Editorial Courtesy The Island

Wednesday 5th June, 2019

One of the main reasons the Muslim ministers gave, on Monday, for resigning from their posts en bloc was that they were accused of interfering with investigations into extremist activities. They said that they would not hold ministerial positions pending investigations. One is confused. That allegation has been levelled against only one of them and why others chose to resign is the question.

Are these politicians trying to have the public believe that after their dramatic exit from the Cabinet, the non-Muslim ministers will not interfere with investigations into the allegations against the likes of Rishad Bathiudeen? On the other hand, even as ordinary MPs, they can leverage their votes to influence the government leaders. Their aforesaid argument simply doesn’t hold water in that the government’s save-Bathiudeen campaign is already underway for all practical purposes.

One may recall how the parliamentary select committee process has been abused to further the interests of governments in power. The Rajapaksa government appointed a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to ascertain whether there were grounds for impeaching the then Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake, who refused to give in to its dictates. It was packed with UPFA MPs loyal to the ruling family, which was out for her scalp, and the UNP members thereof, seeing through the government strategy, pulled out in protest. The PSC predictably found the CJ guilty as charged, and based on its decision she was impeached.

The yahapalana government, which annulled Dr. Bandaranayake’s ‘impeachment’ ab initio, declaring that the select committee process had been abused to launch a political witch-hunt, now, stands accused of doing something similar to get Bathiudeen off the hook. So, it defies comprehension why the Muslim Ministers resigned en masse. Their action will not pave the way for any impartial investigation.

SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem was spot on when he told the media, at Temple Trees, on Monday, that what was necessary was a CID investigation into the allegations at issue. But the police are notorious for their selective efficiency; they get cracking only when suspects happen to be ordinary citizens or persons connected to the Opposition. They give kid glove treatment to pro-government suspects.

As for ministerial resignations and investigations, one may recall that Ravi Karunanayake resigned as Finance Minister when it became too embarrassing for the government to defend him owing to a host of damning revelations made by a presidential commission of inquiry, which probed the bond scams. It was claimed that he had stepped down to allow an impartial investigation to be conducted. But nothing of the sort happened and he was reappointed a Cabinet minister, late last year, because the UNP came to be dependent on him to retain its majority in Parliament vis-à-vis an abortive power grab. The Attorney General’s Department admitted in courts recently that investigations were still going on and Karunanayake would be prosecuted once they were concluded. Given the tardy progress in investigations into the bond scams and allied matters, we bet our bottom dollar or rupee that by the time they are concluded all of us will be pushing up daisies. The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption has also been dragging its clumsy feet on a key bond probe commission recommendation that legal action be instituted against those responsible for the bond scams.

Tilak Marapana had to resign as Law and Order Minister over the Avant-Garde controversy, in 2015. He is also back in the Cabinet. So much for ministerial resignations and impartial investigations!

The reason all MPs give for demanding ministerial positions is that they want to serve their electors better. The Muslim MPs have given up their ministerial positions, which they could have used to serve their community, at this hour of crisis. Bathiudeen must be laughing up his sleeve because their resignations have come to be seen as an act of getting their wagons in a circle to defend him.

By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island

Vietnam era US warship USCG Sherman is Sri Lanka’s largest platform. The vessel is pictured off Colombo harbour on the morning of May 12, 2019. President Sirisena will commission the vessel, P 626 tomorrow (June 06) at the Colombo harbour. Sherman is the second US vessel acquired by Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka acquired USCG Courageous in 2004. P 621 (SLNS Samudura) was part of task force responsible for the destruction of LTTE floating arsenals, beginning with the 2006 Sept. destruction of a vessel off Kalmunai (pic courtesy Navy)

The United States made an abortive bid, in 2002, to finalize an Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement (ACSA), formerly known as ‘NATO Mutual Support Act’, with Sri Lanka. The attempt was made close on the heels of a Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) signed by then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, on Feb. 21. 2002. NATO member Norway arranged the CFA. Years later, Norway revealed its operation here had the backing of NATO by way of intelligence provided by the world’s most powerful military alliance (Pawns of Peace: Evaluation of Norwegian peace efforts in Sri Lanka).

The US, too, played a significant role in the Norway-led process as a member of the Sri Lanka Peace Co-Chairs. Peace Co-Chairs comprised the US, EU, Norway and Japan. At that time, India was on its way to become a fully-fledged member of the US-led club.

Today, nuclear capable, India is a key member of the US-led grouping taking on the Chinese challenge.

The US-Japan-Australia-India alliance wants Sri Lanka to be part of the team. Sri Lanka’s inclusion in Australian military exercise Indo Pacific Endeavour 2019 (IPE-19) and ‘Comprehensive Partnership’ between Japan and Sri Lanka, finalized in early Oct 2015, underscored their determination to bring Sri Lanka under their domain.

Having won the 2015 January presidential election, with the UNP’s backing, President Maithripala Sirisena endorsed ‘Comprehensive Partnership’ with Japan. The finalization of ‘Comprehensive Partnership’ took place less than a week after President Sirisena’s government co-sponsored a resolution at the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) at the expense of the country’s own interest. A joint declaration issued in the immediate aftermath of Wickremesinghe’s four-day official visit (Oct 4-7, 2015) to Tokyo on the invitation of Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe, dealt with (1) promotion of investment and trade (2) co-operation on the national development plan in Sri Lanka (3) national reconciliation and peace building (4) political consultation and maritime cooperation (5) human resource development and people-to-people exchange (6) Co-operation in the international arena.

Political consultation and maritime cooperation were especially meant to enhance defence cooperation. Japan eyeing a permanent seat in the UN Security Council also expects Sri Lanka’s backing for that endeavour.

Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera, on August 22, 2018, visited strategically located Trincomalee and Hambantota ports. Unprecedented visits took place while a Japanese Destroyer ‘Ikazuchi’ was docked at the Trincomalee port. Onodera flew in to Colombo where he met President Sirisena, Premier Wickremesinghe and State Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardene on the previous day after having visited New Delhi. Onodera raised Sri Lanka’s leasing of the Hambantota port to China with President Sirisena and Premier Wickremesinghe.

Sri Lanka and China entered into a 99-year lease of the Hambantota port, in 2018, under controversial circumstances.

Onodera declared that Japan wants Hambantota port ‘free of military activities.’ Obviously, Onodera’s declaration was on behalf of the US-led group.

Onodera’s visit was followed by JS Kaga, the biggest warship built since the end of World War II. The visit took place ahead of Tokyo’s announcement that JS Kaga and sister ship Isumo would be transformed to enable them to launch US made F-35 B stealth fighters. Acquisition of such huge strike capability should be studied against the backdrop of Japan’s Constitution expressly forbids the use of offensive weapons following its defeat in World War II.

Japan, home for powerful US forces, plans to acquire 105 fighters – a big boost for the US defence industry.

US President Donald Trump, during last week’s state visit to Japan, was invited to tour JS Kaga. International media quoted Trump as having said on board the vessel: “And soon, this very ship will be upgraded to carry that cutting-edge aircraft. With this extraordinary new equipment, the JS Kaga will help our nations defend against a range of complex threats in the region and far beyond.”

Those backing a bigger Japanese role in US military project are working overtime to play down the significance of Tokyo acquiring a far reaching strike capability – a first for Japan since its formal surrender on Sept 02, 1945, months after Germany succumbed. Germany surrendered on May 07, 1945.

Interestingly, Kaga was the name of one of the aircraft carriers that launched planes to bomb US Pearl Harbour on Dec 07, 1941, which led to Washington’s entry into the conflict.

The developing Japanese military role should be examined taking into consideration the rapid expansion of her military capabilities. Japan recently intervened to save an understanding between Sri Lanka and India regarding the development of the East Container Terminal (ECT) at the Colombo port. Japan facilitated the agreement on ECT by becoming one of its joint venture partners last week. Sri Lanka, Japan and India finalized an agreement to jointly develop the ECT. The joint initiative is estimated to cost between $500 min and $700 mn.

The agreement followed months long battle between President Maithripala Sirisena and Premier Wickremesinghe over the ECT with the former strongly resisting a joint venture with India. President Sirisena seems to have no objection to joint venture involving India and Japan, having ‘openly’ clashed with Wickremesinghe in Oct 2018. President Sirisena perpetrated a constitutional coup on Oct 26, 2018, in the wake of his bitter battle with Wickremesinghe over ECT. President Sirisena sacked Premier Wickremesinghe in the wake of the arrest of an Indian national Marceli Thomas over his alleged involvement in a plot to assassinate him (Sirisena) and wartime Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The US and its allies are seeking to further their interests with the world solitary super power, having successfully negotiated ACSA in Aug 2017, planning to enter in to far reaching SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement).

With Sri Lanka in deepening political turmoil, following the Easter Sunday carnage, blamed on the National Thowheed Jamaat (NTJ), the government is being exploited. The US seems to be hell-bent on securing an agreement on SOFA regardless of consequences. The NTJ operation, backed by ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) obviously facilitated their operations here. Indian High Commissioner Taranjith Singh Sandhu offered India’s full support to Sri Lanka in dealing with the common threat of Jihadi terrorism in the third week of May. The assurance was given, separately, to Mahanayakes of Asgiriya and Malwatte Chapters. US Ambassador Alaina Teplitz followed Sandhu. She was there to reassure the Mahanayakes that SOFA was not meant to take advantage of Sri Lanka. There hadn’t been a previous instance of a US Ambassador, or any other foreign envoy for that matter, making representations to Mahanayakes as regards security-political issues.

Armitage on ACSA

The Joint Opposition, the JVP and civil society organization ‘Yuthukama’, strongly protested against the signing of the ACSA. They revealed how the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration approved ACSA in Aug 2017. The UNP pointed out that the previous Rajapaksa administration entered into ACSA in March 2007. Therefore, what really happened in Aug 2017 was extending the agreement. Leader of the House, Senior Minister Lakshman Kiriella explained the UNP government’s stand, both in parliament and outside, in respect of the ACSA and SOFA. However, Kiriella made no reference to the first US attempt to negotiate ACSA, way back in 2002.

The US publicly revealed its desire to secure ACSA on Aug 22, 2002, in Colombo. The then US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, having visited Jaffna earlier in the day, followed by meetings with the then President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga’s envoy, Lakshman Kadirgamar, and Premier Wickremesinghe, declared the US intention to finalize the agreement. The writer was among those journalists presented when Vietnam veteran Armitage addressed the media. Armitage asserted that there was no problem in negotiating the agreement meant to formalize required facilities for US military (US-SL to finalize Access and Cross Servicing Agreement-The Island, Aug 23, 2002).

Earlier, in the day, Armitage, accompanied by US Ambassador Ashley Wills, flew in to Palaly airbase where he was welcomed by the then Jaffna Security Forces Commander Maj. Gen. Sarath Fonseka. The CFA was in place at that time. Otherwise, Armitage wouldn’t have risked flying in an AN 32 transport plane due to threat posed by the LTTE. Fonseka accompanied the US duo to army front-line at Muhamalai. Jaffna front-line extended from Kilali to Nagarkovil on the Vadamaratchchy east coast via Muhamalai. The attempt was made amidst political chaos caused by the CFA. The UNP finalized the agreement sans President Kumaratunga’s consent. The push to establish North-East Interim Council further deteriorated the ground situation. Following his meeting with Armitage, Kadirgamar told a selected group of journalists, at his heavily guarded Wijerama Mawatha residence, that the proposed administrative body should be deeply rooted in the Constitution. “It must not be allowed to have a life of its own,” Kadirgamar told the media. The writer was among the group of journalists present (N-E Interim Council ‘must be deeply rooted in Constitution’, says Kadirgamar-The Island, August 23, 2002)

Armitage was the senior most US official to visit Colombo since Secretary of State John Foster Dulles’ visit five decades ago. The LTTE assassinated Kadirgamar in August three years later.

Armitage announced plans for ACSA over a month after Premier Wickremesinghe met US President George W. Bush in Washington. In fact, the ACSA was to be finalized in July 2002. Following their meetings, the US undertook a comprehensive study of Sri Lankan military as well as economic institutions. The project was meant to strengthen the military though the UNP never expected the LTTE to leave the negotiating table. The LTTE quit the negotiating table in April 2003.

It would be pertinent to mention that the US accommodated Sri Lanka in various military exercises following Kumaratunga’s election as the president in Nov 1994. Even at the time Armitage visited Colombo the US military was engaged in exercises with Sri Lankan Special Forces, including the Navy’s elite SBS (Special Boat Squadron).

Then Minister Milinda Moragoda, being close to the US, played a high profile role in the project.

In Dec 2002, Ambassador Wills revealed the possibility of the US seeking Sri Lankan ports and air space to invade Iraq. US-UK led forces invaded Iraq in March 2003 on false intelligence claims of Saddam Hussein having what the Western media dubbed Weapons of Mass destruction (WMDs). Then Foreign Minister the late Tyronne Fernando explained the difficulty in giving into US request (SL in dilemma over help for US-The Island, Dec 22, 2002). At the end, the US didn’t request for Sri Lankan bases (No request for Lankan bases-The Island, March 23, 2003).

During Fernando’s tenure as the Foreign Minister, Sri Lanka entered into an agreement with the US not to surrender each other’s nationals to the International Criminal Court (ICC) without the consent of each other. The US secured the same agreements with India, Pakistan and Nepal.

Lanka enters into ACSA

The US could have secured ACSA if not for the LTTE destabilizing the UNP government by undermining the CFA. The UNP lacked the political will to go ahead with ACSA. The LTTE strategy paved the way for President Kumaratunga to take over several key portfolios, including defence in the following year and then sack Wickremesinghe’s administration. Kumaratunga called early general election. Her move enabled the People’s Alliance she led to win the April 2004 parliamentary polls. The PA also won the Nov 2005 presidential polls. The LTTE resumed large scale offensive operations in the second week of August 2006 a few months after making an abortive bid to assassinate the then Army Chief Lt. Gen. Fonseka. Had the LTTE succeeded in assassinating Fonseka in late April 2006, Sri Lanka could have succumbed to LTTE pressure. Sri Lanka launched a counter offensive in the first week of Sept 2006 and by March 2007 was in a commanding position in the Eastern theater of operations though LTTE combat formations remained intact in the Northern region. The LTTE suffered a second major setback when Gotabaya Rajapaksa survived suicide attack on Dec 01, 2006. By March, 2007, the LTTE was retreating in the Eastern Province. In the first week of March, 2007 Sri Lanka entered in to ACSA with the US. Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Ambassador Robert O. Blake signed on behalf of Sri Lanka and the US, respectively. President Rajapaksa, in his capacity as the Defence Minister, authorized ACSA. The Rajapaksas never bothered to inform parliament of the agreement. Having signed ACSA, Gotabaya Rajapaksa reiterated Sri Lanka’s commitment to defeat the LTTE, militarily, in talks with top State Department official Stevan Mann, when the latter met him at the Defence Ministry. Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s move eased US pressure as the Army opened a new front on the Vanni east front (No halt on offensive against LTTE: Lanka seeks more US support to stop arms flow-The Island, March 11, 2007).

The Rajapaksa government ignored the left parties’ call to table the agreement in parliament. The government dismissed their concerns (LSSP wants military agreement with US published-The Island, March 11, 2007).

Interestingly, Kiriella, who strongly defended Sri Lanka signing ACSA and negotiating SOFA, lambasted the Rajapaksa when Gotabaya Rajapaksa signed the original agreement. In the wake of the original agreement, finalized on March 05, 2007, Ambassador Blake went to the extent of personally meeting JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe to reassure the US didn’t pursue a hidden agenda here. Blake assured that ACSA wouldn’t pave the way for US bases here. They also discussed the ethnic issue and ongoing efforts to militarily defeat the LTTE. Amarasinghe reiterated his party’s belief that LTTE terrorism should be defeated militarily (Somawansa-Bake pow-wow-The Island, April 06, 2007).

US changes course of war

Sri Lanka received valuable US support, particularly during Eelam War IV that enabled the Rajapaksa government to gradually overcome the LTTE. At the onset of the Eelam War IV, the US thwarted an LTTE bid to procure SA 18 missiles. Subsequently, the US provided specific intelligence on ‘floating LTTE arsenals’ to Sri Lanka on a request made by wartime Navy Chief Vice Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda. Karannagoda move enabled the destruction of four LTTE vessels on the high seas, thereby hastened the collapse of the LTTE. In addition to those vessels that had been hunted down on the basis of intelligence provided by the US, the Navy hit several other LTTE ships during Eelam War IV.

Those interested in knowing it all should peruse Karannagoda’s memoirs titled Adistanaya released in Nov 2014, just two months before the change of government. Although Karannagoda, made no reference to ACSA, it would be pertinent to stress that the US, perhaps reluctantly, provided critically important intelligence following the finalization of the agreement on March 05, 2007. Several weeks after the signing of the agreement, Karannagoda had sought a meeting with the then US defence attaché in Colombo. Karannagoda has requested for US assistance to track down the remaining LTTE vessels as the superpower was engaged in worldwide campaign against terrorism. That meeting at Karannagda’s office led to a meeting with Ambassador Blake, also at the same venue in late May 2007. In late August 2007, the US provided the required information secured from a satellite to the Navy. The US verified the positioning of four vessels about two weeks later. They had been at the same position as two weeks before. In fact, the US had queried whether Karannagoda’s Navy had the wherewithal to destroy four ships so far away from Sri Lanka. Karannagoda dispatched naval task force comprising six vessels on Sept 2007 from Colombo, Trincomalee and Galle. Karannagoda, in his memoirs revealed how an Indian diplomat based at its High Commission in Colombo made a despicable attempt to misdirect the Navy by providing information contrary to that of the Americans. Karannagoda unhesitatingly named the Indian as a representative of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). Subsequently, the Indian had been exposed as a Chinese agent. Acting on US intelligence, the Navy destroyed three out of four LTTE vessels in the second week of Sept. 2007. The US again provided specific intelligence in late Sept. 2007 regarding the LTTE vessel that escaped during Sept. 2007 operation. The fourth vessel was destroyed on Oct 7, 2007.

At an earlier stage of the Eelam War IV, the US provided 30 mm Bushmaster cannon to upgrade the Fast Attack Craft (FAC) flotilla. The replacement of 23 mm with 30 mm US weapon transformed the FAC flotilla. Having helped Sri Lanka to defeat the LTTE, the US later moved against the Rajapaksa administration as part of its strategy to counter China. The US hell-bent on depriving China overseas bases, worked overtime to facilitate a change of government. Current developments should be examined against the backdrop of the US backing Gen. Fonseka’s candidature at the 2010 presidential poll and Sirisena’s at the last presidential election. The forthcoming presidential election, scheduled for later this year, will surely attract US interests as it battled Chinese moves. Sri Lanka shouldn’t forget what former US Secretary of State John Kerry, who visited Colombo after the change of government in January 2015 later revealed the US funding made available to influence ‘regime change’ in Myanmar, Nigeria and Sri Lanka. Kerry revealed the US taxpayer spending as much as USD 585 mn in the above mentioned countries. How much did the US spend here? Who received the money?…..

(To be continued on June 12)

Editorial Courtesy The Island

Thursday 6th June, 2019

Former Director of the Terrorism Investigations Division (TID) DIG Nalaka de Silva would have the public believe that the Easter Sunday carnage could have been prevented if he had not been arrested. On Tuesday, he told the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) probing the Easter Sunday bombings and allied issues that the TID had, on his watch, kept the National Thowheed Jamaath (NTJ) and its leader Mohamed Zaharan under surveillance and conveyed information about them to IGP Pujith Jayasundera, on a regular basis. The TID’s plans had gone awry owing to his arrest, he is reported to have said.

De Silva’s statement makes one wonder whether the entire TID collapsed following his arrest over an alleged plot to assassinate President Maithripala Sirisena and former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa. But is it possible that an institution fails to carry out its duties due to the arrest of only a single officer? Was de Silva without a deputy to run the TID after his arrest? Why didn’t the IGP, under whose purview the TID comes, detail someone else to take over de Silva’s investigations into the NTJ activities?

