Sri Lanka is on the verge of signing the highly controversial Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the United States, which, according to strategic experts, could theoretically make the island nation a happy hunting ground of millions” of US servicemen, Defense Department personnel and Defense Department contractors.
On the anvil is another controversial agreement on the US$ 480 million fund from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), which, if approved by the US Congress and the Lankan cabinet, will include a number of infrastructure projects, but principally the 200 km Colombo-Trincomalee Economic Corridor (CTEC), connecting the West coast with the East coast.
According to Sri Lanka’s former Foreign Secretary, Dr. Palitha Kohona, the MCC requires the government to change land laws to enable peasants to alienate lands given to them by the State. The buyers could be foreign entities. He pointed out that the CTEC will also be violating the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987 which forbids the Lankan government from giving over any harbor or airport in the island to a foreign power to be used for a military purpose inimical to India. The US does intend to develop Trincomalee as a logistics base, Dr. Kohona said.
President Maithripala Sirisenahas said time and again that he is opposed to SOFA as it seriously erodes the sovereignty of the country. He even instructed Foreign Minister Tilak Maraponato tell the US State Department that SOFA cannot be accepted in the present form. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is generally pro-US, also has reservations, for without his consent, the Foreign Minister Marapona, who belongs to his party, United National Party (UNP), would not have told the Americans that SOFA has flaws.
Only Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera is all for SOFA and MCC.
ACSA 2017 and SOFA
Adm. Dr. Jayanath Colombage, formal Lankan navy chief who is a maritime security expert with the Pathfinder Foundation, said thatthe Access and Services Agreement (ACSA) signed in 2007 was a very simple one, meant to facilitate US troops coming here for joint training exercises with the Lankan military.
Dr. Palitha Kohona, Lanka’s Foreign Secretary during the last war with the Tamil Tigers, said that ACSA 2007 was for a fixed period of 10years. When it came up for renewal in 2017, ACSA had become a different kettle of fish. It was an 83-page document with more than 50 annexures. Above all, it was open ended”. In other words, it had no time limit other than a provision for ending it with either party giving 180 days’ notice.
Subsequently, the US proposed to replace ACSA with the comprehensive SOFA. According toSunday Times the US is wanting aircraft and vessels of the US Government to be free from boarding and inspection. This means none of the Lankan state security arms, like the Navy, Coast Guard or the Customs can board any US military vessel or aircraft when it is in a Sri Lankan airport or sea port. They cannot even check vehicles on land, an internationally accepted sovereign right of a country.
The US also wants exemption from licenses, customs duties, taxes and any other charges within Sri Lanka.
The US is seeking authorization for its troops to wear uniforms whilst on duty” in any part of Sri Lanka, and to carry arms and radio communications equipment. But in terms of the Sri Lankan Constitution and normal laws, only the armed forces and the Police have these privileges.
In addition, Washington wants US troops and contractors to be allowed to enter and leave Sri Lanka, individually or collectively, with the use of only their US identification. This will mean they will carry no passports or visas,Sunday Times says.
SOFA would also grant US military personnel, US military contractors and US military suppliers the same perks and privileges granted to technical and administrative officers of the US Embassy.
While Dr. Palitha Kohona drew attention to the social ills arising out of having an American military Rest and Recreating(R and R) Center here, Adm. Colombage pointed to the possibility of US mercenaries coming in the form of US Department of Defense contractors (example the Blackwater military company which was deployed in the Middle East).
Both Kohona and Colombage said that about 2 million US personnel could be authorized to operate in Sri Lanka in one way or the other.
Violates Diplomatic Privileges Act of 1996
SOFA violates the Diplomatic Privileges Act of 1996 which stresses reciprocity. If a country, say the US, gets certain diplomatic rights in Sri Lanka but does not give Sri Lankan diplomatic personnel the same rights in the US, then the Sri Lankan government will deprive the US personnel of those privileges here in the island.
If it appears to the Minister of Foreign Affairs that the privileges and immunities accorded to a Sri Lankan mission in any State abroad, or to persons connected with that mission, are less than those conferred by this Act on the mission of such State or on the persons connected with that mission, the Minister may by Order published in the Gazette, declare that such of the provisions of this Act as are specified In such Order shall, with effect from such date as may be specified in such Order, cease to apply with respect to the mission of that State or to such categories of members of the mission of that State, as is, or are, specified therein,” the Act says.
Therefore,in view of the Diplomatic Privileges Act of 1996, the SOFA signed in 1995 during the Presidency of Chandrika Kumaratunga cannot be extended automatically to the SOFA envisaged in 2019. This was told to the US State and Defense Departments when Lankan Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana was in the US last.
Impairment of Non-Alignment
According to Dr. Kohona, SOFA would seriously impair Lanka’s status as a non-aligned country wanting to be friends with all and enemy of none.
Since we are under no threat from any country, why should we enter into such a wide-ranging agreement with a Super Power, unless the intention of that Super Power is to draw us into a conflict with China by making Sri Lanka a base?” he asked.
Since the US is obsessed with the security of the Indo-Pacific region following the rise of China as a power, SOFA would invariably draw Lanka into an armed Sino-US conflict, Kohona warned.
India’s Silence Intrigues
Adm. Colombage noted that India, which is a dominant power in the Indian Ocean and the South Asian region is silent on the issue of the Lanka’ SOFAwith the US.
He does not believe that India wants the US to dominate Sri Lanka or that it is going along with the US strategy to contain China in the Indo-Pacific region the whole hog.
India wants good relations with China to increase trade and economic cooperation.Therefore, India is concerned and is perhaps taking steps in its own, quiet way. Indian diplomacy achieves its ends quietly,” Adm. Colombage believes.
However, he does worry about the possibility of the past impairing the Indian vision.
In the past, India was maritime blind.It was maritime blindness which made the 26/11 Mumbai attacks possible andit was maritime blindness which made India ignore Chinese incursions into the Indian Ocean until it became manifest,” he recalled.
Dr. Kohona said that the development of Trincomalee as a logistic base under the MCC fund is linked to SOFA. This should worry India, he added.
Kohona pointed out that the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987 says that Sri Lanka should not give any of its harbors or ports to any other country which might use it for a military purpose in a way inimical to India.
The Indo-Lanka Accord is a bilateral agreement which we cannot ignore,” the veteran diplomat observed.
Economic Argument For SOFA
However, SOFA has a staunch defender in Lankan Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera. Recently, he refuted the charge that SOFA is dangerous.
In 1995, a SOFA was signed during President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s time. That had done no harm to the country. The present discussions are only about renewing it,” Samaraweera said.
Further, it will not be in Sri Lanka’s economic interest to alienate the US as it annually purchases about US$3.7 billion worth of goods and services. The European Union (EU) is Sri Lanka’s largest export partner. Both the EU and the US purchase a large percentage of the output of Lanka’s US$5 billion garment industry,” he pointed out.
(The featured image at the top shows Lankan Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana meeting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington)
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundara and former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando have been further remanded until the 9th of July, says Ada Derana reporter.
The former Defence Secretary was taken into custody by a team of CID officers who visited the hospital earlier yesterday (02). He continued to remain at the hospital under the CIDs custody.
Meanwhile, IGP Pujith Jayasundara was also arrested by the CID while receiving treatment at the Police Hospital yesterday (02).
The former Defence Secretary and the Police Chief were summoned to appear before the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) yesterday, however, they were both admitted to hospital last morning.
Fernando was admitted to the Coronary-Care Unit (CCU) at the General Hospital Colombo while the IGP was admitted to the Police Hospital in Narahenpita.
Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne later ordered to remand the duo until today.
Attorney General Dappula de Livera, on Monday (01), wrote to the acting police chief urging him to bring charges against his predecessor, IGP Pujith Jayasundara, and the former defence secretary, Hemasiri Fernando.
The Special Investigation Unit (SIU) has launched an investigation into the allegations of inaction by the Bandaragama Police over complaints lodged by a Muslim female on harassment against her, stated the Police Media Spokesperson.
A Muslim woman named Abdul Hassan Fathima, speaking at a press conference held with the General Secretary of Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) organization, yesterday (02), stated that the Bandaragama Police did not take necessary legal action on a complaint she filed.
At the press conference, Fathima revealed that she got married to a Sinhala man in 2008 and that he was threatened and harassed by the mosque over the marriage. They had then lodged a complaint at the police and left the area to live in Malabe, she said.
Later, the couple had moved back to Atalugama as they had been expecting a baby.
However, the people from the mosques had chased away the husband stating that a Sinhala man cannot be allowed to live there, she said. Fathima had been allowed to remain in the village as she was pregnant, she added. The husband had then left her at her mother’s home and visited her secretly until she delivered, said Fathima.
Fathima further revealed that the people from the mosque had threatened her husband continuously to convert into Islam and attempted to bribe him with offers of houses and vehicles.
The husband had subsequently left the country and the mosque had informed her not to be bothered to look for him, said Fathima.
According to her, the mosques had told her that she could be married off to a Muslim man if she and the baby leaves husband.
On 24th March, a group from the mosque broke into their home and assaulted her and her husband while the police was looking on, stated Fathima. They had also stoned the children when they cried, she added. They were then jailed until the next morning, she further said.
Fathima further claimed that the Bandaragama Police did not take action on the complaints they had lodged with them.
These harassments had come from a mosque called ‘Marawa’, Fathima further claimed.
The Lonely Planet magazine, despite all the troubles Sri Lanka faced due to the attacks, has named Sri Lanka the best destination for tourists to visit, says Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
At the beginning of the year, Lonely Planet magazine named Sri Lanka as the world’s best destination to visit. However, after the Easter Sunday bomb blasts, we thought that we had lost this position,” PM Wickremesinghe has said.
The prime minister reiterates that tourism has a promising future in Sri Lanka.
He urges everybody to get together to ensure that the industry thrives and enhances the country’s image in the eyes of the world.
The complete statement by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is as follows:
At the beginning of the year, Lonely Planet magazine named Sri Lanka as the world’s best destination to visit. However, after the Easter Sunday bomb blasts, we thought that we had lost this position. Many tourists fled the country. But last week, Lonely Planet stated that despite all the troubles Sri Lanka faced due to the attacks, we still remain the best destination for tourists to visit, the best destination in the world.
We must all feel proud as they said, We came here and were greeted with a friendly hello by the people. Everyone was friendly and they welcomed us everywhere, we did not see any problems.” This is the view of the Lonely Planet magazine. Therefore, I must emphasize that the Government is taking steps to assist the tourism industry, and will announce further measures soon. I would like to thank all those in the tourism sector – big and small – who helped to keep the industry moving.
I must also thank the members of the security forces who helped us from April 21st, the day of the attacks when I first met them. They set about capturing those responsible, and all are now in custody. They were able to accomplish this mission within just two months. So, I must reiterate that tourism has a promising future in Sri Lanka. I urge everybody to get together to ensure that the industry thrives and enhances our image in the eyes of the world.”
BY BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI ASSOCIATED PRESS Courtesy The Modesto Bee
COLOMBO, SRI LANKA
Arrival of tourists to Sri Lanka has rapidly declined in June, dealing a severe blow to the Indian Ocean island nation’s lucrative tourism industry in the aftermath of the Easter bombings that killed more than 250 people, the state-run tourism agency said Wednesday.
The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority said there were 63,072 tourist visits to Sri Lanka last month, a drop of 57% compared with June 2018, when the number was 146,828.
The authority said the highest number of tourist were from India, followed by the Australia, United Kingdom and China. Almost 97% of tourists arrived by air.
The arrival of tourists for the first six months was 1,008,449, a decline of 13.4 % compared with 2018, when 1,164,647 visitors arrived.
Much has been spoken of the Easter Sunday terror attacks and the network of National Tawheed Jamaat (NTJ) – the hitherto little known terrorist outfit responsible for the bombings in three churches and several deluxe hotels on April 21. Two days subsequent to the dastardly suicide bombings, Indian security agencies alerted Sri Lanka that another attack could be carried out by NTJ, the Hindustan Times reported quoting senior officers of the SITE intelligence group.
Lorry driver asked to nap until goods loaded onto vehicle
Explosives transported under pretext of sulphuric acid used in making gold jewellery
NTJ accomplice constantly updated caller on whereabouts en route to Kalmunai
Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic had been one of the main targets
Plans changed, group split
The NTJ that was formed in Kattankudy was predominantly led by the family members of Zahran. His brothers Zaini and Rilwan were prominent figures in the now proscribed terrorist outfit. A majority of NTJ members were in their twenties.
Following the February 2018 attack on Muslims in Digana, a group of Muslim youths from Mawanella joined Zahran.
Naufar Moulavi, one of Zahran’s teachers, was NTJ’s second in command. In February 2019, the faction linked to Naufar Moulavi protested saying Zahran favoured his relations. There was also a tug of war between Zahran and Naufar over NTJ leadership which split the outfit into two factions.
The second head of TJ Naufar Moulavi and his NTJ allies opined suicide bombings should be carried out at all nine provinces in the country simultaneously. This sketch contrasted with that of Zahran.
H.M. Ahmad Millan, who was in charge of NTJ’s armed wing, sided with Naufar Moulavi. Police say he was responsible for the killing of two constables at Vavuniya in 2018 – he was arrested in Saudi and extradited on June 14.
Zahran had appointed his brother Rilwan to organise the second spate of attacks. His other brother Zaini had been tasked with conducting extremist lectures and NTJ propaganda. The Zahrans have reportedly had several safe houses in Panadura, Negombo, Malwana and Kalmunai. They had also rented an apartment in Kollupitiya. Buying and renting of residences for the second spate of attacks had been entrusted to Mohammdu Niyas and Kalmunai Siyam. In early April, the duo had rented five safe houses in the East – one from Sainthamaruthu, one from Sennal Gramam, one from Adalachchanai and two from Nintavur. A warehouse in Sammanthurai had been rented to store explosives.
After the bombs were systematised for the Easter attacks, the remaining explosives had been dispatched from Negombo and Sammanthurai warehouses. Oblivious to the impending danger, the lorry driver had transported the explosives on April 9 from Negombo to Sammanthurai
According to reports, a monthly rental of Rs.40,000 had been paid for the house in Sainthamaruthu, while a monthly rental of Rs.50,000 was paid for the warehouse at Sennal Gramam in Sammanthurai. Meanwhile, one of the two houses in Nintavur was rented for Rs.20,000 per month. The house in Addalaichenai had been paid a monthly rental of Rs.15,000. Although the standard monthly rental for houses in these areas average Rs.3,000-5,000, the attackers had paid large sums to retain the abodes in Ampara.
On April 19, Zahran’s brothers Rilwan and Zaini along with several females attached to the group had purchased white clothes from a shop in Giriulla for Rs. 29,000. According to the police, the clothes were for the second and third attacks targeting Buddhist places of worship – SIS sources state the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic had been one of the main targets. Some others are Kaluwanchikudy Church and several mosques in Ampara. A total of 11 suicide bombers had been prepared for the next spate of attacks.
According to the police, the clothes were for the second and third attacks targeting Buddhist places of worship – SIS sources state the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy had been one of the main targets. Some others are Kaluwanchikudy Church and several mosques in Ampara. A total of 11 suicide bombers had been prepared for the next spate of attacks.
