The history of the spice trade conjures up exotic images of caravans plying the Silk Road in storied antiquity as well as warfare between European powers vying for control of what, pound for pound, were among the most valuable commodities in the known world.
One of the most valuable of the spices was clove – the versatile immature bud of the evergreen clove tree (Syzygium aromaticum) which is native to the Maluku Islands or the Moluccas in the Indonesian Archipelago. Prized for its flavour and aroma, and also for its medicinal qualities, clove quickly became important for its use as a breath freshener, perfume and food flavouring.
We believe we might have found the oldest clove in the world at an excavation in Sri Lanka, from an ancient port which dates back to around 200BC. This port, Mantai, was one of the most important ports of medieval Sri Lanka and drew trade from across the ancient world. Not only that, but we also found evidence for black pepper (Piper nigrum), another high-value low-bulk product of the ancient spice trade.
These cloves found at Mantai in Sri Lanka are believed to be 1,000 years old.Author provided (No reuse)
Ancient history
Western knowledge of Sri Lanka dates back to at least 77AD, when the Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder wrote about the island as Taprobane in his famous Natural History. This is the earliest existing text which mentions Sri Lanka, however Pliny states that the ancient Greeks (and Alexander the Great) had long known about it.
Sri Lanka, wrote Pliny is more productive of gold and pearls of great size than even India”, as well as having elephants … larger, and better adapted for warfare than those of India”. Fruits were abundant and the people had more wealth than the Romans – as well as living to 100 years old. No wonder then, that ancient Sri Lanka drew trade ships not only from the Roman world, but also from Arabia, India and China.
Decades of archaeological exploration has sought to uncover evidence for the rich kingdoms of ancient Sri Lanka. Mantai (also written as Manthai and known as Manthottam/Manthota), on the northern tip of the island, was one of the port settlements of the Anuradhapura Kingdom (377BC to 1017AD) and has been recently radiocarbon dated to between about 200BC and 1400AD.
Today, the site is barely visible from the ground – but it is still an important location with Thirukketheesvaram temple sitting in the centre of the ancient settlement. From the air, the defensive ditch and banks of ancient Mantai can be seen covered in trees, as can the area where the defences were cut away to build the modern road.
Mantai as seen from the air today. The ancient circle of ditches built to defend the site can be seen in dark green. The main settlement was inside these defences.Google Maps
The site was excavated in the 1980s – during three seasons of excavation an amazing array of artefacts were uncovered, including semiprecious stone beads and ceramics from India, Arabia, the Mediterranean and China. But in 1983 Sri Lanka’s civil war broke out, bringing an end to archaeological exploration in the Northern Province, as well as many other areas of the island. Unfortunately, many of the records related to this archaeological work became lost or were destroyed, including detailed stratigraphic information of how the layers of soil excavated related to one another, which would have been used to identify how and when the site developed, prospered and came to an end.
Mantai revisited
In 2009-2010, after the end of the civil war, a multinational team of researchers went back to Mantai and began new excavations. Work was jointly carried out by the Sri Lankan Department of Archaeology, SEALINKS and the UCL Institute of Archaeology. This project aimed to collect as much evidence from these excavations as possible, including fully quantified and systematically collected archaeobotanical (preserved plant) remains. The plants remains recovered include some of the most exciting finds from the site. Crucially, these include what were incredibly valuable spices at the time when they were deposited at the site: black pepper and cloves.
Scenes from an excavation.Dorian Fuller (UCL), Author provided (No reuse)
Only a handful of cloves have previously been recovered from archaeological sites, including these from France, for example – other archaeological evidence for cloves, such as pollen from cess pits in the Netherlands, only dates from 1500AD onwards – and there are no examples from South Asia.
Earlier finds of clove have been reported from Syria – but these have since largely been discredited as misidentifications. The clove from Mantai was found in a context dating to 900-1100AD, making this not only the oldest clove in Asia – but we think the oldest in the world.
We also found eight grains of black pepper at Mantai, plus a further nine badly preserved grains that we think are probably black pepper too. The earliest are dated to around 600AD, the time when international maritime trade became increasingly large and well established across Asia, Africa and Europe.
Spice wars
Clove was one of the rarest and most expensive spices in the Roman and Medieval world. It was not grown in Sri Lanka, but came from the Maluku Islands of South-East Asia (some 7,000km away by sea) for trade onwards to Europe, China or one of the other many regions that traded with Mantai.
Black pepper was also traded along these routes, and was most likely grown and harvested in the Western Ghats of India. Although less rare and valuable than clove, it was still known as black gold” on account of its value in the Early Modern Period from 1500AD to about 1800AD.
From the 16th century, Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon) was colonised by various European powers, from the Portuguese (1500s-1600s) to the Dutch (1600s-late 1700s) to the British (late 1700s-1948). They were all drawn by the island’s profitable trade in spices – although the British turned the fledgling coffee industry there into an incredibly lucrative tea trade which is still important to the island’s economy to this day.
But, whether or not the cloves we unearthed at Mantai turn out to be the oldest in existence, the presence of the spice at this 2,000-year-old site is solid evidence of the ancient spice trade that existed long before these wars of conquest.
Jon Lewin, 36, reportedly suffered a seizure while he was out surfing in Sri Lanka
Three Scandinavian doctors were by chance also present but failed to save Jon
His girlfriend Immy Clifton paid tribute to the photojournalist after his death
PUBLISHED: 17:02, 15 January 2019 | UPDATED: 17:15, 15 January 2019
A British photographer and travel writer described as an ‘inspiration’ who ‘touched so many people’s lives’ has died while surfing off the coast of Sri Lanka.
Jon Lewin, 36, is believed to have suffered a seizure in the water while on holiday and doctors were unable to revive him.
His devastated girlfriend Immy Clifton, who he was on holiday with, paid tribute to ‘soulmate’ Jon in a heartbreaking Facebook post.
Mr Lewin’s best friend Charlie died surfing in 2004 – and Ms Clifton says they have been reunited in the afterlife.
Jon Lewin, 36, is believed to have suffered a seizure in the water while on holiday in Sri Lanka on Sunday last week
The couple were joined by Mr Lewin’s best friends from the UK – and the group woke at 5am for an early surf.
Mr Lewin, a long-term sufferer of seizures, disappeared under water and failed to resurface two hours later.
The ‘free spirit’ grew up in Long Clawson, Leicestershire, before studying photojournalism at Swansea University.
He also wrote a travel cookbook titled The Locals’ Kitchen.
Three Scandinavian doctors were by chance also present but failed to save Mr Lewin.
She said: ‘They didn’t know anything was wrong until they noticed his surfboard floating in the water.
His devastated partner Immy Clifton, who he was on holiday with, posted an update after his death
‘Everyone swam over to it and when they got there, felt that he was still attached to the leash.
‘Incredibly there were also three super efficient Scandinavian doctors in the water.
‘They were apparently amazing with him. Everything that could have been done was done but, it wasn’t meant to be.
‘It is presumed that he had a seizure, as he had no injuries, he knows the water so well and the waves were not that big.’
Immy added that she is ‘absolutely devastated’ and said ‘words can’t even describe the hole I feel through my heart physically and emotionally.
She said: ‘He died in the water (where he’d always said he wanted to die) doing something that he loved so much. He was in such a happy place in his life.
According to girlfriend Immy Mr Lewin’s best friend Charlie also died while out surfing in 2004
‘If it was a seizure (most probable) then he would’ve instantly blacked out and it would have been painless.
‘He had said to me before that he never remembered his seizures or felt them coming on so his last moments on this earth would have been surfing a wave in his absolute element, loving life.
‘Although at this moment I can’t imagine life without him, his wise words are still ringing in my ears.
‘He knew death and grief intimately and said that his mum and best friend dying, at such young ages, spurred him on to live life to the absolute fullest, don’t waste precious time, make the most of every moment and make your dreams and passions a reality.
‘Be open and honest and full of love as you never know what’s around the corner.
Immy Clifton and Jon Lewin embarking on their trip to Sri Lanka. His body will be cremated in Sri Lanka and his ashes spread across his two favourite beaches
‘Always look for the positive in life and the lessons. When things like this happen it’s so hard to but I know that’s what he would’ve wanted.
‘He had so much love for everyone in his life and inspired and connected with anyone that was lucky enough to cross his path.
‘He had such a simple and positive outlook on life. That’s why I called him Pooh bear (Winnie the Pooh).
‘I really feel that he was my soulmate and although we weren’t together as long as we wanted, he will always be with me and everyone else who shared love with him.
‘I hope I meet him again in another lifetime but for now, he’s with his mum and his best friend Charlie.
‘Good luck on your journey my one. I hope we find each other again in another lifetime.
Mr Lewin will be cremated in Sri Lanka and his ashes spread across his two favourite beaches.
He will then be carried home where the rest of his ashes will be laid in places close to his heart.
Jon Lewin pictured surfing in Sri Lanka was said to have had no injuries when he was pulled from the water – leading authorities to believe he had a seizure
Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), met today with Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy.
Following the meeting, Ms. Lagarde made the following statement:
I was pleased to meet with Minister Samaraweera and Governor Coomaraswamy this afternoon. We discussed the challenging economic environment and the policy priorities for the country. The authorities stressed Sri Lanka’s continued commitment to their economic reform agenda under the IMF-supported program.
We agreed that a strong policy mix, with effective implementation of that agenda, is key to strengthening confidence, while putting Sri Lanka on a sustainable, high-quality growth path that would benefit its people.
The IMF remains ready to support the Sri Lankan authorities in these endeavors and an IMF team is scheduled to visit Colombo in mid-February to resume program discussions.”
MP Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said yesterday Sri Lanka has already given visas to some 242,000 foreign employees and the experts report on Singapore FTA has said this number could increase through the FTA.
He said the experts committee which studied the Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA) has verified the concerns expressed over the previous months.
What we have said had been accepted by the experts committee which said our market would not be expanded by the SLSFTA. Through the Board of Investment (BOI), we have already given visas to 242,000 foreigners for investments and industries. The report by the expert committee says many more may come to Sri Lanka through the SLSFTA,” he said.
According to the report, he said the fields of engineering, dentistry, labour and architecture could be open up to foreigners.
Any foreigner who holds a Singapore visa would be able to visit Sri Lanka through the SLSFTA to work. This trade agreement, which may benefit only one percent towards SL, should be annulled,” he said.
There are contradictions in the trilingual reports presented to Parliament with regard to the new Constitution, claimed Chairman of the SLPP, Professor G.L. Peiris.