De Silva and his friends in the government are apparently trying to lay the blame for the failure on the part of the police to prevent the Easter bombings, at the feet of those who had him arrested. In so doing, they have unwittingly exposed the IGP’s failure to ensure the continuation of the TID probe into the NTJ’s illegal operations despite de Silva’s arrest.

The police are functioning under an acting IGP and carrying out all investigations which were initiated before IGP Jayasundera was sent on compulsory leave. Why couldn’t the TID do so following the arrest of its head?

If de Silva had kept IGP Jayasundera informed of the TID investigations which yielded incriminating evidence against the NTJ, Zaharan should have been arrested promptly. Why did the police wait till he vanished from their radar screen? Were they under political pressure to steer clear of the NTJ and Zaharan? In this country, people get arrested even for loitering with intent. The police also swooped on two drunkards who were urinating in a public place, in Kalutara, sometime ago.

Both Jayasundera and de Silva must be made to explain why the police did not arrest Zaharan and question him despite the availability of credible information that the latter posed a threat to national security. If the NTJ leader had been taken into custody prior to de Silva’s arrest last October, perhaps, the Easter attacks could have been prevented.

It may be recalled that in 2017, Zaharan and his associates unleashed violence against their rivals in the East. They mercilessly attacked a large number of people and burnt many houses. Some of his followers responsible for the incidents were arrested and remanded. Zaharan ran away. The police knew he was a wanted man. Why didn’t the TID, which, de Silva says, had been following him, did not take him into custody for those crimes?

The NTJ succeeded in carrying out the Easter attacks not because of de Silva’s arrest; they struck with ease because the Defence Ministry and the government leaders had not taken an intelligence warning of the impending attacks seriously. In fact, the then Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando said so in answer to a question from the foreign media, in the aftermath of the terror strikes. IGP Jayasundera was sent on compulsory leave on the grounds that he had not acted on the intelligence warning at issue, which the police had received in early April. Now, de Silva says the IGP had been kept informed of the danger the NTJ posed to national security as early as last year. Are we to conclude that the IGP’s alleged lapses anent the Easter bombings are far more serious than thought?

These are only some of the questions that one asks oneself, having read what de Silva told the PSC. It is hoped that they will not go unanswered.

By Lynn Ockersz Courtesy The Island

The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan sails in waters off Okinawa, alongside a refueling ship.

There is considerable heated discussion and debate currently in Sri Lanka over two military cooperation agreements that are featuring in this country’s ties with the US and the time could not be more appropriate to achieve a clear understanding of some of the external compulsions that impact on a small state’s foreign policy formulation process. Those important sections that are party to these discussions would do well to ensure that we have more ‘light’ than ‘heat’ in these efforts at deliberation.

The discussion in question is pervaded with a good measure of populist sentiment and this does not augur well for clear-headed commentary. Those taking it on themselves to comment on the issues in question would do well to realize that foreign policy cannot be intelligently thought out on the basis of knee-jerk or sensationalist reactions to public issues.

It is a home truth that it is quite some time since we began to live in an interdependent, globalized world. It is not possible for small states in particular not to interact with major powers and institutional actors of note, on a multiplicity of fronts, including, very crucially, the economic. Countries have interacted with each other since time immemorial but the external compulsions to do so are at their intensest at present.

Accordingly, agreements with world actors who are seen to matter are unavoidable if a country’s national interest is to be served. It does not follow that states could plunge head-long into international agreements without working out their implications for themselves on a number of planes. But speaking to the world and interacting with it on a give-and-take basis is a must.

The international questions confronting small states in particular have never been more complex as they are today. This is particularly true of South Asia in general and Sri Lanka in particular. It is to international economics that one must go if today’s foreign policy dilemmas are to be understood clearly. And if these issues are found to be brain-teasing for some they could not be faulted. A resolution of these matters, indeed, calls for thinking skills of the highest order.

The merit of a statement by US Acting Secretary of Defence Patrick M. Shanahan, published in this newspaper on June 3 and 4, is that it provided a comprehensive and detailed presentation of US policy in the region described by the US as the ‘Indo-Pacific’.Whether found to be acceptable or not the statement needs to be read and understood if the considerations and compulsions pushing US foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific are to be grasped.

Whether seen as hegemonic or otherwise the US will find itself to be increasingly interested and involved in the Asia-Pacific. This is where its most vital interests lie and an impartial, dispassionate assessment of the ground realities would reveal the attractions of the Asia-Pacific for a super power. The same goes for China, and the latter being a predominant power, cannot be faulted for being growingly interested in the Asia-Pacific either. A scientific approach to understanding the conduct of these powers is what is vitally needed and a succumbing to populism would result in an obfuscation of the issues involved.

The major powers are not driven in the main by political idealism but by factors and compulsions that serve their national interest best. The same goes for all states and what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Small states given their minor status and relative powerlessness in the world political order need to work towards their interests amid this correlation of international political forces, as best as they could. After all, these realities could not be wished away.

As pointed out in this column often, the global South currently has no powerful collective body that could voice its concerns and work collaboratively towards its interests. For instance, NAM that played this function at one time is almost no more. Small states, such as Sri Lanka, are orphaned and they have no choice but to deal very diplomatically and cordially with the big powers to further their interests.

This is the stark truth about the world political order. If small states are to change this state of things in their favour they would need to ‘organize’ themselves into an effective collective body that would make an impression on the big powers. Hopefully, that would be so.

In the detailed statement made by Shanahan the following strikes this columnist as very important, considering the foregoing:’Our vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific recognizes the linkages between economics, governance and security that are part of the competitive landscape throughout the region and that economic security is national security.’ This pronouncement is important for the light it sheds on some of the basic compulsions driving the US’ engagement with our part of the world.

Since ‘economic security is national security’, and this is true for all countries, given the predominance of the economic in the affairs of states, the Asia-Pacific would need to brace for a prolonged US military presence. However, these same considerations happen to essentially shape Chinese foreign policy as well, since the Asia-Pacific is the world’s number one growth centre. In fact, all major powers would be seeking to have an enduring presence in the Asia-Pacific.

Given Sri Lanka’s relative powerlessness it would need to relate on the best of terms with all these major powers. It cannot afford to earn their disfavour although it cannot compromise its self-respect as a country. Since these powers are here to stay Sri Lanka would need to get on the best it could with the US, China, India, Japan and Russia, to name the most notable among these foremost powers.

The Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement which Sri Lanka has signed with the US and the proposed Status of Forces Agreement between the countries have aggravated Sri Lanka’s foreign policy dilemmas which are not amenable to early resolution given Sri Lanka’s powerlessness. After all, the international power balance in South Asia cannot be changed in a hurry because of the enduring attractions for the big powers of the Asia-Pacific. Sri Lanka could, however, negotiate patiently with the US to ease off some of the more controversial provisions in these agreements. It is left with no other choice. 

By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island

The Joint Opposition (JO), yesterday, accused the UNP of causing an irreparable rift between the Sinhala and Muslim communities by forcing all Muslim lawmakers to give up portfolios to save Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen, accused of complicity in the Easter Sunday carnage.

Former Media Minister and JO spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella questioned why Ministers Rauff Hakeem, Kabir Hashim, Amir Ali, Sihabdeen and Abdul Haleem, Deputy Minister Abdullah Maharoof and State Ministers H.M.M. Hareez and Ali Zahair Moulana had quit their portfolios because JO handed over a no-confidence motion (NCM) against only a single individual––Vanni District MP Bathiudeen.

Addressing the media at the Opposition Leader’s Office, Colombo, the Kandy District MP emphasised that their move was aimed at making matters difficult for law enforcement authorities inquiring into the Easter Sunday carnage.

Accusing UNP leader and Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe, Leader of the House Lakshman Kiriella and Speaker Karu Jayasuriya of what he called a despicable project to save Bathiudeen, lawmaker Rambukwella said that the UNP had unashamedly forced even its own Chairman Kabir Hashim to risk his political career for the sake of Bathiudeen.

Referring to Minister Abdul Haleem’s controversial statement that swords had been procured to cut grass at cemeteries, MP Rambukwella said that the minister had swiftly clarified the matter.

Those who resigned their portfolios represented the UNP, the SLMC and the ACMC (All Ceylon Makkal Congress). The SLMC and ACMC parliamentary groups consist of seven and five lawmakers, respectively.

MP Ranbukwella said that senior Muslim politicians should have resisted top UNP leadership’s move to defend Bathiudeen at the expense of them.

The JO spokesman also strongly condemned SLMC leader MP Hakeem’s declaration at Monday’s press conference at Temple Trees that they expected the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to complete the inquiry within one month.

Rambukwella asked the media whether they had ever heard a politician setting a deadline for the police to finalise such a high profile investigation.

T At the onset of the JO briefing, Rambukwella described the current situation as extremely complicated with the UNP government still pursuing a politically motivated agenda.

Alleging that the negligence on the part of the government at the highest levels had led to the Easter Sunday suicide bombings, MP Rambukwella flayed the government for shielding those responsible for promoting and sponsoring extremism and terrorism in the country.

Ratnapura District MP Pavitradevi Wanniarachchi urged President Sirisena and PM Wickremesinghe not to play politics with national security. Yahapalana leaders’ efforts to retain political power had caused a political turmoil and uncertainty, Wanniarachchi alleged.

Rambukwella explained how the UNP and President Sirisena had struggled to cope up with the crisis caused by the Easter Sunday carnage. The ongoing Parliament Select Committee (PSC) probing April 21 attacks was meant to find fault with President Sirisena, MP Rambukwella said, adding that both parties couldn’t absolve themselves of the responsibility for death and destruction caused due to their negligence.

Recalling how the Rajapaksa government had brought the war to a successful conclusion a decade back, MP Rambukwella said that terrorism had struck again at a time the public felt secure. The people had lost faith in the government due to prevalent uncertainty, the former Defence Spokesman said, alleging that the current dispensation’s response to terrorism had caused serious concern among armed force and law enforcement agencies.

The JO spokesperson paid a glowing tribute to Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith for having prevented a backlash in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday carnage.

Nearly 260 perished and about 500 were wounded in the coordinated bombing campaign.

MP Rambukwella alleged that Leader of the House Lakshman Kiriella had made a desperate bid to scuttle the NCM against Bathiudeen. The JO MP lambasted the UNP for not giving an early date for the NCM on Bathiudeen. Although the JO pushed for a two-day debate on June 6 and 7, the government delayed it to June 18 and 19.

Asked by The Island whether it would have been far more advantageous to the JO, if a vote on NCM had been held as scheduled instead of it (NCM) being ended up in dustbin due to Bathiudden on his own giving up portfolios, MP Rambukwella said that JO done its duty by moving NCM. The former minister refrained from commenting on the circumstances leading to the NCM being withheld due to Bathiudeen losing his ministerial portfolios.

Courtesy India Today

Nine ministers from the Muslim community, in the President Maithripala Sirirsena’s Cabinet, and two provincial governors resigned on Monday accusing the government of failing to ensure the safety of the people from community.

PM Ranil Wickremesingh said it is the first time since independence that no Muslims are part of the government (Picture source: Twitter handle@RW_UNP).

HIGHLIGHTS

• Nine ministers from the Muslim community and two provincial governors resigned on Monday
• Industry and Commerce Minister Bathiyutheen was accused of supporting the ISIS linked NTJ
• Complaints so received will be handed over to the Crime Investigation Department

For the first time, Sri Lanka has a government which has no ministers from the Muslim community, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said Tuesday.

Nine ministers from the Muslim community, in the President Maithripala Sirirsena’s Cabinet, and two provincial governors resigned on Monday accusing the government of failing to ensure the safety of the people from community following the Easter Sunday bomb attacks, in which around 260 people were killed.

A local Jihadi group, the National Thowheeth Jamaath (NTJ), said to have links with the IS, carried out a series of bomb blast in three churches and as many luxury hotels of the Indian Ocean island nation on April 21.

“For the first time a government is functioning without Muslim ministers in it,” Wickremesinghe said. It is the first time since the island nation’s independence in 1948 that no Muslims are part of the government.

Amid mounting pressure by the majority Singhala Buddhist groups, Cabinet Minister Rishath Bathiyutheen and two provincial governors resigned from the Sirisena government.

Their resignations came four days after thousands of people, including majority Buddhist community monks, launched a protest in the pilgrim city of Kandy, demanding the expulsion of three Muslim leaders whom they alleged were linked to the NTJ – the banned outfit blamed for the attacks on three Colombo hotels and three churches.

The Sinhala Buddhist groups accused them of aiding and abetting the NTJ and demanded President Sirisena to sack them. Bathiyutheen, who was holding the post of Industry and Commerce Minister in Sirisena government, was accused of supporting the ISIS linked NTJ.

Wickremesinghe said the raising of communal passions against Muslims was only giving the victory to ISIS.

“We must not strengthen the position of terrorists by doing so,” he added.

There were a total of 19 muslims members of Parliament among the 225 lawmakers, nine of held the posts of cabinet, state and deputy ministers. About three weeks after the devastating blasts, the muslim minority owned businesses and properties came under attacks from Sinhala community members, in which one person was killed.

Meanwhile, the police said it had opened a special investigation panel to probe the allegations against the two provincial governors and minister Bathiyutheen.

“Anyone can come forward to lodge a complain to this committee of a Senior Superintendent and two Assistant Superintendents,” police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said.

Complaints so received will be handed over to the Crime Invest­igation Department (CID), he added.

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Courtesy Eurekalert.org

Intervention focused on removing mosquito breeding sites found to be both effective and cost-saving

A public health, police, and military partnership to reduce the mosquito population in Sri Lanka resulted in a more than 50-percent reduction in dengue, as well as cost savings, finds a study from an international team of researchers led by NYU College of Global Public Health. The findings are published in The Lancet Planetary Health.

Dengue is a viral illness transmitted by mosquitoes and can cause fever, pain, rash, and other flu-like symptoms. Severe cases require hospitalization, placing an economic burden on areas where dengue is found. While a new dengue vaccine raised hope about reducing the impact of the disease, the vaccine’s risks have limited its use, maintaining the focus on controlling mosquito populations to halt the spread of the disease.

Dengue is particularly prevalent in countries in south Asia and has become a major public health problem in Sri Lanka, which has seen a dramatic increase in the disease in recent years. In response, in 2014, Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Health started a proactive mosquito control program in partnership with its military and police forces.

The program aimed to reduce mosquitos in high-risk communities by conducting door-to-door inspections on a large scale. Teams made up of a combination of public health authorities, police, and military personnel inspected at least 50 locations daily in order to identify and remove mosquito breeding sites, such as containers of stagnant water around homes. The program augmented the routine mosquito control interventions with larvicides and insecticides.

This study evaluated the impact of the mosquito control intervention from June 2014 to December 2016 in an urban region in western Sri Lanka highly affected by dengue. The researchers analyzed the rates of dengue in symptomatic patients in the presence and absence of the intervention, adjusting for climate variables, including rainfall and temperature, to measure the program’s impact. The researchers also assessed the cost and cost-effectiveness of the program.

“Evaluating the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of population-level interventions is essential for guiding public health planning and empowering policy makers to deploy the most effective and efficient interventions, particularly in resource-limited settings,” said Yesim Tozan, assistant professor of global health at NYU College of Global Public Health and the study’s senior author.

The mosquito control program had a significant effect on larval mosquito populations in the region as well as on dengue, with researchers measuring a 57-percent reduction in dengue incidence. They estimate that 2,192 cases of dengue were averted during the 31-month intervention.

The program cost $271,615, the majority (89 percent) of which went to personnel, given the human resource-intensive nature of the intervention involving door-to-door inspections and removal of mosquito breeding places. To analyze its cost-effectiveness, the researchers calculated costs using three scenarios of the proportion of dengue cases treated in hospitals: moderate hospitalization (50 percent), low hospitalization (25 percent), and high hospitalization (75 percent).

The researchers found that the cost savings from treating fewer dengue cases in medical settings thanks to the intervention were $291,990 in the moderate hospitalization scenario, offsetting the mosquito control program costs and yielding a savings of $20,247. The program was estimated to avert 176 disability-adjusted life-years over the study period, or $98 in savings per disability-adjusted life-year. The scenario with high hospitalization levels was also cost saving, while the scenario with low hospitalization was cost-effective based on certain calculations but not others.

“Our study suggests that communities affected by dengue can benefit from investments in mosquito control if interventions are implemented rigorously and coordinated across sectors. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the disease and economic burden of dengue,” said Prasad Liyanage of the Sri Lanka Ministry of Health and Umeå University in Sweden and the study’s lead author.

“Even if a safe dengue vaccine becomes available in the future, mosquito control is likely to remain a key complementary strategy to curtail the continued spread and intensification of dengue,” said Tozan.

###

In addition to Tozan and Liyanage, study authors include Joacim Rocklöv of Umeå University; Hasitha Tissera and Paba Palihawadana of the Sri Lanka Ministry of Health; and Annelies Wilder-Smith of Umeå University and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

About NYU College of Global Public Health

At the NYU College of Global Public Health (NYU GPH), we are preparing the next generation of public health pioneers with the critical thinking skills, acumen, and entrepreneurial approaches necessary to reinvent the public health paradigm. Devoted to employing a nontraditional, inter-disciplinary model, NYU GPH aims to improve health worldwide through a unique blend of global public health studies, research and practice. The College is located in the heart of New York City and extends to NYU’s global network on six continents. Innovation is at the core of our ambitious approach, thinking and teaching. For more, visit: publichealth.nyu.edu

Courtesy Adaderana

The Maha Sangha of all Buddhist Chapters has requested all Muslim political leaders to take up their official responsibilities once again.

This was mentioned at a special meeting of Maha Sangha of all Chapters held at the Asgiri Maha Viharaya, today (05).

Chief Prelates of the three chapters also expressed their regrets over the resignation of the Muslim Ministers from their posts.

Courtesy Adaderana

The letters pertaining to the resignations of the Muslim Minister have not yet been received by the Presidential Secretariat, according to Secretary to the President Udaya R. Seneviratne.

All cabinet, non-cabinet, state, and deputy Muslim Ministers stated that they would resign from their titles at a press conference held on Monday (03).

Although the Ministers stated that they would sit as backbenchers in the parliament, they had been allocated seats at the front of the chamber today (05) as the gazette notification on their resignations had not been received by the parliament as of yet.

The letter informing the relevant ministers’ resignation has not been sent in for gazetting by the Presidential Secretariat, Head of Government Printer, Ms. Gangani Kalpani Liyanage told Ada Derana.

When Ada Derana inquired Secretary to the President Udaya R. Seneviratne on the matter he stated that the letters on the resignations of the Ministers have to be sent to him through the Prime Minister’s Office.

However, the letters have not been received by the Presidential Secretariat as of yet, he further said.

Meanwhile, Secretary to the Prime Minister stated the letters of resignation of the Ministers should be handed over to the president as per the constitution.

According to former Minister Kabir Hashim, the relevant letters were handed over to the Office of the Prime Minister.

Kelum Bandara Courtesy The Daily Mirror

President Maithripala Sirisena is reportedly not in agreement with the move to purchase a bullet proof vehicle for the use of Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe submitted a Cabinet paper last week seeking approval to purchase such a vehicle based on a request by the Opposition Leader’s Office.

However, the Cabinet paper was differed for this week amid reservations expressed by Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera.

This matter was not taken up for discussion by the Cabinet yesterday.(

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals in May fell 70 percent year-on-year (YoY) to 37,000 in the aftermath of Easter Sunday attacks, with the largest decline in arrivals recording from China.

We have been talking about hotels going empty and westerners not visiting Sri Lanka. However, with safety being restored, we see numbers slightly edging up,” Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) Chairman Kishu Gomes said.

According to the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), during the period between April 21 to May 21, tourist arrivals from top 10 tourism source markets of Sri Lanka, except Russia, have declined in the range of 40 to 90 percent.

