒකමතිකව මේ පනත සම්මත කළා.

නමුත් මේ රැස්වීම්වලට අල්ලස් කොමිසමේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල්වරිය වගේම නීතිපති දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවෙන් අපිව ගෙන්වලා ​දේශපාලකයන් අපෙන් ප්‍රශ්න කරන තත්ත්වයක් ඇතිවුණා. මේක කිසි දිනෙක මේ රටේ සිදුවෙලා තිබුණේ නැහැ. මේක පැහැදිලිවම යුක්තිය පසිඳලීමේ ක්‍රියාවලිය දේශපාලනීකරණය වීමක්.

මේ ආණ්ඩුව මේ තරම් ඇවන්ගාඩ් නඩුව ගැන උනන්දු වුණේ කුමක් නිසා කියලද ඔබ හිතන්නේ?

ආණ්ඩුව කිව්වට මේකට තදබල අවශ්‍යතාව තිබුණේ රාජිත සේනාරත්න හා චම්පික රණවක ඇමැතිවරුන්ට. අගමැතිතුමා එහෙම බලපෑමක් කළේ නැහැ. එක සැරයක් මේ FCID රැස්වීම තිබුණා ජනාධිපතිතුමාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන්. මම එතුමට කිව්වා අපිට තිබෙන බලපෑම් ගැන. කොතරම් බලපෑම් කළත් සාක්ෂි නැතිව නඩු දාන්න බැහැ කියලා. එතුමා ඒක පිළිගත්තා. රාජිත සේනාරත්න හා අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක පැත්තට හැරිලා කිව්ව නයාට ගහලා පොල්ල වරද්ද ගත්ත වගේ වැඩ කරන්න එපා කියලා.

මම හිතන්නේ මේ තරම් බලපෑම් කරන්න හේතුව දේශපාලන හේතුවකටත් වඩා වාණිජ හේතුවක් කියලයි. කාට හරි අවශ්‍යතාවක් තිබුණා මේ ව්‍යාපාරය කඩල අරන් වෙන කාට හරි අරන් දෙන්න. මොකද මේක කෝටි ගණන් ලාභ ලැබෙන ව්‍යාපාරයක්.

කොයි තරම් බලපෑම් ආවත් ඔබ ඒවාට යටත් වුණේ නැහැ. නමුත් ඔබ කියනව ඔබ මේ නිසා වින්දිතයෙක් වුණා කියලා. ඒ කොහොමද?

මම තමයි ඊළඟට නීතිපතිවරයා වෙන්න හිටියේ. වසර 35ක් රාජ්‍ය සේවයේ හිටියෙ. මමයි ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ නිලධාරියා ඒ වෙනකොට දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ හිටපු. චම්පික රණවකගේ සාමාජිකයෙක් වන ව්‍යවස්ථාදායක සභාවට මගේ නම යෝජනා වුණත් ඒක ප්‍රතික්ෂේප වුණා. ඒ වෙනකොටත් මට විරුද්ධව විශාල ප්‍රචාරයක් අරන් ගිහින් තිබුණා. සරත් විජේසූරිය එතකොට අර සමන් රත්නප්‍රියවත්, මම දන්නෙවත් නැති අය පවා යොදවලා මාධ්‍යයෙන් මට විරුද්ධව විශාල ප්‍රචාරයක් ගෙන ගියා. අවසානයේ මම විශ්‍රාම ගත්තෙ මට ලැබිය යුතුව තිබූ උසස්වීම් නොමැතිව.

නමුත් මම ඒ ගැන දුක් වෙන්නේ නැහැ. මොකද එදා මම කියපු දේ ඔප්පුවෙලා තියෙනවා. ඒ වගේම මට නීතිපති තනතුර නොදී දුන්නෙ මට වඩා කනිෂ්ඨ නිලධාරියකු වුණ අද අගවිනිසුරු ලෙස කටයුතු කරන ජයන්ත ජයසූරිය මහත්තයාට. එතුමා නීතිපති තනතුරේ ඉන්නකම් මගේ මතයට විරුද්ධව ගියේ නැහැ. ඒ කියන්නේ මම කියපු දේ හරි කියන එකනෙ. දිල්රුක්ෂි කියන කතාව සම්පූර්ණ ඇත්ත. මම දන්නවා මට ආපු බලපෑම කොතෙක්ද කියලා. නමුත් මගෙයි, ඇයගෙයි වෙනස නම් මම ඒ බලපෑමට යටත් වුණෙත් නැහැ. ඇය යටත් වුණා.

ඔබ කියන අන්දමට ආණ්ඩුවට අවශ්‍ය වුණේ නීතියට පිටින් කටයුතු කරන්නයි. මූල්‍ය අපරාධ කොට්ඨාසය පිහිටුවීම නීතිවිරෝධී කියලා මතයක් තියෙනවා. මොකක්ද ඔබේ මතය?

මේ ආණ්ඩුව පත්වූයේ යහපාලනය ඇති කරනවා, නීතියේ ආධිපත්‍යය රකිනවා කියලනේ. මේ FCID එක පිහිටුවීම හා ඒක කටයුතු කරපු ආකාරය බැලුවම මේ ගැන හොඳට තේරුම් ගන්න පුළුවන්.

අපේ ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 13 වැනි වගන්තියේ තියෙනවා නීතියෙන් නියම කරනු ලැබූ කාර්ය පටිපාටියට අනුකූලව මිස කිසිම තැනැත්තකු සිරභාරයට ගැනීම නොකළ යුත්තේය කියලා. ඒ වගේම තවදුරටත් කියනව, යම් තැනැත්තකු සිරභාරයට ගනු ලබන්නේ යම් හේතුවක් මතද ඒ හේතුව ඒ තැනැත්තාට දැන්විය යුතුය කියලත්. මේකෙ වැදගත්ම කොටස තමා නීතියෙන් නියම කරනු ලැබූ කාර්ය පටිපාටියට අනුකූලව කියන කොටස. ඒ පටිපාටිය සඳහන් කරල තියෙන්නේ අපරාධ නඩු විධාන සංග්‍රහයේ.

ඒවා එහෙම තියෙද්දී මේ යහපාලන ආණ්ඩුව 2015 පෙබරවාරි 13 අංක 1901/20 දරන අති විශේෂ ගැසට් පත්‍රයක් මගින් ඇතිකළා බරපතළ ගණයේ මූල්‍ය අපරාධ විමර්ශන සඳහා නව පොලිස් කොට්ඨාසයක්. දැන් මොනවද මේ බරපතළ අපරාධ කියන්නේ. අපරාධ නඩු විධාන සංග්‍රහයේ දණ්ඩ නීති සංග්‍රහයේ කොතනකවත් එහෙම අපරාධ නිර්වචනය කරල නැහැ. අපරාධ නීති මූලධර්මවලට අනුව අපරාධ නිර්වචනයේදී අපරාධමය ක්‍රියාදාමය, මානසික ක්‍රියාදාමය හා දඬුවම ගැබ්වෙලා තිබිය යුතුයි. අපරාධයකට යමෙකු අත්අඩංගුවට ගන්න කොට ඔහු දැන ගත යුතුයි ඔහුට ලැබිය හැකි දඬුවම. ඒ වගේම ඒ දඬුවම දීම සඳහා අනුගමනය කරන ක්‍රියා පටිපාටිය පැහැදිලිව තිබිය යුතුයි.

අපේ නීතියේ කොතැනකවත් මහා පරිමාණ අපරාධ කියල වර්ගයක් නිර්වචනය කරල නැහැ. මේ යහපාලන ආණ්ඩුව මේව නිර්වචනය කරන්නෙ දේශපාලකයෝ ටිකක් එකතු​වෙලා. නමුත් අපේ ව්‍යවස්ථාවෙවත් අපරාධ නඩු විධාන සංග්‍රහයෙවත් දේශපාලකයෝ විසින් එය කළ යුතුයි කියල සඳහන් වෙන්නෙ නැහැ. දැන් මේ ආණ්ඩුවේ දේශපාලකයෝ අගමැතිවරයාගේ කාර්යාලයට රැස්වෙලා එතැනට ගෙන්වනවා රටේ යුක්තිය පසිඳලීමේ කාර්යයට සෘජුවම නීතිපති දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව, අල්ලස් කොමිසම,​ පොලිසිය. ඊට පස්සේ අර දේශපාලකයෝ තීරණය කරනවා මේ කාර්ය කරන්න ඕනේ කොහොමද කියල තීන්දු කරනවා. මෙන්න මේක තමා අධිකරණයේ ස්වාධීනත්වය, මැදිහත්වීම නීතියේ ආධිපත්‍යයට බලපෑම් කිරීම පරීක්ෂණ විනිවිද පෙනෙන ස්වභාවයෙන් තොරවීම. මම කියන්නේ FCID එක පිහිටුවීමත් එහි කටයුතු කළ අන්දමත් සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම නීති විරෝධීයි. මේ ක්‍රියාදාමය සිදුවූයේ මුළුමනින්ම දේශපාලන බලපෑම් මත. මම යෝජනා කරනවා ඉදිරියේදී පත්වන ආණ්ඩුවක් විශේෂ ජනාධිපති කොමිසමක් පත් කරල FCID කියන මේ නීති විරෝධී ක්‍රියාදාමය තුළ කවුද​​ මේවට සහභාගි වූයේ කොයි විදියටද තීරණ ගත්තේ කියල සම්පූර්ණ පරීක්ෂණයක් කළ යුතුයි කියලා.