He said this at a SLPP Media briefing held at Party Headquarters today (14). Parliamentarian Rohitha Abeygunawardana also attended this briefing.
Speaking of the said reports, Abeygunawardana made specific reference to the Tamil words ‘Orumittha Naadu’and added the said words do not have a definite meaning in Tamil, although the words purportedly meant a ‘unitary State.’
Prof. Peiris further alleged the Government is conspiring to postpone the Presidential Election.
The Government is trying to bring a proposal stating that from henceforth the President is not appointed by the people, but instead by Parliament. They’re not trying to bring this due to any inherent weakness in the Executive Presidency, but in order to postpone the Presidential Election,” he opined.
He further claimed the current Government did not have the power to make independent decisions, as the TNA exercised a powerful hold over it. It was also said the Government was also at the mercy of the TNA concerning the upcoming Budget.
Holding the elections is important at the moment, not bringing forth a new Constitution, says the Mahanayake of the Asgiri Chapter Most Venerable Warakagoda Sri Gnanarathana Thero.
Mahanayake Thero stated this during a discussion held with the State Minister of Defense Ruwan Wijewardene yesterday (15).
The State Minister, arriving at Kandy last morning, had paid a visit to Venerable Warakagoda Sri Gnanarathana Thero to invoke blessings.
Mahanayake Thero has further said, what people expect the most is the provincial council elections and the Presidential election rather than a new Constitution.
Accordingly, the State Minister has responded that they have no issue on holding elections.
Mahanayake Thero has also emphasized that expediting the provincial council elections is of utmost importance at the moment.
It was no coincidence that colonial Britain wished to administer then Ceylon separate to India. It is no coincidence that colonial Britain kept Ceylon citizens as guinea pigs for modern divide & rule strategies. All that is now unfolding should be viewed as a catalyst of the outcome of colonial strategies adopted via conversions, English education, colonial friendly brown sahibs, denationalizing citizens via cultural/education, anti-Sinhala-Buddhist initiatives & to break the national resistance movement by projecting it as racist – fundamentalist & not secular/multicultural. In understanding this we should be able to move on to the players tasked to realize these objectives.
It is important that we come to terms with the reality that history has no records of Sinhalese in any animosity with Tamils or vice versa… so how come this new phenomenon of animosity is being flogged of late? This is where a knowledge of history is important because until & unless people understand the root causes of the problems that prevail & the entities responsible for planting the problems the recommended solutions will most likely fail because the solutions have no foundational basis. Themes like minority rights – hate – racism – discrimination – human rights are today’s political tools to interfere & bargain. These are backed by heavy lobby groups & well-funded to achieve various objectives.
All of the post-independent political parties were people educated in English, most converting to Christianity, being taught to think like the white man & to use nationalism only as a means of securing political mileage. In essence very rare was it that the post-independent politicians had the ‘bokken’ type of nationalism that would steer the masses to reverse the discriminations that prevailed for over 443 years of colonial rule & return to tapping the cultural & heritage systems that prevailed but to suit modern times – it is now proven that western neo-liberal capitalism is not only a failure it is failing the entire eco-system. We know that any nationalist that attempted to rule their nation with true nationalism were soon sent to the grave – examples of Patrice Lumumba of Congo & Aung San of Myanmar should come to mind. What post-independent decolonized nations were supposed to do was to pretend to be national but continue being slaves of western neocolonial rule/systems that had been designed via international standards/UN/trade laws/regulations etc. No non-western leader was supposed to function outside this non-declared but very clear framework.
The manner that West has been interfering in elections in Sri Lanka as per Prof. Levin goes back even to 1950s. This means that not only funding but local groups to steer propaganda have been set clandestinely and many of these are now veterans at indoctrinating masses and steering opinion ahead of elections – the fruits of their research, data gathering, funding & other initiatives laid out over decades came to surface in the manner they were able to democratically defeat a populist leader in January 2015 and prop up a virtual non-entity to the position of President. The advances in electronic communication systems have helped to a great extent in steering their propaganda. Elections are manipulated and computer systems are rigged to cheat. It is not just money, time-tested initiatives, brainwashed target groups and media/communication network but the manner that they were able to penetrate into the psyche of people and dig so deep that many are even today unable to balance reality & shake off that brainwashing is something that is both tragic & worrisome for the future of Sri Lanka irrespective of party politics.
Nationalism has been limited to election propaganda & political stages – the political will to ensure national policies that protect national resources/assets/safeguards the livelihoods of the citizens/addresses historical fears & grievances/protects both majority & minority & places clear demarcations on incursions & other rights where citizens clearly understand that their rights/demands cannot infringe on that of another’s rights/demands would if articulated clearly addressed a plethora of unwarranted incidents that have emerged. We cannot rule out that many of these issues are planted or manufactured ones taking groups from both sides & funding them to get up to mischief & thereby create the laws that curbs rights of people while peddling agendas for handouts.
The constitutional farce is such that the so-called experts are people with tainted histories / controversial past records / characters that are clueless about the wants or needs of 99% of the country’s populace and people who have no wish to cater to the needs of this 99% through their proposals. It is the key reason why all their proposals need to be rejected. In essence the first exercise should be is to list out what is wrong in the existing constitution & why & what are the proposals that could address them. Without that simply cutting & chopping & inserting clauses & creating a new constitution & deceptively passing that is not only immoral & unethical but it is likely to lead to bigger & more dangerous consequences later none of which those who created the problem will be able to solve, will want to solve or will even take accountability for errors.
Therefore, the country has more pressing problems to address – a new piece of paper promising a dream world without mechanisms to deal with everyday problems is simply useless. What kind of a constitution inserts clauses that deem accepting of gifts or funding to unions/organizations etc is acceptable when even companies are placing clauses against accepting of any type of gift construing that to be a type of bribe!
What is clear from all this is that money has become a major issue in the manner the integrity of Sri Lanka is being compromised. From the judiciary to the legislature the rumors of various compromising via transactions is something very dangerous and it is completely upsetting the sovereignty & territorial integrity of the nation – it is trickling to the public sector & private sector as well. Selling the country accepting some form of transaction is a treachery & this should be regarded as the highest form of treason.
When we know that there are external players upto mischief, various lucrative handouts being given to advance various agendas that conflict with & threaten Sri Lanka’s sovereignty & territorial integrity should we not first try to identify these traitors & treacheries …
Are we not walking into danger if traitors are drafting this new constitution and what they are drafting are treacherous to the future of Sri Lanka?
Should we not be identifying the traitors & treacheries first and dealing with them before we allow them to decide our fate and the fate of over 21million people.
By now, it is common knowledge that a significant number of people from farming communities living in the North Central Province (herein referred to as Rajarata) suffer from Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). Over the past three decades, a number of investigations on the causes of CKD have been conducted, but no conclusion has been drawn yet on what exactly is causing CKD in the Rajarata context. Although a number of theories have been proposed, none has been confirmed so far, due to the lack of evidence. There are arguments and counter-arguments within the scientific community as well as among laypeople and political circles. As more and more people suffer from CKD, it is concerning that there is still no solution on the horizon for this burning problem. Currently, the only options left for CKD patients are costly procedures such as dialysis and kidney transplant. Unfortunately, there is still not enough guidance and awareness for the Rajarata public on preventing CKD.
A crisis endemic to Rajarata?
The majority of CKD patients from Rajarata do not show any identifiable causes of CKD compared to their CKD counterparts elsewhere, such as long standing diabetes and hypertension. This observation leads one to determine that this particular disease, or at least the cause, may be endemic to the Rajarata area. In fact, in 2003, Dr. Tilak Abeyesekera reported a pattern of this CKD in Rajarata. Considering these observations, it is logical to narrow down our focus to the lifestyles on the said communities, in particular various environmental factors that directly affect people’s day-to-day lives. Some reports claim that more than 15% of residents of the affected areas are suffering from CKD. A significant number of reports have highlighted that mostly the males working in the fields are affected by the disease. A number of theories suggest that CKD occur due to cadmium, fluoride, arsenic, aluminum, mercury, uranium, vanadium, algal toxins, and phosphates. More recent theories mainly focused on the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, especially the use of the herbicide glyphosates.
A link to drinking water?
Although none of the above theories have been confirmed due to the lack of scientific evidence, in the Rajarata context, something almost all CKD investigators in Sri Lanka appear to agree on is the possibility of drinking water having a direct association with CKD observed in Rajarata. Therefore, it is important that we focus a bit more on drinking water in the affected region.
Unlike with many other diseases, CKD often has no symptoms until the disease has reached an advanced stage. Damages shown in certain areas of the kidneys of the CKD patients could indicate the possibility of an adverse effect of a potential toxic substance present in drinking water. Chronic exposure to drugs, occupational hazards, or environmental toxins can lead to chronic kidney diseases, so CKD in Rajarata may possibly be due to one of the above factors contaminating the drinking water of CKD affected people. It is important to note that most people living in Rajarata’s CKD-prone areas consume water from the groundwater and deep-dug tube wells. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that a toxic element could contaminate groundwater in both shallow and deep wells. According to resident doctors in Rajarata, city dwellers who consume potable water supplied from water tanks do not suffer from CKD. These observations lead one to investigate the potential toxic elements in the groundwater that are harmful to kidneys. An examination of groundwater in the CKD-affected areas of Rajarata reveals the presence of an unhealthy amount of fluoride, and this finding is in fact the biggest reason to consider fluoride as the cause for CKD in early studies in the Rajarata context. However, due to the lack of supporting information on their hand, investigators at the time were not able to prove this theory, and therefore the theory of fluoride being the culprit was put aside. I have however, recently reviewed nearly hundred years of literature on toxicity of excess fluoride on animal and human kidneys, and established that there is a direct link between high fluoride levels in drinking water and CKD. The fluoride levels of groundwater consumed in CKD-affected areas range from 0.5 to 5 milligrams per liter (mg/L), a level well above the limit recommended for tropical countries by the World Health Organization (i.e. 1 mg/L). We see some reports showing alarming fluoride levels as high as 3.9 to 7.3 mg/L in groundwater in some of the affected areas. Also, the presence of widespread diseases such as dental and skeletal fluorosis is in Rajarata confirms that people living in these areas are highly likely poisoned by high amounts of fluoride.
Are children at a higher risk?