On April 26, the security forces seized a cache of explosives at Sammanthurai in the Eastern Province
The cache of explosives seized by the security forces at Sammanthurai in the Eastern Province on April 26
The State Intelligence Service had established the connection since the safe house was found in Negombo. After a lengthy search, the intelligence unit was able to trace the bomb store in Sammanthurai on April 26.
Lorry driver – National hero
On April 26, the security forces seized a cache of explosives at Sammanthurai in the Eastern Province – ten civilians including six children were among the casualties who were killed in the suicide bombings minutes before the security forces arrived at the scene to raid the residence and arrest them. The raid was launched based on intelligence as reported in the media then.
However, not much was reported about the lorry driver who transported, from Negombo to Kalmunai, explosives and various items used in manufacturing bombs for the next spate of terror attacks. In the article, the writer uses a pseudonym to refer to the lorry driver on account of security concerns.
After the bombs were systematised for the Easter attacks at houses in Negombo and Panadura, the remaining explosives had been dispatched from Negombo and Sammanthurai warehouses. Oblivious to the impending danger, lorry driver Prasanna had transported the explosives on April 9 from Negombo to Sammanthurai.
Prasanna, the national hero who saved the precious lives of thousands of fellow Sri Lankans, toils as a lorry driver at a private taxi service in Colombo. On April 9, he had received a hire from Negombo to Ampara – the destination was later changed to Kalmunai. Empty-pocketed at the time, Prasanna was overjoyed to hear about the long distance hire. When he had inquired as to what was being transported, Prasanna had been told it was a consignment of gold and some other material. The luggage had then been loaded onto the lorry and left for Kalmunai.
I was asked to arrive near the Katuwapitiya Church in Negombo on April 9 at 10.00 p.m. But I faced several issues on my way. My phone battery had died and diesel in my lorry was almost over by the time I reached their house in Negombo. I was driving on a patched tyre and had no money to even have one meal that day. By the time I reached Negombo, it was around 11.30p.m.The packing finished at 12.30 a.m.and I started the journey with one of the men in the house. As I remember, the one who joined me to Kalmunai was Rilwan, the brother of Zahran. They asked me to nap until they finished loading things onto the lorry. But I didn’t want to sleep so I helped them. There were many heavy cans that were loaded onto the vehicle.
When I asked why they were heavy, they said the cans were full of sulphuric acid which they use in making gold jewellery. They acted in no suspicious manner, though the one who came with me was always on the phone, constantly updating someone on our whereabouts in a different language. We reached Sammanthurai at 12.30 p.m. After the April 21 attacks, I was shocked. So many questioned were on my mind as to whether the hire I took on April 9 had any link to the terrorists. After discussing with my family, I decided to inform the police through a group of businessmen known to me. I was told by the police that I had saved lives of thousands of Sri Lankans. But I have not been given anything to admire what I did. I am afraid to even go out now. I am afraid about the safety of my family. It will be a great help if the government can support me financially until I feel safe enough to live like before,” Prasanna said.
When Prasanna informed the police on April 25, investigators and intelligence teams had already found the house in Negombo where bombs were manufactured.
Investigations are still ongoing with the support of those who were arrested based on information provided by Prasanna to SIS.
I write in support of the suggestions made by the former Minister
Milinda Moragoda. We have to be thankful to Mr Moragoda for his patriotism.
Patriotism is what we need today to save our Motherland. It is sad
to say that Sri Lanka is today disintegrating fast. Our economy is in tatters
with an international debt that cannot be sustained. We are now in a situation
where we have to borrow to repay our debts and in that process we become
further indebted. That was the path laid for us by the IMF from
1978. Our debt of some $ 60 billion was created through imports for our rich,
to finance foreign education for the rich, to import limousines for the rich.
Foreign investors also take away their profits in dollars increasing our debt.
Today our country does not have a single development programme to
enable our people to become productive and emerge out of their poverty. All
what we see today in the name of development are
election gimmicks to bribe voters at forthcoming elections.
We have seen the disintegration of a few countries in the past few
decades. In the Fifties, Somalia was a country with a vibrant economy with
people in production. Siad Barre the ruler, was first wooed by Russia because
Russia wanted control over the strategic Red Sea route. Russia then poured in
Aid. Then the United States of America offered more Aid and
Siad Barre turned to the USA. The local industries, agriculture and animal
husbandry were disbanded and neglected because it was easier to live on borrowed funds.
When Russia disintegrated it was no longer necessary for the USA to provide
funds to Somalia. Then the USA reduced Aid. The fallen
local economy could not be revived. Poverty and unemployment
reigned supreme. Warlords started carving out the land..
The rich migrated to London . In the early Nineties my Somali students at
Westminister Institute spoke about the lost
economy- once they were thriving in agriculture and dairy farming. The only
employment available today to Somalians is to pirate on the high seas.
My students were the rich in Somalia who could afford to migrate.
Later the rabble scrambled everywhere. There are Somali ghettoes in London,
where the whites scramble away from them.
What is happening to Sri Lanka is fairly similar. The economy is
in tatters. Everything is imported. There is Salmon to serve the palates of the
rich. There is vinegar from the USA, fruit juice from California and Australia.
Plush Limousines adorn our roads., Everyone that can find money is off
abroad, for study hoping to live abroad. The masses live in poverty. The rich
live in the lap of luxury, their travel and foreign education for their
children taking away foreign exchange that has been borrowed at high interest.
It is a fait accompli for sheer disaster. Corruption is rampant.
In the meantime the USA is forcing security
agreements to send their forces in , because the present leaders
have sold the Hambantota Port to a Chinese Company.
Elections are around the corner and it is up to the people to
decide to find a leadership that will restore order and build up the lost
paradise..
A paradise it can be. I am certain of that.
The writer once worked in the Administrative Service and worked in
poverty alleviation programmes that have now been abolished
by the dictates of the IMF. Agriculture that involve over a
million is starved of officers. President Premadasa in about 1996 promoted some
2400 overseers as Grama Niladharis and since then the village level does not
have a single officer with agricultural training. The Seed Farms that
found high yielding seeds are either privatized or underfunded.
The Ministry of Agriculture is unaware that its extension service at the field
level is as good as dead. Small industries that once made Sri Lanka self
sufficient in textile manufacture is now dead.
We have a ‘sovereign’ country and a Parliament, but it is the IMF
that rules and decides what we can do. The IMF tells us to find foreign
investors who come in, invest a pittance, trade in local currency and transfer
the profits untaxed in our borrowed foreign currency. The Central Bank does not
have the knack to handle the foreign exchange that comes in. Its sleuths even
fail to find that Tourism is no longer a foreign exchange earner. With hotel
bookings mainly done by the internet, the rent being paid in local rupees but
the booking agents fee, some fifteen percent being paid out in foreign
currency we are the net loser!
Corruption is rampant. However I can assure that in the Seventies
the politicians were not corrupt.
It is in these sad circumstances that the words of patriot Milinda
Moragoda comes of great importance.
The 19 th Amendment should be abolished. There is absolutely no
point in having a ceremonial president who can only look on while the country
is being sold and is being run as a fiefdom of foreign powers. It is the
Ambassadors that reign supreme and call the shots today.
Once we had parliamentarians who were responsible to the electors.
That was because each parliamentarian was
elected from an electorate. The introduction of Proportional Representation
made the parliamentarians corrupt as they had to find finances to do
politicking in an entire district to collect a second vote to win. The
parliamentarians also lost touch with the people.
The Thirteenth Amendment is of Indian origin. It was forced on us
by Rajiv Gandhi who thought that he could satisfy the LTTE. President
Jayawardena submitted like a lame duck and we
are saddled with Nine Provincial Councils, with Ministers and councilors
who are a drain on our budget and act the goat. Key ministries and
departments are devolved at the provincial level and the Ministers have to be
cajoled and pleaded of to get development work done.
When Mr PC Imbulana, the Governor of the Central Province approved
my programme to alleviate poverty in the
Central Province and convened all provincial ministers and officials
for a conference, none of the ministers attended.
Sri Lanka is a small country and
when nine provincial ministers and officials have to be wooed to
get any programme of development done, it is impossible for any development
programme to be implemented. Earlier all Government Agents
were summoned to a conference and were given order to proceed. They had full
powers and need not go behind councilors to agree. When I as Senior Assistant
Commissioner of Agrarian Services sent out a circular on fertlizer use to all
my staff- the Assistant Commissioners of the districts, the divisional officers
and the overseers at thefield level the circular had immediate effect.
My officers had to act on the instructions immediately. That was
how we implemented the green revolution and now any ministry that wants to
attend to any development task has to resort to wooing provincial
ministers, who have their own agendas. Sri Lanka is too small a
country to have provincial councils.
An important fact is that President Jayawardena had obtained
undated letters of resignation from all Members of Parliament other than Ronnie
de Mel, had incarcerated all of them in a hotel and when he wanted them to vote
in Parliament would escort them to parliament and force them to vote as he decided
on pain of dissolving parliament if they did not carry his orders. That was how
President Jayawardena got the 13 th Amendment passed. The undemocratic
manner in which the Act was passed itself militates the abolition of the
13 th Amendment. I have never heard of a
leader of a country resorting to holding elected representatives of a country
to ransom to force them to vote in the annals of politics. President Jayawardena’s curse on this
country- the Thirteenth Amendment has to be abolished someday.
The Provincial Councils deserve to be abolished for
development to become a reality.
Minister Milinda Moragoda has also suggested a Senate comprising
professionals and patriots as a second house. This is an ideal suggestion if
unwanted and rejected people are not nominated.
It is not necessary to panic.
Our Armed Forces can be trusted. The problem is that the Police
are detailed to look after politicians and not to look after the people. Even
news of the 21/4 attacks were informed to politicians and no action taken to
safeguard the people. Our Cardinal has uttered words of wisdom which are worth
following.
We have a country blessed with ample resources, an intelligent
people and able administrators. Let me tell a few truths to
prove that our economy can be won. Once we had the Marketing Department that
purchased veg and fruit from all producer fairs, at prices higher than what the
traders offered. Tripoli Market in Maradana its headquarters was a hive of
activity every morning with twenty wagon loads and some thirty lorry loads of
produce. All that was checked and sent off to retail units in Colombo to be
sold keeping a margin of fifteen percent to cover handling and wastage. The MD
shops sold at low prices. That is how we provided profits to the farmers and
also controlled inflation in cities. We had a Canning Factory that exported
pineapple. The IMF disbanded that Marketing Department. We have to bring it
back. Once for a full year I was in charge of Tripoli Market. Now we even
import veg and fruits!
In Industries we have the ability to make all what we
import.
Once we had Powerlooms and Handlooms run by Small Industries
Department and the Divisional Secretaries. We
were self sufficient in textiles. The IMF disbanded the Small Industries. I can
assure anyone that we did well. My Powerloom at Hakmana made suiting that was
in high demand even in London. My books: How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka(2006)
and How the IMF Sabotaged Third World Development(Kindle/Godages(2017) detail
how our economy was ruined..
Let me tell another detail to prove that we can be a success.. The
Ministry of Plan Implementation did not approve my doing any new
industries when as the GA at Matara I was charged with creating employment in
1971. I wanted to teach the Ministry a lesson. I commandeered the science lab
at Rahula College Matara every evening from six till midnight. My Planning
Officer, a raw chemistry graduate supported by the science teachers did a
myriad experiments to find the art of making crayons. We found the method
and made it to be equal in quality to the Crayola crayons of today,
accomplished in three months. In league with the Morawaka Cooperative Union
under Sumanapala Dahanayake the member of parliament who was its president, we
got down to produce crayons- done in two weeks working day and night. The
Minister of Industries was stunned to see the quality of our crayons and came
to open up sales and with that the Ministry had to eat humble pie. Sumanapala
developed CoopCrayon to have islandwide sales. It was the best industry
that was ever run, proved because President Jayawardena in 1978
sent a special officer, A.T.Ariyaratne a Deputy Director of Cooperative
Development to find some fault with the Crayon factory. That Deputy Director
spent days and reported that it was a well run industry. That saved Sumanapala from
prison..
We now import everything we can make. We can make most of our
Paper from waster paper which we throw away now and from straw which farmers
burn to get rid of. It can easily be done within six months. Our economic
pundits will come up with a hundred provisos- economics of scale and lack
of foreign exchange criteria which industrial giants India and China do not
follow. They are all paper qualified who have never established an industry in
their lives. We can provide full employment to our people by banning imports
and making them in our country.
Let me tell how we can build industries by cutting imports.
Our CoopCrayon required a permit to import dyes, the only imported
ingredient in making crayons. The Ministry of Industries refused as ours
was a cooperative venture. The Controller of Imports had separated foreign
exchange to import crayons. I pointed out to Harry Guneratne, the
Controller of Imports that he could save foreign exchange by allowing us
some of that foreign exchange to import dyes. because we will be making the
crayons that he was hoping to import. He was immediately convinced.
Minister Illangaratne who approved it even wanted me to establish a crayon
factory at Kolonnawa, his electorate. A small allocation of foreign exchange to
import dyes enabled the Ministry of Imports to cut the import of crayons. That
is how we have to cut our imports and make things ourselves. A crayon is a
sophisticated product. If we could have made crayons, which we did,, there is
no item that we cannot make.
. ‘We have to get parliamentarians in the caliber of Sumanapala
Dahanayake to our Houses of Parliament today.
While fully supporting Milinda Moragoda I have added proof that we
can win the battle to develop our country and alleviate poverty.
Thanks to patriot Milinda Moragoda for his words of wisdom.
Garvin Karunaratne 28/06/2019
Former Government Agent, Matara District
Author of
How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka and Alternative Programmes of success(Godages)
2006
How the IMF Sabotages Third World Development (Kindle/Godages)2017
Archaeological
discoveries in Sri Lanka have proven that human settlements had been in the
country since prehistoric era and the country had a long history of living
humans who were at the civilized level or not.
Archaeologists and anthropologists attempted to give a clear picture of
the beginning humans based on the traces in the country and the historical evidence
also give conflicting views on the ancient population of Sri Lanka. The
conflicting opinion seems to be concerned with the ethnic identity and it also
appears that conflicting views of ethnic identity have involved in political
beliefs of historical analysts. My focus
of this article is to mainly consider the demographical trends related issues
in Sri Lanka. Current Sri Lanka has
misunderstandings about the population structure, its trend, and the patterns
of growth. The statistics published in
this article are official statistics of the population of Sri Lanka which were
published by the Census and Statistics Department and they are reliable
statistics found from official census with less than 0.05% of errors. Before I enter to the focus, I would like to
discuss in brief, some controversial issues in relation to ethnic identity and
some significant historical factors that had been influenced to the shape of
the population of Sri Lanka.
According to
historical evidence given in the Mahavansa, the ethnic group of Sinhala began
with effect from the arrival of Vijaya and his associates but historical
evidence in the same book confirms that there were groups of humans called
Devils in the country, when Vijaya embarked (Please read Chapter 1, the Visit
of the Thathagatha in Mahavansa).
