Whither Sri Lanka Today?

Do whatever you could do but believe me Karma will turn on you and on your progenies

by A Sri Lankan in London-2019-05-14

No one will benefit from this unrest and instability in Sri Lanka today. Each Sri Lankan will have to pay the price for this chaotic condition. We all know that some so-called Muslim radicals have done these barbaric attacks on Easter Sunday. The entire Muslim community condemned it. Moreover, the Sri Lankan Muslim community did not approve the bodies of those suicide bombers to be buried in the Muslim graveyard. This, Muslim community has nothing to do with these radical suicide bombers. Muslim clerics, politicians, and academics have explicitly explained to public about these many times, through media, social networks and newspapers. Yet, these racist Sinhalese gangs cannot understand this.

Despite all clarifications that are made by Muslim political and religious leaders, anti-Muslim violence has been increasing for the last two weeks. Why cannot government and law enforcement agents bring peace and instability into the country? Who are going to lose out by all these chaos and anarchies? What do these Sinhalese racists want to get out of these violent attacks on innocent Muslim communities? what will they get at the end of the day? What message you want to send to the world by these violent activities? Whose properties and assets they are destroying now? Aren’t they national properties and assets of Sri Lanka? What worries me more is the silence of the majorities of Sinhalese community? Why do not Sinhalese community leaders come out and condemn these racial attacks on innocent Muslim community? Why cannot they demand the government to do something to stop this anarchy?

All what takes place in Kurunegala district is appalling and inhuman. It is estimated more than 86 small villages are in this district. Muslims are scarcely scattered in this district. Some of Muslim villages have less than 50 Muslim families surrounded completely by Sinhalese villages. These Sinhalese mobs have chosen weakest link among Sri Lankan Muslim community to attack with knives and wood sticks. 500 to 1000 mobs were going to village to village attacking mosques, shops and houses of Muslims in these villages. What crime these innocent Muslims have done to do this? All those connected with Sunday Easter attacks have been detained and jailed. Now do these mobs law in their hands? What message this sends about Sri Lanka today?

Most Muslim traders make their date to date living through these petty business and retail trading? Why do these racists enjoy in inflicting harm and damage on others? Is it what Jesus told you to do? Is it what Lord Buddha told to you? How did these youths descend into this level of unkindness? Where is the human consciousness of these people? I too strongly condemn so called Muslim radicals who committed barbaric suicidal attacks on innocent people. yet, why should Sinhalese youths follow them in their barbarism? Do not these racists think that they are damaging ecology and environment of Sri Lanka by burning down houses, properties and mosques? Why do they target mosques? I do not think that these are carried out by Sinhalese Roman Catholics of Sri Lanka? Some appalling reports are coming out now about these attacks and intimidation. Many Sri Lankan Muslims have been harassed, insulted, told off and affronted in many places across Sri Lanka. They have been ill-treated in government offices, hospitals, public transports, and many places? Yet, no action has been taken yet. For the last 8 years BBS has been unleashing violence against the Sri Lankan Muslim community. All their atrocities are well documented and recoded in audio and video records and yet, the Sri Lanka government apparatuses including judiciary has been silent on these collective crimes against the entire Muslim community. Why this indifferent attitude to the Muslim community now? Is it because of our faith and belief? If you do not like Muslims, why do you send more than 3 million Sri Lankans to Muslim countries to earn your foreign currencies? Why do you get aids and loans from Muslim countries? What a thanksgiving is this? What an ungratefulness is this?

I’m sorry to say that there are some crafty political motives behind these all attacks. Some politicians want to catch fish in trouble waters. They want to make use of these tense situations to isolate minority communities in order to increase their votes banks from the majority communities. Moreover, they want to send a message that this government is weak and powerless to control the situation so, send them home so that we could give you the stability in the country. I’m dismayed to see that all these attacks took place while the security forces and police were doing nothing to stop these mobs. It is reported that many of these attacks took place while curfew was imposed. What does this tell us? It tells us some elements of Sri Lankan police and military are directly supporting these Sinhalese racists? Why can not they stop these racists from burning houses, shops and mosques? Suppose if any other ethnic groups burn Sinhalese shops or houses, will they stay idle like this doing nothing? Recently STF shoot dead some Muslims during the riot at Aluthgama. Yet, when these racist mobs were attacking Muslim shops and mosques there was no shooting at least at sky to disperse these racists. This is nothing but an utter discrimination. This is nothing but to do maximum financial damage to the Muslim community.

