When I noted the news item today about the participation of the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in a Conference in Male. I thought of making the Prime Minister Aware that the ROAD MAP to develop BLUE ECONOMY should be one of the subjects to he should talk about at the event
Details below may be useful to the consultants to prepare a speech for the Prone Minister to highlight the necessity to develop BLUE ECONOMY in the Indian Ocean with active participation by India, Pakistan, Maldives and Seychelles Government (including the aspirants to become the President of Sri Lanka) is only talking about National Security, housing, agriculture and developing livestock, inland aquaculture, etc.
Does it seem that the concept of BLUE ECONOMY based on harnessing vast resources in the ocean surrounding our country is neglected?
As an example, emerging concept of the Blue Economy has been embraced by the Government of Seychelles and some other Caribbean Islands as a mechanism to realize sustainable economic development based, around an ocean-based economy.
The intention of these islands supported by Commonwealth is to implement the Blue Economy- concept at the national level as a framework to foster an integrated approach for sustainable development programmes.
This
is predominately so, as information that does exist focuses primarily on
land-based economic development or has a strong focus on conservation rather
than on the sustainable use of the investment in an ocean-based economy for
national benefit.
This roadmap will necessarily require the definition of short, medium and long-term actions across a broad range of sectors and will also require fundamental changes to the traditional institutional arrangements that exist to support the management of marine sectors and resources in Sri Lanka
A coordinated Government – approach will be a necessary condition for the successful implementation of the Blue Economy.
Sri Lankan Government in collaboration with other
neighbouring countriesshould establish a dedicated
agency to oversee completion and implementation for the Blue Economy
Roadmap.
However, while Sri Lanka and the Maldives have the existing capacity for some key sectors of the Blue Economy (e.g. fisheries and Nautical Tourism), it lacks the overarching policy and strategic expertise required to make this transition effectively.
As such, the Governments of Sri Lanka and the Maldives should seek the assistance of the Commonwealth Secretariat and the World Bank or ADB with the provision of a long-term in-country technical expert to assist the Governments to complete this transition effectively. In addition, up to two additional technical experts may be required on a short-term basis (6 months) to undertake specific technical activities that are expected to arise as the project progresses.
Goal
The project aims to assist the Government of Sri Lanka in developing and implementing a National Blue Economy Roadmap, the purpose being to establish a broad direction for future investment in and development of a sustainable ocean-based economy in our country.
The purpose of the specific request for long-term (and shorter-term) technical adviser(s), is to assist the Government of Sri Lanka to review, validate and implement the Roadmap and more importantly, to support Sri Lanka in its transition to a more integrated ocean-based economy.
Question is whether newly appointed Technocrats have any idea about the Blue Economy?
As an example a recent visit by Japanese Delegation initiated by the Prime Ministry’s office consisting of private companies has expressed willingness, to develop Fishery Industry.
Unfortunately, some advisors in the PM’s office are only promoting the implementation of Ice making Plants on Land to conserve fish caught in the deep ocean.
What our so-called experts have failed to understand is that 70% of the fish brought onshore is rotten because Sri Lanka has not developed a Mother Vessel Concept to collect fish as soon as they are caught, preserve them until they reach the shore.
Fishermen using Multiday fishing Vessels go to Ocean carrying few tons of Ice blocks to preserve fish. By the time they return after almost three weeks, ice is melted and fish is not even good for making Dry Fish!
Almost
all big fish you find in the market is not good for Human Consumption
When this delegation was taken to Dikovita Harbour (a grandiose western-style harbour facility built with foreign funding) during wee hours of the day by my team, they were aghast and disgusted to note that the fish unloaded in the morning by fishermen is not suitable for Human Consumption!
One polite young Japanese Lady murmured to us and asked: Is this fish for dogs or for making chicken feed?”
I took the liberty of calling PMs’ office and explained that the installation of Hybrid Ice Making plants of Japanese Technology on land is not what we need at this stage
We
need MOTHER VESSELS to be anchored in the Ocean with
Seawater Ice making Plants to collect the fish rather than waiting for
three weeks
Mother vessels are Stationery Self sustained ISLANDS in the ocean which cannot only provide Ice but Fuel and. Emergency Assistance to multi-day fishing vessels of 40 to 55 feet which hardly have Ice Making Plants on Board ( They do not even have generators on board but use batteries for night lights !) Impact
The
successful and sustainable implementation of the Blue Economy Strategic Roadmap
will ultimately deliver the following outcomes:
· Ocean
ecosystems and biodiversity recovered and protected.
· Increased
investment in existing ocean-based economic sectors including Nautical
Tourism
· New data and knowledge on the Sri Lankan ocean space available.
· marine-based aquaculture sector and marine biotechnology products and processes developed and implemented.
· Protective measures and greater use of surveillance and enforcement tools provide greater protection.
· Fisheries
and aquaculture management improved through equitable, non-subsidized and
sustainable practices.
· Utilization
of renewable energy from the ocean, ( i,e Harnessing Wave energy )
· Surveillance
of offshore waters strengthened through enhanced maritime domain awareness and
law enforcement. (The above is expected to contribute to the goals of the
Government of Sri Lanka
· Capacity
built and new research/data sectors developed.)
· Streamlined
implementation with an overarching system in place.
.
A broad range of relevant stakeholders and citizens will ultimately benefit from this intervention, including existing marine industry sectors, marine user groups, and local communities.
Outputs
Implementation of the accelerated blue economy program (like Mahaweli for Farmers)
· Comprehensive and strategic advice provided to the Minister and relevant stakeholders including the private Sector responsible for the Blue Economy.
· Relevant documentation e.g. policy papers, project management documents, project status, and evaluation documents prepared and submitted.
· Review
of the current Roadmap ( if any) including additional
improvement/amendments in the content leading to the validation of the Road
Map.
· Stakeholder
engagement and consultation facilitated as required, including the
establishment of stakeholder bodies.
· Strategies, focus areas, and projects for implementation of the Blue Economy Roadmap identified, approved and implemented.
· Resources
(financial, human capacity and technical) necessary to execute projects for
implementation of the Blue Economy Roadmap, identify, solicited and secured.
· Strategic partnerships between Sri Lanka and our neighbours such as the Maldives. India and Seychelles and relevant partners including, but not limited to: development agencies, private sector organizations, and marine research institutes, established and maintained.
· Consistent implementation of the Roadmap across government and its respective agencies, in particular, working closely with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Fisheries, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Power and Energy and Ministry of Finance.
Blue
Economy roadmap and policy for Sri |Lanka should be promoted domestically,
regionally and internationally.
President Maithripala Sirisena has given instructions to the relevant authorities to expedite the investigations regarding the allegations of Central Bank bond scam.
The President further advised to promptly conduct investigations and to take actions against the wrongdoers and said that the delay in conducting investigations is a hindrance to deliver justice.
He made these remarks during a meeting held with the members of the Commission to Investigate Bond Scam and other officials at the President’s Office, today (28).
During this meeting it was revealed that at present 04 interim reports have been received and the remaining reports could be present in this December.
The officials pointed out that even though they have requested banks to provide documents for the last five years relating to money laundering, still banks had not provided this information and due to this, a difficulty has occurred to conduct further investigations.
The Attorney General’s Department has stated that cases have been filed against the defendants under the Penal Code considering those crimes as criminal offenses.
It was also stated that those evidences will be presented through affidavits before this December.
President Sirisena further said that to expedite this investigation, he will provide maximum support.
Secretary to the Ministry of Finance Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga, the Governor of the Central Bank Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, officials from the Attorney General’s Department, the acting Inspector General of Police, C. D. Wickremaratne, senior police officers and others participated in this meeting.
Media captionFormer Malaysian PM Najib Razak smiles as he arrives in court
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has gone on trial again over an alleged multibillion-dollar fraud involving a government fund.
Mr Najib is facing several trials over the state investment fund 1MDB – this is the most significant covering 21 counts of money-laundering and four of abuse of power.
Prosecutors say he received and covered up illegal transfers of at least $550m (£448m) between 2011 and 2014.
Opening the trial on Wednesday, prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram accused Mr Najib of being a key player in the scandal.
“His objective was to enrich himself,” the prosecutor said, outlining how the money was allegedly funnelled to the former prime minister.
Image captionThe corruption allegations played a big part in Mr Najib’s 2018 election defeat
Mr Najib was cleared of all wrongdoing by Malaysian authorities while he was prime minister.
Nonetheless, the corruption allegations played a big part in his historic election defeat in 2018 – and the new government swiftly reopened investigations into 1MDB.
Mr Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, is facing charges of money-laundering and tax evasion, to which she has pleaded not guilty.
No
amount of promises to guard Sri Lanka’s sovereignty can hold water if at
legislative & policy level changes are being drafted to suit a neo-liberal
agenda that aspires to transfer all state assets to foreign corporate hands and
turn locals to virtual slave citizens. This is the threat that Sri Lanka’s
politicians need to understand and identify. Sri Lanka cannot be a sovereign
nation if its wealth, natural resources, economic activities (ports, airports,
railways, roads etc) are controlled by foreign entities who decide what Sri
Lanka’s citizens get, at what price & in what quantity/quality and removes
any role of politicians at some point or the other. The changes being done is
to turn the State from protecting the People and National Assets/Resources to
protecting the Corporates & Countries that will soon own or control a
country’s people & resources. The ‘government’ will not be defending the
citizens but dominating/subjugating them.
Undeniably
the neo-conservative/liberal agenda is pro-West in particular pro-US hegemony
Their
agenda is based on perception that Africans & Asians are inferior to
Americans/Europeans. Concept of colonial White-Man’s Burden now masked as
neo-colonial liberalism. The kalu-suddas are accepted into ‘their’ society so
long as they can deliver what the white man demands of them. They are just paid
‘coolies’.
‘Civilizing’
is done via UN/INGO programs like ‘Responsibility to Protect’ ‘Reconciliation’
‘Multiculturalism’ etc.
People
are kept in check using mass surveillance, mass incarceration, open ended
warfare, debt curtailing their privacy on excuse of protecting citizens.
Think
tanks, media, paid journalists, civil society stooges are all tasked to
brainwash citizens with sugar-coated opinion to believe these entities are
working in our best interests.
Political sovereignty undermined
The
UNHRC resolutions was used to force Sri Lanka to make unfair & legally
questionable changes to penal code, constitution and demonize and weaken its
military and demoralize by allegations and imprisonment. Placed within this
context we wonder whether the Salawa ammunition storage was accidental?
Economic sovereignty undermined
Sri
Lanka’s policy is now controlled by US officials, IMF, World Bank, Western Aid
agencies, Western-corporate-backed think tanks, transnational corporations,
foreign financial firms, foreign consultancies and foreign legal experts,
foreign accountancy firms. This is the reality we will have to face.
They
have identified and mastered the art of manipulating the biggest weakness in
politicians to the detriment of the Nation & its people.
Sri
Lanka’s labor, wealth, natural resources, public institutions, State enterprises,
public utilities are being auctioned to foreigners by foreigners who have been
invited to do so by the State (perhaps the State is even paying these
foreigners for their ‘consultations’)
Privatization
Is
privatization a solution? State enterprises privatized between 1980-2009 had
performed worse than public enterprises. European cities are now reclaiming
public services from private sector.
A
2015 UNDP study declared there was no set model for efficiency – that meant
public, private or mixed enterprise model was no solution. How an entity was
managed efficiently and effectively was what mattered.
Neo-liberal Project
Originates
in the secret Mont Pelerin Society founded by Friedrich von Hayk & Milton
Friedman & Allan Waters in 1947. Hayek’s vision was outlined in his book
The Road to Serfdom in 1944. The book advocates
Elimination
constitutional nation-State & replaced with a supra National World
Government
Expanding US
hegemony beyond US & across international borders (free cross border
movement of goods, people and money)
States will not
be able to decide price of goods
States will have
no independent national legislation
States will have
no control over taxation
State will have
no power over its economy (deregulation & liberalization are all modus
operandi to achieve this goal)
State will not
control its national produce, national resources, national workforce, national
currency
Friedman
became Economic Advisor to US President Reagan, Waters was Chief Economic
Advisor to UK PM Margaret Thatcher. You can imagine the influence they would
have had on the leaders!
How Think Tanks / Universities &
Media are used to control the world
The
oligarchs have dumped millions into setting up think tanks, business schools, influencing
economic subject in universities to promoting neoliberal thinking – Heritage
Foundation, Hoover Institute, CATO Institute, American Enterprise Institute,
Centre for Policy Studies, Institute of Economic Affairs, Adam Smith Institute
(UK), Soros Foundation are just a handful of names.
These
entities are tasked to mask the real intent in language & ideas and present
as if the program is for the betterment of society.
Chile
became the launch pad for the 1st neoliberal program after
installing Pinochet with US backing. Mont Pelerin rolled out the project –
anyone who disagreed got shot! That was neoliberal democracy! IMF & World
Bank got their way. That was neoliberal economic transparency!
Media
was owned by the billionaires who owned & funded the think tanks and
universities. Media frames language to fool the masses on behalf of the secret
societies that rule them.
Shaping economic
policies by infiltrating their stooges into govt positions & controlling
the govt & its laws (placing policy planning network of advisors created
from the think tanks & business schools & paid media into government)
‘Experts’ creating
proposals that are in rosy language, gullible and are promoted by their
‘agents’ in media, journalists, social leaders/activists, political ‘analysts’,
business speakers etc – all who have a way of influencing the politicians &
their advisors
Holding fancy
conferences & seminars with full publicity with glitz and glamour to
present the notion to public that their proposals are best – note recent
seminar on MCC wherein moderator himself claims Sri Lanka was rejecting a gift horse!
Shifting power
from Public Institutions to Global Economic Institutes (statistics show how
wealth, resources, power of the Public has been transferred to foreign
corporates or local entities influenced or funded by foreign corporates) where national sovereignty is undermined by
corrupting politicians and claiming corrupt politicians and political system
must be replaced…
Oh yes, are we to replace corrupt
politicians with the entities that corrupted them so that they could be
eliminated and in place a system change of global transcorporate government
would be replaced?
Mont Pelerin Society Sri Lanka Members
PM Ranil
Prof.
Razeen Sally
Prof. Suri
Ratnapala
Atlas Network – Advocata Sri Lanka is a member
Is
part of US foreign policy and plays key role in destabilizing and regime
change.
Atlas
Network through its associate think tanks and NGOs discretely funded by US
State Dept and National Endowment for Democracy succeeded in
military coup
against Manuel Zelaya in Honduras,
toppling
Cristine Kirchner of Argentina using ‘corruption’ theme
supported
military against President Chavez in 2002
diverting public
anger against leading politicians in Brazil (similar to Sri Lanka)
The
connections are obvious – Dr. Judy Shelton, senior fellow at Atlas Network is
also advisor to President Trump & she chairs the NED.
Atlas
Network is mostly funded by Koch Foundation,
ExxonMobil, MasterCard, John Templeton, Donors Trust, and the American
government. In February 2019, Atlas via its associate Advocata held the Asia
Liberty Forum.
Is it a surprise that Atlas
Network wanted to repeal law that made voting compulsory & withdraw funding
to trade unions because people could ‘participate’ via FB, whatsap (free wifi
was obviously a ruse to subtly remove entities that were challenging oligarchs
with people’s support)
The effort to remove people’s
representatives and hand over governance and asset/wealth control into private
parties can be seen by the power some companies wield worldwide.
