Sri Lanka, strategically located at the crossroads of ancient global trade, flourished as an economically vibrant and culturally independent nation. Its ability to engage in cultural exchanges on its own terms ensured the preservation of its unique spiritual and cultural heritage. The island’s thriving civilization, led by its Mahārath—visionary leaders and scholars—and guided by Buddhist principles, exemplified self-reliance and harmony.
In this article, the profound cultural and philosophical depth of Sri Lanka explains why transformative figures like Jesus Christ and Prophet Muhammad may have focused their teachings elsewhere. Sri Lanka’s commitment to peace and its resistance to external religious ideologies highlighted its identity as a self-sustaining and spiritually enriched society. This argument serves as a powerful reminder of Sri Lanka’s enduring legacy, emphasizing the importance of preserving cultural independence, fostering peace, and celebrating spiritual harmony. It calls upon humanity to draw inspiration from Sri Lanka’s history in the pursuit of coexistence and global understanding.
Sri Lanka stands as a testament to the resilience and brilliance of a nation deeply rooted in its cultural, spiritual, and historical identity. Known to the ancient world as Taprobane, Sri Lanka gained recognition not just for its geographical beauty but also for its advanced civilization, self-reliance, and monumental achievements. From the era of King Devanampiya Tissa to King Aggabodhi I, Sri Lanka’s rulers prioritized the growth of Buddhism, non-violence, and intellectual development, making the island a beacon of spirituality and wisdom. The Mahārath—visionary leaders and scholars—stood as protectors of its philosophy, ensuring Sri Lanka’s identity remained unshaken by external influences. These principles are embodied in the architectural marvels such as the Ruwanwelisaya Stupa and the Jetavanaramaya Stupa, one of the tallest man-made brick structures in the world, showcasing the ingenuity of the Sinhalese civilization.
The Great Stupas, such as Ruwanwelisaya and Jetavanaramaya, were not just architectural achievements but symbols of devotion and harmony. For instance, Jetavanaramaya, built during King Mahasena’s reign, stood at a towering height of 122 meters (400 feet), rivaling the grandest structures in the world, like Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza. These accomplishments highlight Sri Lanka’s commitment to its cultural and spiritual identity.
Sri Lanka’s mastery of ancient engineering is also reflected in the construction of Yodha Ela (Giant’s Canal), an incredible irrigation channel built during the 5th century CE. This canal, which stretches approximately 54 miles (87 kilometers), is notable for its exceptionally low gradient—about 10 centimeters per kilometer or 6 inches per mile. This engineering precision ensured a steady flow of water across vast distances without modern tools, demonstrating the ingenuity and skill of ancient Sinhalese engineers. Yodha Ela, which connects the Kala Wewa reservoir, another 5th-century marvel built by King Dhatusena, revolutionized agriculture in ancient Sri Lanka by supplying water to extensive farmlands. Together, these feats of engineering exemplify Sri Lanka’s ability to harmonize innovation with sustainability.
Sri Lanka’s strategic location positioned it as a key participant in ancient global trade networks, enabling the island to flourish economically while firmly preserving its unique identity. Cultural exchanges with other civilizations were conducted on its own terms, ensuring the continuity and protection of its spiritual and cultural heritage. This historical backdrop illuminates why figures like Jesus Christ and Prophet Muhammad, while transformative in their regions, did not focus on spreading their teachings to Sri Lanka. The island’s thriving civilization, guided by its Mahārath and philosophical depth, was a self-sustaining and harmonious society. Rooted in Buddhist principles and values of peace, Sri Lanka remained resistant to external religious ideologies.
Sri Lanka’s cultural innovation extended to music and games. The Ravanahatha, a one-stringed, bowed instrument, is considered the earliest ancestor of the violin and is associated with the legendary King Ravana. This ancient instrument symbolizes Sri Lanka’s ingenuity and its contributions to the global heritage of music. In addition, Sri Lanka has a strong tradition of sports and games that have influenced modern-day activities. Traditional games like Buhukeliya and Madukeliya are believed to have influenced the development of cricket, which later gained global popularity through British influence. These examples highlight the island’s cultural vitality and adaptability.
The Roman author Pliny the Elder was an unparalleled observer of global cultures, documenting them extensively in his Natural History. His reference to Sri Lankan ambassadors from the Anuradhapura Kingdom visiting the Roman Emperor Claudius in 52 CE has captivated historians worldwide. This account dispelled the Roman notion that societies beyond Europe were barbaric, showcasing that ancient Sri Lankans were just as advanced and civilized as their Roman counterparts. Pliny’s writings underscored the cultural and technological advancements of the Anuradhapura Kingdom, highlighting Sri Lanka’s influence and standing in ancient diplomacy. This global acknowledgment reflected the brilliance of the island’s governance, infrastructure, and trade networks.
Although geographically distant, the Anuradhapura Kingdom and Rome evolved along fascinatingly parallel trajectories. Both civilizations showcased remarkable technological achievements, but with different priorities—while Rome developed advanced naval fleets for conquest, Sri Lanka mastered hydraulic engineering to enhance life for its people. Despite external invasions, Sri Lanka, with its Mahārath, navigated challenges with resilience and adaptability, maintaining its autonomy for a period that surpassed Rome’s influence. This longevity highlighted Sri Lanka’s focus on cultivating harmony rather than domination.
Adding to its pride, Sri Lanka is home to breathtaking landmarks like the Sigiriya Rock Fortress, built by King Kashyapa (477–495 CE), which stands as both a defensive structure and a masterpiece of art and architecture. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is an enduring symbol of the country’s creativity and ability to balance beauty with functionality.
Moreover, Sri Lanka’s geographical isolation, surrounded by the Indian Ocean, naturally limited the influence of foreign religious movements during their formative phases. Unlike regions that experienced the conquest-oriented expansions of new religions, Sri Lanka was shielded by both its physical location and its resilient philosophical framework. This spiritual and cultural autonomy allowed the island to evolve along its own unique path, safeguarding its identity and becoming a sanctuary for Buddhist teachings. Sri Lanka’s great kings also played a vital role in preserving this cultural and demographic integrity. Recognizing the impact of foreign settlers, these visionary rulers implemented specific laws to regulate external immigration and maintain harmony. For instance, in ancient Ceylon, foreign families were required to limit their number of children to one. Families exceeding this limit were subject to the Ulian tax,” which amounted to 10% of their monthly income and could be paid in goods, money, or by contributing to government-prescribed development work two days a week. Failure to comply with these requirements led to deportation. These policies reflect the wisdom of the kings in fostering a balanced society while mitigating external influences. This further highlights the profound spiritual richness and proactive governance of Sri Lanka during those times, positioning the island as a beacon of philosophical depth and harmony in a rapidly changing world.
The Anuradhapura Kingdom’s emphasis on innovation over conquest reflects a philosophy of coexistence and sustainability. Its global recognition during Pliny’s time juxtaposed with Rome’s militaristic ambitions offers a valuable lesson in prioritizing peace and prosperity. Sri Lanka’s story is one of self-reliance, resilience, and profound spiritual richness. The island’s refusal to adopt external religious doctrines associated with violence or conquest highlights its commitment to peace and harmony. Figures such as Jesus Christ and Prophet Muhammad, while transformative in their respective regions, may have seen no necessity to spread their ideologies to a land that already embodied supreme autonomy and spiritual depth.
Today, Sri Lanka’s legacy inspires the world to cherish cultural independence, celebrate spiritual harmony, and pursue global coexistence. Despite its peaceful philosophy, Sri Lanka has faced numerous invasions throughout history, primarily from neighboring regions and colonial powers such as the Portuguese, Dutch, and British. The island also endured a prolonged and devastating civil conflict with the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), which marked one of the darkest chapters in its modern history.
It is crucial for Sinhala Buddhists to remain vigilant in safeguarding the cultural, economic, and security aspects of the Theravada Buddhist state. In the face of increasing international and political influences that aim to undermine Buddhism and Sinhala identity, proactive efforts are needed to preserve the unique heritage, values, and principles of the nation. By addressing these challenges with unity and foresight, the integrity of the Theravada Buddhist state and the identity of its people can be protected for future generations.
By Palitha Ariyarathna
Note: Geopolitical Analyst – On the Medin Full Moon Poya Day
3/13/2025
References:
JSTOR: Sri Lanka’s Ancient Governance Policies – Insights into cultural preservation and societal regulation. Source
Ceylon Watch: Addressing Refugee Challenges: Lessons from Ancient Ceylon and the Path Forward – Details on immigration laws and the Ulian tax. Source
Following the incident many doctors took to social media, describing the hardships faced when posted to rural areas on transfers
Two days after gala International Women’s Day events concluded, a dark day dawned in Sri Lanka when a female doctor was allegedly sexually assaulted at the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital on Monday (March 10). The incident was revealed by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa in Parliament who raised concerns about the safety of females employed in the public service.
The fact that a female doctor was threatened with a knife by an outsider before allegedly sexually assaulting her inside her duty room marks glaring loopholes that need to be addressed to ensure workplace safety for women. The incident sparked outrage among doctors’ unions that were quick to announce the launch of trade union action if the government fails to arrest the perpetrator within 24 hours. The suspect has been identified as an army deserter and was arrested in Galnewa on March 12.
Following the incident many doctors took to social media, describing the hardships faced when posted to rural areas on transfers. Several of these doctors described how doctors’ quarters in rural areas are not up to standard. Many are isolated from the main hospital building and are usually deserted during evenings. An On Call doctor has to be present to attend to any emergencies and it is a daunting task for most female doctors.
It was also a worrying sight to see many individuals continuing to objectify women and blaming the victim for arousing the perpetrator. On March 11, a 36-year old man was arrested for allegedly attempting to sexually assault a patient who had come to seek treatments at a psychiatric ward at the Tellipalai Mental Hospital, Jaffna. The suspect who had been employed through a private cleaning service had been taken into custody. On March 7, the Aralaganwila Police arrested a math teacher from a school in the Aralaganwila Education division in connection with the sexual assault of eight Grade 10 female students.
At this point it is apt to recall how the wheels of justice turned slowly to mete out justice to a 23-year old garment factory worker who was raped, strangled and pushed down from the sixth floor of the Negombo General Hospital in November 2007. In 2014, the Negombo High Court found the accused, a medical officer of the hospital guilty of rape and murder. He was reportedly imprisoned for seven years and later released on bail.
Incidents of rape, sexual abuse and murder should no longer be just headlines in newspapers or news items that would bring the highest views and ratings for media channels for the day. The unethical approach to sensationalism on certain mainstream media channels is indeed disgusting. Re-victimisation of victims on media has become so frequent that Health Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa issued a statement requesting media to respect the privacy of the victim. It is a sad state of affairs to have a minister remind the media about their ethics despite having a designated code of ethics, at least for print media journalists. According to the code of ethics journalists shouldn’t disclose the name of a victim of abuse, suicide, harassment or rape, shouldn’t disclose the method in which a murder, suicide, rape or sexual assault had occurred.
In 2017, the #MeToo movement initiated by activist Tarana Burke went viral with its hashtag empowering more women to speak about the sexual assault and violence that they had experienced. This Movement significantly impacted workplace safety for women, prompting employers to strengthen anti-harassment policies, and creating a greater awareness of sexual misconduct. But in the post #MeToo era, a majority of Sri Lankan women, including professionals in environments once believed to be safe spaces for women to work are becoming increasingly vulnerable to incidents of rape, sexual assault and harassment. So, what is the guarantee from the new government to ensure safety of women?
A copper and brass factory is contaminating the Kelani River in Pethiyagoda, harming the environment and the health of residents. Sri Lanka’s fourth-largest waterway provides 80 per cent of Colombo’s drinking water. Despite complaints, the factory continues to operate without the necessary environmental licence. Environmentalists complain that the damage is irreversible.
Colombo (AsiaNews) – A copper and brass mining plant is dumping heavy metals into the Kelani River, Sri Lanka’s fourth-largest waterway, near Pethiyagoda (Kelaniya), north of Colombo, contaminating groundwater and soil.
Residents complain that gases like sulphur oxide, nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide released into the river and the surrounding area cause breathing problems, particularly for children and the elderly.
The factory is about 40 metres from the Kelani River, which is the main source for the Labugama and Kalatuwawa reservoirs. The latter are located in the homonymous forest reserve, and provide about 80 per cent of the drinking water to the city of Colombo and its suburbs.
The electrolysis process, which involves copper sulphate and sulphuric acid, is the main threat to the environment and the river.
The factory established as a Board of Investment (BOI) project is not located in an industrial zone, but in Kelaniya-Pethiyagoda River Valley, in a hamlet which has been inhabited for centuries,” explain environmentalist Aditha Gamage and Shirantha Navinna, speaking to AsiaNews.
Previously, a plywood factory operated in the village as a BOI project, but after its closure, a copper factory was established in the same location. For this factory, an Environmental Protection Licence (No. A 16969(R2)) was obtained from the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) on 18-01-2023, but it expired on 01-11-2023.”
According to the provisions of the National Environment Act (Act No. 47 of 1980) and the regulations outlined in Extraordinary Gazette No. 1534/18 dated 02.02.2008 and Extraordinary Gazette No. 2264/18 dated 27.01.2022, industries that release or deposit pollutants and cause large-scale environmental pollution must obtain an environmental protection licence.”
Yet, the relevant company has not submitted such an application. Hence, residents have filed complaints with the CEA, alleging that the electrolysis process is causing large-scale environmental damage”.
The relevant authorities obtained licences for copper and brass extraction and production from scrap materials while concealing the truth,” lament social activists Cyril Mendis, Kusuma Attanayaka and Roshan Alwis.
This made it possible to increase copper production through the electrolysis process. Various chemicals, including copper sulphate and sulfuric acid, both byproducts and substances used in the process, mix with the water and soil of Kelani River. The introduction of these highly toxic chemicals is harmful to human health and to drinking water sources.”
Despite repeated complaints to the relevant authorities regarding the environmental and health damage caused by the factory, no proper action has been taken,” the social activists noted.
Even as irreversible harm is being done to the environment and public health, authorities hesitate to take decisive action due to the influence of a former politician from Kalutara District as one of his relatives has shares in the factory.”
Residents questioned the wisdom of setting up a plant in a residential area rather than in an industrial zone. For its part, the Ministry of Environment said that I had instructed the CEA to review the licence.
