Cataracts cause about half of all cases of blindness worldwide.1,2
By age 80, more than half of all Americans will have cataracts, or will have undergone surgery to remove them.3
Researchers have been investigating two different but related forms of the nutrient carnosine to help slow the development of cataracts as well as improve visual performance of cataract-affected eyes.
A new study illustrates the ability of oralcarnosine in capsule form to preserve normal structure of proteins in the lens of the eye—an action that may slow or prevent the development of vision-impairing cataracts.4
The study shows that carnosine works through several interrelated mechanisms that help protect against the underlying changes caused by aging that lead to cataracts.4
In addition, human studies have found that a derivative of carnosine, N-acetylcarnosine, when used as an eye drop, can induce improvements in visual performance of cataract-affected eyes.5,6
Many readers of this magazine have been using a high-potency carnosine supplement (500-1,000 mg/day) since we introduced it in 2000.
A number of others also use eye drops that deliver N-acetylcarnosine directly to the eye lens where cataracts occur.
Based on both established and recent science, there is now a two-part strategy of using bothcarnosine and N-acetylcarnosine to help reduce the risk of cataracts.
I am of the opinion that quite a few voters who had some
good opinion about the minister who held and now hold a responsible ministry in
the current government should guard his lashing tongue are now little confused.
Such irresponsible statements were made by Sir John
Kothalawala who uttered words like Bituman tar may have to applied on monks
bold heads .
UNP ended up with only seven seats in the subsequent
elections.
There may be monks who are almost behaving like laymen,but
generalise many chief monks as .”මෝඩ වහන්සේලා is
surely not called for.
I am quite confident that UNP needs rebranding and change of
guards if they want to face the people at any future election.
Antogonising buddhist as well as Christians by critisizing the
HE cardinal and ven Ratana will be a disaster for the party.
We all voted for Yahapalanaya ,but that does not mean
politicians can behave like this.
After seeing some pictures in the press where minister
gives the impression that he is a canine fan,does not mean that he can bark at
any tree.
The reply from the office of the Prime Minister that the National Joint Committee received to the letter sent to the Prime Minister regarding the MCC agreement
Compact Development Unit, Policy Development Office, 2nd FIoor, New Building, North Wing – Temple Trees, Colombo 03. Tel: 0l I 7124402, Fax: 01 1 7124404
To Lt Col. Anil Amarasekera (Retd,) Co-President National
Joint Committee 231, Kirula Road Colombo 5
Dear Sir,
The Millennium Challenge Corporation Agreement
3 i”‘ May, 2019
This has reference to your letter of 22″d instant
addressed to Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka on the
above.
Whilst thanking you for requesting information on a socially
and politically important matter as the misinformation and fabricated fake news
spreads on the matter so quickly and easily without being vetted, investigated,
or confirmed.
In order to provide you the complete and accurate
information on the matter in the proposed agreement with the Millennium
Challenge Corporation, USA (MCC), we write to inform the following:
1. The Government of Sri Lanka, with the help of the Center
for Intemational Development (CID) at Harvard University, conducted a
constraints analysis (CA) to identif, constrains which hampered the economic
growth in the country and identified three binding constraints; i.e. 1. access
to land; 2. weakness in transport and logistics infrastructure and planning;
and 3. policy instability. 2. Having considered the in-depth economic analysis,
the GoSL prioritized and focused on the two binding constrains namely, access
to land and improve in transport which GoSL and MCC recognize as critical
constraints to economic $owh. The copy of report can be accesseci through:
https://assets.mcc. gov/contenVuploads/constraints-anal)zsis-sri-lanka.pdf
3. MCC’s Board of Directors selected Sri Lanka for a threshold
program in December 2015 and elevated Sri Lanka to eligibility for a compact in
December 2016 after continued improvements in performance as measured by the
MCC scorecard. Since early 2077, }lCC has worked collaboratively and closely
with the Government of Sri Lanka, through the Office of Policy Development
under the Prime Minister’s Office, to develop a dual-sector compact program in
grant funding. Tkoughout the compact development process, the Government of Sri
Lanka and MCC consulted with hundreds of individuals from government, the
private sector, and civil society in small group discussions and one-on-one
meetings to understand the root causes ofthe transport and land binding
constraints and potential activities that would address those root causes. The
Government of Sri Lanka and MCC also launched multiple rounds of due diligence
to identifu potential projects that could meet MCC’s investment criteria. On
the basis of such engagements and analyses, the Govemment of Sri Lanka
submitted project proposals to MCC for consideration in November 2017.
4. Projects are identified under the grant funding after
completing a rigorous due diligence process done through a period over 1.5
years. The activities will assist Sri Lanka to achieve its objective of strengthening
transpofi infrastructure and land administration. The total grant amount is US$
48t) million, which would disburse over a five-year implementation time frame.
5. Under the land administration project, the following
activities will be done: (i) Preparation of Parcel Fabric map and inventory of
state land. (ii) Improvement of Deeds Registry. (iii)Improvements of the land
valuation system. (iv) Land Grants Registration and Deed Conversion Activity.
(v) Land Policy and Legal Govemance Improvement Activity,
The above activities will be implemented in the following 7
districts with the limited funds available for the land sector. (Kegall4 Kandy,
Matale, Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Trincomalee) Further we
requested to include Gampaha district as rvell. 6. It is quite surprising that
the transport component of the MCC has not been given the importance as given
to the land administration project. The following activities are proposed under
the Transport Development project:
(i) Establishing an Advanced Traffic Management System
(ATMS) covering the Colombo Metropolitan area to improve the efficiency,
capacity and safety of the CMR road network to improve flow rate, reduce travel
time and congestion, reduce traffic emission and reduce accidents.
(ii) Bus Transport Sector Modernization (BTSM) programme
will make a significant improvement to the speed and quality of the public bus
system combining state owned and private buses.
(iii)Developing and improvement of 137 k.m. road sections in
the Central Ring Road (CRR) covering and connecting Sabaragamuwa, Uv4 Norlh
Central and Central Provinces to markets in the Westem Province. Connected to
this Road development, is a study to locate and finance, locations for
rvholesale storage of Agro produce in collaboration with private investors at
locations on the CRR Road network to be developed to improve post-harvest
management of produce.
We assume that the above information would clear your doubts
and all misinformation regarding the MCC grant. Please also be informed that
the Agreement between the MCC and the GoSL is yet to be signed and we are
unaware of any agreement signed on or about 27’h April2019. More information on
the MCC grant for Sri Lanka could be obtained from the following link please.
https ://www. mcc. gov/where-we-work/program/sri-lanka-compact
Please note that there is no provision for leasing of 1.2
million acres of land under this Compact to any one which is totally baseless
and untrue.
R. Siriwardhane Coordinator/Consultant MCC Sri Lanka Project
c.c.to. Mr. E.M,S.B.Ekanayake, Secretary to the Prime
Minister, (This refers to your minute dated29l5l19).
Parliamentarian S.B. Dissanayake told a Media briefing yesterday that 10 complaints against former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen will be handed over to the three-member committee at Police Headquarters today (7).