25 companies make more money than GDPs
of these 25 countries
Spotify
(Mauritania), Netflix (Malta), Tesla (Albania), Visa (Bosnia), El Corte Inglés
(Libya), Starbucks (Trinidad & Tobago), McDonalds (New Guinea), Mercadona
(Nepal), BBCA (Estonia), Inditex (Paraguay), Walt Disney (Bulgaria), Banco
Santander (Panama), Telefónica (Luxembourg), Johnson & Johnson (Ethiopia),
Microsoft (Slovakia), Nike (Cameroon), Coca Cola (Bolivia), Iberdrola (Ivory
Coast), Facebook (Serbia), Repsol (Lebanon), Alphabet, Google’s parent company
(Puerto Rico), Amazon (Kuwait), Apple (Portugal), Volkswagen (Chile), Walmart
(Belgium)
ICBC
(China) HSBC, Deutsch Bank, Credit Agricole Group, BNP Paribas, Mitsubishi,
Barclays, JP Morgan Chase, China Construction Bank Corp, Japan Post Bank
operate in just 6 countries and have a combined wealth of $21.1trillion –
enough to fund the US Govt for 7 years.
Companies
are becoming richer than countries and taking ownership of resources in
countries.
How
are companies taking ownership of resources in countries?
Influencing
political affairs of sovereign states indirectly through their governments or
NGOs or indirectly by employing government officials & getting
participating in national policy committees as well as making political
contributions and at times even bribing
UK/US
overthrew democratically elected Iran’s leader Mossadegh because he
nationalized oil and it affected US/UK oil companies, the United Fruit Company
and its exploitations in Latin America with US government assistance is another
example.
Advocata Institute
(part of Atlas Network founded by Mont
Pelerin Society member Anthony Fisher) – neoliberal think tank promoting free
market reforms.
Advocata
is also connected to both Mont Pelerin Society & US administration.
Advocata
Board Member Frank Lavin
Chairman
of Public Affairs Practice for Edelman Asia Pacific on behalf of companies
facing issues with various foreign governments
2005-2007
US Under Secretary for International Trade at US Dept of Commerce
2001-2005
US ambassador to Singapore (negotiated landmark US-Singapore FTA)
1987-1989
Director of the Office of Political Affairs in White House
Worked
in Hong Kong, Singapore for Cushman & Wakefield
Worked
for Bank of America & Citibank
Worked
for George Bush Snr & Ronald Reagan in the Dept of Commerce, Dept of State,
National Security Council & White House
Serves
on the Board of Directors of Globe Specialty Metals (worlds largest producer of
silicon metal alloys) Consistel (largest telecommunications firm in SouthEast
Asia), UOB Bank (Singapore), UTEX (Texas energy services firm)
Atlas
Network has been financing a variety of organizations that seek to influence
the public and promote capitalist ideas.
The
Asia Liberty Forum was co-hosted by the Advocata Institute and Atlas Network in
February 2019. Speakers were Dr. Nishan de Mel (Executive Director, Verite
Research) Ravi Ratnasabapathy (Resident Fellow, Advocata Institute), Suresh
Shah (Director, Carson Cumberbatch PLC), Thilan Wijesinghe (Chairman, National
Agency for PPPs) and Dr. Malathy Knight (Senior Economist).
Institute for Policy
Studies
Sri Lanka’s Economic Policy Think-Tank
established by Act of Parliament in 1988
Executive
Director – Dushni Weerakoon / Chairman Prof. Razeen Salley
How far
IPS is under influence of foreign funded think-tanks and foreign control can be
seen & questions how ‘independent’ these ‘government’ bodies are. What is
the point in a government think tank being ‘independent’ from government
institutions but dependent on western governments and donors for their funding?
How
‘independent’ is IPS if it is co-financed by the Dutch Govt & run by a
Resident Coordinator from Dutch Institute for Social Studies? DISS is funded by
the Dutch Govt to train intellectuals and policy makers from former Dutch
colonies!
How
‘independent’ is IPS’s OWN ‘Endowment Fund’ if Sri Lankan state does not know
its funding sources?
How
‘autonomous’ is IPS, Sri Lanka’s supposed to be economic think tank if its
donors are UK,, US Corporations, banks & equity funds (Hewlett
Foundation/Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), Netherlands, Canada and Norway?
They do not give money free without some agenda!
IPS is
directly connected to Mont Pelerin Society via its member Prof. Razeen Salley
who is now IPS Chairman. Sally is Adjunct scholar of Cato Institute a
neoliberal think tank, he is founder director of Cato-related European Centre
for International Political Economy a neoconservative entity linked to CIA
connected Brookings Institution.
IPS
drafted Vision 2025 and organized the Sri Lanka Economic Forum in 2016 that
invited George Soros ‘colour revolution architect & his Open Society
Foundation to Sri Lanka. At this forum Ricardo Hausmann of the Harvard Centre
was directly associated with the PM’s office, the BOI and Ministry of
Development Strategy & International Trade. This same Harvard Teams’ did
the land privatization Bill.
Do we
need economic experts if the only solution they give is to sell public assets
and privatize all state owned enterprises. Any idiot can suggest this – do we
need economists & think-tanks for this?
The
Chairman of IPS Razeen Sally is 24×7 advocating selling State enterprises and
even suggested a deceitful strategy to handle country-wide opposition – first
partially privatize state enterprise by putting such into a holding company (SL
Airlines, Mihin Air, SLTB etc) and then gradually increase private sector
stakes & work towards complete private ownership. Sally’s proposition for
public utilities (petroleum, water, electricity etc) is to replace Board
members of the Public Utilities Commission with ‘independent directors’
obviously foreign ones! And how ‘independent are these foreigners one wonders!
Neoliberals holding Public &
Private positions in Sri Lanka since 2015
Prof.
Salley was made Senior Advisor to Finance Minister Samaraweera in July 2017.
Indrajit
Coomaraswamy present Central Bank Governor is also on board of the Institute of
Policy Studies
Dr. Sarath
Rajapatirana, Economic Advisor to the President is also on board of the
Institute of Policy Studies is a visiting scholar
of American Enterprise Institute a neoliberal think tank and had been working
for World Bank from 1975 to 1999.
M. I.
M. Rafeek – Secretary to
the Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affair (Ranil’s Ministry) is on
the board of Institute of Policy Studies
S S
Mudalige Director General National Planning Department is also on the Board of
IPS
In
April 2019 Eran Wickramaratne also took part in closed-door discussions at the
Heritage Foundation in Washington
Dr.
Arvind Subramanian, the Chief Economic Adviser of the Government of India was
keynote speaker at Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2017. Subramanian is also Senior
Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics a neoliberal US
think tank.
Radhika
Coomaraswamy, sister of Governor Central Bank – Open Society Justice Initiative,
Member of the Board. Served as Chairperson of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission during
Ranil Wickremasinghe’s Govt in 2003 and then served again under his government
as Constitutional Council member in 2015.
Former
Foreign Minister Samaraweera addressed the Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace (US foreign affairs think tank) in February 2015, immediately after the
regime change in January 2015. Ambassador Prasad Kariyawasam embroiled in
controversy for his salary payment by US was also a speaker at the same think
tank in September 2015.
IPS & Advocata are both connected
to US Govt and Mont Pelerin Society
Advocata
was launched in May 2016 at the Lakshman Kadiragamar Institute together with a
report State of State Enterprises” (a report made before Advocata was created)
showcasing 55 state-owned enterprises making major losses between 2006-2015 and
recommended the Govt decide which to shut down, which to privatize and which
the govt should continue to keep. If a report emerged before Advocata was
created it should be no surprise when Advocata is quoted by Malik
Samarawickrema promoting far-reaching privatisation plans”
An interesting set of people make up
its Board
Fredrik Erixon – Director of the European Centre for
International Political Economy (ECIPE) think tank co-founded with Razeen Sally
in 2006. Erixon was an Adviser to the British government.
Nishan de Mel – Verite Research agents for promoting
MCC in Sri Lanka. He was Executive
Director of the International Centre for Ethnic Studies and the Sri Lanka
Foundation Institute.
Rohan Samarajeewa – LirnAsia
Prof Suri Ratnapala – member of Mont Pelerin Society,
appointed by PM Ranil himself a Mont Pelerin Member to advise the Steering
Committee chaired by the PM drafting a new Constitution
Advocata
is promoting privatization in Sri Lanka. Advocata proposed the privatization of
Sri Lankan Airlines. In June 2016 Cabinet approved PM’s proposal to hire US firm
McKinsey & Co for $2.3m to establish a Central Program Management Unit
inside Temple Trees to monitor projects under new Development (Special
Provisions) Bill. A foreign firm is paid to monitor Bills passed in Sri Lanka!
Advocata
in November 2016 recommended that the Sri Lanka Budget 2017 reactivate 987,000
acres in the Land Reform Commission. They categorized schools, government
ministries, military occupied buildings etc as ‘prime real estate’ and claimed
they ‘outweighed their economic value’ and wanted them shifted! So the hue
& cry to downsize the military is part of this larger objective! What
excuse will they give to remove schools? Is the decision to remove 25,000 slums
in Colombo City by 2020 part of this bigger objective? Will they soon remove residential
housing too?
When
Advocata recommends an ‘independent body free of political influence to
minimize corruption’ it means give it to ‘independent’ foreigners who will
bribe ministers to get what they want! This is just like Sri Lanka suddenly being
upgraded to ‘upper middle class’ country as MCC grants are given only to such
countries!
How can
a government give access to Sri Lanka’s land records to foreigners for them to
exploit and recommend to be sold to foreigners?
So we
are not surprised when the Central Bank outlined new laws and institutional
reforms to establish a land bank as part of a move to remove ‘archaic’ laws and
then arrives Prof. Hausmann Director of Harvard Centre. All these foreign
experts from neoliberal think tanks, economists etc claim to be knowing what is
good for Sri Lanka and interestingly enough they want Sri Lanka to privatize
ocean-related activities, shipping, statutory bodies, liberalize free trade and
investment, liberalize land sale, remove restrictions for foreign ownership
including in freight forwarding and shipping and all these are being plugged
into some rosy proposal known as Public-Private Partnership. While sugar-coated
fortunes and benefits are dished out to Sri Lankans no one is paying any
attention to the misfortune likely to come when everything we own fall into
foreign hands and when they decide what is to be given to us at what
rate/quantity, quality or whether we are to get anything at all and if not
whether we have any alternatives and what if those are also denied by these
foreigners if they own access to the entry and choke points into and out of Sri
Lanka?
Millennium Challenge Corporation:
MCC is
a US government body. Its head is the US Secretary of State. It has an ‘office’
inside Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister’s Office. Did the MCC draft the PM’s ‘Vision
2025’? Is Sri Lanka’s strategies formulated by the foreigners working inside
the PM’s office?
Why is
MCC grant covering only a few provinces and selected districts if it is for all
Sri Lankans? Why is MCC grant subject to conditions of privatizing all state
land? How is MCC evaluating Sri Lanka? Who is evaluating Sri Lanka? Who is
providing the data? How sovereign is Sri Lanka when all decisions are being drafted
& wetted by foreigners?
Clearly,
Sri Lanka’s governance & government has been infiltrated by foreigners and
stooges of these foreigners have been placed in prominent roles.
How
many in Sri Lanka have identified the enemy & understood the dangers? Should
we not be devising ways to overcome and nullify the damage they are doing?
Speaker Karu Jayasuriya is in an unenviable position. He is never free from stress. Last year, he had to fight quite a battle to thwart an attempt to topple the UNF government. What he faced in Parliament, in defending the beleaguered government, was nothing but terrorism. He even ran the risk of being harmed by some rowdies in the garb of UPFA MPs, who went on the rampage. But for his valiant efforts, his political enemies would have consolidated their power in Parliament. Ten months on, speculation is rife, in political circles, that a plot is being hatched to grab premiership again. It was reported that Speaker Jayasuriya had said he would resign in such an eventuality. He has denied the reports as baseless.
President Sirisena revealed, at a public rally, during last year’s political turmoil, following the abortive power grab, that he had offered the post of Prime Minister to Speaker Karu Jayariya and Minister Sajith Premadasa, before appointing former President Mahinda Rajapaksa thereto. Both Jayasuriya and Premadasa had turned down his offer, he said. A section of the media claimed, the other day, that he had made that offer again. He is known for highly unpredictable moves; whoever would have thought he would sack Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, appoint Rajapaksa PM, dissolve Parliament and call a general election, in quick succession?
There is no love lost between President Sirisena and PM Wickremesinghe, as is common knowledge. The former, however, is not ill-disposed towards the UNP, which he is willing to work with under a different PM. A formidable faction of the UNP has risen against PM Wickremesinghe, and is cranking up pressure on him to name Sajith the party’s presidential candidate. They have crossed the point of no return, and won’t baulk at anything to achieve their goal. President Sirisena feels let down by the Rajapaksas who have their own agenda and joined the SLPP officially. He, therefore, may not hesitate to do anything at the expense of the Rajapaksas and Wickremesinghe to manoeuvre out of the political mire he finds himself in. He might throw in his lot with someone who is opposed to the former ruling family and incumbent PM.
The President is aware that he will be reduced to a political nonentity if the SLPP wins the presidency; his lot will be far worse in case Wickremesinghe or someone close to the latter becomes the next President. He will stand to gain or be safe only if someone who is against both the Rajapaksas and Wickremesinghe becomes President, with his support. This seems to be his battle plan, which may have given rise to speculation that he might try to re-enact the October Drama, in Parliament, with a different cast and a new protagonist.
Having foiled an attempt by President Sirisena and former President Rajapaksa to wrest control of Parliament, last year, the UNF government bragged that it was strong enough to defend itself against its opponents bent on grabbing premiership; it warned them that it was also capable of going on the offensive and bringing them to their knees. Their boastful claim reminds us of a story about an armament manufacturer, who used to boast of the strength of his products to the point of queasiness; he once claimed that there was no spear, in the entire world, which could pierce his shields, and no one had ever manufactured a shield that his spears could not penetrate. A child who happened to pass by, casually, asked him what would happen if one of his spears was thrown at one of his shields. The question that the government should be asked is what would happen if an attempt was made by someone within its ranks to grab premiership.
What would the UNF constituents and the JVP do in such a situation? Most of all, how would the Speaker react? Anything is possible in politics, where nothing is so certain as the unexpected, especially when someone like Sirisena is at the helm.
The artificially sensationalized controversy within the UNP ranks about the authenticity of the party deputy leader Sajith Premadasa’s educational qualifications, in the twilight of its barely legitimate rule, is a strangely anticlimactic, but justly retributive, reversal of its unbroken mudslinging campaign against the Rajapaksas, whose democratic return to power they have been determined to forestall by hook or by crook.
The controversial 19th Amendment was primarily intended to keep them out of power for the foreseeable future. The calling into question of Premadasa’s academic attainments is actually much ado about nothing, provoked by the heated leadership tussle between two camps, within the party, the reactionary jaded old guard clinging to its hereditary ‘ownership’ of the party, and a relatively younger ginger group within its ranks; clamouring for a change of party leadership trying to make it less inimical to the rising nationalist spirit of the electorate. But it promoted pro-Premadasa propaganda as a negative marketing strategy by giving a little boost to his presidential nomination bid. Sajith is embattled on two fronts: He is embarked on a struggle for rising to party leadership, and he has started, at least at the individual level, his presidential campaign. While the second (which is actually premature because it is still uncertain whether the UNP will agree to his candidacy) is already a lost cause, in view of the dismal performance of the Yahapalana regime of which he has been a senior member; his success in the first is of vital importance for himself and for his party. But Premadasa, or his potential replacement who will come to lead the faction that is now loyal to him within the UNP, will have a historic role to play in the evolution of a stable two-party system of parliamentary democracy that will be safe from the undue minoritarian influence that is at present ruining the country. What is the thinking behind this man in the street opinion of mine?