There are endless things to consider when moving to another country. What is the culture like? How easy is it to find work? How are the transport links? How happy are the locals? And for families hoping to move abroad, there are even more questions – think safety, healthcare, or education systems, for example.
Remitly, an American remittance company helping users send money worldwide, has launched a new immigration index designed to help inform those considering relocating. The report, released in March 2025, ranks 82 countries across 24 factors, from healthcare quality and economic strength to safety metrics and digital connectivity, assigning each with a total score of 100.
One such factor considers how family-friendly a country is, looking at data points such as the quality and accessibility of education in each nation. The company used statistics including the average years of schooling adults have completed, the expected years of schooling for children in each country, and the average cost of childcare per year. The report then generated a score for each nation to establish the most family-friendly country.
Is the UK on the list of family-friendly countries?
The UK does not feature in this report for family-friendly countries. However, it does feature in the list of best countries to relocate to. Coming in 19th place with a score of 46.5, losing out to the likes of the US in 7th place, Germany in 11th place and Japan in 18th place.
What is the most family-friendly country in the world?
Sri Lanka came in first place. The island nation achieved an impressive score for its education system (0.7 out of 1.0) and a low annual childcare cost of $354.60 per year (compared to $16,439.40 in the US, which ranked in 10th place).
It’s no surprise that Sri Lanka ranked so highly in this list – in fact, we named the country one of our favourite places to go for multi-gen megatrips in 2025, due to its welcoming nature, focus on outdoor activities and family-friendly Sri Lankan hotels. The country is home to some incredible wildlife, from vast national parks and sprawling beaches, plus there is fascinating history, creative coastlines, delicious food and an excellent shopping scene.
These are the most family-friendly countries in 2025
10. USA 9. Australia 8. Denmark 7. Finland 6. Germany 5. Iceland 4. New Zealand 3. Norway 2. Sweden 1. Sri Lanka
BITTER BREW PRODUCED BY A TEAM OF WALL- EYED JOURNALISTS AT ABC’S FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE HAVING A TUNNEL VISION WHICH EXCLUDED CRITICAL FACTS AFFECTING THE TEA INDUSTRY IN THE PROGRAM. For them, nothing mattered, only that next spin whatever the consequences.
The name used for the documentary on the Tea Industry of Sri Lanka smacks of prejudice when the ABC attempts to convey directly that the Sri Lankan cup of tea, is bitter. The ramifications Sri Lanka faced in her economy recently and critical issues the Tea industry confronted internationally were completely ignored as the agenda of the documentary was highly questionable.
Tea was introduced to Sri Lana by the British white people who forcefully brought indentured Indian labour in chains to work on the tea estates in slave-master relationship when the indigenous Kandyan people refused to work as labourers on their own lands which were appropriated by the British under the Waste Land ordinance which they themselves enacted. The Indian labourers were treated as inanimate objects by the British. Even though the living standards are low among the labour population of the Tea industry even at present, one should compare the situation relating to many in the other plantation sectors and small-scale farmers in the country. Sri Lanka being a low-income developing country the payments they receive and the welfare services on which they can count- on are not satisfactory at all. The similar situation can be seen and experienced in most of the countries in the global South.
However, the workers in the plantation industry are in receipt of legally approved wages and medical facilities which are not shared by small time farmers and other labourers who depend on varying and unenviable payments without the paid holidays unlike Tea industry workers. The problems in getting drinking water in the dry season and sanitary facilities too are common issues faced by many who sell their labour. In short, the story of the third world workers who sell their labour is simply unenviable. But, when wage levels in tea growing countries in the developing world are compared, Sri Lankan tea industry labourers’ wage level is within the range of payments made in the global south,
In evaluating any industry rationally, one should discuss the effective productivity of the product, the competition in the market for the product, the prices the product will attract. Tea industry in Sri Lanka is facing continuous drop in productivity while facing stiff competition in the world market and attracting decreasing profit margins. Further, Sri Lanka presently is on a bailout program of the IMF under which wage increases have to be controlled in keeping with the stipulations.
The ABC and their producers of the Foreign Correspondence on Sri Lanka’s tea were blind to the relevant issues and did not provide space for a fair discussion in a balanced manner while unfortunately, the stress was on the painting of negative pictures with a biased mind.
If the Australian and the international market for Tea reacts to the negative picture painted by ABC regards the Tea industry, Sri Lanka will lose a good chunk of the foreign exchange earnings compelling closure of marginal tea plantations with the loss of employment for thousands of labourers.
ABC journalists’ rational mind were too busy to control their impulses!
The nationwide project to clean and refurbish 1,000 selected schools as part of the government’s ‘Clean Sri Lanka’ program is progressing with the dedicated involvement of the Tri-Forces. This initiative is being closely supervised by Deputy Minister of Defence, Major General Aruna Jayasekara (Retd) and Defence Secretary, Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha (Retd).
The school cleaning and renovation project, which commenced on February 20, 2025, has now entered its second phase. As of March 10, 2025, renovations have been successfully completed in 432 schools with the contribution of Army personnel, 25 schools with the support of Navy personnel and 34 schools with the assistance of Air Force personnel. The project, conducted under the guidance of the Ministry of Defence, has also benefited from the active participation and labour contribution of the Civil Security Department (CSD).
In conjunction with the school cleaning initiatives, essential refurbishments are undertaken, including repairs to deteriorated school buildings and infrastructure, the application of fresh paint and restoration of boundary fences. Additionally, school equipment such as desks, chairs, bookshelves and other essential items are being repaired and repurposed for continued use.
Through these social responsibility efforts, the Tri-Forces aim to enhance the learning environment in schools across the country. Their continuous involvement in the ‘Clean Sri Lanka’ national initiative aligns with the government’s vision of “A Prosperous Country, a Beautiful Life,” under the comprehensive supervision of the Ministry of Defence.
Furthermore, these cleaning and renovation efforts have been met with strong support from the civilian community, including school principals, teachers, students and parents, who have actively contributed to the success of the initiative.
Colombo, March 11 (Daily Mirror) – The Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) today questioned the government on the criteria used as the basis for lifting the ban on the import of religious books into the country.
Addressing the media, BBS General Secretary Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara thera said Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs Deputy Minister Gamagedara Dissanayake had taken the above decision following the approval of the Defence Ministry.
Earlier, the importing of religious books into the country was banned after the Easter Sunday bomb attacks, he said.
“During several occaions even before and after the Easter Sunday attacks we stricketly mentioned this to the previous governments,” he said.
“It is very dangerous to make such a decision in an environment where the global terrorist threat, brought into the country through the misinterpretation of Islam, has not yet subsided. On two occasions, I have strongly said that a large number of murderous gangs operate in Sri Lanka, killing people for money,” the Thera said.
He also said that the USAID had funded the printing of these textbooks for Grades 1 to 13 and printed by the Educational Publications Department.
“These textbooks contain the ideas of current Islamic leaders who have misinterpreted the Quran, which is a mind-altering text that should not be taught to a child, and who have provided ideologies to build religious terrorism around the world,” the Thera said.
“Without solving the text books issue the government has permitted the import of religious books into the country. This textbook will lead to change the minds of the inncocent and traditional muslim comminity in Sri Lanka and will turn them into those like Zahran Hashim,” the Thera said.
Gnanasara thera also claimed that no one from the government side had reached him to get the details of the mastermind behind the Easter Sunday attacks.
The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) has launched an investigation into a case where a teacher at a private tuition class had forced a male student to kneel and then instructed another female student to assault the kneeling student with a cane.
Additionally, a video showing the tutor assaulting other students in his classroom is widely circulating on social media.
Accordingly, the NCPA has summoned the tutor who assaulted the students to report to its office today (March 11).
However, it is reported that he has disregarded the notice and failed to appear before the NCPA.
Much research has been done by numerous experts on the future of the plantation industry involving tea, rubber and coconut. While very valuable strategic options have been provided and focus shifted to existing and emerging technology as a futuristic vision, critical grass roots activities have not been adequately addressed. Who will pluck the tea, tap the rubber and pluck coconuts in say 20 years’ time. How will they do it?
A major, but yet unmet challenge exists with the tea, rubber and coconut industry even now but definitely futuristically as to who will pluck the tea, tap the rubber and pluck coconuts now and in 20 years’ time, and how will it be done. The answer to this poser, and how it will be done efficiently and effectively and economically will have a longer-term impact on industry. The highly labor-intensive nature of these three industries and the long-term challenge in finding the required labor does not seem to have been adequately addressed. In the plantation sector, the numbers seeking higher education and technical education, numbers seeking employment in other vocations and locations internally and numbers seeking overseas employment have and are bound to increase progressively posing a major challenge to the industry.
The immediate reaction would be to say that mechanization and other technologically driven advances would be the answer although specifics are yet to be identified. While machinery for tea plucking, rubber tapping and coconut plucking are perhaps a major requirement as labor replacement items, machinery for weeding and fertilizing are also important as they are labor intensive activities. Currently, as far as the writer is aware, all these activities are done manually
In writing this article, the author has referenced a very well written and presented one by W A Wijewardena in February 2022. https://www.ft.lk/columns/The-Future-of-the-Agriculture-and-the-Agriculture-of-the-Future/4-731185 where he has used a publication titled The Future of the Agriculture and the Agriculture of the Future’. Its subtitle, ‘From Beaten Track to Untrodden Paths” by Professor Ranjith Senaratne, formerly Vice Chancellor of the University of Ruhuna and presently Chairperson, National Science Foundation as the basis for his article. W A Wijewardena’s article and the publication by Professor Senaratne are well worth reading and referencing and the intention of the author here is not to challenge or repeat what has been stated but use some key pointers taken from the article to present a few challenges faced by the industry at a very grassroots level, even now and most definitely in years to come. Lack of consultation with growers and farmers at grassroot level has been lacking and decisions imposed on them as top-down directives by politicians, genuine experts as well as so called experts”. The resulting lack of ownership of decisions and the decision-making process has followed as inevitable outcomes resulting in the absence of a coherent futuristic, but practical plan.
Few key pointers to note here are
Unwise political decisions where grassroots are powerless– The attempt to organic farming overnight. 30 agricultural scientists had presented a joint memo to then President highlighting its disruptive features urging the president to defer it or implement it over a period.
How could grassroots be part of the decision-making process regarding the statement that The challenge before the modern agriculture, is to make agriculture ‘more productive, more resource-efficient, more resilient, more environment-friendly, less wasteful and more profitable”
Research and development facilitated by the private sector. The private sector’s participation in research and development is needed because it will facilitate innovative commercial production of such research outcomes. However, information and knowledge sharing is a two way process and the private sector should take note of this and the wealth of historical and environmental knowledge that grassroots have.
Ban on pesticides – While no direct evidence between pesticides and kidney diseases appear to exist, and rather than the use of pesticides per se that will have adverse impact on health but its overuse and misuse, requires the grassroots to be provided with proper education of farmers on the correct use of these essential inputs.
Soil degradation and impoverishment or soil erosion is a threat to food production, and it is caused by both natural reasons and human interventions. Again, education, advice, monitoring will be essential.
Disseminating knowledge and information on water usage. The water problem in agriculture is as critical as the problem of soil erosion. This is because the main crop in Sri Lanka, rice farming, is not only a water guzzler but also a crop for which water is overused. Rice uses 3,442 litres of water to produce a kilogram of rice, tea uses 7,334 litres, and rubber 18,124 litres. The need for producing more foods requires the use of more water in greater volumes. Due to competing demand by households, industry, and for hydropower generation, there would be insufficient water available for agriculture. Hence, it is necessary to devise methods of more efficient use of water in agriculture and to do this in discussion with the grassroots.
Producing more with less – The future of agriculture depends on the improvement of productivity and efficiency of resource use to produce more with less as there is no unlimited resource availability for any economic activity. A nation which ignores this crucial requirement is to suffer in the long run with declining outputs and incomes of people who are engaged in it.
Modernising agriculture and using digital technology for eco-friendly, resource efficient, knowledge driven agriculture. This calls for a cultural shift amongst the grassroots, for the efforts to succeed and it is perhaps the biggest challenge of all challenges. The possibilities which have been suggested are the use of sensors, software, digital connectivity, location tracking, robotics, data analytics, and digital devices in agriculture. One plus point in using digital technology is the decline in the cost of data use when the costs of all other inputs are rising. These high digital technologies can deliver the inputs needed, namely, water, fertilisers, and pesticides more efficiently to plants when they most need such inputs. What this means is that the agriculture of the future is not small-farmer based traditional farming, but smart-farmer based modern farming. This is a must and agricultural policy authorities should prepare the farmers as well as the systems in agriculture to embrace this.
The Tea Research Institute had undertaken preliminary testing of imported tea harvesting machines in Sri Lanka as far back as 1940’s. https://www.tri.lk/motorized-selective-tea-harvester/. As reported, the most recent experiments of the TRISL on mechanical harvesting focused on the physiological impacts of motorized harvesting and identified three basic impacts leading to crop losses. In addition to crop loss, quality of made tea produced by mechanically harvested shoots was also poorer than that of manually harvested crop. The higher % of coarse leaf content shoots of different maturity, cut-leaf pieces and damaged leaves present in the mechanically harvested crop were responsible for reduction in the quality of made tea. Poor manoeuvrability with the presence of shade trees, drains etc, sloping terrains, high plucking table (near-pruning fields), high capital and running (fuel) cost, frequent breakdowns and high ware & tare etc., were some of the common problems faced during motorized tea harvesting to date”.
Strategies to address challenges associated with the future of the tea, rubber and coconut industry perhaps needs to be based on immediate/short term, medium term and long-term basis. Further, such strategies should not be politically driven as the consequences of a failure of the industry to provide vital revenue to the country and provide employment to many people will be detrimental to the entire country and not just a political party. In addition to the key posers presented referencing the article written by W A Wijewardena, and addressing the challenges mentioned, the following suggestions too needs to be considered from the perspective of grassroot participation in decision making.
Subsidised fertiliser – How long should subsidies continue?
An uninterrupted fertilising program is vital to resurrect the drawbacks the industry faced during the last 3 -4 years. It will be necessary to provide subsidised high quality chemical fertilisers to growers during this period. Beyond this and in the long term, subsidising may have to be stopped or the cost to the government recovered in some way if subsidies are to continue. Alternatively, farmers who need financial assistance to buy fertiliser given short term loans. The costs associated with production and sale of produce will have to include the fertiliser cost and bank loans recovered from sale proceeds.
Supply and demand issues
Regarding coconut, with demand remaining as it was or increasing, a supply issue exists during lowest yielding period known as හමස් කාලේ or some call it හනසු මාස. Lack of nourishment over the past four years due to the fertiliser saga and the high prices thereafter exacerbated the supply/demand gap.
In the short/medium term, until the extent of coconut cultivation bears results, the supply shortfall could be addressed with imports to bring about price stability.
During this period, and even during other periods, the sale of young coconuts (kurumba) has a direct impact on the supply situation of mature coconuts. The general demand for mature coconuts has increased in the last few years due to the production of coconut oil for exports, coconut oil-based products for exports, coconut fibre and fibre-based exports and activated carbon. This is in addition to increase in coconut products like desiccated coconuts. It is logical therefore that a practice that impacts on the mature coconut supply situation has an overall detrimental effect on the supply of mature coconuts and pricing. It is therefore necessary to consider imposing a ban on young coconut plucking and selling and instead encourage people to grow more king coconut or thambili, the young of which are plucked and consumed as a pleasant drink.
Menace of theft, in particular theft of coconuts and rubber latex.
Coconut – This is one of the most pressing problems facing growers, large and small. The situation worsens when supply issues dominate the market as stealing young and mature coconut is easy and quick money for the thieves.
Rubber – Theft of rubber latex is reportedly a common problem for many small holders, although large holdings are also not spared by thieves. In many instances, robbed latex is even turned into rubber sheets and sold to buyers by such thieves.
There are no means particularly for small holders to take any action against such thieves. If stealing goes on unabated, it is very likely that many small growers will give up cultivating coconut and rubber and replace them with other crops, thus making the supply situation even worse when it comes to coconut and rubber estates becoming wasteful land. All relevant authorities will have to give thought to this and take appropriate action. There are no deterrent mechanisms by the state to prevent such thefts and these thefts are considered minor offenses. Litigation process for such thefts is very cumbersome resulting in growers do not make any official complaints.
Mechanisation of tea harvesting, rubber tapping and coconut plucking
Tea – As has been the experience of the Tea Research Institute, several factors had impacted on the outcome related to mechanised tea harvesting. Impact on the quality of the tea had been a major drawback, and for Sri Lanka and its earnings on tea, a detrimental impact on quality will pose a major challenge for the tea industry and the country. However, mechanised harvesting will have to be considered, perhaps even selectively where the tea growing terrain will facilitate mechanisation, and where it does not, employment of traditional methods.
Rubber – It is interesting to note that Malaysia moved to mechanised rubber tapping as long ago as 1991. In a news items titled Malaysia Modernizes Rubber-Tapping to Remain No. 1 : Southeast Asia: Government hopes to stay competitive by reducing production costs by 20% – https://www.latimes.com/ archives/ la-xpm-1991-06-02-mn-338-story.html). The RRIM-Tap is a device attached to the tree and, when switched on, begins fully automated tapping in a spiral around the circumference of the trunk. It can be removed and attached to another part of the tree or even to the surface it has tapped before because of its non-damaging piercing mechanism”. While the rubber industry and the Sri Lankan Rubber Research Institute very likely has carried out research on this device and any other mechanised device that can reduce labour costs, it is well worth for the industry to perhaps investigate further and have a dialogue with the Malaysian Rubber Board which appears to have moved quite far in introducing mays and means on improving tapping methods and production costs (https://www.lgm.gov.my/webv2/ coreActivities /latexHarvesting/(physiology:research)
Coconut– As evident, the demand for mature coconuts has increased and the challenge is about ensuring an adequate supply to meet this demand. In the longer term, the basic act of plucking coconuts could become an issue unless there are enough Plucker’s, and they are adequately compensated. It is difficult to see how mechanisation could be introduced to address this issue. Perhaps more research and development of species of coconut trees that do not grow very tall and where harvesting could even be mechanised could be an answer.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the way forward with regard to many of the challenges identified in W A Wijewardena’s article, and other challenges mentioned like mechanisation, labour issues, supply issues, competitiveness, value adding processes, and the overall viability and the future of the tea, rubber and coconut industry rests with commercially oriented research and development and long term planning based on research findings and projections. The responsibilities assigned to the respective research institutes will have to be widened and the institutes converted to government owned, but independent entities outside of any administrative control of ministries.
The planning process and challenges associated with implementation of plans have to be widely discussed with grassroots growers and farmers and the plans freed from political manoeuvring and control. The contemporary idea and understanding about democracy itself and what it means, and importantly what it should mean is a subject that needs discussion but perhaps as a separate discussion. In essence, bottom-up consultation and decision making rather than top down decision making should be the fundamental ethos of democracy if US President Abhram Lincolns much quoted but least practiced, especially in his own country the USA, government of the people, by the people, for the people” is to become a truism.
A delegation from the Japanese Defence Ministry visited Pathfinder Foundation headquarters at Riverpoint in Peheliyagoda to meet with Founder Milinda Moragoda, Chairman Bernard Goonetilleke and senior members of the organization.
This interaction was part of an ongoing dialogue and exchange of ideas between the Pathfinder Foundation and the Japanese Government on areas of mutual interest related to the Indian Ocean Region.
The Japan has been a regular sponsor of the biennial Pathfinder Indian Ocean Security Conference a pioneering initiative that the foundation first launched in 2019.
(Excerpted from Rendering Unto Caesar, by Bradman Weerakoon)
In April 1971, there occurred the JVP insurrection which assumed significant proportions in the Ampara district. Rohana Wijeweera, the leader of the JVP at the time, had been arrested in Ampara, at the bus-stand a few months earlier and was in remand in far-away Jaffna. However, the cells he had initiated in the district schools, specially those with selected teachers and some of the best of the senior students continued to thrive — in Ampara those following science subjects were very active specially in the predominantly Sinhala areas.
On the night of April 4, 1971, the police station at Uhana — five miles away from where we lived — was attacked by a band of JVP militants. Shooting and grenade throwing had continued on both sides for or about two hours and some policemen suffered injuries. One JVP cadre had been killed and the police had seen others who were injured being carried away by the raiding party. As soon as the news was conveyed to me at daybreak, I motored up to Uhana and had my first sight of a dead militant.
He was a strong, strapping lad of about 20 years, dressed in a dark blue uniform. His body was still lying on the lawn of the police station grounds awaiting the post mortem. It had not been moved, and the weapon – a .303 rifle was lying by his side. His Che Guvera blue cap had fallen off and blood from the bullet hole in his forehead stained his face. I would never forget my first sight of the encounter of young militant against the state.
The police reacted very effectively in raiding the JVP hideouts in the jungles and I saw a group of captured students and a science teacher at the Maha Vidyalaya in Ampara being brought into the kachcheri cowering in the police jeep. The ‘boys’ had been camping out in the forest for a few days and appeared very dispirited and downcast having been badly assaulted.
Down towards the bottom of the district on the Moneragala border, a local JVP leader had set himself up as ‘Siyambalanduwa Castro’. His forte was the hijacking of government lorries laden with produce from the Eastern province bound for Badulla. Bags of rice and coconuts from Akkaraipattu were the main items of his brigandry. Soon, I had one of the cooperative department lorry drivers producing to me an official-looking receipt duly signed and sealed by ‘Castro’ which declared that the JVP had taken the twenty bags of rice being carried in lorry number such and such. It stated that the bags had been requisitioned at a time of emergency and acute food shortage for distribution to the poor. The driver should not be held responsible for any loss.
I gave the benefit of doubt to the lorry driver and absolved him from causing any loss to the state. I kept Castro’s receipt with me for a while as a memento of those stirring days of the beginning of the movement for the liberation of the poor of Uva.
The counter-action against the JVP uprising was intensive for the first month or so. Then in the month of May, there came an amnesty in which many thousands of young men and women surrendered. They were incarcerated, several, for quite some time. Many stories were later circulated about the number of young persons killed and the methods used by the military and the police in extracting information. My office and home became a place where anxious parents came to relate their tales of woe.
One morning, I was awakened by the sounds of heavy sobbing outside my gate. It was Jayawickrema of Uhana, whose house was a few yards away from the police station that had been attacked. He said his young son, Mihira, aged 23 had been taken in for questioning by the police and had been assaulted throughout the night. Jayawickrema had gone to the station and spoken to Weerasena, the OIC, who he knew well, but the OIC had denied that Mihira was taken in.
Later Jayawickrema found out that his son and three other boys had been taken away in a van to Batticaloa. I had the story inquired into and found that young Jayawickrema had indeed been taken in, beaten up badly and taken to the Batticaloa Hospital. On the way he had succumbed to his severe injuries. He had thereafter, been cremated in the Batticaloa cemetery. Old Jayawickrema was completely devastated and consoling him proved exceedingly difficult. He remained a constant friend until he passed away a few years ago.
Other stories also began to come from the colonies about police brutality. One that was particularly haunting was that of a group of youngsters from the 26 Colony shot in the presence of others as an example of what would be the fate of those who rebelled against the state. One of the mothers, whom we also began to know quite well, lost her mind on the death of her two sons and spent most of her time thereafter around the Buddangala Arannya where we used to meet her.
Once those who had surrendered came in, I was asked to find accommodation for about a thousand of them in Ampara. The only available site I had was the Malwatte Farm which was five miles away on the road to Samanthurai. I had earlier denuded the farm of all its goats and poultry, having to cater to the insatiable demands of the police for meat, when supplies stopped coming in from outside.
I sought authority from no one for my actions in dealing with an emergency but was certain I could adequately explain this to the government audit, if ever that were to arise. I remembered that Sir Oliver Goonetillake, when he was the Civil Defence Commissioner in war time, had done all manner of similar things and had had apparently 999 audit queries against him. I thought that if he could get away with it and yet go on to become governor-general, what had I to worry about?
We turned Malwatte Farm into a really effective rehabilitation center. Of course, the camp was heavily guarded and encircled with barbed wire and sentry points and looked like something out of an album of a prison camp in World War 11. But I was determined to make the inmates feel that they were to be rehabilitated and not imprisoned. I got them gifts of sports equipment and books from the local Rotary Club and some reconditioned two-wheel tractors from the department of agriculture which, along with the farm equipment, the boys began to use for their work on the farm. I used to drop by as often as I could to chat with them along with Esala, my 10-year-old son who became quite a favourite with the `boys’ since he was, as they said, the GA’s son and not the ASP’S son.
One day the camp inmates approached me and inquired if they could have a monk to visit them preferably on a Poya Day as some of them wanted to observe ‘sil’. This, I thought was such a good idea, that I prevailed upon the Nayake Priest of the Ampara Temple to come along with me to the camp and give a sermon to the inmates. It was a wonderful occasion when on that full moon night of Poson, the camp took on a most peaceful appearance and the boys used their bed sheets sewn together as ‘pavada’ which they laid for the priest to walk on to the platform from which he delivered a very appropriate sermon.
The atmosphere and the faces of the devout young men were indescribable. During that whole year there was only one case of a break out, when one night, a group of four boys had tunneled their way under the barbed wire fence and got away under the noses of the sentries.
Ampara Gets a CO
After the initial shock of the attack on the Uhana police station had been withstood and the police had mobilized their own defences however inadequately, the government imposed a coordinating officer for the district. He was a young Lieutenant Commander, Fernando, of the Navy who wanted to make a big impression. He migrated to Australia soon after his Ampara assignment. The coordinating officer had his own methods of imposing his leadership over me.
He set himself up at the Kondawattuwan Circuit Bungalow and had it ringed round by several concentric circles of armed sentries. It was very impressive. Consequently, it was quite an effort even to pay a call on him. I was received with great formality and courtesy but made to undergo quite an ordeal entering his fortress. My official driver, poor Weerasekera, was made to halt the car at least a 100 yards away from the entrance and wa1k.30 paces with his hands raised high above his head. It was only on his completely satisfying the sentries that he was indeed the driver of the GA that we were able to proceed inside. All this after informing them of my time of arrival in advance!
My own defence tactics were much more primitive. All I had were my faithful kachcheri staff officers: Piyadasa Liyanaarachi, U G Jayasinghe, Lakshman Perera, S B Niyangoda, A P Dainis, and the late Ananda Herath. They were duly mobilized and served with distinction as my personal bodyguards and doing night duty protecting the residency, smartly dressed in multi-coloured sarong and short-sleeved banian.
Damayanthi was persuaded to accommodate them, some on beds and some on camp cots, and feed us all for about three weeks at the residency. They provided great companionship and some much-needed good humour during a time of danger. Padmaseela de Silva — one of the braver ones — volunteered to act as the outdoor watchman choosing as a look-out point the hood of the balcony, which was, as he himself made out, both safe and from where he could not be seen. Everything went well for a couple of nights until Dainis going out for a ‘call of nature’ early one morning heard sounds of loud snoring. He discovered it came from Padmaseela, fast asleep and with his ancient 12 bore shot-gun, recently borrowed from the kachcheri, lying snugly by his side.
By Professor G. L. Peiris D. Phil. (Oxford), Ph. D. (Sri Lanka);Courtesy The Island
Minister of Justice Harshana Nanayakkara speaking in Parliament. (File photo)
By Professor G. L. Peiris D. Phil. (Oxford), Ph. D. (Sri Lanka);
Rhodes Scholar, Quondam Visiting Fellow of the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and London; Former Vice-Chancellor and Emeritus Professor of Law of the University of Colombo.
Civilisations since the dawn of history have engaged in search for the right balance between security and liberty — both elemental needs of society through dramatically changing conditions and priorities.
The Minister of Justice, Mr. Harshana Nanayakkara, announced last week the appointment of a Committee headed by Mr. Rienzie Arsecularatne, PC, to undertake a review of the current law, to assess proposals for reform over the decades and to recommend the content of an appropriate statutory regime.
On the conceptual plane, several approaches are possible.
I. Adequacy of the General Law
It is an arguable proposition that the general law suffices as the framework of an effective apparatus for security, any special legislation being not only unnecessary but harmful.