Further, the Mahavansa described that when Lord Buddha visited the
country there were other groups of humans called Nagas and Devas. When we read
the book, a doubt creates in our minds whether so-called devils and nagas or
devas were humans or animals or spirits of real devils. If so-called devils
were demons, they were supposed to exist in all over the world in terms of
general beliefs of people, not only in Sri Lanka according to religious
mythology. The book further indicates
that human arrived under the leadership of Vijaya and the group of Vijaya
associated with devils. As a result of
this union, a mixed-race people were originated in the country, they were
called Sinhala. My understanding is that
so-called devils, nagas, and devas were humans, but they were religiously
associated with the worship of devils, cobras, and Gods. The diversity of
population had existed in Sri Lanka since the beginning of settlements in the
country. The settlements don’t mean that the beginning of a new civilization
and a culture after the embarkation of Vijaya and his followers but people who
settled before them had a civilization and a culture and Vijaya and his
associate mixing with domestic people open for a new civilization and a
culture.
The significant
point we need to consider is that Sri Lanka was not an empty land (Terra
Nolias) when Vijaya and his associates embarked to the country. Whatever the religious beliefs people had,
there were humans in the country and the arrival of Vijaya and his associates
subjected to alloying with existed people and to generate new groups of people,
they were called Sinhala. There is an
international wide story that a King called Ravana ruled the country with a
large human population and the devils, who were described in the Mahavansa would
have related to them. The rule and the stories of Ravana have a historical
controversy and some historians claim that Lanka of Ravana was not Sri Lanka,
where we called now. When we think in
that line, indigenous people of Sri Lanka were a community mixed with ancient
humans and the group of Vijaya.
There is another
issue relates to the beginning of Sinhala race. The historic book, the
Mahavansa attempted to interpret the ethnic group (Sinhala) began from a lady
Suppa Devi who was forcefully eloped by Sinha (Lion), while she was going with
cart traders. Suppa Devi was born to a couple, Princes of Kalinga who married
to a Wanga King. Two kids were born to
Suppa Devi, they were named as Sinhabahu and Sinhasevali and Sinhabahu killed
his father Sinha and build a city called Sinhapura where was the origin of
Vijay and associates. Archaeological
researchers found that there was a town called Sinhapura in the Orissa Province
in India. However, there is a clear doubt whether Sinha was a lion (animal) or
a human called Sinha, which means according to the Sinhala language is a
Strongman. (This Sinha name widely used in India and the former Indian High
Commissioner to Sri Lanka also got the same name) The biological truth leads us
to assume that Sinha was not an animal but a human who was named as Sinha based
on his characteristics and the behaviour.
Recently I read a book titled The People of The Lion”, which was
published by Verite Research Organization in Colombo. The book is mainly focused on a debate in relation
to the people of the lion, between Prof RALH Gunawardane and Prof KNO
Dharmadasa. Many interesting points were discussed in the book, but they were
not authentic facts because no archaeological evidence has found in relation to
the arguments. The debate leads us to
further thinking and investigation requirements based on various assumptions on
this matter.
When we read
many historical books in Sri Lanka, they help us to understand a significant
fact on the population history of the country. Sri Lanka was a place of living
humans before Prince Vijay arrived in the country. Anthropologically they were a group of
humans, who had a root of Indians or mixed with Indian and Mongolians. Most
probably they were with dark and light skin colours. Human diversity was a
remarkable characteristic of the population and the human diversity has
contributed to developing an assorted culture in Sri Lanka. This situation can be seen in other countries
of the world.
Another vital
fact is that Indian population has contributed to maintaining the population
level of Sri Lanka and the ethnic identity of the population of Sri Lanka was
strongly influenced by Indian population and characteristics of them. Indian people migrated to Sri Lanka legally
or illegally and Indian people bought to Sri Lanka as mercenaries, slavers and
for other purposes such as to participate in economic and military activities.
The obvious information from historical evidence is that Sri Lankan authorities
brought Indians to Sri Lanka to perform work, which was unwilling or unskilled
to be performed by Sinhala people. It
has recorded that seven or seventy thousand people were brought to Sri Lanka
during the reign of King Gajaba and people were brought by King Vijayaba too
from India and settled them in seaside area.
During the
British rule, many Indian labourers brought to work in the plantation industry
and to work as coolies in public offices in urban areas. Poor Indians illegally came to Sri Lanka and
worked as tody tappers in a coconut plantation and later these illegal Indian
migrants engaged in retail trades in rural areas. Many of Indians migrated to
rural villages converted to Sinhala race by changing their names. The Illegal
arrival of Indian migrants stopped mainly because of the JVP Insurrection in
1971. There was a strong opposition to
Indian expansionism by JVP leaders in 1971. In this way, human diversity of the
population of Sri Lanka incurred from time to time.
Muslim people
were also allowed to settle in Sri Lanka after Polonnaruwa era and some
Christians in Assyrian Sect also were in Anuradhapura era, but religious
diversity was not an issue in the history as the prime objectives of Christians
arrived at the country was to engaged in business rather than religious
missions. According to the experiences of Robert Knox, Sri Lanka’s king
Rajasinghe 11 (Senkadagala Rajasinghe 1635 -1687) treated well Muslims and
Christians, however, some Muslim persons’ behaviour appeared to be cunning or
questionable to the Sinhala king and people. It also noted that Senerat praised
Portuguese attacking to Muslim settlements.
The Muslim
religion was not an issue in Sri Lanka in the history except Sinhala Muslim
conflict in early 1900, even in Europe it was not a problem. The European history clearly indicates that
Muslim religion contributed lots to the culture of Spain and there was no
opposition from Christianity for Muslim activities as they were peaceful
purposes. There was not developing ideas
against the expansion of Muslim religion in Europe. However, the issues between Israel and
Palestinians and wars in the Middle East supported to develop opinions against
the Muslims in the world. After the
emerging of Islam fundamentalism and the activities of these fundamentalists in
the name of religion also created a reasonable suspicion on the behaviour of
Islam fundamentalists. Many peace-loving
religious communities have questioned the unacceptable behaviour of some Islam
persons. Many Islam countries have attempted to use oil as an instrument of building
economic and religious hegemony over oil using countries. Developed nations in the west formulated
strategies to successfully respond to oil hegemony, but developing countries
tremendously suffered and the oil hegemony reasonably contributed to religious
hate in many countries. People in
developing countries were not happy about the strategy. Naturally, the actions
of oil-producing countries created an opposition to the Muslim community.
Sri Lanka has a
close relationship with Islam countries and Muslim people. After the oil crisis
in 1973, Sri Lanka used a variety of economic strategies to deal with the
economic disadvantages, which were incurred with the result of increasing oil
prices. Economic strategies concerned with the diversification of export
earning concentrating on invisible exports such as tourism and export of skills
and knowledge. The Middle East oil producing countries became a good market for
invisible exports and the country was to increase its export revenue to the US
$ 8 billion.
In this
background, Sri Lanka and its people must be diplomatic when dealing with
religious groups and religious mentality contains the priority of the life to
religion. This mentality relates to
Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindus and other major religions. Nobody can
specifically blame a religious community as all these people seem to be blind
with religion rather than really thinking about religious philosophy which
preaches life after the death that we cannot test like living humans. Therefore, hating each other based on unknown
matters reflects the unwise behaviour rather than logically thinking of human
values.
The major reason
to create hate between Sinhala Buddhist and Muslim people could be considered
the misunderstanding of each other and the current problematic environment in
the country created because the religious practice of Muslim religion is very
closed process and non-Muslim have no idea about what is going on in Mosques
but other religions in Sri Lanka are opened to outsiders. Christian population
in Sri Lanka had not specific hate for Muslim people but the Easter Sunday
attacks to Christian churches and tourist hotel has created a specific distance
between Islam and Christianity. The personal laws in Sri Lanka, where has ample
types of personal laws as Muslim Law, Upcountry Law, Buddhist Vihara and
Property Law, and Thesawalamai law have created some suspicious feelings to
Sinhala majority. These personal laws
purposed to ensure various rights of community groups and there is a common
law, which is applicable when there is a problem in the application of personal
laws. Many Sinhala Buddhists consider
that the Muslim community was given specific rights over the other communities
in relation to marriage, school management, and various matters. However, this
issue is a purely legal matter that needs to be resolved by legal professionals
and relevant community representatives without discriminating people in other
religion. The universal principle of the law is that all humans are equal
before the law irrespective of race, religion, caste, belief or individual
policies. It is seen that in Western
countries have not specific personal laws and the law means them is equal to
everybody in the country, because
of a person is a Buddhist or, Sinhala or Christian or Tamil or Muslim the
application of Law does not vary and law treat equally all and the method of
application of law in Sri Lanka has created tremendous problems in Sri Lanka.
If people of
Islam religion in Sri Lanka consider that they should be allowed to do whatever
they wish over the other ethnic and religious groups, it is against the
fundamental rights of other religious or ethnic groups that ensured in the
constitution. No ethnic group or religion of the country can enjoy fundamental
rights over others despite the constitutional clauses. Because of Sri Lanka economy gained
advantages from Muslim majority countries in the Middle East, it is not a valid
reason to gain advantages over other ethnic and religious groups to
discriminate Non-Muslim people in Sri Lanka.
Similarly, Buddhists also cannot work against people belonging to other
religious and ethnic groups despite the constitutional safeguard for the
prominence of Buddhism.
We can see that
America, UK, Australia, Canada, Russia, Europe and China punish Muslims and
other religious people if they violate law and order or do wrong things against
the humanity. Middle East Muslim
countries where to have a harsh punishment system do not safeguard wrongdoers
because they are a Muslim and similar way if Muslim people do the wrong thing
in Sri Lanka, the economic relationship of the country with Muslim countries
would not be a reason to allow Muslims in Sri Lanka to do wrong things. Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and Christians in
Sri Lanka must respect the law and order of the country.
It seems that
misinformation in Sri Lanka travels through news media and social media in
relation to the population and the trend of population growth. Most of the information is fabricated by a
variety of individuals and groups without using the statistics published by the
government of Sri Lanka. Although the
official statistics on the population began in 1881, the human diversity of
population has remained for centuries with a clear broadening of the diversity
since the European rule beginning in 1505.
The ethnic base
population of Sri Lankan since 1881 census to latest reported census is given
in the Table (a) in which clearly indicates that Sinhala ethnic group[G1] has gradually increased as a ratio of population and Sri Lankan
Tamils’ ratio has notably declined from 26.69% to 12.86% in 1911, I assume that
the major reason to change was the beginning of the Tamil population
classification as Sri Lanka Tamils, Indian Tamils, and Indian Moors. Why such a change was done for a single
ethnic group of Tamil[G2] is difficult to assume. However, it can postulate that the Census
Authority wished to show a greater diversity in Tamil population.
The population of Sri Lanka in terms
of the ethnical base is given in the following (Table a)
Source: United Nations Estimates based
on Census of Sri Lanka
The total
population of Sri Lanka in 2017 according to the United Nations estimates based
on the census conducted in the past and estimates of the Central Bank report was
20920934, which was equivalent to 0.028% of the World Population. From this
population, 19.4% are living in urban areas and 80.6% of the population is
living in rural and semi-urban areas. Another vital factor is nearly 3 Million
of Sri Lanka’s population are living exile, however, these statistics are not
reliable because those who have gone overseas and change the citizenship could
not be regarded as a part of the population of Sri Lanka though they born in
the country unless all take dual citizenship.
Table (a)
further indicates the ethnic base of total population. Historically, the first
census of Sri Lanka conducted in 1881 in which the ethnic mix of the population
was 69.91% Sinhala, 24.9% Sri Lankan Tamils, 6.69% Sri Lankan Moor, 0.65%
Burghers or Eurasians and 0.32% Sri Lankan Malays. The ethnic mixture has changed in 1911 census
because Indian Tamils (12.93%) and Indian Moors (5.70%) added to the ethnic
mixture of the population. Since 1911, statistics demonstrate that Indian
Tamils and Moors in Sri Lanka have increased decreasing the ratio of Sri Lankan
Tamils but since 1963 the situation has dramatically changed by the Indo-Lanka
Agreement, which allowed the government of Sri Lanka to deport a part of Indian
population back to India. The notable display is that Indian Moors have
vanished from Sri Lanka’s soil as a result of Indo-Lanka agreement.
The other
significant trend in the ethnic population is that Sinhala population has been
increased from 66.91% in 1881 to 74.9% in 2011 and the estimate for 2017
indicates that current ratio of Sinhala population might 76% in Sri Lanka. The
population of Sri Lankan Tamils in 1881 was 24.9% but it has dramatically
declined to 11.15% in 2011. Indian Tamil
population reflected an increase from 12.93% in 1911 to 15.43% in 1931 then
Indian Tamil population has declined to 4.12% in 2011. The Muslim population
has increased to 1892638 (9.30%) from 184500 (6.69%) in 1881 [G3] and the increase in Muslim population 2.49% between 1881 to 2011 is
very much lesser than the 8.5% of the increase in Sinhala population in the
same period. Therefore, some information
in social media is mere fabrications than the actual statics in the country.[G4]
The changes in
ethnic population in Sri Lanka from 1911 was contributed by many factors. There is no doubt that Sinhala population has
naturally increased and many population studies lead us to assume that
migration of Sinhala population to overseas countries after 1963 was in a
negligible volume and Sinhala rural people have economically established in the
country as a result of the expansion of education[G5] . They have entered public and private offices and took over the
power of administration to a reasonable extent of the country.[G6]
Sri Lankan Tamil
population was dramatically declined probably contributing several
factors. The major contributory factor
was a migration of Sri Lankan Tamils to overseas countries. A large volume of
Sri Lankan Tamils migrated to India, UK, Canada, Europe, Australia and New
Zealand. The trend for going overseas
began in the early 1970s and LTTE war encouraged to leave Tamils from the
country. The major reasons for them to
leave the country was economic factors called green pastures. After finishing
the LTTE war in 2009, Sri Lankan Tamils did not come back and still it seems
that they attempt to go overseas.
When we analyse the trend of the
population in Sri Lanka, the next significant factor is the religious
association of people. Table (b)
indicates the population by religions from 1881 to 2012. In Sri Lanka, Muslim religion treats as an
ethnic group despite the ethnic classifications in other countries in the
world. Muslim religious groups in Middle
East countries do not classify as an ethnic group but they treat as a religious
group. Tamil ethnic group in Sri Lanka
includes Hindus and Christians whilst Sinhala ethnic groups include Buddhists
and Christians. In fact, when originally
classify ethnic population, Muslim population should have included to two major
ethnic groups as Sinhala speaking Muslims and Tamil speaking Muslims. If the classification was done so, the
picture of the ethnic population would have dramatically changed.
The Population of Sri Lanka by
Religion (Table b)
Source: United Nations Estimates based
on Census of Sri Lanka
The trend of
change in the religious population indicates that Buddhists in 1881 was 61.53%
of total population has increased to 70.10% in 2012 while Hindus have declined
to 12.58% in 2012 from 21.51% in 1881. Muslim religious group has increased to
9.66% in 2012 from 7.17% in 1881 and Christian population has declined to 7.62%
in 2012 from 9.71% in 1881. Other
religious groups have seriously declined to 0.03% in 2012 from 0.08% in 1881.
When generally considers the trend of religious population, Buddhists have the
highest increase (12.58%) followed by Muslims 2.49% during 1881 to 2012.