කුලශ්‍රී කාරියවසම්

ජාත්‍යන්තර සිංහ සමාජය  දිස්ත්‍රික් 306 A1 වෙනුවෙන්   

ජාත්‍යන්තර සිංහ සමාජ දිස්ත්‍රික් 306 A1  දිවයිනේ දකුණු වෙරළබඩ කලාපයේ ප්‍රජා සේවා රැසක් දියත් කරයි.  මේ යටතේ පසුගියදා සෙල්ලකතරගම සහ බේරුවල ප්‍රදේශවල අති සාර්ථක අන්දමින් ප්‍රජා සේවා කඳවුරු දෙකක් අති සාර්ථක අන්දමින් පැවැත්වීමට  ජාත්‍යන්තර සිංහ සමාජ දිස්ත්‍රික් 306 A1 සමත් විය.

සෙල්ලකතරගම මහා විද්‍යාලයේදී සහ බේරුවල මාලේවන ශ්‍රි ඥානේස්සර විහාරයේදී පැවැති මෙම ප්‍රජා සේවා කඳවුරු වලදී 5000 කට අධික පිරිසකට සේවා සැපයීමට හැකියාව ලැබී තිබේ. මෙහිදී  විශේෂඥ වෛද්‍යවරුන් ඇතුළු වෛද්‍යවරුන් රැසකගේ සහභාගිත්වයෙන් පැවැති වෛද්‍ය සායනය මඟින් දියවැඩියා පරීක්ෂාව, සහ විවිධ රෝගාබාධ සඳහා ප්‍රතිකාර , ඖෂධ මෙන්ම සෞඛ්‍ය උපදෙස් ද සපයනු ලැබිණ. විශේෂයෙන්ම ගැබිණි මව්වරුන් සහ වැඩිහිටි ප්‍රජාව සඳහා සුවිශේෂි සහන රැසක් ද මීට සමගාමීව පිරිනැමිණ.

 තවද මිට සමගාමීව පාසැල් දරුවන් සහ තරුණ තරුණියන් සදහා ද සේවා රැසක් සැලසීමට කටයුතු යෙදා තිබුණි. ඒ අතර කොළඹ විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ විද්‍යා පීඨය විසින් මෙහෙයවූ පෞරුෂ වර්ධන වැඩසටහන්, වෘත්තිය පුහුණු වැඩසටහන් ආදිය ප්‍රමුඛ වෙයි. මෙම වැඩසටහන් වලදී වෘත්තිය පුහුණුව ලත් 100 දෙනෙකු වෙත සහතික පිරිනැමීම ද මෙම සිංහ සමාජ සත්කාරයේදී සිදුකෙරිණ. මීට අමතරව දරුවන් වෙනුවෙන් රොබෝ තාක්ෂණ වැඩමුළුවක් ද පැවැති අතර දරුවන් 50 කට අධික පිරිසක් රොබෝ තාක්ෂණය පිළිබඳව මෙහිදී අත්දැකීම් ලබා ගැනීමට සමත් විය. ජාත්‍යන්තර සිංහ සමාජ දිස්ත්‍රික් 306 A1  සිංහාධිපති  ශ්‍රී ලාල් ප්‍රනාන්දු මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් මෙම ප්‍රජා  සේවා ක්‍රියාත්මක කෙරිණ.

මෙම ප්‍රජා සේවා වැඩසටහන පිළිබඳව අදහස් දැක්වූ සිංහාධිපති  ශ්‍රී ලාල් ප්‍රනාන්දු මහතා සඳහන් කළේ ජාත්‍යන්තර සිංහ සමාජය විසින් හඳුනාගෙන ඇති ක්ෂේත්‍ර 7 ක ජාත්‍යන්තර ප්‍රබල ගැටළු වලට පිළියම් යෙදීම සඳහා මෙම ප්‍රජා සේවා මෙහෙයවන බවයි. දියවැඩියාව, දෘෂ්ඨිආබාධ, අහාර,පරිසරය, ළමා පිළිකා, සහ තාරුණ්‍යය මෙන්ම මානුෂිය සේවා සහ ආපදා සහන  ආදී එම  ක්ෂේත්‍ර ඉලක්ක කර ගනිමින් විවිධ වැඩසටහන් ජාත්‍යන්තර සිංහ සමාජ දිස්ත්‍රික් 306 A1  විසින් සංවිධානය කරන බව සිංහාධිපති ශ්‍රිලාල් ප්‍රනාන්දු මහතා සඳහන් කළේය. විශේෂයෙන් ළමා වියේ ඇතිවන පිළිකා නිසා බොහෝ දරුවන්ගෙ ජීවිත අහිමි වන්නේ එ පිළිබඳ නිසි දැනුවත් භාවයක් නොමැති කමින් සහ ඒ සඳහා ප්‍රතිකාර කිරීමට තරම් ප්‍රමාණවත් සම්පත් නොමැති කමින් බව  පෙන්වා දුන් ශ්‍රි ලාල් ප්‍රනාන්දු මහතා අවධාරණය කළේ එම ගැටළුව සමනය කිරීම සඳහා ජාත්‍යන්තර  සිංහ සමාජය මූලිකවී  විවිධ වැඩසටහන් ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන බවයි.  මෙරට ඇසේ සුද මතුවීමේ රෝගීන් වසරකට 20000ක් පමණ හඳුනාගන්නා බව ඒ මහතා සදහන් කළේය. ඒ අනුව දෘෂ්ඨිආබාධ අතරින් මෙරට බහුල වශයෙන්ම ව්‍යාප්තව පවතින දෘෂ්ඨි අබාධය ලෙස එම රෝගය හඳුනාගත හැකි බව පෙන්වා දුන් සිංහාධිපතිවරයා කියා සිටියේ  එම රෝගීන් සියල්ලටම කඩිනමින් ප්‍රතිකාර කිරීමට සඳහා අවශ්‍ය සම්පත් රජය සතු නොවන බවයි. මේ නිසා එම රෝගීන්ට දීර්ඝ කාලයක් තිස්සෙ පොරොත්තු ලේඛණ වල රැදී සිටීමට සිදුවන බවත් ඊට පිළියම් වශයෙන් ඇසේ සුද ඉවත් කිරීම ඇතුළු අක්ෂි අබාධ සඳහා ප්‍රතිකාර කිරීමට   පානදුර ප්‍රදේශයේ සිංහ අක්ෂි රෝහල නමින් අක්ෂි රෝහලක්ද ස්ථාපිත කර ඇති බව හෙතෙම පැවසීය.

 සෙල්ලකතරගම සහ බේරුවල පැවැති ප්‍රජා සේවාවන් වලදී තාරුණ්‍යය වෙනුවෙන් පෞරුෂ වර්ධන වැඩසටහන් සහ වෘත්තිය පුහුණු වැඩසටහන් පැවති බව අවධාරණය කළ සිංහාධිපති ශ්‍රී ලාල් ප්‍රනාන්දු මහතා පෙන්වා දුන්නේ ඒ ඔස්සේ රටේ සංවර්ධනය සඳහා තාරුණ්‍යය සවිබල ගැන්වීමට අපේක්ෂා කරන බවයි.

මෙම ප්‍රජා සේවා සඳහා සහය දැක්වූ අනුග්‍රාහක ආයතන වෙත සිය ස්තුතිය පළ කරන ශ්‍රීලාල් ප්‍රනාන්දු මහතා කියා සිටියේ සිංහ ප්‍රජා සේවා සදහා අරමුදල් රැස් කිරීම සඳහා සිංහ චාරිකා නමින් රිය පෙරහැරක් ද  මේ මස 28 සහ 29 වන දින පැවැත්වූ බවයි. එම රිය පෙරහැර කතරගම සිට කොළඹ දක්වා ගමන් කල  අතර ඊට රථවාහන සියයකට අධික ප්‍රමාණයක් සහභාගි විය..

Kanthar Balanathan

Tamil Culture, whether in their own country or overseas has dishonored, besmirched and corrupted to the lowest level, beyond any tolerant level by honest humans. In SriLanka, people are shouting and claiming to bring back Arjuna Mahendran (Tamil) from Singapore for draining 20 billion from the Central Bank. There was a guy in the USA known as Rajaratnam (Tamil) who swindled millions from the stock market via insider trading. This guy late Sivapragasam Kumarasamy from VVT, who was sacked in 1978 by the Cement Corporation stole several thousand from the writer’s coffer, and one of his children stole two million from the writer and so his other children and so on.

A SriLankan in Sydney has earned millions of dollars by giving loans on Usury interest. Usury interest is giving loans without any collateral and it is high as 3%-5%, which yields an interest of $3.00 for one month for a loan of $100.00 or $300.00 for $10,000.00 per month. Guys without any form of education and who were involved in smuggling in SL have earned piles of money through this business. The money earned is distributed without their family. Ie children etc. It is illegal; however, these guys survive in Australia. Tamils are also involved in chit funds. This happens among Tamils worldwide. This type of income evades tax to the ATO, as it is hidden within the family. Some organizational committee members, maybe sharing the yield of the money (profits) collected through this person and show a loss on their balance sheet. When the country has honorable professionals working hard these types of frauds earn mints o money through corrupt practice.

Just to give another example: The Ceylon Cement corporation club was running at a loss till 1972 and after the writer took the position of the Social Secretary, in one year he showed a profit of Rs 1500 with free Christmas party & free drinks and meals. The writer investigated and found out that most of the senior staff did not pay the club and the amount was written off at the end of the year. The Social Secretary (I) devised a strategy to collect the money automatically through their pay. It was like a gang affair. The previous club social secretary’s granddaughter is in politics in a foreign country. Therefore, we should be open-minded to recognize how politicians from SriLanka rise up to politics and accrue wealth. It may be in the bloodstream and hereditary.

It is plundering among the Tamil community holding positions. However, they roar, shout, moan, groan that Tamils are been oppressed in SL and have tried through GOSL to establish an office called OMP (Office of missing persons). Every country is flooded with Tamil boat people. Just to give an example, please view this video:

The secrets of Tamils holding office can be understood from this video. What one man confirms is that 80% of the collection is spent by them and only 20% goes to the victims in SriLanka Northern Province.