Dissanayake said there were complaints related to Bathiudeen’s alleged links with extremists, scams carried out by him, information about two alleged murders in Mannar and forcible takeover of lands.
Parliamentarian Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe has sent a letter to the Speaker of the Parliament Karu Jayasuriya to gain his attention towards acts of jeopardizing national security.
The letter containing 12 pointers has been copied to 11 persons including the President, Prime Minister, Opposition Leader, and all media institutions.
Referring to the Official Secrets Act No 32 of 1955, the letter points out that the Easter Sunday attacks cannot be discussed at the parliament or any of its committees under the Sub-Judice rule as there are 5 ongoing cases on the incident at the Supreme Court.
Rajapakshe further points out that there is also an ongoing investigation carried out by a committee appointed by the President.
An unsafe and a grave situation would arise as a result of information of state intelligence being publicized through a parliamentary committee appointed foregoing the Official Secrets Act, states Rajapakshe. The complete responsibility of this should be borne, firstly, by the Speaker of the Parliament and secondly, by the government, he said.
The letter further says, the President, as the Commander in Chief and the Defense Minister, by allowing state intelligence to be shared at the parliament or at any other place, has purposefully violated the provisions 33 (1) a and 38 (2) (i) of the Constitution of the Republic of Sri Lanka.
A case has been filed with the Supreme Court against former Governor of Eastern Province M.L.A.M. Hizbullah over Contempt of Court, says Ada Derana reporter.
The case was filed by Attorney-at-Law Indrasiri Senaratne from Marawila area.
The plaintiff has said that the former governor has commented regarding the transfer of a judge during Derana ‘Talk with Chatura’ programme on May 13th.
He further says the relevant comment is in contempt of the court and seeks legal action against the former governor.
IGP Pujith Jayasundara, testifying before the Special Parliament Select Committee, stated that, on 20th of April, he had received a telephone call that ‘something’ could happen on the 21st.
Former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando had given the said telephone call between 6.30 p.m. to 8.00 p.m., the IGP said.
According to the IGP, he was only told that there is an imminent threat and that something could take place the following day.
The IGP added that he subsequently informed the senior DIGs of the Northern, Eastern and Southern provinces in this regard and asked them to notify others as well.
More information regarding the conversations could be obtained by inspecting his telephone calls.
The IGP further emphasized that he had notified every responsible person regarding the possible attacks
Mohamed Razik Mohamed Taslim, who was shot in the head by Zahran Hashim’s group, spoke to Ada Derana via a video call.
Taslim was the first person to reveal information on the suspects, who vandalized Buddhist statues in Mawanella area on 26th December 2018, is speaking to the media for the first time on how he tried to take action against religious extremism.
https://youtu.be/sEkhC9Ayy64
Investigations into the vandalism of Buddhist statues in Mawanella had led to the arrest of one of the suspects disclosed by Taslim.
As Taslim, father of three, became a target of the extremists as he went ahead to unveil more information on them.
On March 29th this year, Taslim was shot in the head while he was asleep at his home located in Danagama area, Mawanella.
Speaking to Ada Derana, Taslim said the Easter attacks could have been prevented had the authorities acted on the information disclosed by him.
Taslim is the coordinating secretary to Kabir Hashim, who recently stepped down from his ministerial post along with other Muslim ministers. He said the minister was notified regarding the suspects, however, the minister had responded it was the security forces that should be informed on the matter, not him.
Day by day, one by one was taken into custody and their testimonies revealed the duo Saddik and Shahid had led the incident,” Taslim said during the video conversation.
Taslim says he subsequently uncovered that Zahran Hashim is also behind the said incident.
Responding to the questions, Taslim said he first learned of Zahran Hashim in late February.
Taslim says, several individuals, who were arrested over the Mawanella incident, are his acquaintances and when queries as to why they carried out an act as such, Saddik had asked him to join them.
The tip-off on the Shahid-Saddik duo was first given in February, says Taslim.
I was shot in the head at my home. At first, I didn’t know what happened. But later, when I gained consciousness, I got to know that I was shot,” Taslim continued.
Even after the tip-off was given, the police had not acted on it properly, but the attacks could have been prevented had they taken necessary measures, Taslim told Ada Derana.
The Teaching Hospital in Kurunegala Teaching Hospital has received 31 complaints against Dr. Mohamed Shafi, who is accused of allegedly performing illegal sterilization, during the course of yesterday (06).
Accordingly, the hospital has received 681 complaints in total.
In addition, Dambulla Hospital has received 11 complaints yesterday, and the total number of complaints lodged at the hospital amount to 114.
Meanwhile, the Police Media Spokesperson SP Ruwan Gunasekara said a committee of experts would be appointed to examine the females who have filed complaints against Dr. Shafi.
The Criminal Investigation Department has recorded statements from 421 females, 26 doctors including 6 VOGs over the illegal sterilizations allegedly carried out by Dr. Mohamed Shafi, he added.
Sixty-nine nurses and 18 other hospital staff have also recorded statements with the CID over the incident, the spokesperson further said.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundara testifying before the Special Parliamentary Select Committee that the president had asked him to take the responsibility of the Easter Attacks and resign from his post.
IGP Pujith Jayasundara, who is currently sent on compulsory leave, testified before the Special Parliamentary Select Committee appointed to look into the terrorist attacks on Easter Sunday, earlier today (06).
IGP Jayasundara stated the President had phoned the IGP at around 6.30 pm on 23rd April to schedule a meeting for 8 pm that night.
According to the IGP, President had stated that he will be appointing a committee to investigate the Easter attacks and that the Jayasundara should take the responsibility of the attacks as the IGP.
IGP said that the President told him that he would be convicted no matter what team investigates the matter.
President asked me whether I would go home without a pension or take responsibility and resign”, said Jayasundara.
President asked me this in a very polite manner. He asked me of this about four times”, he said.
IGP says that he showed the documents he had and that the President inspected them very carefully.
Jayasundara also said that he has not once tarnished the name of the Police in the 35 years of service. Stating that he is neither a thief nor a robber, he said that he didn’t earn from the Police. He further said that although he has property inherited from his parents, he doesn’t even have a place for his name.
The meeting with the President lasted until 8.45 pm, according to the IGP.
IGP further testified that the President phoned him once again on the 25th April and angrily inquired of not submitting the resignation letter. He was then sent on compulsory leave on the 29th April, said IGP.
Stating that he didn’t resign as he could not betray the Police, the IGP said that the President promised him of a high ranking title in the government or an ambassador post if he resigned.
Legal and administrative steps would be taken by the government shortly to prohibit the import of tree cutting machines, chainsaws, mechanical saws and the carpenter sheds popularly known as ‘wadu maduwa’, in a bid to protect the environment – in particular, the forest density of the country, President Maithripala Sirisena declared today.
He added that people would have to import furniture as deforestation and tree cutting would be banned fully.