In the decades prior to 1979, Sri Lanka, without recourse to any special legal regime, was able to withstand crises including a military coup and a widespread insurrection involving armed attacks on police stations lslandwide. In its report of February 2022, the Law Commission of Sri Lanka was emphatic in its insistence that terrorism, in its multiple manifestations, should continue to be dealt with under the general law.
II. A Special Statutory Regime
The Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act, No. 48 of 1979, was enacted experimentally for the brief period of 6 months. Ironically, it has survived for 46 years. An integral part of our legal system today, it has invited harsh condemnation: It was abused from day one, because the very provisions in the Act are for abuse, not to prevent terrorism.” (Mr. M. A. Sumanthiran, Hansard of 22 March 2022, Column 804).
Negative appraisal of this law has been prompted by generous scope for onslaught on fundamental values of a democratic society. Among the dangers are laxity encouraged in the investigation process, intrigue and corruption among officials of intelligence agencies intent on self-advancement, resort to impunity even to the extent of condoning torture, and alarming use of its provisions against media personnel, civil society activists and others for extraneous purposes.
The criticism is not unfair that the manner of its application contributed to impairment of harmony among ethnic, religious and cultural communities and powerfully impeded the emergence of a national consciousness.
While this was a disastrous consequence domestically, external dimensions have been no less disquieting. These impinge on the nation’s solidarity and stability, collective initiatives towards economic advancement and deep-seated cynicism regarding commitment to universally acknowledged human rights.
This was seen to inflict grave jeopardy on Sr Lanka’s vital interests in the fields of trade, investment and tourism. In Brussels, the continuity of GSP+ benefits, enabling access for the country’s exports to the vast markets of the European Union, came under threat. In Geneva, the Human Rights Council, in contentious proceedings, approved the setting up of a uniquely intrusive mechanism to target the human rights situation in Sri Lanka.
As these circumstances deteriorated, it seemed prudent to focus on the more serious infirmities and to expunge them as a matter of urgency.
III. Enactment of Amending Legislation
This task was undertaken in 2022.As Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time, I presented to Parliament, with the fullest support of the President and the Cabinet, a series of amendments designed to make the law more compliant with a civil and political rights culture.
(i) An egregious weakness of the existing law was the unjustifiably long period of imprisonment consequent on a Detention Order.
There were instances of an interval as long as 6 to 9 months between one date of trial and the next. This was remedied by clear provision that Every trial under this Act shall be held on a day to day basis” (Section 8). Any departure had to be justified by compelling reasons.
(ii) Flagrant abuse was sought to be controlled by a series of mandatory safeguards which included a certified copy of the detention order being furnished to the Magistrate of the area within 48 hours (Section 3); a non-delegable duty imposed on the Magistrate to visit the detainee at least once a month to ensure absence of torture or maltreatment (Section 13); and provision for a report by a Judicial Medical Officer to be forwarded to the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney-General, with a view to criminal proceedings, where appropriate (Section 6 (ID)).
(iii) In the previous law access to Counsel as a legal entitlement was confined to judicial proceedings (Section 260 of the Criminal Procedure Code). This gap, entailing considerable vulnerability, was filled by explicit provision guaranteeing the right to Counsel during the police interrogation (Section 5).
(iv) In addition to Counsel, communication with family or close relatives was also ensured (Section 5).
(v) Unlike the earlier law which required mandatory remand of a detainee until conclusion of the trial, the amending legislation specifically conferred on the Court of Appeal jurisdiction to enlarge the detainee on bail after 12 months (Section 10).
(vi) There was, as well, a significant expansion of judicial review as a check on arbitrary or capricious administrative action. In contrast with the ouster clause contained in the pre-existing law, the door was explicitly opened to judicial challenge in Fundamental Rights, writs and habeas corpus proceedings (Section 4).
(vii) Power conferred on the Executive to prevent a detainee from making any communication – which had a potentially chilling effect on the media in particular – was not merely whittled down but removed entirely. (Section 7)
(viii) The ambit of protection was appreciably enhanced by widening the definition of torture” to bring it in line with contemporary developments deriving from international experience (Section 13).
IV. A Necessary Qualification
In presenting these amendments to Parliament, I candidly conceded that the solution proffered was provisional in character, pending overhaul of the entire statutory regime and its replacement by new legislation. This task, daunting in its challenge, was undertaken in collaboration by all relevant Ministries of Government, with active inputs by the Attorney-General, the Defence Secretary, the Inspector General of Police and Heads of the Armed Forces. This work was already under way.
A practical point of view, it seemed, was that the best should not be made the enemy of the good: my plea to colleagues was that a set of amendments, salutary in their impact for the time being, should not be jettisoned in cavalier fashion in pursuit of the ideal.
Parliament enacted the amendments into law by a majority of 86 against 35 votes.
V. The Future Path of Reform
The quest for a more satisfying version of the law was motivated by resolve to deal with the remaining deficiencies.
(a) The most striking of these blemishes was one which violated the very substance of criminal justice by infringing such seminal principles as the constitutionally entrenched presumption of innocence, the privilege against self-incrimination and established rules governing the burden of proof.
The offending provision enabled the reception in evidence of confessions made by a detainee to a police officer not below the rank of an Assistant Superintendent of Police (Section 16 (i)). This introduced the very real danger of wrongful convictions based on coerced confessions.
This indefensible peril, unfortunately, could not be removed because of strong resistance by defence authorities on the ground of overriding security concerns.
(b) Regarding the duration of custody under a detention order, on account of divergence of opinion which could not be reconciled, the maximum reduction which could be effected was from 18 to 12 months — the resulting mitigation still inadequate without proper judicial oversight.
(c) A conflict of jurisdictions brought about the inexcusable anomaly that, even where the Court of Appeal had granted bail, the Hight Court – lower in the judicial hierarchy – continued to be empowered to order remand.
Since these anomalies could not be expunged at the time, I took the initiative, with full concurrence of President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, to give a solemn undertaking to the Human Rights Council in Geneva in March 2022, that a moratorium would be imposed on use of the PTA until the new, promised legislation comes into effect. It is much to be regretted that this assurance received short shrift after the change of government later that year.
VI. An Aborted Attempt
Based on conviction of the need for a completely new point of departure, a Counter Terrorism Bill was drafted and gazetted in October 2018.
The high watermark of authoritarianism, the repugnant features of the Bill included a grotesquely overbroad definition of terrorism (Section 3); compulsory programmes of rehabilitation as a condition of deferment of indictments (Section 72); authority conferred on the Executive to make ‘Proscription Orders’ incompatible with fundamental rights (Section 81); ‘Restriction Orders’ purporting to prevent, inter alia,”travelling outside the normal route between the place of residence and the place of employment” (Section 82); Orders relating to ‘Prohibited Spaces’ preventing journalists and others from taking photographs., video recording and making sketches” (Section 84); and such vague criteria as the impact on peaceful coexistence of the people of Sri Lanka” (Section 87) as factors aggravating the severity of a sentence.
Unsurprisingly, the proposed legislation failed to make any progress towards enactment.
VII. The Way Forward
In his intervention in the Debate in Parliament in March 2022 on the PTA Amendments, the current Foreign Minister, Mr. Vijitha Herath, then speaking from the ranks of the Opposition, strongly advocated wholesale repeal of the PTA, which he characterised as unreservedly evil. This is in line with the announcement a few day ago by the Minister of Justice that the Government is committed to the early enactment of entirely new legislation in place of the existing Act.
A useful word of caution relates to futility of reinventing the wheel. A profusion of material already in existence makes it superfluous to add yet another leaf to the thicket. The Law Commission Report compiled by three eminent President’s Counsel – Mr. Romesh de Silva, Mr. Sanjeewa Jayawardena and Mr. Manohara de Silva – has received less attention than it warrants.
It is vital to appreciate that upgrading and modernising the law is only one component of the overall effort required. No law, however sound, will accomplish its objective unless it is accompanied by an honest attempt to further professionalise the intelligence services and to provide systematic training, access to technology and connectivity with institutions around the world.
Thirty-seven senior police officers have been transferred with immediate effect. They include 28 Officers-in-Charge (OICs) and five Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs). Four SSPs have been appointed Deputy Inspectors General (DIGs).
The police transfers have caused concern to the Opposition. Pivithuru Hela Urumaya leader and Attorney-at-Law Udaya Gammanpila yesterday asked the government to explain why it had transferred 37 police officers with an election only a few weeks away. The spokespersons for other Opposition parties, such as the SJB and the SLPP, said they were studying the issue and would make their positions known soon.
Gammanpila said: This is an election period as deposits are being collected for the forthcoming Local Government polls. Public servants cannot be transferred during this period. The IGP has transferred 37 senior police officers. The time duration between the date of announcing an election and the date announcing election results is considered as an election period. It is not only unethical but also unlawful to effect transfers in the public sector during the election period unless it is approved by the Election Commission (EC). It is irrational to conclude that transferring police officers were approved by the EC because such transfers have a direct impact on election activities. Hence, we urge the government to disclose whether these transfers were approved by the EC. If the transfers were approved by the EC, then the EC will have to explain the rationale behind the transfers.”
The police transfers have been made in the following manner: IP HHY Madhusankha from Galle Division to OIC of Pitigala, CI PHSC de Silva from Galle Division to OIC-Habaraduwa, IP WVCP Wijeratne from Negombo Division to OIC-Nungamuwa, IP BD Colombage from OIC-Baduraliya to OIC-Akkarayankulam, CI PP Wedisinghe from OIC-Udasirigama to OIC-Baduraliya, IP WDB Fonseka from Trincomalee Division to Udasirigama-OIC, IP CD Wickremaratne from OIC-Lunugamvehera to general duties of Moneragala Division, CI LLA de Silva from Elpitiya Division to OIC-Lunugamvehera, IP TCA Rajakaruna from OIC- Alubomulla to OIC-Anguruatota, IP WKSL Wijeweera from OIC- Panadura North to OIC-Alubomulla, CI WAT Sarathchandra from Panadura Division to OIC-Panadura North, CI HRHN Bandara from Kuliyapitiya Division to OIC-Hettipola, CI KOP Abeyratne from Terrorist Investigation Division to OIC-Kiribathgoda, CI KA Darshana, from Panadura Division to OIC-Thebuwana, CI PL Keerthisinghe from OIC-Uragasmanhandiya to OIC-Morawewa, IP HSJ Ranga from Tangalle Division to OIC-Uragasmanhandiya, CI AC Rajapaksa from OIC-Weerawila to OIC-Bandaradoowa, IP DMN Pushpakumara from Trincomalee Division to OIC-Weerawila, CI MWBJ Bandara from Matale Division to OIC-Harbour Police, CI KKJ Thushara from OIC Ruwanwella to HQI-Talaimannar, CI HGSPKA Chandrasiri from OIC-Human Rights Division to OIC-Ruwanwella, IP SADDSP Dissanayake from OIC-Pindeniya to OIC-Kodikamam, WCI AAAK Abeysekera from Kegalle Division to OIC-Pindeniya, CI ULDS Priyantha from Galle Division to OIC-Ratgama, CI WPA Sanath Kumara from OIC-Hakmana to HQI-Weligama, IP HMJ Ratnayake from Matara Division to OIC-Hakmana, IP JMDH Jayathunga from Badulla Division to OIC-Kandeketiya, CI R Amila from Embilipitiya Division to OIC-Ambalantota, SSP AHN Asanka from Director Commission to Investigate Allegations on Bribery and Corruption to OIC-Division Kelaniya, SSP RGAB Gunatilake from OIC-Division Kelaniya to OIC-Division Teldeniya, SSP KKK Gunasekera from Director Communication Division to OIC- Division Bandarawela, SSP NRHP Gunasekera from Transport Division to Director same division, SSP MNS Mendis from Director- Research and Development to Batticaloa Division, SSP WPJ Senadheera from Director Human Resource Management and International Relations Division to Western Province (Traffic) Division, SSP DMMAB Mahagirigalla from Director Transport to Ratnapura Division and SSP KMUP Kalupahana from OIC-Division Bandarawela to Moneragala Division.
Sri Lanka Police has launched its first-ever training program aimed at educating officers about the LGBTQ+ community.
The course, held at the Katana National Police Training Institute, is designed to enhance officers’ understanding of LGBTQ+ rights and ensure fair treatment in law enforcement, the Police Media Division said.
The inaugural session took place this morning (07) under the patronage of the Ambassador of the Netherlands to Sri Lanka, Ms. Bonnie Horbach, alongside Acting Inspector General of Police Priyantha Weerasuriya. The initiative is supported by the Embassy of the Netherlands in Sri Lanka, according to the police.
A total of 24 officer trainees commenced their studies as the first batch of participants in this five-day introductory course, conducted by expert instructors from Equite, a Sri Lankan organization advocating for LGBTQ+ rights.
The program aims to equip officers with the knowledge and sensitivity required to handle issues concerning the LGBTQ+ community—both within police stations and in broader society.
Speaking at the event, officials emphasized the importance of ensuring that all Sri Lankans, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation, receive equal protection under the law.
Among those present at the launch were Equite Chairman Thushara Manoj, Senior DIG in charge of the Training and Advanced Training Directorate Sajeewa Medawatte, Executive Director of the Katana National Police Training Institute DIG Jaliya Senaratne, and DIG in charge of the Children and Women Bureau, Renuka Jayasundara.
Former Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), Dr. Indrajith Coomaraswamy, addressed allegations regarding the surge in International Sovereign Bond (ISB) borrowings during his tenure that led to the country’s debt default, clarifying that much of the debt was used for liability management and to avert an earlier default.
Speaking at a public lecture on A New Paradigm in Macroeconomic Management,” Dr. Coomaraswamy responded to claims that his administration’s borrowing policies contributed to Sri Lanka’s eventual default. He acknowledged that ISB borrowings increased from USD 5 billion in early 2015 to USD 15 billion by the end of 2019 but argued that nearly half of this was due to switching financial instruments for better cost management and stability.
Commenting further, he clarified: Thank you very much for asking me that question, giving me a chance to explain. One is I think the ISBs went up from 5 billion in the beginning of 2015 to 15 billion by end of 2019. So there’s a 10 billion increase in the ISBs outstanding.”