Despite retaining the top position during the period, tourist arrivals from India declined to 9,238 compared to 34,167 arrivals in May last year.

The Indian tourist arrivals however slightly recovered during the first three weeks of May, compared to the latter part of April in the immediate aftermath of Easter Sunday attacks.

The largest decline in arrivals was recorded from China, where arrivals declined to mere 1,762 compared to 18,494 arrivals in May, last year.

Gomes noted that despite the travel warnings, tourists from Europe, Australia and North America continued to visit Sri Lanka.

From Easter Sunday to May 21, tourist arrivals from Australia and France declined to 2,484 and 2,015, respectively, which was below the average rate of decline among top source markets of Sri Lanka.

Tourist arrivals from the United Kingdom (UK) during the period declined to 3,297 and the UK replaced China as the second largest tourism source market for Sri Lanka in the first five months of the year.

A similar drop in tourist arrivals was recorded from Germany and the United States.

On the contrary, 1,568 tourists from Russia visited Sri Lanka in the 30-day period, which was slightly above the Russian tourist arrival figure for May last year.

Gomes noted that eight countries so far have softened their travel advisories on Sri Lanka.

Germany, India, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Italy, China and Belgium softened their travel advisories on Sri Lanka while more countries are expected to follow suit in near future.

According to government projections, tourist arrivals to the country could decline by 30 percent to around 1.6 million this year due to impacts of Easter Sunday attacks.

Up to May, the cumulative tourist arrivals declined by 7.1 percent YoY, to 944,575 tourists.(Nishel Fernando)

Courtesy Adaderana

The protest fast by Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thero has propelled the traditional Muslims in the country to turn towards extremism, says the General Secretary of Bodu Bala Sena Organization Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero.

Speaking at a press conference held yesterday, Ven. Gnanarasara Thero stated that it was Muslims who rendered much support to defeat Zahran’s extremist ideology, rather than Sinhalese.

Stating that Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thero had resorted to a protest fast without any heads-up, Gnanasara Thero said the protest fast could have been justified if it was carried out right after the Easter attacks.

As he emphasized that all Buddhist monks, at this point, should have a common agenda, Gnanasara Thero stressed that he would not allow anyone else to handle ‘this’ and that Rathana Thero has complicated the issue.

Ven. Rathana Thero had worked with dedication to bring Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe into power and they are now pondering over how to secure the votes of the Muslims, Ven. Gnanasara Thero claimed.

Responding to a question on all Muslim ministers stepping down from their posts, Gnanasara Thero said it was unity, which Sinhalese leaders lack on their part.

Courtesy Adaderana

President Maithripala Sirisena has claimed that he would not be contesting at the upcoming presidential election, reliable sources told Ada Derana.

Reportedly, the President has mentioned this at a discussion held with Ministers of the United National Front (UNF) following the cabinet meeting, yesterday (04).

President Sirisena has further stated that he would also not be supporting Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa or his party at the election under any circumstances.

However, the President had also said that if the UNF comes to the right path with new young energy, he is willing to support them, according to sources.

3^rd June 2019 New York Times published article titled All 9 of Sri Lanka’s Muslim Minister’s Resign, as bombing backlash intensifies” flagrantly violates all forms of journalistic ethics, attempts to flair ethnic disharmony by intent to flame ethnic tensions and these paragons of virtue eternally accusing others of racism and ethnic discrimination has the audacity to use an international publication to call a Buddhist thero as ‘Mr. Ratana” twice while Gnanasara Thero is referred to as Mr. Gnanasara once. This demands not only a retraction of entire article but a public apology by Dharisha Bastians for overstepping her boundary. Buddhist Organizations/Associations are requested to adopt the following measures against this malicious and insensitive article.

Who is Dharisha Bastians?

She was appointed Editor of Sunday Observer by yahapalana government but resigned after Ranil Wickremasinghe was sacked as PM in October 2018 and Mahinda Rajapakse appointed as PM.

Let us first question some of the erroneous and purposely distorted versions the Sri Lankan correspondent of NYT is making

All nine Muslim ministers in Sri Lanka’s government and 2 Muslim provincial governors resigned on Monday as the fragile, Buddhist majority country grappled further with the communal backlash of the Easter Sunday bombings”

communal backlash of the Easter Sunday bombings” what are they referring to? The government organized mob attacks 3 weeks after the Easter bombings? Everyone knows that revenge attacks generally happen immediately after a sudden catastrophic incident. When attacks happen 3 weeks it smells of more than a rat. Obviously the 2 correspondents are misleading the international readers because the mobs attacked Sinhala shops as well and the Sinhalese residents were keeping Muslims in their homes. But that is never newsworthy enough to print!

So what has angered these two correspondents?

Is it that Ratana Thero commenced a hunger strike demanding 3 Muslim politicians who were linked to the suicide bombers who killed over 300 people. So it’s alright for politicians to be linked to suicide bombers that killed innocent worshippers, foreigners and people having breakfast at the 3 targeted hotels, but not alright for anyone to demand their removal and its an ‘act of solidarity’ for 8 Ministers to resign.

Whose law is this?

According to the article Rauf Hakeem the head of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress claims our people fear a blood bath” – he may feel fear but there was an actual blood bath in not just once place on 21^st April 2019 but in 9 venues where Islamic terrorists struck. That bloodbath is far more gruesome than a feeling because all citizens are now feeling fear of bloodbaths with the daily updates of swords, ammunitions and other dangerous equipment found in Muslim homes, shops and even mosques. So all citizens are now living in fear for their lives after seeing how educated, rich and successful Muslims could become suicide bombers – as no one knows what a potential suicide bomber looks like!

If Muslims are facing suspicion, it is only they who can now help hand over any radicals to the authorities so that no more innocent people face untimely deaths.

What are the 2 authors trying to insinuate by saying support of Muslim voters and ethnic minority Tamils was decisive in the election victory of Mr. Sirisena in 2014” – is this to say just because minorities voted a country has to look the other way ignoring their extremisms?

It is absolutely shocking that these supposed to be ‘unbiased’ correspondents claiming to give both sides of the story are lavishly spewing venom against Sinhala Buddhists calling them all the names under the sun and accusing them of inciting violence against Muslims but never bother to mention some of the racist comments that the Muslim politicians make which is the main reason to react.  

The article ends referring to statements by 3 characters who are not representative of the people, they are clueless about their own communities, they careless about any of the communities so long as they are in some seat of power & influence.

These writers are using their pen in wicked and evil ways. They claim to be independent & unbiased but they are exactly the opposite. For too long they have got away as Sinhala Buddhist majority have chosen to ignore their slander. However, this time round these writers should be taken to task & their wicked and vile acts presented to the world.

A content analysis of these rabble rousers will prove beyond all doubt that their writings are nothing but gutter journalism.

As regards the disgraceful manner that a Buddhist thero has been called ‘MR’ – Buddhist organizations are requested to immediately take up the following course of action.

1. File complaint with Sri Lanka’s Attorney General’s Department citing violation of penal codes and attempting to incite racial flames and ethnic disharmony

P.O.Box 502, Hulftsdorp, Colombo 12

administration@attorneygeneral.gov.lk

+94 (11) 2147888

Home

• File complaint with the Sri Lanka Police also citing violation of penal code

• File complaint with the Buddha Sasana Ministry – demanding Minister raise complaint against the manner a Sri Lankan correspondent working for a foreign paper has used term MR” in reference to a Buddhist thero knowing fully well that no one refers to a Buddhist thero as MR”.

• File complaint with the Press Complaint Commission

96 Kirula Rd, Colombo  

• File complaint with Sri Lanka Press Institute against journalistic ethics adopted by the Sri Lankan correspondent

• File complaint with the Sri Lanka Bar Association

Would the New York Times or these two correspondents call the Cardinal as MR” or a Muslim Cleric as MR” – we doubt.

What makes them think that they can refer to Buddhist monks as they do? Is anyone giving away some sort of prize for such name calling?

This particular article has overstepped its limits and deserves to be condemned by all but the Buddhist organizations and Nationalist Associations are advised to take this up with the authorities for the manner the paper and the journalists have flouted decency & journalistic ethics.

Shenali D Waduge

KAMALIKA PIERIS

The Ramayana legend did not catch on in Sri Lanka the way did in South East Asia. Unlike in south East Asia, Ramayana tradition was not allowed to take root here, said Bandu de Silva. In Buddhism there was no place for myths like Ramayana.  Buddhism abhorred anything which did not stand scrutiny, he said.

 Dasaratha Jataka has Dasaratha, Rama, Sita and Lakshman as the main characters, but the story is completely different. Also, not a single manuscript of Ramayana is found among the many Sanskrit texts preserved in Sinhalese tradition, concluded Bandu.

Vini Vitharana observed that the Sinhala and Pali sources of Sri Lanka contain nothing that corroborates the Ramayana story. R.A.L.H. Gunawardana said that in the medieval period, Ramayana and Mahabharata were denounced by the monks as useless works which should be ignored. Several of the Buddhist texts stated that the study of the Ramayana and Mahabaratha was a waste of time.

Tissa Kariyawasam read a paper titled Ramayana in Sinhala Literature” at the symposium on the Ramayana Trail   organized by Royal Asiatic Society, Colombo in 2010.  He said, inter alia, there is a fleeting reference in Culavamsa to ‘as Sita loved Rama’   and ‘going forth to combat like Rama’. Kumaradasa, writing in the 7 century,    versified Rama- Sita story into Janakiharana. But Buddhagosha rejected the     Mahabharata and Ramayana as frivolous stories and this approach continued till end of 15 century, said Tissa.

In the reign of Parakrama bahu VI (1412- 1467), however, the Vedas, Puranas and the two Maha kavyas, Mahabharatha and Ramayana were studied at Vijayaba Pirivena under   Sri Rahula. But this was challenged.  Vidagama Maitreya, a contemporary of Sri Rahula was very critical of the Ramayana. He pointed out, inter alia, that while the monkey could swim across to Lanka, Rama needed a bridge.  Sri Rahula’s Kavyasekera compares princess Lokanatha to Sita. His sandesa poems refer to Rama, Ravana, Sita and Vibhishana. Selalihini Sandesa refers to a   Vibhishana devale   and speaks of a conversation in an ambalama regarding Rama-Sita stories. 

Ramayana, however, features in the folklore of the Udarata kingdom. C. E. Godakumbura   presented a paper titled ‘Ramayana in Sri Lanka and Lanka of the Ramayana” at the international Ramayana seminar, New Delhi, 1975. In this paper he said that there is an abundance of folklore in Ceylon connected with the story of Rama and Sita. Some of these explain place names, some point to special geographical features, other the lay of the land, the positions of hills, nooks and bend in rivers, the color of the soil and various curiosities. All this is folklore and nothing archeologically probable or tested historically, ‘concluded Godakumbura.  

Sena Thoradeniya (2010) said that in his home village Udurawana, a village in Patha Dumbara, there is a legend that the village goes as far back as Ravana. Udurawana is the name given to the place where Ravana fell facing the sky in his battle with Rama and the adjoining Yatiravana, along the present Kandy-Wattegama road is where Ravana fell facing the earth. There is a rock named Athobanagala where imprint of Ravana’s palm is still visible on the hard rock, Ravana had rested his hand there   while shooting deer. A tributary from Knuckles flowing along Yatirawana is named Ravana oya.

Folk poetry of the Udarata period ‘made a fuss of Ravana,’ said Tissa Kariyawasam. The Ramayana also influenced the Udarata rituals of the 18th and 19^th century, such as Kohomba Kankariya. Ravana is supposed to have invented a string music instrument.

The indigenous medicine practitioners of Sri Lanka believe in the existence of King Ravana, said a media report. Ravana was a great physician credited with authorship of five books on medicine, one of which is available even today. The technique of using underground metal ash process and fermentation” belongs to the period of Ravana.

 A ballet titled ‘Maha Ravana’ was presented in Colombo in May 2008 by the Sarasavi Dehena Experimental Theatre School. The choreographer, Pabalu Wijewardana, who comes from the Mihiripenna dancing tradition, said that Sri Lanka lacked a truly iconic figure and he wished to project Ravana as an icon.  He had researched into the story of Ravana. He says Ravana was not a demon, but a wise king, who ruled over a vast South Asian kingdom which included Sri Lanka. The flying machine may have been a real one.

Present day writers say that neither Hanuman nor Sita ever came here and there was no Ravana either. They have pointed out that Sita Eliya in Nuwara Eliya district has nothing to do with the Rama and Sita story. ‘Sita’ is derived from ‘seethala’, which means cold.

However, in the 1990s Sri Lanka decided to embrace the Ramayana. A search for Ravana sites in the Nuwara Eliya and Uva districts started.  Rev. Harry Haas (1925-2002) a Christian priest from the Netherlands, who was living in Bandarawela, was very active in finding these sites. Sri Lanka was full of Ravana and Sita sites which needed discovering, Haas said.  The image of King Ravana was a universal one which appealed to the west as well as the east. Haas was the patron of a Ravana Centre set up in Uva.

In 1997 work commenced on a Hanuman temple complex at Wavendon, Ramboda, Nuwara Eliya with assistance from Tamilnadu government. The complex consisted of a huge 16 foot granite statue of Hanuman,  a spiritual centre, library and auditorium. This project was initiated by Gurudev Swami Chimayananda, who purchased 10 acres for the purpose. Minister S. Thondaman donated 5 more acres and provided a motorable road from the main Nuwara Eliya road to the temple site. This temple site, it is claimed, was close to the Asoka vana where Sita was kept captive and Hanuman found her.

The construction of the Hanuman temple was done by the Sri Lanka Army. There were large crowds at the first anniversary, of this temple, in 2002 with thousands of devotees drawn mainly from the plantation sector. The procession went with the statue of Holy Hanuman to Sita Amman Temple at Seetha eliya, where Hindu poojas were held.

In the 1999,   a newSita Amman kovil was   completed at Seetha Eliya in Nuwara Eliya. The original kovil was a small unpretentious structure. Derrick Schokman recalled ‘the Sita Amman Temple in Nuwara Eliya was simple temple when I first saw it. Now is it an ornate Hindu kovil with images of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman.’ The new kovil had its kumbhabisheka pooja in January 2008. There was a full page announcement in the newspapers, with messages from President and Ministers.

The Seetha Amman Temple in Nuwara Eliya was the only temple in the world dedicated to the Sita in the Ramayana, said supporters.    Although there are many Rama and Hanuman kovils in India, there is no kovil dedicated to Sita. This is the only place where Sita came alone. In all the other places Sita is associated with Rama. North Indians worship Rama and they are keen on developing the Sita Kovil with our support,”   said Radhakrishnan, Chairman of Board of Trustees of the temple.

“The estimated cost of building the temple is around Rs. four million. We have collected the funds through public donations. Tills are also placed outside the temple for collections. The Manoj Mody foundation of India gave about Rs.200, 000 for the renovation, he said in 1999.

“In January, 1999 we had a Festival of Unity organized by the Manoj Mody foundation of India, Radhakrishnan said. About 800 devotees came to Nuwara Eliya for a 10-day bajan programme. About 500 local devotees also joined in. They occupied all the hotels in the area and attended the poojas daily at the temple. Since space was insufficient, a tent was put up at the Buddhist temple nearby, to accommodate the crowd.

Environmental organizations and Buddhist organizations had staged a massive protest, before the festival was held. The people had feared that the 800 devotees expected, were from South India, although they were in fact mostly from North India where there is a strong following for Rama. The Buddhist organizations set down various conditions for holding the ceremony. These were adhered to and the ceremony was held peacefully,” Radhakrishnan said.

The Seetha Eliya Temple became the subject of a controversy in 1999 when the Ministry of Tourism mooted a proposal for the development of Seetha Eliya as a Holy City. It was proposed to vest 35 acres of land surrounding the temple in the Tourist Board and develop it as a sacred area similar to Anuradhapura and Kataragama.

It was suggested that Asoka Vanam, the forest where Sita was held captive is on the mountain, some distance away from the Seetha Amman temple. Behind the temple is a stream. Water flows over a basin like depression carved in the rock. It is said that Sita came through a tunnel to this stream to bathe. There were protests from environmentalists and the people in the area and the move for the Holy City was halted.

Bandu de Silva commented on this move. The government is trying to create a Hindu complex on the lines of the Cultural triangle, he said. Tourist Development Authority is promoting the idea of strong Ramayana tradition in the island. The Tourist Board first tried to develop the area behind the Hanuman temple. Now there is a move to expand the Hanuman Temple, taking in a tea kiosk built on a road reservation for use by laborers.

However, the Seetha Amman kovil has certainly achieved its purpose. It is now an accepted part of the tourist circuit and   strengthens the notion of a virile Hindu culture in Sri Lanka. Many tourists who visit the Hakgala Gardens, stopover to see the temple, since it is en-route from Nuwara Eliya to Hakgala. An average of 1500 local tourists and 1000 foreign tourists stopped by the temple in 1999 alone. During Thai Pongal, in January many devotees from the tea estates nearby visit the kovil to perform poojas said the media.

P Ramanujan, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism stated in 2006    that they were planning to set up a Ramayana Trail for tourists to encourage Indian tourists.  In 2007 S. Kalaiselvam, Director General of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority said in a statement to Press Trust of India   that the Sri Lanka government had decided to develop the sites associated with the Ramayana. They were being restored and maintained. There was no archaeological confirmation for any of them, certainly, but these sites were not imaginary and have existed since time immemorial.

 A Ramayana Trail  Committee was set up, consisting of N.Kiriella, Chairman, Dr Suriya Gunasekera an authority on Sri Lankan pre history. Dr Subash Chawla an authority on International Ramayana,  B.M.U.D Basnayake Additional Secretary Ministry of Tourism and  S. Kalaiselvam Director General, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority.

In 2009 50 sites related to the ‘Ramayana trail’  were selected by Sri Lanka Tourism for  the Ramayana Trail.   Of these  50 , 12 are sites with archeological evidence, the rest are based on unwavering faith and traditional beliefs, said Kailselvam. There is no need to re –establish  the authenticity of the sites. People in the areas relate to the Ramayana. A dedicated team from Sri Lanka tourist agencies are handling the promotion of the Ramayana sites. Books were published to support the Ramayana trail, notably ‘Ramayana and Historical Ravana’, edited by Kiriella.

The Ramayana tourist trail includes Ravana’s palaces and dairy farm, also temples dedicated to Sita which had been built in a later period. The trail also included a pond which is believed to have come into existence through Sita’s tears. This pond never dries up even in the worst drought.

The Tourist Ministry had identified five   airports where Ravana parked his fleet of pushpak vimanas, the mythological aircraft used by him to abduct Sita. The Ministry thinks that Ravana’s flying machine may have landed at Weragantota,about 10 kilometres from Mahiyangana. Sita was then taken to Gurulupota, now known as Sita kotuwa.  This is 10 kilometres from Mahiyangana on Kandy road. There is the runway of Ravana’s aircraft, the aircraft landing place, aircraft repair centre in Gurulupotha. Sita was thereafter housed in a cave at Sita Eliya, Nuwara Eliya. Ravana cave at Ella, served as a quick means of transport through the hills for Ravana.

It was decided that the Ravana-Rama battle took place at Yudhaganapitiya in Matale and that Ravana was making his battle plans at Lakgala just before he was killed. It was also decided that Rama started his attack on Ravana at Dondra and the main battle was at Yudaganawa. After killing Ravana, Rama performed penance at Muneswaram in Chilaw. Hanuman had entered Lanka at Nagadeepa.He dropped the Dronagiri Mountain brought from the Himalayas on Rumassala. Rama fired the Brahmastra at   Ravana in Dunuwila. Sita is said to have performed Agni puja to prove her  purity at Devurumpola. 