According to the United States (US) Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) charts, the tolerable upper intake levels of fluorides for children is 1.3 – 2.2 mg per day. It is estimated that an average child consumes 10 cups (2.8 L) of water per day. Therefore, by drinking just 10 cups of water from a water source that has two 2 mg/L of fluoride, a child consumes 5.6 mg of fluoride. This is 2.5 times the maximum tolerable upper intake of fluoride for a child age up to 13 years, which can harm the child’s kidneys. This finding is extremely concerning, because there are areas in Rajarata where the fluoride in groundwater is reported to be 5 mg/L or above. This means children of these areas may be consuming more than 14 mg of fluorides per day, which is 6.4 times of the maximum tolerable upper intake of fluoride for a child. This is a very dangerous situation which can lead to serious damage to the kidneys of children. Scientific research investigations related to fluoride and kidneys show that infants and children have an impaired ability to expel absorbed fluoride from the body, and they retain 80-90% of the absorbed fluoride compared to adults (50%). Therefore, the retention of high amount of fluoride absorbed by body/kidneys of children can lead to kidney damage of children living in areas with even 2 mg/L of fluoride in groundwater, as highlighted in above. Consequently, adults whose kidneys were damaged due to fluoride consumption in childhood are at an even greater risk of ending up as CKD patients, if they continued consuming water from the fluoride contaminated sources. Therefore, it is fairly apparent that kidneys of the people living in the areas where high levels of fluoride present in groundwater are likely being exposed to high levels of fluoride that lead to kidney disease, for some as early as from infancy.
Why men in Rajarata more affected than women?
Now that a considerable relationship between CKD and fluoride-contaminated water has been established, one observation leads me to another CKD-related question: what is a possible explanation for men in affected areas in Rajarata more prone to CKD compared to women? Generally, men spend more times in the paddy fields or farms compared to their female counterparts, and dehydration due to constant exposure to the sun make them consume more water, especially in the form of their humble beverage, tea. Tea, actually adds even more fluoride to their system.
Is tea a vehicle for even more fluoride?
Tea, especially low-quality tea, is exceptionally high in fluoride. According to a study conducted in the US, the average fluoride content of the brewed teas is nearly 4 mg/L, which was 3-4 times higher than the average amount of fluoride in tap water in the US. According to the same US DRI charts referred to earlier in this article, the tolerable upper intake levels of fluorides for adults (above 13 years) is 10 mg per day. Let’s consider a scenario where a farmer drinks 4 liters of water (with 2 mg/L fluoride) and 5 cups of tea (1.4 L) on a given day. A quick calculation shows that this farmer consumes 8 mg of fluoride by drinking the 4 liters of water from the water source that has a 2 mg/L fluoride content. Using the US average fluoride content of the brewed tea, another calculation shows that the farmer would be consuming nearly 7 mg (2.8 mg from water that used to brew tea, and 4.2 mg from tealeaves) of fluoride by drinking the 5 cups of tea. This means the average dose of fluoride consumed by the farmer surpasses 15 mg per a day. This amount is 1.5 times the maximum tolerable upper intake of fluoride for an adult. Therefore, even 2 mg/L of fluoride in groundwater can make have harmful effects on farmers living in Rajarata. Similar calculations show that the farmers living in the areas where fluoride content of water is 5 mg/L or above are probably consuming more than 31 mg of fluoride per day, which is 3.1 times the maximum tolerable upper intake of fluoride for an adult, which is chronically toxic to the kidneys.
A link to the Rajarata diet?
A high concentration of fluoride in the soil is also directly linked to high fluoride in the groundwater and surrounding vegetation. The addition of fluoride from diets of crops grown in this soil will also elevate fluoride levels in the body, making people further vulnerable to CKD. Vegetables, pulses and other crops grown in this area likely contain high amounts of fluoride due to high levels of fluoride in the soil and the groundwater. For example, the green leafy vegetable “Thampala” excessively absorbs fluoride from the soil. Therefore, it is highly likely that crops grown in these areas with higher concentrations of fluoride will add even more fluoride to people’s diet, just as with the consumption of tea.
A crisis born three decades ago?
A possible unintended consequence of the Mahaweli River Diversification Programme (herein referred to as the Mahaweli Project) launched in the 1980s comes to mind as the most plausible explanation for my next question: why have all Rajarata CKD cases emerged within the last three decades? The Mahaweli Project that brought a new water source to benefit the Rajarata area caused the groundwater table to elevate. As the Mahaweli Project started to expand into most of the now CKD-stricken areas, the Mahaweli river basin also extended. Due to the flat landscape in the irrigation areas, the supply of extra water led to an increase in water table levels resulting in high salinity levels in groundwater. High salinity in the groundwater means more fluoride and other minerals in groundwater, and most of these saline products make their way into the systems of those who drink groundwater and consume agricultural crops grown in the area. This theory is supported by reports calming that groundwater in the CKD-affected areas have become more saline during the past decades, based on observations made by the people living in the area. Further, scientific reports on gradual but substantial increases in the fluoride content of groundwater in Rajarata further validate this observation. In addition to the rise of the water table, drilling of a large number of tube wells in the region could also be another factor affecting the increase of salinity of well water, including fluoride levels. Aligning with the above, reports on the distribution of fluoride in groundwater in Sri Lanka clearly show that the level of fluoride in groundwater in CKD-prevalent areas is much higher than that of the neighboring farming districts (i.e. 1-3 mg/L). This disparity may probably be due to the absence of major irrigation projects in those neighboring districts during the last two to three decades, thereby keeping the groundwater table at a stable level, which prevents the increase of fluoride and other minerals in the groundwater as well as in the food crops grown in those areas. As high salinity in groundwater indicates more fluoride in groundwater, drinking this groundwater and consuming a locally-grown diet could highly likely be the reason for this relatively newly-detected chronic kidney disease in Rajarata. If it was not for Dr. Tilak Abeyesekera reporting a pattern of this kidney disease in Rajarata, we would not have known for how long this condition had existed, and how many people had perished from the disease.
To summarize all my points above:
There is a high fluoride content in the groundwater in Rajarata, and due to fluoride poisoning, dental and skeletal fluorosis is widespread in the communities.
There is a considerable amount scientific evidence worldwide to prove that there is a direct link between high fluoride levels in drinking water and kidney disease.
It is harder for children to eliminate fluoride from their systems compared to adults, which leads to kidney damage of children living in the areas with high fluoride.
If adults who had kidney damage due to high fluoride in their childhood continue to consume water from the same water source, they are more vulnerable to CKD.
Through consuming more water and tea, people working in farms and engaging in other laborious activities outside for prolonged periods are even more susceptible to additional doses of fluoride entering their system.
The extension of the Mahaweli river basin due to the Mahaweli Project led to the rise in water-table levels, resulting in high salinity levels in groundwater, adding more fluoride and other minerals to groundwater.
All these additional fluorides and other saline products make their way into the systems of the people in Rajarata area, through the drinking water and through diets of locally grown crops.
To conclude, based on the above arguments derived from scientific literature and research, I believe with confidence that the culprit of the so-called “Rajarata Chronic Kidney Disease” in Sri Lanka has to be the excess fluoride in drinking water from the wells and in the local food crops grown in the affected areas. Therefore, I highly recommend that the Sri Lankan Government immediately take action to provide safe drinking water to the people in Rajarata, while educating especially the school children on the possible root causes of the diseases. As a start, for example, nursing mothers should be discouraged from using groundwater for formula preparing or any cooking purposes. I also believe that purified surface water from local tanks fed by Mahaweli river water is much safer than the groundwater in the affected area.
Ranjith W. Dharmaratne (BSc, PhD) is a scientist. This article is based on two recent review articles written by the author that appeared in peer reviewed international journals, Journal of Environment Science and Preventive Medicine (2015) and Human and Experimental Toxicology (2018).
In politics, when fighting an election, there are two plans, Plan A and Plan B.
Plan A: Formulate a broad based plan to win the election. Primary purpose of Plan A, will be to WIN the election. Avoid isolating voters, bring them into your fold. Do not provide any weapons to opponents in Plan A implementation stage.
Plan B: After winning the election, continue educating the masses the value of unity as against disintegration. Continue rapid industrial and agricultural development in all parts of the island, as previously done by Prez Mahinda Rajapakse.
All voters are now in a position to make a comparison with Prez Mahinda Rajapakse Regime Vs Maithree/Ranil Regime. They have identified the Leadership that is capable of tackling difficult issues, with a vision into the future.
With so much of political misgivings taking place in Sri Lanka, the average voter is not at all distracted by these political games. They continue with their daily life, build their families. The voter is far more intelligent than what the political leaders think of them. The voter is not persuaded by sudden movements in the game of musical chairs, as they are aware that such actions by the so called Leaders are aimed at staying alive in their current political positions.
As the votes have now garnered a clear cut picture by comparing Mahinda Vs Maithree/Ranil Regime, they cannot be fooled.
Therefore, the political manifesto in Plan A, should be aimed at bringing everyone together. The voter will decide whom to believe.
The voter will decide whether to believe the:
Bunch of cocktail leaders who placed a spanner in the wheel of economic progress of Sri Lanka;
or
Bunch of astute leaders who delivered more than what they have promised and brought Sri Lanka to rapid economic, social and cultural development;
Those who are arguing about 13 and 19 amendments are out of touch with the voters. They have nothing else to add. They will shout, parade or write articles demanding whether or not 13 and 19 will be scrapped. These are traps. They are few isolated people pregnant with prejudice! No need to answer them, as we identify their motives. Stick to Plan A.
Quote: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha ) Gautama Buddha AKA Buddha’s period is c.563 or c. 480 BCE. The evidence of the early texts suggests that Siddhartha Gautama was born into the Shakya clan, a community that was on the periphery, both geographically and culturally, of the eastern Indian subcontinent in the 5th century BCE.[34] One of his usual names was “Sakyamuni” or “Shakyamuni” (“Sage of the Shakya’s”). It was either a small republic, or an oligarchy, and his father was an elected chieftain, or oligarch.[34] According to the Buddhist tradition, Gautama was born in Lumbini, now in modern-day Nepal, and raised in the Shakya capital of Kapilvastu, which may have been either in what is present day Tilaurakot, Nepal or Piprahwa, India.[note 1] He obtained his enlightenment in Bodh Gaya, gave his first sermon in Sarnath, and died in Kushinagar. Buddha died at the age of 80. Buddhas wife’s name is Yasodhara. Yasothara was Krishna’s foster mother. Doesn’t matter the spelling.
Isn’t it an indication that all are of the same clan?
The Shakya were a clan of the Vedic period (1750–500 BCE). The name Śākya is derived from the Sanskrit word śakya, which means “the one who is capable”.