In Sydney, Tamils collected $20,000 in the name of establishing a chicken farm in Vavuniya. However, when a Tamil questioned after six months about the execution, the radio guy has said that a bicycle has been bought for them at a cost of $125. What happened to the rest of the funds collected? Only God knows.

Most of the LTTE volunteers who were involved in collecting money had swallowed the money and now they became millionaires. The same thing applies to Tamils in Europe, Canada, UK, etc.

In the North of SL, social disintegration gave birth before independence and subsequently with the LTTE wiped out and corrupt politicians took office in the NPC. LTTE was involved in plundering the wealth of citizens and the killing of innocent civilians. With the NPC giving birth Tamils entered politics and commenced their bribery and corrupt practice. It is obvious that GOSL grants funds to all MPs for development. Except some MPs and NPC Councillors giving buckets and cheap chairs what have the people and schools and community centers received from these clowns. The caste issue is another motivation where society is becoming divided and social disintegration has given birth.

Now with the bribery and corruption is holding like a stem to the corrupt politicians, they are focused on arming NPC with Police and Land power so that they can earn more and strengthen the social disintegration.

Please view this review:

Tamils lay emphasis on culture, religion, like the Muslims, however, they forgot to lay emphasis on integration and assimilation within their own Tamil community, thereby forcing to give birth social disintegration via the caste system and the rich & the poor.

Finally, we may have to conclude that most Tamils are corrupt humans with no principles in their life. Only talk principles and theory.

By A. Abdul Aziz.

Unquestionably, women play an indispensable role in society because the future generations lie in their laps and grow up in their tender care” – Ahmadiyya Supreme Head.

The World Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, the Fifth Khalifa (Caliph), His Holiness Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad delivered a moving and faith inspiring address to conclude the 41^st National Ijtema (Annual Gathering) of Lajna Imaillah UK, the ladies auxiliary organization of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, recently.

Held at Country Market in Kingsley, Hampshire, this was the first time the event took place over three days.

In his address, His Holiness reminded the members of  Ladies auxiliary organization Lajna Imaillah of the immense value of remaining firm in their faith and staying true to the teachings of Islam.

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

As we move towards success and prosperity, it is essential that we intensify our efforts to protect and preserve our true Islamic values and our core identity as Muslims. The only way to achieve this is for us to strive, more than ever before, to act upon the teachings of Islam.”

His Holiness addressed a question regarding the effectiveness of Islam’s peaceful teachings in today’s society.

Hazrat Mira Masroor Ahmad said:

Some people will argue that Islam has already spread globally and query what has been the benefit to the world? After all, there are said to be around 1.8 billion Muslims in the world and, amongst them, are thousands of Islamic scholars who claim to be spreading its teachings. Yet, this has not led to true peace and prosperity within the Muslim Ummah (Muslim people) or in the wider world.”

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad continued:

The simple and clear reason for this is that, save for those blessed people who have accepted the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him), Muslims across the world are riven within division, dissent and interpret the teachings of Islam in ways that are devoid of sense and often impossible to practice.”

His Holiness also spoke about the importance of modern means of communication and the facilities they provide as vessels to convey the true and peaceful message of Islam.

In this regard Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

In today’s world, television, radio, the internet, the print media and social media are just a few ways through which communications have advanced to the point where global communication has become instantaneous. These are all technologies that we as a community are utilising to spread the teachings of Islam.”

Whilst modern tools of communication and new technologies can be utilised for good, His Holiness explained that regrettably, much of the content being broadcast or streamed in the world today serves only to weaken the moral and spiritual fabric of society and to take people away from what is good and decent.”

His Holiness instructed that Ahmadi Muslims must take the task of reversing the moral decline in society upon themselves.

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

It is the task of Ahmadi men, women and our youth, as members of the community of the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him), to use modern-day technologies to counter the influence of irreligious and immoral forces and to show that upholding religious values in the contemporary world is not just possible but is absolutely vital.”

His Holiness went on to lay particular importance on the vastly integral role women play in the structure of society and the heightened responsibility that it brings.

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

Unquestionably, women play an indispensable role in society because the future generations lie in their laps and grow up in their tender care. This fact alone greatly increases the responsibility placed upon Ahmadi Muslim women to ensure that they view those programmes or read those books that strengthen their moral fibre and which help them to fulfil the purpose of being part of the community established by the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him).”

His Holiness reminded the attendees to continually improve themselves and to not fall prey to time wasting or immoral pastimes.

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

Save yourselves from those sunken paths that are vacant of spirituality and morality, as they will not only harm you but will also destroy the coming generations.”

Explaining that staying away from time-wasting and immoral activities does not hinder Ahmadi Muslims from integrating into society, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

This does not mean that you cannot integrate or contribute to the society in which you live. Many Ahmadis have grown up here or lived here for decades and are now fully attuned to the British customs and values and are themselves an integral part of this society. There is nothing wrong with this.”

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad continued:

To the contrary, every person, whether born here or whether they are an immigrant, should strive to integrate and fulfil their duties as a member of society and be a loyal citizen of the nation. Our faith requires Muslims to utilise their skills and capabilities for the benefit of the nation in which they live and to work towards its progress and development.” 

His Holiness explained that certain practices such as the consumption of alcohol and other immoral activities are termed as ‘freedoms’ but in reality they take one away from God.

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

There are many other harmful things that are prevalent in this society which secular people try to justify in the name of ‘freedom of choice’ or ‘progress’ but which have been declared as obscene by Allah the Almighty and His Messenger (peace and blessings of God be upon him) and which take mankind away from its Creator.”

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad continued:

Though such things are championed as examples of a free and modern society, the reality is that such impropriety serves only to shatter the foundations upon which a truly thriving and compassionate society is built.”

His Holiness further shone light on the issue of attaining a peaceful society at an individual and wider level in light of chapter 13, verse 29 of the Holy Quran which states:

‘Aye! It is in the remembrance of Allah that hearts can find comfort.’

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

Allah the Almighty has stated that true peace of mind cannot be attained through worldly freedom or by partaking in the meaningless attractions of the world, rather it can only be achieved through the nearness of Allah the Almighty and keeping Him in your heart and mind at all times.”

Concluding, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

In every respect, we must follow the teachings of the Holy Quran and consider it our guiding light. We must observe the standards of worship stipulated in the Holy Quran. We must act upon the methods of remembrance of Allah that have been given in the Holy Quran. We must adopt every Quranic instruction to the best of our abilities. Then we will attain the rewards and nearness of Allah the Almighty and we will fulfil the rights of our Bai’at (Oath of allegiance) of the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him).”

(The word Promised Messiah” refers to Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Islam – Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad – the Promised Messiah and Imam-al-Mahdi. – visit: www.alislam.org )

Press Releases  Gamini Sarath Godakanda

Founder Pathfinder Foundation and former Cabinet Minister Milinda Moragoda called on Presidential candidates to consider including a 5-year ban on university and campus political activities in their policy platforms.  In all democracies campus, political activities are considered to be an important component of building the next generation of national leaders.  Unfortunately, the vicious and vitriolic nature of campus politics in Sri Lanka has led to the whole fabric of the higher education system in the country being destroyed.  Therefore, a 5-year ban on university political activities should be used to reset and change the existing culture within national campuses.

This initiative would be complemented by the compulsory military service model that Mr. Moragoda proposed to Presidential candidates some time ago.  This program would require all men, in the first instance, upon reaching the age of 18 years, to serve in active duty as full-time servicemen in the Army, Navy, Air force or Police. Compulsory military service would be implemented comprehensively and apply to all Sri Lankans regardless of social position, ethnic origin or religious background

Gamini Sarath Godakanda

Ada Derana

Courtesy Adaderana

The professionals must intervene in the state as well as politics in order to have a successful government, says Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Presidential Candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Stating that it is up to the officials to implement the policies of the country, Gotabaya said that legal measures are required to safeguard honest government officials.

The former Defense Secretary mentioned this addressing a professionals’ seminar held in Colombo, yesterday (28).

He says that many of the students, except those who admitted to universities, are lost following the GCE Advanced Level exam.

These youngsters must be given opportunities for tertiary education, he stated. Otherwise, neither the economy will be able to rise nor the frustration of the youth be alleviated, Rajapaksa added.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa says that if he comes into power, his first task would be to invest a large sum of money in education.

Through that, he would make changes to the existing universities and increase enrollment at universities by at least 20 percent.Disclaimer: All the comments will be moderated by the AD editorial. Abstain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or slanderous. Please avoid outside hyperlinks inside the comment and avoid typing all capitalized comments. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines by flagging them(mouse over a comment and click the flag icon on the right side). Do use these forums to voice your opinions and create healthy discourse.

By W.K. Prasad Manju Courtesy Ceylon Today

The cold war between the UNP Leader, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Deputy Leader, Minister Sajith Premadasa, still prevails even though the latter was named the Presidential candidate on Thursday (26).

Friction between the two has escalated as several conditions had been put forward, by the faction supporting the PM to Premadasa, in order for the latter to be the Party’s Presidential candidate. The conditions include bringing in a new Constitution, devolution of power, abolition of the Executive Presidency, giving Party Leadership to Wickremesinghe until 2024 and offering the Prime Minister post to him if the Party wins the General Election planned for next year.

It is also reported that another bone of contention was the symbol under which their candidate will contest the upcoming election.

A heated debate had taken place between Wickremesinghe and former Minister Imthiaz Bakeer Markar regarding the devolution of power, sources say.

It is also expected that a debate will take place regarding these matters at the next UNP convention to be held on 3 October where these proposals will be discussed.