The population
report of 2012 clearly indicates that the growth of population in relation to
ethnic communities and religious communities have not been calculated and it
might be a racist practice and may be subject to communal disharmony. It might
be difficulty in identifying birth and death of people in each religious group. The rate of population growth is the
difference between birth rate and death rate, which are calculated how many to per
thousands of people and the difference between the birth and the death rate
consider as a percentage of population growth.
Sri Lanka’s annual population growth from 1953 to 1971 remained at 2.8%
to 2.2%, which was a higher rate of growth.
Economic policymakers concerned on this matter because if the population
growth rate is higher than economic growth rate, it would be a reason to create
macroeconomic, social and family problems.
However, since 1971 population growth rate has been declined and in
2012, it was 0.7%. The control of
population growth is an essential economic policy requirement for small
countries like Sri Lanka. As we fully
aware, China had implemented one child for a family policy considering economic
issues irrespective of ethnic or religious factors.
When we observe the
trends of population growth in Sri Lanka, a significant point needs to be
considered is the fertility of women because the fertility rate is the most
influential factor, which impacts on the growth of population. According to the Census Report of 2012, the
average fertility rate of women in Sri Lanka is 2.4%, which includes all women
irrespective of different ethnic and religious communities. The disaggregate data for each community, the
report presents as Sinhala women 2.3%, Sri Lanka Tamil 2.3%, Indian Tamil 2.9%
and Muslim 3.3%. This might be a disturbing
factor for Sinhala and Sri Lankan Tamils in Sri Lanka. Why is the fertility
rate of Muslim women and Indian Tamil women higher than the national average?
The education level of women and other family and social issues might be
contributing to this situation. [G7]
People need to
understand demographic trends looking at actual statistics rather than
listening to fabricated stories. I read
various articles in internet about women fertility trend in Sri Lanka and the
reliability of information is questionable and the rate of growth of population
in religious group may be required to control although it might treat as a
racist act. The best action is to calculate it and keep confidential for policy
or referencing purpose.
Inquisition in Goa, India.www.maayboli.com Hindu, Muslim, Jews, &Christians… bharatabharati.wordpress.com
In the annals of world history, the period of “The Inquisition” introduced by Portuguese rulers of Goa, India was the worst and scary chapter no body can ever think of, all in the name of Christ, an embodiment of love and compassion. In 1542, Fr. Francis Xavier, co-founder of the Society of Jesus, arrived in Goa with a view to taking the message of Christ among the native Indians who followed altogether different religions. He observed that the newly converted Christians were still practicing their old customs and traditions and were not serious about following the true Christian faith. Indian Christians, having turned a deaf ear to the European missionaries’ clarion call and subsequent warning, kept joyfully following their traditional Indian customs. Terribly disappointed, Fr. Francis Xavier took the extreme recourse available for him and he, at last, asked the Portuguese government in Portugal to introduce the most dreaded Inquisition in Goa, then a citadel of Portuguese power in India. He urged King John the III of Portugal to set up the Inquisition in Goa also to suppress Judaism because Jews refused to reconvert to Roman Catholicism. There was also Jewish population present in the other colonies in the west like Cochin and Goa.
Fr. Francis Xavier’s embalmed mortal remains are today kept in a silver casket inside the Bom Jesus Basilica in Goa and are taken out for public viewing every ten years. It is unfortunate that those thousands who come there to do their prayers reverentially to get his blessings had no idea whatsoever about him, who was responsible for the horrible atrocities he had let lose on the innocent people in ten of thousands, including Muslims, Jews and Hindus, many of whom were tortured to death and whose families underwent untold miseries and pain in the loss of their loved ones. The following are the disgusting and, nauseating facts of Goa Inquisition during the Portuguese colonial period:
01. It is estimated that by the end of the 17th century, the Portuguese carried out ethnic cleansing of Hindus and Muslims who constituted less than 20,000 people who were non-Christians out of the total Goan population of 2,50,000. Among the severely punished – 4,046, out of whom 3,034 were men and 1,012 were women.
02. Indigenous people were forced to adhere to Portuguese religious beliefs, abandoning their faith.
03. The new Christian Missionaries from Portugal mandated that all Hindu temples be closed by 1541.
04. By 1559 Portuguese missionaries ordered the destruction of Hindu temples in that region. In 1567, in Bardez 300 Hindu temples were destroyed. From 1567 on Hindu rituals, including marriages and cremations, were banned for good. Everyone above 15 years of age was compelled to listen to Christian preaching, on pain of punishment.
05. With the introduction of Goa Inquisition-religious tribunal for suppression of heresy and punishment of heretics, whose prime architect was Fr. Francis Xavier, the situation turned worse for Hindus, Muslims and also for Jews. The latter were mostly traders.
06. Goa Inquisition was almost on par with Inquisition in Spain -1478 in terms of gory treatment and violence let lose in the name of religion.
07. Introduced in 1560, both Indian Christians and non-Christians went through hell and mental agony caused by Portuguese preachers in their mother land.
08. The beautiful Goa enclave with fine beaches and azure waters, in particular, became a horrible place of horrors of unimaginable proportion just for the simple reason that the natives refused to accept Portuguese religious beliefs and refused to get converted under compulsion or duress to Christianity.
09. Xavier commented “The Hindus are an unholy race. They are liars and cheats to the very backbone. Their idols are black—as black as black can be— ugly and horrible to look at , smeared with oil and smell in a evil manner…”
10. It is a paradox that Francis Xavier, the devil in the guise of a priest, who forced the King of Portugal to legally introduce the Inquisition in Goa and ordering the torture of tens of thousands of Hindus and Jews, using various innovative methods, was canonized by Pope Gregory XV in 1622.
11. Numerous Jewish families came to India to lead a peaceful life. Earlier they faced Inquisition in Spain and later in Portugal. They never thought the same fate would drive them to the wall here in India.
12. The preachers used many dreaded methods of torture to force the innocent people to swallow their preaching of Gospel . According to Richard Zimler, who wrote “Guardian of the Dawn” on Inquisition in Goa mentioned the missionaries used the machinery of death” for forceful conversion.
Portuguese Water boarding. bharatabharati.wordpress.com
13. Using torture, people were required to pass the ‘act of faith’ (auto-da-fe) by being stretched out on the rack. If not they would be burnt at the stake.
14. The following are the disgusting, brutal, inhuman punishments the faithfuls gave the gullible – tearing off the tongues, skinning of the accused alive, blinding the victim with sharp sticks or red-hot iron spikes, pulling of the flesh of victims hard with pliers and quartering – hammering a stake hard through the body (avoiding vital organs). Not be content with the above methods they used sharp iron fork to mangle breasts, red hot pincers to tear off flesh and red hot irons to insert up vagina and rectums.
15. Dismembering children limb by limb in front of their parents whose eyes were taped continued till they agreed to convert was the most cruel method used by the catholic faithfuls and they found this method very effective.
16. According to Zimler ” Over that period of 252 years, any man, woman, or child living in Goa could be arrested and tortured for simply whispering a prayer or keeping a small idol at home. Many Hindus — and some former Jews, as well — languished in special Inquisitional prisons, some for four, five, or six years at a time.”
17. In the Portuguese colonies, the government provided incentives for baptized Christians – rice donations for the poor, good positions in the Portuguese colonies for the middle class and military support for local rulers. Missionaries of the Society of Jesus acted as agents.
18. Even before Fr. Francis Xavier’s own letters about Inquisition sent to the king, missionaries, with glee, encouraged the destruction of Hindu temples and religious artifacts.
19. The Jews who secretly practiced Judaism, feigning Catholics were very much affected by Goa inquisition, in particular, Cochin Jews who began to migrate to deeper parts of Present day Kerala for survival.
20. The palace of Adil Shah, former ruler of Bijapur became the “palace of horror” where the Hindus who tried to flee the place with their deities were punished severely. There were special Inquisition prisons for the offenders of religion. Aleixo Dias Falcão and Francisco Marques were the ones who chose the palace as their venue to punish the apostates and heretics as well.
21. Possession of a small idol of a Hindu God, or a whispering prayer in Hebrew by the small Jewish community means serious trouble. Even Muslims had similar fate awaiting them.
22. Death awaited those non Christians or heretics (kept in shackles by priests) who refused to give up their faith or divulge the names of those who are non Christians. Death was by strangulation or burning alive in public Acts of Faith. These atrocities continued till 1812 until inquisition was finally abolished.
23. Hindus were not allowed to have Tulsi (basil plant, considered holy by the Hindus) maadam in their houses. Brahmin’s were forced to remove their tuft. The Portuguese colonial administration enacted anti-Hindu laws aimed at encouraging conversions to Christianity. The public worship of Hindu gods was made unlawful.
24. As for converted Christians, they were forced to say the prayers in Portuguese. Indian preachers were compelled to learn Portuguese to give their services in that language, not in their mother tongue – Konkani.Konkani language faced decline.
25. Numerous Gowda Saraswat Brahmins were forced to become Christians and were compelled to follow the western diets. Consequently numerous converted Gowda Saraswat Brahmins migrated to Mangalore (in Karnataka) and other regions. The Hindu Gowda Saraswat Brahmins, who escaped the religious persecution, also moved over to southern Canara. Part of the community moved farther down to Kochi and settled down there in places like Mattancherry..
26. Francis Buchanan, a Scottish physician, who visited Canara in 1801, in his book, ‘A Journey from Madras through the Countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar (1807)’, stated that ” Goan Christians – roughly 8000 left Goa, came and settled in South Canara at the invitation of the King of Bednore. In 1664 and later, the Maratha rulers’ invasions also one of the causes of exodus of Indian Christians. The Marathas were under the wrong impression that the native Christians were hostile to the Hindu population and forced them to convert to Christianity.
28. The inquisition was headed by a judge from Portugal who was answerable to (and only to) the General Counsel of the Lisbon Inquisition. He handed down punishments in line with the Rules that governed that Inquisition. The Inquisition was used as an instrument of social control, aiming at spreading Christian faith as followed by the Portuguese and Inquisition proceedings were conducted in secret.
29. Because of secrecy maintained by the Inquisition council and subsequent destruction of the records, numerous instances of atrocities inflicted by the Portuguese God men on Indian natives were not brought to light.
30. Da Fonseca recorded the violence and brutality of the inquisition. He mentioned the need for hundreds of prison cells to accommodate the accused. Those convicted of lesser crimes had to work in ship galleys and gunpowder factories.
31. Hindus were not allowed to enter the capital city on horseback or palanquins. Nor were they allowed to keep Hindu Gods’ images or idols at home. Christians were instructed not to employ Hindus for any purpose. Violations against the royal orders resulted in imprisonment.
32. Viceroy António de Noronha issued an order which applied to the entire area under Portuguese rule: “I hereby order that in any area owned by my master, the king, nobody should construct a Hindu temple and such temples already constructed should not be repaired without my permission. If this order is transgressed, such temples shall be, destroyed and the goods in them shall be used to meet expenses of holy deeds, as punishment of such transgression.”
33. In 1620, legislation was passed prohibiting the Hindus from performing weddings. At the instigation of Franciscans, the PortugueseViceroy banned the use of Konkani in 1684, decreeing that within three years, the local people should speak the Portuguese tongue and use it in all their dealings in Portuguese territories. If not obeyed, people will face imprisonment.
34. Those who persistently refused to give up their ancient Hindu practices were declared apostates or heretics and condemned to death. In 1736, over 42 Hindu practices were prohibited.
35. The Inquisition did not leave the local Jews and Syrian Christians in Kerala, representatives of an early Christian tradition older than Roman Catholicism, that survives today as the Jacobite Christianity. In 1599 the Synod of Diamper authorized the forceful conversion of the “Syriac Saint Thomas Christians.”St. Thomas established the first seven and half churches in the coastal Kerala way back in 52 AD. The St. Thomas Christians also became the victims of Goa Inquisition because Syriac Christians later swore the “Coonan Cross Oath,” severing relations with the Catholic Church.
Salomon, H. P. and Sassoon, I. S. D., in Saraiva, Antonio Jose. The Marrano Factory. The Portuguese Inquisition and Its New Christians, 1536–1765 (Brill, 2001), pp. 345–7.
T. R. de Souza. “The Goa Inquisition”. VG Web. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
What would you
expect from an unfortunate ship that has lost its helm and the helmsman, owing
to bearing-malfunctioning, of the helm and the head of the helmsman, as well?
Inevitably, it will become uncontrollable and lose all sense of direction
resulting in becoming incapable of sailing safely and soundly along mapped-out
lanes towards its desired destination. It won’t be seaworthy anymore.
It will become an ailing ship that will be tossed to and fro by the waves, battered
from all sides by the water and the wind and sooner or later will succumb to
the inevitable. It will sink.
Now leaving aside the above passage that I have written with a somewhat
metaphorical slant and tone, let’s muse about what our country has been going
through, particularly since ‘Yahapalanaya’ took over the reins, even though
this has already been done, most likely for an umpteenth number of times by an
equally umpteenth number of people.
We all know that it came in with lots of fanfare and full of pledges and
promises. And the people probably may have sighed in relief, telling
themselves; ‘Oh at last the bright lights of decency, fair play, justice and
eventual prosperity in sight at the end of the tunnel, which was kept dark far
too long. Now no more to white vans, cronyism, nepotism, deals, plots and
thuggery, so on and so forth’.
And just four years on, we find ourselves on a cursed ship, which has lost
direction in every conceivable sense and is adrift, left to float on its own,
in stormy seas bereft of accountability and responsibility, full of chaos,
disarray and lies. And to top it off, it is, having been already hit hard with
the massacre of more than two hundred and fifty innocent worshipers including
children, now facing a new form of threat, different from what Mr MR fought and
finished off. (The good part of him, in spite of the bad and the ugly
justifiably attributed to his conduct during his tenure as president for the
second time, in particular).
In fact, there is hardly anything new that I could add here. Many concerned
citizens including the editor himself have voiced their opinion on paper
without mincing words and many times over, at that. Almost everything is in the
doldrums. The accusation, denial, denigration, manipulation, you name it and
it’s there, but fair play, sensible, sustainable and far-sighted economic
plans, policies without political bias, law enforcement, much needed reforms in
many a sector and industry-building, to mention a few.
Yet, the corrupt, dirty deals of the nation builders and their cronies continue
uninterrupted, with scant regard for decency and honesty. And the perpetrators
are frolicking amidst the riches with gay abandon, enjoying what has already
been gained and salivating at what is in the offing and yet to come. Their
adventures are too numerous and so varied, one would find it hard to assign an
identity to each one of them, whether it’s betrayal, corruption, sell-off,
mischief, theft, sheer daylight robbery or whatever.
And there is always something to keep people busy; blabbering, discussing,
dissecting and guessing. There is a mind-boggling array of events and
happenings so varied and weird, akin to a kaleidoscope, an ugly one though,
that it’s hard to keep track of them, let alone make any sensible analysis of
each one, as one becomes lost amidst hearsay, rumour and divided
expert-opinion.
From inexplicable silence that many of the Diyawanna Oya inhabitants
maintained, yet knew in advance of an impending terrorist attack, through a
case relating to female reproductive system, then onto a Ven. monk going into a
‘fast unto death’ protest and now to the current hot topic of ‘whether to hang
them or let the noose rest in peace’, we are never short of drama, be it comic,
tragic or downright stupid. Perhaps, this is how they want it; keep us busy
arguing, debating, fighting and fuming over who, what, where and why and make
us forget that we are in reality being ceremoniously, yet cunningly led down
the garden path by them.