Delivering the keynote address at a ceremony held to mark ‘World Environment Day 2019’ under the theme, ‘Minimising of air pollution through sustainable forest management’ at the BMICH last morning, President Sirisena went on to say that if these measures were taken and implemented for ten years, the forest density of Sri Lanka could be increased to an environment friendly 32% from the current not so satisfactory 28%. A few months ago, I went to a funeral house at Kurunegala. A poor looking old person approached me and asked, ‘Sir you are the Environment Minister?’ and I said ‘yes’. He again said you work hard to protect the environment and forests, don’t you? Yes, no one can cut trees without my permission, I said.
Then he said cutting of hundreds of trees using chainsaws in many parts of the country around the year was a common sight everywhere. If you want to stop cutting of trees in a haphazard manner, you must do something for this. It was after this poor citizen drew my attention to the harm done to our forests using chainsaws that I decided to register chainsaws at Divisional Secretariats and obtain permits to use them to restrict the use of chainsaws. As a further measure to put an end to this destruction, I will also prohibit the import of chainsaws, tree cutting machines and maintaining of carpenter shops,” President Sirisena stressed. He said no official, even from the Environment Ministry, Forest Department or Central Environment Authority (CEA) had educated him on the damage done to Sri Lanka’s forests by chain saws until this person did it. When laws to register chainsaws were made effective, 82000 chainsaws had been registered island wide in three weeks. I have been using a chopper to travel to distant places in Sri Lanka as a minister for about 25 years.
After becoming the president, I use the helicopter at least twice a week. I enjoy the beauty of our country when I fly within Sri Lanka. The greenery of vast forests, the blue waters of rivers and the blue sky make Sri Lanka a paradise,” he added. When he visited India last week, he said he had to travel with Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Delhi in a chopper. What he saw all the way was barren and yellowish lands. When I checked the temperature in New Delhi, it was at 47 centigrade while the temperature in Colombo was at 30 centigrade.
The air quality index in New Delhi was 113 particle matters, in Lahore, it was 114, in Washington DC it was 8 and in Colombo 32. We must try our best to bring Colombo to the level of Washington DC. The welcome address was made by Director General of the CEA, Hemantha Jayasinghe. President Sirisena launched the ‘Water Quality Monitoring’ website of the CEA. (
Ajantha Kumara Agalakada Courtesy The Daily Mirror
Except for Minister Kabir Hashim, all other eight Muslim ministers have handed over their letters of resignation to the Presidential Secretariat by this evening, sources said.
It was reported that Highways & Road Development and Petroleum Resources Development Minister Kabir Hashim has not tendered the letter of resignation since he has undertaken a foreign visit.
Accordingly, Ministers Rauff Hakeem, M.H.A. Haleem, Rishad Bathiudeen, State Ministers Faizal Cassim, H. M. M. Harees, Ameer Ali Shihabdeen, Seyed Ali Zahir Moulana and Deputy Minister Abdullah Mahrooff have tendered their letters of resignations.
The nine Muslim cabinet, state and deputy ministers declared on Monday that they have decided to resign in the wake of the allegations levelled against Minister Bathiudeen. (
Dharisha Bastians calling a Buddhist Thero as ‘Mr. Ratana’ is not the first derogatory term used against Buddhists in Sri Lanka and she is definitely not going to be the last. But, their slander is institutionally supported by the media who employs them and pays them to write as they do and no editor feels even a pang of ethics when approving their writings for publications. Dharisha Bastians article referring to ‘Mr. Ratana’ was published by New York Times, she was appointed by the present government as editor-in-chief of Sunday Observer another state paper where in 2002 Asif Hussein & others attempted to humiliate the Buddhists by claiming they were worshipping a fake tooth & requested a DNA test. Asif Hussein who was interdicted by Sunday Observer is now a regular columnist in the Daily Mirror while then editor Lakshman Gunasekera who was also sacked in 2002 was appointed editor of Sunday Observer in 2016 by the Ranil Wickremasinghe Government. Two-thirds of Sri Lankans are Buddhists and their sensitivities matters too!
On 20 January 2002 a delegation of Bhikkus, laymen went to lodge an official complaint with the Acting Chairman of Lake House Newspapers. This meeting was as a result of an article that was to be published on 6 January 2002 claiming the Sacred Tooth Relic at the Dalada Maligawa was fake and requested DNA testing. Though Lake House management claimed the article was not published, distribution had been done in Ratnapura & Moneragala & on the internet.
The Buddhist delegation demanded the Editor & all those responsible for the publication of the article be removed from their posts. Eventually the writer Asif Hussein was interdicted so was the 2002 Sunday Observer Editor Lakshman Gunasekera. No surprise that this same editor was returned to head Sunday Observer by the Ranil Wickremasinghe government in 2016. We all know the extent of anti-Buddhist campaign carried out since 2015. Denigration of Buddhism has been happening since colonial occupation of Sinhale. There is a pattern to the denigration. The colonial administration ensured missionary English education isolated Sinhalese & non-Sinhalese from Buddhist teachings. The English newspapers in missionary control & later handed over to sepoy local kalu suddas ensured the campaign to ridicule & mock Buddhism continued unabated. This vilification campaign against Buddhists using the media was documented with facts by the K D de Silva Press Commission Report in 1964 which wrote newspapers of the Lake House & the Times Group were guilty of anti-national & anti-Buddhist conduct’. A content analysis of the Buddhist bashers will clearly reveal the pattern. The more the Buddhists are bashed the bashers are regular recipients of awards and scholarships too!
Buddhist bashing sepoy press” The newspapers are regularly carrying anti-Buddhist articles without any shame. In October 2001 while Lakshman Gunasekera was editor, a letter by B F Perera was published questioning the authenticity of the Tooth relic and requested a public debate. He claimed only ‘fanatical Buddhists’ worship the Tooth Relic. A content analysis of Sunday Observer by this same editor will show how he is using his position to denigrate Buddhists. The papers rarely will allow a right of reply by any Buddhists. Poya Day supplements are generally written by non-Buddhists questioning Buddhism or its festivals, traditions & rituals (K K S Perera is one such regular writer!
While the Buddhist bashers have a field day – anything said by a Buddhist questioning the bashers immediately becomes branded ‘hate speech’ ‘racism’. 26 April 2014 – Saving Sri Lanka from the Monkish Terror’ (www.island.lk/ by Political Watch) 03 May 2014 – Why Gnanasara has to be dealt with’ (www.island.lk/ by Political Watch)
Buddhist monks were called ‘mob of monks’ ‘marauding monks’ ‘monkish terror’ ‘thug monks’ ‘these are the modern day Devadattas and Buddharakkithas’ The Malwatte Mahanayake was accused of turning himself into a ‘cipher’.