Of the USD 10 billion increase in ISBs, USD 5 billion was due to switching instruments. In 2015, USD 3.5 billion of portfolio investment was in rupee securities, which are highly volatile. We reduced that to USD 600 million by 2019, and we also cut down SWAPs from USD 2.5 billion to USD 500 million. By shifting from these short-term and expensive options to ISBs, which had lower interest rates and longer maturities, we improved both cost efficiency and financial stability.”
He also defended the controversial USD 4.5 billion raised in 2019, noting that the issuance was intended as a buffer in anticipation of potential policy shifts under a new government.
The second thing to say is that 4 billion that was raised in 2019, the practice was to have one issuance – usually at the beginning of the year, somewhere in February-March and we were used to raise about 2 and a half billion. That was actually successfully completed in March. Then we had the Easter bombing and it was clear as night follows day that the government was going to change. It was also clear that the incoming government and the people who are going to be doing economic policy in that government were likely to change policy significantly.”
I shouldn’t talk for others, but my own thinking at the time was that the IMF programme will be discontinued. We may have difficulty in retaining our access to capital markets. We were told by our advisors that the markets were willing to give us some more money which was very surprising to me because we had had the constitutional crisis in the fourth quarter of 2018, we had the Easter bombing and people were still saying you know, we can give you money.”
Mainly because at that time, we had passed the Active Liability Management Act, we had published the medium term debt management strategy and the national exports strategy was published. All those things had been put out as to explain how we are going to manage this situation. Our line was – yes we have a very fragile debt dynamics, but we know how to handle it and this is what we are doing to handle it. Because of that, the markets were willing to give us more money.”
So, we took the money to build up our reserves that even if there is a reversal in policy as there was, we would have a bit of a buffer and give the government a bit more time to go back to the IMF. We thought they would leave the IMF, but then we thought that would be the wrong policy and that it would leave into a lot of reserves eventually, but we gave a bit more time for the government to switch course by building up our reserves, by taking a second ISB. So, that’s how the 4.5 billion came in 2019 to give really a buffer for the government which was likely to come in, to basically as to how they wanted to proceed”, he added.
Dr. Coomaraswamy emphasized that much of the borrowing under his tenure was used to service existing debt rather than fund new spending.
There’s also some Vérité research that was published that the total debt undertaken between 2015 and 2019, 89% of that was accounted for by repaying previous debt and in fact, in the World Bank’s development update I think… a couple of years ago there was a development update had a box in which they said that in 2017, 90% of the total borrowings went to repay previous debt. The government was basically borrowing to repay debt”, Dr. Coomaraswamy noted.
If we hadn’t continue to borrow, issue ISBs and borrow, the maturity will have been increased, the cost would have been gone down. If we didn’t continue to do that, we would have I think defaulted much earlier.”
He concluded by stressing that CBSL’s debt strategy at the time aimed to gradually reduce external borrowings while extending maturities to avoid sudden rollover crises.
We were trying to contain the situation. The medium term debt management strategy says basically that we must gradually reduce our external borrowings, because if you suddenly reduce it, you have a rollover problem. That’s what we had in here. We were trying to gradually reduce it and increase time to maturity, get rid of SWAPs and the short term stuff. I think we were on course, then markets recognized it. That’s why they gave us a second ISB and that was really to build up a buffer in terms of reserves in case the government wanted to change course”, he added.
A much-looked forward to interview was aired. Prior to delving into the details of the interview, it was clear by the panelists & a quick look at the audience that the interview was not only well planned but questions were also well prepared & RanilW was unknowingly entering the tigers den. All of the questions were sensational sans any trace of evidence, claims were pure conjecture and clearly a witch-hunt. Ranil must have wondered why a diaspora that threw bouquets over decades were now throwing bricks! Some food for thought for the former President. But the role of Mehdi in this drama completely erased his credibility as an unbiased journalist.
Ranil claims the interview that lasted 2 hours was edited to 45minutes. He also claims Al Jazeera lied about the panelists who were present.
What we can agree with Mehdi
Former Ranil Wickremasinghe was always part of the very establishment” that people were trying to get rid of. This would inevitably answer his next question as to why people did not elect the former president as President in 2024.
Factually incorrect statements by Mehdi
Sri Lanka’s conflict was never a CIVIL WAR – the UN defines it as a Non-International Armed Conflict. The perpetrators, the LTTE who were all Tamils killed scores of Tamils while also endangering the lives of scores of Tamil children denying them their human rights & fundamental freedoms by turning them into child soldiers. Mehdi’s next interviewee should be Adel Balasingham who lives happily in London after training innocent children to kill & commit suicide too.
Mehdi mentions Civil War” at least 20 times.
The anti-Rajapakse” slur is unbecoming of a supposed to be unbiased & independent journalist going so far as to say I’ll challenge him (RanilW) on his relationship with the Rajapakses”.
Questionable panelists
Mehdi selected 3 panelists of which Niranjan Devadithya has also faced criticism for supporting pro-Tamil eelam ideology & pro-LTTE groups, echoing calls for war crimes after LTTE defeat while ignoring 30 years of war crimes by LTTE though he was an envoy of RanilW.
Francis Harrison (former Amnesty International reporter) the next panelist author of Still Counting the Dead” from UK. She has written 5 books all only on Tamil Tigers. Interesting why!
Her BBC documentary Sri Lanka’s Unfinished War”2013 eventually exposed the asylum seeker racket taking place in manipulating the UK govt. Nandani’s story featured 1st post-conflict rape. Her mother living in Sri Lanka’s story was far different. BBC would not have expected her mother to be traced. BBC says Nandai was kidnapped in early 2013, her mother says she left for UK in 2012. Nandani had been lodged in Colombo from 2006 to 2012. So how could she have been picked up at her home in Jaffna. The documentary does not mention she was married to a pro-LTTE activist Uhan Padmarasa who was sent to UK in 1995. He went to marry Nandani in India in mid 2000. Her attempts to join him failed. Rape was the last option & crediting blame to the armed forces was the best solution. The training for asylum seekers costs minimum 5000-6000 pounds & excludes processing fees. This racket needs to be investigated instead of spreading fake documentaries.
The last panelist was Dr Madura Rasaratnam whose research is alleged to be sympathetic to Tamil eelam which was the goal of the LTTE terrorists. Her husband Dr. Shanth is allegedly linked to LTTE’s ideologue Anton Balasingham, a claim RanilW has also made following his interview.
The hypocrisy is that all of the human rights activists” were silent when LTTE committed war crimes but became active only after LTTE defeat.
Mehdi Questioning Justice
While Mehdi is questioning justice” & accountability in Sri Lanka, being a Brit he may like to question why Bloody Sunday accountability took 35 years. The massacre that took place in 1972 only had an inquiry appointed in 1998 (26 years after the incident) though David Cameron apologized there was no criminal justice against the soldiers who were found guilty. Where was the justice for this war crimes, Mehdi?
Mehdi & panelists who are throwing all sorts of wild allegations at Sri Lanka’s soldiers may like to be reminded of the scores of war crimes that UK soldiers were accused of but did not get any jail terms.
As for Sri Lanka’s soldiers simply screaming war crimes & genocide & holding biased interviews cannot erase the key fact that no dead bodies – no war crimes. Where are the 40,000 dead – where are their names – where are their skeletons … with none to prove no one can claim 40,000 civilians were killed while LTTE dead cannot be counted as civilian dead though LTTE & LTTE supporters annually shed crocodile tears for terrorists.
Ranil’s role in Economic Crisis
Mehdi carried away in throwing personal attacks at RanilW completely omitted to mention the $12.5billion ISBs and the amendment of Foreign Exchange Act that largely contributed to the catastrophe that unfolded in 2022 with creditors demanding their dues & country having no foreign exchange with exporters/importers parking their profits in overseas banks instead of depositing back home as was mandatory while a campaign was launched discouraging expats to send their earnings home falsely claiming the Govt would cease the money. This important aspect was never touched by Mehdi.
With the expose by the Trump administration on USAID funding it is not difficult to assume the role that foreign funded local entities played in the 2022 people’s protest” that justified going to IMF & agreeing to all of its neo-liberal capitalist conditions to which Sir Lanka is now trapped for a paltry $2.9b loan which is given in tranches & which has to be paid back with interest from 2028 while a former Minister was on record to say that Sri Lanka’s exporters/importers are keeping a minimum $55b in off shore accounts! No one especially the Central Bank seem to be bothered to recover this money or willing to reverse the 2017 amended Foreign Exchange Act.
Who is to blame for Sri Lanka’s Economic Crisis?
Rather than who the question should be what. Unmonitored ad hoc ill-planned & ill-advised open economic policies since 1980s where the nation’s deficit kept widening due to excessive imports killing any form of self-sustainability while virtually killing local producers where eventually imports & commissions became the name of the game.
Mehdi on Ranils handling of protestors
Mehdi says you had an opportunity to listen to young protestors who were out on the streets in Sri Lanka & you squandered it”.
Sri Lanka has been regularly holding elections pre & post-independence. Representatives of the people are voted out not thrown out of their homes or offices by people stampeding & destroying public property.
Mehdi also claims within hours of becoming President ……you called in the military, …..to do whatever is necessary to restore order”
Mehdi may recall the use of excessive force by UK police which included beating protestors during the 1990 Poll Tax riots in Trafalgar Square which led to PM Thatchers resignation. What about the 2009 G20 London Protests against austerity measures & corporate greed resulting in police beating protestors inhumanely with batons & led to the death of Ian Tomlinson, a newspaper vendor,
Then in 2010 students across UK protested against govt decision to raise tuition fees. Police beat these students too. Then there is the London riots in 2011 following the police shooting of Mark Duggan which later led to looting & arson. The same year saw more anti-austerity protests in London resulting in clashes with police.
When people protested during Covid lockdowns, UK even changed its protest laws in 2021 (Police, Crime, Sentencing & Courts Bill) The bill included clauses on right to protest & introduced new laws to allow police to impose conditions on protests & protestors including their ability to block roads & use loud speakers, police could stop protests that would last too long & slapped harsher penalties for those found guilty. Imagine if these laws existed in Sri Lanka in 2022?
Ranil Wickremasinghe’s response was quite correct. What will you do if the Parliament is being taken over by a mob” which translates to Will Mehdi or UK govt allow protestors to storm & throw out the UK PM or King Charles from Buckingham Palace?
Mehdi’s counter to RanilW’s question was to quote Amnesty International – this is an entity that accepted $50,000 from a banned d LTTE front. Its 2019 report on Saudi Arabia execution allegedly failed to distinguish individuals involved in terrorism. Its 2011 reporting on Assad’s Massacre” was allegedly exaggerated with unreliable sources while it was also pointed that some sources had questionable credibility. Its 2016 ISIS Recruitment in the Philippines” report claiming Philippine military used torture was also said to be exaggerated/fabricated using unreliable sources. Its 2017 Myanmar Rohingya Report was criticized for insufficiently covering context of the conflict even by analysts with disproportionate blame on the Myanmar Govt overlooking the role of insurgent groups & the historical context of the conflict. Its 2015 European Migrant Crisis Report that highlighted the mistreatment of refugees by European Union was also questioned. Amnesty’s 2014 report on Sri Lanka was also accused of being one-sided & based on unverified sources & completely ignored terrorist tactics used by LTTE & not addressing any of the crimes committed by LTTE.
RanilW quite correctly reminded Mehdi what the protestors committed – killing one Member of Parliament & nearly killing another MP while also burning a large number of houses, & went on to attack Parliament.
Mehdi’s response was to claim that the European Union claimed the GoSL used unnecessary violence” against protestors. We can give another list of excessive force used by police in EU nations against peaceful protestors to question EUs handling of their own people.
RW went on to claim that the same EU funded some of the agencies that called for his resignation but praised RW as the man who took the nation out of the economic crisis.
Mehdi must take a look at the figures & statistics on the vandalism & destruction to state & private property by the so-called peaceful protestors” of 2022.
Mehdi’s raising of not holding local government elections is valid & RanilW did not adequately respond to that question. Mehdi did not mention how US-India funded regime change in 2015 that brought Sirisena-Ranil to power also held no local govt elections until 2018.
Mehdi on Rajapakse’s
From the tone & content of the questions it is quite obvious that Mehdi holds a bias against the Rajapakses. He questions why RanilW has not taken action against them for corruptions. The financial crimes division was created, bribery commission were created. If Mehdi & co must file evidence.
What is Mehdi’s problem in RanilW attending the birthday party of Mahinda Rajapakse? Mahinda Rajapakse remains the only President who had the guts as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces to order the troops to defeat a 30 year old terrorist outfit banned by 32 nations including the UK. This ban remains active even 16 years after LTTE defeat even in the UK.
There is a legal maxim innocent until proven guilty” (Ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat”) – this internationally accepted fundamental principle holds a person INNOCENT of any crime unless evidence is presented in a court of law to prove their guilt.
The responsibility of the prosecution or anyone accusing like Mehdi falls on the accuser to prove the guilt of who he is accusing. The accused does not have to prove their innocence. This concept is tied to presumption of innocence in criminal law.
Thus a biased journalist like Mehdi cannot use his program to make anyone guilty unless he goes to court with the evidence & the court declares the person guilty. So just because Mehdi may hate the Rajapakse’s he cannot demand RanilW or anyone else refrain from associating the Rajapakses. What a bizarre logic!
Mehdi may recall Queen Elizabeth’s letter to Ugandan dictator Idi Amin when he invited her to attend their independence in 1972. Her letter to him ended I am your good friend … Elizabeth R” (anyone is welcome to google) Pity Mehdi couldn’t bring the Queen on his show & question her!
Mehdi let slip I have been opposed to the Rajapakse’s all this time” (why, on what basis, heresay or where is his evidence) is this some kind of international criteria to be accepted into some inner circle only if one hates the Rajapakses?
This statement automatically removes his claim to be unbiased or independence.
Factually incorrect remarks by Dr. Madura Rasaratnam
She claims RanilW was made President by the Rajapakses. This is not true. Parliament voted – Ranil received 134 votes & Dullas Alahapperuma received 82.
She claims the protestors wanted total system change”. This was how the LTTE ruled their own people. The protestors in total were hardly 300,000 in a total population of 22million people. So the protestors were no majority or even voiced the will of the whole of the Nation. Sri Lanka is a democracy not a nation where a bunch of hooligan’s stampede buildings and demand who they want to be placed in power.