The Shakya formed an independent republican state known as the Śākya Gaṇarājya. The Shakya capital was Kapilavastu, which may have been located either in Tilaurakot, Nepal or Piprahwa, India.[1][2][3]
The best-known Shakya was the prince Siddhartha (5th century BCE), who was the founder of Buddhism and came to be known as Gautama Buddha. Siddhartha was the son of Śuddhodana, the elected leader of Shakya Republic. Because Gautama Buddha founded a new religion and abdicated the throne, the lineage continued with his son Rāhula.
Quote: (Ref: https://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhistworld/lanka-txt.htm) Sri Lanka is the oldest continually Buddhist country, Theravada Buddhism being the major religion in the island since its official introduction in the 2nd century BC by Venerable Mahinda, the son of the Emperor Ashoka of India during the reign of King Davanampiya- Tissa.
Quote: Ref: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalinga_Magha) Kalinga Magha landed in Karainagar in 1215 AD with a large army of 24,000 Tamil and Malayali soldiers. He camped his soldiers in Karainagar and Vallipuram and brought the Jaffna principality under his control. Kalinga Magha then marched to Polonnaruwa, defeated Parakrama Pandyan II and ruled it for 21 years. He was expelled from Polonnaruwa in 1236 and withdrew to Jaffna which he ruled till 1255.
People who lived on the island were the Nagas in the North, Yakka’s in the South and Vedas in the Central and East. The question of Lemuria or Kumari Kandam, the name given by the modern creative lying experts cannot be proved. Several million years ago as told that the African/ South American Australian continent were together as one and they split apart and moved until they formed Africa, America, Australia, and some islands like Mauritius etc. Quote Ref: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLahVJNnoZ4. (Please view this video. Our common sense will confirm that the shapes fit in well, eg. America and Africa)
During our school days, we were taught a textbook called Thiruviliyadal Puranam”. The texts in the book are all fictional. We had to learn to move onto to the next level.
Let us come to the current level of intelligence and perception.
Several million years ago a child born in the jungle had the five senses. But did not develop the intelligence and perception immediately but over time. I am sad that the Hindus believe in granite statues, like lingam etc. Pour millions of liters of milk to wash the lingam, instead of feeding a child.
Risk of Federalism
Over the last centuries, we have learned how the Islamic fundamentalists moved into countries and took over them. Especially the South East. Mohamed and Allah had nothing to do with these South East countries.
There was no necessity for the one million Indian Tamils to be brought into the country for the tea and rubber plantation. The biggest mistake was made by the Sinhala elites and the community’s self-important, high-handed attitude only. They lacked in foreseeing the risk of cultural, political, and religious imbalance in the country. Today the Indian political candidates are a cause for the commotion and fracas in the country.
When JVP insurrection uprising took place in 1971, GOSL quickly suppressed the uprising. However, when LTTE uprising occurred, GOSL took 39 years to suppress it.
SriLanka was a peaceful Buddhist country until the Portuguese arrived. Forced assimilation occurred with a change of religion to Catholicism of the true Buddhists. Some people changed their name to Pereira, Silva, Fonseka, Perera, Moreira, etc. The biggest question is: Why have they not changed their names back to their Sinhale names and also their religion. This goes to both Tamils and Sinhalese. Has any Muslims changed their names or religion?
Splitting up the island will give birth to (i) Muslims some deprecating thoughts. Because of democracy and the number of votes the Sinhala politicians give in to their request. General norm of humans is to marry one wife and maintain the wife and children. However, in the case of Muslims, they are allowed to marry up to four wives and have as many as children. The proliferation of the Muslim race grows as fast as possible. Within the next twenty-five to fifty years, there exists a risk of Muslims takes over SriLanka administration. With the arrival of Arab traders in the 7th century A.D., Islam began to flourish in Sri Lanka. (i.e. Pattani’s arrival to the East)
SriLanka will give birth to racial fronts in three sectors. (i) Sinhale, (ii) Muslims and (iii) Tamils.
Do the Sinhalas and Tamils realize this risk? This is not a racial comment. Muslims have several countries of their own, but Sinhale has only SriLanka. Already East is taken over by Muslims.
In the recent statement made by the new Governor to the North may cause instability to reconciliation and maintenance of peace in the North. Quote Ref: https://www.tamilwin.com/politics/01/204299?ref=imp-news. When the Jaffna man asks for a Tamil Governor, it drives the world to conclude that Tamils are racists. Even Tamil Nadu never had a Tamil Governor, but Tamil Speaking Governor. There is no excuse to free ourselves, but we Tamils are RACISTS. It is a school of thought that he is pouring fuel into fire.
Re’ Muslims, please see picture below:
What sort of guts have the sheiks of Saudi Arabia or wherever they come from to come and establish a sheik city in Mannar of SL? Mannar is a well-known city for Catholicism and a base of the Portuguese and Tamil Catholics? This is not the first case. Richard Badruddin ha ben developing Wilpattu and settling Muslims. Alfred Duraiyappa settled Muslims near Oattumadam an established a town for the Muslims. Batticaloa is being converted to a Muslim Capital to which the President appointed A well known corrupt according to the citizens of SL as the Governor.
So what is going on in SL? Are the Muslims trying to take over SL within a short span with the help of Saudis and Wahabis with collaterals, to which our politicians will keep quiet and receive the collateral?
On this auspicious Thai Pongal day I wish to convey my greetings towards a prosperous and peaceful future to everyone celebrating. Thai Pongal is not only a day to celebrate the bounty of harvest, it is also a day for all to be grateful for a rich and fulfilling life. This has been tradition and the message that’s conveyed throughout the world.
Let’s celebrate this Thai Pongal day beyond religious differences with our relatives and neighbours in peace and love.
As per tradition a new journey begins when Thai (Tamil New Year) is born. And through this, the Hindu people believe that they would receive good health and wealth without suffering. Thus let us look to this New Year to recover from natural disasters we have recently experienced and come together to rebuild as one.
In my long political journey, not only as a Member of Parliament, Minister, Prime Minister and President of the country but also as a Sri Lankan citizen, I have always prioritized my duty towards the country’s progress with no discrimination.
Moreover, I pray as the Opposition Leader that we are all able to agree on a political solution which will allow all our people to live a united and peaceful life in our motherland.
I am delighted to convey my greetings and good wishes to all those who are celebrating the Thai Pongal throughout Sri Lanka and abroad on Tuesday.
Being my maiden Thai Pongal message to the nation as Governor of the Western Province, I feel happier and more honored to pass on my sincere greetings on this auspicious day to all those who participate in the festival.
The Thai Pongal festival celebration is believed to have started more than 1000 years ago. Thai Pongal is a harvest festival which is celebrated by Hindhus. It is also a festival that highlights the importance of agriculture which provides rice and other food products to the people.
On the day of the festival, it is a tradition that sweet rice meal is made, dedicated to the sun god, and then consumed by families in festive meals. The rice is boiled in milk, along with spices, raisins, cashews, and various other ingredients. The cooking is done outside in the sunlight, and is normally done on a porch or in a courtyard. The cooking pot is made of clay and is decorated with colourful patterns. The final product is served up on banana leaves and can be either very sweet or very savoury.
As you celebrate the festival of Pongal, with a lot of fervor and cheers, this warm greeting comes your way, with a world of good wishes for every joy and happiness.
Pray and hope that this festival marks the beginning of a harvest season, that is happy and cheerful and one which brings with it good luck and prosperity to everyone of you.
When this news item appeared in the Lankaweb, two commentators responded to it. I felt that those comments should be responded to in this manner, as a short article, rather than in the response format as the issues brought up by Aloy” and by Christie” are likely to the shared by other readers too. Hence they merit a detailed answer. Furthermore, every scientist who is knowledgeable on these topics must regard it as his/her solemn duty to bring out the facts, and squash myths widely held by some segments of the public, in order to safeguard Sri Lanka’s march towards agricultural self-sufficiency and environmental sustainability.
This news item is of prime interest as Sri Lanka was the only country in the world to impose a total ban on the herbicide although it if often falsely claimed that other countries have banned it (http://dh-web.org/green/NatuNewsFake.html ).
The ban was based on the false claim that the herbicide is a likely cause of the kidney disease that has began to plague Sri Lanka’s NCP since the early 1990s. The ban was imposed in January 2105 by President Sirisena at the behest of Ven. Rathana, although the National Academy of Sciences in Sri Lanka and other learned societies had opposed such a ban. I myself have written articles on this topic since 2012 when fake science was presented to the Nation, with a pretence that it is based on revelations from God Natha himself.
The ban was reversed in July 2018 due to the collapse of the tea market, the collapse of the cultivation of Indian corn (Bada Iringu”) and other crops. Corn is an important economic enterprise for many small cultivators in large parts of the country. The impending closure of teas estates implied a total loss to the ecosystem due to their irreversible conversion into housing and tourist conglomerates. The total loss to the country over the three years of the ban is estimated to be around 50 billion in foreign exchange. It will be an up-hill task to recapture lost markets.
Alloy’s Questions.
Aloy states that :
(1) The population which is predominantly Sinhalese in the NCP area is depleting. And there are large number of CKDu cases there. First solve this problem”.
(2) Then we can talk about the use of Glyphosate in other countries however small the traces in their systems.
(3) Till then let us eliminate agro chemicals one by one and revert to bio fertilizer.
(4) There was no CKDu in the olden days. It started after the uncontrolled use of agrochemicals.
Let us take Aloy’s point number (1).
Indeed, the kidney disease CKDu strikes any one living sufficiently long in certain villages in the NCP,
irrespective of whether they identify themselves as Sinhalese or Tamils. It also strikes people in areas like Mullativu (Mooladoova) where the population is predominantly Tamil speaking, and this is an area where agrochemicals have NEVER been used for various reasons.
Furthermore, domestic animals (dogs, cats), mice, rabbits and livestock (goats, cattle, pigs) who live in the same environment as the farmers who get CKDu do NOT contract this disease, although those animals are very susceptible, and are in fact used in laboratory research on this type of disease.
The animals drink water from paddy fields (containing agrochemicals) and irrigation canals, but do NOT get sick. People who get sick do not drink such water, but use their own dug wells. Scientists have found that these dug wells contain unacceptable amounts of fluoride of geological origin, together
with water hardness caused by the presence of magnesium and calcium salts in the water. Furthermore
scientists have shown that it is this combination of fluoride and hard water that causes CKDu. It has nothing to do with the use of agrochemicals. This has been confirmed by feeding this water, as well as normal water to laboratory mice. Independently, the Kidney specialists at the Kandy Hospital have done research where they have examined the blood of CKDu patients using a research technique known as molecular-pathway analysis. They have shown that the patients all have pathway markers arising from the action of fluoride as well as viral infections. See their latest research report: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325399594_Transcriptome_analysis_supports_viral_infection_and_fluoride_toxicity_as_contributors_to_chronic_kidney_disease_of_unknown_etiology_CKDu_in_Sri_Lank
SO WE KNOW FAIRLY WELL WHAT CAUSES CKDu.