Other sites were added on thereafter, Ashok vatika in Nuwara Eliya, Vessagiriya cave, and Isurumuniya lovers in Anuradhapura ,the cobra foot cave in Sigiriya,  the statue near Parakrama Samudra,   the  Hanumana kovil at Saranankara Road, Colombo 5, Gurullupotha jungle in Hasalaka,   Ravana Caves in Ella area,  the hot wells and Ussangoda  are  included in the Ramayana trail. According to folklore Ravana’s body is buried in a location in Welimada, reported the media.

The great basses ( Maha Ravana kotuwa) and Little basses ( Kuda Ravana Kotuwa) are a long line of coral and rock just below the surface of water in the southern sea. They are located not far from Kirinda beach or Rummassala in Galle. King Ravana is said to have established   his Lankapura ‘on the reefs.

The Ramayana trail was described at length in the Sunday Observer of  23.8.2009 . Sri Lanka Tourist Development authority has developed an itinerary that shows the Ramayana spots in Sri Lanka  the Observer said. there are over 50 Ramayana sites in Sri Lanka.  These were described.

the jungles in gurullupotha in Hasalaka is the place were Lankapura was, It is now called seetha kotuwa. The jungle on top of Ramboda along the Kandy Nuwara Eliya road is believed to be the route along which Ravana took seethe to ashoka vana. Ussangoda was the airport for Ravana. The tunnels from Bandarawela past Ella to Ravana cave, were the way Ravana went thorugh the hills, they were his secret passages.  These tunnels are manmade and not natural formations. Existing tunnel opening are situate at Isthripura, Senapitiya in Halagala, Ramboda, Labookelle, Wariyapola and Seetha kotuwa, continued this report merrily.

Dunuwila is where Rama shot and killed   Ravana,  said the report.  Hanuman, dropped lifesaving herbs on Rumassala, Dolu kanda in Hiripitya, Ritigala, Thailaddi in Mannar and Kachchativu. Divurumpola 15 miles from seethe Eliya on Nuwara Eliya –Welimada road, is the place where seeth performed Agni pariksha. This is a popular place of worship among the locals in the areas. The courts of law in Sri Lanka permits and accepts the swearing done at this temple when settling disputes.  There is also Munneswaram, where Rama received the blessing of Shiva. Ravana constructed the hotwells.  the soil of the ancient battle fields is red in colour.  Some areas look scorched after Hamunan set fire to them, ended the report. ( continued)

KAMALIKA PIERIS

Sri Lanka planned to use the Ramayana trail extensively in India to promote visits by Indian tourists.  A team commissioned by Zee TV had toured Sri Lanka in 2007, to find places connected to Ramayana. They went to Sita Eliya where there were statues of Rama, Lakshmana, Sita and Hanuman. They said that these statues had been there for 5000 years. They said that close to Sita Eliya they had seen a mountain which looked like Hanuman.

Zee TV said the Chinmaya statue of Hanuman was a copy of the mountain, except that it was in a vertical position. They reported that hundreds come every day to worship there. They also spotted black rocks which looked like monkeys with black lips and ears. They saw Rummassala which was brought here by Hanuman. It contains trees only found in the Himalayas.  There is a statue of Hanuman there as well. They were delighted to find a board saying Ravana Ella falls. But they reported that the public only came to Sita Eliya to   picnic and that few knew about Rama or Ravana.

It was reported in 2008 that the Ramayana tourist package is gaining popularity in India. Hindustan Times stated that the Ramayana trail was a hit with Indian tourists. Batches of 50 to 120 visitors had already toured these sites.  Middle aged and elderly persons like the package.  Several swamis from North India have visited with 50 visitors each. One swami was planning to bring      400 of his students to go on the trail.  School principals are bringing students as Ramayana is a part of the curriculum in India.   There was an agreement with Andhra Pradesh regarding these tours as well, they reported.

 In 2014, high profile ministers from India came as part of a group 150 pilgrims from India, on a 8 day Ramayana trail . This is the first time that an Indian VVIP group came to Sri Lanka on a pilgrimage of the Ramayana trail, reported the media. In 2015 Sri Lanka had re-launched the Ramayana trail from Bangalore.

In 2017, Yahapalana government reported that Sri Lanka is preparing to be part of the Ramayana circuit of India. The Indian government is identifying places connected with the Ramayana. Sri Lanka has already identified 71 locations across the island nation for inclusion in the circuit  and has appointed a committee to identify more places. We look at Sri Lanka and all south Indian states as one unique unit, housing the maximum Ramayana spots,”   said  John Amaratunga, Tourism Development Minister. 

In 2018 it was reported that Indian and Sri Lankan governments have entered into an agreement to boost the Ramayana trail. This trail was lately gaining momentum with a number of operators offering travel plans. There have been 206,337 Indian visitors to Sri Lanka up to June this year and it is believed that about one per cent of the traffic would be visiting the country solely as pilgrims on the Ramayana trail.

A press release issued on the occasions, by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau stated that in Sri Lanka according to popular belief the Ramayana story is indeed a true account of what took place many millenniums ago. This belief has been supported by research, analysis and reasoning.

Sri Lanka has identified over 50 sites in and around its territory due to accessibility issues, only around 20 sites are currently being recommended for visitors. Sri Lanka is working towards identifying many other locations and also making these locations accessible to visitors. It has been estimated that a travel period of around 9 to 14 days will be required to visit all 20 sites, the press release concluded.

Indians are puzzled over the popularity of the Ramayana trail. Ravana is held in high contempt by the large majority of Indian populace, said Kuldeep Kumar. Ravana is hated in India said Bandu de Silva. To a Hindu, Rama is a living hero and Ravana is a villain. Effigies of Ravana, placed on maps of Sri Lanka, are burnt each year in India during the Ramayana celebrations. At the October 2010   NDTV celebrations, in Delhi, two large effigies of Ravana and Vibhishana were carried in by revellers and placed before the Prime Minister. A bow and arrow was given to Prime Minister who shot an arrow at Ravana. The effigies were then stoned and set on fire.

Ruchir Sharma, a leading business man visiting Sri Lanka, said ‘I was surprised to see Tamils in Trincomalee working to attract Indian tourists to the Ravana trail. Locals say that as long as the Ravana trail is drawing tourists, the rest don’t matter.

The intelligentsia viewed the Ramayana trail with great concern. The Ramayana trail has been criticised on for its historical inaccuracies. These are not accidental, they are deliberate distortion of Sri Lanka‘s history and there was a political purpose behind it, charged the intelligentsia. The Royal Asiatic Socieyt of Sri Lanka therefore held a symposium on the subject in   October 2010. (Papers presented at this symposium can be downloaded at http://www.royalasiaticsociety.lk/research-projects/symposium-on-the-tourist-authorities-ramayana-trail/isl)

At this symposium    Malini Dias, the  respected epigraphist,  commented on a paper presented by N.C.K. Kiriella, chairman of the Ramayana Trail, Ministry of Tourism, at a symposium held at the Indian Cultural Centre.  His topic was ‘Historical evidence of Ramayana and Ravana in Sri Lanka.” His paper contained many inaccuracies, she said, listing some of them.

The cave inscription from Alulena (Rahalgala) in Aranayake in Kegalle District has had   white ink put on the letters in the inscription to change the appearance of the letters and then photographed, said Malini. A new phrase ‘Maha Rakdhaha rawana puta’ has been surreptitiously added at the beginning of the inscription. This translates as Ravana’s son. The Archeological Department takes ink impressions from the inscriptions. The ink impression is in black and white and is clear for reading, she said.

Cave inscriptions from Wegiriya devale have also been distorted with white ink  and translated to suit the Ramayana. The Brahmi cave inscription of Molagoda Vihara in Kandy District has been misinterpreted. ‘Bamana’ has been read as ‘Bimana’ to show that it refers to the pilot of an airplane.

Sigiriya has been described as Chitrakoota palace of Ravana’s brother Kuvera. Isurumuniya Vihara is considered the temple of Ravana’s parents, Visravasumi and Kaikali.   The word Kubakara has been misinterpreted as Kubakana. Cave inscriptions at Vessagiriya were also misinterpreted.  One inscription has been taken by Kiriella from the book ‘Sri Lanka Rawana rajadhaniya’ by Ariyadasa Seneviratne. Participants at the RASSL symposium wanted to know whether legal action cannot be taken if inscriptions have been tempered with.

Kiriella later responded through the newspapers. The ink impression of a rock inscription is fine, he said, but standing before the entrance to the cave, following the letters carefully and taking photographs is always better than ink impressions. That’s the method I applied.

Danesh Wisumperuma speaking at the RASSL symposium said that there is no historical evidence to show that Rumassala, Ritigala, Dolukanda are remnants of rock brought here by Hanuman. Geologically they were formed around 542-4500 million years ago. Scientific evidence shows that the flora there are not Himalayan flora. They are Sri Lanka flora Ussangoda, according to the Ramayana trail, was the landing place of Ravana’s plane before it was burned by Hanuman. Geologically, this is a serpentine rock formation and the surface is covered with Red Earth. This soil contains a high concentration of heavy metal. That is why the diversity of vegetation is low in such sites, Wisumperuma explained.

The Ramayana trail contained howlers   as well. The Asoka flower said to be a rare Sita flower is a common plant in the upcountry and is found in many forests and Patna lands. They said the Bovitiya is also a rare Sita flower. Seetha gangula is not about Sita. There were other absurdities. I attended a talk by Ramayana trail supporters where they said that the letters ‘ra-ma’ or ‘ra-va-na’ were plentiful in the inscriptions. It was the silliest talk I have ever listened to.

At the RASSL symposium, Ven Hegoda Vipassi    spoke about the   Ravana literature that had sprouted along with the Ramayana trail. This is done methodically, he said. One person provides distorted inscriptions and others write books and essays based on these distorted inscriptions.  Historians are silent. Some have written introductions to these works.

Suriya Goonesekera had written an article on Ravana, which he said was based on information from ‘Dakkunu Budu siripathula pihiti makkam saha ravana rajuge sel lipi’ by Jayantha Pathiraarachchi.  Pathiraarachchi is busy fabricating and distorting inscriptions, said Ven Vipassi. Inscriptions have had lime put on it and new letters put in. Words are given new meanings. Gam and Ganga makes gamga. Pathiraarachchi’s book is selling well, about 15,000 copies have sold.

Ven Vipassi considered the distorted Ramayana trail interpretations as   part of a much deeper anti-Buddhist programme. The Ravana distortions are only a portion of the project of distorting the history and Buddhism, he said.  ‘I have found that an organized group is involved in publishing articles in the newspapers and books, which distort the history of Sri Lanka and also Buddhism. Scholars ignore these, saying they are un- academic.

However, I received a large number of phone calls and letters from the public inquiring about these books. When I started taking action I got obscene and threatening phone calls, also death threats.One letter disparaged Mahinda and Sanghamitta. I lodged a complaint at the Mt Lavinia Police station and am awaiting leave to proceed. This is a well organized campaign.  The Hindu akramanaya is starting, he concluded.

The Ramayana trail has come under fire for its political implications as well. Someone must look into the matter of the Ramayana trail, said alarmed observers. This is no laughing matter. Ravana and Rama sites are now found in places of historical significance, such as Yudaganawa. Why the Ramayana is remembered now, critics asked. Why is the Ramayana epic, which was not accepted in Sri Lanka for two millennia, making inroads now. 

The intelligentsia had no difficulty in explaining why. Ministry of Tourism is marketing Sri Lanka as the abode of Ravana. This is a move to subvert traditional history  and focus attention on the pre Buddhist and pre Sinhala era in Sri Lanka, they said. The 50 sites found in Sri Lanka are probably more than even in India, said critics.   The Ramayana trail also indicates a plan to present Sri Lanka as a Hindu country. Ramayana trail is not a venture to lure tourists but part of a bigger agenda to   present Sri Lanka as a Hindu country, said critics.

India is supporting this. Indian Express of 29.6.2010 reported that Chouhan, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, was present at the bhumi puja, of a new Sita Matha temple at Divurumpola where Sita is supposed to have performed Agni puja. He had offered one crore of rupees for its construction.

The Ramayana trail aims to destabilize the country, charged the intelligentsia. Gaston Perera noted that Sri Lanka is using an epic from a foreign country to attract Indian tourists into this country. This epic has political implications.  The triumph of Rama over Ravana equals India over Sri Lanka.

A confrontational situation can be created by Ramayana Trail, critics observed. The tourists will not be ordinary tourists but Hindu tourists obsessed with the idea of the supremacy of Rama and Sita. Such pilgrimages can lead to violence. The Tamil issue was bad enough, a Hinduised intervention would be worse, said Bandu de Silva. The Hindu population in India has nationalist and religious impulses which could be used as a pretext for war if the sites become threatened.

Concerned Sri Lankans therefore want to know on what evidence the Tourist Board is arranging Ramayana trails in Sri Lanka.   They say that before this myth gets crystallized, the validity of these sites should be examined. Sri Lanka’s past cannot be distorted merely to attract Indian tourists. Tourist Board replied, ‘it is not our job to verify historical accuracy but to encourage tourism which is what we are doing by promoting the Ramayana trails’.

Some observers took a milder line. Haris de Silva said need we go to great lengths to debunk the Rama- Ravana connection with Sri Lanka. There is no danger that all this will threaten Buddhism. Also, every Buddhist temple ha separate annexes for Siva and Vishnu within the temple complex.   There is no threat to Buddhism from Ramayana trail. Why should not the Tourist Board make a quick buck out of it. They should be allowed to embellish the material, Haris said. Haris de Silva is former Director, National archives.

Tissa Devendra  suggested that the Ramayana trail could be presented as a fictitious  one. There is a tradition of fictional tourism, such as the Baker Street tours in London,  of the places where Sherlock Holmes lived in London.

 Columnist Nan” said in her column if money could be made from the Ramayana trail why not make it. There is no point in making such a fuss over the fact that Ramayana has been debunked as historical in India. We believe in legends myths about the origin of the Sinhala race and believe that the Buddha visited our island.

Nan though the RASSL symposium was tilting at windmills, seeing dangers where they do not really exist. Paranoid fears were expressed at the RASSL symposium, she said. Apprehensions were exaggerated. Since we believe in the coming of the Buddha and Vijaya without proof why not Ravana.

 She says that this segment of tourism came to be when tourism as in the doldrums. The idea of Ramayana trial was developed parallel to the Buddhist circuit in India and was approved by Milinda Moragoda, when he was Minister of Tourism. Don’t attempt to kill the golden goose which lays the golden egg of this arm of religious tourism. Ravana was a great king, she said. (CONCLUDED)

By Edward Theophilus

While problems relating to the Easter Sunday attacks are diminishing, it seems that news media and politicians are openly talking about the next presidential election. What is real public opinion on the next presidential election is quite difficult to understand as emerging talks in the country, despite the major problems attempt to camouflage the real problems?  Emerging terrorism from time to time has been a significant problem since 1970 and such terrorist activities related to all communities, Sinhala, Tamil and, Muslim. Whether they were domestic productions or imported ideology cannot be determined by the public as investigators have not disclosed findings.

The recent explosion in Palali and the death of a soldier might be complicated the problem further, the accurate information was not disclosed and shows that Sri Lanka needs a strong and wise security system to protect people and collateral of the country.  People of the country without any difference have a fundamental opinion that the next president must be a person with a strong ability to tackle security issues. A part of Investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks revealed that the national security has relegated to uncertain politics and underestimated by politicians. For this purpose, Sri Lanka needs a person who can tackle the security problems as the successful candidate for the next presidential election. 

If we look back the major reason to emerge terrorism, it seems that brainwashing of young people using political or religious beliefs was the beginning of terrorism. Young generation is vulnerable to vicious ideas without critically examining whether they are right or wrong and has not gained and is not being gained critical thinking power from schools and universities and attitudes of them are based on bullshits in many instances, so there is a trend of aligning to revolutionary ideas or stupid religious philosophies and potential to acting on such ideas with a view to achieving the utopia. Rohana Wijeweera brainwashed poor rural youth and university students using five lessons copied from publications of Marxism and Kim Il Sung in North Korea, a speech of Sunethra Bandaranaike and a book of J.R.P. Surriaperuma. Prabhakaran followed bisection ideas of misguided Tamil leaders, and Saharan and his group addicted to revised Koran versions and teaching of manipulators of Islam after prophet Mohamed. Terrorism in Sri Lanka was purely a manipulation from outside theories and religious preachers than accurate or authenticated facts in above mention publications and understanding the practical environment of Sri Lanka.

The other vital fact is that Sri Lanka is subject to an international power play among India China, USA, Russia, Europe, and the Middle East. We have seen that this situation has been growing since independence.  Although Sri Lanka is not an economically powerful country to offer advantages to power players, there is some potential in South Asian region for military and trade purposes and some countries in the region want to block the economic and trade activities initiated by Sri Lanka with a view to attracting such gains and benefits to them.   I feel that those international players are attempting for zero-sum games using Sri Lanka disregarding what would happen to its people. Therefore, next president in Sri Lanka should be an excellent thinker, a strategist in relation to military and civil activities with an ability to make right decisions and reconcile the relations, especially with China, India, and the USA.

Political leaders including the past presidents did not initiate or openly discuss with the public about policy issues. Past presidents and their political parties and associated people endeavored to gain power misleading people without openly talking about the reality of the country. In 2015 presidential and general elections opened the hopes of people for good cultural design, but the political bias of associated people disgraced the good governance and the hopes of people.  In this environment, next presidential candidate must consider to making a good cultural design for the country, and it should be the main policy strategy with a view to maintaining harmony among ethnic and religious groups and international institutions. Policy correction and invention in relation to the economy, education, administration, racial and religious harmony, foreign relations and other areas in a good cultural design would be successful without aligning to temporary measures. Past presidents practically aligned to temporary measures rather than looking for medium- and long-term focus with a clear vision.  While giving leadership for such activities, the president should give leadership for modernization of the country.   Without a strong leadership for modernization, like emperor Meiji did in Japan, the country cannot go forward in the dynamic world.

After independence in 1948, Sri Lanka had a good opportunity to make a strong cultural design, which entirely changes the attitudes of people, however, the political leadership was unable to produce such a good design as they followed greedy politics with a view to gain power or to be in power. People have very much experience that many presidents withdrew good constitutional and legal provisions to maintain a just society in Sri Lanka.  When a group of people, who have no real public supports come to the road, leaders withdrew good measures.  The proposed cultural design should be based on one country and one nation with one law for all. People may be different from size, shape, color, political and religious beliefs, but people do share something universal, which is called “Humanness” as Aristotle stated.  When there is a good cultural design nobody can put hands to affairs of Sri Lanka.

What is a cultural design may be questioned to the public?  Sri Lanka’s political authority needs to understand the nature of laws and controls and how they should be effectively used in the country. After independence, people were not educated the way of designing a culture and how it should be consisting of and what is expected behavior in a good society.  Cultural design is making strong rules, regulations, and laws to stabilize the country giving equal opportunity for everyone and eliminating discrimination on Racal, religious, caste dictions and others. The yahapalana regime intended to do the cultural design, but within a short period, the regime changed the policies opposed and turned to a more vicious politics and corrupt practices.

In the process of policy correction, the economy of the country is the most important area.  In 1978 began the market economic system but it was implemented without disciplines and controls and the market economic system promoted an unbalanced growth networking bulk of investments to Western province.  Urbanization must be expanded to regional Sri Lanka to giving benefits to rural people.  Many economic problems are related to the macroeconomy, there may be artificial intelligent or microeconomic reforms important but macroeconomic policies are vital to shaping the economy.  Population control and unemployment should consider as a strategic policy correct because the size of population in Sri Lanka is too much for the size of lands and available services.  The population of Sri Lanka should be controlled to 1981 level ( Sinhala 75%, Tamil 15%, Muslim 7% and others 3%) giving the ratio of  the population had in 1981.

Education in the country must be effectively reshaped to reduce the cost associated with it and generate productive and knowledge nation in all contexts of education. The current education does not produce quality people from all context.

