{"id":105846,"date":"2020-08-24T14:59:23","date_gmt":"2020-08-24T21:59:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=105846"},"modified":"2020-08-24T14:59:23","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T21:59:23","slug":"abolish-the-white-elephant-and-the-curse-that-is-provincial-councils-and-its-root-the-jr-rajiv-accord-of-29th-july-1987-at-least-now-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/08\/24\/abolish-the-white-elephant-and-the-curse-that-is-provincial-councils-and-its-root-the-jr-rajiv-accord-of-29th-july-1987-at-least-now-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Abolish the white elephant and the curse that is Provincial Councils and its root the JR\/ Rajiv Accord of 29th July 1987 at least now."},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr.Sudath Gunasekara\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

(Please note\nthat this is a revised version of an article I wrote to Lankaweb on 7.6. 2018\nand 10. 3. 2020  on the same subject up\ndated to suit the present situation)  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lakisuru Gothaabhaya Rajapaksha Metitumani !<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The whole\nnation, and at least the 6.5 million of us whom have voted you at the\nPresidential election  and the SLPP on 5th<\/sup>  August demand Your Excellency to abolish the\nwhite elephant and the curse that is Provincial Councils and its root the JR\/\nRajiv Accord of 29th July 1987 at least now, before this Indian born Rathaksiya\ngobble up the Sinhala Buddhist Nation and this whole Island in its entirety in\nno time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While\ncongratulating again for the historic and unprecedented victory  you have gained, as I predicted on the\n14th   Nov via my E-mail, addressed to\nyou (Published in Lankaweb) and also while adoring  all patriotic and courageous steps you have\nalready taken since then up to date like no other President, such as the brief\nbut dignified speech you made  at the\nElection Commissioners office on the day you were declared elected as the\nPresident of this country and your historic address to the nation at the\nswearing in ceremony under the shadow of Ruwanweli Seya  (which I have been yearning for 14 years for\nthe Head of the State to do), the most sacred Buddhist Stupa in the world and\nthe crest jewel of the Sinhala Nation and the dignified address from the Thrown\non 20th<\/sup> August you have restored an age old tradition followed by\nour ancient Sinhala Kings, signifying a turning point in the history of this\nIsland nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore  the lean interim cabinet of 15 Ministers, the\nsmallest since 1956, the excellent way you have handled all Indian politicians\nand the Indian press on you visit just concluded and many more wise and bold\ndecisions you have taken since you assumed Office, I am writing this note to\nyou  to earnestly request you to  abolish the JR\/ Rajiv Accord of 1987 and the\ndisastrous 13th Amendment that gave birth to Provincial Councils and  many an inconsistencies and historical\ntravesties in the Island\u2019s long and checkered history  (explained in detail below), to rescue this  unique tiny Island nation from disappearing\nforever from this planet earth in few years due to disintegration, disunity and\ninfighting between Bhoomiputra Sinhalese and intruder Tamil and Muslim ethnic\ngroups, resulting from this  well designed\nIndian political Atom  bomb called the\nProvincial Councils, planted  to destroy\nthis 2500 year old Glorious Sinhala Buddhist civilization, an all-time\npride  and  a garland for human civilization on this\nplanet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I identify the\nfollowing catastrophes resulting from these two Indian prescriptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Complete breakdown of district administration<\/strong><\/li>
  2. Complete disintegration and division of the Sri Lankan State in to a\nnumber of different ethnic and religious enclaves at logger heads fighting for its\nresources like land and water and supremacy over the others threatening its\nunitary status and sovereignty as a nation. <\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    3 Destabilization of governance resulting in complete\nanarchy due to break down in governance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    • Colossal wastage of Public funds with no benefit to the people or\nthe country in trillions  rupees<\/strong><\/li>
    • Since the first elections for\nProvincial Councils took place on 28 April 1988 this is how public funds have\nbeen spent or rather wasted on their upkeep. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Sri Lanka\nProvincial Councils: Expenditure<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      1996 – 2017 | Yearly | LKR mn | Ministry of Finance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

       Sri Lanka\u2019s Provincial Councils: Expenditure\ndata was reported at 286,031.000 LKR mn in Dec 2017. This records an increase\nfrom the previous number of 276,147.000 LKR mn for Dec 2016. Sri Lanka\u2019s Provincial\nCouncils: Expenditure data is updated yearly, averaging 103,769.000 LKR mn from\nDec 1996 to 2017, with 22 observations. The data reached an all-time high of\n286,031.000 LKR mn in 2017. So with an average of almost 104 mn you can\nvisualize how much national wealth has gone down the drain for the past 31\nyears, that is approximately 3224 mn or 3.2 Billion. What a colossal wastage\nand a pathetic and unpardonable misuse of public funds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The other\nimportant aspect is much of this money has gone for unproductive items like\nsalaries and remunerations of Politicians and public Servants, buildings,\nvehicles, meaningless regular and luxury tamasas in five start hotels, foreign\njoy trips and other activities unrelated to development. Once the Secretary of\nthe Ministry in charge of this subject told me that only 10 % of