The solution for PREVENTING the disease is to provide clean water, so that the people do NOT drink contaminated well water. Providing tanks to collect rain water has been tired out in the NCP and worked well even during the past two years of drought. This costs a few cents a litre (cost of amortizing the tank) compared to Rs 1-3 per litre using imported reverse-osmosis plants that need electricity and and expensive filtration membranes.
2. Alloy says Then we can talk about the use of Glyphosate in other countries however small the traces in their systems”.
No traces of glyphosate have been found in their systems”, if Aloy is thinking about CKDu patients. The WHO study found that 97% of the CKDu patients did not have any significant amounts of glyphosate. About 3% who seemed to have a few parts per billion glyphosate is a quantity well within the statistical error of such investigations
3. Alloy says Till then let us eliminate agrochemicals one by one and revert to bio fertilizer”.
Till when?
Bio-fertilizers are also agrochemicals with another name.
Where is this bio fertilizer” available? Does Aloy know how much is needed? Does he know how much they cost? You need about a ton of bio fertilizer per Kg of mineral fertilizer to have the same effect in soils where fertilizer is needed. Also, biofertilzer costs much more. It is also not as healthy as touted by the organic-food supermarket chains.
What is the toxic contamination data for bio fertilizers”? Bio fertilizers often have as much or more metal toxins like Cadmium, As, etc., as conventional fertilizers, because the plants that went to make the bio-fertilizer accumulate these toxins from the soil. The soil naturally contains cadmium, and other metallic ore, as seen from Sri Lankan geological data. The traces found in the soil are accumulated by green plants (plants don’t have kidneys to flush out the toxins, and so they accumulate toxins in the plant. So straw has some 200 times more cadmium toxins than in the soil).
The total organic” food production using bio fertilizers in the whole world is less than 2% today, , even though such organic” methods have existed since the 1920s in the West. It has existed from time immemorial among rural people who eked out a subsistence level of existence from such agriculture, feeding a much smaller population. It has been shown by many people including organic-farming researchers at the Swiss Institute, that organic farming even if extensively adopted, cannot feed even half the world population without extensive land use, land erosion and the deployment of vast amounts of water (see: https://dh-web.org/place.names/posts/CD-Mueller-OrganicL.pd ).
Just as private education (however superior it is) cannot replace free public education, the push for organic farming can only produce a two-tier food system that will ultimately enfeeble the food supply of the less fortunate.
(4). Aloy says:
There was no CKDu in the olden days. It started after the uncontrolled use of agrochemicals”.
This is completely contrary to facts.
CKDu is not found everywhere agrochemicals are used .Paddy farming requires very little glyphosate (herbicide) or mineral fertilizers compared to many other crops like tea or corn . CKDu is found in certain NCP villages where the geology naturally has fluoride. The disease started only after the accelerated Mahaweli program came into being, where people were settled hurriedly, and in higher ground away from agricultural tanks. As the water is too far, they dug their own household wells and drank water from them.
These were areas that were NOT populated in the old days, due to lack of water, and malaria.
In the old days people lived very close to Tanks and irrigation canals, and got their water from such sources and did not drink water containing fluorides. Although very small amounts of fluoride are good for health (prevents dental carries etc.), fluoride is toxic if the safe threshold is exceeded. This safe threshold is reduced in the presence of magnesium salts found in hard water, and makes hard well water containing fluoride the trigger of kidney disease.
Christie’s Question.
Now let us see what Christie, the second respondent had to say. He says:
Looks like you had your daily dose. How is it now compared to old Monsanto.
Canada Health got nothing to do with us”.
Indeed, Canadian agricultural health has a LOT to do with Sri Lankan food. Most of the lentils (parippu”), and significant amounts of chick peas, soya beans, Canola oil etc., that Sri Lankans consume originate in Canada, even when they are imported from an intermediate source like India.
Upper class Sri Lankan activists who mobilize” to fight” genetically modified foods (GMO foods) probably do not realize that their daily diet is implicitly made up of such GMO products, and that 80% of the nitrogen in their bodies have been produced using the Harber-Bosch process that has fed the world since the early 1900s. People fail to understand that a major fraction of the food that feeds the 7.2 billion people of the world living today in 195 countries of the world come from the agriculture of just a few countries who are leaders in industrial agriculture. That should not be so, especially for a country like Sri Lanka with abundant water, fertile soil and a proud agricultural past.
Former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaka has declared that he is ready to contest the next presidential election.
Rajapasa said, over the week end, that he was ready to take up the challenge if the people threw their weight behind him. The declaration was made at the Viyathmaga meeting, on January 12, in Colombo.
The former Defence Secretary made his position known on the next presidential polls against the backdrop of the SLFP declaring President Maithripala Sirisiena would seek a second term (SF)
January 13, 2019, 12:00 pm
The UNP, which was instrumental in leasing out the Hambantota White Elephant (read the inland port) to the Chinese in 2017, has apparently sold the Sirikotha Elephant to the TNA. There is nothing the UNP (or any other political party, for that matter) will hesitate to do to remain in power, and the TNA is using its support for the minority government to make the UNP do its bidding. Whoever would have thought the UNP would go hell for leather to submit the Expert Panel report to the Constitutional Assembly (CA), whose proceedings were in abeyance for about one year?
The report at issue seems to mean different things to different people. The government insists that it is not a draft Constitution. The government may be right, but the question is how a document which looks like a draft Constitution and reads like a draft Constitution could be anything other than a draft Constitution.
Who are the members of the Expert Panel, which purportedly prepared the report? The Opposition claims that their names were neither presented to Parliament nor given parliamentary approval. The public has a right to know their identities.
What was presented to Parliament, on Friday, was, in our book, a ballon d’essai. The government is testing the water. In days of yore, burglars would hold black pots, through holes they made in walls, at night, before putting their heads in to make sure that people were not awake and ready for attack; they would run away if the pots got smashed. The burglars’ trick has apparently worked for the government. Now that the UNP has drawn heavy flak for the report, some of its coalition partners are wary of sticking their necks out; they claim that they also have issues with some sections of the report!
The focus of our comment is not on the report as such, but the modus operandi the government has adopted to introduce constitutional reforms. One school of thought holds that the CA itself is unconstitutional in that the legislature cannot double as the CA in the parliamentary chamber itself, and the existing Constitution prescribes the manner in which it can be replaced.
Former Minister and UNF MP Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, PC, wrote to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, in Nov. 2017, pointing out that the resolution adopted by Parliament, in 2016, to appoint a CA was unconstitutional and null and void ab initio. He based his argument on a Supreme Court determination by a seven-judge bench on the 19th Amendment, presented to Parliament, in 2002. (This amendment should not be confused with the one passed by Parliament, in 2015.) He said, in his letter, that, in 1971/72, Parliament had met as a Constituent Assembly at Nawarangahala because the Soulbury Constitution did not provide for being abrogated. The draft Constitution prepared by the CA was adopted, and simultaneously the Soulbury Constitution and Parliament, which had been in existence until then, were done away with. The National State Assembly came into being. Such revolutionary measures were acceptable only in situations where no powers were conferred constitutionally on Parliaments to introduce new Constitutions, Dr. Rajapakshe maintained, pointing out that if Parliament needed assistance of experts, the Speaker was empowered to appoint a special Select Committee for that purpose.
Speaker Jayasuriya upholds the supremacy of Parliament and, recently, fought a successful battle to ward off executive interventions in the affairs of the legislature. It will be interesting to see the Speaker’s response to Dr. Rajapakshe’s letter, which has also been copied to President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, among others.
By Frances Bulathsinghala/DailyFT Courtesy NewsIn.Asia
It is after some months that I visited Jaffna three weeks back, to spend the holiday season. As in almost every visit, I make it a point to go to the Jaffna Public Library. Every time I climb those steps, it is with reverence mixed with a deep sadness. Reverence because the Hindu culture looks at knowledge as sacred, combining book knowledge with spiritual knowledge. Sadness, because Sinhalese politicians had stooped to the lowest of the low in 1981 to instigate mobs to burn this hallowed place of knowledge. They had thereby laid the foundation for mistrust and unrest, which fuelled by the 1983 anti-Tamil riots, unleashed the separatist war that followed and raged on for 30 years.
Yet, time and again, what strikes me about Jaffna and give me hope, are its people; a people known for their ultra-diligent nature and resilience.These qualities are self-evident in this library, initiated by the Jaffna Free Library Movement begun by K.M. Chellappa in the 1930s.
Shaking off the smoke of the past and making my way to where the Sri Lankan collection is, I come across the latest travel book on Jaffna and the north written by Singapore-based writer,N. Maheswari Devi, to boost post-war tourism. Her last similar work was published in 1981. I tell the Assistant Librarian, KalevelyBalasubramaniam, that soon I will return with more time to be in the library to find some rare writings on the north which are on my reading list.
Shortly after, under a mild December sun, I make my way to the Jaffna Fort. The second largest Dutch fort in Sri Lanka, built as a small garrison by the Portuguese in 1618,sections of it were destroyed in the war and restoration which commenced in 2009 is underway. The ambience here is one of relaxation and joy. Many foreign and local visitors, a significant number from the south, walk around, some buying foodstuff from the roadside vendors.
Jaffna Cultural Fund Office, Asst. Dir.Lakshman C.Maithripala and Jaffna Fort Aricheology Deputy.in Charge, K.Abilan
CCF office in Jaffna seems exceptional
Stepping into the Jaffna Fort bookshop run by the Central Cultural Fund (CCF) I am amazed at how busy it is. The bookshop is doing brisk business with CCF Archaeology Officer Priya Vetti Vellayutham, an archaeology graduate from Jaffna University, robustly promoting books on diverse historic places of Sri Lanka sold at the bookshop. Unfortunately there is no book fully devoted to thefort in Jaffna.
A little while later Laxman C. Maithripala, Assistant Director of the Jaffna CCF office, points out that the Jaffna Fort bookshop run by the CCF is one of the highest earning, averaging at Rs. 1 lakh worth of books being sold per month.Priya, with her incredible public relations skill, takes it upon herself beyond all official obligation to see that the CCF bookshop earns to its maximum, points out Laxman.
Set up in 2016, the CCF office in Jaffna indeed seems exceptional. Staff satisfaction and camaraderie is evident even to a cursory observer. One core reason is that there isexemplary cooperation between the CCF and the Jaffna branch of the Archaeology Department, which also has its office in the Fort premises.