 The administration field generates unaffordable costs to the country.  Within an unliterary constitutional system, Sri Lanka needs administrative delegation to district level with strong coordination.

Ethnic and religious harmony will be depended on a strong cultural design, which eliminates discrimination and gives equality for all religious and ethnic groups.

Foreign relations should be focused on reconciling between power blocs and not aligning to a specific bloc. Sri Lanka needs to maintain a very good relationship with neighboring countries including India and China with other trading partners.

Policy correction will be successful only if current policies are properly reviewed.

The next presidential candidate must express his or her views on these major areas and be able  to give leadership with a strong military and civil experience.

අමාත්‍ය සුජීව සේනසිංහ ප්‍රවෘත්ති නිවේදනය

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව අභ්‍යාවකාශ පර්යේෂණ  ක්ෂේත්‍රයට පිවිසීම සනිටුහන් කරමින්  ආතර් සී. ක්ලාක් මධ්‍යස්ථානයේ පර්යේෂණ ඉංජිනේරුවන් දෙදෙනෙකු  විසින් ජපානයේ ද සහයෝගය මත ජපානයේ ක්‍යුෂු තාක්ෂණික අධ්‍යයන ආයතනයේ දී නිර්මාණය කර දැනට ජාත්‍යන්තර අභ්‍යාවකාශ මධ්‍යස්ථානයේ රඳවා තිබෙන රාවණ -1 නැනෝ චන්ද්‍රිකාව ජුනි මස 17 වැනිදා පෘථිවියට කිලෝමීටර 400 ක දුරින් පිහිටි කක්ෂයකට මුදාහරින බව බව විද්‍යා, තාක්ෂණ හා පර්යේෂණ අමාත්‍ය සුජීව සේනසිංහ මහතා පැවසීය. ඒ මහතා මෙ බව ප්‍රකාශ කළේ ඊයේ දින එම අමාත්‍යාංශයේ පැවති ප්‍රවෘත්ති සාකච්ඡාවකදී ය.  

අභ්‍යාවකාශ පර්යේෂණ  ක්ෂේත්‍රයෙන් අප රට ළඟාකරගත් සුවිශේෂී ජයග්‍රහණය වන මෙරට ප්‍රථම චන්ද්‍රිකාව නිර්මාණය වන්නේ විද්‍යා, තාක්ෂණ හා පර්යේෂණ අමාත්‍යාංශය යටතේ ක්‍රියාත්මක වන නවීන තාක්ෂණය පිළිබඳ ආතර් සී. ක්ලාක් මධ්‍යස්ථානය 2014 වර්ෂයේ දී ආරම්භ කළ දිගුකාලීන අභ්‍යාවකාශ තාක්ෂණ සංවර්ධන වැඩසටහනේ එක් පියවරක් ලෙසිනි.

මෙහි දී වැඩිදුරටත් අදහස් දැක් වූ අමාත්‍යවරයා මෙසේ ද පැවසීය.

 නවීන තාක්ෂණ පිලිබඳ ආතර් සී.ක්ලාක් ආයතනය හා ජපානයේ කියුෂු තාක්ෂණ ආයතනය සමඟ 2017 වසරේදී සහයෝගීතා පර්යේෂණ ගිවිසුමකට (Cooperate Research Agreement) එළඹුනා. මෙම ගිවිසුමට අනුව ශ්‍රී ලංකාව වෙනුවෙන් නැනෝ චන්ද්‍රිකාවක් නිර්මාණය කිරීමේ පර්යේෂණ කටයුතු සඳහා එක් පූර්ණ ශිෂ්‍යයත්වයක් ආතර් සී. ක්ලාක් ආයතනයේ පර්යේෂණ ඉංජිනේරු දුලානි චාමිකා මෙනවිය වෙත හිමිවුණා. ඊට අමතරව මුදල් ගෙවන සාමාජිකයෙකු ලෙස ආතර් සී.ක්ලාක් ආයතනය විසින් එම ආයතනයේ පර්යේෂණ ඉංජිනේරු  තරිදු දයාරත්න මහතාවත් මේ කාර්යයට ඉදිරිපත් කළා. මෙම නැනෝ චන්ද්‍රිකා ව්‍යාපෘතිය වෙනුවෙන් රුපියල් මිලියන 21.5 ක් ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය විසින් පිරිණමා තිබෙනවා.”  

අමත්‍යාංශයේ ඉදිරි කටයුතු පිළිබඳව අමාත්‍යවරයා මෙසේ කරුණු පැහැදිලි කළේය.

මේ වන විට අප රට නැවත යථා තත්වයට පැමිණ තිබෙනවා. ඒ තුළ අප අමාත්‍යාංශය ලබන ජූලි මස 18 වන දින විද්‍යව, තාක්ෂණය, නවෝත්පාදන දැනුම සාමාන්‍ය ජනතාවට සමීප කරවන  ශිල්ප සේනා දැවැන්ත ප්‍රදර්ශනය කොළඹ දී ආරම්භ කරනවා. මෙම ප්‍රදර්ශනයේ දී, විද්‍යව හා තාක්ෂණය අංශ 12 වෙන්කර දැනුම ලබාදීම, නව නිපැයුම් 500 කට අවස්ථාව ලබාදීම, නිෂ්පාදන සඳහා ජනතාව දැනුවත් කරන පැකේජ 1000 ක් හඳුන්වා දීම, ආදී අවස්ථාවන් රැසක් ජනතාවට ලබාදීම අපේ අරමුණයි. ශිල්ප සේනා වැඩසටහන එක් මාසයකට එක් දිස්ත්‍රික්කයක ලෙස  දිවයින පුරා ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම හරහා දළ ජාතික නිෂ්පාදනය දෙගුණ කිරීමට අවස්ථාව ලැබෙන බව අප විශ්වාස කරනවා. ”

මෙම අවස්ථාවට අමාත්‍යාංශ ලේකම් චින්තක ලොකුහෙට්ටි, අධ්‍යක්ෂ හිමාලි අතාවුදගේ, ආතර් සී. ක්ලාක් ආයතනයේ සභාපති මහාචාර්ය උපුල් සොන්නාදර යන මහත්ම මහත්මීන් ද සහභාගී වූහ.

තක්ෂක හේමචන්ද්‍ර

ගරු විද්‍යා, තාක්ෂණ හා පර්යේෂණ අමාත්‍යතුමාගේ

මාධ්‍ය ලේකම්

සම්පත් සමරකෝන්  කැදවුම්කරු මාධ්‍ය නිවේදනය

04 ජූනි 2019

‘සයිබර් ආරක්ෂණ පනත් කෙටුම්පත’ පිළිබද මහජන සංවාදයට ලබා දී ඇති කාලය ප්‍රමාණවත් නොවේ

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සයිබර්  ආරක්ෂණ උපායමාර්ග ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම, සයිබර් ආරක්ෂණ නියෝජිතායතනයක් පිහිටුවීම සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සයිබර් ආරක්ෂණ ක්‍රමවේදයන් සඳහා විධිවිධාන සැලැස්වීමට යනුවෙන්   පවසමින් ‘සයිබර් ආරක්ෂණ පනත් කෙටුම්පතක්’ ඩිජිටල් යටිතල පහසුකම් සහ තොරතුරු තාක්‍ෂණ අමාත්‍යාංශය  විසින් මේ වන විට ඉදිරිපත් කර තිබේ.

එම පනත් කෙටුම්පත http://www.mdiit.gov.lk/index.php/en/mtdi-news/item/64-cyber-security-bill හෝ  https://srilankacert.blogspot.com/2019/05/invitation-for-comments-on-cyber.html යන වෙබ් අඩවිවලට පසුගිය මැයි 23වනදා, මහජන මත විමසීම සදහා ඇතුලත් කර ඇති අතර, එම  මහජන මත විමසුමට අදාළ යෝජනා එළඹෙන ජූනි 5 වනදාට පෙර එවිය යුතු අතර, වාචික යෝජනා සහ අදහස් ඉදිරිපත් කිරීම ජූනි මස 6 වනදා ට යොදා ඇති බව එම වෙබ් අඩවිය වාර්තා කර ඇත.

ලෝකය පුරා සන්නිවේදන කටයුතු වල මේ වන විට ප්‍රමුඛස්ථානය ගෙන ඇත්තේ අන්තර්ජාලය මත පදනම් වූ සන්නිවේදන වේදිකාවන්ය. එම නිසාම එම අන්තර්ජාල වේදිකාවල ආරක්ෂාව, එම වේදිකාවල අන්තර්ගතයන්, ඒවායේ දත්ත සහ තොරතුරුවල ආරක්ෂාව මෙන්ම පුද්ගලිකත්වය(Privacy)  පිළිබඳවත් ලෝකය පුරා අවධානය යොමුව ඇත්තේ බොහෝ කලක සිට බව අන්තර්ජාල මාධ්‍ය ක්‍රියාකාරීත්වය(IMA) අවධාරණය කරමු.

එම තත්වය තුළ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ එම කතිකාව එතරම් පළල් මට්ටමක නොවුණත්, අන්තර්ජාල නිදහස, පුද්ගලිකත්වය, ආචාරධර්ම සහ මානව හිමිකම් මත පදනම් වූ අන්තර්ජාල භාවිතාවක් පිළිබද සාකච්ඡාවක් මේවන විටත් ආරම්භ වී ඇත. එහි එක් ක්‍රියාකාරීත්වයක් ‘සමාජ මාධ්‍යය ප්‍රකාශනය: කොළඹ 2019’ නමින් පසුගිය මාර්තුවේදී ශ්‍රී ලංකාවෙ ප්‍රමුඛ පෙළේ සිවිල් සංවිධාන 16ගේ එකඟත්වයෙන් කොළඹ දී එළිදැක්වීය.

එවැනි සංදර්භයක් තුළ ඩිජිටල් යටිතල පහසුකම් සහ තොරතුරු තාක්‍ෂණ අමාත්‍යාංශය විසින් ඉදිරිපත් කර ඇති  ‘සයිබර් ආරක්ෂණ පනත් කෙටුම්පත’ පිළිබඳව අන්තර්ජාල මාධ්‍ය ක්‍රියාකාරීත්වයේ දැඩි අවධානය යොමු කරමු.

එහි දී මෙවැනි සංවේදී මෙන්ම ඉතාමත් ගැඹුරින් අධ්‍යනය කලයුතු මෙන්ම සැලකිය යුතු විෂයක් සම්බන්ධයෙන් වන පනත් කෙටුම්පතක් මහජන අවකාශයේ සාකච්ඡාවට, සංවාදයට ලක්කිරීම සදහා ලබා දී ඇති කාලය පිලිබඳ අපි කිසිසේත්ම සතුටු නොවෙමු.

විශේෂයෙන් ලංකාවේ එතරම් ගැඹුරින් සාකච්ඡා නොවන එහෙත් සාකච්ඡා විය යුතු කලාපයක් වන අන්තර්ජාලය/ සයිබර් අවකාශය පිළිබඳ වන ‘පනත් කෙටුම්පතක්’ පිළිබඳ මහජන සාකච්ඡාව සදහා දින 13කට ආසන්න කාලයක් පමණක් ලබා දී තිබීම පිලිබඳ  අප ක්‍රියාකාරීත්වය පුදුමයට පත් වෙමු.

එබැවින් එම කෙටුම්පතේ අන්තර්ගතයන් පිළිබඳව සාකච්ඡා කිරීමට සහ අදහස් ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට පෙර, ඩිජිටල් යටිතල පහසුකම් සහ තොරතුරු තාක්‍ෂණ අමාත්‍යාංශය භාර අමාත්‍ය, අජිත්. පී. පෙරේරා මහතාගෙන් අප ඉල්ලා සිටින්නේ අවම වශයෙන් එක් මසක් වත් මේ සදහා ලබා දිය යුතු බවයි.

එසේම, මෙම පනත් කෙටුම්පත බා ගත කර හැකි  වෙබ් අඩවි වල (www.mdiit.gov.lk හෝ  www.cert.gov.lk) දක්වා ඇත්තේ පනත් කෙටුම් පතෙහි ඉංග්‍රීසි පිටපත පමණි. එය තවත් ලෙසකින් සිංහල සහ දෙමළ භාෂාව පමණක් භාවිතා කරන මහජනතාවට මෙහි අන්තර්ගතය හොදින් ග්‍රහණය කර ගැනීමට ඇති ප්‍රමුඛ බාධකයකි. එයින් සිදුවන්නේ ඉතා සංවේදී විෂයක් සදහා ඉදිරිපත් කර ඇති මෙම පනත් කෙටුම්පතට මහජන අදහස් ලබා දීම ගැටලුවක් ව ඇති බවයි. එසේම පනතේ ම 34වන වගන්තියේ දක්වා ඇති පරිදි, ‘සිංහල භාෂවෙන් ඇති පනත බලාත්මක වන බව’ සඳහන් වුවත්, එහි සිංහල හෝ දෙමළ පනත් කෙටුම්පතක් තවමත් නොමැති වීම පනත් කෙටුම්පත පිළිබඳ ජනතාව තුළ සැකයක් මතු වීමට ඉඩ ඇති බව ද අප  ක්‍රියාකාරීත්වයේ මතයයි.

තවද ශ්‍රී ලංකාව තුළ ඇති වී ඇති නොසන්සුන්කාරී වාතාවරණයක් තුළ, සමාජ මාධ්‍ය වේදිකාවන් පසුගිය කාලය පුරා 3වරක් පමණ ලංකාව තුළින් පිවිසීම අවහිර කර තිබූ තත්වයක් තුළ සහ අන්තර්ජාලය හා බැඳී සමාජ මාධ්‍ය වේදිකාවන් පිළිබද සාවද්‍ය මතයන් වගකිවයුතු බලධාරීන්ගෙන් පවා  ප්‍රකාශ වන සංදර්භයකදී මෙයට වඩා වැඩි වගකීමකින් සහ සංවේදී භාවයකින් මෙවැනි විෂයක් සම්බන්ධයෙන් කටයුතු කළ යුතු බව අන්තර්ජාල මාධ්‍ය  ක්‍රියාකාරීත්වයේ අදහසයි.

එම නිසා ඉදිරිපත්කර ඇති ‘සයිබර් ආරක්ෂණ පනත් කෙටුම්පත’ ලංකාවේ භාෂා ප්‍රතිපත්තියට ගරු කරමින් සිංහල සහ දෙමළ භාෂා වලින් ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට ද, අවම ලෙස එක් මසක්වත් මෙය පොදු මහජන අවකාශයට මුදා හරිමින් විවෘත සංවාදයකට ලක් කිරීම, මෙවැනි විෂයක් සම්බන්ධයෙන් පනත් කෙටුම්පතක් ගෙන ඒමේදී බලධාරීන්ගේ පූර්ණ වගකීමක් බව අප තරයේ අවධාරණය කරමු.

සම්පත් සමරකෝන්

කැදවුම්කරු | @IMAlanka | +94 777248304

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

Sangha ,Weda,Govi ,Kamkaru come forward please 

During last fewdays we have seen a formidable power behind Sangha .One lonely crusad monk managed to  almost the whole country to disobey law and order. Parallelu Weda  group led by doctors with GMOA at the helm created ripples. In the country ,threatening to strike .

Kamkaru were mobilised by the local politicians were getting ready.

Govi society is led by a farmer who never held a mammoty

It is the time for a new breed of leaders to come forward

In fifties we had a Christian converted to a Buddhist,educated in Oxford ,who got rid of tie and coat and changed into while national dress wearing round rimmed glasses who mesmerised  the masses with his eloquece and grabbed the power.

Same Sangha who carried him to the top killed him.

It is high time for his grand son who has similar features to come forward and lead the country ??

Only issue may be his sexual preferences.

That may be ok as Sri Lankan’s are now quite used to Butterfly theory.

After all most all Sri Lankans  at younger age were butterflies !

In India a Chaiwala became prime minister and in our country we have a president who was a low ranking government Servant ,in Ukraine we have a. New president who is  comedian ( Joker)

Unless our people make up their mond now and look for new blood ,there is no hope.

Current lot have miserably failed.

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

Righteous Society Project

There are three signs of a good person:

1)                Speaking the truth and searching it out. Only truth has value.

2)              Knowing what is good and supporting it, and protecting it. .

3)              Recognizing beauty and appreciating it.

Schools are intended to guide students into these three ways of basic goodness. But in Sri Lanka things are not going to plan; to a certain measure, they are going in the wrong direction:

To pass term tests and examinations, sadly, some students, the dishonest ones, cheat to gain higher marks. They can do this by taking into the examination crib” notes; or they can sit by a friend who will help them during the exam..

In this way they get an advantage over their classmates and claim by fraud, a higher academic achievement. But this is a lie – an untrue image of their real ability to work, study and pass exams. They may cheat in the whole range of subjects of the curriculum and even win school prizes and honours – dishonest students who claim to be worthy of honour!

This is not the purpose of schools!

One of the main reasons why children attend school is to get knowledge, and learn good habits, good manners and become trustworthy.

It is only trustworthy people who have any value to society as a whole. It is only they who can make a society, a country great.

Having a good school-life experience moulds and shapes children so that they can be prepared for life and have knowledge and to have all the tools to overcome their future problems. People who live by cheating end up in failure due to not have good knowledge and not behaving honestly. We all learn from our mistakes, we learn from our experiences. That is how people actually learn. Make your mistakes at school and not in the outside world! It is the road along which we all travel to get personal development, experience and wisdom.

People are social animals. We work together to achieve things. And to work together we have to talk and communicate our ideas and work to do things that are needed by the group. When it comes to actual doing and producing, people who lie soon get exposed. If you can’t answer truthfully and with knowledgeable answers people reject you. Very quickly people name you as a liar! And not to be trusted! Your good name falls to the dust.

Schools are producing students, some of whom are dishonest people, cheaters by habit.

There are the famous four Cardinal Virtues” made famous by Virgil  of Greece: Courage, Prudence, Temperance, and Justice..

If students have a sense of justice and fair play they will work and not rely on cheating to pass their exams.

ROS. Secretary CfB (International). Righteous Society Project.

Courtesy thereligionofpeace.com

https://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/quran/taqiyya.aspx

Does Islam permit Muslims to lie?  Muslim scholars teach that Muslims should generally be truthful to each other, unless the purpose of lying is to “smooth over differences” or “gain the upper-hand over an enemy”There are several forms of lying to non-believers that are permitted under certain circumstances, the best known being taqiyya (the Shia name).  These circumstances are typically those that advance the cause of Islam – in some cases by gaining the trust of non-believers in order to draw out their vulnerability and defeat them.

QuranQuran (16:106) – Establishes that there are circumstances that can “compel” a Muslim to tell a lie.Quran (3:28) – This verse tells Muslims not to take those outside the faith as friends, unless it is to “guard themselves” against danger, meaning that there are times when a Muslim may appear friendly to non-Muslims, even though they should not feel friendly.Quran (9:3) – “…Allah and His Messenger are free from liability to the idolaters…” The dissolution of oaths is with pagans who remained at Mecca following its capture. They did nothing wrong, but were evicted anyway.  (The next verse refers only to those who have a personal agreement with Muhammad as individuals – see Ibn Kathir vol 4, p 49)Quran (66:2) – “Allah has already ordained for you the dissolution of your oaths…”Quran (40:28) – A man is introduced as a believer, but one who had to “hide his faith” among those who are not believers.Quran (2:225) – “Allah will not call you to account for thoughtlessness in your oaths, but for the intention in your hearts”Quran (3:54) – “And they (the disbelievers) schemed, and Allah schemed (against them): and Allah is the best of schemers.” The Arabic word used here for scheme (or plot) is makara, which means ‘cunning,’ ‘guile’ and ‘deceit’. If Allah is supremely deceitful toward unbelievers, then there is little basis for denying that Muslims are allowed to do the same. (See also 8:30 and 10:21)Taken collectively these verses are interpreted to mean that there are circumstances when a Muslim may be “compelled” to deceive others for a greater purpose.