Do whatever you could do but believe me Karma will turn on you and on your progenies. What will this bring to Sri Lanka. Far reaching consequences and repercussions of these attacks will be manifolds. It will tarnish a good name of Sri Lanka internationally. As a result of this we will see a dramatic decrease in tourist arrivals. Sri Lankan economy will suffer dramatically. Sri Lankan business sectors will suffer enormously. International investors will think twice before they invest anything in Sri Lanka. A lot of friends who want to visit Sri Lankan during the summer have already decided not to book any tickets to Sri Lanka this year. What about local trades and business? All will be affected by this violence and yet, some Sri Lankan police and STF were looking at these rioting people doing nothing? What kind of stupidity is this? Can you expect this kind of behaviour from any professional police force or military in the world? police in African countries will do better than Sri Lankan police. I think these racial elements among Sinhalese communities are real enemies of Sri Lanka. They destroy national wealth of Sri Lanka. How could they be loyal citizens of this nation? It is a duty of judiciary to find them all and put them all behind bars to teach them a lifetime lesson. These racists are destabilising law and order in Sri Lanka. There is no doubt about this. Do you need any more evidence for this? So, apprehend them all and put them behind the bar. Their criminal behaviours are not acceptable at all. whither Sri Lanka today? so bad to see this unfolding barbarism? 

MoF misled Parliament by providing bogus figures

Sumanthiran’s Committee flays Mangala’s Ministry

By C. A. Chandraprema-May 13, 2019, 6:58 pm 

The Parliamentary Committee on Public Finance in its report on the fiscal, financial and economic assumptions of the Budget for 2019, has issued a damning indictment of the Ministry of Finance stating that the MoF had deliberately misled Parliament. Due to doubts about the validity of the figures provided by the Ministry of Finance, the Committee on Public Finance has requested the Central Bank to formally assess the adequacy and validity of the assumptions framework of the current budget and to report to Parliament. The Treasury hitherto was a sacrosanct institution. The Treasury Secretary was the prima donna of the public service - in theory one among equals holding the position of ministry secretary but in practice standing above them all.

Today, this sacrosanct institution has had to stand before the Central Bank and be examined. The Central Bank is also no doubt a centre of excellence and technical competence but then the MoF is supposed to be the absolute bedrock of the country on which everything else is built. Now that image has been seriously called into question. The Parliamentary Committee on Public Finance is made up of the following Members of Parliament: M. A. Sumanthiran (Chairman), Susil Premajayantha, Bandula Gunawardana, Keheliya Rambukwella, Susantha Punchinilame, Bimal Rathnayake, Lakshman Wijemanne, Mylvaganam Thilakarajah, Mayantha Dissanayake, Mujibur Rahuman, Wijepala Hettiarachchi, Ashu Marasinghe, S. M. Mohamed Ismail.

One of the tasks of the Committee on Public Finance (CoPF) is to assess the fiscal, financial and economic assumptions used as bases in arriving at the budget estimates. Examined herein is the macro-economic framework relating to debt management, inflation, interest rates, exchange rates, fiscal deficits, and GDP growth. The CoPF observed that in past years too, many approved budget proposals have later been shelved or significantly altered, because the estimates and assumptions upon which the proposal was built was later found to have been defective and that such course corrections are costly, and are in essence failures of public finance management. The CoPF identified some of the fiscal measures in which the revenue or expenditure consequences are either undisclosed or obfuscated and explained that Parliament is not only provided with too little information, but is also substantially misled by the nature of information that is provided.

Going up or down?

One example given by the CoPF is the manner in which the revenues from the Betting & Gaming Levy are reported in the budget which led Parliament to be mislead on the fiscal consequences of the policy change. The ambiguous term ‘revised’ is consistently used while failing to specify that some revisions are tax increases, and others tax decreases.

The Budget Speech announced the revision of the license fee of casinos to Rs. 400 million per annum in a situation where the present rate was Rs. 200 million. This was a tax increase. A revision of the Betting and Gaming Levy on Rudjino games to Rs. 1,000,000 per annum was announced in a situation where the present levy was Rs. 200 million per annum - which represents a drastic tax reduction. The casino entrance fee was revised to USD 50 per person, in a situation where the present entrance fee was USD 100 per person the revision thus representing a halving of the existing tax. But due to the use of the ambiguous word ‘revision’ Parliament had no way of knowing whether the tax was going up or down. Measures that reduce collectable revenue, are presented to Parliament as measures that will achieve precisely the opposite.

The CoPF goes on to state that the way the Budget is presented is so vague that reductions in the Levy are presented as an increase and then Parliament is then misled even more by the Budget Estimates that present the consequence of these reductions as revenue enhancing rather than revenue decreasing measures! The Committee has pointed out how the reduction in the Betting and Gaming Levy charged from Rujino centres from 200 million to Rs. one million has been presented as an increase of Rs. 10 million in tax revenue. There are four casinos and ten Rudjino centres and the Rs. one million tax has been presented as an estimated increase of Rs. 10 million in the year 2019 instead of presenting it as a revenue loss (of Rs. 1,990 million) in 2019.

Likewise the reduction in the present entrance fee of USD 100 to USD 50 has been presented as an increase of Rs. 980 million in the Budget Estimates instead of presenting it as a halving of the present tax. The committee observed that a possible explanation for this discrepancy, is that due to the failure to collect these taxes imposed by previous Budgets, even implementing a reduced tax would result in an increase in revenue, if collected! The Committee observed that in such cases, the matter should be accurately, clearly and honestly reported to Parliament as measures that rectify the failure to collect taxes.

The Committee held that Parliament has a duty to investigate and recommend necessary action with regard to officials responsible for failing to collect these taxes over several years, resulting in serious loss of revenue and also that Parliament should be informed about the legal implications of the revisions to the Betting and Gaming Levy and be assured that the new measures will not serve to provide an undisclosed amnesty or reduction in unpaid taxes, that should be collected. If some taxes that are imposed by the Budget are never actually collected and are reduced in the following year’s budget thus giving the defaulters an unofficial amnesty, that could easily be construed as an organised racket.

Fluffing up revenue figures

The CoPF observed that the Budget Estimates fail to match with past data and with the fiscal, financial and economic assumptions provided. For example, revenue from the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax is expected to grow from an estimated Rs. 41 billion in 2018 to Rs. 65 billion, in 2019 – an increase of 57%. The Committee noted that according to the Department of Census and Statistics’ Household Income and Expenditure Survey for 2016, less than 5% of income receivers have a salary of Rs. 100,000 or above which is the minimum threshold for the application of PAYE tax. The reasoning behind the high increase in the collection of PAYE tax is that the full implementation of the new Inland Revenue Act involving rate changes, will contribute to increased revenue.

This is because the new Act, especially for PAYE tax, was applicable for only 8 months of 2018, while it will apply to the full 12 months of 2019. In 2018, when the upward revision of the PAYE tax was implemented for 8 months, the PAYE revenue increased by 25.7%. After reducing the nominal growth impact, the revenue increase of 8 months comes down to less than 20%. Presently, the growth estimated, above and beyond the nominal growth impact, is almost 50%. However, based on the reasoning provided, it should be below 10%. Therefore, there is a serious mismatch between the reasoning provided, and the growth that is estimated.

The CoPF stated that it is important to protect decisions of Parliament against being misled in the management of public finance, which is its constitutional function and responsibility. The serious mismatch in the estimation, as set out above, should be addressed as a matter of priority. Unless new information can be provided to the Committee and Parliament can credibly addresses the discrepancy in calculation and reasoning highlighted above, the final budget estimates should be revised downwards to address this discrepancy.

Revenue from the Nation Building Tax is expected to grow by 27.5% from an estimated Rs. 71 billion in 2018 to Rs. 91 billion, in 2019. There is a mismatch between the Budget Speech and the Budget estimates with regard to the expected increase in revenue due to revisions in the NBT tax. The budget speech mentions a positive impact of Rs. 5 billion in revenue gain from NBT changes. However, the budget estimates envisages a further Rs. 13.9 billion increase in revenue from NBT during 2019. This increase does not match with the information and assumptions provided with regard to changes in policy and resulting gain and loss in revenue.

The average annual growth of the NBT was only 12.3% from 2013-2017, as against the 27.5% expected in 2019. Analysis of past estimates shows that this is another category of revenue that has been constantly over-estimated. Actual revenue has fallen short by as much as 26.3% against estimates on average over a period of 5 years. In 2018, the NBT was overestimated by 18.0%, despite a substantial expansion in the application of NBT (such as by removing exemptions on liquor). As in the case of VAT and PAYE tax, there is a pattern of the estimated revenue from NBT being significantly overstated to Parliament at the time of the budget.

Central Bank to provide real picture

In the context of missing information on gain and loss implications, noting the historical trend for over-estimation, the Committee recommends, on prudential grounds, that the final budget estimates for NBT collection in 2019 be limited to an increase that can be justified and is credible.

The CoPF stated that overstating revenue estimates can lead the Parliament to agree on higher expenditure levels, which then, when revenue does not meet expectations, leads to higher budget deficits, higher debt, higher interest, and finally a problem of sustainability of public finance. Therefore this problem of over-estimation requires special vigilance, as it seems to be a systematic feature of budget information provided to Parliament, and over the years this has led Parliament to agree to spending proposals that have resulted in the country being heavily indebted and facing downgrades in its international risk status with regard to ability to service the growing debt.

The real GDP growth rate projections differ between published and unpublished documents. While the published Budget Speech states that this is projected to be 3.5% in 2019, in the same week, the MoF, in unpublished documents, represented to the Committee, that in formulating the budget, the number used for GDP growth projections was 4%. Because of the very large impact of the assumptions framework in all of the estimates that are provided for the budget, the CoPF, which has the mandate to report on the assumptions framework, requested the MoF to provide the underlying sources for the assumptions selected. The MoF represented verbally that they depend on third party assessments, such as the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. However, it has not been able to confirm in writing the sources or bases for the assumptions framework.

This creates a concern about the due diligence and professionalism, that underlies the assumptions framework on which all the Budget Estimates depend. A historical analysis of the Budget also shows that the medium-term assumptions frameworks have been significantly off the mark, and generally in a direction that painted an overly positive outlook for the future, which has the effect of misleading Parliament about the consequences of present budgetary decisions.

It is dangerous for public finance management, if the assumptions framework that underlies all aspects of the budget estimates, is selected in too cavalier a manner, without adequate due diligence and responsibility. Since the MoF has not been able to justify its assumptions framework, the CoPF invited Central Bank to formally assess and confirm to Parliament the adequacy and validity of the assumptions framework that has been tabled for the current budget.

(To be continued tomorrow)

SRI LANKA: ALARMED BY THE INCREASED SPATE OF COMMUNAL VIOLENCE AGAINST THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY, CPA CALLS FOR URGENT ACTION

13/05/2019

CPA Press Statement on Incidents of Communal Violence in May 2019Categories:All Documents Press Releases/13.May 2019.


The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) is alarmed by the increased spate of communal violence against the Muslim community since the Easter Sunday attacks of 21 April 2019. Recent and ongoing incidents in Negombo, Chilaw, Kurunagala, Kuliyapitiya, Hettipola, Dummalasuriya, Rasnayakapura, Kobeigane, Bingiriya among others indicate that Muslim homes, businesses and places of worship are being targeted by violent individuals and groups, with incidents reported also during curfew hours. This violence is encouraged by the viral circulation of video clips and posts inciting violence against the Muslim community.

CPA is also concerned about reports indicating inaction and/or delays in response to this violence by the security authorities, an unfortunate trend which has repeatedly been witnessed in the past. CPA urges the authorities to take immediate proactive action to bring the security situation under control and to prevent the violence from spreading.

Steps also need to be urgently taken to ensure authorities respond in a timely and effective manner to the incidents within the existing legal framework. Inaction and/or unwillingness to prosecute any person for inciting racial and religious hatred have exacerbated a culture of impunity and must not be taken lightly. An inability or unwillingness to prevent the spread of violence must also be followed by the resignation of those responsible or steps taken to remove such officials as provided by the law. CPA is also troubled by reports of political interference in criminal justice processes which must be swiftly dealt with by the authorities without any fear or favour. Sri Lanka is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country where all citizens are equal before the law. Our political and religious leaders must ensure we respect our diversity and ensure that all steps are taken to prevent the spread of violence, address apprehension within communities and promote peace and coexistence.

Muslim man killed as Sinhala mobs attack mosques and shops

WhatsApp Image 2019-05-13 at 23.38.55.jpeg

13 May 2019

Sri Lanka’s North Western province descended into unbridled violence today, as Sinhalese mobs attacked several mosques, set ablaze shops and stoned Muslim homes in the Kurungela District. At least one man has been reported to have been killed during the violence.

Initially calling for a curfew in six villages in the district, police imposed an island-wide curfew as the violence spread.

Locals reported police and security forces failing to act as mobs moved through villages in anti-Muslim violence, brandishing make shift weapons in broad daylight. The government blocked social media platforms including WhatsApp and Facebook as the violence spread.

Videos of burning shops and attacked homes started to emerge as the evening progressed. The situation across the island remains tense.

“There are hundreds of rioters, police and army are just watching. They have burnt our mosques and smashed many shops owned by Muslims,” a resident of Kottampitiya area told Reuters by telephone, asking not to be identified for fear of reprisals. “When we try to come out of our house, police tell us to stay inside.”

Speaking to The Hindu, one villager said,

“It began in the afternoon today. It was like they had planned to move form one village to the next, attacking our homes and property. A group of men are still on motorbikes, making big noise, while villagers are either indoors, or hiding in the nearby jungles in fear.”

Further attacks were reported close to the capital Colombo, as mosques where attacked in Chilaw town.

Close to Negembo, where one of the Easter Sunday Attacks occurred, shops were also reportedly set ablaze.

The latest bout of anti-Muslim violence comes despite the Sri Lankan state’s security apparatus being in full deployment, with anti-terror search operations across the island.

Harvest of a carnage: A candidate

If admirals and generals are above the law,

Of what purpose are courts, judges and the law?


Tuesday, 14 May 2019 

Nanda Malini’s lyrical lament over the tyranny of injustice is amended to accommodate presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s idea of “equality before the law”.

On a TV channel, decidedly committed to advance his presidential bid, Gotabaya Rajapaksa explained his idea of the ‘rule of law’. He complains that he and some retired service commanders were summoned before a magistrate inquiring into the outsourcing of the Government’s Indian Ocean anti-piracy operations to a private company – Avant-Garde Maritime Services Ltd. – resulting in an unlawful loss of Rs. 11.4 billion to the Government.

The encounter is a treasure trove that helps you discover the mind of the man who claims that he created the perfect national intelligence apparatus that won the war and guaranteed us peace thereafter. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ925_8uWto. The reader is invited to visit the link to hear him explain why he wishes to run for president. “The people know that I am a performer and they want me.”

He explains his ‘weltanschauung’ and his idea of ‘equality before the law’ and ‘basic human rights’.

The signals are subtle and strong. This is how it all begins. A magnetic self-obsessed leader exploiting popular angst and failure of conventional politics. A leader with a talent for the theatre of the absurd promising national self-sufficiency guided by authoritarian nationalism.

You may ask why we discuss Gotabaya Rajapaksa at this hour of national anxiety. We do so because, he has offered himself to serve the nation in the capacity of the president of the republic.

Gotabaya partisans including some prominent Buddhist monks lost no time in attributing the obvious intelligence failure, undoubtedly a serious governance issue, to a weakening of State intelligence units. That they reasoned was due to the arrests of some intelligence operatives for complicity in abductions, murder and extortion.


First, we must understand the man

We must engage Gotabaya in a rational debate. First, we must understand the man. Who can explain the man better than the man himself?

In the TV encounter he does not question the legality or otherwise of the prosecution case. He objects indignantly and ferociously to being summoned before court.

When you listen to him on the link provided you can reach one of two conclusions. Either the ‘rule of law’ has exemptions for Gotabaya Rajapaksa or the man is simply ‘NUTS’ – Capital.

The reader is specially invited to listen to his account of the Keith Noyahr abduction and release. The Defence Secretary is informed of the incident. The hapless Keith is released. Now Gotabaya is genuinely bewildered why he is accused of complicity in the affair.


Possession of stolen journalists, perhaps? 

This bewilderment comes from the man who claims to have had a total grip on the intelligence apparatus which he says is now ruined by do-gooding democrats.

The subject of this essay is not the candidate but the idea. The idea of the national surveillance state. The National Surveillance State is a way of governing. It is neither the product of emergency nor the product of war. It is a habit of governance possible only under a power center not accountable to the people. That is the Gotabaya idea.


Gotabaya Rajapaksa is a man of principles – his

First a brief exploration of the man. Gotabaya Rajapaksa is a man of principles – his. He is a vegetarian. He is single-minded and capable of unwavering focus.

He is a devoted husband and father. He submits to the entreaties of a wife whose family was domiciled in the US. He migrates to the US, giving up his military carrier. He builds a new life in California the land of plenty and super abundance.

With his brother elected President, he returned to serve the land of his birth as Defence Secretary. The older brother was the Executive President. Despite a macho persona, Mahinda’s approach to statecraft is a peculiar chemistry of rustic cunning and graceful indolence.

The focused, target-centric younger sibling was for all purposes a super-empowered proxy executive president. In the decade of the MR presidency the “Idea of Gotabaya Rajapaksa” took form, gathered substance and most significantly acquired its own independent voice.

However, the migrant soldier who returned to the motherland retained his claims to his adopted homeland. That is until April, this year. The retired soldier migrating travelled economy class to California. That was the age before long haul wide-bodied aircraft.

The patriot now commutes between Colombo and the city of angels in Emirates A380 first class suites on miles earned or in full fare business class. That spectacular ‘Viyathmaga’ trajectory rivals the take-off of a supersonic MiG. It is story yet to unfold if ever.


The Gotabaya Idea of National Security

Since Easter Sunday’s savagery, we live in searing anxiety, unravelling painful truths. The ever-evolving news cycle is now tied up with terrorism, how to contain it, prevent it and eradicate it. In our public discourse the subject will gather intensity and terrorism will remain the overarching concern of the public psyche in the foreseeable future.

As the former US Ambassador Robert Blake has pointed out at a recent event in Colombo, under Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s watch Sri Lanka did have a national intelligence network where different branches of the Intelligence apparatus gathered information and shared that information up to the senior levels, making sure that such attacks did not take place.

Robert Blake’s assessment is both accurate and appropriate for the ongoing debate on national security. But there is a huge but.

The Gotabaya Idea of National Security failed to make a distinction between State security and regime security. Gotabaya Rajapaksa conflated security of a clan centric regime with the legitimate security of the Nation State. That must not happen again.

Two significant developments followed the Easter Sunday bloodbath. Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced that he would run for the presidency and fight Islamic terrorism.

The nation’s intelligentsia rightly concluded that the Easter Sunday Massacre did not “initiate a new fear but ignited an old one”.

We must take note of both. The first threatens a prolonged disaster. The latter indicates that we must be clearheaded and trace a painful path forward to sanity. Gotabaya Rajapaksa ignites the old fears.


Gotabaya does not know this brand of terrorist

To be blunt, Gotabaya Rajapaksa does not know this new brand of terrorist.

His expertise, if any, is on terrorists who claim a piece of real estate on ground. He has no idea of fighting the ideology of the new terrorist who claims his place in heaven.

Researchers have identified this new fanaticism franchised by ISIS as a pure barbarism. A new form of mindless warfare waged by small groups against neutrals or innocent bystanders in order to command attention and not to win territory.

We fought to suppress political violence. Although it may be inconvenient for Gotabaya Rajapaksa to comprehend it, the immediate roots of that brand of terrorism that he says he defeated, almost singlehandedly, could be traced to the precipitate action of the traditional Tamil political leadership in promising Tamil youth light at the end of the tunnel with the Vaddukoddai resolution.

The false promise of the Vaddukoddai resolution gathered a kind of kinetic energy from the unyielding unitarian world view of Sinhala nationalism.

The terrorists responsible for the Easter Sunday carnage would not think of ceasefire agreements. They will not muddle strategy by resorting to conventional warfare. The new terrorism we confront is different.


Three conclusions

We can arrive at three conclusions with unqualified consensus in this heated, topsy-turvy political climate.

The incumbent president doesn’t have a hope in hell in securing a second presidential term.

The Prime Minister aspiring to be president is flapping like a headless chicken in the belief that we the people don’t know the difference between chicken shit and chicken salad.

The Leader of the Opposition, with help from a largely-complicit media, a coddled Buddhist clergy and a committed cohort of toadeaters dishing out profoundly fallacious but believable punditry, has no rival in sight in the business of pursuing power for its own sake.

‘Orwellian’ is the pejorative adjective for falsification of history, State-sponsored lying, repression and manipulation.

Today, we are deliberately sliding towards what George Orwell described as “the lunatic modern habit of identifying oneself with large power units and seeing everything in terms of competitive prestige.”

Orwell is one great bloke who refuses to fade away!

Six Mosques Attacked

MAY 13, 2019

Government blocked social media following a series of attacks on Mosques and Muslim-owned properties by unified mobs.

Six mosques have been targeted in a string of violent attacks overnight and into the morning.

“3 mosques, 1 jumma mosque and 2 small mosques were attacked and pillaged in Kiniyama, Bingiriya in Kurunegala District while curfew was in place this early morning 13.05.2019, President’s Counsel Mohamed Ali Sabry wrote on his Facebook.

Ali Sabry who is vocal against radical Islamists wrote:

“This is how a Muslim has seen this 

curfew -> STF protection-> Destroying a particular group’s properties-> some time power cuts as well.

Great security authorities who defeated two terrorisms become just spectators front of the Mobs with stones.

Same mobs move to adjacent towns as well.

We have seen the same drama in Alutgama, Gintota and Digana as well. Unfortunately the powers given by emergency state is enough only to shoot a driver who doesn’t stop at the checkpoint.

Victims are to be arrested not the mobs.”

“This is getting out of hand. Enough racism. It’s not going to solve the issues but further escalate it,” he further wrote.

Meanwhile Police curfew has been imposed in the Kuliyapitiya, Bingiriya, Dummalasuriya and Hettipola Police Divisions as of 2pm today till 4am tomorrow.

Read More

National political leadership accountable for failure

By Jehan Perera-May 13, 2019, 12:00 pm 

Sri Lanka's Army Commander Lt. Gen. Mahesh Senanayake is reported to have told the BBC "too much of freedom" had led to the Easter Sunday suicide bombings, which killed over 250 people. "Too much of freedom, too much of peace for the last 10 years. People forget what happened for 30 years. People are enjoying peace and they neglected security," he said, when asked why Sri Lanka was targeted.

The past ten years most Sri Lankans enjoyed a great deal of freedom compared to those in neigbouring countries in the region and even internationally. The end of the thirty year war was interpreted by leaders of government and the general public as a restoration of peace and normalcy. People could move throughout the country in their vehicles without being checked at security checkpoints and could enter any government building or hotel without being subjected to body checks. Security experts have given this as a primary reason for Sri Lanka being selected as a target for attack. It was a soft target. This enabled the suicide bombers to walk freely into their targeted churches and hotels to explode themselves.

It has now become evident that the freedom from security checks that Sri Lankan enjoyed enabled Islamic State trained groups to penetrate and spread their tentacles through a significant segment of Sri Lankan society. The extent of this penetration is becoming more evident by the day as more and more arrests of suspects take place. There has no doubt been a failure of intelligence gathering of serious proportions. On the other hand, mainstream Muslim organisations have said that they repeatedly informed the government authorities at the highest levels going back to 2014 that infiltration by Islamic radicals was taking place but to no avail.

There is no reason to doubt that there was awareness at the highest levels of the polity, under both the previous government and the present one, that extremist Islamic tentacles were spreading. The failure was not so much in intelligence gathering than a failure of those in positions of decision making power to act. In the post-graduate classes I have taught at Colombo university on peacebuilding, the military personnel who were students often brought up the issue of radicalization of Muslims in the east. The fact that the government was not taking visible action made me believe that the problem was being dealt with politically. But now it is clear it was not.

BEYOND BELIEF

President Maithripala Sirisena has sought to give the impression that the process of accountability has already started. The President’s dismissal of Defense Secretary Hemasiri Fernando shortly after the Easter bombing and the President’s demand that IGP Pujitha Jayasundera should resign as head of the police has been part of that process. Both of them are public officers with long records of competent service, even if they have been seen as closer to one political side than to another. It is no secret that in Sri Lanka, it is the political masters who call the shots especially where decision making on highly sensitive issues are concerned. IGP Jayasundera has refused to be scapegoated. He has refused to resign and therefore been sent on compulsory leave.

President Maithripala Sirisena is constitutionally the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the state and Minister of Defence. During the 52 day period of the failed attempt to sack Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and dissolve parliament, President Sirisena appointed the present Leader of the Opposition Mahinda Rajapaksa as the prime minister. It was during this period of the failed government that President Sirisena appointed Hemasiri Fernando as Defense Secretary. President Sirisena also took control over the Police Department and the Ministry of Law and Order under which the police had been placed. It is beyond belief that the Defense Secretary and IGP did not keep the President briefed about the developments in the country.

The President also chairs the meeting of the National Security Council in which the Defense Secretary, heads of the armed forces and police, and the intelligence services are also members. It has been publicly reported that the Indian government and its intelligence agencies gave repeated warnings to their Sri Lankan counterparts about the potential attacks, the names of the assailants, their targets and even the dates. If the leaders of government did know and did not act on the information at their disposal, they need to be held accountable. If they did not know, as they all claim, they are not worthy to hold the positions of responsibility they currently hold.

INTROSPECTIVE ASSESSMENT

The failure of the government leadership to take action against those were creating Islamic extremist cells needs to be assessed in the context of allegations made against the opposition of having been part of a process of supporting Islamic extremists to divide the Muslim community for political reasons.

There was a failure of the previous government leadership to act on the information made available to it in 2014 when they were in power. It appears that the vast international financial resources at the disposal of the Islamic extremists, and their potential for weakening the Muslim moderate politicians, were a too powerful a combination in the eyes of political leaders seeking to be in power.

The causes of disaffection within the larger Muslim community also needs to be assessed. Since 2014, the Muslims of Sri Lanka have been under siege. They were attacked in Aluthgama, Ampara, Digana to mention some of the worst incidents. The reaction of the governments, both previous and present, were tardy. The police failed to act immediately. The wrongdoers acted with impunity in some cases. The alienation within the Muslim community would set in and get worse especially amongst the less stable and more volatile members of the younger generation. There needs to be introspection on the part of mainstream society, both Muslim and non-Muslim.

In the immediate and short terms, the responses to the crisis will be primarily led by the security forces. They have got to neutralize the threat of terror bombings and killings. The ruthlessness of the simultaneous suicide bombings on Easter Sunday, and the demonstrated willingness of the bombers to sacrifice their wives and little children has terrified the rest of society who love their children and do not wish to expose them to danger. Therefore, more than three weeks after the bombings, the schools remain largely empty.

NECESSARY RESPONSES

In an ominous development, reflecting the gravity of the present crisis, there is a media report quoting the Army Commander to the effect that "The main suspect in the abduction of journalist Keith Noyahr in May 2008, who also led the shadowy military intelligence unit suspected to have been behind the 2009 murder of The Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge, has been restored to active service." Given the dire situation in the country most people might agree with the army commander. But the danger of further increase of alienation and polarisation in society is manifest.

Fear breeds hatred, and the manifestations of mass alienation is already visible in the eruptions of small scale violence at the community level in a number of locations. In this context it is important that the leaders of government and opposition should jointly address the people and strictly forbid any section of people from taking the law into their own hands. With presidential elections due in less than six months, it is too late for another attempt at a national government, but it is not too late for the political leaders of all parties to work together in a spirit of repentance and find the best solutions in the circumstances.

Wahhabism and radicalization of local Muslims Fix it For Good

Many Muslim political leaders viewed Arabization and Wahhabism as tools of political legitimization

Intelligence-driven kinetic means can only do so much. The acid test would be to prevent the recurrence of the monstrosity that surfaced on the Easter Sunday. A good part of that responsibility lies with the local Muslim community. Their contribution to the success of intelligence operations has so far been crucial. However, confronting the ideology that is at the heart of Islamic terrorism needs greater perseverance and introspection, because of all things, nihilistic Islamic terrorism is only a stone’s throw away from Wahhabism, an austere doctrinaire version of Islam.

14 May 2019

Wahhabism is the ideological fountainhead of global Salafi Jihad. Local Muslim leaders have been silent observers, tacit supporters and active apologists of Wahhabism’s growing sway within their communities. Can they fight back the ideology which they have tolerated all too long is the big question.

In this second article of the two-part series, I argue the role of Muslims in countering extremism begins with renouncing the hold of Wahhabism in their communities.

Then he pleaded with them that the travel advisory on Sri Lanka be lifted. A well-intentioned, yet rather a premature request at a time as the locals themselves avoiding public places and sending their kids to schools 

In another meeting with Muslim community leaders at his residence, the President vowed that “A few extremists cannot destroy peace and national harmony and vow to defeat them. (He also urged the public not to victimize the Muslim community for sins of a few)

There are competing claims as to how long it would take to defeat Islamic extremism. War winning former Army Commander Field Marshal Fonseka says it would take two years of concerted national strategy.

However, the President on his part is not being overly optimistic. The violent manifestation of Islamic extremism in Sri Lanka is still disorganized and has few willing stakeholders, and it is not a patch on the sophisticated terrorism of the LTTE that Sri Lankan security forces defeated conclusively. Sri Lanka can and will defeat and dismantle violent terrorist cells in the coming months.

However, that would solve only a part, though still the most pressing part, of the problem. 

The bigger problem is the radicalization and Arabization of local Muslims through Wahhabism and Salafism, the austere and doctrinaire version of Islam based on the literal interpretation of the Quran and Hadith. 

It aims to build a medieval Islamic Caliphate and spews contempt and hate at the followers of other religions. Wahhabism’s spread in Sri Lanka is accompanied by suffocating Arabized cultural and social norms which have resulted in the gradual alienation of local Muslims from the mainstream.

All that has been justified and propagated in the name of ‘True Islam’.

Muslims who self -alienated this way, planted date trees dotting the highways to make it look like the desert Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, send their Children to Wahhabi Madrasas (Instead of public schools) and called the attendees of moderate Sufi mosques as infidels. Their women retreated into Burkas. Their mosques, especially in the Muslim majority areas the East and Puttalam, openly preached hatred towards Jews, the West and India.

The violence that resurfaced on Easter Sunday is a product of an ideology that was tolerated by the Muslim elders and leaders, because, many would argue in private with their co-religionists, that it is ‘Real Islam’

Some of these activities were monitored by the intelligence apparatus and reported to the government. But, all of them shrugged these warning signs as ‘not our problem’ as long as hatred is not directed at home. Such complacency was proved to be a fatal miscalculation.

Religious, social, and State bodies that cater to Muslims were encroached by Wahhabis and apologists. Institutions such as the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU), the foremost religious body of Islamic theologians are now dominated by Wahhabis. So is Department of Islamic Affairs, which has given approval for 190 new, mainly Wahhabi mosques in 2015, 50 in 2016, and 80 in 2017. That is, in addition to many hundreds of unregistered Wahhabi mosques.

All Ceylon Thawheed Jama’ath, its splinter group Sri Lanka Thawheed Jama’ath, and later National Thawheed Jama’ath are torchbearers of Wahhabi ideology. 

They were all well financed by the Gulf countries, mainly by Qatar and Saudi Arabia, both of which are engaged in a State sanctioned project to spread Wahhabism globally.
Financial heft also allowed local Wahhabi groups to buy influence. Effectively, the Wahhabi narrative came to dominate and reshape the normative traditions of Sri Lankan Muslims.
Also, many Muslim political leaders viewed Arabization and Wahhabism as tools of political legitimization. The so-called Sharia Universities are the product of that understanding.
Tightening grasp of Wahhabism also made reforms exceedingly difficult. Take for instance the stalled efforts to reform discriminatory Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act. 
A Report by a committee headed by Justice Saleem Marsoof on reforming the MMDA was handed over to the Ministry of Justice in January last year. Since then, All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama, have opposed the reforms. 

The Muslim political leadership sided with the ACJU. Reforms were effectively halted.

Another bizarre example would explain the ideological pathways of the type of people who dominate the social /cultural narrative of the local Muslims.

Last year, Muslim community representatives including members of the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama, All Ceylon YMMA Conference, Centre for Islamic Studies and United Religions asked the Government to legalize Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

In their representation to the Parliamentary Committee on Women and Gender, the joint Muslim group observed: 

“We wish to categorically state that the practice of female circumcision is an obligatory Islamic duty, that it confers numerous benefits” and urged no action is taken to ban FGM.
In short, the status quo in the Muslim society prior to the Easter Sunday attacks favoured Wahhabism at the expense of moderate Sufi Islam.

The extent of Wahhabi takeover is such that a substantial number of local Muslims renounced Sufi Islam of their forefathers and decried worship of Sufi Shrines.

It was that radicalizing impetus within the community that created monsters. It is politically convenient to blame Islamic State for ideological inspiration or claim ourselves as the victim of ‘global terrorism’.

But, in reality, much of this extremism is homegrown. A few locals who were inculcated with homegrown extremism graduated to become suicide bombers. 

Then they shared the infamy of their mass murder with the Islamic State. Suicide terrorism was just a stone’s throw away from the virulent home bred extremism of Wahhabism.

Muslim elders, organizations and most of the so-called liberal elites lived in a state of denial all the while this extremism is making inroads and reshaping lives of local Muslims. 
Most of them defended the growing spread of Wahhabism. Over -hyped claims of Islamophobia also made it hard to discuss the real threat and implications of Islamization/radicalization in a sensible way.

Several Muslim community organizations, including Muslim Council of Sri Lanka, Sufi Muslims of Kaththankudi and All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama reportedly alerted the Government Intelligence agencies and the Defence Secretary on violent preaching of terrorist ring leader Mohammed Zaharan Hashim. 

They should be applauded for their contribution. However, how many of them have genuinely acted to counter the spread of Wahhabism and assorted non-violent extremism. (Probably the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka tried to be a moderating influence, but what about the ACJU and the Muslim political leadership?)

The violence that resurfaced on Easter Sunday is a product of an ideology that was tolerated by the Muslim elders and leaders, because, many would argue in private with their co-religionists, that it is ‘Real Islam’.

It is this ideological narrative that Muslim leaders should confront and defeat. Most of them were silent observers, tacit supporters or active apologists of Wahhabism. 

They should now rally to reverse its hold, confront its ideological narrative, and expose and evict the holders of high offices, who have nurtured Wahhabism’s spread in the country. They should also restore the primacy of moderate Sri Lankan Islam.

They have helped the security forces arrest Islamic terrorists and are actively cooperating in the on-going military/intelligence operations. Still, they can better contribute to national security and communal harmony by tackling the monstrosity of an alien ideology that inspired terrorists. Only the local Muslim community can do that. All we can do is to rely on them.