All in all,
anything and everything is possible in ‘la-la land cruise ship’ helmed by ‘la
comedian’, who seems to have lost few bearings in his head and helm too.
A number of prominent personalities who
pounce on the Sinhala Buddhists at the drop of a hat, has denounced vehemently
Mahanayke thero of Asgiriya regarding his recent statement alleging that he
wanted ‘ the Muslims to be stoned . Among, those who reviled was one prominent
NGO activist who wanted legal action be
taken against the Mahanyake for his ‘hate speech’!. Some leading Muslim spokespersons such as
Assad Sally too adverted to the allegation that Muslims should be stoned and
condemned the Mahanyake thero,
But, a very few had listened properly to
Maha Nyake thero’s said speech. He DOES NOT AT ALL mention that the Muslims
should be stoned. Instead he refers to the suspected actions of some Muslim
shop owners and a doctor in Matale who are involved in questionable practices
and said that some women have said that
they should be stoned to death. He immediately continued his speech and said
THAT HE DOES NOT AGREE WITH THE PRPOSITION. He also said that if some are
involved in such unsavoury practices he thinks that they deserve this
punishment. He appealed to the Sinhala Buddhists to get together to protect
themselves. He mentioned that if such crimes
were committed against another ethnic group by the Sinhala Buddhists.
the offenders will be sliced to death.
Maha Nyake thero NEVER MENTIONED THAT THE
MUSLIMS SHOULD BE STONED. But, he said that if some are guilty of criminal acts
they have to be punished.
It is unfortunate that the killing of
nearly 300 people and injuring over 500 persons by the Islamic terrorists have
been pushed into the oblivion and the main focus of the anti Sinhala Buddhist
individuals and organizations is continuing to fly off the handle.
Where a sheep is hanged as a lamb , the
white sepulchres rule unabated,
By Dr. P. G. Punchihewa Of the former Ceylon Civil Service
July 2, 2019, 9:08 pm
(A shorter version of this article appeared in the Sunday Island August 5,2018)
Why do we kill people who kill people to show people that killing people is wrong? — R. Chandrasoma
Since the announcement was made by the government recently to reintroduce the capital punishment much has been written in support or against the move.
But I wonder whether there is anybody from either group who would have seen the penalty being implemented and convicts executed? There are two such reports from two officials who witnessed the event.
Let me reproduce them. The first from Chandrasoma as reported in his “Vignettes of the Ceylon Civil Service 1938 -1957” and the second from Leonard Woolf in his autobiography “Growing”. I quote from Chandrasoma first as it gives the background for his presence at the execution.
“Why do we kill people who kill people to show people that killing people is wrong? The cadet had to officiate at every fifth hanging. The GA took the first, the AGA the second, the OA third, the Extra OA the fourth and if you were the cadet, [it was] your baby. Mine had been three days ago. I was given two days’ notice of my ordeal ….
“Representing the fiscal I was the last to speak to the condemned man. He was a Tamil from an estate in the district and it was some little consolation to me that I then had not enough Tamil to speak to him except through an interpreter. In the cold Kandy dawn, he was in a sweat shivering and his teeth chattering, as he stood at the door of the condemned cell. I was in little better state. I had to ask him whether he was the man condemned to death in the Supreme Court in case number so and so, presumably to make sure that the wrong man was not killed. He nodded speechlessly It was then my duty to ask him whether he wished to make a will, make any disposition, or convey any message to anybody. That was the sum of it and then I stepped back to see him hooded and walked to the gallows. I had finally to witness and certify that he was duly hanged by the neck till he was dead.
“I scratched my signature on the official paper and staggered away. Despite the superintendent of the prison telling me the grisly details of how this man had hacked his young wife to death and showing me the knife with which the deed was done in a vain attempt to help me regain my composure, I had not been able to eat and sleep.” (Pages 2-3) This was in 1938.
Woolf’s account in his biography “Growing” is more detailed and gruesome.
“In Kandy executions took place in the Bogambara Prison in the early morning before breakfast. To be present at them was a horrifying experience and the more I had to witness, the more horrible I found them – and I think this was the experience of almost everyone who had to be present … The procedure was that I first went to the condemned man’s cell, read over to him the warrant of execution, and asked him whether he had anything to say. Some said no; several of them asked that their bodies after execution should be handed to their relatives. After I read the warrant, the condemned man was led out of the cell, clothed in white, on his head a curious white hat which at the last moment was drawn down to hide his face. In most cases they seemed to be quite unmoved as they walked to the scaffold, but one man in a state of terror and collapse and had to be almost carried to the gallows by the warders and all the way he kept repeating some words of a Sinhalese, prayer, over and over again, and even as he stood with the rope round his neck waiting for the drop. The man was led on to the scaffold by the warders, his arms were pinioned, and the hat drawn over his face. I had to stand immediately facing him on a kind of verandah where I could see the actual hanging. In two out of the six or seven hangings which I had to certify something went wrong.
In one case the man appeared not to die immediately; the body went on twitching violently and the executioner went and pulled on the legs. In the other case four men had to hang one morning and they were hanged two by two. The first two were hanged correctly, but either they gave one of the second two too big a drop or something else went wrong for his head was practically torn from his body and a great jet of blood spurted up three or four feet, covering the gallows and the priest praying on the steps.
“I give these repulsive details because those who support capital punishment in the 20th century pretend that it is a necessary, humane, civilized form of punishment. As a form of punishment, it is disgusting and as I saw it disgustingly inefficient. From the point of view of society and criminology, in my opinion, it is completely useless. The men whom I saw executed had all committed unpremeditated crimes of violence, killing from passion, anger or in a quarrel. Not one of them was deterred from killing by the fact that hundreds of other men in Ceylon had been hanged for precisely similar killings. All the evidence, in all countries and at all times goes to show that capital punishment is not a deterrent of crime; in fact ,by the mystique horror which creates it tends to induce the crimes for which men have recently been executed.” — p 167 and 168 (italics mine)
This was in 1905. The CCS cadets who came after 1958, appreciated the humane decision taken by the then Minister of Justice , M. W. H. de Silva, who did away with the capital punishment as they did not have to go through the agony of witnessing a human being hanged in their presence as Chadrasoma and Woolf explained above.
“I do not believe that any of the hundreds of executions I carried out in any way acted as a deterrent against murder.”– Albert Pierrepoint, Hangman, UK (1931-1956)
After a few false starts, the incumbent President of Sri Lanka seems to have acted upon his well-known belief in the utility of Capital Punishment [1]. This institutionalised crime is now due to take place in our land of ahimsa, after a hiatus of 43 years. Whether The President sprang into action because of the purported rise in drug trafficking, as he publicly espouses, or whether it was an attempt at gaining ignoble popularity prior the upcoming elections (Capital Punishment is quite a popular “solution” to serious crime in some ignorant quarters of Sri Lanka [2]), is not our concern here. Our purpose here is to discuss the value of Capital Punishment as a social instrument for mitigating the spread of serious crime, and examine its moral underpinning.
There are three popular arguments in favor of Capital Punishment:
1. It allows society to punish a wrongdoer, thereby balancing “the celestial scales of justice”.
2. It serves as a deterrent for persons who may be contemplating violent or serious crimes.
3. It serves as a redress for the victims of violent or serious crimes.
A mere century and a half ago, judicial experts and the intellectual community at large were in favour of leveraging Capital Punishment. Even that great rationalist luminary of the 19th Century, John Stuart Mill, famously argued in parliament in favor of capital punishment, albeit for the most extreme of cases: “…when the attendant circumstances suggest no palliation of the guilt, no hope that the culprit may even yet not be unworthy to live among mankind, nothing to make it probable that the crime was an exception to his general character rather than a consequence of it, then I confess it appears to me that to deprive the criminal of the life of which he has proved himself to be unworthy, solemnly to blot him out from the fellowship of mankind and from the catalogue of the living is most appropriate.” [3]
However, times have changed since the days of JS Mill. We saw two entire new branches of science emerge, which has something definitive to say about the efficacy of Capital Punishment; namely psychology and sociology.
We know today that argument #2 (i.e. Capital Punishment is a deterrent) is empirically false [4] [5] [6] [7] [8], and we know that arguments #1 (“punishment”) & #3 (“redress”) are a mere window dressing of a primitive, Darwinian instinct that was useful in stone-age tribal societies. Contrary to this vengeful instinct, many a moral philosopher, both ancient [9] and modern [10], has rejected capital punishment, and the use of retribution as a solace for victims, as an uncivilized way of conducting human affairs.
Albert Camus, that outstanding French libertarian and writer, highlighted the concern pointedly:
“But what is capital punishment if not the most premeditated of murders, to which no criminal act, no matter how calculated, can be compared? If there were to be a real equivalence, the death penalty would have to be pronounced upon a criminal who had forewarned his victim of the very moment he would put him to a horrible death, and who, from that time on, had kept him confined at his own discretion for a period of months. It is not in private life that one meets such monsters”.
The utopian human being with perfect mannerisms and an unfailing character is an imaginary socio-psychological construct, a conceptual role-model for children. The uneasy truth is that human intent is fickle, governed by a nervous system whose structure and function is fraught with aberrations, which cannot be eliminated through nurture alone. A psychopathic personality, for example, could be the direct consequence of a poor endowment of mirror neurons, as a result of generic mutations that attenuate empathy from birth [11] [12] [13]. Those with such subtle birth “defects”, no matter how peaceable their childhood influences may have been, may be saddled with a fundamental inability to empathize with other living creatures. They may not even be able to empathize with themselves, in a self-reflective manner. Not being able to feel for someone (or even for one’s own self) makes it easy for one to cause injury or distress to others. When children with such genetic predispositions for low empathy experience trauma in early childhood, psychopathy and “Cluster-B” personality disorders emerge.
An Iowa Supreme Court Justice made this observation as far back as 1840:
“Crime indicates a diseased mind in the same manner that sickness and pain do a diseased body. And as in the one case we provide hospitals for the treatment of severe and contagious diseases, so in the other, prisons and asylums should be provided for similar reasons.”
If society ends up killing every such person who yields to their natural instinct (to strike, rape or unscrupulously exploit), rather than finding ways to curb or neutralize their behavior, we then get into a fascinatingly diabolical downward spiral. The more we kill those who lack empathy, in order to better the lives of those who have it, the more we lower the empathy of the empathetic. We know that a taste for judicial killing brutalizes society [14], as was the case in Victorian England, where public hanging made life cheap, and people more and more violent. We find such a brutal society today in Saudi Arabia, where domestic workers are abused [15], and where murder and sex crimes are rampant. The executioner hacks away to no avail.
That is precisely why more enlightened nations, including Sri Lanka, aspire to practice Restorative or Preventative Justice [16].
We should also not make any mistake on the legitimacy of the actual act; Capital Punishment is a premeditated violent crime committed by the state, according to modern jurisprudence. It is not an act of self-defence (as Camus and others have clearly pointed out). Perpetrators are often executed years after their bad acts were committed, and by that time their attitudes have changed dramatically for the better, or they at least have been neutralized as a damaging force. There are ample such cases widely publicized in the media [17].
There probably are a dozen other reasons [18] for permanently abolishing capital punishment and resorting to a lengthy prison sentence, ranging from the danger of punishing the innocent, to the cost of the entire procedure outweighing the cost of a life sentence. To quote Jeffrey A. Fagan, Professor of Law at Colombia Law School:
“As states across the country adopt reforms to reduce the pandemic of errors in capital punishment, we wonder whether such necessary and admirable efforts to avoid error and the horror of the execution of the innocent won’t—after many hundreds of millions of dollars of trying—burden the country with a death penalty that will be ineffective, unreasonably expensive, and politically corrosive to the broader search for justice.” There is one very special reason why Sri Lanka should not take this extreme measure. Sri Lanka is the Asian poster child for a country operating a genuinely restorative system of justice, supposedly drawing inspiration from the compassionate philosophy of Gautama Buddha [19]. Our restorative system of justice serves as a beacon for sociocultural progress, in comparison with our neighboring countries. It is disappointing to see our President succumb to a belief in Capital Punishment, rather than stand upright and explain to people the hard truth that we cannot win the war against drugs, crimes or deviance, through mere attrition.
Advocates of Capital Punishment (including our President) often hide behind the fact that the USA and China leverage it. Let us quote that preeminent American moral philosopher Sam Harris, who refutes the pride in this assertion:
“Especially in the United States, is a barbaric system of imprisonment—to say nothing of capital punishment—that should make all citizens ashamed.”
Our own experts are unequivocal on the matter. Dr. L.B. L. De Alwis, ex-Chief JMO, had published an excellent analysis of the Lankan situation [20] in The Sri Lanka Journal of Forensic Medicine, Dec-2011, where he strikes at the core of the problem, along with a superb background analysis. Let us quote.
“In my opinion it is not the Non-implementation of the death penalty that has contributed to the rise of grave crime, especially murder, in Sri Lanka, but the release of murderers, rapists, drug barons, extortionists, highway robbers etc. sentenced to death or to long term rigorous imprisonment by the Judiciary, but later released by the executive in the shortest possible time for petty political advantage”.
Yasantha Kodagoda and other Lankan legal luminaries have held similar views [21] over the years.
It’s simply awful when drug barons rule the roost, or when terrible crimes happen. Our hearts go out to the victims and their kin, and our minds scream for justice. The state owes four things to society in instances of serious crime:
• Dispense justice swiftly and accurately, where the perpetrators are correctly identified, tried fairly and sentenced appropriately.
• Provide the next of kin of the victims with psychological counseling and support, to the utmost degree possible.
• Learn lessons from the crime and share them for the broader education of the general public.
• Firmly discourage lawlessness and mob-justice, which would interfere with criminal investigations.
The third point above is important and not to be underestimated in its value. Education, awareness and vigilance are the real weapons against serious crimes. Profiling of violent or deviant persons, cautioning parents and children about how to stay safe in ungated, low-income neighborhoods where dangers lurk, enforcing better policing etc. are all steps to be facilitated by the state. Furthermore, in counterpoint to The President’s current reasoning, a “war on drugs” is arguably a futile one [22]. There is ample expert opinion which shows that drug abuse is best mitigated through education, counseling, better parenting and social awareness. Of course we must proactively dismantle drug smuggling operations and imprison heavy traffickers for life. But laws alone are insufficient. We must “raise consciousnesses” against the use, manufacture and import of hard drugs, like we did against cigarets, and like we do for the accommodation of multiple sexualities. We must have a social awakening that makes the use of hard drugs unfashionable, and shun traffickers, not reward them (some of the largest importers were linked to Lankan politicians in the recent past [23]).
Poor parenting (and associated personality disorders in children) is not to be underestimated as a causal factor for the consumption of hard drugs. Lack of self-confidence in teenagers due to the indifference, over-control or violence of parents, is still fairly commonplace in Sri Lanka, even amongst upper middle income and wealthy homes. Such teenagers and young adults are far more susceptible to easy escape routs, like drugs, gangs or cults. We must also differentiate between hard drugs and marijuana. Experts tell us that the latter is less addictive and much less damaging to the body than alcohol or tobacco [24], and could reasonably be consumed in a safe form by psychologically balanced adults, to enjoy its soothing or psychedelic properties. Understanding this fact would help to focus the war, and not waste police resources and public money.