Hadith and SiraSahih Bukhari (52:269) – “The Prophet said, ‘War is deceit.'” The context of this is thought to be the murder of Usayr ibn Zarim and his thirty unarmed companions by Muhammad’s men after they were “guaranteed” safe passage (see Additional Notes below). Sahih Bukhari (49:857) – “He who makes peace between the people by inventing good information or saying good things, is not a liar.” Lying is permitted when the end justifies the means. Sahih Bukhari (84:64-65) – Speaking from a position of power at the time, Ali confirms that lying is permitted in order to deceive an “enemy.”  The Quran defines the ‘enemy’ as “disbelievers” (4:101).  Sahih Muslim (32:6303) – “…he did not hear that exemption was granted in anything what the people speak as lie but in three cases: in battle, for bringing reconciliation amongst persons and the narration of the words of the husband to his wife, and the narration of the words of a wife to her husband (in a twisted form in order to bring reconciliation between them).” Sahih Bukhari (50:369) – Recounts the murder of a poet, Ka’b bin al-Ashraf, at Muhammad’s insistence. The men who volunteered for the assassination used dishonesty to gain Ka’b’s trust, pretending that they had turned against Muhammad. This drew the victim out of his fortress, whereupon he was brutally slaughtered. From Islamic Law: Reliance of the Traveler (p. 746 – 8.2) – “Speaking is a means to achieve objectives. If a praiseworthy aim is attainable through both telling the truth and lying, it is unlawful to accomplish through lying because there is no need for it. When it is possible to achieve such an aim by lying but not by telling the truth, it is permissible to lie if attaining the goal is permissible (N:i.e. when the purpose of lying is to circumvent someone who is preventing one from doing something permissible), and obligatory to lie if the goal is obligatory… it is religiously precautionary in all cases to employ words that give a misleading impression…  (See the Permissible Lying section on the Sharia page for more) “One should compare the bad consequences entailed by lying to those entailed by telling the truth, and if the consequences of telling the truth are more damaging, one is entitled to lie.”

NotesThe Hadith makes it clear that Muslims are allowed to lie to unbelievers in order to defeat them or protect themselves. There are several forms: Taqiyya – Saying something that isn’t true as it relates to the Muslim identity.  This is a Shiite term: the Sunni counterpart is Muda’rat. Kitman – Lying by omission. An example would be when Muslim apologists quote only a fragment of verse 5:32 (that if anyone kills “it shall be as if he had killed all mankind”) while neglecting to mention that the rest of the verse (and the next) mandate murder in undefined cases of “corruption” and “mischief.”  Tawriya – Intentionally creating a false impression. Muruna – ‘Blending in’ by setting aside some practices of Islam or Sharia in order to advance others. Though not called taqiyya by name, Muhammad clearly used deception when he signed a 10-year treaty with the Meccans (known as Hudaibiya) which allowed him access to their city while he secretly prepared his own forces for a takeover. The unsuspecting residents were conquered in easy fashion after he broke the treaty two years later. Some of the people in the city who had trusted him at his word were executed.  Another example of lying is when Muhammad used deception to trick his personal enemies into letting down their guard and exposing themselves to slaughter by pretending to seek peace. This happened in the case of Ka’b bin al-Ashraf (as previously noted) and later against Usayr ibn Zarim, a surviving leader of the Banu Nadir tribe, which had been evicted from their home in Medina by the Muslims. At the time, Usayr ibn Zarim was attempting to gather an armed force against the Muslims from among a tribe allied with the Quraish (against which Muhammad had already declared war). Muhammad’s “emissaries” went to ibn Zarim and persuaded him to leave his safe haven on the pretext of meeting with the prophet of Islam in Medina to discuss peace. Once vulnerable, the leader and his thirty companions were massacred by the Muslims with ease, probably because they were unarmed – having been given a guarantee of safe passage (Ibn Ishaq 981, Ibn Kathir v.4 p.300). Such was the reputation of early Muslims for lying and killing that even those who “accepted Islam” did not feel entirely safe. Consider the fate of the Jadhima. When Muslim “missionaries” approached their tribe, one of the members insisted that they would be slaughtered even though they had already “converted” to Islam (to avoid just such a demise). However, the others insisted that they could trust the Muslim leader’s promise that they would not be harmed if they simply offered no resistance. (After convincing the skeptic to lay down his arms, the unarmed men of the tribe were tied up and beheaded by the missionaries – Ibn Ishaq 834 & 837). Today’s apologists often rationalize Muhammad’s murder of his critics at Medina by falsely claiming that they broke a treaty with their actions. Yet, these same apologists place little value on treaties broken by Muslims. From Muhammad to Saddam Hussein, promises made to non-Muslim are distinctly non-binding in the Muslim mindset. Leaders in the Arab world sometimes say one thing to English-speaking audiences and then something entirely different to their own people in Arabic.  Palestinian leaders routinely tell Westerners about their desire for peace with Israel, even as they whip Palestinians into a hateful and violent frenzy against Jews.  Yassir Arafat even referenced “Hudaibiya” – an admission to conning guillible non-Muslims. The 9/11 hijackers practiced deception by going into bars and drinking alcohol, thus throwing off potential suspicion that they were fundamentalists plotting jihad. This effort worked so well that John Walsh, the host of a popular American television show, claimed well after the fact that their bar trips were evidence of ‘hypocrisy.’ The transmission from Flight 93 records the hijackers telling their doomed passengers that there is “a bomb on board” but that everyone will “be safe” as long as “their demands are met.” Obviously none of this was true, but these men, who were so intensely devoted to Islam that they were willing to “slay and be slain for the cause of Allah” (as the Quran puts it) saw nothing wrong with employing taqiyya to facilitate their mission of mass murder. The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) insists that it “has not now or ever been involved with the Muslim Brotherhood, or supported any covert, illegal, or terrorist activity or organization.”  In fact, it was created by the Muslim Brotherhood and has bankrolled Hamas.  At least nine founders or board members of ISNA have been accused by prosecutors of supporting terrorism.  The notorious Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) is so well known for shamelessly lying about its ties to terror and extremism that books have been written on the subject.  They take seriously the part of Sharia  that says “it is permissible to lie if attaining the goal is permissible and obligatory to lie if the goal is obligatory”.  The goal being the ascendency of Islam (and Sharia itself) on the American landscape.  In 2007, CAIR’s Ibrahim Hooper published an op-ed with a fabricated story about Muhammad that portrayed him as a forgiving man:There was a lady who threw garbage in the path of the prophet on a daily basis. One day, she didn‘t do it. The prophet went to inquire about her health, because he thought she might be sick. This lady ended up converting to Islam. So, that‘s how you respond to people who attack you, with forgiveness and with kindness.Hooper is not ignorant, of course, and knew what he was doing.  After getting caught, he changed the wording slightly to say that it is a tradition “Muslims are taught,” but he continues to promote the story without qualifying it as untrue – thus causing others to unwittingly repeat a lie. Prior to engineering several deadly terror plots, such as the Fort Hood massacre and the attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner, American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki was regularly sought out by NPR, PBS and even government leaders to expound on the peaceful nature of Islam.  In 2013, a scholar at the prestigious al-Azhar university decreed that Muslims may wear the cross in order to deceive Christians into thinking they are friendly.  He cited 3:28 which says not to be friends with non-Muslims unless it is a way of “guarding” yourself against them. “Hiding faith” can mean deceiving others about Islam in order to make it appear more attractive.  For example, a prominent Muslim activist in the United States, Linda Sarsour, bills herself as a “progressive” and says that gays, women and religious minorities need not worry about Sharia being imposed.  She even says that money is lent free of charge under Islamic law (more about that here).    The Quran says in several places that Allah is the best at deceiving people.   There are a few early Quran verses that seem to encourage truthfulness: 70:32-33, and it bears mentioning that many Muslims are no less honest than anyone else.  But, when lying is addressed in the Quran, it is nearly always in reference to the “lies against Allah” – meaning the Jews and Christians who rejected Muhammad’s claim to being a prophet. Still, the circumstances by which Muhammad allowed a believer to lie to a non-spouse are limited to those that either advance the cause of Islam or enable a Muslim to avoid harm to his well-being (and presumably that of other Muslims as well).  Although this should be kept very much in mind when dealing with matters of global security, such as Iran’s nuclear intentions, it is not grounds for assuming that the Muslim one might personally encounter on the street or in the workplace is any less honest than anyone else. Additional Reading:  Taqiyya: TROP’s Response to the Apologists Taqiyya about Taqiyya (Raymond Ibrahim) Knowing the Four Forms of Lying Muruna: Violating Sharia to Fool the West

Dilum Amunugama

චූදිත අමාත්‍යවරුන් ඉල්ලා අස්වීම වෙනුවට සියලුම අමාත්‍යවරුන් ඉල්ලා අස්වී‍මේ භූමිකාව පිළිබද 2019.06.04 දින නුගවෙල පක්ෂ කාර්යාලයේ පැවති දැනුවත් කිරීමේ මාධ්‍ය සාකච්චාව..

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=470365273733499&t=70

විදෙස් ඩොලර් ආධාර දෙස බලා සිටින අමාත්‍ය මංගල සමරවීර මහතාට තුන්සියයකට අධික කිතුණු සැදැහැවතුන් ඝාතනය වීම ගැටලුවක්වී නොමැති නමුත් අතිඋතුම් මැල්කම් රංජිත් හිමිපාණන් වහන්සේ පූජ්‍ය අතුරලියේ රතන හිමියන් හමුවීම ගැටලුවක් වී ඇතැයි මහනුවර දිස්ත්‍රික් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී දිලුම් අමුණුගම මහතා ප්‍රකාශ කළේය.

පාස්කු ඉරිදා ප්‍රහාරයෙන් පසු  එකදු  පුද්ගලයෙකුට හානියක් නොවන ලෙස රට තුළ සාමය තහවුරු කිරීමට විශාල දායකත්වයක් දැක්වූ අති උතුම් මැල්කම් රංජිත් හිමිපාණන් වහන්සේට අමාත්‍ය මංගල සමරවීර මහතා අගෞරව කිරීම කිසිසේත්ම අනුමත නොකරන බව අද මහනුවර නුගවෙල දී පැවති මාධ්‍ය හමුවකදී මන්ත්‍රීවරයා පැවසුවා. 

පූජ්‍ය අතුරලියේ රතන හිමියන්ගේ  දේශපාලන දර්ශනය කුමක් වුවත් උන්වහන්සේගේ අරමුණ අප කවුරුත් පොදුවේ පිළිගන්නවා.

චූදිත අමාත්‍යවරුන් ඉල්ලා අස්වීම වෙනුවට සියලුම අමාත්‍යවරුන් ඉල්ලා අස්වීම මගින් පෙනී යන්නේ ඒ අමාත්‍යවරුන් සියල්ලම ජාතිවාදී බවයි. එමෙන්ම ඔවුන් අන්තවාදීන් ආරක්ෂා කරන බව පෙනී යනවා. මේ අවස්ථාවේදී එම අමාත්‍යවරුන් හා ආණ්ඩුකාරවරුන් ඒ අයුරින් ක්‍රියාකරනවා නම් සිංහල අමාත්‍යවරුන් සිංහල ජනතාව වෙනුවෙන් ද දෙමළ අමාත්‍යවරුන් දෙමළ ජනතාව වෙනුවෙන් ද පෙනී සිටීමේ වරදක් දකින්නේ නැහැ. ජාතිවාදයක් රට තුළ පවතිනවා නම් එය එක් පාර්ශවයකට පමණක් හිමිවිය යුතු නැහැ.

නදීක දයා බණ්ඩාර 

RT

WikiLeaks revealed US war crimes, government corruption, and corporate media’s servile flattery to the power elite. If you’re a member of our ruling class, you would view those as textbook examples of treachery…

In an evolved and fully realized society, the oligarchy would see Assange as a dangerous criminal (which they do), and the average working men and women would view him as justice personified (which they don’t). We would celebrate him even as the mass media told us to hope for his downfall—like a Batman or a Robin Hood or an Ozzy Osbourne (the early years, not the cleaning-dog-turds-off-his-carpet years).

But we are not evolved and this is not Gotham City and average Americans don’t root for the truth. Many Americans cheer for Assange’s imprisonment. They believe the corporate plutocratic talking points and yearn for the days when we no longer have to hear about our country’s crimes against humanity or our bankers’ crimes against the economy. Subconsciously they must believe that a life in which we’re tirelessly exploited by rich villains and know all about it thanks to the exhaustive efforts of an eccentric Australian is worse than one in which we’re tirelessly exploited by rich villains yet know nothing about it.

Ignorance is bliss” is the meditative mantra of the United States of America.

Julian Assange has been arrested and is now locked away in British custody. The U.S. government wants to extradite him, regardless of the official version, for the crime of revealing our government’s crimes. Nearly every government on our third rock from the sun despises the man for bringing transparency to the process of ruling the unwashed masses. (The level of wash has, however, increased thanks to aggressive marketing campaigns from a variety of shampoo brands.)

It is politically inconvenient at this time for the screaming corporate news to remind our entire citizenry what exactly WikiLeaks has done for us. So you won’t see the following list of WikiLeaks’ accomplishments anywhere on your corporate airwaves—in the same way the mainstream media did not begin every report about Chelsea Manning’s trial with a rundown of the war crimes she helped reveal.

And Chelsea Manning’s most famous leak is arguably also WikiLeaks’ most famous leak, so it’ll top this list:Read moreExposing ‘collateral murder’ and mass surveillance: Why the world should be grateful to Assange

1) That would be the notorious Collateral Murder video, showing U.S. air crew gunning down unarmed Iraqi civilians with an enthusiasm that couldn’t be matched by an eight-year-old winning a five-foot-tall stuffed animal at the county fair. They murdered between 12 and 18 innocent people, two of them Reuters journalists.

Zero people have been arrested for the collateral murders. Yet Julian Assange has been arrested for revealing them.

2) WikiLeaks brought us the Guantanamo Bay Camp Delta Standard Operating Procedures”—showing that many of the prisoners held on the U.S. military detention facility were completely innocent, and that some were hidden from Red Cross officials. (Because when you’re torturing innocent people, you kinda want to do that in peace and quiet, away from prying eyes. It’s very easy to get distracted, and then you lose your place and have to start all over again.) 

None of the soldiers torturing innocent people at Gitmo have been arrested for it. Yet Julian Assange has been arrested for revealing it.

3) Not content with revealing only war crimes, WikiLeaks in 2008 came out with the secret bibles of Scientology, which showed that aliens, um, run the world or… aliens are inside all of us or… aliens give us indigestion. I can’t really remember.

But no one has ever been arrested for perpetrating that nutbag cult. Yet Julian Assange has for revealing it.

Many people believe WikiLeaks has unveiled only crimes of the American government, but that’s completely false. The U.S. corporate media doesn’t want average Americans to understand that WikiLeaks has upped the level of transparency around the world.ALSO ON RT.COM6 of WikiLeaks’ biggest ever document dumps

4–9) WikiLeaks posted videos of Tibetan dissidents in China fighting back, videos which were not allowed to be viewed in China. They revealed the Peru oil scandal, and that Russia was spying on its citizens’ cell phones, and the Minton Report on toxic dumping in Africa, and the Syria Files—showing the inner workings of the Syrian government. And WikiLeaks displayed to the global audience a secret Australian supreme court gag order that stopped the Australian press from reporting on a huge bribery scandal that involved the central bank and international leaders.

Assange is hated by governments around the world. As much as they may like transparency, when it comes to other countries (specifically the United States), they don’t want their own particular pile of s**t on full display. It’s kinda like when most people laugh heartily after an up-skirt photo of a celebrity is published in the tabloids, but at the same time, none of us want up-skirt photos of us all over the web. (I know I don’t because I haven’t shaved up there since Carter was in office.)

As far as I know, none of the political figures involved in these scandals have gone to prison for participating in them. Yet Julian Assange has for revealing them.

10) Let’s not forget the Iraq War logs—hundreds of thousands of documents relating to America’s illegal invasion of Iraq, which we called a war,” but I think a war needs to have two sides. Iraq’s elite Republican Guard turned out to be three guys and a donkey… and the donkey didn’t even have good aim.

So far as I can tell, no one committing the war crimes evidenced in the Iraq War logs has been locked up for them. Yet Julian Assange has for revealing them.Read moreBilderberg 2019: Who’s going and what will they be discussing?

11) WikiLeaks showed us the highly secretive Bilderberg Group meeting reports. The Bilderberg Group is made up of incredibly powerful men and women who get together and decide how to rule over all of us street people, all the while sitting on thrones made from the bones of the babies of nonbelievers. They’re often accused of being lizard people, but really they’re just regular ol’ sociopaths with lizard skin they purchased from a plastic surgeon in Malibu for half a million dollars. I don’t think anyone from the Bilderberg Group is being tortured in solitary confinement right now. Yet Julian Assange is for revealing who they are.

12) The Barclays Bank tax avoidance scheme netted Barclays one billion pounds a year.

While it was ordered to pay 500 million pounds in lost taxes, no one was arrested for that theft from citizens. Yet Julian Assange was for revealing it.

13) The Afghan War Diaries consisted of 92,000 documents related to our destruction of Afghanistan. They detailed friendly fire incidents and civilian casualties. According to WikiLeaks, the diaries showed that When reporting their own activities U.S. Units are inclined to classify civilian kills as insurgent kills, downplay the number of people killed or otherwise make excuses for themselves.”

It’s tough to read this without being floored at the comedy routine that our military actions have become. I picture this scenario happening every day in Afghanistan:

U.S. Soldier #1: This guy we just killed was an insurgent.

U.S. Soldier #2: How do you know?

U.S. Soldier #1: Because we killed him.

U.S. Soldier #2: Why’d we kill him?

U.S. Soldier #1: Because he’s an insurgent.

U.S. Soldier #2: How do you know?

U.S. Soldier #1: Because we killed him.

(Repeat until lightheaded.)

I am unaware of anyone locked away for these war crimes. Yet Julian Assange is locked away—for revealing them.ALSO ON RT.COMCrushing a Whistleblower on a Wheel: The unrelenting witch-hunt of Julian Assange

14) WikiLeaks also unveiled hundreds of thousands of U.S. State Department cables that showed more clearly than ever how our secretive government rules its empire with little to no input from the American people. Among many other things, the cables revealed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ordered diplomats to spy on French, British, Russian and Chinese delegations at the U.N. Security Council. It also showed that Arab nations urged the U.S. to strike Iran, and much more.

Our ruling elite of course view this as a massive breach of national security. That’s understandable. But that world view comes into play only if you think the elites are the only ones who should know how our nation is run. To answer this question for yourself, do the following experiment. Pull up a photo of Donald Trump—a really close-up image of his blister-colored, bulbous face. Now, look at it intensely for five minutes… After you’ve done that, tell me you want the ruling elite to be the only ones who know what the f**k is going on. Go ahead and try it—I’ll wait.

Ostensibly, the concept of our government was that the ruling class would be accountable to us, the average Americans. To you and me. To the workers and the number crunchers. To the single moms and the cashiers and the street sweepers and the fluffers on the porn sets. We’re supposed to vote based on our knowledge of how our government is functioning. But if the entirety of our representatives’ criminal behavior is labeled top secret for national security purposes, then we aren’t really an informed populace, are we?

So for all that was unveiled in the State Department cables, no one has been locked up. But Julian Assange has been for revealing them.

15) The Stratfor emails—this was millions of emails that showed how a private intelligence agency was used by its U.S. corporate and government clients to target activists and protesters.

No one at Stratfor is currently locked away. But Julian Assange is for revealing the truth.

16) Then there’s the trade deals. TPP, TISA and TTIP—all three amount to one of the largest attempts at corporate takeover ever conceived. All three were more secretive than Donald Trump’s taxes. Government officials and corporate lawyers and lobbyists wrote every word in private. Not even Congress saw the Trans-Pacific Partnership until very late in the process. The only organization to show the American citizens (and European citizens) some of those documents before they were made into law? WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks made us aware of the corporate restraints that were about to be placed on us, and that’s what allowed activists to pressure Trump to pull out of the TPP.