She is loosely using words like grave crimes” genocide” but these are sans evidence & baffling is how a Tamil population figures can increase statistically while being accused of committing genocide”. Must be mathematics of people living in UK.
Ranil’s envoy Niranjan Deva Dithya pointed out how the civil service stopped working because RanilW tried to take action.
Francis Harrison asks why RanilW did not hold Gotabaya Rajapakse accountable. Accountable for what? He was elected to power in Nov 2019, Covid struck in 2020, lockdowns ceased productivity, he did not take a single loan. He did not waste state funds. On what grounds is she asking Gotabaya Rajapakse to be held accountable? If she claims there are cases against him, these can be taken up now that he is no longer President. She also mentioned misusing pension fund. Valid question which she must also pose to the US investors who used US pension fund for the ISBs in 2019.
RanilW quite rightly says there’s no charge against him” when Mehdi asks him why Gotabaya Rajapakse was allowed back to Sri Lanka.
It is very clear from the interview that Mehdi was using the interview to attack the Rajapakses & questioning RanilW for not taking action against them. Head to Head may be a kangaroo court but that is not how decent nations go about governance.
Mehdi claims they are accused of massive crimes” – what are they, where is the evidence?
Easter Sunday attacks
RanilW claims that the Supreme Court has cleared him. Mehdi says that the Presidential Commission of Inquiry finds both President & Prime Minister accountable for dereliction of duty”. But RanilW says the Supreme Court found President responsible not PM.
Mehdi next comes to Channel 4 & no wonder as the main culprit of that is seated grinning away in a front seat row. So we can guess how prepared the questions against Ranilw would have been with all pro-LTTE inputs. Irony is that they all held RanilW is high esteem and supported him for decades & the curious thing is why they are now all ganging up against him?
The blockbuster thriller” by private funded C4 timed annually for Geneva sessions presents one Hamsa (we can recall their previous star witness Vany K who claims she mixed blood & water to give patients-anyone knows the ultimate outcome of that – she turned out to be a former LTTE)
The C4 fiction attempting to tie a respected intelligence official to Easter Sunday through an asylum seeking Hamsa who can go running to a private foreign media but did not produce his evidence before the presidential commissions. The Justice Imam report declared C4’s allegations as hoax though the Cardinal was quick to congratulate C4 in a 3 page letter hours after their program was released. C4, Hamsa & Cardinal has failed to prove the alleged official was in Sri Lanka in February 2018, failed to affirm he visited a coconut estate in Puttalam, failed to affirm that he spoke to Hamsa & failed to provide he was in Sri Lanka during the Easter Sunday attacks. These constitute character assassination filled with lies & fabrications. Moreover the former SIS head claims 15,000 knew something would happen” before the attacks took place. Does this not warrant to even why the heads of the Church did not fall into this 15,000 list?
The Imam Committee actually refers to Channel 4 broadcast as yellow journalism” & calls to restore journalistic integrity by media when reporting matters of national security using credible sources & verifiable data instead of using journalism as a tool for harm & character assassinations.
Hereto Mehdi’s attempt is to pinpoint Easter Sunday attacks on the Rajapakses. Being a Muslim he must surely wonder how 7 Muslims would commit suicide attacks on orders of a Sinhala Buddhist to make him President.
Mehdi says no one has faith in the Committees” – are we supposed to have faith in what Mehdi & his pro-LTTE panelists say?
Mehdi claims the Catholic Church has rejected the reports.
RanilW says that he knows the politics of the Catholic Church. If the Church has evidence where is the evidence. They too cannot be like Mehdi making wild allegations & expecting people to accept what they say as facts”.
Let’s go back to the conflict.
Firstly, Sri Lanka did not have a civil war – we had a terrorist conflict.
LTTE killed Sinhalese, Muslims, Foreigners & even Tamils
Sri Lanka’s conflict started with a wave of killings by LTTE militants – where was Mehdi and where were these panelists or human rights activists or even the UN.
Let’s get the facts right first
If LTTE in civilian clothing died engaged in hostilities – they are not civilians.
If LTTE child soldiers in civilian clothing died engaged in hostilities – they are not civilians
If civilians” were engaged in hostilities voluntarily or forced – they are not civilians
All above cannot be categorized as CIVILIAN DEAD
Who can distinguish the dead when LTTE fought in civilian clothing, when LTTE had a civilian armed force and LTTE child soldiers also fought in civilian clothing. Can Harrison or anyone else count this first.
Next, why are all the dead been credited to only the armed forces. There is sufficient evidence that LTTE even killed their own injured cadres putting them into buses & setting fire to the buses.
LTTE blurred the distinction of civilians”. A civilian not involved in any form of hostilities can only be categorized as civilian as per Geneva Conventions.
Therefore, can Harrison count & tell Mehdi
How many LTTE died fighting in civilian clothing or LTTE uniforms?
How many in LTTE CIVILIAN ARMY died
How many actual civilians died after being forced to engage in hostilities. How many actual civilians died after voluntarily engaged in hostilities.
Can Harrison, Mehdi or Dr. Ramaswamy tell how many civilians who were not members of LTTE, not members of LTTE Civilian Army & who did not engage in hostilities either voluntarily or by force died – how they died & whether they died because of LTTE fire or Sri Lanka Army.
Without making these distinctions – how can anyone accuse a national army of war crimes or genocide? No one not even UN officials or UNHRC officials have any right to flog the term genocide” without proper evidence.
So far the claim of 40,000 has only been a number – no one using this figure can provide names of the 40,000 dead, there are no skeletons of the 40,000 dead either. Those who throw numbers & claim that to be genocide should produce the names of the dead & ensure these dead are CIVILIAN and not LTTE dead. No one can scream war crimes & genocide against terrorists when they were given 3 opportunities to lay down arms & surrender but they refused.
Interestingly Dr. R whose organization PEARL claimed 70,000 to 169,796 were killed. Can this panelist produce the names of the dead?
Mehdi also questioned RanilW on the Missing Persons Commission. In 2013 the Paranagama Commission was appointed there were only 18590 complaints of which 5000 were missing Sri Lankan soldiers. How come Mehdi or human rights activists omit looking for these missing soldiers & want to look only for terrorists?
Why has PEARL not filed 70,000 or 169,796 missing with the commission?
Mehdi may like to look back at the records.
The UN Country Team said 7721 civilians died between Aug 2008 & 13 May 2009.
Indian embedded Journalist Murali Reddy confirmed that from 13 May 2009 to 19 May 2009 there were no civilians in the 1.5km strip LTTE were confined to.
Sri Lankan Govt census by Tamil teachers in Feb/Mar 2012 placed war related deaths at 7432.
The 3 member panel on a personal capacity by UN Secretary General in their 2012 report claimed civilian deaths could be” as high as 40,000. Could be does not mean 40,000 died. However former UN Spokesman Weiss ran off with the 40,000 number which he used to launch his book & reduced the number to 10,000 when questioned at the launch.
Even LTTE website Tamilnet put casualty figures at 2972 until 5 April 2009 while UNHRC head Navi Pillay put civilian deaths at 2800 in her 13 March 2009 report.
So now Mehdi & his panelists must show how from 2800 dead in 13 March 2009 the figure rose to 40,000 by 19 May 2009 when 2 days later UNSG Ban Ki Moon landed & took a helicopter ride over the war terrain. No one reported newly dug graves. So where did these 40,000 newly dead bodies vanish to? Asking these basic & fundamental questions should make readers realize that this figure accompanied by war crimes/genocide chorus is nothing but fake news simply to keep their money making entity alive. Janes Intelligence claimed LTTE profits in the mid 2000 was around $300-400. That LTTE kitty must be treble the amount with the sale of souvenirs and other eelam programs being launched while fooling the Tamil people back home of working for a Tamil Eelam while holding foreign passports. Thus the question is who are these diaspora commemorating – LTTE dead or civilians killed by LTTE as Maaveer Naal is a commemoration for LTTE dead.
So Mehdi needs to realize if he & his panelists are claiming an x number are dead or missing then they have to prove who are the missing who are the dead & numbers. Mehdi cannot be demanding justice without providing x number dead.
On Shavendra Silva
Next Mehdi questions why Ranil reappointed Gen. Shavendra Silva as the Chief of Defense staff because the US govt backlisted for gross violations of human rights, namely extra judicial killings. Perhaps Mehdi has forgotten that Sri Lanka is a sovereign country & just because another country backlists people, Sri Lanka is not bound by that. For that matter UK has banned LTTE but UK police does nothing against pro-LTTE protestors brandishing LTTE flag & LTTE paraphanelia? LTTE is banned in both US & UK. US banned foreign terrorist organizations which are also on UK watchlists include Al Qaeda, ISIS, Hezbollah, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Hamas, Al-Shabaab, Kurdistan Workers’ Party who are allegedly operating even from UK. Has Mehdi questioned this too?
Mehdi cannot claim surveillance, intimidation, harassment or land grabs without proof. To claim any land belongs to x, y, or z they cannot go to Medi, the UN or foreign missions & cry this is our land” they must present a valid & unforged land deed. No one claiming land has been able to provide such. In terms of surveillance only the guilty have a problem.
Is Mehdi aware that UK has 6m CCTV cameras that is 89.5 cameras for 1000 people (6m/67m people) There is 1 CCTV camera for 11 people in public spaces.
In US, there are 50m surveillance cameras (50m/333m population = 150 cameras per 1000 people) this excludes the cameras used by govt for surveillance.
Mehdi seems to repeatedly claim Mahinda & Gotabaya Rajapakse are accused of multiple war crimes – accused by whom? Who has found them guilty? Is it Mehdi court, Madura’s Court or Harrison’s Court?
Has Mehdi conveniently forgotten that President Rajapakse defeated LTTE terrorists & not Tamils.
Has Mehdi forgotten that LTTE scores of Tamils – that list is longer than the names Harrison & Madura can produce to claim civilian dead.
Why should President Rajapakse be put on trial or sent to prison for defeating LTTE? Is this anger & interview to seek revenge against them. Are they all angry that LTTE leader & LTTE military was defeated by President Rajapakse & the Sri Lankan military.
Why should President Rajapakse be put on trial for defeating terrorists what right do pro-LTTE separatists have to demand people be put to trial.
Mehdi has not mentioned a word on LTTE crimes.
UN did not estimate 40,000 dead – this is an abject lie.
Madura should refer UN records before making such poor statements.
So far none of those pointing fingers can produce facts or figures with evidence.
Mehdi finally tries to corner RanilW on Batalanda. Ranil must be wondering what happened as the forces that treated him as their darling are now all ganging up on him.
A member of the audience questions Ranil on self-determination. What is ironical is that no Tamils living in Sri Lanka are asking for separatism or self-determination except for Tamil politicians funded by the LTTE Diaspora and foreign passport holding Tamils living in foreign shores. Shouldn’t we all be wondering why people living overseas want to separate Sri Lanka & not Tamils living in Sri Lanka.
A woman in the audience who claims to be a survivor of the mullaivaikkal” next raises a question. What we have to first wonder is, was she one of the 297,853 Tamils that Sri Lanka Army saved, was she one of the 12,000 LTTE combatants that surrendered to the Sri Lanka Army, was she one of the 594 child soldiers that surrendered to the Sri Lanka Army? Now she is living in UK, if there was genocide how come 297,853 people were brought to safety sacrificing 6000 soldier lives? Why would the Sri Lankan Army kill an x number of people (who have no names, & there are no skeletons to prove they were even alive) but save 297,853 people? Readers please ask this question.
The co-sponsorship of the UNHRC Resolution has now backfired on RanilW as he & Mangala not only agreed to co-sponsor but also delisted LTTE fronts who are now ganging up on RanilW.
Callum McCrae’s question was on Gaza on an article titled Rajapakse plan for the complete destruction of Hamas’ suggesting Israel should adopt the same tactics that Rajapakse applied. Clearly, he wanted to bring up the No Fire Zone. The status quo of the NFZ needs to be also brought to the attention of the readers. An official NFZ is agreed & signed off by both parties. In this case the Sri Lanka NFZ was created only by the Armed Forces for Tamil civilians to come to. LTTE went to the NFZ fired from inside it putting people in jeopardy. By compromising the lives of Tamils LTTE is at fault & not the Army. The Army dropped leaflets in Tamil too. It’s a first if Israel has to learn from the Rajapakses!
Mehdi is totally wrong about humanitarian aid being blocked because all the details are available. Most of his quotes are unverified too. Mehdi must look up all the crimes the UK soldiers accused in Iraq.
What about the destruction of the Buddhist sacred sites as well as archaeological heritage sites? Why is no one speaking about these?
Playing the Buddhist card
Eventually RanilW sought salvage in Buddhism because that was the only way he could twist the argument in his favor.
However, what is clear is that this Al Jazeera interview by the supposed to be unbiased Mehdi Hassan was nowhere near that. It was well planned and questions were well prepared & Ranil fell for the tiger trap.
‘Before you study the economics, study the economists!’
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US Blackrock’s Capture of the State of Sri Lanka
e-Con e-News 02-08 March 2025
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‘Dear Julie, I am writing to you in the softest electronic print, just in case you don’t already know what we are writing you about… We notice you are constantly running here and there in Sri Lanka, in places we don’t really expect to or should see a foreign diplomat, showing off your pale overworked knees, which it seems you like to expose below skirts, to perhaps distract our sex-starved or oversexed officials – the hetero males in particular, but not just that gender orientation – to help lubricate US deals (like Exxon Chevron lubes our imported cars). Imagine if our ambassador in Washington’s Embassy Row, Hippie Mike Samarasinghe, wearing well-hung tights, took pictures with little white girls (or boys) in Poughkeepsie or Baton Rouge, claiming he was standing up erect for their rights or equality. What on this white god’s earth would them good ole boys think? Lynch? Then again, who remembers all your sermons about ‘rule of law’? Not your latest leader, and payroll officer. And then, I hear you’ve been meeting judges, too. Poor fellows, you may be causing a lot of rustling under their august robes & woolly wigs… Approach the bench, indeed!
Dear, dear Julie, we are yours, truly, truly. Until next week, then…’
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IMF warns Sri Lanka trade unions against strike over pay demand
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IMF: ‘Sri Lanka can decide public sector size with limitations’
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‘IMF wishes you have a happy women’s day!’