While Wickremesinghe had proposed the ‘telephone’ as the election symbol for Premadasa, who will contest as the DUNF candidate, Premadasa had stated that the ‘swan’ was more suitable as it was more familiar to the people having been used as the symbol during the last two Presidential Elections.

Though a committee led by Minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara has been appointed to solve the issue, their efforts have been unsuccessful and the committee has therefore informed Wickremesinghe and Premadasa to meet and take a decision regarding the symbol.

BY EDWARD THEOPHILUS

It seems that different opinion was expressed by desperate or discrete individuals and the hidden intention of many of these individuals seem to gain personal advantages after the presidential election. People have been seen in this situation since 1970. Many individuals or groups  demonstrated that they associated with political parties to gain personal advantages rather than working for the country. It appears that after the selection of presidential candidates from political parties those dishonest individuals attempt to publicly express the supports, but the political parties in the power before elections they reluctant to express the supports by words of mouth or active work supports.  This is a result of democracy and the multi-party system in Sri Lanka.  According to historical experience, the behavior of these opportunists interpreted as traitors.  King Dutugemunu and many other kings in the history recognized traitors and kill them before going to wars.

  The Impartial opinion of many people in Sri Lanka doesn’t want divisions based on political parties or individuals.  Sri Lanka needs unity of all people without religious, racial and party differences.  The worse situation is that international politics has associated with differences to gain advantages. The economic growth of the country has declined to less than 2%, which means the economy would not double within the next 35 years.  This the major issue in the country all political parties supposed to talk about.  Except for Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, no other candidates of political parties are willing to talk about.  The other vital issue is the increasing population more than the rate of growth and the size of the land of the country.  Population associated many problems appear in the country. The major issue is annual revenue would not suffice to gain advantages to people and educated and a skilled young generation goes overseas to avoid the issues.

To change this situation, presidential candidates should have a clear vision on the economy, social, religious and cultural areas. Sri Lanka needs anti-discrimination laws rather than the division of the country, where needs a law common all people without differences.  Except for Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, no candidates talk about a law of common to all and anti-discrimination laws.

People of Sri Lanka needs thinking about whether they want a multiparty system to mislead people or a strong unity of all political parties to identify, develop and implement right policies to the country. 

By M D P DISSANAYAKE

Sajith Premadasa is perhaps one of youngest  male persons to be nominated from a leading political party of Sri Lanka as a Presidential candidate.

Even amongst the few potential candidates within UNP, there are several qualified professionals, representing younger generation.  But they were all suppressed by the Tamil-Muslim Leadership.  Tamils and Muslims are fully aware that Ranil is at the bottom of the harbour. Comparatively, Sajith has some grass root support.  But Sajith is clearly a vindictive person, just like his father.   He  is arrogant, a thug by nature ( with valid testimony perhaps in DNA as well).

He is uneducated, possess an unofficial degree certificate received under compassionate grounds and continue to insult a great Institution such as London School of Economics.  If a crook like this pretend as a Qualified LSE degree holder,   he or she will have to face programs such as HARD TALK in BBC, that will put him under the microscope. Unfotunately, in Sri Lanka great many culprits and politicians escape the scrutiny.

Sajith  will behave like a monkey with the sword in his hand. Sajith is the only person who can be fooled by Tamil and Muslims.  He has no integrity  to forego.  His Gutter politics will destroy the country. 

Tamil and Muslim leaders are rallying around Sajith like Foxes.  With Ranil in the back-stage, he will rotate the puppet to the dance of Tamils and Muslim Leaders.    Tamils and Muslims will never get on to the stage with Sajith   as it will directly damage Sajith’s campaign.

During the days of Ranasinghe Premadasa, he started his work 24/7 at 4 am.  He start telephoning all public servants during their sleep.  In one instance, a Site Manager of a large corporation had a construction contract with State Engineering Corporation. The Site Manager had kidney, lung and heart problems.  Ranasinghe Premadasa  in his usual manner, without malice, telephone all key players in the early hours.  This Site Manager could not bear the  repeated pressure and committed suicide at the age of 57.

If, Sajith Premadasa become the President, our Public Servants will not be able to have a good night sleep.

This Hero will become a Zero, so  Sri  Lanka can move forward with hardworking, educated, effective team of leaders.

KAMALIKA PIERIS

EASTER SUNDAY BOMB BLASTS

There is speculation that Western intelligence agencies had a hand in the well-coordinated, precision-timed Easter suicide bombings in Sri Lanka, said Lasanda Kurukulasuriya.  How otherwise could a little-known group ‘National Thawheed Jamaath’    have orchestrated such a feat.

The Easter bomb attacks in Sri Lanka  are a part of  a series of puzzling attacks by little-known terror outfits , taking place in several countries. But  there is one common factor. All the countries facing such attacks have been states benefiting from China’s Belt and Road Initiative, (BRI). They include  Myanmar, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

In Myanmar in 2017 a little-known terrorist group called the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) staged attacks on security posts in Rakhine state, sparking a crackdown on the Rohingya community. Rakhine state is home to Sittwe port and a starting point of BRI infrastructure projects linking Myanmar with China’s Kunming city. The leader of ARSA is said to be  a Rohingya born in Pakistan and raised in Saudi Arabia.

The Philippines, whose President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016 threatened to ditch its longtime military alliance with the US and turn to China, faced an attack by ISIS terrorists in 2017  in Marawi, helping USA to further consolidate their military presence.

Five people were killed in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province, in   June 2019  in an attack on a star class hotel located near the port of Gwadar, which is being modernized under China’s BRI. Baluch separatists claimed responsibility. Thereafter Baluch Liberation Army carried out a dozen attacks in 2018 against Chinese-linked projects. In November, the group attacked a Chinese consulate in the major southern city of Karachi.

The targeting of Sri Lanka was  therefore not surprising. Two of the sea-front hotels that came under suicide bomb attacks, Shangri La and Kingsbury, overlooked the $1.4 billion Port City project, China’s single biggest infrastructure investment in Sri Lanka.  

All these attacks had some sort of  link to ISIS.  ISIS, like Al Qaeda before it, is a creation of the  US intelligence agencies. ISIS  sudden appearance everywhere China is attempting to do business,  fits the now documented and admitted pattern of Washington’s use of extremism to manipulate  situations wherever its standing armies cannot afford to intervene.  Also, such attacks offer an entry-point for Western-sponsored counter-terrorism activity or humanitarian assistance, said Lasanda.

There is ample evidence in defence related research papers, to prove that ISIS was created, sponsored and used by US secret agencies in pursuing the US foreign policy.  It was used to intervene  in countries of strategic importance.  The  interventions were for regime change, weakening the state, disintegration of society and finally invasion/occupation by US army.

Soon after the bomb attacks, Western intelligence agencies rushed in to assist in the investigations. A team from the Federal Investigation Bureau (FBI) of the United States  arrived in Sri Lanka  on  April 23, two days after the bomb blast,  to assist in the investigations.  Britain sent in ten or twelve Mi-5 Intelligence personnel. There were over  40 such foreign personnel in Sri Lanka altogether, said Wimal Weerawansa in Parliament.

The FBI team came reportedly at the invitation of the Government of Sri Lanka. All the foreign agencies worked along with the CID. They did so on our request,” said Police spokesperson, SP Ruwan Gunasekera. But President Sirisena said we did not invite them. They came on their own. My people are complaining that they cannot go ahead with their work since each group is asking them for briefings”.

 No information has been revealed, to date, on the work carried out by the foreign agencies (said to be ‘technical’ assistance) or on how these inputs assisted the CID in its probe, observed Lasanda .

An unnamed US embassy official reportedly told a group of journalists that the FBI assisted in analyzing the suicide bombers’ phone data, continued Lasanda. There is reason to believe however that the FBI in fact REMOVED the suicide bombers phones and other devices at an early stage, pre-empting the retrieval of vital evidence by local investigators.  

All the bombers are dead. Their electronic devices have been taken away by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) which is helping the Lankans in the probe,” an Indian Home Ministry official told the Indian Express.  Unless the data from these devices is made available, little will be known of the bombers links”

This means that Sri Lankan investigators too (nor the rest of the world for that matter) would not  get to know what was recorded in those devices, that might have given a clue as to who the suicide bombers’ immediate handlers were, commented Lasanda.

The question then arises as to whether the Americans in fact sabotaged the investigation, under the pretext of assisting with forensic analysis of the phones and devices, calling it ‘technical assistance.’  Asked whether the FBI had ‘taken away’ the bombers’ phones, Police Spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekera  replied that he was ‘unable to give that information.’

He also did not say whether the Sri Lankan investigators  had the opportunity to analyze the devices before they were handed over to the FBI, and whether the devices had been returned.

This was followed by two ‘clandestine US operations in Colombo’.   Soon after the April 21, 2019 Easter Sunday carnage, two US government employees were detected at the Hilton Colombo Residencies with explosives detectors. Sniffer dogs had traced the equipment in an apartment.

Thereafter, security staff at the Hilton Colombo had thwarted an attempt by five US government officials to check in along with six boxes on the night of July 30, 2019. The American delegation had declined to allow the security staff to scan the boxes. The US delegation had then handed over one of the six boxes for scanning and loaded the rest to a US embassy vehicle and moved them somewhere else.

Wimal Weerawansa    released visa photographs of the entire US team to the media, alleging the group had arrived in a private aircraft. The five-member team had left two days later without the controversial cargo. Weerawansa asked whether the boxes that were sent away in a US embassy vehicle were still in the country or spirited out when the team left for the Maldives. What those boxes contained remained a mystery, the MP said.

These boxes had evaded checks at Customs too. Nagananda Kodituwakku sought information from Director General, Customs regarding the circumstances under which her officers exempted US military cargo from mandatory checks.