None of those secretive corporate titans are imprisoned for their attempted power grab, but Julian Assange is for revealing it.Read moreDNC argues it had the right to rig 2016 democratic primary

17) The DNC emails. I’ll explain for those of you who have been living in a cave that is itself inside a yellow-and-blue-makes-green sealed Tupperware container. The Democratic National Committee’s emails gave us proof concerning just how rigged the Democratic primaries really are. They proved the media was in bed with Hillary Clinton’s campaign. They even showed that Obama’s entire first-term cabinet was selected by Citibank. Yes, Citibank. (I would find it less offensive if his cabinet had been decided by a rabid raccoon, or the pus oozing out of Darth Vader’s face or Vince McMahon’s concussed frontal lobe.)

Whatever election integrity movement exists right now, it owes a lot to these revelations by WikiLeaks. After being sued over this matter, the DNC’s lawyers admitted in court that the DNC has no obligation to have a fair primary election. It’s their right to rig it.

But don’t try to get angry about this, because if you do, the CIA has a myriad ways to f**k up your life.

18) In 2017 WikiLeaks posted a trove of CIA documents called Vault 7.” It detailed their capabilities, including remotely taking over cars, smart TVs, web browsers and smartphones.

After I found out about that, for a solid two weeks I thought, Screw it. I’m going full Amish. One hundred percent. Let’s see the CIA hack my butter churn. Are they going to use backdoor software to get inside my rustic wooden bow-saw? Even if they could, what are they going to listen to—my conversation about how mee bobblin fraa redd up for rutschin’ ’round. Say no more! Schmunzla wunderbar!”

So is anybody at the CIA chained up for violating our privacy in every way possible? No, but Julian Assange is for revealing it.

By thrusting the truth upon the people of earth, WikiLeaks helped create movements worldwide like the Arab Spring and Occupy. And don’t forget, at first WikiLeaks and Assange were celebrated for their amazing work. In 2011 even Amnesty International hailed WikiLeaks as one of the Arab Spring catalysts. The Guardian said: The year 2010 may well be remembered as a watershed year when activists and journalists used new technology to speak truth to power and, in so doing, pushed for greater respect for human rights… It is also the year when repressive governments faced the real possibility that their days were numbered.”

So why have so many outlets and people turned against Assange and WikiLeaks? Because it turned out he wasn’t revealing only repressive Arab regimes. He also revealed U.S.-backed coups and war crimes around the world. He exposed the criminality and villainy of the American ruling elite.

Nothing published on WikiLeaks has ever been proven untrue. Compare that record to CNN, MSNBC, Fox News or any mainstream outlet. Assange has been nominated for multiple Nobel Peace Prizes, and nearly every respected media outlet has used source material from WikiLeaks in their reporting. Yet after all this and after seven years in captivity, the man who laid bare our criminal leaders and showed each one of us our chains is not receiving parades and accolades. He and those who helped him reveal the truth are the only ones endlessly punished.

We are all Julian Assange. As long as he’s imprisoned, we can never be free.

By Lee Camp

Lee Camp is an American stand-up comedian, writer, actor, and activist. Dubbed by Salon as the John Oliver of Russia Today”, Camp is the host of RT America’s first comedy news show Redacted Tonight, which tackles the news agenda with a healthy dose of humor and satire. Lee’s writing credits are vast, having written for The Onion, Comedy Central and Huffington Post, as well as the acclaimed essay collections Moment of Clarity and Neither Sophisticated Nor Intelligent. Lee’s stand-up comedy has also been featured on Comedy Central,  ABC’s Good Morning America, Showtime’s The Green Room with Paul Provenza, Al-Jazeera, BBC’s Newsnight, E!, MTV, and Spike TV.

This article was originally published by Truthdig.

This column is based on a monologue Lee Camp wrote and performed on his TV show Redacted Tonight.”

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

Courtesy Ceylon Today

Doctors today (4) said that they would unite with the general public to conducted a series of protests against Health and Indigenous Medicine Minister, Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, demanding his removal from the post owing to a series of alleged malpractices including the purchase of 562 million folic acid tablets on the verge of expiry.

Secretary of the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA), Dr. Haritha Aluthge, addressing the media in Colombo, claimed that legal action too should be taken against Dr. Senaratne. He said that the folic acid, which was given to mothers before and during pregnancy helped prevent birth defects in the baby’s brain and spinal cord.

Dr. Aluthge claimed that by the time the Ministry realised the situation, 540 million of those tablets had already been provided to mothers around the country. Dr. Aluthge said that the Family Health Bureau, Neonatologists and Paediatricians should investigate whether there had been any neural tube defects during the past few months amongst babies born to mothers who had had taken the prenatal vitamin, which was on the brink of its date of expiry.

Assistant Secretary of the GMOA, Dr. Naveen D. Zoysa, alleged that the Health Minister had also been instrumental in purchasing poor quality drugs to treat patients with diabetes.

By Paneetha Ameresekere Courtesy Ceylon Today

Foreign debt liabilities increased significantly by ‘six percentage points in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) terms’ to 41.2 per cent of the GDP last year (2018) led by a rapid depreciation of the Rupee and low GDP growth in the review period, the Finance Ministry, in a document released on 31 May, said.

Subsequently, interest payments, the single largest recurrent or current expenditure item in the Budget, increased by 0.4 percentage points to 5.9 per cent of GDP in 2018.

Overall economic growth fell to 3.2 per cent of the GDP in 2018, compared to 3.4 per cent in 2017 due to a deceleration of construction and mining and quarrying subsectors, the Ministry said.

Meanwhile, in GDP terms, total Central Government debt, both domestic and foreign, increased to 82.9 per cent of the GDP at end 2018 compared to 76.9 per cent at end 2017.

In related developments, domestic debt at end 2018 was marginally lower by ‘0.1 percentage point of GDP’ to 41.6 per cent of
the GDP compared to end 2017,
the Ministry said. Consequently, the share of domestic debt in the total outstanding debt decelerated to 50.2 per cent at the end 2018 from 54.2 per cent recorded at end 2017.

However, total debt service payments as a percentage of Government revenue increased to 108.8 per cent last year (2018) from 87.5 per cent in 2017, reflecting that total debt service payments outpaced the total revenue receipts of the Government in 2018, the Finance Ministry said.

Vis-à-vis, total Government expenditure, the ratio of total debt service payments to Government expenditure increased to 53.1 per cent in 2018 from 46.6 per cent in 2017, the Ministry said.

Meanwhile, Government debt service payments, including both amortisation (repayment of debt capital) and interest payments, increased by ‘2.6 GDP percentage points’ to 14.5 per cent of the GDP in 2018 from 11.9 per cent of the GDP in 2017.

Debt service payments in nominal terms increased by 30.3 per cent in 2018 with an increase in interest payments and amortisation payments by 15.9 per cent and 42.5 per cent, respectively. Amortisation payments on
domestic debt increased to 6.4 per cent of the GDP, while it was 2.2 per cent of the GDP on foreign debt.
Interest payments on domestic debt increased to 4.4 per cent of the GDP, while interest payments on foreign debt increased to 1.5 per cent of the GDP in 2018.

In related developments, the increase in recurrent or current expenditure by 8.4 per cent (Rs 162 billion) to Rs 2,090 billion, equivalent to 14.5 per cent GDP in 2018 over 14.4 per cent of the GDP 2017 was mainly driven by the rise in interest payments to 5.9 per cent of the GDP in 2018 from 5.5 per cent of the GDP in 2017, the Finance Ministry said.

Courtesy bayareafertilitydoctor.com

C-section scars & secondary infertility at a glance

• Women who have delivered by C-section can have scarring that causes infertility, as well as pain and abnormal bleeding.
• This results when scar tissue does not heal properly and forms a pouch in the lower part of the uterine lining that fills with fluid and delays normal menstrual bleeding.
• The inability to become pregnant again after already delivering a child is known as secondary infertility, which an estimated 3 million U.S. women experience.
• Many women delay or do not seek treatment for secondary infertility.
• Women who have C-section scars and experience secondary infertility should consult a reproductive specialist.
• Laparoscopic surgery can correct the problem and cure infertility in about 75 percent of patients.

What is cesarean section scarring & secondary infertility?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) latest figures report that 32.2 percent of all U.S. births are by cesarean section (C-section). While C-section has significantly reduced the infant and maternal death rates from childbirth, saving many lives, there are some associated problems with future fertility after a C-section.

These potential problems include an increased likelihood of needing a C-section in a subsequent pregnancy, potential rupture of the womb in a future pregnancy, and secondary infertility. Secondary infertility is the inability to become pregnant again after already having delivered one child. A British study has reported that 30 percent of women who had a C-section were not able to conceive another child.

Secondary infertility following a C-section is caused by improper healing of scar tissue in the uterus following the surgical incision in the uterine wall to allow birth. What can result is a defect that can become a fluid-filled pouch, or isthmocele, which forms in the lower uterine segment and causes an accumulation of blood. When old menstrual blood becomes trapped in the isthmocele and within the uterine cavity, it sets up an inflammatory response in the uterus that then impairs embryo implantation.

Symptoms of C-section scar tissue

The National Institutes of Health says that C-section scars that are clinically relevant or cause symptoms happens in 19-88 percent of C-section patients. Symptoms of such scarring include:

• Pelvic pain
• Abnormal bleeding
• Vaginal discharge
• Painful periods
• Infertility
• Difficulty with gynecologic procedures such as IUD insertion and uterine evacuation
• Ectopic pregnancy in the C-section scar.

Women having a difficult time becoming pregnant following a C-section should seek medical consultation to evaluate the possibility of uterine scarring being the cause. It can often be corrected, yet women needlessly overlook this option.

That’s because many women and couples experiencing secondary infertility don’t talk about it. They are often surprised that they are having difficulty becoming pregnant again. OB/GYNs are becoming more proactive in following up on their C-section patients regarding fertility issues, and other complications, that may follow the surgery.

Diagnosis and treatment of C-section scars

We generally evaluate women having difficulty becoming pregnant after a C-section birth with diagnostic tests. These tests are best performed after a woman’s menstruation because the blood has likely collected in the pouch, rendering it more visible.

Transvaginal ultrasound involves an ultrasound probe inserted through the vagina to examine the uterus. The sound waves reflect off the uterine structure providing a computer image of the uterus, which can reveal scar tissue. Usually the uterine scar defect can be easily seen with the transvaginal ultrasound.

A saline infusion sonohysterography, or hysterosonography, may also be used for diagnosis and is more accurate in defining the degree or severity of the defect. The physician injects a saline solution into the uterus in conjunction with the vaginal ultrasound. The saline fills the uterine cavity and the C-section scar defect, providing a better delineation of the depth and width of the defect. The physician might also use an MRI, hysteroscopy (a tube with camera inserted in the uterus through the vagina providing a view) and 3-D ultrasonography (sound waves directed at angles produce a 3-D image).

Once the diagnosis confirms the presence of the abnormal uterine pouch, the patient and reproductive surgeon have options to correct the problem. Sometimes hormonal therapy can be tried, but it is generally not as effective as surgical treatments.

Surgical correction

Laparoscopic excision is recommended for women wishing to conceive again. It is a minimally invasive surgery to remove the C-section scar defects through the use of a laparoscope. The surgeon makes small incisions in the patient’s abdomen and inserts the laparoscope, a thin tube with a lighted camera that provides a video view. Special instruments are inserted through small incisions. The C-section scar tissue is cut away and the uterine muscle is sewn back together. With the new incisions and repair, the defect is markedly reduced or closed.

A major benefit of laparoscopic excision is that about 75 percent of patients do recover their fertility and become pregnant. Laparoscopic excision also restores the integrity of the affected uterine muscle tissue, thereby reducing the chance of uterine rupture during a subsequent pregnancy. General benefits of laparoscopic surgery include less scarring, bleeding and pain, shorter time in surgery, faster recovery and less risk of complications.

A hysteroscopic treatment involves placing an instrument with a camera through the cervix where the defect is visualized from the endocervical canal. Using an energy source, the tissue within the defect is cauterized, destroying the endometrial tissue in the defect that is the source of the trapped blood. Another option is to have a hysteroscopic endometrial ablation in which all the uterine lining tissue is destroyed, scarring the uterine cavity. This alleviates symptoms but requires follow-up for continued effectiveness. This technique reduces menstrual bleeding but endometrial ablation should only be considered if future pregnancy is not desired.

Risks of these surgeries are low but li any surgery include blood loss, infection, complications, damage to tissue, reaction to anesthesia and pain.

https://bayareafertilitydoctor.com/treatment-options/repair-c-section-scars-infertility/

Courtesy The spinoff.co.nz

For a select few women, this could be the difference between a baby, and not. I’ll say it again: C-sections can cause infertility. Catherine Woulfe writes.

https://thespinoff.co.nz/the-best-of/13-08-2018/caesarean-section-scar-infertility/

In October 2014 I had the kind of caesarean section where your bed gets whipped down to theatre by an orderly cursing fuck, fuck, fuck” as he runs for the lift. The kind where there is no talk of consent let alone risk, and the anaesthetist has time only to ask: are you allergic to any medication?” before slamming you under. The kind where you don’t see your little boy born.

I still cry when I talk about it. I’m crying now. But hey, as they say, we survived.

Our son was conceived the first month we tried. When he was nearly two we started trying again.

Very soon he will be four.

These last two years have been grim, numbing, month after month of nothing, nothing, nothing, bookended by very early miscarriages.

Various GPs were optimistic but by last summer, I was not: I referred myself to Fertility Associates. They carried out tests and asked lots of questions and put us in that catch-all category, unexplained infertility.

First I took clomiphene, a sledgehammer of a drug that prompts the ovaries to release more eggs. I miscarried a few days after the positive test. As the clots dropped out of me I dropped too, and spent weeks at the bottom of the sea.

We pulled out the big guns: IVF. At many times during that process an ultrasound wand gets stuck up inside you so the specialists can count eggs and measure follicles and things; one of those times, the doctor saw fluid in my uterus. The fluid most certainly should not have been there. Yet there it was again at my next ultrasound a few days later. On our specialist’s advice we decided to proceed with egg collection, but freeze any embryos until we could figure out what that fluid was, and deal with it.

On the way home I googled some variation on fluid uterus fertility”. Holy shit, I said to my husband. Love, there’s a thing that happens where a caesarean scar heals in a weird way and makes you infertile.

Holy shit, I said, scrolling, scrolling, all that confusion and loss abruptly crystallising, clicking into place. It was the c-section.

MRI confirmed the diagnosis. I had a caesarean scar defect, also known as a niche, pouch, isthmocele, diverticulum or caesarean scar syndrome.

Picture a tiny cave, a pocket scooped out of the muscly inside wall of the uterus.

Now picture it filling up with period blood every month and holding onto that blood for a week or so, while also weeping its own inflammatory nasties into the mix.

It’s objectively gross. Medical professionals call the mixture cytotoxic” and that’s a word you don’t want anywhere near your uterus: it means toxic to living cells”. Sperm are living cells. So are embryos.Here’s the widely-accepted hypothesis of how that fluid affects fertility: every month my uterus would produce lots of the lovely stretchy mucus meant to keep sperm alive on their long swim to the fallopian tubes. And every month that cytotoxic fluid would get washed up by the mucus, and mix with it.

On top of that, the constant inflammation caused by the defect had likely changed the nature of my uterine lining, making implantation – the bit where the embryo burrows in and pregnancy technically occurs – much more difficult.

In short, this thing was comprehensively zapping our chances. And not just ours.

As I interviewed specialists and read through the medical literature I came to understand this is a condition on the cusp. Right now hardly anyone knows about it. Many of those who do are convinced – even in the absence of gold-standard randomised controlled trials – that it’s causing infertility, and that it’s time to start informing women.

Knowledge is power,” said Dr Farr Nezhat, a pioneering obstetric and gynaecological surgeon who heads a private clinic in New York City. I definitely think women should know, and I don’t believe you are going to scare anybody.” Wellington fertility specialist Dr Simon McDowell thinks I might, actually, but still comes down firmly on the side of informed consent. He works at Fertility Associates (he has not treated me) and spoke on behalf of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

I do think this is a cause of infertility, I do, and I think it’s one that is probably unrecognised in many situations,” he said. In other words: there are women out there who, like me, have no idea this thing is stopping them getting pregnant.

I think the College position is that women should be informed, absolutely.”

The trick is to convey information about risk and symptoms in a way that doesn’t cause undue anxiety and over-treatment, McDowell said.

Off we go.

THE AUTHOR AND HER BABY (SUPPLIED)

If you’ve had a caesarean section, there’s a good chance you have a defect. In one studyresearchers scanned 162 women after the procedure and found that after one c-section the risk of defect was as high as 61%. After three c-sections things got very black and white: a woman’s looking at a 100% risk.

We don’t know for sure what causes defects, although aside from multiple c-sections, we know that having a retroflexed (backwards-facing) uterus increases the risk. It’s thought that if a woman is well into labour when a c-section becomes necessary a defect is more likely to form, because the uterine wall thins during labour and is less able to knit back together properly.

Surgical techniques have also been red-flagged. Single closure – in which the delivering obstetrician uses one bite” of the needle to stitch closed the two layers of the uterine wall – saves time but has been repeatedly identified as possibly contributing to defects. It remains the norm in some countries. In New Zealand, McDowell assured me, obstetricians are trained to carry out double closure, where they stitch the layers closed one at a time.

He emphasised that defects are usually not a problem.

It’s thought that for about one in three women, a defect will cause abnormal bleeding. Some will have chronic pelvic pain, pain during sex or extraordinarily painful periods.

Dr Ceana Nezhat in Atlanta, Georgia stressed that these side effects, in themselves, can be significant. In the last year I have seen over 10 patients experiencing pain and irregular bleeding with various degrees of caesarean scar defect.”

(Nezhat is the medical director of training and education as well as director of minimally invasive surgery and robotics at Northside Hospital, which delivers more babies – 21,000 per year – than any other community hospital in the US. He is one of three Nezhat brothers who contributed to this story.)

None of those interviewed for this story would take a punt at how often defects cause infertility. It’s a hole in the data, perhaps the most significant one.

But they all point to the very big number hanging over the top of all this: the c-section rate.

Our most recent figures are from 2015 and that year in New Zealand, the rate hit 25%. That’s 14,859 women.

How many of those now have a defect? Let’s be optimistic and use the bottom of a sprawling 19-84% range often cited in the literature. Our best-case scenario, for that year, is 2,823 defects.  Hundreds of those women are likely in pain, or experiencing strange bleeding. We don’t know how many of them are now infertile. But it can be fixed.

Surgeons have been successfully repairing caesarean scar defects for 17 years. One paper, published in January, put the number of reported cases – that is, repairs that doctors have written about in medical journals – at about 1,200 since 2005. Sometimes surgeons come at the defect with instruments inserted through the cervix. This is called hysteroscopy. The other option, which I had, is laparoscopy: basically, the surgeon attacks the defect – delicately, of course – from the smooth outside wall of the uterus. To find the defect, surgeons often insert a tiny torch through the cervix, shine it at the uterine wall, and look for the spot where it glows brightest.

Much of the recent literature about defects focuses on which type of fix is better. On the face of it they’re both astonishingly good, but McDowell warned that all we have to go on so far are case reports. We talk about five levels of evidence and that’s level five evidence.”

As in bad end?

Bad end.”

The crux of it is we don’t have the counterfactuals: how many women would have fallen pregnant without the surgery? McDowell said the numbers of suitable candidates for treatment are so low as to make it almost impossible to garner the statistical firepower necessary for a randomised controlled trial.

And, he agreed, no infertile woman is going to put her hand up for a trial that could see her drafted into the control (non-treatment) group.

So here’s where we are.