voted funds is\nspent on capital work and the balance 90 % is spent for recurrent activities\nwhich do not contribute anything for development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      With all this\nwastage of Public funds the billion dollar question the people of this country\nask is what benefit PCC have brought to the Country since 1987. Beside the\ncolossal financial lost to the country, the political, and administrative and\ninstitutional mess, chaos and confusion by way of duplication of institutions,\nand increase of an utterly unproductive and lotus eater set of politicians, and\npublic servants. What benefits it has brought to the country over the past 31\nyears. Officials, offices and expenditure have exponentially increased in the\nratio of 1 to 15 with zero output. It also has brought about a complete\nbreakdown of the once highly efficient District Administration in this country.\nThus the Provincial Councils have come to stay as a veritable Huniyama for this\ncountry\u2019s peril. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Why we should have Provincial Councils at all<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      In this back\ndrop I pose the pertinent question as to why we should have Provincial Councils\nat all in this country; today the whole nation asks?  Who asked for Provincial Councils?  Was it a request by the people of this country\nor by some genius politicians for better governance? No one at Home asked for\nit. It was India who proposed it first, to appease the Tamilnadu electorate to\nconsolidate power at Home by imposing it on the Sri Lankan President by force,\nalmost at gunpoint, well timed, when there was an old and weak President as the\nHead of Government. I still remember how India invaded our air space with their\nwar jets and dropped parippu? to the north and how arrogantly and\nundiplomatically their Ambassador Dixit behaved in front of the elderly\nStatesman JR, the Head of this country at his Ward place residence, as if Dixit\nwas the viceroy of India conveying the message of the Indian \u2018King,\u2019\nthreatening a Head of a Vassal State of India of an imminent Indian invasion of\nthe Island, if he refuses to sign the Accord. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The Accord was\nstrategically designed by India , to divide and destabilize  this country on  an ethnic basis giving Tamils full power to\nown and rule nearly half of the country including the North and East and\nCentral Sri Lanka (inclusive of Central, Sabaragamuwa and Uva Provinces),\nalthough India did not clearly specify these three Provinces. This was nothing\nbut an extension of the same divide and rule policy started by the colonial\nBritish in 1832 by the creation the Provinces in a different form. This Indian\nconspiracy becomes crystal clear when we analyze the following impositions\nIndia made on this country by the Rajiv\/JR Accord of 29th July 1987.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      1 The\ndeclaration of the Northern and Eastern Provinces comprising 1\/ 3 the land area\nof the Island as the Traditional Home land\u201d of the Tamil People that was a\ncomplete travesty of the Islands authentic history. These two Provinces have\nnever been a traditional Tamil land at any time of known history. On the\ncontrary this whole Island had been the traditional Homeland of the Sinhala\npeople at least from 543 BC and it is a historical fact accepted by all\nhistorians, other than the Tamils and Indian politicians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      First, this\nAccord enabled the Tamils to claim 1\/3 of the land area of the country for a\nmere 5 lahks Tamils and thereby depriving any Sinhalese or Muslims being\nsettled there while Tamils can settle down in any part of the Island<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Second, giving\nTamils the right to own 1\/3 of the country, 2\/3 the coastal belt and nearly 3\/5\nof the marine territory and its resources including the Trincommallee harbor,\nthe best natural harbor in Asia  and the\nsecond best in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Thus this Accord\ndeprived the Bhoomiputras, the Sinhalese their birth right over their Motherland,\nwhich their ancestors have protected against all foreign invasions, both Indian\nand European for 2500 years and enjoyed for millennia as their beloved\nmotherland from the dawn of history. This Accord was designed by India in order\nto fix the last nail on the Sinahla nation, with a vicious plan to annex the\nIsland to India in future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

       Third Made Tamil also an Official language,\nnullifying Sec 18 of the Constitution of the Republic whereas even in India\nTamil is not recognized as an Official language in spite of the fact that there\nare nearly 70 million Tamils there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Fourth forced  Sri Lanka to give Citizenship to all estate\nTamils of Indian origin in the Central, Sabargamauwa and Uva Provinces and even\nIndians living in other parts of the country even if they are illicit\nimmigrants, disregarding all internationally accepted norms and our own laws on\nthe subject of granting citizenship to foreigners in any country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Fifth imposed\nthat the Northern and Eastern Provinces should be merged to form one Tamil\nProvince with provision to merge two or more Provinces as one in future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Thus in sum the\nAccord completely destroyed the Independence, sovereignty, the Unitary status\nand the freedom of this Island Nation and i1987 Constitution as well, within\nfew minutes, by one man Junies Richard Jayawardana against Island wide protests\norganized by the Opposition and the objections by some of his own Ministers,\nreducing this country to a veritable vassal State of the Subcontinent without\nany resistance. This was meek submission on the part of JR he committed for\nsurvival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