Welcome to the 360th almost-weekly edition of ee. And we too wish our readers a thoughtful & happy International Women’s Day (IWD) – and not just for today but for the rest of the year & the rest of your life & the next one too, if you don’t take the exit ramp off samsara. For unless we take action soon, if we are reborn in Sri Lanka, we will be born in chains, shackled to an unpayable debt. For look, how the IMF is acting viceroy, warning trade unions and ‘rightsizing’ ‘human resources’….
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International Women’s Day is only celebrated as a national holiday in the socialist countries. Outside such countries, it has been hijacked like most holidays, almost wholesale by corporations. Though, with the US government signaling wildly that their DIE (Diversity, Inclusion, Equality) agenda is off the table (In fact, that third headline about the IMF wishing women is clearly fake. For unlike other years, the US-dominated IMF did not wish women happy days. Or did not make a big fuss about it. After all, ‘gender equality’ – even as the capitalist media has befogged what exactly gender means – has been an almost hourly business headline, alongside saving elephants & leopards & oxygen… Such virtuous talk of course is always being waylaid by those gentlemen who would offer you their seat in the bus – tho gentlemen don’t take buses or trains in Sri Lanka – but once you get to work, they pay you a whole lot less than other workers!
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All these economists & politicians who get daily-by-daily play in the media, due to being funded by the u-know-who, and have been promoting ‘export-led growth’, are now scrambling to revise their philosophies and soundbites (see ee Economists, ‘Harsha calls on Govt to prepare for US reciprocal tariffs). After decades of this free-trade business, their great father-funder in the Northwest Atlantic is about to slam the door shut, and worse, kick them out, dollar-less and handcuffed to boot. So, what’s an unemployed de-dollarized free-trader and virtue-signaler to do?
The Asia Progress Forum‘s Shiran Illanperuma in his latest computation of ‘The Price of Losing Economic Sovereignty’ has other ideas (see eeFocus). He believes the hour is long past due – in this age and art of the no-deal deal – the only way we can get ‘a better deal’ is to sign up with the rest of the world – this time, with a South-South coalition of the more-than-willing – to take ‘coordinated multilateral action‘ through forming a ‘debtor’s club’, looking to fora like BRICS to provide a platform, especially when the US and its killer poodles have been pivoting their gunsights from Russia back on to the new powerhouse Asia and its ocean called Indian, with Sri Lanka trapped sitting squat in the middle.
We have no choice – the ‘loss of monetary sovereignty remains the single most damaging element of the IMF’s conditions’. With ‘mammoth 41% of [budgetary] expenditure taken up by interest payments’ and ‘private bondholders’ accounting for 70% of these interest payments, with the government claiming ‘to restore economic sovereignty’, a confrontation with these capitalist bondholders is inevitable. ‘To pretend otherwise is either naïve or dishonest.’
So who may these private bondholders be? Our monkey media won’t tell us. This week saw US ‘fund manager’ Blackrock grab 43 ports around the world, including 2 at either end of the Panama Canal from HongKong’s CK Hutchison, with a wink from the Don, who BlackRock nudged to publicly demand the Canal back (to see who was really behind it, see Random Notes). Not one word has been heard from the Panamanian government or its people. BlackRock is also the lead loanshark to which we must pay huge ‘interest’ payments. BlackRock is not just behind Adani’s ‘Green’ gas & wind, but also a major shareholder in our old fair&lovely Unilever, etc.
Please bear with us. When we refer to monkeys, we are refer to our brand of merchants. Darwin’s theory of evolution, Marx quipped, was not talking about monkeys, but was referring to the survival of the craftiest English capitalists. ‘The capitalist state is a band of warring brothers’ (thus spake Marx). And Sri Lanka’s economy is also controlled not just by New York fund mangers and the Washington-dominated IMF, but also by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), who dump their rickety cars on the country. ‘Sri Lankan is a cemetery for Japan’, a Japanese professor once told SBD de Silva. The philanthropy & largesse exhibited in the last weeks by Japanese NGOs (search eeNews Index below) was due to Sri Lanka being forced to open the hatch of yet another ship bearing luxury vehicles: the MV Jupiter Leader, operated by Japan’s Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK). The MV stands for Motor Vehicles. And the MV Jupiter is registered in Panama!
And see how the IMF’s Senior Mission Chief Peter Breuer speaks not just with a tongue that is forked but spooned with silver as well (‘He stated that reopening the vehicle imports would increase demand for dollars, whilst stressing that the country’s reserves have improved significantly under the ongoing bailout program.’ So welcome MV Jupiter, by Jove (which also means Jupiter)!
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Politics is 10% ideas & 90% implementation (aka 1% inspiration & 99% perspiration). If we are to confront this blatant usury (for as President AKD rather belatedly remembered, ‘Our economy is running on conditions. There is no economic independence or sovereignty – it is under probation and being monitored’), there is little use just talking about ‘economic democracy’ and ‘economic sovereignty’. A budget (or some other plan) guides industrialization, by targeting specific sectors and activities conducive to technological change, and long-term productivity gains. Targeting firms by size (SMEs) is not really a priority, and not transformational. Praising and protecting the small business and the small farmer maybe good for elections to pull the wannabe petit-bourgeois to the booths, but there are larger forces which control these lovely ‘small’ people, which media columnists can only hint at. Take ‘Emeritus Professor Ranjith Senaratne, Department of Crop Science, University of Ruhuna’ on ‘Our rice crisis: A holistic solution’. He proclaims: ‘Needless to add that the hapless farmers are at the mercy of the large-scale rice millers and traders, including input and service providers.’ Note: ‘input and service providers’. Exactly who are they? And why are we not allowed to make these inputs here?
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Nestlé Lanka inaugurates new Rs1.1bn biomass boiler at Kurunegala factory
‘Nestlé Lanka has been delighting consumers with much-loved brands
such as Nestomalt, Milo, Maggi, Milkmaid for over 118 years’
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Look at these copy&paste corporate press releases, which are really advertisements or infomercials paid for to the ‘fair&lovely’ media under the table (corruption anyone?). And while it is dangerous to criticize anyone who has more ink & pulls more eyeballs than you, the media in Sri Lanka is one big sensationalist tabloid, posturing a fake gravitas, repeatedly insulting people and villages with Sinhala names as gangsters, etc, while diverting from the real gangsters. This eethereforeexamines the capture of the Sri Lankan state & its agriculture, and the prevention of modern industrialization by capitalist banks and corporations. We also direct our readers’ attention again to our News Index(eeAgriculture) which overflows with worries, not about the state of agriculture or farmers, but about elephants, monkeys & leopards, etc.
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‘The Trust’s desires are modest. All it wants is the earth
with a barbed wire fence around it. The Tobacco Trust is
a hog, and wants all the swill. The tobacco crop is short
this year. It ought to have brought 12 cents a pound,
but the Trust fixed it at 7 cents or 8 cents,
and that is all that is being paid.’
– Raleigh News & Observer, 1907
This ee Focus looks at the creation of monopolies and their restrictive policies that underdevelop agriculture in Sri Lanka, and elsewhere. It is not just a tale about British American Tobacco (BAT)’s Ceylon Tobacco Co (CTC) who puppeteer politicians like Harsha de Silva, etc, it is also the story of Unilever & Nestles and ICI’s CIC & Booker etc, who also operate through their local agents (Hayleys, Keells, etc.)
The policies of BAT’s CTC by the 1980s, aided by the government, were mimicked by other multinational corporations (MNCs, or transnationals) like Nestles (milk) & Booker (sugar) in Sri Lanka. They sought to maintain the relative impoverishment of peasants and isolate them further, making them depend on a package of inputs: finance, machinery, chemicals, processing & marketing, etc, forcing them to sell their produce to MNCs alone at fixed prices.
In 1936, the colonial government had set up a separate division within the Department of Agriculture to promote tobacco crops, permitting the Department to function as an adjunct of the CTC monopoly. CTC, rather than increase their own investment, then got the 2 state banks, with the country’s largest network of branches – the People’s Bank & the Bank of Ceylon, to finance the peasants, based on CTC approval.
ee’s concluding segment of Charles Abeysekera’s study, recalls how peasants formed the All-Ceylon Tobacco Growers Association to push the government to end the CTC monopoly, as the peasants were trying not to be at the mercy of monopoly ‘market forces’. Abeysekera examines how the CTC reacted to break such collective action by shifting tobacco cultivation to the dry zone, and when peasants sought to sell to whom they chose, the CTC illegally got the police and other state authorities to search vehicles for ‘independent’ tobacco! They broke up barns into mini barns, creating barn owners as tools to harness peasant production to the needs of international capital, creating ‘entrepreneurs’ & ‘middle peasants’ linked to the state bureaucracy, to hide CTC’s actions from the peasant grower.
Most importantly, the large sums of money accumulated were not productively invested in agriculture. The village were also hemmed in by tea plantations, unable to increase cultivable land. Instead, investments are made in trade & transport (imported tractors and lorries, etc. A shoutout to Sarvodaya, here). CTC’s manipulation of peasant agriculture in Sri Lanka was replicated elsewhere in Africa & the Americas. Corporate & state policies have not resulted in expropriation to proletarianize the peasantry, however they have caged them in their diminishing plots, under moneylenders & merchants, subject to international capital.
The study also examines the limited nationalization of tea plantations in Sri Lanka in 1972-74, the difficulties of cheapening wages midst growing labour strength, and the resort to smallholder production, which amounts to a type of isolated wage labour, shaping ‘another trajectory along which agriculture is transformed along capitalist lines’.
The Maduru Oya settlement project of September 1, 1983, led by Dimbulagala Hamuduruwo started well. Gamini Dissanayake, Minster of Mahaweli Development had suggested it and the Mahaweli Ministry staff responded enthusiastically. It was a settlement created at Ministry level. It should have been a great success. But it was not . The organizers blundered, the settlers were removed and the project crushed.
The Dimbulagala led Maduru Oya settlement venture was completely crushed. The settlers were chased away from the Right Bank.[1] They were then assembled in groups of 200 and 300 and resettled elsewhere. [2] Some were sent to Dollar farm where they were killed by the LTTE .
Most were re-settled along the Padaviya border . This would form a line of Sinhala defense from Padaviya to Nedunkerni, complained the Tamil Separatists who were watching the activity.[3] Jungle areas are being cleared close to Ariyakundam, Dollar Farm and other places. Four roads have been opened up from Padaviya to the Dollar Farm, Kumbakarnan Malai, Ariyakundam, Kokkuchchankulam, Kokkuttoduwai and Veddukkan malai.
Jeeps and vehicles belonging to the Army, Agrarian Services, Illmenite Corporation, Tobacco Corporation and Petroleum Corporation are being used for this project. Some Sinhala families have already been installed near the Dollar Farm.
Neither the Government Agents of Vavuniya or Mullaitivu, nor AGAs nor Land Officers who are Tamils know anything about what is being planned. The area is well protected by the army and an air of secrecy surrounds the district, Tamil Separatists said.
The Sinhala settlers who had been encouraged to come to Maduru Oya were in great distress. They wrote to Ven Seelalankara (Dimbulagala Hamuduruwo) in 1984 from Weli Oya saying we did not ask to come here. We came because the army burnt our houses in Maduru Oya and then gave us permits for Padaviya. We are now shivering in fear. Please get us land in Polonnaruwa or Badulla districts.
The Maduru Oya fiasco should be treated at a case study. The first thing it shows is that there are two forces at work, one force for Sinhala colonization of the east and another force opposing Sinhala colonization. The opposition comes from the Tamil Separatist Movement . Tamil Separatists are fiercely against the Sinhalisation of the north and east. They are frantically trying to create the sovereign state of Eelam to complete the ‘settler colonialism’ of the British.
The Tamil Separatist Movement greatly objected to the Maduru Oya Sinhala settlement but the forces against them were too strong. The Accelerated Mahaweli scheme was a national project, which included many provinces and the Sinhalese were determined to benefit from it.
There was strong support in the Mahaweli Authority for Sinhala settlements at Maduru Oya. Tamil officials were secretly settling estate Tamils in the Right Bank of Maduru Oya so that there would be no land left for the Sinhalese. The engineers and administrators at Mahaweli saw this. They also saw that the government was deliberately looking the other way. They were concerned.
Officials in the Mahaweli Ministry wanted the Minister to know that they will be 100% supportive behind the government in any stand against Eelam.” Malinga Guneratne conveyed this to the DG Panditeratne and to Gamini Dissanayake, Minister for Mahaweli.
When the Maduru Oya Sinhala settlement project started Mahaweli officers supported it wholeheartedly. The Mahaweli Authority had done everything openly, observers noted. Its fleet of lorries transported the peasants from the Dimbulagala temple to the settlement site. It ferried poles, tin sheets, cadjan and other materials needed to put up sheds to house the settlers. It carried stocks of cement and provisions needed for the settlers. The Mahaweli Authority’s tractors and bulldozers cleared the land needed to put up the sheds. [4]
Mahaweli officers did so, because they were supported by their superiors, from the Minister downwards. Gamini Dissanayake was the Minister for Mahaweli. His role in settling Sinhalese in Mahaweli deserves special mention.
Gamini Dissanayake was supportive of Sinhala settlements in Maduru Oya. In 1982, Sampanthan had asked him to cancel the newly planned Mahadivulwewa colonization scheme, in Trincomalee , since a Tamil village was already there. Gamini agreed, but told his secretary, to telephone Trincomalee Government Agent Bandaragoda and tell him to expedite the settlement so that it would be completed by the time the cancellation order reached him. [5]
Gamini was an experienced politician and knew to issue strategic instructions. When told of the illegal Tamil settlements on the Right Bank, he wanted an army post set up there. This was not done.
The initial suggestion of creating a Sinhala settlement at Maduru Oya Right Bank was also made by Gamini Dissanayake. Gamini had suggested to Malinga , why don’t you settle people in Maduru Oya. He expected it to be done quietly under Ministry supervision. That also did not happen.
Malinga Gunaratne gave the task to Dimbulagala Hamuduruwo. Dimbulagala did not know how to do things quietly . He put a newspaper advertisement, 3000 arrived at the temple. They departed noisily to Maduru Oya, attracting maximum attention. They saw no need for secrecy.
There was an uproar and the next day Gamini Dissanayake phoned Gunaratne and asked, ‘what is happening at Maduru Oya. I told you settle on the land, not to make a song and dance of it’.