According to current plans, both the Jaffna Fort CCF branch and the Jaffna Archaeology Department office will be in one building in the Jaffna Fort area, the first such union of offices in Sri Lanka, Laxman informs me, as he introduces the Archaeology Deputy in Charge at the Jaffna Fort, K. Kabilan. His manner is as if he is introducing a brother instead of a colleague!
Soon I am sipping tea in the open air and chatting with Laxmanand Kabilan, joined by some of their staff.For Laxman, who has worked many years in the Central Cultural Fund branches islandwide, having last served in Moneragala, the Jaffna posting is a personal wish come true.
As I continue talking to him I find that his respect for the north and its people and his sensitivity need commendation. As we sit enjoying the afternoon breeze, with Kapilan speaking of all things archaeological and Priya, the bookselling wizard, telling me about all the books I should buy from the bookshop (which is pretty much the whole bookshop!), Laxman is greeted by a senior Sinhalese
Piyasena and Yuvarasa fishermen of Pasaiyoor
visitor to the fort, having come with his entire family from Kegalle. The visitor points to a destroyed church inside the fort and promptly asks him if the LTTE had attacked it. Laxman informs the man that the church was destroyed during the war, with emphasis on the word war.
Removing the sting of racism and other biases
As the conversation progresses, listening to Laxman and his contemplative thoughts on the futility of killing and Kabilan lapsing into a treatise on philosophy, occasionally shifting to some war memories, including some humane interactions with the Government military, one reflects on the natural tendency of humans to function as wise beings, provided they are unpolluted by political poison which divides people and creates mayhem.
Laxman, on his own volition, having carried out several interactive visits for the north CCF staffto areas such as Anuradhapura (the very first time some of them had been there), says that one of his current goals isto promote consistent interaction between north and south schools so that students learn to appreciate and respect the heritage of north and south of Sri Lanka. He is currently awaiting official permission for such a planned project.
If we remove from children the sting of racism and other biases and shape them to be human beings who respect the different cultures of diverse communities in our country, we would be securing the future of Sri Lanka,” he points out.
The conversationshifts to rebirth, a concept which is common to both Hinduism and Buddhism, and we all laughingly agree that none of us have any control over our re-birth, to choose or ‘pre-order’ our religion or race or country or for that matter being born a human.
Having covered Jaffna and the north as a journalist during the peace process initiated in 2002, striving not to recognise the labels of ‘terrorist’ or ‘war hero’ but rather attempting to look at all human beings caught in the mire of war as victims of a larger powerconspiracy, to see in the post-war era people transcend ethnic barriers is indeed a blessing.
A.S.Roy, Quincy Bookd Shop ,Jaffna
Fishing issues
The following day, I spent some time in the quaint fishing village of Pasaiyoor, home to about 700 fishing families.Hordes of cows leisurely graze on roads and children play with kites. A sense of tranquillity prevails and the political intrigues of Colombo seem far away.
Next to the lagoon in the Pasaiyoor area a group of fishermen are cleaning their boats while some are playing cards. When asked what he thinks of the recent upheavals in Colombo with the UNP Leader reappointed as Prime Minister, 68-year-old Yuvarasa, mending his nets with his fellow fishermen, shrugs. His primary concern is that inthe past few years, the lagoon’s fish and the earnings of fishermen have both decreased drastically.
During the war there were restrictions on fishing by the Navy because of security reasons but yet what we earn today is less than at that time,”he points out. Earlier there were boatloads of fish, especially prawns. Now we catch only very small quantities that sometimes hardly cover quarter of a small pail. Why there are no fish in our lagoons could be connected to climate change but who is there to check these things,” he wonders.
These men have little interest in the political rhetoric in Colombo by both the Sinhalese and Tamil politicians and their lives are not dependent on politicians. The contribution of Sri Lankan politicians at most seems to be providingcomic relief. On television we watched the fights in Parliament,” one fisherman quips with a laugh.
Sixty-five-year-old Piyasena points out how costly it is to run the motor boats which needs fuel, unlike the smaller wooden boats used years earlier.Piyasena, as his name denotes, is a Sinhalese. It is some 70 years ago that his father’s family migrated from Moratuwa to Jaffna.
Padmasiri, selling clothes bought from Jaffna
Having married a Tamil from Jaffna,Piyasena is well ingrained into the Jaffna way of life. His only friends are fellow Tamil fishermen. Yet his Sinhalese remains quite fluent and he recalls that he was sought out to carry out translations for the military after they took over Jaffna from the LTTE in 1995. Piyasena and many of the fishermen in the area had moved to Kilinochchi in 1995 and returned only by around 1997. Some had returned from Mullaitivu later.
Memories of war
The war now seems a distant past, but its memories will not easily go away. For the youth, even as they plan their lives in these times of peace, the past cannot be wiped out. I remember the loud noises of bombs and dead bodies,” says 22-year-old Saroja, daughter of one of the fishermen. Sometimes war images surface in my mind and it’s terrible,” she says and quickly adds that she is planning to go to Colombo for a job interview. Her father has invested heavily in her education and she has obtained qualification in business administration and management from an institute in Jaffna.
Reclaiming agriculture glory
Around 10 kilometres away, inthe agricultural area of Kopay, Sangarapillai Naguleswaran, food preserving expert and founder of the Jaffna health food brand Nutrifoods explains that he has reverted to a skill he had honed prior to the war, having received training in food preservation in India in the early ’80s.
In a premises adjoining his Kopay house he has set up greenhouse solar dryers using German technology. He briefly explains how all the main nutrients are kept intact and how the ultraviolet rays of the sun are kept away.
In the 1970s Jaffna was wellknown for its fruit preserving techniques. Many preserved food products, especially those made from the famed Jaffna mango, the Karuthakolamban, were exported,” points out Sangarapillai. He explains that a well-known fruit juice brand popular in the south was begun by a Jaffna food preservation expert and then later sold to a Sinhalese businessman who rebranded it under a different name.
Today as part of his new food brand, Nutrifoods, Sangarapillai produces rare dried herbs, powdered yams,rasam packets, neem flower vade mixture and many similar health optimising products that have an increased demand in Colombo and abroad. He sends his products to Colombo regularly and currently he is busy preparing his products for the Jaffna International Trade Fair happening this month. He is keen that Jaffna reverts to its former glory whenthe northern farmer, through sheer hard work, had made an arid land a haven of agriculture which in the 1960s was known to be able to feed the whole of Sri Lanka with its produce.
Now when people say Jaffna, it is a place reminiscent of bloodshed. But this is not the Jaffna what we remember,” he points out. Having for much of the war years been in the NGO sector, he feels that true reconciliation should come from increased people-to-people interaction through business and travel.
Sunset in Jaffna lagoon
Connections through business
In fact, as one travels widely in Jaffna, it seems that its people, consciously or not, are connected to the rest of the country through their business initiatives. Adjoining the Rural Bank of Kopay, 38-year-old Padmasri runs a clothes shop in small a rented building. She explains that the clothes are brought down from a shopin Maharagama. Her friend, who is from Jaffna, has a contact there and the clothes are provided cheap, enabling the selling of it in Kopay for a small profit. Asked if she can stitch she says yes and adds that she has a sewing machine at home but is apprehensive about the costs involved to start a business fully based on her own stitching. I will have to buy material and if the garments don’t sell fast enough, I will not make any money,” says Padmasri, but nevertheless adds,Maybe sometime later I will try.”Asked if she has ever been to Maharagama, she says no.
In Jaffna town, which is now a dynamic commercial centre, the manager of the Quency Bookshop, a leading supplier of educational material, especially medical books, proudly says that they import many books for popular bookshops in Colombo.
For medical books we are number one in the country. Sinhalese medical students in Jaffna University come here in search ofbooks they cannot find in Colombo and buy long lists of books for their medical college friends in Colombo,” states A.S. Roy, in charge of the shop owned by his family members.
The bookshop is well equipped with Tamil translations of many books on Hindu philosophy as well as popular English classics and self-help books. The conversation shifts to the post-war context and Roy speaks of his Catholic background and his interaction with many Buddhist priests through the Don Bosco Salesian missionaries in Sri Lanka, the institution he received his education from.Being still connected with the Don Bosco mission, I have got involved in building rural temple schools and have been introduced to some very spiritual Buddhist monks,” states Roy.
Call for unity
Like almost all Jaffna dwellers he displays a great reluctance to ‘talk politics’. What is the use of talking about politics? It is far better if we find a rural Sinhala or Muslim village that needs help or help the people of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu whole are currently affected by floods. We are the people of Sri Lanka and we have to stand in unison,” he adds.
And as yet another year begins, the sole wish of the people of Jaffna is to be allowed to build their district as per their culture and live in unity with the rest of the people of Sri Lanka.
By Frances Bulathsinghala/South Asian Monitor Courtesy NewsIn.Asia
It is during the busy Christmas week that I boarded the night bus to Jaffna and taken to a world away from the glitter and glamour of seasonal festivities in the Colombo, which, depending on your temperament, could be just too much on your nerves.
Jaffna, that historic ancient Tamil kingdom in Sri Lanka’s north, is dotted with Hindu temples and is known for a resilient people. For 30 years, it was only known for a bloody war which cost hundreds of lives as the Tamil Tiger rebels fought the military with the aim of setting up a separate North-Eastern state.
In the mayhem that followed from the 1980s to 2009 when the war ended, what was forgotten was that Jaffna was a seat of spirituality and the home to many sages and seers. Many wandering mystics were found, especially in Nallur, a suburb of Jaffna town, which was the capital of the Tamil kings of the district and famed for the majestic Nallur temple, the most important shrine dedicated to Karthikeya, also known as Murugan. Areas such as Colombothurai and Velvettithurai, besides several others, were also known for Hindu andsufiascetics and mystics who did not identify with any religious doctrine as such but sought to be one with the universe. In the 1950s, 60s and 70s, Jaffna was known to provide spiritual solace to many who sought it, whether from the south of Sri Lanka or from foreign lands.
It is this vanished Jaffna that I wished to resurrect as I packed my bag and left behind the festive madness of Christmas, which sadly does not resonate with the spiritual significance of a great sage being born in utter poverty in a manger. Reaching Jaffna at 5 am and after a quick breakfast, my inquiries with a few Christian priests revealed that Jaffna was home to many Hindu mystics andsufi fakirsand that many public spaces in the district, such as the bases of large trees and in front of places of worship, would be occupied by them. There were several ashrams where the ascetics lived.