       Therefore while taking action to abolish this\nAccord, I also earnestly request you to reverse the above 4 conditions as early\nas possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      JR was forced to\naccept the Accord almost at gunpoint and India laid down these 4 serious\nconditions reducing the 1987 Constitution to a mere paper scrap. Adding to this\nJR created PCC to all other Provinces as well accelerating the process of\ndivision and disintegration and leading to future political and administrative\nconfusion. This Accord was signed under Island wide emergency and after confining\nall his MPP to a five star Hotel having obtained their undated letters of\nresignation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The\nimplementation of this Accord, to its logical conclusion will definitely wipe\nout the Sinhala Buddhist nation from the surface of this planet in the long\nrun. Therefore the crying need, to abolish it immediately, with no delay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      It is in this\ndangerous and disastrous backdrop that I urge all patriotic people to rise\nagainst this Accord and disastrous Provincial Councils to strengthen the\nPresident\u2019s hands and request him to abrogate it immediately as it constitutes\nthe foundation for the division of this small country in to 9 antagonistic\npieces and finally falling in to the hands of India (As you know Sir a\nscrambled egg can never be un-scrambled). \nThis is exactly what the people of this country have been agitating and\ndemanding every government, for the past 31 years. But tragically it has not\nfallen on the deaf ears of our selfish and timid and power hungry politicians\nwho have no concern for the country or the future of the people. The SLFP under\nSirimavo protested against it right from the beginning although later it also\nembraced it without realizing the inherent dangers that underlies these clauses\nof the Accord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Let us abolish these PCC immediately<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      As such why talk\nof PCC elections now, instead of abolishing this national curse and disaster\nimmediately? This is a crucial political decision long overdue that has to be\ntaken by a patriotic statesman like you, who loves this country and its people,\nin order to save this country from an imminent total political, economic,\nsocial and cultural disaster in the offing. In fact this is a priority decision\nthat has to be taken as early as possible by your Government. The whole country\nwants it to go. Once the Accord is abolished, the 13th A and the PCC set up\nunder that will also get abolished automatically. We all expected MR to do this\nimmediately after the 2009 when he had all the power including a 2\/3 in\nParliament.  Had he done that then no one\ncould have dared to contest it. But unfortunately he did not do it.  Again he appears to promise the press today\nthat as soon as the General election is over they will have the PC elections. I\ndo not know whether he said so to garner the 2\/3 and abolish it thereafter. If\nthat is his plan the whole nation will admire him ore that his victory over the\nLTTE. I only hope he will not commit the same mistake he did after the 2010\nElection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Once the PCC are\ngone all superficial Office holders such as the so called 9 Governors, 9 \u2018Cheap\u2019\nMinisters, 45 Provincial Ministers and all such parasitic politicians who bleed\nthe nation to its bones will also go home relieving the burden they have\noverloaded on the country. Thereafter every one of them will at least plant a\nmanioc stem that will do some service at least to a wild boar. The professional\npublic servants presently working in these Councils will have no problem as\nthey could be accommodated in suitable places in the public service until they\nretire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Another reason\nwhy I argue for the abolition of PCC is the need to avoid a total disaster in\nDistrict Administration that will make any retrieval of governance in this\ncountry impossible. Furthermore that will put an end to all divisive political\nmanipulations such as federal status, self-determination, self-rule of Muslims\nand EELAM dreams of the Tamils. It will also save billions of rupees now being\nspent for the upkeep of these monkey cages and piggeries called Provincial\nCouncils infested with monkeys and goats, a political appendage and a dead\nweight around the nation\u2019s neck that has burdened the country for the past 31\nyears and destabilized the total administration almost beyond recovery. Finally\nit will also relive us from any future subversive Indian or Arabian invasions\nand conspiracies hatched to divide this country on ethnic basis with a dream of\nIndianization of this country or converting it to an Arab land as Hisbulla has\nplanned in the E astern Katthankudi area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

       I call upon all\nPatriotic people to make this request in one voice from the new President to\nabolish these monkey cages and dens of thieves that have exponentially\nincreased waste and corruption and completely ruined the decent political\nculture of this country for the past 31 years and multiplied separatists\ntendencies and communal agitations dragging the nation to complete\ndisintegration in future on ethnic lines with no chance of redemption in future<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      I know it very\nwell that no political party, even  the\nUNP that invented it under J.R. or even those who were against them in 1987\nwill ask for their abolition, as they use these Councils members to net votes\nat all elections for their political survival. But for the general public these\nCouncils are an eye sore when they see the way how public funds are been wasted\ncriminally on the upkeep of these useless lotus eater Governors, Chief\nMinisters, Ministers, Members, plethora