There is a popular diversionary tactic used these days by the 2015 change makers and their propagandists, against those who are set to rescue the nation state from further destabilization and destruction. It is being adopted by the JVP and a handful of recent upstarts, like lawyer Nagananda, for their own purposes. This is to attribute the country’s current politically and economically ruinous situation, as well as its strategically exaggerated developmental backwardness over the past 70 years of independence, to a single alleged cause: what they identify as the ingrained corruption, lawlessness and general depravity of all the politicians who have been ruling, generally, as members of the two main political parties, the UNP and the SLFP taking turns. Significantly, these advocates of radical change avoid talking about the much more important causes of Sri Lanka’s worsening fate, such as the 30-year civil war and its poisonous aftermath, brazen foreign interference in its internal affairs that exploits it, and the related, recently introduced, Wahabist terrorism, to name just a few of those vital factors they overlook.
This indiscriminate attack on all past politicians, and all the current 225 MPs, plus the President, may look like gospel truth for the least informed few of the normally well informed millennial generation (18 – 40 year olds). It is a fallacious argument thought up and regularly peddled by the JVP for over 50 years now. The same specious reasoning has been picked up by a few others, equally innocent of a general knowledge about how parliamentary democracy has malfunctioned; particularly after the 1956 watershed, more due to other potent factors including the communalism of some minority politicians than to corruption, which itself remains rampant, at least partly, as a result of minority politicians having the upper hand in parliament due to the fact that MPs belonging to the two main national parties are divided on party lines.(However, Lalkantha, JVP’s politburo member and well known trade union leader, publicly admitted the hollowness of the aforementioned fossilized line of thought recently; he also advocated a halt to Mahinda bashing. Whether his opinion is shared by the rest of the JVP hierarchy is yet to be seen.)
All genuine attempts, made by consecutive governments for the restoration of full national independence in terms of governance, economic development, cultural resurgence, education through the medium of native languages, and so on, with a view to creating a truly egalitarian society where all communities are treated without discrimination of any form, have always met with limited success due to the few powerful communalists among minority politicians, failing to cooperate with the non-communalist majority politicians; often they have exploited the competition between the two main national parties, the UNP and the SLFP, to dictate policies in the parochial communalistic, rather than, the national interest. The virulence of minoritarianism in parliament is such that, assisted by other factors, it has indirectly reduced the SLFP to a mere wraithlike rump already, and it is leading the UNP (the current governing party) around by the nose. This reflects the parlous state of parliamentary democracy in Sri Lanka today, which has left the vast non-communalist minded ordinary citizens that form at least 95% of the population, virtually silenced and leaderless. The few communalists there are ruling the roost.
It is up to the two main parties to put an end to this anomaly immediately and to reverse the catastrophic course that Sri Lanka is being forced to take. Of these the almost dead SLFP (hence described as ‘wraithlike’ above) seems to have no future unless integrated with the newly formed SLPP; which now represents the ‘left of centre’ alternative to the ‘rightist’ UNP in the roughly two-party system that has evolved since independence. The fact that there are no significant differences between their respective political ideologies, except for the UNP’s westward leaning neoliberal economic policies and the SLFP’s (or its reincarnation the SLPP’s) relatively independent, urban rural balanced, development oriented, economic structure and its nationalist stance in domestic politics and diplomatic relations with other countries, is a factor that is conducive for democracy. At this critical hour, considering the ground realities, the SLPP, but not the UNP, is most likely to produce the national leader that the country needs.
Sri Lankans are not so mad as to want to undergo the Yahapalana experience a second time. The election bid of every possible UNP candidate will be inevitably undermined by the stigma of their association with the destructive Yahapalanaya. Premadasa, or any other UNP candidate, will not be a formidable challenge to the SLPP nominee. Pre-2015 Secretary of Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa was officially announced as the SLPP’s presidential candidate at its first national convention held at the Sugathadasa indoor stadium in Colombo on August 11, 2019. The announcement was enthusiastically celebrated across the country, setting off crackers.
Meanwhile, it is a fact that the UNP sorely needs at least a leader, like the late Premadasa, for its survival, but Sajith is not capable of filling that vacancy; primarily because he lacks even the leadership qualities that his father possessed. I say this because, instead of trying to appeal to the people as a capable leader of the same mould as his father, he tries to impress them, mistaking them for a captive electorate mesmerised by the personal charisma that he imagines he has, by his haughtiness of manner, lack of empathy with others, and his apparent superiority complex. Sajith’s public persona, since the death of his father, has betrayed these personality deficits. Such a person is not fit to lead a political party, much less the country. Four and a half years of Yahapalanaya must have knocked some sense into the heads of the people who voted it into power in 2015.
However, I for one, think that Sajith P need not depend on his father’s name or fame alone to play the role that he is destined to play, as it were, but he’d better not dream of becoming president overnight. There is something more important for him to do before that as suggested at the beginning. It is up to him to correctly assess his importance or rather his current unimportance actually, to begin with; then, he needs to understand what that role is, and play it to the best of his ability, for his own good, and his party’s, and most importantly, for the good of the country in the long run. The historic role that I am suggesting for Sajith is to do with the preservation of the UNP as one of the two main parties in a successful two-party system (the other being the newly formed SLPP in place of the virtually obsolete SLFP), where bipartisan compromise, necessitated by national interest, obviates too much government dependence on communalist minority parties for the purpose of forming a stable government (The ground reality is that these communalist parties do not represent the vast majority of the ordinary members of the Tamil and Muslim minority communities, who are now with the Sinhalese majority). He must bide his time until he is able to claw his way up to the top of the party, and mark time until the SLPP restores the country to normality over the next few years. All peaceful patriotic Sri Lankans are patiently waiting for a democratic reversal of the catastrophic results of the foreign engineered regime change conspiracy of 2015. As for the SLPP, it should not take at face value any of the former Yahapalana worthies or their allies who now want to make common cause with them.
A search operation conducted by the Terrorist Investigation Division in the locality of Karandiya in Palai of Jaffna has led to the discovery of a concealed stash of explosives, firearms as well as various other weapons.
The operation was launched after information was obtained from the recently arrested Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) of the Palai Hospital, who is suspected of having terror links.
On the 18th of August, the JMO of Palai Hospital, Sinnayya Sivaruban, was arrested by the Army and handed over to the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID).
He was then detained by the Jaffna terrorist investigation unit for questioning.
Police media spokesperson said that during the interrogations, Sivaruban had revealed information on a concealed stash of weapons after which the search operation was launched.
The seize items included AK-47 firearm, two magazines, 11 hand grenades, 10kg of substance suspected to be explosives, 120 rounds of ammunition, a telephone and a multitude of other equipment.
Police media spokesperson said that a police team of the TID led by an ASP in the locality has been assigned to conduct further investigations on the incident.
, August 27: As crime-rates keep falling in many parts of the world, prisons are being closed, with some of them being converted into hotels or tourist attractions.Violent crime rate has been falling in Sri Lanka too since the end of Eelam War IV in 2009.But that is not the reason for the government’s 2013 decision to abandon the iconic Bogambara Prison in Kandy.
The Bogambara Prison was abandoned as part of the government’s plan to improve prison conditions by closing old and dilapidated ones located in the middle of towns and building modern ones outside the towns. The idea was to put the prime properties into good and productive use. It was under this scheme that the inmates of the Bogambara prison, built in 1876 were shifted to a new premises in Pallakele in 2013.Simultaneously, the then government led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa had a project to renovate colonial-era buildings and put them to contemporary commercial use. Colombo had many such building repaired and done up.
The Bogambara prison was handed over to President Rajapaksa in January 2014, and surely, his government would have undertaken rehabilitation, if he was not voted out of office in January 2015. The new government headed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had the same objective but had difficulty in meeting the expected cost which was US$ 7 to 10 million.In 2016, Minister Lakshman Kiriella suggested that the 382-cell Bogambara prison be converted into a luxury hotel. But this was vehemently opposed by the Mahanayakes of the Malwatte and Asgirya chapters of the Maha Sangha located in Kandy. It is reported that in a letter to President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Prelates suggested construction of a Kandyan cultural centre instead.
Gallows at Bogambara to execute three simultaneously
In the view of Dilip Susruta Samarasinghe, Director (Media) at the Board of Investment (BOI) which is trying to find foreign investors in the project, it will be difficult to convert the cells into hotel rooms. The walls are thick are difficult to break. The windows are tiny and right at the top. And most importantly, since it is a heritage site, the Archeology Department, which is a participant in the renovation project, will not allow any tampering with the structure, Samarasinghe explained.
However, following a global trend in which prisons are being turned into tourist destinations if they are of historical value, the government is pursuing the project with vigour. Prisons, like other historical sites, provide a unique window into a country’s political history, views on crime and punishment, and laws governing freedom and human rights. Each year, millions of people trickle through the shadowy halls of decommissioned prisons around the world to learn their grim histories,” says writer Gulnaz Khan.
For example in the Texas Prison Museum in Huntsville, United States, the infamous American electric chair” is displayed. In the Tuol Sleng prison cum torture chambers in the Cambodian capital city of Phnom Penh, one can see the tiny cells in which political prisoners were kept. The torture chambers and torture equipment are there for all to see. Bogambara Prison Project built in 1876 under the supervision of then Inspector General of Prisons N.R.Saunders, the Bogambara Prison was Sri Lanka’s second largest prison spanning 13 acres. Its 92,000-square foot main building has three floors.
Given the vast amount of land in its premises, and its location bang in the middle of Kandy town, the land is very valuable and could be very productively used, Samarasinghe pointed out. The first phase of the project was completed and inaugurated by Premier Wickremesinghe last week. It saw the development of the prison’s external lands at a cost of approximately Rs.125 million (US$ 705, 930). The second stage entails the development of the buildings at an estimated cost of Rs.750 million (US$ 4.2 million).
According to reports, the second phase envisages the development of a cultural centre, an open air theatre, studios for traditional arts and crafts, a tourist information centre, multi recreational areas and a shopping complex. Most importantly, there will be a museum displaying the prison’s history. Since Kandy is a UNESCO World Heritage City, the Department of Archaeology is also involved in the designing of the project. The walls of the Bogambara Prison are said to look like the Bastille prison in Paris.
The structures were built with brick, lime, and wood, not concrete. Its floors are made of teak. Being short of funds, the government hopes to raise funds from overseas which is why it is a BOI project.
Bogambara prison done up
Historic Place
The Bogambara Prison is a historical place. It was one of the two prisons in which hangings took place till capital punishment was stopped, de facto, in 1975. Between 1876 – 1975, 534 prisoners were hanged at Bogambara. The prison was known for its gallows on which three persons could hang together.
Many Sri Lankan national leaders were interned in Bogambara. Among them were Dr. Colvin R. de Silva and Philip Gunawardene, N.M.Perera, Mavai Senathirajah and Tamil poet Kasi Ananthan. But some of these claims are disputed by H.G.Darmadasa, who was Superintendent at Bogambara Prison in the 1970s and had retired as Commissioner General Prisons. Darmadasa told Sunday Times that Colvin de Siva and Philip Gunawardene were kept in the New Kandy Remand Prison now used by the Sinha Regiment of the Army.
The claim that the celebrated 19th Century Sri Lankan Robin Hood, Saradiel, was held in Bogambara could also be challenged as Saradiel was hanged in 1864 long before Bogambara Prison was commissioned. But these do not detract from the historical importance of the Bogambara prison. The prison has always been a tourist attraction, albeit from the outside. It is located in the very heart of Kandy. Its Bastille like ramparts had never failed to attract.
Even before the establishment of the Bogambara Prison, executions and hangings were taking place in the Bogambara grounds.The entire family of Ehelpola, a noble who had rebelled against King Sri Wickramarajasinghe, was executed there in 1814. First the two sons were beheaded. Then their mother was made to pound their heads, and finally, the mother and her daughters were tied to stones and sunk in the Bogambara lake. People were out raged but could do little. Ehelapola himself escaped as he was under British protection on the West coast.
After the British took over Kandy in 1815, they partially cleared the lake to build the Bogambara Prison. The gallows were shifted from the Hangman’s Hill to the newly built prison. It was on Hangman’s Hill that the Sri Lankan Robin Hood Saradiel was executed in 1864.
In 1818, chieftain Keppetipola, who had rebelled against the British in Uva, was beheaded on the Bogambara grounds. He wanted to be killed with one stroke, but the executioner failed. It was in the second attempt that the head was cut off. After his death, Keppetipola’s skull was taken to Britain and placed in the Phrenological Society of Edinburgh. Following the British withdrawal from Sri Lanka in 1948, Keppetipola was declared a national hero.
In 1954, his skull was brought to Sri Lanka and kept in the Keppetipola Memorial in Kandy. The Sri Lankan Robin Hood Saradiel was hanged on Hangman’s hill in 1864 which is now the Kandy Central Market. Prior to the shifting of the gallows into jails, beheading and hangings were done in public.
(The featured image at the top shows cells in the Bogambara prison in Kandy, Sri Lanka)
Colombo, August 27 (DailyFT): The Sri Lankan Army will seek to enhance its intelligence apparatus in the future, the newly-appointed Commander Lieutenant General Shavendra de Silva said on Monday.
Speaking to reporters for the first time since his appointment the Army Commander acknowledged the importance of enhancing Army intelligence to meet new national security challenges.
Intelligence is vital, we deploy our troops and conduct missions based on actionable intelligence,” he said, outlining plans to improve the efficiency of the military intelligence arm and ensure there is better synergy between intelligence stakeholders.
Our intelligence capabilities have always been good but we can improve,” he told the Daily FT, explaining that special attention needs to be paid to filling gaps in technology.
The Commander was addressing a press conference on the upcoming Colombo Defence Seminar 2019 and the Joint Military Training exercise Cormorant Strike which was held yesterday.
Concerns Over His Appointment
On the concerns expressed by human rights groups , the US and UN over his appointment, Gen.Silva said: There can be concerns, countries and individuals can have concerns. However, the President as the Commander-in-Chief appointed me as the Commander of the Army and I am sure he took into consideration all matters related to the appointment.”
Some members of the diplomatic community and UN had referred to alleged human rights violations that took place when he commanded troops during the last phase of the war in April-May 2019 .
Yes, there are allegations (of war crimes). Anyone can make allegations but we will go forward,” he said, pointing out there had been significant allegations regarding the Mannar mass graves but it was later proven beyond a doubt that there was no armed forces involvement.
Responding to a question about his role as the Commander of the Army and perceptions of the Army with regard to the Tamil community, Lt. Gen. Silva denied any bias for or against any community and emphasised that he leads the Army in the national interest.
As the Commander I am entrusted with the security of every community in Sri Lanka,” he said. He claimed that he treated all civilians equally and recalled his upbringing in the multi-ethnic township of Matale.
Declining to comment on the controversial US-Sri Lankan Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that could lead to foreign forces being deployed on Sri Lankan territory, the Army Commander noted it isa policy matter and therefore the decision lay with the Government.
Colombo Defence Seminar 2019 this week
The Colombo Defence Seminar 2019 will be held in Colombo for the ninth consecutive year at the end of this month.
The seminar will be held on 29-30 August. This year 27 foreign and local speakers will address the apex defence conference on the topic of ‘Evolving Military Excellence in the Contemporary Security Landscape’.
The two-day gathering of military and academic experts will see sessions on topics such as Asia-Pacific Security Landscape, New Faces of Global Terrorism, Impact of Autonomous Weapon Systems, Military Readiness and Disaster Management among others.