What the state does not owe society is a reactionary, “quick fix”, which would prejudice or pervert the broader course of justice in our country, and create an unhealthy punitive culture amongst our children. We leave the reader with these two quotes:
“I have never heard a murderer say they thought about the death penalty as a consequence of their actions prior to committing their crimes.” – Gregory Ruff, police lieutenant in Kansas
“I do not believe that any of the hundreds of executions I carried out in any way acted as a deterrent against murder.” – Albert Pierrepoint, Hangman, UK (1931-1956)
References:
1. President Sirisena on Capital Punishment (listen to the clapping as he expresses his personal approval): http://www.adaderana.lk/news/32381/capital-punishment-if-parliament-approves-president
2. Political motivation reported behind Sirisena’s move on reintroducing Capital Punishment: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48812576
3. Mill on Capital Punishment: http://ethics.sandiego.edu/books/Mill/Punishment/
4. Capital Punishment: Deterrent Effects & Capital Costs: https://www.law.columbia.edu/law_school/communications/reports/summer06/capitalpunish 5. 88% of criminologists do not believe the death penalty is an effective deterrent: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/study-88-criminologists-do-not-believe-death-penalty-effective-deterrent
6. The Death Penalty and Deterrence: http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/death-penalty/us-death-penalty-facts/the-death-penalty-and-deterrence
7. The death penalty is ineffective and indefensible: http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2014/09/29/the-death-penalty-is-ineffective-and-indefensible
8. Failure to Deter Crime: http://nccadp.org/issues/deterrence/
9. Buddhism on Capital Punishment: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/buddhistethics/capitalpunishment.shtml
10. Sam Harris on capital punishment: “The result, especially in the United States, is a barbaric system of imprisonment—to say nothing of capital punishment—that should make all citizens ashamed”. http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/reflections-on-free-will
11. Psychopathic criminals have empathy switch: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-23431793
12. Do Mirror Neurons Give Us Empathy? http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/do_mirror_neurons_give_empathy
13. How Empathy Can Be a Luxury: http://bengraves.hubpages.com/hub/Psychopaths-and-Mirror-Neurons-How-Empathy-can-be-Absent
17. The case of Karla Faye Tucker: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karla_Faye_Tucker
18. 13 Reasons to Oppose the Death Penalty: http://www.oadp.org/facts/13-reasons
19. Buddhism and capital punishment: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/buddhistethics/capitalpunishment.shtml
20. DEATH PENALTY versus LIFE IMPRISONMENT: http://www.pdn.ac.lk/med/departments/forensic/Vol2No2.pdf
21. Death penalty not the answer, expediting dispensation of justice is: http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=69674
22. The “War on Drugs” is lost: https://samharris.org/a-war-well-lost/
23. Political links to Drug Traffickers: http://www.ft.lk/article/255408/At-sea-over-drugs- 24. Alcohol vs Cannabis: https://www.livescience.com/61786-marijuana-versus-alcohol-brain.html
There is a perceived threat of a major intrusion into the country’s sovereignty and the country being turned into a military base for the US, as part of its strategy for dominance in the Indian Ocean. Several agreements with the US and supportive parliamentary acts are said to be in the pipeline hidden from the public eye. The proposed agreements are (1) Status of Forces Agreement, (2) Acquisition and Cross Service Agreement and (3) Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact. The first would enable the US to deploy their armed forces in any part of our country with the freedom of not coming under the law of the country. The second envisages the building of an economic corridor from Colombo to Trincomalee and the third agreement would establish a corporation to utilize the land that comes under the economic corridor. Going hand in hand with these agreements are the following proposed parliamentary acts; the Land Special Provisions Act and the State Land Bank Act. These acts of parliament would facilitate acquisition of land by foreign investors and the formation of corporations for the development of these lands.
Obviously, the primary interest of the US is in the military sphere, and the secondary interest is to tighten the grip it has on the country with a strong economic involvement making us dependent on them. Our land would be made available to their armed forces and also to their investors. The economic corridor could eventually be American owned and would connect the two ports also, Colombo and Trincomalee for military and economic purposes. The US and also our prime minister seem to be in a great hurry to get our government to enter into these agreements as there is an election around. The US has indicated that they want future governments to honour these agreements, probably aiming to take an insurance against a possible defeat of this government at the forthcoming elections. The legality of these agreements and their future validity have to be seriously looked at in relation to the relative powers of the executive and the legislature, given their far reaching and obvious adverse impact on Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and land ownership.
The PM seems to be under obligation to the US for helping him to come to power and would not attempt to stop them from doing what they want. The President, going by his past performance, though he had raised objections, cannot be relied upon to demonstrate a firm and consistent stand on these vital issues. His handling of the bond scam, Hambantota Port take over, Easter Sunday attacks, and his latest position on the 19th Amendment are just a few glaring instances characteristic of a dithering nature. Prime Minister, on the other hand, apart from his apparent hurry to get it over with, has a blemished past regarding inimical agreements. The infamous Peace Agreement drafted by Erich Solheim that he signed in 2002 comes to mind. At that time there was an executive president elected by the people with full powers. All international and also national agreements have to be signed by the person who represents the people’s sovereignty. There was no provision in the 1978 Constitution for delegation of authority to sanction agreements. Yet the PM without consulting the president signed the Peace Agreement which gave parity of status to the LTTE vis-a-vis the government. The legality of PM signing the Peace Agreement in 2002 is, therefore, questionable.
Thus, at a crucial time of existential importance we are between the devil and the deep blue sea with a vulture hovering above. The President tends to waver and the PM has a tendency to act in breach of the Constitution. The PM in 2002 was doing what the west asked him to do and he is doing the same in 2019. The President in 2002 was constitutionally more powerful than the incumbent in 2019 and was able to get rid of the government. The present president hasn’t got that power as was shown in October 2018. Despite the 19th Amendment, the president may have the necessary powers to abrogate agreements entered into without his approval, but whether he would do it may depend on the factors that influence his political future and his final decision in that regard. If he aligns with the pro-US camp he may go along with the decision to enter into the agreements and, on the other hand, if he returns to the national camp he may not approve the signing of the agreements. Notwithstanding these considerations the PM, like in the past and in secret, may sign the agreement. And as it was in 2002 the agreements would be deemed to have been duly entered into and implementation may proceed by the use of force if necessary as hinted by the US. Stakes are high for both the PM and the US. Only hope is the dissenting voice within the UNP against these agreements, which at present is only a whimper.
For the US, Sri Lanka has assumed greater geopolitical importance in view of the proposed Chinese Belt and Road Initiative, and the vital role Sri Lanka may be called upon to play in that project. US Secre tary of State has stated in no uncertain terms that they would not hesitate to militarily intervene to protect their interests anywhere in the world, including sea routes for trade. Further their global economic policy is to make countries dependent on them rather than improve the quality of life in those countries. Thus they want to get a grip on Sri Lanka’s economy and make us dependent on them, which would make it easy to convert Sri Lanka into a US military base for all practical purposes. The latter is crucial for them for they may soon lose the right to have their base in Diego Garcia.
The proposed economic corridor from Colombo to Trincomalee envisages the construction of five metropolitan centres connected by super highways covering several districts, and involving a large swath of land between the two cities. All activities in this corridor will be controlled by the US owned corporations. The above mentioned parliamentary acts relating to land will provide for the acquisition of land for this purpose. US armed forces will have the freedom of movement anywhere in the country and will have diplomatic immunity. Therefore, what is proposed is virtually a military take over and total control of the economy, the one facilitating the other.
What is important to the citizens of Sri Lanka, at a time when an election is looming, is the question whether we have the political leadership needed to resist the pressure applied by the US. Today the President is not very strong either constitutionally or politically. His political future is uncertain and he is trying hard to find a foothold to launch his next move aimed at salvaging some political space. PM desperately needs US assistance to remain in power. Large scale foreign involvement in the forthcoming elections is a distinct possibility; it happened at the last election and would happen with greater force at the coming elections. Neither the US nor China would like to be mere observers and leave it to our people to decide on their future rulers, they both have huge investments in areas of geopolitical importance. China has the Hambantota Port strategically positioned in relation to its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, and the US and India would like to prevent its progress. India may acquire Mattala Airport and it too would be interested in our elections. Our people who have a reputation for resisting foreign invasions will have to unite, forget their political affiliations and rise up against foreign hegemony, their local lackeys, and decide on their future. Our very existence as a free and independent nation would depend on their decision.
SLFP General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekera, MP, speaking on behalf of President Maithripala Sirisena, said yesterday that a final decision on the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the US should be delayed till the conclusion of the 2019 presidential election.
Similarly, the proposed Millennium Challenge Corporation (MMC) agreement, too, should be delayed till after the next presidential election. Jayasekera said.
MP Jayasekera said so in response to a query raised by The Island at the weekly media briefing at SLFP Headquarters on T. B. Jayah Mawatha.
The Island sought the SLFP’s reaction to recent US Embassy statement that the US expected whoever wins the next presidential election to honour agreements entered into by the two countries.
MP Jayasekera said that SOFA and MCC could be put on hold though Sri Lanka was now duty bound to follow ACSA (Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement).
The SLFPer said that President Sirisena had declared he wouldn’t approve SOFA and MCC under any circumstances.
Jayasekera dealt with several issues, including the ongoing controversy over President Sirisena’s decision to resume judicial executions, ACSA, SOFA and MCC, an agreement between Parliament and the US, the SLFP’s stand on the No Confidence Motion (NCM) moved by the government and President Sirisena’s candidature at 2019 presidential poll.
The MP faulted the UNP for a number agreements successive UNP administrations had entered into such as Voice of America (VOA) station. He recalled the circumstances under which in Feb 2001 the UNP had entered into a Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) with the LTTE and co-sponsored Geneva Resolution against the country in Oct 2015. On both occasions Presidents weren’t consulted, MP Jayasekera said.
Commenting on Sri Lanka entering into ACSA in March 2007 during the Rajapaksa administration and the current dispensation extending an expanded version of it recently, MP Jayasekera claimed that President Sirisena wasn’t briefed of the ACSA.
The Island sought an explanation as to why accusations were directed at the UNP with regard to ACSA because it was President Sirisena, in his capacity as the Defence Minister who placed agreement on ACSA before the cabinet and later signed by the then Defence Secretary Kapila Waidyaratne, PC.
Jayasekera said that ACSA hadn’t been discussed at the Cabinet and in Parliament. Asked whether the ACSA had been subjected to scrutiny by relevant Parliamentary Sectoral Oversight Committees (SOC), MP Jayasekera said that SOC system hadn’t been in operation at that time.
The finalisation of ACSA took place over a year before President Sirisena’s UPFA quit the government. However, he is the head of the government.
The Island pointed out that the signing of the Sri Lanka Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA) had taken place in Colombo in January 2018 in President Sirisena’s presence. When he was askedwhether President would inquire into the circumstances under which ACSA was entered into, MP Jayasekera said that proposed SOFA was far more dangerous than ACSA. He alleged that the government had not followed specific advice given by President Sirisena in respect of SLSFTA.
When the media pointed out how Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera had recently defended ACSA, SOFA and MCC, Jayasekera said that Sri Lanka shouldn’t join any particular camp.
The MP added that the US push for military agreements with Sri Lanka should be examined against the backdrop of United Nations highest court – International Court of Justice ruling the occupation of Chagos Islands illegal and that it be handed back to Mauritius ‘as rapidly as possible.’Chagos Islands are home to strategic US military base of Diego Garcia, MP Jayasekera pointed out. The SLFPer queried whether the US was looking for alternative bases for re-deployment of forces in case Chargos Islands were returned to Mauritius in accordance with the UN ruling.
Attorney General Dappula De Livera of Sri Lanka ordered the arrests of the nation’s former defense minister and police chief Tuesday on charges of gross negligence in relation to the Islamic State attack on Christian churches and hotels on Easter Sunday.
De Livera has suggested on Monday that the two former officials, former Defense Secretary Hemasiri Fernando and former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundara may also be guilty of crimes against humanity – an international crime – for having information suggesting that jihadists were planning a series of terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka shortly before the Easter attacks and not acting on it.
The attacks killed over 250 people, including many children. Witnesses say the suicide bombers, who targeted three hotels serving Easter brunch and three churches, appeared to attempt to detonate as close to as many children as possible.
The Islamic State took credit for the attacks and police identified an imam named Zahran Hashim, head of the fundamentalist National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ) Muslim group, as the mastermind of the attacks. Shortly after police identified Hashim, federal officials began accusing each other of having intelligence that may have prevented the attacks.
President Maithripala Sirisena ordered Fernando and Jayasundara to resign after a letter surfaced from Indian intelligence agents warning of an attack on Easter. Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and other senior officials claimed that intelligence leaders did not inform them of the warnings.
In a dramatic 24 hours for the country, Fernando and Jayasundara both checked into a Colombo hospital following De Livera’s comments on Monday. Police entered the hospital and arrested them despite their alleged medical issues.
Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirrorreported Tuesday that De Livera had instructed the current acting IGP to arrest the two men last week on charges of gross criminal negligence and carelessness and bring them to magistrate court. After the AGP refused to act, De Livera reportedly sent him a letter Monday asking why he had not yet arrested the two former officials.
On Tuesday morning, the Colombo Telegraphreported that Fernando and Jayasundara both checked into the Colombo National Hospital complaining of heart problems, settling into the hospital’s cardiac unit. The newspaper did not offer details on what symptoms the men claimed to present or any medical details of their check-in, nor if they had a prior history of cardiovascular disease. Sri Lanka’s New First outlet contradicted this report, stating that only Fernando checked in at the Colombo hospital, while Jayasundara visited the Narahenpita Police Hospital.
The Telegraph reported that the two men are facing charges of murder and could face death penalty and up to 52 years in jail as a result of the charges brought against them.”
It remains unclear if De Livera will pursue prosecution against the men for crimes against humanity at the international level, which typically occurs at the International Criminal Court at the Hague. De Livera expressed an interest in prosecuting them for these crimes on Monday.
The two officials should be brought before a magistrate for their criminal negligence to prevent the April 21 attacks,” de Livera said in the letter sent to the interim IGP last week. Their negligence amounts to what is known under international law to be grave crimes against humanity.”
The bombings, which killed over 250 and injured more than 500, occurred amid a bitter political struggle between President Sirisena and PM Wickremesinghe. Almost immediately after the bombings, Wickremesinghe’s cabinet began accusing Sirisena of blocking them out of key intelligence meetings, where officials had reason to know about the impending attacks and could have acted to stop them.
Some intelligence officers were aware of this incidence,” Minister of Telecommunications, Foreign Employment & Sports Harin Fernando wrote on Twitter, publishing photos of documents detailing the potential of a jihadist attack on Easter.
Sirisena claimed that his officials left him in the dark, as well, and accused Hemasiri Fernando and Jayasundara in particular of withholding the information. Shortly before his forced resignation, Fernando claimed that, even if he did know the attack was coming, there was nothing he could do about it.