The Maduru Oya project was all over the Press and was the talk in the diplomatic circuit”, noted Rajan Hoole.[6] Gamini stood solidly by the project. He defended the project when JR started to inquire into it. When Ranil stated, correctly that there were 40,000 in the Dimbulagala led settlements, Gamini said that there were only 5000 of them. Gamini also joined in the press discussion, supporting the settlement.
Gamini wanted to have two more settlements at Yan Oya and Malwatu Oya, modeled on Maduru Oya settlement and had persuaded several rich business men to fund it. I am not going to remove a single settler from Maduru Oya. We are also going ahead with Yan Oya settlements he said in October.
N.G.P. Panditeratne, Director General of Mahaweli authority, when informed of the Maduru Oya plan initially had doubts about it ever happening. Panditeratne had told Malinga You wait and see what happens”. But when the settlement actually took place, Panditeratne released Rs 2 lakhs from Mahaweli funds for the project.
Panditeratne was solidly behind the project once it had materialized. He defended it before JR and in October 1983, summoned a high-level meeting of senior public servants drawn from different disciplines , who were against eelam. The attendees included WAS Pieris, then Director Census, and Ananda Meegama said Malinga Guneratne.
When he was ordered to dismantle the Maduru Oya settlement, Panditeratne decided to keep 500 at Maduru Oya and send the rest to Vavuniya, Mullaitivu and Trincomalee. Instead of retreating , he was going deeper into Eelam. He sent officials to identity suitable tanks for settlement in these provinces.
Panditeratne also had an elaborate plan for the 500 left at Maduru Oya. Tamil Separatist Movement was sure to attack the settlement. It needed security, but no assistance could be expected from the army. The settlers would have to look after their own security. Panditeratne asked Malinga to get ex-service types to join the settlement.
Panditeratne next got the names of officers recently dismissed from the Navy. Thirty turned up. They had elected as their leader petty officer Abeygunasekera. They were told that they would each have 3 acres of land in Maduru Oya outer periphery towards Batticaloa, and assistance would be given to build houses. They would be paid Rs1000 per month with food. The money came from the 2 lakhs allocated to the project by Panditeratne.
This group was directed to move to the Maduru Oya delta immediately. They must set up a security unit of about 30-50 ex service personnel. Also set up road blocks and bring the whole delta under security. They must also establish a communication system among the 40,000 settlers and develop a sense of camaraderie among the settlers.
The navy group must give the settlers basic training in use of weapons, unarmed combat, surveillance and defiance postures, they were to create combat preparedness in all the settlers including women and children. With the LTTE using superior fire power and deciding the place, time and date of attack, the settlers will have to be prepared all the time. The settlers were repeatedly told that terrorist gunmen would come for them some time and they should be prepared to repulse the attack. They were to fight only if they were attacked, not otherwise. Their training was to be used for defiance only.
One person was to be selected from ten families each and given a thorough military training, arms would be provided. The authorities were reluctant to arm civilians and asked Abeygunasekera to select only those who could be given that responsibility, and indicate what arms would be needed.
The navy group were bold and eager. They had already prepared a plan. They carried out regular reconnaissance missions deep into Batticaloa. Abeygunasekera devised and innovated weapons and techniques suitable for the terrain of Maduru Oya. Gamini Dissanayake supported this venture. He said that that he had recruited dismissed naval officers to look after the security of the settlers at Maduru Oya. This unit was probably chased out by the army, when the army subsequently took action against the settlement. ( continued)
[1] Malinga Gunaratne. For a sovereign state (most of the text is from this book)
Tamil Separatist Movement had to go to India again to get the settlement removed. JR definitely knew of the project. Gamini Dissanayake had informed him. It was only when India voiced strong objection to the settlement , that JR got alarmed and ordered the project dismantled. the illegal Tamil settlements in the same area were allowed to continue.
Work on the Right Bank channel was discontinued. No work had been done at the time of JR’s death in 1996, said GH Peiris. [2] JR was condemned for his action in dismantling the Sinhala settlement, he added.
The Tamil Separatist Movement was determined to see that an operation like Maduru Oya , ugeopen, enthusiastic, popular, well supported, huge, 40,000 persons, would never take place again in their Eelam. The Maduru Oya project, which was a straight forward land settlement project was therefore distorted into a criminal operation. It was blown up into a conspiracy against JR .
The President was told that the Maduru Oya operation was a conspiracy against him. He was told that Cyril Matthew, Gamini Dissanayake and NGP Panditeratne were creating a massive Sinhala movement to unseat him. Tamil Separatist Movement would have been responsible for this tactic. JR fell for it. He wanted Gamini and Panditeratne punished.
Gamini Dissanayake was close to the President and was considered his successor. He held the prestigious Mahaweli Ministry. But after Maduru Oya, JR sidelined Gamini and gave Lalith Athulathmudali the job of managing the Yan Oya settlement. Gamini was surprised and upset. He washed his hands off Maduru Oya . He asked Malinga Guneratne not to contact to him and made no attempt to help the arrested Mahaweli officials.
Panditeratne and Gamini had initially wondered why JR was taking such a serious view of this settlement. Gamini said that he could not understand this inquiry. He had informed the President of the Maduru Oya operation. Why did the President have to unleash the police on us. Then they found out why. President is convinced this is a conspiracy by Cyril Matthew and me. Nothing will convince him that this is not true, said Panditeratne.
JR asked UNP to investigate Panditeratne’s involvement in the Maduru operation. The UNP committee exonerated Panditeratne and stated that the President had been mis-directed. Though ‘officially’ exonerated by a presidential subcommittee on Maduru Oya, Panditeratne resigned from the position of Chairman UNP and DG Mahaweli, in 1984.
The Tamil Separatist Movement had to ensure that there would be no repeat of this type of operation. Therefore, the Maduru operation was converted to a tainted operation. This was probably done through the media where there had been much discussion on the subject, making it look controversial and suspicious.
At state level, the Maduru Oya operation was treated as a criminal activity. The charge was that state funds were used to for the Maduru Oya operation. It was illegal to do so. State funds should not be used for Sinhala settlements in the east.
The police were asked to investigate the matter . The Criminal Investigation Department was brought in. They identified Malinga Gunaratne as the leader. He was told, We know how you mounted this operation, how you used government funds to send people to the Right Bank. Dimbulagala was merely a figure head, you were the chief man behind it.
The main charge was that he had used state funds for the Maduru operation. They were only interested in how it was funded, not the settlement itself or how it was mounted, observed Malinga.
Malinga Herman Gunaratne was a tea planter who owned his estate. He had held several other positions as well. He was the Chairman of Lanka Fabrics at the Sri Lanka Ministry of Textile Industry Development. He had been an Independent Non-Executive Director at Kahawatte Plantations Plc, and a Senior Plantation Manager at Sterling Securities.[3]
Malinga Gunaratne had joined the Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau (CECB), of the Mahaweli Ministry, in 1980 as Additional General Manager, on the invitation of Gamini Dissanayake. Malinga was put in charge of the high-powered battery of media men at Mahaweli Authority.
Malinga had direct access to the Minister, whom he seems to have known personally and also access to the Director General of the Mahaweli Authority, NGP Panditeratne. Panditeratne and Gamini messaged each other through Malinga.
Malinga had complete freedom to enlist the support of any official in the Ministry from Secretary downwards to complete the tasks allotted to him. He was able to cut through red tape and get many things done at Mahaweli. He had a certain amount of clout at Mahaweli.
But Malinga was quite unprepared for a police inquiry on the Maduru operation. I truly believed that the Madur Oya was an operation that had the blessings of all, he said. We were wondering why we were being persecuted for puncturing Eelam. A seasoned politician would have crushed the inquiry and chased the police out, but not Malinga.
Malinga underwent a protracted ordeal. He was put in a police cell and interrogated. He was also summoned to the 5th floor of the CID where questioning went on for 15 hours nonstop. He was kept under house arrest. He was asked to make a confession . Otherwise he would face a court case on the matter. JR had wanted this matter taken to court, though it was an internal Mahaweli matter, because, he said, everybody at Mahaweli had supported the activity.
Malinga fiercely resisted all this. He spoke to various influential people He related the whole story to Ranil Wickremesinghe who conveyed it to JR . JR wanted a written statement from Malinga which Malinga readily provided. Then in May 1985 JR summoned Malinga to his home in Ward Place , exonerated Malinga of any wrongdoing and asked Malinga to come to him if Malinga needed any help.
Tamil Separatist Movement was also smarting over the fact that the Mahaweli staff had enthusiastically supported the Maduru operation. They had to be scared off from setting up any more Sinhala settlements in the east.
The police launched a massive investigation over Maduru, over 500 people were questioned. They includedfriends and relatives of Malinga and minor officials of the Mahaweli. Four senior Mahaweli officers including Hemapriya and Karunatilleke (whose MPhil research I supervised,) were arrested and kept incarcerated for almost a year, said GH Peries.This was clearly punishment for meddling in Tamil Separatism.
The police were able to clearly establish the presence of Mahaweli officials in Maduru Oya area in August 1983. The PROs had not been told to be secretive and they had left a trail of evidence behind. There were photos of the PROs measuring the land. The police had also easily obtained full disclosures from them.
Those who had worked enthusiastically for the Maduru operation were scared, they were reluctant to talk. The one other official present when Gamini suggested a Sinhala settlement at Maduru Oya now said he could not remember such an instruction.
Gunaratne was very resentful about the way he was treated. We had committed no crime. We had mounted a massive settlement . We who moved 45,000 people at the cost of only 2 lakhs were now running like rabbits. We should have been congratulated, not pursued by police.
Malinga commented that while had he had been kept in a prison cell, Amirthalingam and Sampanthan, who had illegally settled Tamils in Vavuniya, were given police escorts and protection and stayed as honored guests in hotels when in Colombo.
When Sampanthan says he had settled estate Tamils in north and east he is given a police escort in Colombo. When we settled 45,000 Sinhala in Maduru Oya we were arrested.
When armed terrorists slaughter innocent civilians on Dollar and Kent farm they are called freedom fighters and liberators. When a priest leads a weaponless people, he is called a rabble rouser said Gunaratne indignantly. ( continued)
[1] Malinga Gunaratne. For a sovereign state ( this is the main source for this essay).
The question of women’s rights has long been a contentious issue, with debates often swinging between the realms of religion and secular society. Each side seeks to establish its superiority in promoting women’s liberation. This controversy is not unique to any single faith but is a subject of debate among various religions, each aiming to demonstrate its egalitarian principles.
While other faiths may quarrel over theology, Islam speaks with one voice: But whoso does good works, whether male or female, and is a believer, such shall enter Heaven, and shall not be wronged even [as much as] the little hollow in the back of a date-stone.” (Surah an-Nisa‘, Ch.4: V.125). The Holy Quran very clearly indicates that righteousness alone elevates an individual’s spiritual station; gender plays no role.
Despite this divine decree, questions remain about how effectively contemporary society adheres to the principle of gender equality, as enshrined in various constitutions and religious teachings. Issues such as pay equity and pregnancy rights continue to demand our attention and action.
In Islam, women are recognised for their pivotal role in the perpetuation of humanity, a role that remains unaltered through time. The financial responsibility of raising one’s family is placed upon the man, and although the woman’s main priority is raising children, alongside that she’s given the freedom to choose her path. How is then a woman to prioritise her role as a nurturer, particularly during the formative years of a child’s life?
The moral and intellectual development occurring in early childhood undoubtedly represents one of humanity’s most consequential phases. A child deprived of maternal care risks permanent developmental impairment. For example, the first three years of life constitute a protected period wherein a woman need not balance competing priorities. Society must support mothers in focusing exclusively on nurturing during this critical window.
The question then arises: how can society support a mother in her role? The answer lies in providing equal education and ensuring that she does not have to worry about provisions while nurturing her child. Expanding workplace protections – including legislating minimum maternity leave – coupled with subsidised childcare programmes and flex work options can help relieve the burden currently falling on women seeking both a family and a career. Similarly, fields such as law, business, technology, and government should actively recruit and promote qualified women to normalise their participation and leadership in areas traditionally dominated by men.
In the political or business sphere, there is no religious barrier preventing women from assuming leadership roles. Islam encourages men and women to excel in all fields, especially those which can directly benefit the growth of humanity. (Surah al-Maidah Ch.5: V.49)
To truly comprehend the Quranic concept of gender roles and equity, it is imperative to examine many verses of the Holy Quran dealing with women in society holistically and interpret them within their proper social context.
Equity means giving people access to the same opportunities by accounting for the challenges and barriers that make it more difficult for some groups. Equality means treating everyone the same without addressing circumstances. The key distinction is that equality focuses on equal treatment, while equity focuses on ensuring equal access to opportunity so that all individuals and groups can reach equal outcomes. The Holy Quran promotes the concept of equity.
Understanding this difference is crucial because the individual verses of the Holy Quran(Holy Quran: Ch.2: Verse .188; Ch.2: V.223-224; Ch.2: V.229; Ch.2: V.234; Ch.3: V.15; Ch.3: V.196; Ch.4: V.8;s Surah an-Nisa‘ Ch.4: V.20, Ch.4: V.22; Ch.4: V.26; Ch.4: V.33, Ch.4: V.35; Ch.4: V.36; Ch.4: V.125; Ch.4: V.128-131; Ch.4: V.177; Ch.16: V.59-60; Ch.16: V.98; Ch.24: V.32; Surah Ch.24: V.61; Ch.33: V.36; Ch.33: V.60; Ch.40: V.41; Ch.60: Ch.65: V.7) are not standalone texts but part of a larger narrative that promotes a just society based on the inherent nature of humanity. When verses are interpreted in isolation and out of their proper context, they can lead to misinterpretations of gender roles in the Quran. Such misinterpretations can foster theories of women’s physical and intellectual inferiority, resulting in women’s legal and social subordination.
The Quranic concept of gender equity is nuanced. It advocates for a society where women are respected, valued, and given the opportunity to fulfil their potential, whether as mothers, professionals, or leaders. It is a vision of a society where equality is not just a constitutional right but a lived reality. This interpretation aligns with the broader Islamic principles of justice and fairness, emphasising that all individuals, regardless of gender, are equal in the eyes of God and should be treated as such in society.