Aug 2012 – then Justice Minister & leader of SL Muslim Congress Rauf Hakeem demanded President Rajapakse defeat ‘yellow-robed terrorism’ Jul 2014 – D B S Jeyraj’s article ‘Fascists in saffron robes? The rise of Sri Lanka’s Buddhist ultra nationalists Jul 2014 – Confronting Extremist Thugs In Buddhist Religious Robes” Siritunga Jayasuriya Jun 2014 – Sri Lanka Guardian publishes article Buddhist extremists attack innocent Muslims in Sri Lanka” by one Refai Jun 2014 – Barbarism of Sinhala Buddhist extremist forces against Muslims” – Latheef Farook May 2014 – Bodu Bala Sena’s thug leader Gnanasara thero should be flogged publicly and chased on the road with full exposure on tv” writes D B S Jeyraj May 2014 Why Gnanasara has to be dealt with” Island newspaper by Political Watch pseudonym April 2014 Expose thugs in robes and isolate them” – Sunday Leader author unknown April 2014 an unholy alliance of Buddhists” by Tariq A. Al-Maeena Jan 2014 Summon Lord Buddha to Geneva” Sharmini Serasinghe writing to Colombo Telegraph Aug 2013 Buddhist extremists hope to attain ‘nibbana’ by attacking Muslims, mosques and Muslim owned businesses’ writes D B S Jeyraj Jun 2013 Buddhist fanatics on the streets’ Island newspaper by Political Watch Aug 2012 Mad men of Dambulla” by TisaraneeG writing to Sunday Leader Is this not inciting hate speech or is the newspaper owners, the editor & the journalists given free rein to denigrate Buddhists/Buddhism?
What about the Government, what is its position when it is constitutionally bound to protect & foster Buddhism by virtue of Article 9. 2/3 population is Sinhale Buddhists but how many editors are Sinhala Buddhists?
How many of Sri Lanka’s media publications belong to Buddhists/non-Buddhists Who are the regular columnists and what ethno-religious group do they belong to? How many articles are featured by newspapers & does this correspond with the ethnic ratio?
The Buddhist bashing press regular columnists are Dharisha, DusheyR, HarimP, KishaliP, KumarD, LatheefF, NotebookofShanie, TisaraneeG, UvinduK, R.Phillips, SonaliS, FredrikaJ, SharminiS, RM Senanayake, IzethH and they are complimented by another set of civil society leaders whose regular vituperative are also against Sinhala Buddhists – NimalkaF, PakiasothyS, JehanP, DayanJ, BasilF, KumarR, SurendraA.
All of them are not writing personal opinions. They are paid and working for organizations and given daily columns therefore what they write though claiming to be personal opinion heavily influences their work given that they are directly or indirectly linked to programs their organizations are involved in Sri Lanka.
A good look at their articles will reveal their lavish usage of terms ‘Buddhist extremists’ ‘Sinhala supremacists’, ‘Racist Sinhala Buddhists’ ‘Fascist Buddhists’. Are these the ‘ethical’ writers who are regular recipients of awards and guest speakers?
And these are the very personalities championing campaigns against Hate Speech Racism Discrimination etc. What hypocrites!
When media carries these denigrations does this look as if there is no media freedom in Sri Lanka, if minorities were being discriminated by the majority would they be able to freely and with such venom refer to Buddhists as they do in print?
No minority religion has been called by the names that Buddhist Sangha have been called in print not even the Catholic priests linked to LTTE terror. The moment Buddhists write to question these denigrations there’s a team kept ready to divert public opinion from the issue and kill the messenger with a harangue of name calling.
What must Buddhists do · Demand a future government to hold a Commission of Inquiry into denigration of Buddhism by Sri Lanka’s mass media & enforce strict regulations for their conduct · Republish the 1964 Press Commission Report – which will prove that Sri Lanka’s media has taken no steps to self-regulate itself & its anti-Buddhist bias. Media cannot be allowed to play politics using communication platforms. · Buddhist organizations must carry out a content analysis of all Buddhist bashing writers/newspapers and publish for the world to see · Demand Sri Lanka’s press enforce strict regulations on people writing under pseudonyms (Vishwamitra/Notebook of Shani (author is now dead)/ Don Manu / Political Watch etc – no one can hide behind a false name and publish derogatory terms & address people in the most unethical & disrespectful manner. · Buddhist organizations must set up media review/monitoring committees to review publications/broadcasts/tv programs that attempt to undermine Buddhism · Call for a National Convention of Buddhist Sangha and Buddhist laymen (not multicultural Buddhists) to openly discuss the challenges facing Buddhists/Buddhism in Sri Lanka & rest of Asia. · Demand a future government to gazette all Sacred Buddhist sites/archaeology sites in order to legally prevent incursions or dubious take overs. · Buddhist organizations must compile List of Grievances of Buddhists in Sri Lanka
Many opinion writers, particularly in the English medium newspapers, expressed more consternation at the release from prison of the Bodu Bala Sena leader Ven. Galaboda-aththe Gnanasara Thera on May 23, 2019 than they did at the National Thawheed Jamat’s terrorist suicide bombings on the Easter Sunday a month before (i.e., on April 21), that claimed the lives of more than 300 innocent men, women and children, and grievously hurt more than 500 others, most of the victims being Catholics at prayer in churches.
When it was announced that the monk was granted a presidential pardon, one writer described it as a ‘Pardon, Unpardonable’ (Sarath de Alwis/Colombo Telegraph/May 29); another lamented that it was the end of ‘good governance’.
There is a strong element of tragic irony in this hostile reception, among an anti-national minority of Sri Lankan citizens and the mercenary NGOs-led Sri Lanka-bashers abroad (both in the literal sense of the phrase ‘tragic irony’ and in the sense it is used in classical Greek tragedy), of an event that should be warmly welcomed by everyone as a case of natural justice served, though belatedly. The reason is because the vast majority of ordinary Sri Lankans know the irrefutable truth that those ISIS inspired and sponsored terrorists were able to carry out their attack, the worst ever such attack on civilian targets in South Asia as a senior journalist points out, so easily without anyone trying to stop them, primarily due to the authorities’ refusal to heed this monk’s evidence-based warnings repeatedly and passionately sounded over many years past about growing Islamic and Christian fundamentalist activity in Sri Lanka and their resultant failure to adopt necessary security precautions to prevent untoward incidents of that sort. Instead of listening to the monk, who even felt compelled to resort to a threatening voice and a belligerent posture uncharacteristic of a bhikkhu in an attempt to be heard where those in power turned a deaf ear to his peaceful pleas (the only fault he committed to earn his demonic image among his detractors), successive governments (particularly the present one in a decidedly brazen manner) ill-treated Ven. Gnanasara Thera as a racist Sinhalese Buddhist monk and a violent anti-minority rabble rouser.
But in reality, he exemplifies the exact opposite of these qualities. He hasn’t committed any crime, except perhaps the alleged contempt of court for which he was handed down a lengthy prison term of nineteen years (subsequently reduced to six years) hard labour.
Naturally, one may guess, the monk did not ask for a presidential pardon because he believes that he had done no wrong according to his conscience . However, self-motivated individuals and groups, registering the massive swing of public opinion in favour of the imprisoned thera were seen to plead with the president for his release.
It is not known whether the president responded to these favourably. What is clear is that, whether he did or not, it was nothing compared to the pressure he must have felt exerted on him by public opinion. But instinctively exploiting it, in the despicable way of an opportunistic politician that is ingrained in him whose cautious pragmatism has no nobler aim than self promotion, the president made the ‘pardoning’ of the monk an excuse to try to recoup his irretrievably lost credibility. In this, he is second only to the PM.