Former UPFA MP M.M. Zuhair commented: “The alleged refusal by six US nationals to subject five of their ‘mystery’ boxes to scanning and security clearance at the Bandaranaike International Airport and also later at Hilton Colombo Residences on 30 July 2019 comes as a shock at a time of heightened security threats in the country and warrants a credible investigation to ascertain the contents of the boxes and whether the US personnel were entitled to any privileges of non-disclosure.

“Nothing prevented the six US military personnel from subjecting their baggage to scanning even if they were accredited diplomats. Diplomatic bags containing diplomatic communications and correspondence are protected from being opened. Personal baggage of accredited diplomats cannot be used for smuggling prohibited or restricted goods, said Zuhair.

It is now very clear, and beyond any doubt that the US government is contemplating a military intervention in Sri Lanka, when  a suitable situation arises, said analysts. The Easter Sunday bomb explosions were planned  to provide such an opening.

According to the “shock doctrine” theory,  which we are told has been successfully tested by CIA, a massive shock exerted on a society through extreme violence will lead to a state of confusion and weakness which will help the US to  take over that society. The  concept  of ‘shock doctrine’ was applied to economic change, by its author, Naomi Klein, but it is far more applicable to political change.

When disasters take place, citizens are too emotionally and physically distracted by disasters or upheavals to mount an effective resistance, and US will be able to push through controversial policies, observed analysts.  If there are any more suicide bomb attacks or if wide spread communal violence could be instigated, the US Army will get the chance to enter the country, said critics. They could use R2P, added others.

The bombings, which targeted Catholic churches and 5-star tourist hotels,  came like a bolt from the blue. They devastated the peace and relative stability that prevailed in the island, observed Lasanda. The attacks were intended to bring the country to a standstill. The country did come to a brief stand still. Shops and schools were closed, all activities cancelled, people were asked to stay in their houses.

The attacks on hotels affected the tourist trade and the economy  of the country. Hoteliers said they were heavily indebted to banks and would find it impossible to pay their dues. Small and medium stakeholders in the industry, such as internal airlines, cabs , taxi and three-wheel drivers, tour guides , tour operators and those engaged in the sale of gem and jewellery to tourists,  small vegetable and fish suppliers to the hotels and restaurants, small shop owners, surfing board suppliers and supporting labour, helpers and material suppliers to the construction industry in the hotel sector, were affected.

USA thought   that after the Easter attack there will be  more violence, extreme disorder and chaos. That did not happen. The second  set of bombs was prevented. The bombers died at Senthamaru.  Security forces then  started  arresting  those preparing for the third bomb blast.

Therefore   these attacks did not create the anticipated ‘Shock’. Instead there was remarkable resilience . There was fear as to where the next bomb would burst, certainly , but there was  also  deep anger  and  a firm wish to see to that these attacks were not repeated.  An immediate message to this effect was sent to the Muslim community through a silent boycott of Muslim shops.

There was a short-lived spell of politically-instigated violence in the North Western Province and Gampaha district. Apart from this,  communal harmony was maintained. In a highly volatile situation where a religious minority had been targeted by extremists of another religious minority, the Sangha and the Catholic Church led by Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, head of the Catholic Church ensured that there was no religious rioting, observed Lasanda.

Cardinal  Malcolm Ranjith said openly  and repeatedly that foreign forces were behind the attacks, it was not a local development. He publicly and repeatedly asked for a proper inquiry into the bomb blasts.  It is only then that the truth will emerge. The investigations conducted by the government are a sham”  he said.

Catholic MPs  Johnston Fernando, Nimal Lanza, Indika Anurudda, Sudarshini Fernandopulle, Sanath Nishantha and Arundika Fernando  wrote to the President, asking for a proper inquiry.

In this letter, they said that His Eminence Cardinal Ranjith  has mentioned on numerous occasions that neither he nor the Christian community has any faith in the manner investigations are carried out. The victims are thoroughly disappointed about the manner in which certain political leaders in this government provided political asylum to key accusers connected to extremist acts. Therefore, it is important for the public to know who was responsible in carrying out these attacks, who neglected carrying out their responsibilities and what or who obstructed responsible authorities from taking necessary action to prevent this attack on that day.

If the Mahinda Rajapaksa government set up in October 2018 has been allowed to continue, then there would not have been an Easter Sunday bomb blast.  Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabhaya Rajapakse would have seen the significance of Mawanella, Vanatha villu and the Kattankudy motor cycle. They would have responded promptly to the Indian alert. The Catholic Church would have been informed. Hotels would have been alerted.

The Rajapaksa government was dismissed on the grounds that it went against Fundamental Rights. The appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister   however, was perfectly legal.  Ranil Wickremesinghe had to be freshly sworn in once the Rajapaksa government was dismissed. (Continued)

Sandun A. Jayasekera Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The SLFP would not contest the presidential poll and instead would support Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, notwithstanding its stance maintained up to yesterday that it would never join the SLPP unless it agrees to change its pohottuwa symbol (budding lotus flower), the Daily Mirror learns.

The SLFP also said the party would contest the presidential poll separately protecting its dignity, self-respect and integrity if the SLPP did not consent to its humble demand to choose a different symbol acceptable to both parties, as the SLFP could not ask their supporters to vote for pohottuwa.

However, Senior Vice President of the Sri Lanka Freedom Graduates’ Association, (SLFGA), former Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said yesterday they would support SLPP presidential candidate, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa as he is the most suitable candidate for the SLFP to support and added an SLFP Central Committee meeting scheduled for last night chaired by President Maithripala Sirisena was to accept SLFGA ‘s request to campaign for the SLPP candidate.

He told media that the SLFP had four options under the prevailing political situation, whether to remain neutral and uncontested, fielding a candidate from the SLFP, support the UNP candidate or support the SLPP candidate.

The SLFP did a big blunder at the PC polls in 1988 and asked our voters not to vote. It proved later that remaining neutral was a big set back for the party and we don’t want to make the same mistake once again. Though our best candidate is President Sirisena he is not ready to contest and it is obvious that the SLFP cannot win the election. If SLFP contests separately, it will divide voters in the progressive forces. Under no circumstances, could the SLFP support the UNP candidate as we have bitter experiences with the Yahapalana government that reminds us of the Central Bank bond scam, various harmful agreements with foreign countries and its harmful foreign policy. We chose the last option we have, which is to support the SLPP candidate Gotabhaya Rajapaksa because he represents the progressive and patriotic forces in the country,” Mr. Siyambalapitiya said.

Policy-wise, ideology wise and ruling method wise, there is not much difference between the SLFP and the SLPP. Therefore, we have no problem to support Mr. Rajapaksa. But it is extremely vital that both parties must realise the challenges and responsibilities before us. The SLPP must also accept that Mr. Rajapaksa cannot obtain 50+ votes to register an absolute victory without the support of the SLFP, Mr. Siyambalapitiya said.

At the February 2018 local government polls, the SLFP could not draw 50% votes and won only four districts with over 50% + votes and as such it is quite clear that if Mr. Rajapaksa is to achieve 50% votes to be elected at the first round, the SLFP’s support is crucial.

Asked as to why the SLFP does not support JVP’s candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayaka if it wants to support progressive forces, Mr. Siyambalapitiya said Mr. Rajapaksa is the most amicable candidate among the lot for the SLFP to support.

National Organiser of the SLFGA, Budhika Iddamalgoda said as the intelligent and educated group of the SLFP, the SLFGA was of the view that the best option was to support the SLPP candidate. 

Lahiru Pothmulla Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa today said Minister Sajith Premadasa was not a challenge to them at the presidential election and asked how a person who could not even win the Tissamaharama electorate and Hambantota, could win the entire country.

He expressed these views in response to the questions asked by journalists at the Opposition Leader’s Office.

When asked for his comments over the UNP Working Committee nominating Minister Sajith Premadasa’s name as the presidential candidate, Mr. Rajapaksa said he was extremely happy.

Q: What kind of challenge would it pose?

A: No challenge at all, that’s what we expected. I always was of the opinion that Sajith should contest.

Q: Does this mean he can’t win?

A: ‘Mona Pissuda’! What nonsense! How can a person who can’t even win the Tissamaharama electorate and Hambantoda, win the entire country?

Q: He has been given conditions?

A: Yes, even the elephant symbol of the UNP has not been given to him. He has to contest under the swan symbol, the symbol which was given to Mr. Sarath Fonseka and President Maithripala Sirisena. They were not UNPers so that was fine. But Sajith is the UNP Deputy Leader. He should have been given the elephant symbol.

He said the nomination of Mr. Premadasa as UNP presidential candidate was no disadvantage at all to the SLPP and said they had no competition at all.

When asked whether he would be the Prime Minister in the event Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected President, Mr. Rajapaksa said, We’ll see, we’ll see.” 

By Niranjala Ariyawansha Courtesy Ceylon Today

The United Left Front (ULF), the alternative group of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party led by Parliamentarian, President’s Counsel Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne, has withdrawn from the United National Front ( UNF) in protest over the decision taken to nominate UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa as the candidate to contest the 16 November Presidential Election, on the UNF ticket. 

Following its withdrawal from the UNF, the ULF decided to ally with the National People’s Power (NPP) headed by JVP Leader, MP Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, for the upcoming Poll. 

“Politically, Premadasa is really not mature enough to occupy the top most post in the land. We need to take society forward and not people who will strive to stall that progress from where it was in 2015,” ULF Central Committee (CC) Member, Attorney Lal Wijenayaka, speaking to Ceylon Today said. 

He said, the ULF decided to withdraw from the UNF on the very day (26 September) Premadasa was nominated to contest the election. 

When contacted, Dr. Wickramaratne said, that they had also decided to request from the people to give their preference to the strongest candidate against Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa in order to defeat the latter. 

According to Wijenayake, the 27 ULF CC Members had voted in favour of the withdrawal while three others had opposed the move.