The Defence Seminar will be closely followed by the annual military training exercises next month.
Cormorant Strike – X 2019 Tri-forces military exercises will kick off on 3 September with the participation of 300 officers and over 2,400 soldiers, sailors and airmen. Held for the 10th consecutive year the exercise is planned to showcase Sri Lanka military experience and to act as a catalyst for capacity building of Special Operations Forces (SOF) of the three armed forces and to aid in formulating a framework for the employment of the Sri Lankan SOFs.
The exercise will mainly include Army Special Forces, Commandos, and members from the elite 53rd Airmobile Brigade, Navy Special Boat Squadron, Marines and Air Force Regiment Special Forces and other support formations.
Most of the operational exercises will take place on the East coast near Trincomalee and Minneriya. Some specialised segment of the exercises will take place around the island. 23 countries have been invited to be observers for this exercise.
Cormorant Strike – X 2019 will come to an end on 24 September at Kachchativu in Trincomalee.
Mahinda’s
message is to look at Lanka history, and he pointed out how EA Goonesinghe who
fought for universal suffrage for Sri Lanka was sent home after he won it from
the forces of Imperialism, and similarly, CWW Kannangara who fought for free
education was sent home by the same forces. He also reminded the young people
of what happened in 1971, and 1989, and he pointed out how ironic it is that
the ‘torturers and the tortured’ of that time have got together now! He
said the same forces that acted then are still acting now. He called on the
youth to not forget history and to look far ahead and not look short term. He
received a standing ovation.
Gota spoke to the youth of Lanka on how to move forward. He explained their short term plan and the long term plan. He too received a standing ovation.
Dr. Stephen Long, Los Angeles, California Courtesy The Island
After spending most of my adult life in Hawaii and then Southeast Asia, I returned to the US and settled in Los Angeles in 1998. About two weeks after my move a couple with whom I am very close invited me to an evening event at their amazing new art gallery on La Brea Avenue in Hollywood. The gallery specialized in museum-quality Asian and Buddhist art, and I wound up spending a lot of time there over the next few years.
Two or three weeks before my arrival in Los Angeles, my gallery-owner friends had met Ven. Walpola Piyananda. He was driving down La Brea and was startled to see a large seated Buddha statue in the display window facing the street. He told his driver to park the car and then he walked back for a closer look. My friend Cari, the co-owner, saw the orange-robed monk peering in her window and became very excited; she immediately stepped outside to invite him in. She guided him through their collection of Buddhist art and then asked him if he would come to an upcoming event and bless their gallery, friends, and customers. He agreed, of course, and his appearance that evening was the first of many over the years to come.
During the event I spent most of my time with Bhante Piyananda and the other monks he brought with him to participate in the blessing ceremony. As a Western Buddhist I had missed the company of monks since my move to the States, and it gave me great pleasure to be by their side and to get to know them; during the event I practically ignored everyone else just so I could spend more time with Cari’s special guests. At the end of the blessing ceremony, after the monks had tied pirith nool around the wrists of all hundred or so grateful guests, I escorted the monks to their car. While walking to his vehicle Bhante invited me to attend meditation at their temple that Friday night. I accepted and wound up spending the next twenty-plus years not only in Friday meditation, but in close association in many other ways with Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara and their resident hamudurawos. This relationship turned out to be one of the most important in my life. After a while I was blessed by being asked to teach Sunday School for the temple teenagers, which turned into being my favorite weekly activity for the past twelve years, and counting.
I was also blessed by being able to get to know many members of the Sri Lankan expatriate community in Los Angeles – and by being able to get to know the beautiful country of Sri Lanka itself. Over the years I have visited Sri Lanka several times for extended periods, and I have forged many wonderful friendships with people there – as well as with Sri Lankan expats in the US. Over time I developed a very keen interest in Sri Lanka, which I consider to be one of my “adopted countries.” I have studied it (and its culture and politics) robustly. I have come to care deeply about Sri Lanka and its people, and have developed strong, protective feelings about that magical island and its well-being.
One of the expats I have had the pleasure to get to know is Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. He moved to the Los Angeles area a few years before I did, in 1991, after he retired from twenty years of service in the Sri Lankan military. I know there has been some talk about Gotabhaya “running away” from his home country, but from the way it was explained to me, nothing could have been farther from the truth. As I understand it, when Gotabhaya left Sri Lanka the Premadasa government was undergoing a “purge” of the military, and 600 Sri Lankan government policemen were killed when they were ordered to surrender to the LTTE and refused. It seems that if Gotabhaya hadn’t left when he did, his name might have been added to the list of names of slaughtered officers, many of whom he knew personally. Disillusioned as he undoubtedly was with the political climate at home, Gotabhaya never intended to stay away from Sri Lanka forever; he always knew that he would return to his birth country and serve the people when the time was right – way before his brother Mahinda was elected to the Executive Presidency.
When I met him he was working as a computer engineer in the IT department of Loyola Marymount University. He excelled in his work, and in the course of his tenure there he developed a broad and diversified cosmopolitan worldview. He had colleagues and friends that hailed from all backgrounds, races, and religions; Loyola University itself is a Jesuit and Marymount Roman Catholic institution that is named for Ignatius Loyola, a 17th Century Catholic saint. He became an unofficial ambassador for Sri Lanka, and his associates learned about his homeland from one who personified many of its best qualities.
When he lived in Southern California, Gotabhaya stayed in close contact with his Sri Lankan Buddhist roots, and he was a frequent visitor to Bhante Piyananda’s Dharma Vijaya temple on Crenshaw Boulevard. He was not only a visitor, he also served for a time on the temple’s Board of Directors. He actively participated in many of the temple’s activities: religious, community-based, cultural, and humanitarian.
In 1995 Gotabhaya gave Bhante Piyananda the idea to set up a scholarship program for medical students in Sri Lanka. He knew that there was a shortage of doctors back home, and that many of the medical students were in dire financial straits. Since its inception, over 100 medical students have benefited from this fund, and each one was and is given 5,000 rupees per month, which goes a long way even in these times to defray necessary expenses. I myself met a few of these students on a visit to Sri Lanka, and I am still close friends with one of them, Dr. Wikum Chathuranga, who is now married and practicing in his hometown of Ambalangoda. Wikum has told me many times how grateful he is to Bhante Piyananda and the scholarship fund for having helped him survive his impoverished years at Colombo University.
Gotabhaya also introduced the idea of providing academic scholarships to monks in Sri Lanka who sought to earn college degrees. Bhante Piyananda liked the idea and immediately went to the Southern California Vietnamese Buddhist community for help. This vibrant community’s generosity has funded 76 well-deserving monks so far – including my good friend Ven. Kalabululande Dhammajothi, an extremely hard-working monk at Dharma Vijaya who is currently working on his Master’s Degree at University of the West in East LA.
Recognizing the need for eye care in Sri Lanka – particularly for senior citizens – Bhante Piyananda established Vision Vijaya, a program that sends thousands of pairs of eye glasses to Sri Lanka every year. Bhante Piyananda enlisted the help of the local Lion’s Club chapter, and over time a great deal of money has been raised and free eyeglasses have been donated. I will never forget being at Sri Mahaviharaya in Pamankada one day when seniors were lined up in long queues throughout the temple to see the eye doctor and get free prescription glasses. Gotabhaya actively participated in this program while he was in Los Angeles – along with his wife Ayomi – and he was instrumental in raising a considerable amount of funds for the thrice-yearly drive that supported it.
Gotabhaya was also involved in the temple’s monthly “feed the homeless” project, and he personally went to skid row to offer food and interact with the homeless people in Downtown LA. It was there that he learned first-hand that many of the homeless were military veterans, and being a veteran himself, their plight touched his heart. This was where he came into contact with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, a psychological disorder that affects many returning war veterans in the US. He realized that PTSD was undoubtedly impacting the lives of many of the soldiers who were relentlessly fighting the merciless LTTE back home. He resolved that one day he would do something about Sri Lankan veterans with mental illness and PTSD – and he did.
When the tsunami struck Sri Lanka in 2004, Gotabhaya encouraged all of the monks in the US to collect funds to help the victims
. He personally collected US$25,000 from his colleagues at Loyola Marymount University, and he donated this money to Ven. Piyananda who was spearheading relief efforts. With the help of the money Gotabhaya raised, and funds our friends at the Hollywood Artists Alliance raised, Bhante Piyananda hauled in $250,000 and was able to build 37 new homes in the devastated Ambalangoda Galaboda Watta area. He took me to see these homes when they were completed, and I felt so proud of him, of Gotabhaya, and of all of those who supported the “Motherland” during its time of tragedy and great need.
In 2005 Gotabhaya returned to Sri Lanka to help with his brother’s presidential election campaign. When Mahinda won, he appointed Gotabhaya Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, and he tasked him with winning the war against the LTTE terrorists. Thanks to his “direct line” of communication with his brother the President, he was able to complete his task in only three years, something no one had been able to accomplish in nearly thirty years. His previous military and administrative experience had provided him with the discipline and organizational skills required to get the job done.
Because of my intense interest in Sri Lankan affairs, I kept up with the war and political news and started writing articles in support of the Government – and against the LTTE, which was well-funded by members of the Tamil Diaspora in Canada, the US, and other parts of the world. As an unpaid volunteer writer, at least 60 articles with my by-line were published in the Sri Lankan newspapers, in the Asian Tribune e-zine, and in other publications. My articles routinely attacked the well-connected lobbyist for the diaspora, Washington DC former Deputy Attorney General, Bruce Fein, and his group called “Tamils Against Genocide.” As a result, I was attacked back, and for a time it seemed that I was actually on the LTTE “hit list.” During this critical time, it seems that I was one of the only voices that championed the Rajapaksa Brothers and their war efforts in the international media.
When Ven. Piyananda and I visited Sri Lanka in 2006, not long after the presidential election, he and I both observed that the Government was getting massacred in the international press. Since “all wars are now fought in the media,” we saw the dangers facing Sri Lanka in the court of public opinion. We spent a few days writing a memo to President Rajapaksa about this subject, and we outlined various ways they could fight back in this critical aspect of warfare.
We went to see Gotabhaya and shared the memo with him; he completely agreed with our opinions, but was understandably too busy to get involved in this important task. He asked me to find someone who could effectively help tell the Government’s side of the story. I reached out to a friend in the media in New York City and asked for assistance, and within a few days I had three resumes’ from highly-qualified “spin doctors.” Since Gotabhaya was extremely busy running the war efforts, we presented the résumés to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We were told that, unfortunately, the money for an expense like that “wasn’t in the Government’s budget.”
This was the start of another great tragedy for Sri Lanka because the international media – with the help of Bruce Fein (reportedly paid $100,000 per month) and unlimited funds from the Tamil Diaspora – continued to viciously attack and ultimately defeat Sri Lanka on this important battlefront. The ripple effect in the West for this decision (e.g. the UNHRC in Geneva) continues to haunt the Sri Lankan Government to this day. After all, there was only so much I could do as the lone “journalist” who wrote and got his articles published on a very limited scale. I am quite sure that this situation will be addressed proactively in the next administration.
The reason I am mentioning this media aspect of the terrorist war is because I want the reader to understand the tremendous bias that was generated against Gotabhaya by the Tamil diaspora’s lobbying/disinformation campaign. It became a veritable “rumor mill,” with Bruce Fein and others spewing falsehoods about Gotabhaya and his execution of the war. Stories about atrocities committed by Government soldiers, Tamil genocide, racial revenge, and others were fabricated out of whole cloth by the terrorist campaign to discredit him and turn him into a monster. Not only do they not fit the profile of the man I know personally, none of these spurious allegations are true. Since I was in Sri Lanka at the very end of the war, I witnessed the compassion with which Gotabhaya and the armed forces conducted themselves during the final days. As always, please “consider the source” when evaluating the news that was reported in the international media about that first week of May, 2009.
When the war was almost over, in the fall of 2008, I wrote an article entitled, “Preparing for the Next Crisis: When the Troops Come Home.” In this article I warned of the dangers of winning the war and facing the prospect of thousands of soldiers trained in weaponry returning home with nothing to do and without any way to earn an income. Apparently this article got the attention of Gotabhaya because when the war ended in May of 2009 he created a program that kept the soldiers on the Government payroll. These soldiers became actively employed on various public works projects that included the rebuilding or restoration of approximately 1,000 places of worship on the island. He also made sure his soldiers received proper mental health care, and were properly treated for symptoms of PTSD.
Speaking of “public works projects,” Gotabhaya’s exposure to the beautiful communities of Southern California, such as Santa Monica, Pasadena, Pacific Palisades, Beverly Hills, and others, gave him many ideas for beautifying Colombo. When I visited the country after the war I couldn’t believe the difference in the city landscape. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was clean, orderly, presentable, and ready to take its place in the “new Asia” that had emerged while Sri Lanka was left behind fighting its bloody civil war for 30 years. I was impressed by what Gotabhaya had accomplished, and disappointed when I visited the next time, which was well into the new administration. Suddenly it was if the city had relapsed into some terminal illness with no doctors at hand. It was dirty, foul, and the improvements that Gotabhaya had made had fallen into complete disarray. I am sure that when Gotabhaya wins the upcoming election he will put the same emphasis on beautification and return the city – improve the city – to meet 21st Century urban world standards.
Speaking of the “upcoming election,” and as someone from the “outside” who has been paying close attention to Sri Lanka for more than two decades, I give my whole support to Gotabhaya winning it; I truly believe that he is the most qualified individual to become the next president of my “adopted country” home. I hope the country’s voters will remember his many accomplishments – not just ending the terrorist war – and trust their vote to him. I know that many in the country think he persecuted the Tamils, has racial bias, has too heavy a hand, and lacks the diplomatic skills to navigate the troubled international waters. I heartily disagree with all of these opinions, and can say, from first-hand knowledge, that Gotabhaya will rise to the occasion and be an excellent president – for all the people of the land. He has the discipline; he has the managerial experience; he has the compassion; he’s the only one who can bring the fragmented elements of the country together; and he has a very clear vision for the future. The next time I visit Sri Lanka I look forward to personally congratulating Gotabhaya on his victory.
Youth are being forced to go begging for jobs from this regime and then get tear-gassed in return. However, no one today questions this regime as to what has become of its major promise to create one million jobs for youth, Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa, addressing the SLPP Youth Convention on 24 August, at the Nelum Pokuna Theatre, said.
His full speech verbatim is as follows:
“This youth convention is an important one. First is that when I am in front of you all, I feel that I am standing before the future of this nation. Today, looking at the issues discussed here we can comprehend as to what sort of a future this country has. When I stand before this convention I also tend to recall what happened in the past. My mind goes back to 1970 when I was elected to parliament as the youngest ever MP. Within one year after I was elected to parliament, the youth insurrection occurred. The main operation centre for these rebels was Vidyodhaya where I was employed as well. During that insurgency, several youth whom I had known were nabbed by the Police and the Army. Among the arrestees was one of the young MPs of our Government, the youthful Vasu. When they were apprehended by the Mirihana Police, in order to save them I had to wait, being seated on the staircase of Temple Trees. After that, I can remember the incidents that took place in 1989. From Embilipitiya up to Batalanda, there were several torture chambers. They searched to kill youths who had received higher
education in 1989. I can remember we went on protest demonstrations carrying the corpses of Wasantha and Prasanna who were killed in Tangalle in 1989. For the first time in history, the words human rights were brought to the public domain through the HR Committees that we formed in Tangalle. That was on behalf of scores of youths who were murdered.
Pada Yathra
When a Pada Yathra was launched from Colombo to Kataragama in 1992, the roads were drenched by the tears of mothers. These youth must remember that if the law had been enacted against the then leaders of the Government not a single leader of the current regime would be able to run this Government. They maintained a torture chamber in the University of Colombo as well. Today most of the Ministers of the current UNP regime were forced to experience various forms of harassment in that torture chamber. In addition, those who went searching for youth to kill them in those days, continue to serve as Ministers in the current regime. We who saved youth from those torture chambers are being harassed by these rulers. That is the nature of the current politics practised here. There was a civil war here for 30 years. Every cent that should have been spent on the country’s future was forced to be incurred for that war. Hence, no Government was able to either create jobs or carry out any economic
development during that period. Hundreds and thousands of youth in the North and South were prevented from leading decent lives due to the ravages of the war. Hence, the biggest service rendered by us to the youth of this nation is the ending of the war within a span of four years. Several generations of youth were saved due to the effective completion of the war. In addition, scores of youth who were
engaged in terror acts were successfully rehabilitated and they were afterwards released to the society within months of the end of the war. We have handed them over to the society for them to become better citizens.
I can remember when I addressed the nation in 2005 that I stressed that I will not allow the problems faced by us to be encountered by the future generation. In those days, the graduates were jobless. We took the task of providing jobs to such persons as one of the priorities of our Government. From 1948 up to 2005, only 700,000 had been employed as State sector workers. By 2015 we had been able to increase that amount to 1.5 million before we handed over that Government and went home. However, now again the problem of unemployed graduates has come to the fore. Nowadays one can see on television, youth being forced to go begging for jobs from this regime and then get tear-gassed in return. However, no one today questions this regime as to what has become of its major promise to create one million jobs for the youth. We had answers to questions faced by the youth in those days. As soon as I got the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training I introduced the concept of a job to all who have the aptitude to the country. Providing only free education to youth is not sufficient. We were under the impression from those days that they should be given professional education. Their abilities have to be sharpened. We believed that a system of professional education has to be introduced to the country.
Ocean economy
We also thought about an ocean economy. Having formed a coastal preservation armed unit while protecting the shores we thought having unearthed the resources from the ocean to further improve the country’s economy. For the first time, an oceanic university was created. Just like the way one looks at the gem pits of Ratnapura, we have to look at the oceans as well. Having thought on those lines, we strived to provide a new life to the youth here. When we came to power in 2005, the country’s computer literacy stood at five per cent. We formed Nenasala centres everywhere. The country quickly moved to computer-related jobs. Today even applications are submitted for university entrances through the computer or online. Even youth in villages today are registered for campuses, thanks to the computer education that we introduced. At the time when we left home, we had managed to increase the computer literacy to 50 per cent from five per cent. However, show me at least one instance that this regime had improved a lot of the country’s youth during the past four years.
The computer literacy which we had improved since 2005 was used to send us home by this regime in 2015. The youth of today must, therefore, understand the current imbalance in the politics of this country. I must recall the late Anagarika Dharmapala. He had thought of the 21st century even during the 19th century when he lived. He not only saved Buddhagaya for the Buddhists of the world but rendered several noble services to this country as well. He was instrumental in the creation of Buddhist schools. Not only that, he also established 52 schools geared towards providing professional training for our students. He thought of providing professional training to children from the school age. To such an eminent person, certain people of this country disparaged him and forced him to leave this country for good.
He, in the end, passed away in India. After that, it was A. E. Gunasingha. It was Gunasingha who had fought tooth and nail to grant suffrage to Sri Lankans back in 1931. Before 1931 those who had suffrage were wealthy, affluent, and educated. However, he fought for the rights of all citizens here and demanded that suffrage should be granted for all and sundry sans any discrimination. Nevertheless, several leaders at the time were opposed to Gunasingha’s demand. However, Ceylon received the right to vote in 1931. What happened afterwards?
Gunasingha who fought valiantly to grant this right was sent home through the people’s franchise. After that, I recall CWW Kannangara. He tabled the Free Education Act in parliament aimed at granting the free education right to all citizens here. However, those who had stood against Dharmapala also rose up against Kannangara as well. They voted against the Act. However, the Act was passed due to the presence of progressive MPs both in the North and South. That was a historic triumph of this country. Nevertheless, at the next election, even Kannangara was defeated and he was sent home. The youth of today must learn these lessons from history. We waged the war and granted freedom for the people and those very people were utilised to send us home.
The voting rights that were given by us to the North-East after decades were utilised against us. The computer literacy and cell phone facilities that were improved by us were utilised against us. Not only that, the ports, airports and highways that were built by us were utilised against us. They say that the 8 January conspiracy was hatched while travelling on the highway. After that, they showed the highway and uttered lies against the Government. Due to the port that was built by us, this country will become a naval hub in Asia. Then whom will it affect? They did this to all who strived to develop this nation through domestic resources. The youth who are here preparing to take the helm of this country in the future must understand the deep reality of this political game. If we lose heart, not only us but even the country will be defeated.
You must remember that those who forced Dharmapala to leave this country having flung mud at him are still present in this society. Those who sent A E Gunasingha home who strove to introduce suffrage to this land are still present in this country. Now those who sent those people home are saying that youth must forgo politics. They have uttered that youth should not cast their votes. These people are determined to take away your right to vote. The behaviour of these forces must be understood through history.
These forces always misled the country’s youth. Hence, you must not look near but look far. You have to be farsighted if you intend to take the helm of this country. Hence, I would like to emphasise to the youth of this nation, always think twice about what you hear and what you see. Always learn from past history.”
SLPP’s Presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa, during the SLPP Youth Convention, held at Nelum Pokuna on 24 August, answered questions of youth who participated in the convention.
Excerpts:
There have been several issues that have emerged within the education sphere of Sri Lanka for youth. After the GCE O/L and GCE Advanced Level exams, scores of youths tend to face the issue of unemployment. Only 18 per cent tend to get qualified for University education. Even on that front though there are jobs in the sphere of science and technology jobs for others are limited.
What is the solution that you intend to give on this topic?
A: First of all, I convey my wishes to the SLPP Youth Convention. The 21st century has been described as a century geared towards knowledge. In the Asian economy, to such spheres as agriculture and fisheries, what is important is knowledge. If our youths are to march forward then they have to be armed with aspects such as knowledge, technology, talent, and aptitude, etc. We have to create youths who are capable of doing jobs in these fields. In the first two years, the facilities at universities, technology facilities have to be improved.
Our universities have to be brought in line with those in Asia. You need to formulate long-term national policies for this task. The youths who are capable of doing jobs that are created through the economy must be discovered through the education system. Also, as a short-term measure, the issues that are existent must be addressed as well. If the intake of students to campuses are to be increased, the infrastructure facilities at those institutions have to be improved. In addition, technical schools and industrial schools have also to be further developed. Towards that end, having roped in the private sector, an economy geared towards technology has to be introduced. Even for those who received education in the arts field, several jobs can be created in the management service sector through this. The best solution will be to give prominence to the field of education.
Though some may not be able to go to campuses even after passing Advanced Level, they will be able to go forward through technology rather than being left in the lurch. Recently I met a youth who was educated at my alma-mater, Ananda College, Colombo. He gave me valuable advice regarding social media here. I then inquired from him from which university he had learnt so much about this subject. He told me that he had failed his Advanced Level exam.
However, this young man happens to be the owner of a firm that pumps millions of dollars into this country. He is the owner of a firm that produces video games, releases it to the internet and earns revenue through it. This particular company is being run by him and one of his friends. They have gone very far on this front and now they even offer pieces of advice and instructions to other firms as well. They have learnt all this through the internet. I asked him what has to be done by our youths in villages if they were to be followed. He told me the Government should provide high-speed access.
He also told me to equip the young generation with knowledge of the English language. He informed me that if these two things are done, the sky will be the limit for the youth here. Do not be downcast or do not take a backward step. There are many opportunities for you out there. There is no limit for the distance that could be covered through technology. What is needed is for you to strive for it. Make an effort to fulfil your dreams. They must be provided with professional training and they should be allowed to go even higher in their chosen profession.
What are the solutions you envisage to give to the issue of the cost of living and education of estate sector people?
A: The tea industry is a valuable component of our economy. However, the future of the estate sector youth has to be borne in mind. The environment has to be created for them to lead decent lives in that sector. In order to further improve the quality of education, the infrastructure facilities have to be further developed. The youth of the estate sector has shown a tendency to move to the cities lately.
Instead of that, a system where they could earn an income in their sector has to be formed. Just like providing higher education, their income has to be improved through several measures. Through the limited land space, they have through technology and from agriculture, other income spheres could be unearthed. When we head towards Nuwara Eliya, we pass through several major towns. However, on a trip there, there is no development that could provide an income for those towns. Hence, we intend to focus on city or town development. Also, at the same time, there are several such towns that have to be developed. Afterwards, having introduced machine technology to the tea industry that field has to be made more beneficial to the country. In the tea industry more than the quantity the quality has to be improved. After having spoken to trade unionists, through a revenue-sharing system the income of youth engaged in the tea industry could be improved. Especially through education opportunities, these youth could be provided with the scope to obtain top employment opportunities.
You had rendered a sterling duty towards the ending of the war. After a decade, the bombs have again begun to explode. What are the measures you intend to take to rid the country from this extremist terrorism? In addition, this regime which came to power having promised to usher in good Governance failed miserably on that front. What are the measures you intend to take to usher in genuine good Governance?
A: This regime never gave a care about national security when in power. The intelligence units were crippled. If the intelligence reports are not received by the relevant bodies, it is impossible to face up to any impending calamity. The rulers of a country, have to always bear in mind the importance of national security. If a regime fails to give pride of place to this aspect the consequences of it will be terrible, to say the least. Every nation in this world gives pride of place to national security. If there is no security, the economy of that country, cannot be revived no matter how hard you strive for it.
The country will also be unstable. Hence the intelligence reports are extremely important. In this country, the units such as the SIS, Police and the TID and intelligence units of the armed forces were active. Back in 2005 each of these units which operated separately was merged by us and it paved the way for the successful completion of the war a few years later.
Even to maintain the current situation, the intelligence units have to be developed. Due to the collapse of the intelligence units, the receiving of information is lethargic. It is due to this reason that the 21 April Easter Sunday terror attacks took place. The intelligence units have to be revived and there are no two words to it. In addition, this regime tainted the concept of good Governance. Due to this reason, even the meanings of those words have now been twisted. The people gauge good Governance through the aspects such as whether there is national security, whether they could seek a decent job to sustain themselves amidst the steeply rising cost of living, whether a suitable school could be sought for their children, whether they could build a house commensurate with the income that they draw, etc. If these areas are not effectively covered the people will consider such a Government as a failed regime.
In addition, if the people have no opportunity to air their views to the Government of the day, then they should have the chance to elect a regime that could give air to their grievances. That is the democratic right of the people. If that right is violated then the concept of good Governance will never see the light of day.
There is a suggestion being spread around the country, that in the event of you being elected President, it will signal the death knell for democracy here?
A: That freedom was never taken away from the masses, during the time that I served as the Defence Secretary. If you take a look at the newspapers that were printed during the waning days of the war, you will realize the amount of flak that had been directed at the security forces. The franchise of the people is the most valuable component of democracy. During the Mahinda Rajapaksa era, the NPC was formed. As the Defence Secretary at the time, I worked a lot in the Northern Province.
We took measures to stage free and independent elections. As a result of those measures, the TNA won the election. One of the salient points of democracy is for polls to be staged on time. A Government under my watch will respect these basic values of democracy. Polls will never be postponed for any reason. The right to practice whatever faith of your choice, the freedom of media and the right to air views will be ensured. Mahinda Rajapaksa had always stood for media freedom here.
Hence, in a regime head by him, there will be no danger to the freedom of the media.
Ten years had elapsed since the end of the hostilities. The then Rajapaksa regime did a lot of work towards the development of the North-East. Nevertheless, he failed to win their votes at the last poll. Though the current regime has not done any work to those areas, they invariably tend to receive the votes from those people. How do you plan to tackle this issue?
A: The infrastructure facilities for the youth of these Provinces to lead decent lives were developed by the Rajapaksa regime. The train services were developed, Rail tracks were laid. Drinking water and electricity were provided. In addition, when we were planning to create jobs there we did not have sufficient time to implement those programmes.
The lives of these people have to be resuscitated akin to other provinces of this country. Hence I urge the youth to join hands with us instead of being tied to politicians who are not willing to shed traditions and customs and practice archaic systems.
You were instrumental in ushering a lot of improvement to Colombo. Instead of shanties, new houses were built. What plans do you have up your sleeve concerning the poor people here?
A: During my stint as the Secretary of the Urban Development Secretary the policy of the President was the creation of a suitable environment for the low-income families to lead decent lives in the metropolis.
Towards that end, we created an effective programme. Towards this programme, we not only incurred Government money but other measures as well. When building houses we paid attention to the roads, the areas where sports activities are held, pavements etc. We never evicted people forcibly.
However, the falsehoods that were created by our political rivals were taken to the people. They attempted to portray that we were striving to give prominence to our supporters. However, today people know the truth. We had planned to build 50,000 houses. Out of that number we had been able to construct 20,000. After this Government came to power, those houses were distributed. The private sector of Slave Island, the shanty dwellers and the UDA having joined forces we formulated a system to construct houses without any State expense.
Today, those houses are being distributed by this regime. Our intention is to further take this programme forward and to grant houses to those living in shanties and improve their livelihood. Also having received the support from the private sector to those in the middle-income group, to those beginning new lives and at a price that they could pay we intend to provide houses to them.
Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) members who attended the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) national conventions have not been invited to the SLFP Central Committee meeting, said SLFP General Secretary MP Dayasiri Jayasekara.
SLFP members including MPs Dilan Perera, Chandima Weerakkody and S. B. Dissanayake attended the first-ever national convention of the SLPP held on the 11th August at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium.
When Ada Derana inquired, MP Jayasekara stated that the relevant members have not been invited to the Central Committee which will be held today (26).
The SLFP Central Committee will commence under the patronage of Party Leader President Maithripala Sirisena at 07 pm tonight.
Meanwhile, the SLFP and SLPP are due to hold a meeting tomorrow (27).
If the Rubber-Rice Pact of 1952 sowed the seeds of good and enduring relations between China and Sri Lanka, the decision to build the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) with Chinese technical and financial help in 1964, cemented ties between the two countries.
The importance of these events lies in their historical context. The Rubfber-Rice pact was the result of a dire economic need in both countries. Lanka desperately needed rice to feed its population. The US was not willing to give Lanka a US$ 50 million loan to buy rice. The US was also not offering a fair price for Lankan rubber. Communist China badly needed rubber because the US had banned the sale of rubber, a strategic material, to Communist China.
The situation called for out of the box” thinking. Barter of Chinese rice for Sri Lankan rubber was suggested and accepted because it suited both countries. Lanka got rice at a cheaper price and got a higher price for its rubber. The deal lasted till 1982.
In 1964, both Lanka and China needed international linkages to assert their independence from the Western powers led by the US. During the Premiership of Mrs.Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Lanka had set itself free from the apron strings which had traditionally tied it to the West. Lanka was part of the anti-imperialist Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). Mrs. Bandaranaike wanted to be a pillar of NAM along with India, Indonesia, Egypt, Yugoslavia and Ghana. China needed to assert its independence and pursue its One China” policy against a hostile United States and get its due status in the UN.
To enable it to play its new-found international role, Lanka needed a large and modern international conference hall. China’s help was sought, and it was given free of charge. The result was the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) named after Mrs. Bandaranaike’s husband and former Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike, who had initiated the post-independence movement against domination by the West.
SWRD Bandaranaike, better known as Banda”, had become Prime Minister in 1956. In 1957, Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai and Vice Premier He Long, visited Lanka. During the visit, Banda and Zhou Enlai jointly adopted the Five Principles of Co-existence and the Bandung Principles for the achievement of world peace and cooperation.
On February 4, 1957, Banda invited Zhou Enlai to be chief guest at the ninth Lankan Independence Day celebrations. According to a bilingual book on the BMICH entitled A Symbol of China-Sri Lankan Friendship” Zhou Enlai spoke in pouring rain which moved the audience”.
In February 1964, when Banda’s widow, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was Prime Minister, China’s Vice Chairman, Song Qingling and Premier Zhou Enlai visited Lanka. It was during this visit that Mrs. Bandaranaike requested China to help build the BMICH. The request was granted, and China decided to gift the building citing Mrs. Bandaranaike’s steadfast fight against imperialism and colonialism.”
Mrs. Bandaranaike breaks the ground in a traditional way
Zhou’s Principles
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation assigned the work on BMICH to the Beijing Industrial Building Design Institute of the Ministry of Works. The design’s principles were enunciated by Premier Zhou Enlai himself.
His principles were: The building scale shall be appropriate for Sri Lanka’s conditions and requirements. It shall adapt to the tropical climate and reflect the local style. The internal facilities and equipment shall adopt modern technology.
The Building Design Institute sent a delegation to Lanka headed by its Vice President Yuan Jingshe and included Chief Architect Dai Nianci. The delegation was in Sri Lanka for four months, touring the entire country to see for itself local building styles, culture, customs and beliefs so that the BMICH accords with the culture, beliefs and styles of Lankans.
The delegation collected a large amount of basic data on the materials available, physical conditions and climate changes and finally produced a model to show. After inspecting the model carefully, Prime Minister Mrs. Bandaranaike said excitedly: I thank Prime Minister Zhou Enlai for sending us the highest gift. I thank the outstanding contributions the Chinese experts have made for the project. BMICH is a symbol of China-Sri Lanka friendship”.
Architect Dai Nianci, who had a deep understanding of Sri Lanka’s natural and human environment, proposed the classical practice of having a symmetrical, octagonal layout with a colonnade because this was not only elegant but stable. He suggested that the building be painted white which is favored in tropical architecture and is also favored by traditional Lankans. Due to the tropical climate, ventilation was every important and that was achieved by maximizing the use of natural ventilation.
Mrs.Bandaranaike inspecting work on the site
But notwithstanding intense preparations by the Chinese, it was only on November 24, 1970, that the Lankan government commenced work on the BMICH. Mrs.Bandaranaike broke the ground in the traditional way with a mammoty” to signify the start of construction. China had sent 400 technicians, 40 engineers and managers and 60 carpenters to do the work.
Both Zhou Enlai and Mrs. Bandaranaike were constantly monitoring the project with the latter visiting the site often. The Sri Lankan Chief Engineer of the project, Damodalingam, got along well with his Chinese counterparts and ensured perfect coordination between the Chinese and Sri Lankan personnel. This ensured that there were no serious accidents during the construction period of two years and five months.
Initially, language was a barrier and communication was through sign language. But before long, locals picked up some Chinese and the Chinese picked up some Sinhala.
On one occasion, a number of Chinese workers suffered from food poisoning. But as a measure of abundant precaution, government hospitalized all 200 workers. Given the shortage of hospital beds, local patients gave up their beds for the sake of the suffering Chinese.
It was not easy for workers from cold China to put up with the intense heat of Colombo. The BMICH construction site also had monkeys, snakes and mosquitoes. Once a monkey jumped on to the middle of the roof truss and lingered there for three days. Though no one was bitten by a snake, the Chinese embassy had on stand by a doctor with knowledge of local anti-snake drugs. But still snakes would interfere with the work or choose to visit workers while they were at lunch.
Workers would be woken up by ant bites, as ants were aplenty on the site. When local workers told the Chinese that ants are averse to the smell of ink (even from newspapers), the Chinese embassy started sending newspapers to the workers.
Since ceramic tile technology was not developed in the 1970s, each tile was chosen carefully to make the flooring smooth. Steps were taken to keep termites away.
On completion of the work, there was a fitting ceremony in which a stage play called Path to Brightness” written and directed by Chandrika Bandaranaike, daughter of Mrs.Bandaranaike and future Lankan President. The play was made into a film and was sent to Premier Zhou Enlai along with a model of the BMCH set with rubies. The model is now in the Asia Gift Pavilion at the National Museum in China.
Set in a land area of 13 hectares and with a floor of area of 32, 540 sq meters (in 2013), the BMICH is a grand, spacious and airy structure. Its vast open and verdant space makes it an ideal place for large and small conferences, public gatherings, shows and exhibitions.
The hall came in handy in 1976, when the fifth Non-Aligned Nations’ Summit was held in Colombo with 120 heads of government attending. The delegates told Mrs.Bandaranaike that the assembly hall was better than the halls in which previous summits were held. Mrs.Bandaranaike told the Chinese envoy that the summit would not have been such a huge success if it was not for the magnificent BMICH.
The Maha Sangha continued to show opposition
to Yahapalana in 2019. The result was a ding- dong battle between the Sangha
and Yahapalana. The Maha Sangha have
opposed Yahapalana on a range of issues.
The Sangha have spoken out against the new constitution that Yahapalana was planning to foist on the
country. Ven. Bellanwila Wimalaratana said that Kotte Sangha Sabha had met and
decided unanimously that ‘this constitution making process was not timely’. Problems
of the people in the North and the East could not be solved with a couple of
sentences in a Constitution, he said. Ven. Keppetiyagoda Sirinimala of Getambe
temple also spoke against the new constitution. Yahapalana is ‘playing around
with the country’ ,he said. ‘Now all of us and the country are going to be
destroyed.’
The Sangha
opposed other activities too. The Sangha opposed the decision to display
photographs of intelligence operatives
before the public. They compared it to the Millenium City attack. Ella
Gunawansa, Medagoda Abhayatissa,
Ittakande Saddhatissa and
Pahiyangala Ananda all protested about
this before the media.
The Sangha also pounced on industrial
ventures. Magalkande Sudatta and Pahiyangala Anandasara spoke very vehemently
on the subject of the hospital waste brought from UK. ‘There are 103 containers. They have been getting
these down in 2016 and 2017 too’, said the well informed bhikkus. Thinniyawela
Anandasagara showed the camera the
customs details of the consignment where it came from and who had got it down.. Jathika Bhikshu Peramuna
representative Vatinapana Somananda also
commented on the subject.
A delegation of the Maha Sangha undertook an inspection tour of
the construction work on the second stage of the Central expressway. The tour
started from Gettuwana junction in Kurunegala. Lakshman Kiriella and other
Members of Parliament were present.
The Sangha took a
firm stand on Muslim separatism. From
their comments made to the media, it was clear that the Maha Sangha had known about Muslim extremism and have been watching Muslim separatism for a
long time. They were well informed about Muslim activities. They spoke of
madrasas, Sharia University, date palms
and the use of Arabic.
At the National
Conference on Peace Harmony and Coexistence, July 2019, Omalpe Sobitha commented openly on the
Muslim separatism, ‘ why do they wish to have separate law, dress, schools,
universities’, he asked. At an Anti
Wahabi meeting at Kurunegala in July 2019
there were three monks on the
stage. There were also four rows of bhikkus in the audience.
Individual bhikkus were active on this subject. Pahiyangala Anandasara
has pursued the matter of the illegal Muslim settlements at Wilpattu.
Medagoda Abhayatissa said on television news that he has evidence that at
Kattankudy 20 persons were killed according to Sharia law. Nithyawela Palitha
said it was charged that the police had accepted money from Muslims and were
refusing to record complaints against Muslim extremism.
Jamburewela Chandraratana said that Yahapalana was preparing a Bill make the Batticaloa
University” (Hisbullah’s institute) and other such bodies legal. Once the Bill
is passed it will not be possible to go to courts on the matter. Atureliya Ratana led a large procession in
Batticaloa against the Batticaloa University” In August 2019. Many bhikkhus participated and television
news showed them shouting slogans. There was also a satyakriya of about 30
monks with two Catholic priests and one Hindu priest.
The Sangha also
decided to try their hand at national policy. A
Samagi maha sangha samuluwa”
was organized by all Ceylon
Buddhist Association in March 2019, to
formulate a framework of national policies to protect peoples’ rights”. Nothing
was heard of this thereafter.
But in August 2019 The Buddha Sasana
Karyasadhaka Mandalaya, composed of 12 very senior, erudite monks and 14
Presidents of Buddhist organizations, with Diviyagahe Yasassi Nayaka Maha thera
as President came up with a set of recommendations for candidates standing for Elections
. A sub-committee of monks prepared the initial draft, presided over by
Vajiraramaye Nanaseeha (formerly Olcott Gunasekera) together with lay persons. Diviyagahe Yassasi and Thirukanamale Ananda presided over the final
draft .
This document was submitted to the
Mahanayakas of the three Nikayas, the Archbishop of Colombo, the Bishop of the
Colombo Diocese, the Kurrukal of the All Ceylon Hindu Congress and the
President of the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama. These persons also
placed their signatures to the recommendations indicating their approval and
endorsement.
The document was titled “Towards the dawn
of a new political culture of integrity in Sri Lanka” and subtitled
“Recommendations that are proposed by Heads of all Religions on the
initiative of the Buddhasasana Karyasadhaka Mandalaya in respect of candidates
standing for Elections”. It was published in the three languages.
The document was officially handed over at the
ceremony at BMICH to the President,
Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and all leaders of political parties
or their representatives; also to the Secretary-General to Parliament, the
Elections and Bribery Commissioners and to Ministers and MP and members of the
public. I
have included this here as an
example of the Sangha ‘s new activism.
It is unlikely that anyone would to take action on these recommendations.
Mangala Samaraweera said publicly that Sri
Lanka was not a purely Buddhist country. In retaliation, Nithyawela Palitha openly
accused Mangala Samaraweera of vancha and dusahana.’There are 47 files against
him’, he said. ‘I have them with me’. He said Mangala had sold some Benz and
BMW cars got in 2014 for CHOGM at less than their real value. 55 Benz, 55 Nissan Tirana
60 Nissan Silfie were sold by Mangala’s ministry. Mangala was also
involved in the SAGT commission. Mangala had brought down
containers of karunka, pepper, ethanol. He is the one person who had most abused state property , he is a darunuma thakkadiya, and hora, he owns 6
houses in London , said the monk. He is
a fashion designer, he added.
Finance
Minister Mangala Samaraweera promptly
replied. He said that he would sue
the two private television channels for
Rs.1000 million each for giving wide coverage to the recent unsubstantiated
allegations against him made by Thiniyawala Palitha. Anybody can make this
type of wild allegations, but any responsible media organization should be
careful before giving publicity to them. I was not even the subject minister
when some of those alleged incidents happened,” he said.
Yahapalana government
was deeply antagonistic towards the Maha
Sangha and was determined to hit hard. Shakthika
Sathkumara, wrote a story on a gay monk.
He was promptly locked up.
But that was only the preliminary. Yahapalana
then charged that there had been considerable sexual abuse of samanera in the Buddhist temples. This
is the first time that this charge has been made so openly. Therefore it is significant.
Ranjan Ramanayake announced publicly that there was sexual abuse of samaneras in the
Buddhist temples. He said this was an open secret. He
told the television media that he has a folder of appeals from samanera
and showed the file. He said that had shown it to the Prime Minister too. Then he added that the bhikkus who are
politically active today are doing so
because they have all been sexually abused.
This absurd statement is good for a laugh, but the Sangha
did not think it funny.
The Sangha responded instantly. From Uva, High
priest at Ella, Kithalelle Shanthasiri, flanked by about nine monks protested
publicly about the remark. Pahamune Sri Sumangala, and Amburevela Chandraratne scolded
Ramanayake at a media conference and
said ‘this is a crime and Ramanayake should
be arrested.’
Muruddeniya Dhammaratana, said that there are others behind what Ramanayake said.
He is only a tool. Jamburevela Sangharatana said that Ramanayake has got together with an American
NGO and is saying things which could create in the public a sense of anger and
repulsion (kalakereemak) towards the Sangha. There is the danger that others
may use this accusation. Then we monks
will have to stop the work we are doing against this government . Television
news showed about ten monks going to the police division to inquire about the
many complaints made on this matter. Police said they have received 6 complaints
and they will look into it.
Ramanayake
was Catholic and the Catholic Church quickly distanced itself
from the remark. Catholic bishop P.S.K. Francis
said he was concerned about the remark. ‘It is now time for the
Catholic clergy and the Sangha to join
hands to ensure independence in this country. I apologize if the Sangha have
been insulted.’ Ranjan Ramanayake then
went to Malwatte and Asgiri, worshipped
and apologized if he had hurt the feeling of silvat bhikkus.
By his
conduct, Ramanayake, who is a Christian, broke one of the golden rules which
need to be observed, particularly, among multi religious and multi cultural
societies, observed an analyst. One of the guidelines to be followed is, that,
a follower of one religion should refrain from making disparaging remarks about
the teachings of other religions, or of institutions belonging to other
religions. Even if the Minister’s remarks only related to a few monks, as
claimed by him, it would invariably, reflect on the institution of the Maha
Sangha and therefore, should be a ‘No go’ area, as far as any person who is not
a Buddhist is concerned, concluded the analyst.
During
British rule, in the 19th and 20th century, the
Protestant church (which permits
its priests to marry), would have watched the Buddhist temples very closely and if there was regular
sexual abuse, of samaneras and older bhikkhus, it would have been immediately exposed. I specifically looked for such observations in the research literature ,but
could not find any. This can be taken as confirmation that there was no broad
based sexual abuse going on, at the
time, because if there was, then the
Protestant church would jolly
well have pounced on it and publicized
it. That would have been the best way to
discredit the Maha Sangha. NOTE: I have used the term ‘Ven’ in the first
paragraph and discontinued it thereafter.(Continued.)
Yahapalana’s attacks on the Maha Sangha are
part of its attack on Buddhism, Buddhists and Buddhist worship. This anti-Buddhist
strategy has clearly been planned well ahead and given to Yahapalana to
implement.
Yahapalana decided to avoid a frontal attack
on Buddhist philosophy. They know what
happened at the Panadura Vadaya. Yahapalana has preferred to hit below the
belt. Yahapalana accordingly tried to silence the Maha Sangha, by putting them
in remand prison and to sabotage the peraheras by removing the elephants that
go in it. Peraheras have always been an irritant to the non-Buddhists in Sri
Lanka.
Uduwe Dhammaloka observed in 2016 we can see that
strategies are being discussed among various NGOs and the present rulers seem
to be going along with them, one
instance is the Katikawata Bill, the intention was to suppression of the
sangha. There is no need for a
Katikawata bill, the Vinaya rules are sufficient. Kiribathgoda Ananda has over a 1000 monks
under him. They conduct themselves well.”
Uduwe Dhammaloka continued, there is now a
move by NGOs to say that ordaining young boys as monks is child abuse. We know that as far as Buddhism is concerned
adult ordination will never work. Monks have to be ordained when they are young
otherwise they will never be able to conduct themselves in a manner required of
monks. We now see subtle attempt to portray the ordination of children as child
abuse. There was a video clip of a young samanera crying for his mother that
was shared on social media networks some time ago. These subtle campaigns which
strike at the very root of Sinhala Buddhist culture. If child ordination is
eliminated the sangha will be gone in one generation.
Derana news on 10.9.19 showed a young man repeatedly
slapping two samanera bhikkhus for
allegedly taking an item from a shop. An onlooker came forward and stopped him
but only after about half a dozen slaps had been given. The next day Derana
news showed the two samanera in hospital. The man was arrested and the camera
showed him apologizing for his action.
Samanera bhikkhus are also featured elsewhere.
The popular teledrama ‘Sidu’ features a village temple, its chief priest, his
assistant Ven. Rahula and two little
samaneras, Soratha and Subhoda. ‘Sidu’ thus shows the three levels of bhikkhus
in the Sangha community, senior, middle and junior, their role and the
difference in attitude among them. The
samanera are shown to be normal, mischievous little boys, training to be
priests. Before it became a soap opera, Sidu” was a lovely film. Buddhist
philosophy was woven beautifully into a relaxing film which offered, suspense, melodrama, excitement, ‘pight’,
‘comit’ and ‘luv’.
The international conspiracy leaders have
studied the Sangha as individuals and selected the most suitable bhikkus for
what they had in mind. These handpicked monks talk and behave in a manner
designed to turn Buddhists against Buddhism. That is the nature of the
conspiracy. Getting the monks involved
is part of the conspiracy. This has also happened in Burma where monks were
brought into disrepute., said Uduwe Dhammaloka.
There is a small group of monks playing a
major role in creating disturbances in the country. They paved the way for the present government
to come to power. These monks were completely unheard of until they started
creating disturbances on the streets. This is a small minority of monks with
suspicious linkages to the west.
It is these monks who were arrested at
Homagama. They were brought to court
like criminals with their heads covered, Things that were not done even in
colonial times are being done now. Our
monks are now aware of what is going on, we discuss these matters, concluded
Uduwe Dhammaloka.
The pin
pettiya in temples is also targeted. Some time ago, the pin petti of Alutgama and
Dambulla viharas were sealed by the Department of Buddhist Affairs. The public
protested and the Department gave in. In
September 2019 another round of pin petti sealing started. The pin petti at Badulla raja Maha
vihara were sealed.
In September
2019, the audit Division of the Department of Buddhist affairs had come
Tissamaharama Raja Maha vihara to do a surprise check of its pin petti. The
petti were sealed to be taken for examination to the Department of Buddhsit
Affairs. The auditors has said that the temple had not maintained proper
records of the pin petti money.
The chief priests at Tissamaharama told Derana
that they were unable to get the money they needed for the next perahera due to
the bomb blast. They needed about 1.3
million .They needed antoher 50
lakhs or so, to keep the chaitya whitewashed and pay the workers and feed them for bout two ro
three months. The Chief priest also observed that there was a Christian Church
in Tissamaharama which had about three hundred acres of land. Are they checking
there as well, he asked.
However,
since it was best to keep on the good side of the Maha Sangha. Yahapalana made it a point to go to Malwatu
and Asgiri Mahanayakas, kneel down,
hand over baskets of fruit and say what they
were going to do next. Maha Sangha was not fooled. Some Yahapalana MPs went beyond
that. Derana news 8.9.17 showed Ravi Karunanayake visiting Elle Gunawansa and worshipping
before a Buddha statue. Then in August
2019, there was a photograph of Ravi kneeling before a bhikkhu at a function at
the BMICH.
Unfortunately for Yahapalana, things did not go as planned.
Instead of getting frightened, shutting up
and staying inside their temples, the Sangha did the opposite. They
marched out en masse from their temples and confronted Yahapalana directly. We
now see a re-emergence of the Maha Sangha as a
strong, formidable political force.
The Buddhist monk
is fundamentally a teacher, and a counsellor to lay people, observed Raj Gonsalkorale. They are part of a community, and their role is defined by the environment
they live in. I would add to this that
the Sangha are citizens of Sri Lanka, and are entitled to all the rights and privileges
of a citizen of Sri Lanka. That is an inalienable right.
If the Sangha can vote at an election,
they can be politically active as well. Buddhism is not a philosophy that shuns politics. Buddha preached to King Bimbisara, King Pasenadi and Anathapindika, a rich
merchant and banker. In doing so, he was recognizing the importance of political and economic power
in a society.
The first concern of the Maha Sangha was of
course, Buddhism .in June 2017 after a meeting of the Karaka Sangha Sabha,
Warakagoda Gnanaratana in a strongly worded statement spoke of internal and external conspiracies
against Buddhists and emphasized the need for the Mahanayake Theras of the
Three Nikayas and the patriotic people of the country ‘to act in unison to face
such injustices.
The Sangha made sure that the traditional Buddhist
activities continued. A pirit chanting was organized at 600 temples in June 2019 to invoke blessings to the
country, tri-force personnel, Police, Government and the people. The chanting
was to start at Anuradhapura,
with 500 bhikkhus chanting pirit at
Ruwanvelisaya. The annual peraheras would also
continue. In June 2019, chief
prelates met the Secretary of Defence to
discuss security arrangements to the
annual peraheras conducted at Kelaniya, Mahiyangana, Bellanvila and Navagamuwa.
The Maha
Sangha have taken a fearless stand against Yahapalana government. Ven.Elle Gunananda said the Yahapalana ‘lied
and lied to us’ (boru kivuva).
Ven.Omalpe Sobitha said there must be a firm Sinhala leadership in
Parliament. The tail cannot be allowed to wag the dog. Ven.Wattegama PItiyegedera observed that we
do not have a national policy that can survive changes of government.
The Maha
Sangha have made their political position clear .Wattegama PItiyegedera said
that Vigneswaran had met the Malwatte and Asgiriya sangha and said they want
federalism. Wattegama Pitiyegedera reported that the Sangha straightaway said
they cannot agree this.
The Maha
Sangha have also made it clear that they
support Gotabhaya Rajapaksa as the next President of Sri Lanka. Gotabhaya did a well planned tour of the major temples
of the country. The chief priest of each temple spoke and the speeches were
shown on television news. They had clearly planned their speeches beforehand and chose their words carefully.
The speeches were political statements intended for the public and Yahapalana.
At Kiri vehera, the camera showed a bikkhu recording the proceedings with a
smart phone.
The itinerary
went as follows. Gotabhaya first went, with his retinue to Anuradhapura where
he worshipped at Sri Maha Bodhi, Ruvanveli seya, Mirisavati, Lankarama and
Jayanthi vihara. At Ruvanvali seya
1500 monks conducted an adistana
puja. The heads of these temples greeted him as a promising future leader.
After
visiting the Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, and receiving the blessing of the Sangha
at Malwatte and Asgiriya temples as well as pirit nool. Gota travelled south,
to Kiri vehera at Kataragama, where there was an ashirvada puja and 500 monks
chanted Jaya pirit.
The chief
priest of Kiri vehera, Kobawaka Dhamminna said we will support anybody who is
prepared to protect Buddhism and our land .We hope that Gotabhaya will take up
that responsibility. Bellanwila Dhammaratna said the country had fallen to
nought today in terms of security and economy. Mahinda Rajapaksa made [an
impact]. ‘You are his brother. You have the ability to take this country out of
this mess. You have experience. Do the
right thing. We will support you.’
Uva Wellassa Sanghanayake Kandaudapanguwe Sudamma
said ‘look into security, foreigners
cannot poke their noses [into our affairs]. Create a good country, a strong,
courageous one where Sinhalese can live with pride. You have the strength to do
this. Today Sangha lack respect. They are insulted. We cannot be expected to
tolerate this. The Maha Sangha is for
the country, its Sasana, and its
culture.’
Gotabhaya
then went to Tissamaharama Raja Maha Vihara where Develegama Dhammasena spoke. At Matara
Paraduwa Jinaratna, head of a Sangha organization, wished Gota success at the elections, the solidarity of the Rajapaksa brothers is an
example to the nation, he said. People
are on fire, he continued, they are
scared the country will be handed over to a foreign power. Stop those who are robbing the state, selling the state, save it from foreigners, protect
Buddhism, get rid of this irreligious government, which has encouraged Sangha bedhaya .There must be a love for the country, he concluded.
At Alutgama
Kande viharaya, Malegoda Nanda said
head of state must have ‘eveseema’. ‘As
Defence Secretayr you showed that quality’. At the Kalutara bodiya Waskaduwe Mahindawansa told Gotabhaya ‘you gave a very good speech at the launch in
Colombo it had no mud, no division, you
got your ideas across very effectively’.
There was pirit at Wadduwa bodhiraja.
Pannipitiya
Rukmale Sri Dharma Vijayaloka’s chief priest, Ittapane Dhamalankara said most politicians are busy slinging mud
at each other from the mud hole they have got into. They are placing the
population in danger. ‘Like you got us out of the war you should
try to get us out of this mud hole too.
You have shown by action, not talk your ability and won the admiration
and respect of the public. I declare
that you are the most suitable as our leader.’
At Mount
Lavinia Dharmapala aramaya Ramannya chief prelate Kotugoda Dhammavasa said the public hare hoping now for a good leader.
They eagerly await a leader who will
provide a ‘kramavath ayurin rata hikmavagena nisi paripalanayak. ‘with
help of the Maha Sangha and public we
hope that you will be able to create a country which regains its self respect
and we pray that you will have the strength, power and support of the public to
achieve this.’ I have given this
programme at length because I wish to show
the huge , island wide support given by the Sangha to Gotabhaya and the
issues the Sangha consider important.
The Maha Sangha was aware of the animosity of Yahapalana towards the Sangha. Keppetiyagoda Sirinimala of Getambe temple said in 2017 that usually when there was a crisis,
the bhikkhus came forward, ‘now they are
denigrating the monks.’ A protest march and a meeting of the Maha Sangha
was held in Kandy in July 2019 because some NGOs and
other organizations had
challenged a statement made by the Mahanayake of Asgiriya .The march
was organized by several Sangha organizations,
including Jathika Sangha Sabha and Thri
Nikayika Bhikshu Ekamuthuwa.
The Maha
Sangha have emphasized their unity by appearing in formidable groups, not
singly. At the National Conference on Peace, Harmony and Co existence, July
2019, one half of the BMICH auditorium
was given over to the Sangha, who could
be seen seated en masse, in a blaze of saffron. (See Derana news 31.7.19 at
at13.53).
There was a media conference to report the decision of the Kotte Sri
Kalyani Samagri Dhamma Maha Sangha Sabha regarding the proposed new
constitution. The opening shot showed a group of 12 or so, red and yellow clad Bhikkus emerging
from the discussion led by the chief
priest. The chief priests spoke to the camera with this group standing behind
him, in full view of the camera, looking very
serious and formidable. It was impressive. (see Derana 6.55 news
22.10.17 at 15.10) Camera also showed them going into the meeting.
The third example is from the ‘Jathika Maga’ conference
held by Maha Sangha Samuluva at BMICH
in June 2019 . This showed three
or four rows of monks, on the stage, sitting amidst a set which included Anuradhapura style pillars, a Samadhi statue
and a Dagoba.
The Sangha
also spoke out regarding non-conformist bhikkhus. In 2017,
after a meeting of the Karaka Sangha Sabha, the Mahanayake of the Asgiriya
Chapter, announced Although we do not approve the aggressive behavior and
speech of Bhikkhu Galabodaatte Gnanasara the viewpoint expressed by him cannot
be discarded. Insulting Bhikkhus by various groups without inquiring into the
veracity of the issues raised cannot be
condoned.”
A historic agreement merging the Amarapura and
Ramanna Chapters was signed in Colombo, in August 2019. The two chapters will hereafter be
known as a single entity: Sri Lanka Amarapura Ramanna Samagri Maha Sangha
Sabha.” The agreement was signed by the Amarapura Chapter Mahanayake, the Ven.
Kotugoda Dhammavasa , and the Ramanna Chapter Mahanayaka, the Ven. Napana
Pemasiri. The two prelates will hereafter function as Joint Chairpersons of the
new Sangha Sabha.
The agreement marks a turning point in the
history of the Buddha Sasana in the country. It was reached after years of
talks. Six major aims were cited as the reasons for the merger. These included
the need to take decisions jointly regarding issues affecting the Buddha Sasana
and the country, building a disciplined Sangha society and providing guidance
to young learned Buddhist monks to face social challenges. Ven. Kotugoda
Dhammavasa said there was no reason why the two Chapters should remain separate
as they were started by the pupils of the same monk. The Sangha now urgently
needed a Sangadhikarana and a
Kathikawatha. We have submitted the recommendations, for a Sanghadhikarana, but nothing has happened so far, said the Sangha.
It should be noted however, that the three nikayas have been working together for a long time before the merger. For
instance, in December 2018 a decree by
the tri nikaya was announced at the Jathika Maha Sangha Samuluwa led by the
prelates of the three nikayas at Nelum Pokuna, Colombo.
The Easter Sunday
bombings mark a significant coming together of the Catholic Church and the Maha
Sangha. The Catholic Church and the Maha Sangha appeared together on one platform after this sad event. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith took the lead.
Cardinal Malcolm
Ranjith held two joint press conferences with the Maha Sangha regarding the
bomb blasts. The Maha Sangha was
represented by Ven. Ittapane Dhammalankara, Chancellor of the University of Sri
Jayewardenepura, and chief priest of Kotte Sri Kalayani Samagri Dharma Maha
Sangha Sabha of Siyam Maha Nikaya. In
July 2019, Kirinde Dhammakusala, chief incumbent of Sri
Bodhi temple at Bopitiya and Rev Francis Jayakody parish priest of Pamunugama
were special invitees to the meeting of the Pamunugama Welfare Association of
Bopitiya.
After the Easter
Sunday bombings, the Sangha decided to send the Muslims, as well as Yahapalana
and the USA a strong message. 50 bhikkus ,from Bellanwila Raja Maha Vihara went
by bus to Katuwapitiya church, and were met by the chief priest of the Church.
They exchanged greetings, went into the church and surveyed the damage done.
Then in a symbolic gesture of sympathy, several bhikkus took brooms and swept
the compound. This is a most unusual event and it must be
recognized as such. Derana
television gave it lengthy coverage.
This can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip7WwvJJL9w&t=1707s.
Ven. Bellanwila
Dhammarathana invited His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith to join a pooja at
Bellanwila Raja Maha Viharaya in August 2019
to invoke merit on those killed, which he did with all reverence.
Yahapalana has inadvertently,
helped to establish Sri Lanka as a Buddhist country. It happened like this. Mangala
Samaraweera said on 13 May 2019 that Sri
Lanka was not a Buddhist country. There
was a howl. Of course it is a Buddhist country said the Buddhists. Yes it is, added the Hindus, Christians and
Muslims independent of each other.
Cardinal Malcolm
Ranjith said it could not be disputed that Sri Lanka was a Buddhist country.
Sri Lanka is a Sinhala Buddhist country
said Faizer Mustapha. So did Minister Mano Ganesan.. Navinda Jayasinghe
speaking for Catholics said this is Sinhala Buddhist country, there is nothing
to argue about it. Its identity is Sinhala Buddhism. Vadivel Suresh said there
are no two words about It. Buddhism is
the senior religion under which come the
junior religions of Hinduism, Islam and
Christianity.
The Sangha spoke up. The religious groups in
this country should keep it in mind that Buddhists in Sri Lanka had always
respected and allowed unhindered the existence of other religions, said
Asgiriya in an official statement. We
condemn acts by other religious groups that insult this tolerant Buddhist
ethic,”
The rest
agreed. They also announced, with appreciation, that it was the Buddhist ethos
that permitted them to practice their
religion with complete freedom. Faizer Mustapha said it was the Buddhist ethos that permitted the other religions
to follow their religions peacefully
and exercise their rights.
However, long before all this, In Sept 2018 Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith was present at the
prize giving of Kanduboda Shri Saranankara Daham Pasala in Delgoda, organized
by the Ven. Parakaduwe Sri Saranankara with Chancellor of the Kelaniya
University Ven. Dr. Walamitiyawe Kusaladhamma
presiding.
Cardinal
Malcolm Ranjith said at this event that Buddhism was the backbone of this country and it was a religion
which had been followed by the people in this land for a long time. People who had been shaped by Buddhist
civilization do not violate human rights. He added that a society which
attempts to make human rights a religion, could safeguard human rights
effectively through Buddhist teaching.
Rights of all people in this country are safeguarded when Buddhist culture is safeguarded, he said. Human rights are safeguarded in our country much more than what is prescribed by the UN because of the Buddhist environment,” he added. Since we have inherited a great culture over the years, there is no need to think about human rights in a special way. Anti-religious ideologies are being filtered into the society today. We have to put them aside and safeguard religions,” he said. ( Continued)
Spending more on misguiding propaganda tools than fatal war-weapons is fortunately or unfortunately considered a sign of wisdom in this so-called very civilized and sophisticated world of us. Propaganda most of the times proves more fatal than war-weapons as it hides the realities and highlights the things which had never occurred. For this purpose, pens are bought and words are sold. Intelligent are those who do nothing but make all possible hue and cry, who speak loud as much as they can and beat the drums as much deafening as possible and ultimately they succeed in conquering the sympathies of others by silencing everyone around; this is the wisest way to win the race. In short, yelling, screaming and screeching at a very high pitch are the best tools, no doubt the most successful tools, in the present day scenario. Intelligence agencies, political parties and think-tanks promoting different philosophies spend countless on propaganda moves.
The
darkest exploitation made on the basis of propaganda could be seen in India
where every year, hundreds of people are brutally slaughtered in the name of
religions. Hindus are dominating the Indian society; people belonging to the
Sikh, Christian and Muslim communities are always under the clouds of hatred
and injustice and same is the case with the low-caste Hindus but even then,
propaganda says, India is a secular country. Then comes there another
mesmerizing slogan, the ‘Shining India’; shining on the basis of progress and
development in the field of science, technology, economy, education and
certainly in the field of human-rights as very often claimed; but for this
‘Shining India’ human–rights violation is simply a routine matter in Kashmir.
And same is India’s behaviour and approach towards the neighbouring countries
like Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
Recently an article of N.P.Upadhyaya was published in different newspapers of Nepal with the title ‘Is Nepal India’s Next prey after Kashmir?’ The article said, Research and Analysis Wing, is taken as the most notorious terror machine in South Asia which is the brainchild of the most arrogant and undemocratic lady ever the South Asian nations have had-Mrs. Indira Gandhi. PM Modi has just copied her notoriety.” It is ‘talk of the town’ in different patriotic circles of Nepal that the RAW Chief landed in Kathmandu on July 20, 2019. Though his three days stay was limited to Kathmandu but ‘he made the whole country politically unstable’ in these three days. Details say that he was there to buy more writers and more TV anchors to speak and write in favour of India. It is a very common opinion in Nepal that India has been trying to export terrorism in Nepal by encouraging Maoist activists who are at present as active as they were a decade back. In spite of the fact that patriotic circles of Nepal do all their best to stop Indian interference in the Nepalese society, the RAW has succeeded in establishing a very strong network in Nepal to achieve its heinous aims and objectives.
The tale of Indian interference in Nepal is not a new one. In October 2012, an analysis of Shreejana Shreshtha was published in Defence and Security Alert Magazine commonly known as the DSA. The analysis said, It is true that the porous Indo-Nepal border helped sustain the Maoist insurgency in Nepal for a decade. And it is an open secret that Nepalese insurgents received shelter and some kind of cover in India during the days of the insurgency. There was extensive reporting on how Nepali Maoist combatants were receiving training from their counterparts in India.” The analysis further referred to the statement of a security expert in Nepal that ‘India regarded Maoists as a tool to overthrow the monarchy and believed that it could always play the Maoists against the state’.
Geographically, Nepal is a landlocked country, located mainly in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. The estimated population of Nepal is 26.4 million and it is ranked as ‘the 48th largest country by population and 93rd largest country by area’. According to Wikipedia, Nepal borders China in the north and India in the south, east and west. Bangladesh is located within only 27 km of its southeastern tip and Bhutan is separated from it by the Indian state of Sikkim. Nepal owns eight of the world’s ten tallest mountains, including the highest point on Earth, the Mount Everest. Since naturally, India is blocking this beautiful country from three sides, so, unfortunately, the people of Nepal had to depend a lot upon India. Nepal has to imports all of its petroleum supplies and other basic necessities from India. As far as petroleum products are concerned, roughly more than 300 fuel trucks enter from India on a normal day and same is the case with a supply of medicine and other commodities. It all depends upon Indian desire to stop this supply or to let it be continued. In September 2015 Nepal had to face the ever worst consequences of being a land-locked country. A horrible blockade was imposed by India which continued for more than two months leading to acute shortages of fuel and medicine. In short, India is in a position of turning Nepal into a barren wasteland by blocking all supplies coming to Nepal through Indian route. This geographical supremacy is the strongest tool in the hands of India and no doubt India is exploiting rather misusing this tool in the best possible manner.
India is dealing with Nepal as its colony. Indian hegemonic designs are no doubt a severe threat to Nepal’s sovereignty. There are very strong possibilities that in near future India could adopt the same strategy as it has recently adopted in Kashmir. Some people might be of the point of view that legally and constitutionally it is impossible for India to change the independent status of a neighbouring country though it is land-locked by India from three sides there is nothing impossible where ‘might is right.’ Moreover, cruel silence of the international community over India’s unjust action in Kashmir has simply added a lot to the wicked courage rather criminal stubbornness of Modi government.
Today Sunday paper carried headline captioned Pre Election bonanza for top public Servants
More categories to get duty free vehicle permits equivalent
to 22million
We investors have frequent contact with public servants to
get clearances for investment projects
Top public servants are often critical about the Yahapalana
government and the ruling parties
They expect a more dynamic leader with minimum reg to FR so
that they can also carve out sizable amounts from the gratuities which
investors offer to politicians
In order to get the investors to agree with their demand, projects are stalled
Few important institutions purposely delay the projects which affect the growth rate in the country.
I am not sure whether the government offering them duty-free vehicles will change their mind during voting time.
The government should totally abolish the duty-free facility and provide the income to poor masses to give subsidy for transport and staple food items
A. Abdul Aziz,by Press Secretary, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at – Sri Lanka.
(Given below is an excerpt of the Friday Sermons of Hazrat Mirza
Masroor Ahmad, Supreme Head of the world-wide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in
Islam, delivered recently at: ‘Baithul Futhuh’, London, U.K. gave a discourse
on recently concluded Ahmadiyya International Convention in United Kingdom.
Ahmadiyya Khalifa said:
I would like to thank all the men and women who worked in any
department and in any capacity in the Jalsa. All workers, from helpers to
officers, men, women, children, young and old, everyone performed their duties
diligently and selflessly. They presented the true picture of Islām for the
nonMuslim guests. Particular gratitude is due to the workers who volunteered in
large numbers to serve the guests of the Promised Messiah (May peace be upon
him), and they are the ones who do the real work. May Allāh bless them all.
His Holiness cited the feedback of foreign guests who attended the
Convention (Jalsa Salana).
Malay Yaqoob Sahib, President of the Muslim Community in Benin
participated in the Convention for the first time and gave his impressions as
follows: “I have performed Hajj more than twenty times but I have never
seen such excellent arrangements as at this Jalsa Salana. The atmosphere of the
Convention was such that I have never experienced it anywhere else. From the
airport to the residence, everything was so well taken care of that it seemed
like home. In the Convention, I met people from every walk of life, doctors,
professors, eminent scholars, and yet everyone served us with humility. The
Khalīfa gave us the true message of Islām, and this is the message that the
Muslim world needs so that people’s misperceptions about Islām can be
corrected. I have learnt much by coming here that Ahmadiyyat is the true Islām.
It is only Ahmadīs who are making the true status of the Holy Prophet (May
Allāh’s Blessings be upon him) known to the world.”
Mr. Simeon Sawadogo, Minister of State and Religious affairs from
Burkina Faso, said: As a minister for religious affairs, I honour all
religions. I found answers to many of my questions with my participation in the
Convention. I even got answers for the questions I did not ask. I was given
every assistance. It is the first time I have participated in the Jalsa and the
holy thoughts and pure atmosphere have spiritually uplifted me. It is only by
following the principles of love and morality that we can live together in
harmony. I saw volunteers in the Convention cleaning toilets and washing
dishes, and I saw small children serving drinking water, and all this is not
possible without selfless devotion. The zeal to serve others was extraordinary.
The International Initiation Ceremony (Bai’at – Oath of allegiance) – a unique
feature of the Convention – was like a chain of sincerity, devotion and
obedience. It should serve as an example for the world to follow. People do not
try to understand what the Khalīfa is saying and are instead running after
materialism and are suffering consequently. The Khalīfa in his address gave
guidelines for the betterment of society.”
Mr. Yoshida Nichiko, Chief Priest of a Buddhist Temple in Japan,
visited the Convention. He said, I found true peace in the atmosphere of the
Jalsa. Everyone is checked and body searched by security and yet I did not see
anyone quarrelling. All arrangements, from food to the speeches, were very well
organised. The Khalīfa’s address with regard to religion was very timely. It is
indeed necessary to tell the world today that the high moral standards taught
by religion can help us fulfil our obligations to one another. The Japanese
society is also facing the problem of estrangement between parents and children
and we are unable to deal with it despite all efforts. We can use Ahmadiyya
Khalifa guidance for the betterment of our society as well. I did not have a
negative impression of Islām even prior to this, but, having witnessed the
atmosphere of this Convevtion, when it came time for the International
Initiation Ceremony – Bai’at, I could not hold back and decided that I have to
offer my hand to yours for the establishment of peace in the world and for a
harmonious and loving society. So I participated in this Ceremony – Bai’at. I
accept your leadership and promise to be with you in all your efforts to bring
peace to the world”, he said. Ahmadiyya Khalifa said: This does not mean that
he has pledged the Bai’at but that he is with us in our aim of establishing
peace in the world.
A lady guest from Argentina attended the Jalsa. Her husband accepted
Ahmadiyyat ten months ago but she is a Christian. She says, I am a lawyer by
profession. My favourite speech of the Convention was the address of the Imām
(Khalifa) of Jamā’at Ahmadiyya in which he beautifully and comprehensively shed
light on how the teachings of Islām uphold human rights. Prior to coming to the
Jalsa, I was a bit apprehensive. I thought that when so many people are
gathered, there is bound to be some unpleasantness. But your gathering was very
different from our gatherings. Despite the crowding and the huge number of
people, the atmosphere was full of love and harmony and there were smiles
everywhere. I was apprehensive that I might be pressurised to conform to the
Islāmic veil while I was here, but from beginning to end I remained comfortably
without veil and men and women treated me with great courtesy, she added.
A minister from Liberia attended the Convention. He said, All the
programs were so beautifully organized that I did not find any flaw. Various
departments such as the kitchen, public relations and all others were working
in coordination. What is most surprising is that all this work was being done
by teams of volunteers who worked with each other in a brotherly atmosphere.
Never in my life have I seen such commitment to one’s duty as I did among these
volunteers. The participants treated each other with respect and affection. It
was astonishing for me that a program catering for 39,000 went smoothly without
any unpleasantness.
A lady guest from Uruguay said: For over thirty years I have been
studying Islāmic countries and organisations. There are two distinctive
features of this Convention that I have not witnessed anywhere else. The first
is your being united under one leader that is something unparalleled. Each and
every individual has an extraordinary relationship of sincerity and devotion
with the Khalīfa.” Here, Ahmadiyya Khalifa said: This is what causes envy among
our opponents and they try to create hurdles for us, and it is this that we
have to safeguard through prayers and through our actions. She continued, The
other distinction of your community is that there is no racial or national
prejudice among you.” Ahmadiyya Supreme Head said: This is not something that
we should demonstrate for a few days, rather we should always uphold this
principle. That was the last message the Holy Prophet (May Allāh’s Blessings be
upon him) gave us that: The white person has no superiority over black, nor
any black over white; and no Arab has any superiority over nonArab, nor any
Non-Arab over an Arab.” Thus as humans, all are equal.
The former Prime Minister of Gabon also attended the Convention. He
said: To witness thousands of people from over a hundred different countries
in one place was a unique experience for me. The volunteers worked day and
night and there was no unpleasantness whatsoever. I got to know a lot from
various speeches during the Jalsa about Islām and Ahmadiyyat in particular.”
An advisor to the President of the Central African Republic said: The
arrangements were excellent. All the volunteers of Jamā’at Ahmadiyya, including
children, young and old, made the best arrangements with obedience to their
Khalīfa.”
A retired judge from Bangladesh attended the Jalsa. He said, I am not
an Ahmadī but I know that Ahmadīs are Muslims. Ahmadīs have been persecuted in
many countries for a long time. Being a human rights activist, I support
Ahmadīs on the basis of humanity. Everyone has the right to propagate their
beliefs. I was impressed by the discipline of Ahmadīs and their love for the
Khalīfa and their thirst for knowledge. I listened to all the speeches
attentively and many of my misconceptions were removed. Ahmadīs should speak up
more so that the misunderstandings about them are corrected. I had previously
thought that Ahmadīs do not believe the Holy Prophet (May Allāh’s Blessings be
upon him) to be Khatam-un-Nabiyyin (seal of prophets), but after coming here I
have found that this is not so. In short, I have learnt a lot from this Convention.
I thank you all and particularly the Imām of Jamā’at Ahmadiyya.
Ahmadiyya Khalifa said: Now I will present a report regarding press
and media coverage about the Convention . 183 media reports have been published
so far which have conveyed our message to more than 173 million people. Many TV
channels covered this Convention. 19 channels covered the event through MTA
Africa. According to the impressions of non-Ahmadīs, they were very much
impressed by what they saw and heard. May Allāh make this Convention (Jalsa) a
source of spiritual progress for all the participants. May we be able to act
upon what we have learnt and may people’s hearts be inspired by what they have
heard. Amīn.
The UNP would not announce its presidential candidate without unveiling the policies of the coalition it would establish, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said, on Saturday, at Ankumbura.
The party would first build a powerful political coalition and then field a presidential candidate from that alliance, he said, adding that the unveiling of the coalition’s manifesto would coincide with the naming of its presidential candidate.
“We have both the policies and the candidate. I would like to see the plans and policies of those who ask how we can develop the economy. In 2015, we fielded a common opposition candidate. We have made progress. We need to ensure that these victories are not taken away. Thus, we decided to build a coalition that can retain the democratic gains we made and can establish a modern export driven economy.”
Wickremesinghe said that the building of the coalition had reached its final stage and that they had ironed out differences over some contentious clauses in the constitution. “We will contest the coming presidential election as an alliance. We came together once when the country was facing a massive crisis and we will come together again to take the country forward,” he said.
Wickremsinghe added that the Easter Sunday blasts had led to a crisis in the country. Tourism, which was initially devastated, had recovered. A significant number of people expected the economy and the national security to collapse, he said.
“This also led to a political crisis. The people lost their faith in the government. They lost their faith in politicians. But I would like to stress that we also managed to arrest a number of key culprits within nine hours.”
Wickremesinghe said that the swift action taken by the government had ensured that the terrorist network was broken.