Many acts of commission and omission have been performed under the present government that are not in the best interest of the Sri Lankan people in recent years in the name of promotion of ‘reconciliation’, protection of ‘human rights’, introduction of ‘good governance’, generation of economic development, and efficient management of foreign relations. These have brought the country to a state of sheer anarchy through the worst form of misrule ever experienced by Sri Lankans since independence, where economic development has come to a standstill, national security has been abysmally neglected, external affairs foolishly messed up, the human rights of 99% of the population including the right to live and the right to the freedom of expression threatened to the point of near extinction (it is doubtful whether the mainstream media are able to adequately freely report on the growing public disaffection and anger against the government), with the captive citizenry resigned to a life fraught with mortal fear, unnerving uncertainty, deep despair, ruptured communal harmony and serious material deprivation. These are the direct result of the choices made by the so-called ‘good governance’ masqueraders who came to power through a partially externally engineered regime
change in 2015.
Some of these undesirable choices are: The dilution, through the 19th Amendment, of the powers of the executive presidency without adequate safeguards to protect its positive features that saved the nation at critical junctures in the recent past (This was done at the individual whims of the two persons elected to the two highest posts in the land, who happen to be of incompatible personal temperaments and incongruous social and educational backgrounds, a mismatch that is spelling disaster to the whole country); a deplorable omission was the apparently willful negligence of national security including the demoralizing of a once excellently performing intelligence service (the most recent, unimaginably treacherous, act in this regard being the serving intelligence chief being grilled by a parliamentary select committee consisting mostly of MPs of questionable credibility (all of discredited Yahapalana origin) whose undeclared brief appears to be to protect the politician widely suspected to have some connection with the recent Islamic terror attacks, in an attempt to save the careering current administration from certain collapse, one of them being a national list MP, one of the principal drafters of a proposed new constitution, who, intentionally or unintentionally, casually admitted before the media, that the clause that makes it impossible for the president to dissolve parliament until it has completed the first four and a half years of its mandated five year term was surreptitiously included in the 19th Amendment at the committee stage, because they wanted to circumvent the constitutional requirement to pass that provision with a two thirds majority in parliament and to get it confirmed at a people’s referendum (in terms of the existing constitution).
The loss to the country caused by the repeated central bank bond scams of 2015 and 2016 runs into trillions of rupees; the main suspect in this regard is the PM’s close friend Singaporean Arjuna Mahendran who is absconding, and he remains safe from arrest and prosecution because apparently there is no extradition agreement between Sri Lanka and Singapore. This was most probably a case of planned robbery that involved something larger than a couple of daylight bank-robbers. The selling out of the various national assets of inestimable value built up by the previous government at great cost soon after the conclusion of a costly thirty year civil war is another great crime. The despicable truth is that this amounts to an intentional betrayal of the national interest solely due to the present government’s abject submission to the dictates of the three competing external powers active in the region – imperialist America, its opportunistic local ally India and their formidable common challenger China.
In contrast, the activism of Ven. Gnanasara is focused entirely on the promotion of the national interest. He has been for years demonized as a trouble-maker, a Sinhalese racist, a chauvinist, a xenophobic, a fanatical monk, and so on and so forth. In reality, though, his critics are the demons, and he himself is an angel. The absolute demonization and nonstop persecution of the innocent but inspired Buddhist monk activist Ven. Galaboda-Aththe Gnanasara Thera is a great mistake whose unpardonable consequences are now clear for all to see. He is championing a non-political cause, which, unfortunately is being more or less distorted or misrepresented as a political one by both the government and its supporters, and the opposition and its allies, with a very few honourable exceptions.
Politicians in power today who believe that the monk’s activism is directly against their interests, though they understand the legitimacy of his concerns and complaints, oppose him openly and try to harass him in order to keep him in check. Those in the opposition who similarly understand what he is actually saying and doing, and are sympathetic and sensitive to his revelations and goals have to date played shy of having any truck with him in public. Both groups of politicians adopt their respective attitudes towards Ven. Gnanasara Thera because of one common reason: that is, their anxious fear of losing the block votes that a few communalist minority politicians have become accustomed to commanding among their own people.
Of course, not all those who criticize the monk for ideological or political reasons can be decried as evil-minded. I have come across the writings of some well meaning respectable commentators who do not approve of his ideas. The Island political columnist C.A. Chandraprema, for example, describes Ven. Gnanasara as a ‘volatile’ monk (i.e., one who changes his opinion frequently), probably for the reason that, in my opinion, he tried to co-opt various individuals, and groups of differing political ideologies and allegiances into his strictly non-political ‘crusade’, and abandoned them as readily as he approached them when he found that he was not getting anywhere with such relationships. (As far as I can judge, he is not a volatile character, but an unreasonably impetuous one.This is amply evident in his speech and behaviour and it has cost him and the country a great deal.) The only persons whose supportive involvement he doesn’t tire of beseeching are the Venerable Mahnayakes, especially the two in Kandy.
Their relative inaction in this regard has also contributed to the present vulnerability of Sri Lankans of all faiths to fundamentalist religious terrorism. The leaders of the present government and the president as the executive head of state are directly responsible for bringing the country to this tragic situation in which the majority Sinhalese community are alleged to be facing threats of genocidal proportions. May the Venerable Mahanayakes fulfill their historic duty at least now without pandering to the whims of errant politicians, while enlisting the support of the other religious leaders including particularly His Eminence the Cardinal.
The one and only aspiration of all Third world nations is to fast
track their nations to the First world status but it is realized only by a few.
In our lifetime that dream-objective was realized by Singapore, Malaysia and
South Korea in the Asian region. Talking of Singapore in particular it was not
the Western template of democracy that brought that nation to the fore and if
not for Lee Kuan Yew who was a democratic dictator that country also would
probably be in the hopeless situation that we are in today. The Singaporean Prime
Minster, in his memoirs referred to the fact that he took that country forward
by a process that he described as ‘guided democracy’ relevant to the culture of
its civilization. I would describe that process very briefly in a few terms:
visionary, scientific-rational, policy driven, unwavering and corruption free.
These principles were adhered to, with an iron fist. He tolerated little
opposition and in fairness to the man, it was in the face of good scientific
rational argument. Used the jails and deportation frequently. The western press
ridiculed him relentlessly, and he fought them ‘legally’ in the courts a number
of times. The lesson is abundantly clear to us. Had he pandered and kow-towed
to the pea-brained petty politicians, like the ones we have in abundance about
8000, Singapore will never have marched from $ 400 per capita in 1960 to
$39,000 today.
Two weeks ago we had the elections in Australia and the spirit of a
holiday hovered over us. I thought for myself that Sri Lankans in the mid
nineteenth century were also in that kind of mood. The country ready for the
privileges and perks of a robust democracy that Australia is enjoying today.
Compulsory voting in Australia creates this voting day a public holiday where
many voting adults come with their children to the booth on the way to the
beach. Having voted, duty fulfilled as discerning citizens, they leave. At the
booth are various political people handing out how to vote cards and though it
would have been interesting if they argued but they don’t. Disappointed, that
they seemed to be on such friendly terms, gently smiling all round, the
momentous day becomes one of stillness and observation. Most people took cards
from different sides as if they were voting for all parties.
On the sidelines were fundraisers for many whose objectives are to
celebrate democracy, encourage participation and offer support for community
groups. These fund raising sausages are called democracy sausages. The cake
stalls added to the carnival atmosphere and playful spirit. The cake stalls
sell Malcolm (Turnbull) Turnovers, Bill (Shorten) shortbreads and Jacqui
(Lamby) Lambingtons named after celeb politicians. This Saturday festival of
democracy has brought the unity of a motley crew of many tongues united by one
common language, English. Was it the
common language that brought them together? I firmly believe so: over hundred
dialects and ethnicities, united by a common language to rejoice equally the
spirit of the nation. What liberating potential!
Come 1960’s Sri Lanka. Our university life started on a similar
positive note. Our entry into the university in the early sixties was the
beginning era of a turbulent period in the political history of the nation.
Much has been written on the emergence of developing countries from the yoke of
colonialism in the Asian African continent but there were a myriad of other
domestic issues that were handled badly, which divided us. The turbulence was a
temporary set back we thought. There was so much untapped potential in the
nation that will ultimately rise up to the task. We were convinced that young
people with self-belief surrounded by leaders with indomitable will could make
it happen. The heroic deeds that thrill humanity through generations, as Prime
Minister Lloyd George said, were the work of small nations. The birth of a
modern nation was imminent we hoped. Sadly our hopes were dashed. Divisiveness,
ugliness, paucity of vision enveloped us.
Sri Lanka was a country with many different languages and English
was still the language of the work place in the 60’s. English had the potential
to bring together the diversity of our nation together in national matters to
move forward to modernity. As an international trading post and even better
than Singapore’s geographical location, it was the language of an international
hub, if not we would not make a living. Lee Kwan Yew had the vision to see the
future and introduced teaching of the mother tongue plus English to all schools
in Singapore. He warned the Chinese not to play politics with the futures of
the next generation and deported a few of the Malay rabble elements. But our
politicians made language a political issue. In a multiracial, multilingual
society English was the only acceptable neutral language. Any serious dialogue
on national matters need a neutral language. Besides, English language would
make us relevant to the world. Lee Kuan Yew
says that if he had made Singapore monolingual in their mother tongue they
would not make a living. More importantly he says that; ‘becoming monolingual
in English would have been a setback. We would have lost our cultural identity,
that quiet confidence about ourselves and our place in the world’. He knew that
in any case you couldn’t make people give up their mother tongue. How
visionary? There would be unending chaos as happened in our country. He did
face a formidable protest about bilingualism. The very vocal Chinese rebelled that
the children would not master either of the languages but the results proved
otherwise. Unlike Singapore our educational policies did not move with the
times. Sri Lankans lost the opportunity to move from the Third World to the
first much earlier than Singapore. Today we are in a right royal mess.
Colombo, June 5 (newsin.asia): Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has told Mano Ganeshan, cabinet minister for Official Languages, that he will be ready to support the United National Party (UNP) led United National Front (UNF) in the coming Presidential election if it fields Sajith Premadasa as its candidate.
The President had earlier told UNF ministers that he will not contest the Presidential election which, he said, would be held on December 7, this year.
He also made it clear that he will not support any candidate put up by former President and Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa.
By saying so, Sirisena hinted that the talks between his Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and Rajapaksa’s Sri Lankan Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) for an electoral alliance were going nowhere.
The SLFP had proposed that Sirisena be the Presidential candidate and Rajapaksa be the Prime Minister. But the SLPP has unofficially decided that Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the former Defense Secretary and Mahinda Rajapaksa’s brother, is to the candidate.
It is perhaps this which made Sirisena tell the UNF ministers that he will support the UNP-UNF if it adopts the right policies”, by which he meant a nationalist, Sinhala-Buddhist and anti-West policy.
Later, he told minister Mano Ganeshan that if Sajith Premadasa, (son of the pro-poor and nationalist former President Ranasinghe Premadasa) is put up as the UNP-UNF candidate, he will offer his support.
Sirisena believes that the policies of the UNP-UNF will be nationalist and pro-poor under the stewardship of Sajith Premadasa.
Sajith is portrayed as a rural-based, pro-poor and nationalist man because of his work in the rural areas in Hambantota District, though, in actuality, he is a Colombo-based, foreign-educated and urbane person.
The fact a Christchurch-Colombo connection was made by a Sri Lankan government minister raises a terrible prospect.
After the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka, former CIA Director Michael Morell offered a dismal assessment of the state of the world.
There are, he said, at least triple the number of Islamist extremists today than there were on 9/11. It’s not clear how an accurate headcount could ever be done but the Islamic State’s possibly opportunistic claim of responsibility for the Sri Lanka attacks underlines a grim reality.
The Islamic State (ISIS), now without territory and with its dream of a thriving caliphate smashed, remains influential.
Not long ago, US President Donald Trump declared ISIS 100%” defeated in Syria but that was not mission accomplished” by any means. Whatever the depth and scale of ISIS’s logistical support to Sri Lanka’s bombers, it has an ideological hold that transcends borders. Anne Speckhard, director of the US think-tank International Centre for the Study of Violent Extremism, called ISIS’s baleful influence across the world the wave of the future.”
This sombre picture is further shaded by Sri Lankan defence minister’s assertion the bombings were carried out in retaliation for the mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Doubt has been cast on any direct cause-and-effect sequence. Complex, coordinated, multisite attacks, such as in Sri Lanka, can take months to organise and the Christchurch attacks occurred six weeks ago. Even so, the fact a Christchurch-Colombo connection was made by a Sri Lankan government minister raises a terrible prospect.
Terrorism is increasingly focused on religious rather than secular political targets. There is the possibility of an endless spiral of revenge and counter-revenge attacks by extremists claiming to serve as armed protection groups, flag-bearers really, for their respective communities. For terrorism itself is metastasising. It is drawing in white nationalists who attack Muslims and visually distinct people in Western countries.
In reference to the Sri Lanka bombings, Morell said the world needs to be prepared to deal with this type of terrorism for generations. But how?
The choice of targets is increasingly diffuse, making it harder to know what to police and where. Sri Lanka, an island-nation attractive to tourists from around the world, has minuscule Christian and Muslim populations. Christchurch, a New Zealand backwater, with a tiny community of Muslims, doesn’t readily present itself as a terrorist target.
Add to that data gathered by Simon Cottee, a lecturer in criminology at Kent University in the United Kingdom, on the so-called calypso caliphate.
Cottee offered a conservative” estimate of 130 Trinidad and Tobago nationals who journeyed to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS from 2013-16. Though that might seem a trifling number,” Cottee said, it’s big for a Caribbean nation with a population of 1.3 million and places Trinidad and Tobago top of the list of Western countries for foreign-fighter radicalisation.”
Calypso jihadis” sound rather jolly until one considers the importance of the group’s existence. As Cottee wrote, it illustrates the genuinely global reach of ISIS… (and its ability to frame) its grievances and ambitions in a way that was understood across many different countries and cultures.”
So, is this Terrorism 3.0,” the snappy term coined by James Stavridis, a retired US Navy admiral and former NATO supreme allied commander for the evolution of global terrorism”? Stavridis uses his technologically adept label only for ISIS’s new clicks-only strategy and the enforced move away from the costly, time-consuming business of operating retail bricks-and-mortar” outlets.
There are also new complications caused by rising white nationalist extremism. It is given ballast by politicians such as Trump, who appeals to racial and religious animus to cater to working-class white American voters. Taken together with long-running jihadism, white nationalism feeds the sense of a spreading, religiously and racially focused conflict.
It’s been nearly 30 years since American political scientist Samuel Huntington argued that future wars would be fought between cultures rather than countries. Huntington’s clash of civilisations” theory has become a cliché, one to be ignored. It’s regarded as an alarmist academic attempt to construct an omnibus narrative that enfolds and explains communal frictions but extremists of various stripes seem to be committed to making it a reality.
Hopefully, we won’t get there but there is a very real risk we might.
Rashmee Roshan Lall is a regular columnist for The Arab Weekly. She blogs at www.rashmee.com and is on Twitter @rashmeerl
States must counter youth radicalization with educational, social and economic plans
The world appears to be witnessing a new phase in Islamic State’s global war which began in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday.
Shortly after the deadly coordinated terrorist attacks by an IS-claimed cell, an IS media outlet released a video of the group’s elusive leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
His message, which referred to the Sri Lanka outrage, was bad news for most of the world including for Asia. With the destruction of the last IS enclave in Syria earlier this year by the U.S. and its allies, Baghdadi sought to rally his followers for a new fight — direct attacks in countries beyond its former territorial strongholds in Syria and Iraq. Governments, including in Asia, must respond to the threat, as the Sri Lanka attack showed.
The release of Baghdadi’s first video message since he was shown delivering a sermon in 2014 at the famous Grand al-Nuri mosque in Mosul, Iraq, put paid to speculation that the IS chief was either in poor health or had died.
With the recent onset of Ramadan, or Islamic fasting month, Baghdadi felt it was the right moment to put out a rallying call to his supporters, aimed at boosting flagging morale and a demonstration of IS’s worldwide ambitions.
Baghdadi suggested that the so-called “caliphate” that his group had established in Syria and Iraq five years ago was always destined to crumble and that he had long ago made plans to continue the global struggles through franchises and affiliates around the world.
That strategy appears to have succeeded, not least in Asia. Baghdadi’s video could be taken as a green light for a recent upsurge of terrorist incidents during the holy month of Ramadan. After the Sri Lanka assault on April 21, the group in May claimed attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Nigeria, and the Central African Republic as well as in my country, Bangladesh.
Bangladesh, a 90%-Muslim land of 165 million, has become a focal point of concern because on April 30, the same day as the release of the Baghdadi video, an image of the five terrorists who staged the deadly Holey Artisan Bakery attack in Dhaka in July 2016 appeared on an IS media outlet. A message in Bengali, English and Hindi threatened more attacks from Abu Muhammad al-Bengali, who is regarded by followers as the “emir” of IS in Bangladesh.
On April 29, a small bomb blast in the Dhaka district of Gulistan injured three policemen. The attack was claimed by IS, which referred to it as an “operation in Bengal.” Some analysts suggest that the bombing signaled the start of more attacks in Bangladesh and possibly in India, especially since the May 10 announcement by IS of an Indian “province” that it calls “Wilayah of Hind,” within India’s northern state of Jammu and Kashmir. On May 27 another explosion took place in Dhaka’s Malibagh area which left three people injured, including a police officer. This attack was also claimed by IS and said by Dhaka police to be more lethal than the April 29 attack.
Since the Holey Artisan Bakery attack, which killed 24 people besides the five terrorists, Bangladesh’s security forces have taken a sledgehammer approach in cracking down on suspected militants. They have killed scores and jailed hundreds over the last three years. But extremist groups tend not to remain quiet for long as they continue to radicalize, recruit and resurface at a time of their choosing.
The Bangladesh government has learned some important lessons since the Holey Artisan Bakery incident. It believes that the cafe attack was one of a series linked to Neo-Jamatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh (JMB), a local terrorist group with possible ties to IS, since 2014.
The Bangladesh government and civil society groups have tried to respond by launching measures under programs known as PVE, or Preventing Violent Extremism, across the country, which engage youth groups, local communities, schools and religious leaders.
While some of the measures are considered innovative and helpful, overall, such programs have not been particularly effective due to lack of expertise, resources and their short-term nature.
For Bangladesh and other countries, the best way to counter extremism and terrorism is through effective, long-term and sustainable programs that address grievances at both the individual and community level.
Ultimately, young people must be imbued with a sense of purpose. Governments and non-government organizations should undertake initiatives to strengthen ties among different ethnic and religious communities, including interfaith programs that emphasize the importance of the different groups in the history and cultural heritage of the nation.
Economic development is vital for creating jobs and opportunities that young people seek. Young men and women who have persevered at school and college only to be frustrated later by poor employment prospects can become vulnerable to radicalization. Through employment, young people not only have a source of income but also feel empowered and confident about their lives and future.
Bangladesh has recorded remarkable economic growth of over 6-7% annually in the last decade and has exceeded over 8% this year. However, according to the government’s latest Household Income and Expenditure Survey, inequality is still rising. The government therefore needs to ensure that the benefits of growth reach the bulk of the population by promoting more pro-growth policies, strengthening education, investing in skills development and human capital, improving infrastructure and fighting corruption.
A significant area of focus, often absent from government efforts, is mental health. Many youngsters grapple with issues of isolation, depression, identity and an inability to fit into their respective communities.
This includes not just poorer people but a growing number of young men and women from the upper echelons of society who are struggling to find their place in the wider world. They are driven into joining terrorist organizations less for the ideology than for a sense of belonging, which groups such as IS have been effective in providing.
It can be argued that the new phase for IS represents a rebirth which could represent a more virulent threat. “IS 2.0” is high-tech terrorism aided and abetted by social media and operating without much centralized organization. The group’s propaganda targets young people via their mobile phones, tablets and computers, urging them to battle anyone deemed their enemy. Inevitably this will lead to “lone wolf” and “wolf pack” terrorist attacks, carried out by independent individuals or groups.
It will be a protracted and bitter fight. But a more coordinated, sustained and thoughtful approach by government and civil society can help prevent and counter extremism — including in Bangladesh.
Faiz Sobhan is senior research director at the Dhaka-based Bangladesh Enterprise Institute.
After the Easter attacks in Colombo, the U.S. must address the growing terrorism threat in South Asia.
Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo
Sri Lankan army soldiers patrol a muslim neighborhood during a cordon and search operation in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Security measures have been increased in the country after more than 250 people were killed in coordinated suicide bomb attacks at three churches and three tourist hotels on Easter Sunday that were claimed by the Islamic State group and carried out by a local radicalized Muslim group.