He added that his Party will sign a memorandum of understanding with the NPP shortly.

“Back in 2015, having joined hands with late Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera and scores of other civil society groups, we formed the UNF Government to usher in good governance. Dr. Wickremaratne received his MP post as a result of this transformation. 

Some of the political amendments that we sought to introduce have been accepted. But, beyond this stage we cannot harbour any more hopes on the UNF. With the decision taken to nominate Premadasa to contest the Presidential Poll, we at the ULF do not agree that he could steer this country forward from where it is right now. Hence, by majority vote we decided to leave the UNF.”

The UNF and Dr. Wickramaratne played a key role in the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution as well the formulation of the proposed new Constitution.

Wijenayake claimed that Premadasa was completely bereft of ideas and does not have policies with regard to the devolution of power to the North and East, national reconciliation and Amendments to the Constitution.

“Whether Dissanayaka gets elected as President or not, we decided to tie up with the NPP, in order to form a massive people’s movement,” he asserted.

Courtesy Adaderana

Courtesy Adaderana

UPFA MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage says that the UNP’s Presidential Candidate Sajith Premadasa will pose no challenge to the SLPP’s candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the coming presidential poll.

Speaking to reporters following an event in Nawalapitiya today (28), he claimed that there is a serious crisis within the United National Party (UNP) presently and that therefore the UNP itself has accepted the ‘contract’ to defeat Sajth Premadasa.

Due to that, Sajith Premadasa will pose no challenge to Gotabaya Rajapaksa who can secure a resounding victory at the election, he said.

Aluthgamage predicted that Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s victory percentage will exceed 52%.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කෘෂිකර්මාන්තය සඳහා නව ජාතික ප්‍රතිපත්තියක් සකස් කරන බව ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන පෙරමුණේ ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂක ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ පවසනවා. ශ්‍රී ලංකා ප්‍රදර්ශන හා සම්මේලන මධ්‍යස්ථානයේ අද පැවති ගොවි සමුළුවකට එක්වෙමින් ඔහු මේ බව කියා සිටියා.

එම අවස්ථාවට විපක්ෂ නායක මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ද එක්වූ අතර, එහිදී ඔහු කියා සිටියේ ගත වූ වසර 4 ක කාලය තුළ ගොවිජනතාව වෙනුවෙන් කිසිදු ක්‍රියාමාර්ගයක් ගැනීමට වර්තමාන ආණ්ඩුවට නොහැකි වූ බවයි.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂ ජනාධිපති ධූර අපේක්ෂක සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස සමඟ සිටින කණ්ඩායමේ දේශපාලන අනාගතය ජනාධිපතිවරණය අවසානයත් සමඟ නිම වන බව පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීනි පවිත්‍රා වන්නිආරච්චි පවසනවා.

/>කොළඹ අද කැඳවා තිබූ මාධ්‍ය හමුවකදී ඇය මේ බව ප්‍රකාශ කළ අතර, එම මාධ්‍ය හමුවට පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී ලක්ෂ්මන් යාපා අබේවර්ධනද එක්ව සිටියා

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

ඒකාබද්ධ විපක්ෂය පසුගිය වසරේ ඔක්තෝම්බර් මාසයේ ආණ්ඩුව පිහිටවූ අවස්ථාවේ එම ආණ්ඩුවට ද සහය දැක්වූ එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී එස්.බී. නාවින්න, මෙවර ජනාධිපතිවරණයේදී අමාත්‍ය සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාසට සහය ලබාදෙන බව අද ප්‍රකාශ කළා.

ඒ අමාත්‍ය මංගල සමරවීරගේ නිවසේ පැවති මාධ්‍ය හමුවකට එක්වෙමින්. එම මාධ්‍ය හමුවට අමාත්‍ය සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස ද එක්ව සිටියා.

අවශ්‍ය නම් වචන කිහිපයක් පමණක් ප්‍රකාශ කරන ලෙසත්, සියලූ අදහස් ප්‍රකාශ නොකරන ලෙසත් සාකච්ඡාව ආරම්භ කිරීමට පෙර අමාත්‍ය සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී එස්.බී. නාවින්නට මෙහිදී ප්‍රකාශ කරනු දක්නට ලැබුණා.

අමාත්‍ය සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස එහිදී කියා සිටියේ තමා කිසිදු කොන්දේසියකට යටත් නොවී අපේක්ෂකත්වය ලබා ගත් බවයි.

කෙසේ වෙතත්, පසුගිය 25 වනදා පැවති මාධ්‍ය හමුවකදී අමාත්‍ය රංජිත් මද්දුම බණ්ඩාර කියා සිටියේ කොන්දේසි කිහිපයකට එකග වී අමාත්‍ය සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂකයා ලෙස නම් කළ බවයි.

By P.K.Balachandran/Daily Express Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, September 27: Now that Sajith Premadasa, Minister of Housing, Construction and Cultural Affairs and Deputy Leader of the ruling United National Party (UNP) has been nominated (unanimously and unconditionally) as the party’s candidate for the November 16 Sri Lankan Presidential election, the question that crops is how long the camaraderie between the Leader of the party Ranil Wickremesinghe, and Presidential candidate, Premadasa, will last.

And should Premadasa go on to win the Presidency, will the two be able to cohabit till the next parliamentary elections in mid-2020? The question is pertinent given how Wickremesinghe was balking at giving Premadasa the nomination.

Though no formal statement has been made in regard to the status of Wickremesinghe with Sajith as President, UNP sources say that there is a tacit understanding that Wickremesinghe will continue as Prime Minister at least till the next parliamentary elections.

It would have been churlish on the part of Sajith and the people around him not to give Wickremesinghe a place befitting his status and contribution to the party over a long time. Driving him out on the eve of the election will have damaged the party’s unity and its electoral prospects.

But cohabitation between two bitter rivals, with both holding key positions in the government, will necessarily be problematic as past experience with cohabitation shows.

First of all, it has been proved that there can be no cohabitation between people or political forces of equal strength. Secondly, cohabitation is not possible if there is no genuine commonality of interests or ideological goals. Ranil-Sajith cohabitation will fail the commonality test.

It is also clear that Ranil considers himself superior to Sajith in many ways. The Prime Minister is undoubtedly superior in political and administrative experience, having been Prime Minister several times and held various portfolios over a long period. But Sajith makes up for the lack of political and administrative experience by his common touch” and an instinctive feeling for the masses which Ranil lacks sorely.

Ranil has knowledge of world history and contemporary international and economic affairs and has practical experience of interacting with key world powers over decades, something which Sajith cannot claim.

And again unlike Sajith, Ranil can claim to have a consistent ideology (modern and liberal), while Sajith has no clear idea. However, it is pointed out that Sajith has very experienced persons as his second-in-command such as Malik Samarawickrema and Mangala Samaraweera who will advice him.

Like the leopard, Ranil will not change his spots. He will continue to be arrogant, aloof and arbitrary in his decision making as he has been under the Presidency of Chandrika Kumaratunga and Maithripala Sirisena. The cohabitation government will be crippled if Ranil does not take the backseat and let Sajith rule.

However, it is argued on Sajith’s behalf that once Sajith becomes President, UNPers will flock to him rather than Ranil, because Sajith will be Executive President having more or declared that he has no intention of abolishing it. Sajith also has the option of sacking Ranil if the conflict comes to a head.

Past Experience

Past experience shows that cohabitation between differently oriented groups or individuals who see themselves as competitors rather than collaborators does not work.

Under the 1978 constitution, Sri Lanka has had three hybrid governments: (1) the Wijetunga -Kumaratunga administration, (2) the Kumaratunga-Wickremesinghe administration, and (3) the Sirisena – Wickremesinghe administration.

Of these, only the 1994 Chandrika-Wijetunga cohabitation was eventless as President Wijetunga’s UNP was on the decline vis-à-vis Chandrika’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) with little chance of winning the 1995 Presidential election.

But trouble arose when Ranil became Prime Minister after the December 2001 parliamentary elections and Chandrika remained President having won the election for the second time in 1999. While Ranil was committed to initiating a process of political and military accommodation with the LTTE with international mediation, for the sake of peace and economic development, Chandrika viewed it as an abject surrender to the terrorists.

Irked by Ranil’s unilateral moves, Chandrika used her Presidential powers to take over the Ministries of Defense, Interior and Information in 2003. This crippled the cohabitation government and fresh parliamentary elections were held in 2004.

Mercifully there was no need for cohabitation when Mahinda Rajapaksa became President in 2005 as he managed to sue up a strong government by engineering defections from the UNP. He won the 2010 Presidential elections handsomely, riding on the war victory wave, thus obviating the need to cohabit with the next largest political parliament in parliament.

Maithri-Ranil Cohabitation

To overthrow Rajapaksa in the 2015 elections, the UNP-led opposition had to form a rainbow alliance, and put up the neutral and unambitious Maithripala Sirisena as the common candidate.

But Sirisena turned out to be what no one expected him to be. Despite his promise to serve only one term as President, he developed long-term political ambitions. He bitterly complained of non-cooperation from a haughty and non-communicative Prime Minister Ranil. Sirisena routinely countermanded Ranil decisions. The UNP-SLFP cohabitation, formed with hype and hope in 2014 cracked with the SLFP opting out.

In October 2018, Sirisena sacked Ranil and appointed Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister. But this move crashed due to lack of numbers in parliament and an adverse Supreme Court ruling.

By P.K.Balachandran Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, September 27: On Thursday, after a month-long bitter inner-party struggle, Sajith Premadasa was nominated as the ruling United National Party’s candidate for the November 16 Sri Lankan Presidential election.

The entrenched faction led by party Leader and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had to bite the dust eventually, and grant Deputy Leader and Housing Minister Sajith Premadasa the party nomination unconditionally.”