I am keen to find some living proof of Jaffna’s mystique past. I am told that the ashram of the famed sage, Yogaswami, is not very far away. Although Yogaswami passed away in 1964, most people in Jaffna have heard of him. Yogaswami transcended all religious faiths. He was educated in a well-known Christian school in Jaffna and that he was well versed with the wisdom of the gospels of the Bible and the Holy Quran and that he would name Allah during Muslim festivals and of the sufis. Legend has it that during monsoons, wandering mystics who had no home of their own but the whole of the Jaffna at their disposal, would laugh and walk about in the roads and alleys, even in the downpour, arm in arm. There were many such sages – Kadaiyit Samiyaar, Varidapappara Desiyar and Thuththukudi Samiyar.
These men preached peace. It is not hard on the imagination because the Jaffna of today retains the simplicity and charm as opposed to Colombo’s gigantic buildings that have come in the name of ‘development.’ Jaffna town’s industrious people have rebuilt their homes that were destroyed in the war. Bicycles and motorcyles ply the roads, as do cattle which are in no hurry to make way for humans.
The smaller roads in Jaffna’s suburbs are a haven of tranquility and greenery, and the welcoming smiles of the people when they recognize a ‘non-Jaffna person’ warms one’s heart. My objective, however, is Yogaswami’s ashram which is located on K K S Road, 5 kms outside of Jaffna town.
The Yogaswami ashram, also known as Sivathondam, is a modest but well-kept building. From its interior emerges a young man with sacred ash smeared on his forehead and dressed in a whitevertiof the kind associated with Hindu temples. His name is Muralitharan, he informs, and his father runs a similar ashram in eastern Batticaloa devoted Yogaswami. Muralitharan hands out a few books on the sage, including one that contains Yogaswami’s songs and preachings.
Yogaswami of Nallur
Muralitharan explains that there have been several other disciples of Yogaswami, such as Cellathurai Swami, the immediate successor, who took over as resident teacher at the Jaffna and Batticaloa ashrams. There was also Santhaswamy, (birth name James Ramsbotham), the son of Lord Soulbury, the last British Governor General of Sri Lanka, then known as Ceylon. A Christian by birth, Santhaswamy had written ‘Recapitulation of the Lord’s Prayer, with deep reflection.
As we speak, a doctor from a Jaffna hospital walks in for his daily meditation and I am invited by Muralitharan to take a look at the ashram which includes large photographs of an aged Yoyaswami with his silver hair tied in a knot and bowed down in a posture of meditation.
After leafing through the pages of a few of the books that Muralitharan gave me, I go into the room where the things Yogaswami used are kept. More smiles welcome me. Later, when I join Muralitharan in the pristine surroundings, he serves some soya coffee. Being a Christian and a Sinhalese, I am happy that no one at the ashram is interested in the religion, caste or creed of others. The ashram is in essence one of the Hindu tradition and on the lines of Saivism.
Sipping coffee, I first read through a booklet by Susunaga Weeraperuma, by birth a Sinhalese and Buddhist, and an eminent writer of spirituality-related subjects, on how as a young man from Colombo who then could not even afford the train fare to Jaffna, he was miraculously accorded the secret wish of his heart to meet Yogaswami.
The story goes that he was accosted by an aged Tamil gentleman from Jaffna one evening in a Colombo suburb while ruminating on some universal truths, sitting on a beachside rock. The old man told him that he must come to Jaffna and that he will fund his trip. Subsequntley, a Sinhalese Buddhist man who did not have any friends or relatives in Tamil-majority Jaffna, ended up staying there for over a month. Finally, when his host decided it was time to meet Yogaswami, the sage greeted Susunaga with a broom, declaring, I am doing a coolie’s job,” he said, asking, why have you come to see a coolie?” An hour or so later after serving his guests breakfast, the sage lapsed into a state of meditation but soon after said: Look at those trees. They are meditating. Meditation is silence. If you realize that you really know nothing, then you would be truly meditating. Such truthfulness is the right soil for silence. Silence is meditation.”
A large book titled ‘Yogaswami: Life and Spiritual Guidance’ contains accounts of people of many faiths, who recall their association with the sage. One of the personages who was a devotee of Yogaswami was the famous Muslim Supreme Court judge and solicitor general of Ceylon, M T Akbar who was known to have practiced the humane teachings of Islam to perfection. He would retire to his chambers to seek forgiveness of Allah whenever he passed the death sentence.
The meditation hall upstairs is spacious, kept meticulously clean and has the pleasing scent of incense. Not much is known about Yogaswami’s younger days but it is said that when his mother died he refused to follow in the footsteps of his father who was a businessman in the hilly region of Maskeliya in the central province. In his early youth he worked as a storekeeper under a British boss and soon left this to ‘become nothing.’ His guru is said to be another Jaffna ascetic known as Chellapah Swami, who was a homeless, wandering man. Soon young Yogaswami decided that he would follow in the footsteps of this sage and was reportedly made to do rigorous penance ortapas, probably to test the young devotee’s fortitude.
For much of his life, the open skies and the benevolence of trees were Yogaswami’s shelter. It is said that he came to occupy a small vacant hut at the insistence of a compassionate old woman and that is where his first devotees gathered. His various so-called miracles, some absolutely astounding, are recorded in the books written on him. Significantly, among Yogaswami’s last words before he passed away was a prediction of the tragedy that was to occur in Jaffna in the years that followed from the 1980s to 2009, where he saw ‘temples crashing to the ground.’
Scroll down for 15 stunning images and reasons why you can’t afford to leave Sri Lanka off your bucket list for much longer.
Nine Arches Bridge, Ella, Sri Lanka.Shutterstock.com
It has the highest density of elephants in Asia.
You have to watch out for elephants on the road.Tom Murray / INSIDER
Sri Lanka has around 5,800 wild elephants wandering around its national parks. One of the best places to witness these gentle giants is Udawalawe National Park, which is home to about 600 elephants that roam in herds of up to 50.
You may even see elephants on the roads, where they often interrupt traffic — it’s usually best to let them pass.
Be warned: There are a number of so-called elephant orphanages and sanctuaries that are very popular with tourists. However, some have been highlighted by PETA for animal abuse as the elephants are often chained up and controlled by a mahout wielding a bullhook.
Basically, anywhere that allows you to ride the elephants should be a no-go.
Views don’t get much better than sunrise over Adam’s Peak.
Sunrise over Adam’s Peak.danilovi / Getty Images
I defy you to find a better view than this — it’s not possible.
Adam’s Peak (Sri Pada) climbs 2,243 metres (7,359 feet) into the air and is known for its depression at the peak, which Buddhists believe to be the footprint of the Buddha.
The climb itself should take you around 2-4 hours depending on your level of fitness and is best done first thing for an incredible sunrise view.
This shot was taken from the monastery, which is located right on the top of the peak.
Historic Galle Fort is great for shopping and dining.
The best way to spend the evening in Galle Fort is to walk along its old streets and visit local cafe or restaurant.Shutterstock.com
While the city of Galle now stretches far beyond the ramparts, the fort itself (built up by the Dutch in the 17th century) has been painstakingly maintained and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
There are plenty of historical monuments to visit, but its also a great place to peruse shops at leisure and stop off at cafés and restaurants for refreshments.
Sigiriya Rock Fortress is one of Sri Lanka’s most formidable attractions. The delights of the 660-foot summit require a vertigo-inducing stair climb to the top.
You’ll also have to walk through a colossal stone gate, carved in the likeness of lion’s paws — no wonder King Kasyapa (477 – 495 AD) didn’t get many visitors…
The train journeys are among the most scenic in the world.
Nine Arches Bridge is one of the top things to see in Sri Lanka.Tom Murray / INSIDER
Sri Lanka is famous for its train journeys, which can take you pretty much anywhere in the country for the price of a coffee in the US or Europe.
Perhaps the best in terms of scenery, though, is the trip between Kandy and Ella through Sri Lanka’s central highlands.
During the journey, you’ll climb over 4,000 feet, and gaze over verdant tea terraces, vast valleys, tunnels, bridges and villages.
You may recognise the scene above — a train crossing over Nine Arches Bridge near Ella — from innumerable sepia-toned travel blogs.
Luxury hotels are opening in Sri Lanka at a rate of knots. From the chic boutiques in Galle Fort, to the sprawling resorts on the west coast — there’s a hotel for everyone on the island.
There’s also plenty of eco-luxury offerings like Gal Oya Lodge(pictured), which forgo the modern trappings of things like WiFi and flat-screen TVs to offer a truly elemental but relaxing experience.
It’s a great alternative to Africa for safari drives.
You’ll be really lucky to get a view like this.Shutterstock.com
While it doesn’t boast Africa’s famous Big Five, Sri Lanka’s Big Four (leopards, elephants, sloth bears, and blue whales) are becoming an increasing draw for nature tourists from around the world.
Most recent estimates put Sri Lanka’s leopard population at just 700-950, making it “vulnerable” in the IUCN Red List. However, if you go to one of the big parks like Yala or Kumana, the big cats are a little more accustomed to human contact and thus more likely to wander out in front of you.
We found that the best safari experience, though, was off the beaten track in Gal Oya, where the tourist-crammed Jeeps are few and far between.
It has stunning beaches too.
Aerial panorama of the tropical beach in the town of Mirissa, Sri Lanka.Shutterstock.com
Believe it or not, this beach is not found in the Caribbean or Hawaii, it is in fact on the southern tip of Sri Lanka in the town of Mirissa.
Sri Lanka might not be known outright for its beach scene yet, but that will soon change. While Lonely Planet’s top recommendation is only likely to send a spike in visits to the island, tourism is still young enough in Sri Lanka that you can find that empty stretch of sandy beach, if you look hard enough.
The west coast, in particular, is being increasingly built up by resorts.
It has a sprawling ancient city.
Exterior of the entrance to the Isurumuniya rock temple in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka.Shutterstock.com
Anuradhapura, the capital city of Sri Lanka’s North Central Province, is a place of great archaeological and cultural significance.
Thought to be settled in the fourth century, it was Sri Lanka’s first capital and many of the relics of the ancient Sinhalese residents remain. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage site and a must-visit for anyone interested in religious history.
The country is obsessed with cricket.
There are much worse stadiums than Galle International.Stu Forster / Getty Images
Sri Lanka is even more obsessed with cricket than the Brits are.
You’ll struggle to find a patch of grass that doesn’t have a bowling green lurking on it somewhere.
Even if you’re not into cricket, there are far worse ways to while away an afternoon than watching the sunset over the picturesque Galle International Stadium.