It was quite impossible to protect a large number of Churches last Sunday despite receiving prior information on these attacks,” Fernando claimed. The hotels, meanwhile, are conducting private businesses. They have to ensure their own security. Usually the star class hotels employ top military personnel in their security divisions. Hence, they are more than capable of ensuring their own protection.”
Colombo’s swift dispatching of security to mosques following the attacks – to protect against mob raids by the angry Buddhist majority – appeared to contradict Fernando’s statement that Sri Lanka’s government could not protect houses of worship from impending attack.
State Intelligence Service (SIS) head Sisira Mendis confirmed to the nation’s legislature at a hearing on the ISIS bombings in May that some intelligence agents were aware of the plot against Christians and that they took no action to prevent it. He said he received a letter from a foreign intelligence service warning of an attack on Easter.
I had placed the letter I received on April 7 in front of me when I sat for the meeting. Since it was not brought up, when the meeting was about to close, I brought it up. I informed them that the gravity of this information can only be gauged by SIS Director,” he said, but the threat was never a main point for discussion.”
A great ‘seven-fold crisis’ has sprung up within the United National Party (UNP) over the party’s candidate for the Presidential elections, stated United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MP Bandula Gunawardane.
He mentioned this addressing a press conference held in Colombo today (02).
Speaking on the agreement with the United States of America, he said that under this agreement the US Army can enter and leave the country without VISA.
He also said that this would allow US troops to walk into any place in the country in uniform.
Gunawardane further said that the US can import and export war equipment and they will not be inspected at the Customs.
Further, if a US Army personnel commits a crime while in the country, he cannot be brought to courts in Sri Lanka, he added.
UPDATE: (7.25 p.m.) – Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara has also been remanded until tomorrow (03).
Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne visited the Police Chief at the Narahenpita Police Hospital, a short while ago, and ordered that he be placed in remand custody until tomorrow.
Former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando has been remanded until tomorrow (03) by the Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne.
The magistrate visited the former Defence Secretary, who was being treated at the Colombo National Hospital, this evening and ordered that he be remanded.
Fernando was taken into custody by a team of CID officers who visited the hospital earlier today. He continued to remain at the hospital under the CIDs custody.
Meanwhile IGP Pujith Jayasundara was also arrested by the CID while receiving treatment at the Police Hospital today (2).
The former Defence Secretary and the Police Chief were summoned to appear before the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) today, however they were both admitted to hospital this morning.
Fernando was admitted to the Coronary-Care Unit (CCU) at the General Hospital Colombo while the IGP was admitted to the Police Hospital in Narahenpita.
Attorney General Dappula de Livera yesterday wrote to the acting police chief urging him to bring charges against his predecessor, IGP Pujith Jayasundara, and the former defence secretary, Hemasiri Fernando.
There is sufficient information to prove negligence of official duties … and criminal negligence. It is also considered a grave crime against humanity under international law,” Livera said in the letter.
The Attorney General had further instructed the Acting IGP to produce the duo before courts.
For lesser charges of negligence leading to damage of property, the two officials could face up to 52 years in prison, according to the AFP news agency.
Sri
Lanka is not just a country. It has a very long history & heritage that
majority of citizens wish to preserve. The constitution clearly enshrines the
Land & Resources as belonging to the People and for future progeny. A
government is only custodian of the land & resources. Essentially this
denies any Government arbitrarily taking decisions that would affect the
clearly stated premise that the land & resources belong to not only the
living citizens but to future citizens too. 83% of land is vested in the State
for the people means that no law can be changed to deceitfully enable
foreigners to buy State land being privatized via hurriedly rushed Bills
prepared by foreigners. When laws that prevented foreigners from owning/buying
land are being relaxed to enable foreigners and foreign companies to buy land while
simultaneously 83% of state owned land is being privatized – it clearly
showcases the hidden intent. Why are lawyers not taking these fundamental facts
to legally address the illegalities taking place?
Let
us connect the dots and understand the dangers we are today faced with
following the Land Special Provisions Act being tabled in Parliament formulated
by foreigners and question why they should be so interested to take so much
trouble to formulate land laws for our people’s benefit unless there’s a catch
– which is what we need to find out by connecting the dots to all the new
changes being made to our statutes by arm twisting our corrupt politicians to
sign the seal of approval.
Land Special Provisions Act
Includes
virtually all elements that is differently worded in past Acts related to land.
The only new element in this Act is the PROVISION TO SELL LAND which did not
exist in earlier Acts.
Moreover,
the new Act carries various strings & regulations that would adversely
affect poor farmers leaving them in worse situation than they are in now and
with no one to turn to for relief – as the Act removes land powers from the
Centre and the President.
This
is the most dangerous aspect of the new Land Act.
Why
is this Land Special Provisions Act only
valid for 7 years – is the plan to acquire all land within this stipulated
period?
The
present land Act is going to throw to the dustbin the following existing
laws/Acts
Land Acquisition
Act 1950
Prescription
Ordinance 1871 – already repealed
Land Reform Law
1972
Land Grants Act
1979
State Lands Act
1979
State Lands
Ordinance 1947
Land Development
Ordinance 1935
Partition Law
1977 – already repealed
Already
co-ownership has been nullified by 1998 Land Act.
State Land Privatized means, Personal
Laws apply – ETHNIC LAWS are a violation of the Constitution
When
83% of state land becomes privatized it means ‘personal laws’ apply – in other
words Thesavalamai and Muslim Laws enables or restricts sale to others which means
non-Tamil/non-Muslim owned lands will be up for sale – this is a fundamental
right violation of Sinhalese and a discrimination to them and violation of the
Constitution giving equal rights to all citizens. Why are politicians silent on
this key aspect?
Who
are the people deciding – a whole list of Secretaries are named – is this an
opportunity for more people like the Speakers international advisor to betray
the nation for foreign interests?
Is
the new Act a Trojan horse? The Land Bank Act claims to consolidate all state
land given to corporates and sub-leased by them … but then why is Millennium
Challenge Corporation (a US state dept entity) seeking 10 land registries. A
country must have only 1 land registry! Isnt this a violation of Act 21 / Land Registry?
Moreover
why does the new Land Act claim that after 10 years the registry will be
destroyed – removing all evidence of land records? What kind of guinea pig is
the US taking Sri Lanka for?
When
reading the Act, it is clear that even the Judicial powers have been usurped.
How can an Act take away the powers of one of the 3 main pillars of a
democracy?
BIM SAVIYA
World
Bank used the argument of helping digitalized Sri Lanka’s land records to bring
a new land law that would in future benefit US. In 1998 US was able to get Sri
Lanka to pass The Registration of Title Act 21 of 1998 known as ‘Bim Saviya’
& initially financed by World Bank under Chandrika Kumaratunga presidency. Bim
Saviya mandates all lands (primary lease/secondary lease – sub leased or
sub-sub-leased) to be registered in ‘Land Registry’ with plan of land, parties
to the Agreement. How is it that such details are not available already for
people to question transactions!
Similar
Land Acts have been set up with US assistance in 51 sovereign nations
The
land ownership certificate issued by Bim Saviya would enable land owner to
transfer or sell land to anyone within 1 day!
By
2017 – 27 of the 43 land registries have been converted to ‘Bim Saviya’.
Judiciary removed of powers to
adjudicate land disputes
The
Act removed Judicial powers to decide on ownership of land and passed powers to
the Minister of Lands who cannot be held accountable for granting ownership of
land to anyone.
Bim Saviya law facilitated land sale. US surveyed Sri Lanka’s land computerized means, any
foreigner can access land and purchase it influencing the Minister!
Bim Saviya makes Minister of Lands
immune from prosecution for land transactions
People
no longer could challenge ownership of disputed land by seeking judicial
intervention.
It
is no coincidence that the State Printing Dept has been brought under Ministry
of Lands by special gazette notification in April 2019.
World Bank & US pumping money
World
Bank view was that ‘Land’ was a commodity to be bought & sold! However, in
Sri Lanka & countries with historical heritage ‘land’ is considered sacred
and selling of land to foreigners is ‘unthinkable’.
Role of Trimble / Land Surveying by US
Is
it a surprise that Wickremasinghe’s LTTE-linked financial advisor proposed to
give Sri Lanka’s Survey Department to CIA Partner company Trimble Inc to do
aerial survey & mapping of Sri Lanka? Trimble is a close associate of
‘Raytheon’ US spy agency. Trimble specialized in GPS & drone technology.
Isn’t Trimble a threat to Sri Lanka’s National Security when Trimble surveys
Sri Lanka’s land, uses GPS & Raytheon that can not only create catastrophic
weather conditions but carry out drone assassinations too!
Note
Land Ministry website mysteriously crashed for nearly a month!
The
Ranil Wickremasinghe Govt has outsourced land surveying to US company Trimble.
Over 80% of Sri Lanka’s land belongs to the State (the citizens of Sri Lanka)
Foreigners can own land
In 2015
the Ranil-Sirisena govt permitted foreigners and foreign-owned companies to buy
& own land overruling Act 38 of 2014 (Restrictions on the Alienation of
Lands in Sri Lanka to Foreigners)
Foreigners given up to 5000 acres of
land to carry out projects…
how can foreigners enjoy such land ownership only if it is privatized and out
of State control.
Foreigners can do business without
paying 100% tax on leasing of land (public-private partnership agreement)
What is the solution?
Amend Bim Saviya and restore authority on land to
Judiciary and revoke powers given to Minister of Lands. File FR in courts
enabling judiciary to refer to Case Law.
Sri Lanka’s
Constitution / ‘Colombo International Financial City’ Bill.
Drafted
by Baker Mackenzie (US law firm with US State Dept) at a cost of $1.2m
Sri
Lanka’s constitution states all land belongs to the people & land is held
in custody by the Government for the People.
However,
Baker Mackenzie proposal grants 269hectares which can be sub-leased to any
person, company or country for 200 years with provision to annex territory
within Sri Lanka.
The new
constitution drafted by the threesome who drafted the 19a (Jayampathy-Sumanthiran-Pakiasothy
as claimed by President Sirisena) proposed to devolve land powers to provinces.
Had this new constitution gone through the annexing of land would have become a
piece of cake.
This
Bill repealed provisions in the ‘Crown Land Ordinance No 12 of 1840, Land
Settlement Ordinance No 20 of 1931 and Act No 8 of 1947 which gave the
President powers over land.
Amending
– Paddy Lands Act, No. 1 of 1958 and the Agricultural Lands Act, No. 42 of
1973 to allow the farming of alternate crops. Encouraging cash crops and
GMO crops is to export food and eventually ruin our fertile soil.
Release of state lands for
foreign ownership – 2017 budget announced removal of restrictions limiting land
ownership rights of listed companies with foreign owners / yahapalana also
removed restrictions on foreigners purchasing condominiums below 4th floor.
Removing taxes on lease of land to foreigners & removed restrictions
on ownership of investments enabling foreign companies to set up shop &
reside in Sri Lanka which will impact small & medium local industries.
Offering 5 year multiple visas to foreign investors & their labor confounds
matters further. Tax concessions & visa extensions were given to those who
invested over $1.5m
Special Deposit Account Act in 2017 that allows foreigners with a
deposit of $500,000 to obtain resident visa to a period of 10 years. Spouse
& minors also eligible to stay. These foreigners can also invest in Sri
Lanka. No State monitoring authority is mentioned in act.
Millennium Challenge
Corporation & Economic Corridor where American law will apply for 200 years
– transnational companies will all gobble up the land!
MCC
is a US state dept entity, US Secretary of State is the Chair of the Board of
Directors. It is proposing a 200miles long stretch of land from Colombo to
Trincomalee via Dambulla comprising 1.2m acres of mineral-rich & ancient
heritage lands. Japan is chipping in with an electric fence along the railway
track which virtually means anyone attempting to cross it will be electrocuted.
State Land Bank Bill (will register all State lands & powers to a Land
Reform Commission and enable public institutions to lease lands by repealing
Part 4 – 6 of the Land Reform Act No 1 of 1972 (removes foreign ownership limit
of 50acres), Land (Special Provisions) Bill are statutes being changed to
facilitate this project.
ACSA & SOFA (Visiting
Forces Agreement)
Why promote in secrecy if
harmless.
ACSA
apparently has already been signed in August 2017. SOFA will enable US boots on
Sri Lankan soil and be given full immunity for any crime. ACSA will enable any
military equipment to be flown into Sri Lanka without Sri Lankan permission or
check. All these have direct impact on Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and are a
national security concern given America’s bad record of illegal interventions
and also America’s role in protecting US transnational corporations.
A
closer look at how US operates globally, it is not difficult to realize that US
government operates globally via US companies, NGOs and faith-based
organizations all of which are given US government troop protection – with MCC
land privatization project and ACSA and SOFA what it means is that not only
does US plan to take over strategic land areas across Sri Lanka but it will
ensure its investments are protected by its own troop presence who will have
immunity for whatever crime it commits.
Is
it now too difficult to connect the dots & understand the underlying
dangers for Sri Lanka & its citizens?
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundara, who was sent of compulsory leave in the wake of the Easter Sunday terror attacks, has been arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
He was taken into custody by a CID team at the Police Hospital in Narahenpita, the Police Spokesman said.
Meanwhile former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando was also arrested, a short while ago, while receiving treatment at the Colombo National Hospital.
A team of CID officers have arrested former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fenando, who was receiving treatment at the General Hospital in Colombo, the police spokesman said.
He stated that Fernando was taken into custody by CID officers who visited the hospital, a short while ago.
The former Defence Secretary and IGP Pujith Jayasundara were summoned to appear before the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) today, however they were both admitted to hospital this morning.
Fernando was admitted to the Coronary-Care Unit (CCU) at the General Hospital Colombo while the IGP was admitted to the Police Hospital in Narahenpita.
Attorney General Dappula de Livera yesterday wrote to the acting police chief urging him to bring charges against his predecessor, IGP Pujith Jayasundara, and the former defence secretary, Hemasiri Fernando.
There is sufficient information to prove negligence of official duties … and criminal negligence. It is also considered a grave crime against humanity under international law,” Livera said in the letter.
The Attorney General had further instructed the Acting IGP to produce the duo before courts.
For lesser charges of negligence leading to damage of property, the two officials could face up to 52 years in prison, according to the AFP news agency.
There is evidence that Saudi Arabia is
connected to the bomb blasts.
one of the masterminds who orchestrated the Easter Sunday bomb blasts ,
Milshan was arrested in Saudi Arabia. Later came
the information that four key members of National Thowheeed
Jamaath (NTJ), hailing from Batticaloa
and Ampara had fled to Saudi Arabia prior to the Easter Sunday suicide
bombings. A team of police intelligence officers were sent to Saudi Arabia to
interrogate them. The SLFP meanwhile
said at a news conference in Colombo in May 2019 that Qatar and Saudi Arabia were funding
terrorism in Sri Lanka . Qatar
protested. But Army chief Mahesh
Senanayake said on 22nd May
2019 that at least two suspects have been arrested in Qatar and Saudi
Arabia.
Saudi
Arabia has known before hand about the
Easter Sunday bombings . A leaked ‘urgent, confidential and top secret’
document obtained by Lebanese website Al-Ahed News claims that Saudi Arabia had
alerted its Ambassador to Sri Lanka regarding a possible security threat some
five days before the Easter Sunday attacks.