With the issue of UNP’s candidature settled at last, there are two main contenders for the Sri Lankan Presidency, namely, Sajith Premadasa of the UNP-led Democratic National Front (DNF) and Gotabaya Rajapaksa of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP)-led front of ten parties. For convenience, one is leaving out minor candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayaka of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).

With Sajith and Gotabaya in the arena, two questions arise in one’s mind: (1) What are the issues on which the campaign will be fought? (2) What will be the policies of the Lankan government under Sajith or his principal rival, Gotabaya?

Since Sri Lanka has a Presidential form of government with a powerful, directly elected Executive President at the helm, (despite the watering down in 2015 through the 19 th., Amendment ), the President is the fulcrum of the Administration. Parliament is relevant only to the extent that it passes laws and holds the purse strings.

Campaign Concerns

As of now, Sajith is at a disadvantage because he belongs to the ruling UNP which has not at all done well in the past four and a half years whether in the developmental or the national security field.

Although Sajith can get away by blaming Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and President Maithripala Sirisena, he will still be carrying the cross of incumbency. Sajith himself has little to show by way of achievements as he has not held any major portfolio.

On the other hand, Gotabaya, has entered the electoral arena with significant successes under his belt. He was a very successful Secretary of Defense during the war and an efficient and creative Urban Development Secretary after the war.

But Gotabaya has a major drawback. He is accused of committing serious human rights violations against the Tamil minority during the war and the Muslim minority after the war. His continued association with the military even after becoming a politician, puts off lovers of democracy.

Gotabaya’s failures on the human rights front add to the support base of Sajith. Thus, Sajith has the support of the Muslims and will eventually get the support of the Tamils too, though the latter were rooting for Ranil who is seen as a genuinely non-communal person.

Sajith is yet to speak out on national security and national sovereignty in the context of the April 21 Jihadi bombings and pressure from the US to sign a military pact and an economic pact. These issues having been agitating the majority Sinhalese community but Sajith is looking only at rural development.

On the other hand, Gotabaya is building his campaign on the plank of national security, better intelligence gathering and a better decision making and implementing governmental apparatus . Though Gotabaya is silent on the developmental and military pacts with the US, it is widely acknowledged that the Rajapaksas did not and will not compromise on sovereignty.

As regards the nature of the Presidency under Sajith, it is said that what Lanka will get will only be more of what they are getting now. After all, those backing Sajith now have been staunch Ranil acolytes, enthusiastically implementing his internal and external policies. They abandoned Ranil in favor of Sajith only because Sajith has better mass appeal than Ranil which is needed to win the Presidential election.

Sajith is a hardworking professional politician but it is doubtful if he has the commanding personality which Gotabaya has to keep his ministers and officers on the go. He could be pulled in various directions by his key supporters. Or he could be under the thumb of some moneybags who financed his bid to get the party nomination.

Sajith has the compulsion to work with Ranil as Prime Minister till at least the next parliamentary election in mid-2020. Retaining Ranil as Prime Minister was not part of the deal when the UNP Working Committee closed ranks unanimously backed Sajith for the Presidency. But it is understood that Ranil will continue as PM till mid-2020.

But the ride with Ranil is not guaranteed to be smooth if the past is any indication. First of all, it has been proved that there can be no cohabitation between people or political forces of equal strength. Secondly, cohabitation is not possible if there is no genuine commonality of interests or ideological goals. A Ranil-Sajith cohabitation will fail the commonality test.

A sidelined and humiliated Ranil might continue to be arrogant, aloof and arbitrary in his decision making as he had been under the Presidency of Chandrika Kumaratunga and Maithripala Sirisena. The cohabitation government will be crippled if Ranil does not take the backseat and let Sajith rule.

However, Sajith-loyalists say that Ranil will not be a powerful Prime Minister as party MPs will flock only to Sajith, the powerful Executive President, leaving Ranil high and dry.

A government under Sajith will be more rural and small industries and agriculture development-oriented as compared to a government under Gotabaya. Sajith is mostly talking of housing and drinking water for all, besides building 1,00 0 Buddhist temples. But Gotabaya is expected to be more macro-oriented wanting big projects including massive infrastructure development projects to put the country on the path of rapid economic development.

Investments from China, India, Japan, South Korea and the West will be welcomed and every facility will be provided to them. After all, it was under the Administration of the Rajapaksas (namely President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa and Urban Development Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa) that the Hambantota port, a second terminal in Colombo port, the Mattala airport and many excellent roads and railways were built with Chinese, Indian and other external assistance. It was Mahinda Rajapaksa who put up the Norocholai power plant against stiff opposition. This plant now supplies 50% of the electricity used in Lanka.

As regards foreign policy, Sajith is expected to toe a pro-Western line as his key supporters like Malik Samarawickrema, Mangala Samaraweera, and Dr.Harsha de Silva are pro-West. He might be forced to sign the controversial Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) agreement with the US to make land given by the government to peasants on lease saleable.

Sajith might also sign the controversial Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the US giving the US military extra-constitutional rights in Sri Lanka , thus virtually turning the island into an US military base. This could arouse anxieties in China which has a deep economic interest in Lanka. The entry of China will doubtless draw the attention of India and the West making Lanka a cockpit of international intrigue.

As regards Gotabaya, he is expected to walk the right-rope vis-à-vis the contesting world powers. The Rajapaksas appear to have to learnt a lesson from their experience between 2010 and 2014 when they tilted too much towards China, causing anxieties in New Delhi and Washington. The Western powers backed the opposition in the January 2015 Presidential election which resulted in Mahinda Rajapaksa’s defeat.

H. L. D. Mahindapala

The long-drawn and futile battle of Ranil Wickremesinghe to deny Sajith Premadasa, his deputy, the rightful place in the presidential race finally ended yesterday. Ranil fired all his ammunition to eliminate Sajith. But Sajith fought back strategically to outwit Ranil and end the 27-year-old reign of a cardboard leader who led the UNP to nowhere. The inner struggle for power was between the popular will of the UNP represented by Sajith and Ranil’s one-man will backed by the Working Committee packed with his hencmen. In the end the popular will won. Sajith’s victory will mark the end of Ranil and the beginning of a new era for the UNP. After President Ranasinghe Premadasa who reinvigorated the UNP with the grass root forces the UNP fell into the hands of D. B. (Deaf and Blind) Wijetunga. UNP never recovered as a viable political entity in the post-Premadasa era which was dominated by Ranil.

Two factors led to the steady decline of the UNP after President Premadasa: 1. the LTTE decimated the promising leaders like Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake; 2. the misguided and the failed leadership of Ranil Wickremesinghe  who thought he could swim upstream running counter to centuries of Sinhala-Buddhist history. The only right decision he made in his entire career was to back President Premadasa. But in his mulish way he decided to go against the Sajith wave rolling in.  When the formidable forces within the UNP and outside were militating against Ranil’s kleptocratic kakistocracy — and swinging as an unstoppable wave towards Sajith — his moral, political and pragmatic duty should have been to bow out gracefully. Instead he waited till he was kicked out of the presidential race once again.  As usual, he never could read the signs of the times.

Sadly, he will carry to his grave the disgraceful record of being rejected by his own Party not once, not twice, but three times. For the third time the UNP has rejected him as their preferred candidate to lead the Party to fight the big political battle for the Presidency. Once again the UNPers have conceded that he was a born loser who could never win the trust of the people to be their leader. In the past they kept him as the leader of the Party partly because there was no one in the bankrupt UNP to give better leadership and partly because he had manipulated the party machine to beat any opposition and hang on to power. So they had given him chance after chance to prove that he can deliver. But he failed. 

 His desperation to hang on to power is pathetic. Even when the tide was going against him for the third time his last move was to lay down conditions, hoping to retain power by curtailing those of Sajith. But it was a futile counter move.  Sajith refused to yield to Ranil’s underhand conditions to retain his grip on power. Ranil should know that two tigers can’t hunt in the same mountain. In any case, surrender was inevitable because as Presidential candidate, or in the event of his becoming President, Sajith will have greater power than Ranil as the leader of the UNP. From now on Ranil will have to play only the second fiddle. From now on Sajith will have the upper hand.

Furthermore, the political forces that matter will turn to Sajith , if he wins the presidency, and not to the leader of the UNP, if Ranil retains  the Party leadership.  Sajith as President will command greater power than Ranil as the Party leader. Besides, there is the possibility of the Party sticking to the constitution of the Party and granting the Party leadership to Sajith. However, if Ranil retains the party leadership he will, in his usual crafty ways, try to create two centers of loyalty. But he will lose hands down to Sajith who will invariably be the central magnet of greater power. .

Ranil’s last resort will be to win the Premiership at the parliamentary elections.  He will then use his newly gained power as a foil to the President. But the chances of Ranil winning a majority in Parliament are as likely as him winning the presidency in the next election. The mathematical calculations that go to decide a parliamentary election are totally different from that of a presidential election. According to statistical analyses, Mahinda  Rajapakse has a lead over Ranil as of now.

As things stands now, Ranil is doomed. He has lost his chance in the Presidential election. And his chances of winning the Premiership are zilch. He must recognize even at this late stage that his used by date is over. The Party had given him enough chances to prove himself as a leader. The UNP has been very patient and generous to him. But what has he given the UNP, except defeat and ignominy?

Sajith’s victory is more than a personal victory over a crafty manipulator who had tried to undercut him all the way. His victory is symbolic representing that of the new generation of UNPers. They are tired of the old generation led by Ranil. The wave that swept the rank and file and lifted Sajith into leadership indicates a total rejection of the old leadership. Ranil’s in particular. The voting public was not so much against the UNP as against the Ranil. The coming of Sajith has washed away some of the sins committed by Ranil. The disillusioned pro-UNPers can now go to the polls with some hope.