of officials and the institutions that\nhouse them. Other than enjoying the luxuries of office, attending openings,\nweddings, funerals school functions like sport meets, temple functions, and\nvarious other social and private tamsas, roaming all over the world on pleasure\ntrips and running all over the country to show their loyalty to their political\nmasters,  misusing public funds, and\ncollecting votes and funds for their political leaders in Colombo and herding\npeople for their meetings like May day rallies and propaganda meetings of their\nmasters in Parliament who in turn ruin the whole country and throwing their\nweight on the innocent and helpless masses on the other hand, I ask these\nparasitic creatures as to what service they have done to the people or the\ncountry that pay their salaries and ill-gotten fabulous perks  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Why can\u2019t the SLPP (successor to SLFP), as a group who\nconstitutes the majority who opposed the 13th A in 1987 at least now agitate\nfor the abolition of this tragic national curse. The people hate this system\nand curse them too. Now that the SLPP that has come to power with a resounding\nvictory already has the Pradesiya Sabhas, the live wires of Local Government in\nits hand to organize the election campaign for them at the village and the\nlocal levels there is no need for a Provincial apparatus for elections either<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Now that the\ncountry has functioned smoothly without these parasitic and wasteful institutions,\nalmost for the past three years and has proved beyond all doubts their\nuselessness there is no justification for their retaining. A reorganize strong\nDistrict Administration headed by professional administrators will ensure\nbetter governance as it had been the indigenous system of administration in the\npast. Even the British adopted certain aspects of this system to run the\ncountry very effectively and efficiently for 133 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The Provincial\nCouncils have already become redundant and dysfunctional. As such if he SLPP\ncan get them abolished, its vote base will rise up exponentially at all future\nelections.  Therefore the SLPP will not\nlose anything by getting them abolished. Instead people will definitely rally\nround the party as a mark of appreciation and gratitude for relieving them of\nthis 31 year curse and disaster. Furthermore MR also can make use of this\ngolden opportunity to punish all those ungrateful rascals and double-dealers\nwho have betrayed him after the 2015 elections and send them permanently to\npolitical wilderness. In this backdrop if the SLPP do this, I can assure that\nthe grateful masses who have suffered for the past 31 years under this curse\nwill rally round it in a manner nobody would have ever imagined.  Besides increasing its vote base it will also\nbe doing a yeoman service by this country and the nation, for liberating this\ncountry out of this wishful Indian trap that has already done enormous\npolitical and economic damage to this country and that will definitely play the\nmain role in dividing and destabilizing this Island nation in future if we\nretained them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

       I can assure\nyou that the abolition of the Provincial Council curse and its umbilical code,\nthe Rajiv\/JR Accord will not be second to liberating the country from the LTTE\nin 2009 and it could be even a bigger achievement of higher historical\nsignificance.  It will definitely go down\nin history as another historic landmark in the Rajapaksa legend that has\nprevented this Island nation getting broken in to  9 Federal State of different  ethnic groups fighting for its land ,water\nand other resources that will finally make this country a hell on earth.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      India also\ncannot contest the abolition of the JR\/Rajiv Accord a s it had already been\nunilaterally broken by India at the very early stages, by not complying with\nits obligations in the Accord. As such it has ceased to have any legal validity\nas an international agreement signed between two countries<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Finally  now\nthat you have got also got a sweeping mandate to vital issues like repealing of\nthe 19th A and revising the electoral system by removing the preferential\nvoting, District representative system, removing the crazy National List and\nreducing the number of MPP in Parliament to a meaningful level, say about 150,\nand laying down qualifications for politicians like minimum education,\ncharacter, assets and residence within the electorate etc. so that returning to\nthe democratic practice of electing their representatives and  just governance is restored once again in\nthis Island nation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      More over from\nwhere are you going to get 1000 billion rupees to hold another election in few\nmonths at a time the economy is at rock bottom and debt liabilities are sky\nhigh? Isn\u2019t it we are going to get into deeper economic crisis by having the\nProvincial Councils? Isn\u2019t it a game of from frying the fan to the fire? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Therefore both in short term and long term interest\nthe most wises thing the Government can do now is to abolish this national\ncurse, the Provincial Councils. That is the wish of the whole nation<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Dr.Sudath Gunasekara\u00a0 (Please note that this is a revised version of an article I wrote to Lankaweb on 7.6. 2018 and 10. 3. 2020  on the same subject up dated to suit the present situation)   Lakisuru Gothaabhaya Rajapaksha Metitumani ! The whole nation, and at least the 6.5 million of us whom have voted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dr-sudath-gunasekara"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105846\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}