Arab traders in the seventh century A.D. traveled by sea to present-day Sri Lanka seeking spices and goods to sell along the oceanic Silk Road. Like other South Asian countries engaged in commerce with the Arab world, Sri Lanka over time became home to a small Muslim community tracing its ethnic and religious roots back to the Middle East. Throughout the country’s history, this community, though religiously distinct, kept cordial relations with other faith groups and avoided the sectarianism plaguing South Asia’s other Muslim communities—until now.
Today, ISIS stands ready to take advantage of growing fissures in Sri Lankan Muslim identity—and as the aftermath of the Easter attacks in Sri Lanka shows, neither the country’s leaders nor the international community is prepared to do something about it. Meanwhile, communal backlash against the Muslim community grows amid worsening political tensions. This week, all nine of the country’s Muslim ministers and two Muslim provincial governors resigned under pressure from Athuraliye Rathana, a prominent Buddhist monk and presidential adviser, who accused them of having links to the Easter attack militants.
After the September 11 attacks, the United States created new policies and tools of warfare to fight Islamic fundamentalism around the world. But Sri Lanka didn’t fall into that new theater of war, limiting the extent to which it could benefit and learn from American efforts to dismantle the public and private support networks for terrorism. For example, post-9/11 U.S. counterterrorism policies shaped important new global financial-tracking systems at the United Nations; supported critical revisions to counterterrorism laws and judicial reforms in Pakistan; and implemented de-radicalization initiatives across Europe that empowered governments to take a closer look at how terrorism could take root in countries. And while certain policies, such as the use of drones and the rendition program, proved limited in their long-term utility in fighting terrorism, the overall American effort to engage the international community on terrorism made everyone a lot smarter about real and potential threats.
Sri Lanka remained largely an afterthought in the U.S. war on terrorism, perhaps because American policymakers did not believe the country to have a serious Islamic radicalization problem. Outside of a small Department of Defense–administered program providing counterterrorism training for Sri Lankan defense and security officials since 2001, American investments in Sri Lankan stability have been dominated by a singular focus on the ethnic conflict between Sinhalese and Tamil citizens and the aftermath of a 27-year-long civil war between the two groups.
Rightly, the United States prioritized its foreign assistance to support the integration of Tamils marginalized by the civil war into the economic and political mainstream. But new communal tensions involving Sri Lankan Muslims and hard-line Sinhalese Buddhist groups portend serious consequences for the country’s already fragile ethnic relations, as a key strategy of ISIS is to exploit and manipulate such divisions.
While we know that ISIS inspired the Easter Day attackers, we don’t know the exact political demands or grievances that compelled them to violence. We do know that the attacks occur in parallel to a growing sense of isolation among Sri Lankan Muslims. Simultaneously, Sri Lankan leaders worry that religious identity now supersedes the ethnic cohesion they once observed in Sri Lanka’s faith communities. ISIS is ready to take advantage of such dynamics, and experiencing losses in Syria and Iraq, it has already expanded its strategy and reach outside of the Middle East into new theaters of war like Afghanistan, the United States, and now Sri Lanka. The return of South Asians who traveled to the Middle East to fight alongside ISIS has also triggered concern among regional governments that returnees will attempt to further the ISIS cause at home, a concern amplified by access to online networks promoting radical Islamic content.
Sri Lanka lacks the legal basis to confront the growing ISIS threat. The country’s counterterrorism law, currently known as the Prevention of Terrorism Act, is designed to prosecute internal threats rather than foreign ones. And, as some advocacy groups state, the law exists to silence political opponents of the government. No doubt a by-product of the government’s civil war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the act does not address what happens to Sri Lankans who join foreign terrorist groups or advance foreign militant causes. As Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said after the Easter attacks, We have no laws which enable us to take into custody people who join foreign terrorist groups. We can take those who are, who belong to terrorist groups operating in Sri Lanka.” A new version of the law titled the Counterterrorism Act has been introduced to address the bias against Tamils, but it has yet to pass and does not respond to threats posed by ISIS or other foreign groups.
Ironically, political infighting between Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and President Maithripala Sirisena prevented the government from taking action on intelligence shared by the Indians that alluded to the Easter attacks. The country’s domestic politics, moored to repeated bouts of constitutional crises and competition between inept leaders, are designed to deal with threats from within—not from the outside. Furthermore, there are other internal risks involved with pursuing stronger counterterrorism policies, especially in partnership with Sri Lankan military and law enforcement. Doing so could aggravate open wounds related to civil war and unresolved post-conflict questions, such as the role of the military in Sri Lankan society.
Fighting ISIS in Sri Lanka will be determined by how effectively the country’s political factions and institutions can find common ground on the issue of terrorism, but the international community also has a role to play. For the United States in particular, the Easter attacks present an opportunity to rethink the levels and focus of its foreign assistance to the country. Even though Sri Lanka is the third-largest recipient of U.S. assistance in South Asia, its levels are dwarfed by those of Pakistan and Afghanistan, which have received the lion’s share of U.S. funding since 2001.
Finally, the reach and appeal of ISIS in Sri Lanka point to a parallel need to expand focus of U.S. strategy in Sri Lanka, which largely remains centered on stabilizing communities affected by the civil war. Instead, Sri Lanka’s internal security environment should be viewed within the broader context of U.S. national security interests in South Asia, which have to do with ensuring the region is not used as a staging ground for foreign terrorist organizations.
To be clear, the ways the United States has pursued those interests need adjustment. The use of drones, electronic surveillance, and financial assets control may have succeeded in tactical accomplishments, such as taking out leadership targets for al-Qaeda and affiliates. But they failed to sufficiently address the root problems of terrorism, and threats persist. If left untethered to a broader national-security strategy, any American efforts to fight ISIS in Sri Lanka may simply repeat the missteps and failures of the global war on terrorism.
Chief Prelates of temples in Gampaha have jointly decided not to engage Ministers Mangala Samaraweera and Rajitha Senaratne and MP Chathura Senaratne in any religious activities held at temples in Gampaha.
This decision was taken yesterday (04) at the meeting of the Gampaha District Shasanarakshaka Bala Mandalaya.
However, the Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera responded to this decision by posting a message in Sinhala on Twitter.
He stated that Lord Buddha was a great man who didn’t close the doors to his temple to even persons like ‘Devadatta’.
Twelve days have passed since the public were requested to submit their complaints against Dr. Mohamed Shafi Mohamed of the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital if any.
Since then, 742 mothers have lodged complaints that they had either suffered complications of failed to conceive again after undergoing a Caesarian surgery under Dr. Shafi.
Fifteen complaints were received by the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital today (05), raising the total number of complaints received by the hospital to 628.
Four mothers lodged their complaints against Dr. Shafi to the Dambulla Hospital today; thereby making the total number of complaints received by the said hospital 114.
Accordingly, 742 complaints against Dr. Shafi have been received in total through both hospitals.
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.
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?…..
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.