It has an ancient cave network full of Buddha statues.
Dambulla Cave Temple has five caves under a vast overhanging rock and dates back to the first century BC.Shutterstock.com
Located in the island’s centre is Dambulla Cave Temple, Sri Lanka’s largest and best-preserved cave network.
Thought to date back to the first century BC, this cave monastery is a sacred pilgrimage site with five caves and 157 statues of the Buddha.
If you’re visiting Sri Lanka between July and August then you might just be lucky enough to witness the Kandy Esala Perahera — AKA the Festival of the Tooth.
This Buddhist pageant pays homage to the Sacred Tooth Relic for which Kandy is famous and is notable for its elephants, which proceed through Kandy wearing lavish garments and lights.
The food — especially hoppers.
Traditional Sri Lankan breakfast with egg hoppers.Shutterstock.com
Sri Lanka has what might just be the most versatile snack on the planet: the hopper.
Hoppers have been described by Indian Chef Madhur Jaffrey as the love child of a crêpe and a crumpet and can host anything from a baked egg to curries and spicy coconut relishes.
“They’re like a healthy burger – for those who don’t mind a bit of dribble,” Emily Dobbs, who serves the pancakes at her street food stall, Weligama, at London’s Druid Street market, told The Telegraph.
Oh, and don’t get me started on the curries…
There’s more tea than you can shake a stick at.
Tea factories are omnipresent in central Sri Lanka.Shutterstock.com
It’s hard to believe that the sweltering beaches of the east and the south are even part of the same country as the temperate climates of the island’s central highlands, which are dominated by verdant tea terraces.
The 13th November, 2018 the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, against the advice of the Attorney General, issuing a stay order for the dissolution of Parliament and calling for General elections by the President of Sri Lanka was the darkest day of Sri Lanka’s 2600 years old history. Because that Supreme Courts stay order deprived the people, who had suffered economically, socially and culturally for three and a half years, the only occasion they had to change the most repressive government there ever was in Sri Lanka dominated by Ranil Wickramasinghe and his UNP, supported by the Tamil National Alliance and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna.
If the Supreme Court had not contributed to the disaster that followed their unwise decision, there would have been a General Election on the 5th January,2019 and the people would have got rid of a repressive government and replaced it with a government of their’ choice.
That would have avoided the Ranil Wickramasinghe- Sumandiran Government preparing a new Constitution and forcing it to be passed in parliament to drive the final nail in the coffin, (where the 2600 year old Sri Lanka with its Buddhist culture that nurtured a nation, with Theravada Buddhism- a beacon of light that could save the world from falling into a dark age of human suffering, repression, crime and savagery), which would be laid to rest.
With the end of Sri Lanka, Orumitta Nadu (in the internet Sri Lanak is already called Oruma Nadu) will replace it. A new order would be organised by Tamil National Alliance building their Tamil Eelam State- the dream with which the terrorists perished in 2009.
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna would be the lackeys of the Capitalist UNP in the south making the people slaves living on the crumbs falling from the tables of these political criminals.
The Supreme Court should not have issued the interim order Staying the Gazette Notification for the dissolution of the Parliament, as President Sirisena had acted in good faith in the interest of the country and the people. The President’s intention was to find relief for the people from a repressive Government led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe who had politically disabled the President with the introduction of the 19 th Amendment.
The Prime Minister Ranil W is a double faced hypocrite, who duped the President right from the beginning robbing the Central Bank, signing contracts with other countries without any prior consultation with the President or the Parliament. Ranil Wickramasinghe had the 19th Amendment to the Constitution prepared by his Western allies who had couched it in terms hiding the true effect of the amendment. Thereafter it was convenient for Ranil W the Prime Minister to usurp the powers of the President for himself.
In this great betrayal of the people by the Ranil Wickramasinghe on the 26th October, 2018, when he was Constitutionally removed from the office of Prime Minister, he illegally occupied the Temple Trees housing it with all his local thugs and foreign supporters and rebelled against the President. President Sirisena who had had enough of his misdeeds had been waiting for a chance to rid of him. The chance came when the UPFA faction of the Yahapalanaya informed the Speaker that it was leaving the coalition. Hence, with the split of the Yahapalanaya Cabinet, the Prime Minister according to the relevant Article of the Constitution lost his office of Prime Minister.
It was then that the President Sirisena called Mahinda Rajappakse- against whom he played the key role to defeat him at the Presidential Elections in January,2015, to take over the Office of Prime Minister, as he knew Mahinda Rajapakse was nevertheless an honest and a capable man to save the country from the precipice of disaster Ranil Wickramasinhghe was trying to roll it over.
Everything had been in order according to the Constitution. But these facts had been ignored by the wise judges of the Supreme Court, when they examined the 13 FR applications against the gazette notification issued by the Presidents for the dissolution of Parliament and call for General Elections.
The People who had suffered for three and a half years under the heavy economic burdens put upon them by the Yahapalanaya Government came out spontaneously to rejoice the change and Mahinda Rajapakse they loved being appointed as the Prime Minister.
Under these circumstances one cannot still understand how it was that the Supreme Court ignored the Article 33 of the Constitution, as against Article 70. The 19th Amendment had not removed it, or those who drafted the 19the Amendment did not see the importance of the article 33 ( or simply forgot to remove it), therefore the Article 33 remains legally in force to mitigate the effect of the article 70 which rules out the dissolution of the Parliament for four and a half years, which is against all democratic parliamentary norms.
Hence the President Sirisena in using Article 33 as an emergency exit after having removed the Prime Minister to dissolve the Parliament and call for a General election was acting legally and within his Constitutional right. That was why even the Attorney General correctly advised the Supreme Court to reject the 13 FR applications against the Presidents dissolution of the Parliament and calling of elections as unacceptable.
These are some of the reasons why even the people begin to question whether, as much as Ranil Wickramasinghe, his UNP and its allies, the TNA and the JVP were partners in this great betrayal to deny the people their democratic right of electing a new set of Parliamentarians at a General election, whether the Supreme Court too had a hand in it, in issuing an interim order against the dissolution of Parliament by the President as illegal.
The courts take shelter under legal immunity and independence , to allow the country to be destroyed by a government acting bereft of patriotism, proved to have other interests than the welfare of the people. The courts should be independent of the executive and the legislature but not independent from the people.
That is why the appeal court order which stopped the Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and his Cabinet of Ministers from functioning on the ground explained in confusing verbiage, that they are irresponsible and they cannot be trusted to take irrevocable decisions, is not comprehensible.
Were the judges really acting on their own or were they being influenced by unknown Divine” forces to make them understand that Mahinda Rajapakse is an irresponsible politician despite his saving the country from ruthless terrorism, and that he cannot be trusted governing as Prime Minister despite his having been the President of Sri Lanka twice and remains loved and respected by a large majority of Sinhala Buddhists of the country ?
I Came to Sri Lanka all the way from Germany, fell in love with not only with a Sri Lanka Lass but also with this resplendent island with a clear blue ocean with ample space for leisure, relaxing and entertaining my friends .
So I bought a land facing the sea in Kalpitiya, built a house and a pier to reach the sea planning to build a Yacht by a boat building accompany in Sri Lanka.
Encouraged my German fiends to do the same.
I manged to Built a beautiful Yacht by a Sri Lankan company run by a Norwegian planning to just sail from my house into the sea without knowing rough sea of bureaucracy to be faced in getting various approval from Sri Lankan Authorities.
Well, it started with the Director Merchant Shipping who wants to register the yacht under Sri Lankan Flag and asked me to build under the supervision of Lloyds Register of shipping .I was surprised as the boat builder is quite experienced and promised to builds a safe, technically sound boat to carry about six passengers .It costed more but I adhered to the rule.
Importing two outboard engines from Germany was another task as Ministry of Defence has to give approval to import powerful engines .
Managed to jump the hurdle with help from some Sri Lankan friends who knew how to get things done and it took three months.
Ready to sail, but I am supposed to have VHF and radio equipment, which needs TRC (Telecommunication Regulatory Commission) approval. Again my good friend who knew people in TRC got it done ( I am not sure how he could do it as I was told that it will take three months or more)
OK , now ready to sail on Christmas day from Kalpitiya to Galle via Beruwala and Mirissa with my German Friends.
Coast Guard asked me to get permission from MOD Ministry of Defence) thru the Navy .Sent my Man-Friday to Colombo with all Lloyds approvals, and other details and drawings etc. with a form to MOD .
Navy consent went to MOD and they took a day to release the permission to sale with full of conditions.
Copy of the letter came to Kalpitiya Navy Camp Chief Officer who was little glittery to allow to sail
Managed to sail again after involvement of the Director Operations in Navy and we sailed on Christmas day
After returning home I wanted to sail again with some other friends .
Navy in Kalpitiya was against sailing requesting me to get same type of approval again from MOD.
It was the weekend and I dropped the idea as offices in Colombo are closed.Last week I sent a form seeking approval to sail. Letter went to Navy again and MOD and two days gone .My good friend called the Commander of the Navy and sought help who authorised sailing .
I took the letter to Kalipinya Navy Commander who refused to allow me sail demanding that copy of the letter should come to him direct from MOD .
He was demanding that I should get approval from Director Merchant shipping as well and get the Yacht registered under a Sri Lankan Flag costing me over 3000 Dollars
I applied for the registration and Kalpitiya Navy Chief (name withheld) made ludicrous demand that I should get permission from Department of Wild Life to sail!!
I was dumfounded and irritated and asked him whether I am will be sailing to shoot leopards or deer?
He said that is the rule! He asked us whether we are taking any fishermen in the boat and do fishing.
I said that I may do game fishing on the way to Galle .He said that I have to get permission to do fishing !
My German friends who wanted to build summer houses in Sri Lanka and build Yachts in Sri Lanka decided not to get involved in this procedure.
I READ IN THE PAPERS THAT SRI LANKA WANTS TO DEVELOP BLUE ECONOMY AND EXPORT BOATS FROM SRI LANKA .
IN ORDER TO EXPORT BOATS , SRI LANKA SHOULD DEVELOP THEIR OWN HOME INDUSTRY AND CREATE MARINAS SO THAT OUTSIDERS COME AND INVEST.
MY SINCERE ADVISE TO ALL DECISION MAKERS IN THIS COUNTRY THAT IT IS ESSENTIAL TO GET THIS UNBERABLE RED TAPE AND CREAT CONDITION FOR A SUSTAINABLE BLUE ECONOMY.
PS
I forgot to mention that Excise Boys raided me and confiscated all my booze which was Stored for Christmas claiming that I was going to sell them