Though not defined explicitly Sajith seems to be a better alternative to Ranil. He seems to be keeping a safe distance away from the pro-West, pro-Indian line almost akin to that of his father. Part of the appeal in Sajith personality – his policies are yet to be spelt out – is his closeness to the grass roots. His housing programs are reminiscent of his father delivering goods and services to the villages and the grass-roots. Sajith’s affinity with the people and the sangha is viewed by the  Sinhala-Buddhist electorate as being  more genuine than the thick pirith noola tied in Ranil’s hand. One of the biggest failures in Ranil’s politics has been his failure to raise his image above the level of a hollow man with his head filled with straw. He has been a fake and – poor fellow! – he will continue to look like a fake Sinhala-Buddhist even if he shaves his head and comes out in public wearing  yellow robes.

Kabir Hashim, the Chairman  of the UNP, has exposed Ranil’s fake politics in his latest interview with the Sunday Observer(22/9/2019) As everyone knows, Ranil’s cheap trick has been to appoint committees whenever he is confronted with a problem. His latest was to appoint a committee of four leading UNPers to  decide on who should be  chosen as the leader when the answer was so obvious even  to a blind man’s dog. Kabir’s comments, by implication, pours scorn on Ranil’s fake move  to find a leader on the recommendation of his hand-picked committee.

SO asked  him:. What is the update on the committee appointed to select the UNF candidate, in which you are also a member?

A. I think that committee is a red herring. The Prime Minister never called up the committee report. I have prepared a report. Myself and Minister Ranjith Maddumabandara spoke to the minority parties and UNP MPs. We have also got data and information on the best course of action for the UNP at the upcoming election, and we have been ready with the report.

The Prime Minister has nominated Rajitha Senaratne and Dinesh Weerakkody to represent him in the committee. At yesterday’s (Sep 20) party leaders meeting at Temple Trees, the committee report was not even referred to.

The report was to be a collective effort. It should have been made together but the others were not attending the meetings so we made a report on our own. It was finalised after a series of discussions with our alliance members, all UNP MPs, and after weighing in the information and data of the current political scenario”.

This comment of the Chairman of the UNP exposes Ranil as a fraud and a fake. Kabir laments that the whole exercise of appointing committee was a waste of time.  It was futile exercise which served no one, least of Ranil. It was not even referred to in the end, says Kabir. Committees are appointed by Ranil as dilatory tactics or to divert attention. He has no intention of reading the reports, or following it up, or taking action on them. He uses them to bury the issues which he has no intention of solving or dealing with them. He hopes everyone will forget it and save him from facing the issues as a leader should. He has been surviving in politics by appointing committees to dodge issues. How can a leader who appoints committees to solve problems dismiss them without even reading, or studying, or making any references to them when it comes to decision-making? How can one respect a leader who appoints committees to deceive the people? The people saw through him and never trusted him.

Sajith can’t go wrong if he is capable of taking the Party and the administration to the people. And also if he is committed to the work ethic of his father. President Premadasa had to face the revolt of the Kurunduwatte cricket-playing gang in the cooked up in the impeachment saga. The impeachment even accused him of being insane. The English-speaking elite, thriving in professions, was against him. Premadasa came from the football-playing Kehelwatte gang,

Sajith has been spared this class/caste distinction. He was supported by a cross-section of the UNPers drawn from the top to the bottom. He represents the generational change. The passing of the baton, though reluctantly by Ranil.  Hopefully it will also represent a change in direction. Hopefully the winds of change will help to bring the Party back to the people, the way his father did.

Courtesy The Hndustan Times

Raja’s owner said the government has allocated troops to provide security for his pet as it ambles along main roads.

Nadungamuwa Raja, 65 years old, is a celebrated elephant towering around 10.5 feet (3.2 metres) in height, the tallest tamed tusker in Sri Lanka. And he has his own armed guards.

Raja’s owner said the government has allocated troops to provide security for his pet as it ambles along main roads to attend temple festivals across the island.

In September 2015, a motorcyclist very nearly crashed into Raja. After seeing CCTV footage, the government contacted me and offered protection for Raja when he gets on the road,” Harsha Dharmavijaya told AFP.

There are two regular handlers with Raja in addition to the military unit deployed to clear a path for the animal when it navigates crowded country roads.

Raja is an unofficial national treasure because he is one of the few tuskers chosen to carry a casket of Buddha relics in an annual pageant at the most sacred Buddhist shrine on the island, the Temple of the Tooth.

Raja walks 90 kilometres (55 miles) to the hill resort of Kandy for the event, called the Esala pageant. He walks 25 to 30 kilometres a day, travelling mostly at night when it is cooler.

The pageant in August involves nearly 100 elephants and many more traditional dancers, fire-eaters and drummers, and is a key tourist attraction.

However animal rights campaigners say captive elephants are often maltreated.

On Tuesday an emaciated 70-year-old elephant called Tikiri died, weeks after attending the Esala festival.

The animal was withdrawn from the finale of the Temple of the Tooth pageant last month after a social media firestorm erupted against parading the feeble animal.

Many rich Sri Lankans keep elephants as pets, but there have been numerous complaints of ill-treatment and cruelty.

Yohan Perera Courtesy The Daily Mirror

In the wake of MP Hesha Vithnage’s statement that the SLPP’s presidential candidate will have to wear a jumper if UNP candidate Sajith Premadasa is elected President of this country, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today instructed UNP seniors to make sure that the UNP campaign was carried out in a decent and disciplined manner.

He said this when he met some senior ministers that all party members should work with commitment to make the UNP candidate victorious at the presidential election.

Our efforts should be to see that our candidate emerge victorious and not to make the rival candidate wear jumpers,” he told the seniors.

By Kamal Mahendra Weeraratna Courtesy Ceylon Today

The Convener of the Truth Seekers Organisation, Attorney Premanath C. Dolewatta, yesterday (26), lodged a complaint with the Police Department urging it to institute legal action against UNP Parliamentarian Hesha Vithanage.

Dolewatta has complained that in a statement reportedly made by Vithanage, at a public rally held in Matugama on 24 September, he had vowed that once UNP Deputy Leader and Minister Sajith Premadasa is declared the winner of the coming Presidential Poll, the UNP will force Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa to don a prison jumper.

He said that such demeaning and derogatory comments targeting Rajapaksa had tarred the independence of the country’s judiciary and the Attorney General’s Department.

He has said that hence the Police should launch a swift probe into Vithanage’s controversial remarks.

The complaint has been lodged by Dolewatta under the heading ‘influencing the judiciary’.

He had also said that the issuance of such threatening remarks is a serious situation.

He had said that voters, who are preparing to cast their votes according to their wishes at the 16 November Presidential Poll, could be forced to think twice before heading to the polling booths due to threats issued by the MP concerned.

Courtesy Adaderana

Trade and commerce have suffered great losses under the incumbent government, claims Leader of the Opposition Mahinda Rajapaksa.

He made these remarks addressing the national convention on businesses at the Sri Lanka Exhibition & Convention Centre in Colombo this morning (26). The event was held under the patronage of SLPP presidential aspirant, former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the Opposition Leader.

Commenting further, he said the ‘Good Governance’ government has Sri Lankan rupee had depreciated against the US Dollar marking the selling price per 1 USD as Rs 182. He added that, in 2014, under his administration, the selling price of Sri Lankan rupee against the US Dollar stood at Rs 131.

However, the export earnings have not increased,” the Opposition Leader said, pointing out that due to the devaluation of the rupee, the debt burden of the nation has increased to Rs 1,790 billion.

We paid close attention to loan interest. We maintained single-digit interest rates during our time,” Rajapaksa said further.

The country is not moving forward as unsuitable leaders were appointed to lead the nation, the Opposition Leader claimed.

Speaking on SLPP’s presidential rival Minister Sajith Premadasa and his father’s administration, Rajapaksa said the country cannot go back to a ‘Premadasa era’.

Courtesy Adaderana

A major scheme of the United National Party to postpone the country’s elections was defeated by a Supreme Court verdict yesterday (25), says the Lawyers’ Association of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna.

Its secretary, Attorney-at-Law Athula de Silva, speaking at the Association’s media briefing held today, stated that the UNP was in an attempt to postpone the Elpitiya Provincial Council election even after dates were set for the postal voting.

The Supreme Court yesterday dismissed the fundamental rights petition filed seeking an injunction order preventing the election for the Elpitiya Pradeshiya Sabha from being held without calling for fresh nominations.

After considering the facts presented, the Supreme Court decided not to grant leave to proceed with the petition as there is no reasonable legal basis to hear the petition. 

The SLPP’s Lawyers’ Association alleged that one Member of the Election Commission is directly involved in this scheme, adding that Prof.S. Rathnajeevan H.Hoole is personally rendering his support to postpone elections.

A separate lawyer represented this Elections Commission Member at the Supreme Court yesterday. From the beginning this lawyer presented his submissions in favour of postponing the election. […] President’s Counsel Ali Sabry on behalf of the SLPP stressed on holding the election,” the Association’s secretary added.

It must be specifically mentioned that the Attorney General’s Department played a major role to secure people’s right to vote, he continued.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

තම රජයක් යටතේ, වත්මන් රජය මගින් පනවා ඇති අසාධාරණ බදු ඉවත් කර සරල බදු ක්‍රමයක් හඳුන්වා දීමට කටයුතු කරන බව ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන පෙරමුණ ප්‍රමුඛ ඒකාබද්ධ විපක්ෂයේ ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂක ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ පවසනවා.

ඔහු මේ බව සඳහන් කළේ කොළඹ ප්‍රදර්ශන හා සම්මේලන මධ්‍යස්ථානයේ අද පැවති රැස්වීමකට එක්වෙමින්.