The
Lebanuese website shows a letter, which
carries the date of April 16, allegedly sent by Saudi Foreign Minister Ibrahim
bin Abdul Aziz al-Assaf’s to Saudi Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Abdul Nasser
al-Harethi.
The
document says:
Urgent – Top Secret
His Excellency Ambassador Abdul Nasser bin Hussein al-Harethi
You should carry
out the following measures immediately:
First: You should
delete all documents, computer data and latest correspondence with domestic and
foreign members and groups, in addition to imposing a curfew for the embassy
personnel unless it is necessary
Second: You
should inform all those related to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia including
counselors, security forces and intelligence during the three coming days,
especially on the Christian Easter Day, to avoid presence in public and crowded
places namely churches
Third: You should
send written news about the Sri Lankan authorities and their viewpoints
regularly to this ministry
We are dismayed by these reports
that will see Sri Lanka surrender its positive record on the death penalty.
Executions will not rid Sri Lanka of drug-related crime. They represent the
failure to build a humane society where the protection of life is valued. The
last thing that Sri Lanka needs right now is more death in the name of
vengeance”
Biraj Patnaik,
South Asia Director at Amnesty International (AI), in a final appeal from
the international body to Sri Lanka concerning the imminent
execution of some prisoners on the death row for drug related crimes/June
25, 2019/www.amnesty.org
It is reported that the president has signed the death warrants of
some condemned prisoners awaiting execution, having been convicted for
drug-related offences, and that all arrangements are now in place for hanging
them before the June 21 – July 1 National Drug Eradication Week ends. As that
period is drawing to a close, the hangings must be considered imminent. I hope
the condemned persons are still alive when you read this (which I am writing on
June 28). However, it is not too late for the president to desist from the rash
course of action he has decided on. As AI’s South Asia Director Biraj Patnaik
says executions will not rid Sri Lanka of drug-related crime. Patnaik is
expressing a commonsense view, which many people share. The damning criticism
implicit in the rest of the extract quoted above, though baseless, should not
be taken lightly. The president doesn’t seem to have consulted his advisors about
the matter (which is a costly waste of resources). Decisions can be retracted
if later found to be erroneous, but deaths are not reversible once committed,
if it is subsequently discovered that they resulted from a miscarriage of
justice. If someone must be executed as a judicial necessity for crimes
committed, so be it. But there need not be an unexplained hurry or suddenness
in executing them, as in this case there obviously is.
It is true that Sri Lanka has a devastatingly serious drugs
problem. It must and can be contained as demonstrated in the past, until total
eradication is achieved. The surest way is to enforce the law strictly,
rehabilitate addicts and traffickers, break the nexus between politicians and
drug dealers, and the rest of a whole host of measures as advocated by relevant
experts and law enforcement specialists. It will be a never ending process like
normal policing. The president’s avowed commitment to the eradication of the
menace is commendable. However, his mission is doomed by what has become the
order of the day since 2015: politicizing and personalising all issues from
constitution making to crime busting. The current rulers do this for the dual
purpose of just staying on in power ignoring the ‘Curses, not loud, but deep’
of the masses that elected them to power, now disillusioned, and of keeping
their rivals out of power, or even out of politics if possible. Some reflection
will show the impartial observer that little more than that has happened in Sri
Lanka since 2015.
After a visit to the Philippines where the president met with his
counterpart there the formidable Duterte who has adopted some drastic measures
to overcome a hopelessly severe domestic drug addiction and trafficking problem
in his country with a population of more than 100 million to Sri Lanka’s 21
million, he has decided to take a leaf out of the latter’s book. That won’t do.
There are huge differences between the two countries, their peoples, cultures
and especially the personalities of the two leaders. A tiny quail can’t match
an elephant in the size of its droppings, as the Sinhala saying goes. However,
the most significant difference between the two must be mentioned. Duterte
stood up to the US president when the latter expressed concern about his
merciless campaign against the problem that resulted in thousands of summary
executions; and he launched his controversial operations without thinking of
its political fallout on himself; and the other thing is that Duterte enjoys
more recognition than the Sri Lankan president at the UN as a substantially
large contributor of funds to the world body. In contrast, the sudden
intensification of the fight on the drug menace in Sri Lanka seems to have been
motivated by a desire to salvage at least the semblance of credibility that the
champion thinks he still has.
But one cannot become a hero by hanging, be it hanging for killing
oneself, for carrying out judicial execution or for committing plain murder.
But the lame duck president, at the tail end of his disastrous presidency,
seems determined to go on with the hangings, come hell or high water, for that
‘heroic’ purpose. And in effect, he will be doing all three in an utterly
meaningless ‘suicide hanging’ (on the analogy of suicide bombing), if such a
thing is conceivable by any stretch of the imagination. Circumstances, for most
of which he must share responsibility with his Yahapalana partners, have
paradoxically lulled him into a state of self-hypnosis induced by a Macbethian
sense of false security.
The sudden ending of the thirty-three year long moratorium on the
death penalty (there hasn’t been an execution since 1976 in Sri Lanka) as a
desperate measure is not likely to cause the war on drugs to gain any special
traction among the public other than what is already there. The reason is that,
although the drug problem is a crucial issue, there are immediately more
pressing problems to be addressed before that, such as the problem of
threatened national security that came to light with the April 21 Easter Sunday
bombings, which, according to opposition politicians, could be a harbinger of
worse trouble from geopolitical players in the region.
It will be a more dignified thing for the president to do to
listen to the advice of the Most Venerable Mahanayake Theras and that of His
Eminence the Cardinal to call off the executions than to seem to accede to the
demand of the AI which has always had a jaundiced view of Sri Lanka due to
false propaganda to ‘Halt plans for executions, once and for all’. However,
though Amnesty International, as a pro-Western organization, is a biased entity
as far as Sr Lanka is concerned, its request on this occasion is not
unreasonable.
We read in an editorial in ‘The Island’
newspaper of this country that the Colombo Office of the EU had stated that:
“We are deeply concerned by political and religious pressure being
directed at Sri Lanka’s Muslim community which is undermining peace and
reconciliation in the country.” We believe that the EU office referring here to
the incident of suicide bomb explosions committed by some Muslim extremists on
21st April in this country in 9 different places such as Catholic
churches and Tourist hotels that resulted in an unprecedented over 250 deaths
of men women and children in churches and over 500 other people who have been
injured some of whom are still under treatment in hospitals. We are curious to
know why the EU is not accusing the Muslim extremists in this country for
causing such horrendous crimes on the rest of the communities by way of political
and religious pressure”. How are these crimes committed on the other
communities by the Muslim extremists be ignored by EU? When such incidents
happen in EU countries too, do you arriange your comments that way? Could you
please tell us which of these incidents did not undermine peace and
reconciliation going on in this country?
Now that you have shown concern on the
‘political and religious pressure directed at the Muslim community in Sri
Lanka, tell us whether following freedoms provided to Muslims here, is afforded
to them in your countries?
The Muslims in this
country who comprise a mere 10% of the population enjoy the facility of calling
their flock to prayer daily, five times a day over the public address system
fitted on top of the mosques though some people among the other 90% sometimes
consider it a public nuisance. We are curious know whether any of your
countries provide such a facility?
The Muslims in this
country stop their work in work places at noon on Fridays and rush to mosques
to pray. That is not counted against their leave. Do they enjoy that kind of
facility in your counties?
The Muslims here enjoy
food stuffs classified as ‘Hallal’ which only is considered wholesome food for
their consumption, marked so on packets,
available in our supermarkets etc. Do you have such a facility available to
them in your countries?
Do you have as Public
Holidays in your countries, days that are considered Holy by Muslims such as
Ramadhan, Haj Festival and Prophet Mohamed’s Birth Day etc. where the 90% of
the rest of the community also enjoy a holiday?
Is it possible according
to the common law prevailing in your countries for Muslim males to take more
wives than one which facility is not provided to males of the other communities
who constitute 90% of the population though it is discriminatory against them?
If they afford themselves such a facility it is construed as polygamy which is
a criminal offence here. As a result,
even some members of the 90% rest of the community who wished to enjoy such
freedom started converting to Mohamedism. Curiously, this practice was ruled as
illegal. More curiously no body challenged this ruling as discriminatory or as
unequal treatment of one section of the community! Yet more curiously, no such
freedom is made available the Muslim women!!
Similarly, does the law
prevailing in your EU countries permit males to marry girls under 12 years of
age even without their express consent? If not, are you devastated to know that
this is possible exclusively under the Muslim Marriage Law in this country? Do
you know that if any other member of the 90% of the community do such a thing,
he will be arrested, charged and convicted for a criminal offence of rape
according to the prevailing criminal law of this country? Do you know that this
practice is not challenged as cruelty to children or a violation of children’s
right or even discriminatory against them for the fear of bringing undue
pressure on them endangering peace and reconciliation? Very strangely, this
issue is not an issue for Human Rights groups in this country or outside our
country, even in spite of the fact that we have an Independent Commission for
Human Rights? Does that offend the righteous sentiments prevailing in your
countries?
Do you have in your
countries, separate courts called Kathi Courts to settle disputes among
Muslims, which other communities do not have? We do have.
Do the Muslims have in
your countries a variety of schools called ‘Madrasas’ to teach the Quranic
doctrine to Muslim Children? We have. In fact we have allowed our Muslims to
import some 600 foreign teachers to teach religion in these schools. Will our
countries allow such facility?
Quite apart from that, do
you have Schools exclusively for Muslim children run by the state as we do
have?
If so are such schools
given holidays for three months when the students are required to observe
‘fasting’?
We learn that in 2016 –
137 mosques were attacked – 60 in France, 54 in Germany, 21 in Sweden & 2
in Switzerland. Is this true or mere blasphemy? In fact the Muslim Affairs
Ministry here has reported that there are in this country 180 unauthorized
mosques already. In such circumstances, how valid do you think your assertion
that political and religious pressure being directed at Sri Lanka’s Muslim
community which is undermining peace and reconciliation in the country”? Or, is
it the other way about?
On the other hand we have
heard some disturbing information about your good countries. It is reported
that1700 mosques exist in UK and half of these were attacked since 9/11. 57% of
British public support burka ban in UK (YouGov poll) in 2016. After the
Manchester attack a mosque was torched in Oldham.
We have another curious
situation in our country in that an ancient Buddhist temple at a place called Kuragala
is taken over by some Muslims claiming that it is a Muslim shrine. In another
place called Mudu Maha Viharaya, we have a situation where the entrance to an
ancient Buddhist temple is blocked by Muslim encroachers. Does that kind of
things happen to ancient churches and other places of worship in your EU
countries? If such a thing happens your counties, what will they do? Here
again, isn’t it being political and religious pressure directed at Sri Lanka’s
Muslim community which is undermining peace and reconciliation in the country”
in the reverse?
In
our country hitherto, Muslim women were wearing ‘hijab’, ‘niqab’ or whatever
else they call such dresses covering their heads and faces, without any
problem. After the recent bomb attacks, the Secy. Public Administration ordered
a dress code for public servants, with view to enhance sense of security in
public offices. The Secy. was questioned at a Parliamentary Select Committee
sittings as to how dare he did that apparently violating Human rights. Does that
kind of thing happen in your EU countries?
Again
we are told that Netherlands – bans full face veil in government buildings,
schools, hospitals and public transport. Party for Freedom declares to ban all
mosques in Netherlands. Could this be true? Isn’t Netherlands an EU country?
Furthermore, we are told that the European
Court of Justice interprets law for the EU and decisions are binding of member
states. ECJ allows employers to ban hijab. Accordingly, it is reported that
France was the first EU country to ban burka & niqab wearing in 2011.
France has shut down 20 mosques and prayer halls for preaching radical ideology
since 2016. After Paris bombs pigs head were thrown at mosques. Could such
political and religious pressure” be exerted on Muslims in a highly civilized
and democratic EU country like France? If it is not true, please tell us so
that we could disabuse our minds. This information is claimed to have been
found in http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/thousands-take-part-in-anti-islam-pegida-protests-across-europe-a6857911.html.
Again, in Italy- in
Lombardy burka ban was approved in local government buildings and hospitals.
Taken in this light, has our Secy. Public Administration violated any Human
Rights of anybody?
Austria had banned foreign sources of
financing and Imams must speak German. 156 assaults against Muslims in 2015.
Austria’s new ‘integration law’ banned full face veil in 2018. Isn’t Austria an
EU country? Could this information be true?
Belgium has banned halal animal slaughter.
Belgium is the 2nd country after France to ban burka in public in 2011. We
believe Belgium is an EU country? Could they exert such political and religious
pressure on Muslims living in their country? Are they violating any Human
rights laws?
In Denmark TV2 survey is alleged to have revealed
that a third of respondents believed Denmark was at war with Islam – 5 Muslim
hate speakers were banned and 6 radical Islamic preachers were banned from
entering Denmark. Halal animal slaughter was banned in Denmark in 2014. Could
this, if true, be considered Religious and Political pressure being brought on
the Muslims in this country? Isn’t Denmark an EU country?
In view of all this we in
this country are confused. Could you please enlighten us as to how we could
reconcile these confounding positions in EU countries and your comments on Sri
Lanka?
The country is been swindled by two importers of grains, especially RED LENTILS and YELLOW LENTILS over a period of many years.
By Noor Nizam – Peace and Political Activist, Political Communication Researcher, SLFP/SLPP Stalwart, July 1st, 2019.
The above news which
appeared in http://www.adaderena.lk should be noted with utmost
importance by those concerned and political authorities who are hoping to
establish a news government in 2020.
The country is been swindled by two importers of
grains, especially RED LENTILS and YELLOW LENTILS over a period of many years.
They operate very large warehouses and also
operate large LENTIL SPLITTING PLANTS and packaging production lines in Sri
Lanka with the co-operation of Canadian Pulse farmers and exporters. The
capacity of one of these importers is 340 MT per day.
Sri Lanka’s consumption of red lentils is around
150,000 Metric tons. We import around 18,000 metric tons of Chick Peas 25,000
MT of Yellow Split Peas, 16,000 MT of Mung Beans per year. Red lentils are also
a major item among our principal food commodity imports. In 2016 we imported
more than 154,000 metric tons of red lentils which was around 7% of the total
tonnage of our principal food commodity imports of that year. In 2018 Sri
Lanka’s annual imports of RED LENTILS was estimated at approximately $114 million.
Politicians and government officials who have been
involved in the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Commerce and trade have
supported these two major Pulse importers to swindle millions of dollars at the
cost of the poor tax payers of our “MAATHRUBOOMIYA”, with the
Canadians adiding and abetting.
The new President or government hoping to be
elected should set-in-motion a high powdered probe on this subject immediately
they come into power. Consumers in Sri Lanka who can get Red Lentils at a much
much lower price which are sold the produce at high prices by this mafia, which
has to stop. The exposure made by The Chairman of the Public Health Inspectors
(PHI) Association Upul Rohana that over 700,000 kg of grain including dhal not
suitable for human consumption had been discovered at one of the storage
warehouses reveals how this MAFIA is making money selling dhal not suitable for
human consumption. These two companies are the suppliers to the CWE and
SATHOSA. They also supply wholesale produce distributers in Pettah and the the
local super market chains.