THE AUTHOR AND HER SON (SUPPLIED)

In a 2016 paper two Canadian experts examined data from 32 trials and found that after surgery to correct a defect, symptoms of spotting and bleeding resolved in upwards of 60% of women. As for fertility?

Laparoscopic repair carried a success rate – a pregnancy rate – of 86%. The hysteroscopic surgeries led to a pregnancy rate of 77.8% to 100%.

The authors couch these numbers in caution: Treatment should be reserved for selective cases,” they write – and only after eliminating other possible causes of bleeding or infertility. As I read this bit I picture McDowell nodding furiously.

He said he would have operated on me, but I’m a rarity – a textbook candidate for surgery. Young and healthy, spontaneous conception first time around; weird bleeding since c-section; secondary infertility with other causes ruled out; defect confirmed.

When we first spoke McDowell had never offered surgery to remove a defect – he’d not struck a case where he’d been convinced it would help. A few days later he emailed: This is a bit crazy, but I saw someone this morning who will need a repair … The most profound defect I’ve ever seen. She is having spotting almost daily for most of the month. We simply cannot put an embryo back until that is sorted!”

My gremlin was excised three weeks ago, leaving me with four tiny cross-shaped scars on my tummy (kisses on your tummy, Mummy!”) plus a bigger one through my belly button.

The defect had eaten so far into my uterine wall it was easy for my surgeon to see the light shining through from inside. The wall was just 2mm thick, which according to the literature makes my defect significant”. Membrane, my surgeon called it – not muscle.

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Q&A: Caesarean scar defects and fertility: what you need to know

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At this point, I am obliged to mention two scary, but rare aspects of these defects.

First: defects provide another site (along with the fallopian tubes) for an ectopic pregnancy. Like those in the tubes, such a pregnancy is unviable and extremely dangerous for the woman. Susan Willman, a fertility specialist from California, explained: In this situation, the placenta implants on the defect, which does not have the normal layers of endometrium and muscle wall and the risk is that the pregnancy causes internal bleeding early in the pregnancy.”

Nightmare scenario: that bleeding is misdiagnosed as an ongoing miscarriage and surgeons unwittingly perform a D&C, scraping an already precariously thin uterine wall.

In New York, Dr Farr Nezhat is treating two women who have had caesarean scar pregnancies terminated and are awaiting surgical repair of the defect. It is better to repair and correct it before getting pregnant,” he said, firmly.

Second problem: defects – even those that are asymptomatic – can cause the uterine wall to be so thin that it ruptures during pregnancy or labour, causing internal bleeding that can threaten the life of both baby and mother. Willman said the incidence of this is thought to be about 1%. I was told if either of my pregnancies had made it to the third trimester I’d have been at severe risk of rupture.

Terrifying, I said. Right, Willman agreed. I had a patient who lost the baby. She was cleared for labour. And so when she went into labour, she took her time packing her bag to get to the hospital. [Her scar defect] ruptured at home and the baby delivered out of the rupture and was dead on arrival. It was horrible. Horrible.”

Unsurprisingly, Willman is adamant that this thinning of the uterine wall deserves more attention – perhaps pregnant women who have had a c section should be routinely scanned, she said, to help determine whether they are a good candidate for vaginal birth.

If a caesarean scar defect is a dark, confounding pocket, data on the condition in New Zealand is a black hole. A vacuum. It’s baffling. Here’s the best I can do: my surgeon, Sunil Pillay, has performed six other defect repairs since 2009. Five of these women went on to become pregnant. He seems to be the go-to defect guy – he has heard of only one other specialist who has performed the surgery, in Hamilton (our calls to confirm this, and to other fertility clinics, have not been returned).

CATHERINE’S SURGERY

Emeritus Professor Charlotte Paul, an epidemiologist at the University of Otago, sees two factors in play here.

First, newly recognised or suspected complications of surgery are not routinely reported,” she said in an email. Medicines are subject to a long-established national reporting system, linked in turn to the international oversight of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

For medical devices there are fewer safeguards in place, but Medsafe has set up a system to monitor adverse events. It has the power to recall products from the market.

Surgical complications take what could charitably be called a scenic route.

These are likely to be reported in the medical journals and, when there is sufficient evidence, bodies responsible for developing guidelines would incorporate information in their guidance.”

For caesarean section, that body would be the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

The college is yet to develop any guidelines around the defects, Simon McDowell confirmed. He suspects that will happen in the next few years, but due to what’s likely to be a continued lack of good evidence, they could be a bit waffly” – along the lines of be aware and seek help if you’re concerned”.

We’re not alone in the lack of guidelines. Japan is the only country I’ve come across that has made a decent start. Three years ago the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology were surveying hundreds of hospitals and fertility clinics about their experiences and success rates, and testing new diagnostic criteria.

Back to Charlotte Paul and her second theory about the lack of awareness, let alone clinical clarity, around defects. Simple: perhaps the evidence is not yet strong enough.”

She put this to a contact at the WHO, Cape Town ob-gyn Dr Thabo Matsaseng.

There is some evidence that subfertility may be a secondary outcome of caesarean section uterine scars defects,” he responded. Before any recommendation could be made by WHO, a systematic review would need to be undertaken.” (We have sent questions direct to the WHO and await a response.)

In my head, McDowell’s nodding again.

He makes the point that if problematic defects were anything but very rare, we’d see that infertility coming through in the massive studies that scrutinise fertility rates after caesarean section.

This is a fraught, tangled area of research. Results – and interpretations – vary widely.

Late last year Edinburgh researchers crunched the data from 80 previous studies, giving them a sample of almost 30 million women. They concluded that a c-section makes subfertility 1.6 times more likely, and that for every 1,500 women who have a c-section, 166 will be left with subfertility.

French obstetrician Olivier Donnez and co-authors, in a well-regarded 2017 Fertility and Sterilitypaper, boil it down thus: The risk of infertility [after caesarean section is] estimated to be between 4% and 19%.” They echo other academics in stressing that even if the truth lies at the bottom end of that range, it nevertheless has a considerable impact in view of the large numbers of [caesarean sections] performed globally”.Susan Willman’s reading of the literature is that caesarean sections compromise fertility in 5-10% of women. She’s looking at massive studies that throw up correlations between c-sections and infertility – and at IVF studies that are able to zoom in more closely.

One such study, published in 2016, followed 975 women through two rounds of treatment. The first time, just over half of the women gave birth via c-section. When these women came back to try for another child – using embryos frozen during their first treatment – they were less likely to manage a viable pregnancy than those who had given birth vaginally. The difference was significant: 53% versus 62%.

Here’s the problem: the factors that prime a woman to have a caesarean section – age, in particular – also tend to prime her for infertility. These confounding factors” are not always accounted for in the studies (some are in the IVF one, as are many in the Edinburgh study) but McDowell believes they account for the gap in fertility between women who have c-sections and those who have vaginal births. If women like me are in that data, they’re huddled in a corner, out of sight.

His takeaway: There’s been no definitive causal link between caesarean section and subfertility, or trouble getting pregnant.”

INSIDE A BIRTHING SUITE. (GETTY IMAGES)

So. Should women be routinely checked for scar defects after c section? No. He’s sure on that. You’ll find a problem which doesn’t exist … You’ll end up trying to fix people who aren’t broken. The vast majority of people with a niche will get pregnant without any problem whatsoever so if you start checking them, you add anxiety and concern.”

Worse: we may wind up over-treating women. Corrective surgery carries its own risks and should be quite an uncommon procedure.”

Informing women, on the other hand, should be routine, but it should be done thoughtfully. He wouldn’t want women who need a caesarean section to avoid it because of defects. He would certainly inform them of the risk, though.

He would have a slightly different conversation, perhaps, with a woman wanting a caesarean purely for convenience, or to protect her pelvic floor. (Neither scenario happens often, he emphasised.)

I think it should be talked about there. It should be a reason [not to do a c-section]. You know: first do no harm. It’s conceivable that if someone has an unnecessary caesarean section they then unnecessarily have infertility. That’s possible.”

First do no harm. He keeps coming back to it. You only do something if you know it is necessary. Hence, we shouldn’t routinely treat niches and we shouldn’t routinely do a caesarean section. We should just make sure we make good decisions.”

What about women reading this story and thinking they may have a scar defect? My advice would be what I would say to all women: have kids early, and if you’re not having success seek help from a specialist. And don’t assume that you’re going to have problems getting pregnant because you had a caesarean section – but a well-trained fertility specialist will consider that as a possible cause.”

But most GPs don’t know about defects, McDowell believes, and even some fertility specialists don’t give the condition the consideration it deserves.

What I’ve gleaned from infertility forums is that my story is typical of women with a problematic scar defect. We tend to blunder around in the dark, clutching at clomiphene and IVF and acupuncture and organics, before finally – if we’re lucky – fluking a diagnosis.

My doc didn’t believe me, so I literally had to take to PubMed and print out literature for him, because it is not commonly known or understood,” wrote one woman in 2015.

Last year, another wrote this: After several years trying and [being] told I had unexplained secondary infertility the scar defect was only identified by a routine scan … after many invasive investigative surgeries. I too had constant brown bleeding and fluid in the c section pouch … I too am wondering why the the consequences of these defects are only now coming to light.”

In November, a mum called Michelle shared her long, harrowing story on the website of a US specialist known to be experienced with scar defects (I asked him for comment and haven’t heard back). She was initially told she was likely in menopause, or suffering from cancer. Even after a defect was finally diagnosed, finding a surgeon was a battle:

I went to six doctors here in Houston, after all, this is Houston with one the best medical centres in the world. Only one of the doctors had performed the surgery one time.” She ended up flying to Chicago for the op.

Susan Willman estimates only about a third of fertility specialists – fertility specialists – in the United States have heard of defects and what they can do to fertility. The website of the clinic she headed until recently is the only one I’ve found that gives patients good information about defects.

I think the actual numbers [of women with fertility compromised by a defect] are small,” she told me. But I do think it deserves increased awareness.”

THE AUTHOR AND HER SON TODAY (SUPPLIED)

Of all those interviewed for this story, Dr Camran Nezhat, a prominent surgeon based in Northern California and known for his work with endometriosis and minimally-invasive surgery, has by far the most experience with treating caesarean scar defects. He performed the first laparoscopic repair of a defect in 2001, and estimates he’s performed corrective surgery on more than 50 women since (Willman has had four patients with problematic defects and performed one surgery; Farr Nezhat has repaired six in the last two years; Ceana Nezhat, nine).

Nezhat has not stopped to formally collate his data but consistently the result has been very positive”, he said.

The majority of the patients get pregnant soon after the required three month healing period following surgery.”

How do all these women find Nezhat?

It’s mostly word of mouth, he said. Women telling their friends: women who are proactive and have the resources to do their own research.

We’re close to Silicon Valley. Patients here are highly educated and do their research prior to seeking out a specialist.”

He has never spoken to a reporter about caesarean scar defects, or seen them mentioned in mainstream media (nor have I, unless you count a perfunctory piece that ran in regional papers in India last week). He was eager to help with this story and with my defect. He offered to perform my surgery, to advise my surgeon. Women have come to him from Australia seeking his expertise, he said.

I asked him whether the science is strong enough at this point to really be relied on. Are we in a position that we can say: yes, this is causing infertility and it can be fixed?

There is no question. Definitely the science is there.”

Yet awareness is not.

The majority of reproductive endocrinologists and infertility specialists don’t even know about it. I have seen it over and over. They are not aware that this entity exists.

A lot of physicians don’t believe it causes problems and don’t refer their patients. And a lot of patients end up giving up. But some patients, when they try IVF they do not get pregnant, then their physicians refer them.” In recent years he’s noticed more referrals.

Still: all those women giving up; all those women, trying and trying. I asked Nezhat if he shares my frustration, my sense of urgency.

Absolutely.”

His feelings transcend even the constraints of academic writing. Here he is as lead author in a Fertility and Sterility paper published in praise of Donnez’s, heralding it as a critical rebirth” in the literature.

Caesarean scar defects have been described for 20 years, and laparoscopic repair has been performed for over 15 years; yet patients may have pain, bleeding, and infertility for years before they find a physician who is familiar with the diagnosis, let alone the treatment of a niche.”

The defects are currently underdiagnosed and may consequently be left untreated at a staggering rate,” he wrote.

There remains a paucity of quality literature on and attention given to the topic. In this day and age, the media spreads viral stories at an explosive pace, yet acceptance of medical and surgical treatments still lags decades behind their discoveries.”

Nezhat told me he saw the same lag when he pioneered minimally invasive surgery – a variety of which I had, with the tiny incisions and startlingly short recovery time.

There are many techniques that my team and I invented more than 30 years ago and they were associated with opposition for many years. Now, the whole world wants to do them.”

Likewise, Nezhat predicts the repair of defects is going to become a very common procedure. Just give it time, perhaps, 10 to 15 years.” That sounds like a long time.

This is the history of medicine: everything takes a long time.”

Here’s what I’d like to see happen right now. Every person quoted in this story backs me on it, albeit McDowell tentatively.

Add a sentence or two to the pamphlets women take home from hospital after having a c-section. Something informative but not too alarming. Along the lines of: For a minority of women defects in the caesarean scar can cause infertility. If you’re struggling to conceive, or if you have unusual pain, bleeding or spotting, tell your doctor.”

Too much? Consider the warnings directed at pregnant women and new parents, every step of the way. We are warned about drinking while pregnant, about sushi, sugar, weight gain, paracetamol, sleeping on one’s back, sleeping with baby. A heads-up on risk and symptoms of defects would be just one more for the list.

You’re right,” said McDowell. I think that’s a fair point.”

What he knows, and I now understand in my bones, is that in the infertility game, it all comes down to time. Time is two lines on a pregnancy test. Time is getting to haul the high chair out of the garage. Time is a little brother or sister.

Two months, now, before we’re cleared for launch. We plan to transfer one of the embryos frozen back in autumn.

For us, an early diagnosis could have saved two years, two miscarriages and a stack of cash. It could have changed the shape of our family. Even if everything proceeds at pace, our children will be waving at each other across a five-year age gap.

Of course, those two lost years could still prove to be the difference between one baby and two. I’m 35.

The journal references cited are linked throughout the text above.

C-sections can cause infertility. Pass it on.

Contact the author on bycatherinewoulfe@gmail.com

Courtesy The Guardian (UK)

One in three women cannot have a second baby after emergency operation, study claims

Almost half of all women who give birth to their first baby by emergency Caesarean section do not have another child – with nearly one in three suffering long-term infertility problems and one in five too traumatised to go through childbirth a second time.

In the first study of its kind, one of Britain’s most eminent obstetric experts found that three times more women had long-term infertility problems after undergoing a Caesarean section than those who had experienced a natural birth.

It also found that six times more first-time mothers who had a Caesarean section suffered trauma sufficient to prevent them having another child, than those who gave birth normally.

Caesarean birth has celebrity advocates including Victoria Beckham and Liz Hurley. Obstetricians admit it has become a lifestyle choice for those ‘too posh to push’.Advertisement

The research paper, published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology , followed 500 women who had given birth, some naturally and some by Caesarean, for five years after the delivery of their first child.

‘Neither the medical profession nor women themselves realise the extent of the long-term problems Caesarean sections can cause,’ said Professor James Walker, head of the academic unit of paediatric obstetrics and gynaecology at Leeds University and co-author of the study.

‘When doctors and mothers assess the risks of Caesareans, they generally only think about what the risks are at that time and ignore the impact they might have five years down the line,’ he said.

‘With other health issues, people think about the future but when they have Caesarean sections, which carry an even greater risk of losing a second baby than taking hormone replacement therapy or having breast cancer, they make the decision without knowing or thinking about the risks.’

Of the 165 women in the study who had a Caesarean section, 42.4 per cent did not have any more children- 30 per cent for reasons of infertility and 19 per cent because they could not bear to go through childbirth again. In contrast, just 29.1 per cent of the 148 women who underwent a normal birth failed to have further children. Serious injury as a result of Caesarean section is rare but damage can include major abdominal surgery, infections, haemorrhage, injury to other organs and anaesthesia complications.

Long-term complications in subsequent pregnancies include the risk of a ruptured womb and placental problems that can lead to infertility and increased respiratory problems in the baby.

According to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, there has been a fall in the number of senior obstetricians in labour wards, resulting in increased reliance on unsupervised junior doctors.

‘Junior obstetricians simply do not know how to respond to complex labours except by performing Caesarean sections,’ said Dr Maggie Blott, a consultant obstetrician at King’s College Hospital, London. ‘The result is too many Caesareans are taking place, too many of which are performed by doctors who don’t necessarily have enough experience to guarantee their patients’ safety.’

Anna-Marie Bennett won damages from her local hospital last year after an emergency Caesarean by a junior obstetrician in 1997 left her in a coma for seven days. ‘I did not want a Caesarean and, if there had been a senior obstetrician on hand to advise, the hospital has admitted I would not have been given one,’ she said.

Ms Bennett lost 28 units of blood, an ovary and a fallopian tube, and suffered such extreme internal and external scarring that when she became pregnant a second time and underwent another Caesarean, the doctors perforated her bowel.

The findings have, however, been dismissed by Nicholas Fisk, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at London’s Imperial College. ‘This survey is based on unreliable statistics taken from a group of women who were given emergency Caesareans,’ he said. ‘It is certainly true that the rates of Caesareans are going up but that is because doctors are now allowing women to choose, which is to be warmly welcomed.’

Over the past 20 years, the proportion of Caesareans has increased from 5 per cent to 21.5 per cent. This makes the UK the country with third-highest rate of Caesarean sections in the world.

Almost half of all obstetricians questioned in a recent Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists survey thought the rate too high and admitted that many operations were unnecessary. The college was so alarmed by its findings that it called for a clampdown – but already in many private hospitals the proportion of women opting for Caesarean births is estimated to be as high as 60 per cent.The rise in rates has continued despite the recent deaths of Tracey Sampson, 36, and Laura Touche, 31, at the Portland Hospital in London.

‘A Caesarean is an operation very similar in seriousness to a hysterectomy,’ said Dr Sharon Oates, a consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital which, at 10.4 per cent, has the lowest rate of Caesareans in the country.

‘The normalising of the operation throughout society has lulled women into a false sense of security. It’s only a matter of time before we have a sharp increase in maternal mortality because of Caesarean sections. We are beginning to see it happen already.’

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/apr/21/medicalscience.research

C-Section May Affect Future Fertility

By Salynn Boyles Courtesy WebMed

Surveyed Women Had Harder Time Getting Pregnant After Surgery

Jan. 14, 2004 — Women who deliver their first child by C-section may have more trouble getting pregnant again, a new report from Scotland suggests.

When compared with moms who had difficult deliveries ending in vaginal birth, women in the study who had cesarean deliveries said they had more problems getting pregnant after the birth of their first child. Roughly 20% of the cesarean mothers reported difficulty conceiving a second child, compared with 5% of women who had vaginal deliveries aided by instruments like forceps.

But a childbirth expert who commented on the study for WebMD says fertility issues are way down the list of concerns regarding cesarean section.

“If there is an effect on fertility, it is certainly a very small one,” says California ob-gyn Bruce Flamm, MD, who has written two books on cesarean deliveries. “My concern is that this will divert attention from the much more significant issues surrounding C-section. Most women will not have any trouble getting pregnant again after having this operation, but there are other big risks they need to consider.”

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Opposition MP Wimal Weerawansa today asked whether the statement made by Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera that the Cardinal was engaged in fanning flames of hatred is the official stance of the government.

The minister had said Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith had done so by visiting Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera during his fast unto death. The Cardinal never did this. There would have been a backlash soon after the Easter Sunday attacks if it was so. Did the minister express the views of the government?,” he asked.

The MP was referring to the tweet sent by the minister urging Vatican to take action against the Cardinal.

House Leader Lakshman Kiriella in his response said the minister will make a statement on it later. We must respect all religious leaders including the most Ven. Mahanayaka Theras,” Minister Kiriella said. (Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana)