Saturday, September 17, 2016

Paranagama Com. recommends Int’l technical assistance and observers

2016-09-12

The Maxwell Paranagama Presidential Commission on Missing Persons has strongly recommended in its final report that in the event of Sri Lanka were to set up a purely domestic tribunal without the participation of any foreign judges, there must be an international technical assistance and observers to ensure the acceptance of the mechanism, the Daily Mirror learns.

The Commission has wound up its activities after the enactment of the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) and handed over its final report to the President last month.

“While it is the view of the Paranagama Commission that a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) should be at the heart of a reconciliation process, the Commission recognizes that there may well be cases relating to disappearances or abductions that may amount to a violation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) or International Human Rights Law (IHRL). In such cases there may well be a need to mark the severity of such in offence or offences by means of a prosecution,” the Commission said.

In addition, provision, may be necessary for a criminal trial in a High Court, in the event of failure of those appearing before the TRC to tell the truth.

“The recommendation of this Commission in this regard are the same as the recommendation made by this Commission in dealing with the Second Mandate Report where this Commission set out in the clearest possible in a language that the proposed mechanism should be a combination of a domestic TRC and a purely local judicial mechanism to achieve peace and reconciliation,” it said.

It is for the political authorities to determine whether a South African-style Peace and Reconciliation Commission under appropriate amnesties for truth telling is the most appropriate mechanism or if the judicial model which combines the prosecution of ‘those who bear the greatest responsibility ‘coupled with a Truth and Reconciliation Commission will better meet Sri Lanka’s post conflict needs. (Sandun A Jayasekera)

Tamil lawyers forum asks UN to set up scientists' team to examine allegedly poisoned ex-LTTE cadres

By P.K.Balachandran-12th September 2016

COLOMBO: The Tamil Lawyers’ Forum (TLF) has petitioned the Office of the UN Human Rights Commissioner to set up a committee of scientists and medical professionals “of international repute” to examine former cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who have been complaining of illnesses and debilities of various kinds which they allege are the result of the injection of some poisonous substances while they were held in captivity by the Sri Lankan army after the end of Eelam War IV.

“The very nature of poisonous substance makes it difficult for medical personnel to identify or detect such substance on the mere examination of victims. It is the duty of scientists with medical background and expertise and not merely medical doctors to identify the effects of the ingestion of external substances in the body,” the petition said making a case for such a committee.

The TLF has sought a team of scientists including medical experts of international repute and competence to examine the victims who complain of poisons chemical substance injections while in custody; request the GOSL to grant access for such team of medical experts to conduct investigation on victims in Sri Lanka; and take appropriate action on the Report of the experts’ team.

The Northern Provincial Council (NPC) had passed a resolution on August 25 asking for a medical examination of the alleged victims. The provincial Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran requested the visiting US Air Force medical team to examine some. While the US government opted out, the provincial Health Ministry set up a panel of doctors to examine the cases.

“But the TLF is of the view that scientists should join any investigating committee for the sake of competence and credibility as ordinary medical personnel will not be able to detect the poisonous substances on their own,” said K.S.Ratnavale, Convenor of the TLF.

The TLF’s petition to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for human Rights says: “It has been observed that several former LTTE cadres in the prime of their life are suffering from physical disabilities ranging from debilitation, impairment, permanent privation of eyes, ears and other limbs, emasculation, deliriousness and disfiguration all of which could be traced from the time they were inmates of rehabilitation or detention centers.”

“Several such victims have made complaints to the Zonal Task Force on National Consultation and to various entities including Members of Parliament about their mysterious illnesses and therefore this issue cannot be easily ignored or trifled with. The Northern Provincial Council came up with a resolution passed on August 25, 2016 calling for medical investigation to be carried on the ex cadres by competent and trusted medical experts.’

“The numbers of dead among the category of excadres who have served time in Rehabilitation facilities stand at a high 107 within the last 4 to 5 years and have added weight to the seriousness of the allegation leveled against the Military and Defense establishment of Sri Lanka. It is also disconcerting that many of such victims have died of cancer related illnesses,” the petition said.

It pointed out that UK’s Channel 4 videos provide disturbing evidence of brutal, savage and sadistic attacks perpetrated on men, women and even children by Sri Lankan soldiers during the last days of the war.

“Till date, the Sri Lankan government authorities have not taken any action so far on the complaints. The victims have lost all hopes of the government initiating any action on their complaints. The opposition Tamil National Alliance sailing together with the present government and the TNA leader who is also the leader of the opposition have not made any remark, leave alone taking meaningful action.”

“It is therefore incumbent on the international community and the UN to address the grievances of the poison injection victims of Sri Lanka,” the petition said.

World Wide Problem

Sri Lanka is not alone in the administration of poison on unsuspecting victims, the petition pointed out.

Super powers and oppressive regimes have resorted to injection of poison and lethal substances on their perceived dissidents and enemies. Victims of such covert operations suffer mysterious death, destruction of vital organs, heart attack, kidney failure, liver malfunction, cancer etc.

Alexendar Litvinenko, a Putin opponent died of Polonium-210 poisoning in 2006[1]. Kara-Matza an opposition leader in Russia survived a poison attempt on him after being in coma for a week. Alexendar Perplilichinyy who escaped to London,died of heart attack at the age of 44 in 2009, and his stomach had traces of glesemium, a rare poison plant known to have been used in China.

An Arab intelligence agent Khattab died in 2002 in Chechnya after opening a letter laced with a form of sarin, a nerve agent.

In 2008 Karinna Moskalenko, a Russian lawyer specializing in taking cases to the European Court of Human Rights, fell ill in strange manner from mercury found in her car.

More prominent public figures Alexander Solzhenitsyn, a Nobel Prize winner In 1970, confirmed in his biography that Ricin, a deadly chemical was involved in an attempt to destabilize him.

Ukraine’s pro-Western President Victor A. Yushchenko was left with his face disfigured after a Dioxin poisoning. These chemical substances are mostly tasteless, colourless and odorless which make their traces difficult to identify.

Poison stories abound in the international arena and therefore their existence in the local sphere cannot be discounted by any account ,the TLF said.

Lake House Struggle Betrayed In ‘Horikada’ Style: Racketeer Sabotages Collective Agreement

September 17, 2016

The man who took a bribe of Rs. 50,000 from former Lake House Chairman Nalin Ladduwahetty has now committed a great betrayal in ‘horikada‘ style, to sabotage the collective agreement secured by trade unions at the state run newspaper institution.

Dharmasiri Lankapeli, Secretary of the employees union of Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd (Lake House), has sabotaged the ‘Collective Agreement’ which ensured a Rs. 3000 salary hike for all permanent employees of the state run newspaper institution.

The collective agreement was a main demand of Lake House unions over the past few years and it was on hold, under the company’s previous chairman Bandula Padmakumara‘s tenure.

After long-drawn negotiations with the Lake House management, several trade unions forced the company’s new Chairman, Kavan Ratnayaka, into the collective agreement. Under the new arrangement, the Lake House management should give a salary increment of Rs. 3000, to all its permanent employees, over the next one and a half years.

The unions backed by the UNP and the SLFP signed the agreement. Lankapeli’s union, however, pulled out of the agreement, at the last moment, plunging other unions into an uneasy situation, Colombo Telegraph reliably learns.

Lankapeli, launching a protest opposite Lake House last week, exerted pressure on the company’s management to have a separate agreement with his union and pull out of the collective agreement.

“Lankapeli fears that other unions will take the credit for securing the collective agreement. He wants to push for an unrealistic salary demand and disrupt our collective union struggle. It also gives an opening to the Lake House management to delay the increment further as unions are not on the same page about the matter. This is a betrayal of our collective struggle,” members from the UNP and the SLFP backed unions told Colombo Telegraph.

They said Lankapeli’s act of sabotage has deprived 1600 Lake House workers of a salary increment of Rs. 3000 (within 1 year and four months) – a collective demand by Lake House unions for nearly 8 years.

“As our beloved Leftist leader Dr. Colvin R. de Silva once explained, Lankapeli is a ‘horikadaya’ in every sense of word. He has betrayed a collective union struggle for his own personal gains,” a prominent Lake House union leader told the Colombo Telegraph.

Although Lankapeli is not an employee at the Lake House, he holds a key position in the Lake House Employee’s Union. He worked as a platemaker attached to the Production Department at Lake House, for many years.

A man with a chequered history, Lankapeli got promoted as a journalist when Nalin Ladduwahetty functioned as the Lake House Chairman, under the UNP government in 2001. At that point, Bandula Padmakumara was the Director Editorial at the state-run newspaper company. Both Ladduwahetty and Padmakumara promoted Lankapeli as a journalist, violating all standard procedures at the Lake House.

Three cheers! National debt is to reduce by 2020: Can it be achieved?

Thursday, 15 September 2016

Three Cheers to the Government and may its dream come true! The Prime Minister on the occasion of celebrating the 70th anniversary of the UNP stated that by year 2020, the national debt will be reduced; and vouched that this challenging burden will not be left to be solved by the next generation.

The citizens should clap, if this objective can be achieved. However, the citizens must stand vigilant and hold the Government to account to ensure that this target is realised for the sustainable growth and prosperity of this nation and its people.

The Economic Policy Statement made by the Prime Minister in the Parliament on 5 November 2015 committed that the final goal of the new regime was to improve and enhance the living standards of the people, and he further stated that;

in 2000, the exports stood at 30% of the Gross Domestic Product and by 2014, it had gone down to 15%, and
in 2003, 19% of the GDP was raised as State revenue, but by 2014 this had gone down to 10%, and
today, we are in debt to the whole world.

and envisioned that through the leadership of the new government Gis commitment;

to reduce the budget deficit to 3.5% of the GDP by 2020.
to increase the ratio of direct and indirect income tax generation in the medium term from 80%: 20% to 60%: 40%
to encourage investments that generate employment
to create a special financial and a business hub in Colombo
to provide knowledge competencies needed
a lawful economic environment that will set the stage for sustainable development

Regrettably this policy announcement had one glaring absence; i.e. a specific strategy to meet the looming debt crisis. Now nearly one year later, we hear the Prime Minister commit to reduce the national debt by 2020, but regrettably again, there is silence on how it is to be achieved!

In what ways can the national debt be reduced in the next four years? And can it be achieved?

By stimulating expanded growth in the economy, leading to higher levels of State revenue via taxes, levies, and state enterprise profits?, and
By adopting effective fiscal discipline, efficient public finance management and prudent, sustainable use of State and national resources?, and
By eliminating the presently experienced twin deficits?
If these twin deficits are reversed and results in the annual fiscal deficits and the current account deficits being eliminated, certainly the national debt can be reduced, ;
However, these objectives are unlikely achieved as the government itself believes it will have a budget deficit of 3.5% at least by 2020; and
The current policies support growth options stimulated via unabated imports of consumption and construction goods, along with low productive capital goods and transport vehicles.
In addition there are no positive signs that export incomes will substantially increase in the short term nor will income from export of services spring up vertically.

If so, will the Government look to other options to reduce the national debt?

By significant privatisation proceeds being realised, which is also unlikely in the current policy framework;
By attracting significant new Foreign Direct investments to our shores; here again the current political and policy uncertainty, coalition politics and public resistance will pose significant challenges; further delays in the implementation of second generation reforms will be a major stumbling block; thus this option remains doubtful to succeed, especially when there are more safer, stable, competitive and productive economies for investors to place and hedge their investment bets
By a significant share of the current informal economy being captured within formal revenue contributing sectors and the level of illegal fund transfers and money laundering being eliminated. That will be a distant dream within the present societal value system, socio-political-economic risks and patronage politics!
By all economic activities of both the State and private sectors, being focused on exploiting value enhancing niche market opportunities, leveraging strategies which are enabled by creativity, innovativeness and the use of best options of science and technology, in order to enhance productivity, intensity and quality of resources and outputs; and this core value becomes embedded as a societal value and results in significant increases in the levels of national savings and investments: this is most unlikely as this nation lacks leaders with power, integrity, vision and commitment to deliver real and sustainable value to this nation
By debt swaps arranged converting debt to equity; the reported lack of appetite from the Chinese authorities is anything to go by this also looks a nonstarter
By attracting bilateral and multilateral aid, grants, transfers and debt forgiveness: these are not options due to our economic classification

In the meantime there does not appear to be any signs that collective and professional budgetary implementation efforts will soon be in place to

Optimise by 2020 for State revenues to be at least 20% of GDP, with the targeted increases mainly recovered based on those with ability to contribute, contributing their share proportionate to their wealth, profits and cash flow returns
have prudent, equitable and sustainable decision making in scare resource allocations placing due emphasis on inclusiveness and welfare, and needs and aspirations of those at the bottom of the pyramid
have fiscal discipline to ensure that public finances are allocated based on well-defined transparent national priorities and assuring sustainable positive national economic returns commensurate with such allocation objectives
ensure that the fiscal gap (being the value today (the present value) of the difference between projected spending (including servicing official debt) and projected revenue in all future years) keep improving

In the absence the above positive signals in the economy, lack of demonstrated capability in professional treasury and economic management, backed by the cabinet singing from the same hymn sheet, there is much doubt that the national debt can substantially be reduced by 2020.

The pessimism that the promise of delivery of the commitment is further enhanced by

failed to effectively implemented last two budgets, where even the basic tax reform proposals had been folded up and remain unimplemented
the majority of the visionary commitments in the National Economic Policy pronouncements of the Prime Minister in November 2015 remain yet as words of wisdom not effectively implemented
the Election Policy Manifesto of the United National Front for Good Governance unveiled in 2014 titled ‘the Five Points programme’ to create a new country in 60 months are yet to be embedded as firmly implemented actions where successful results can be assured, especially in regard to the core commitments regards
Growing the Economy
Fighting Corruption
Ensuring Freedom For All
Investing in Infrastructure
Improving the Education System

The above analysis is further evidenced by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Economic Intelligence Unit Survey findings where “business leaders are optimistic about the government’s ability to deliver economic results in the next four years, but are critical of the progress made so far and have mixed views about Budget 2017”.

These findings are further elaborated by comments “showed a lot of pessimism to a question ‘How focused is the Government on creating policies that support private sector growth’?”; “expressed strong disappointment in the progress of reform in the first year of the government’s term”; and “were a bit more optimistic about the future” – but emphasised that “uncertainty prevailed”.

The recent announcement by the President that 2017 be declared as a year ‘the country will be liberated from poverty’ is also highly recognised by civil society.

It is the fervent wish of the civil society that the forthcoming National Economic Policy Statement of the Prime Minister will elaborate on the strategic action planned by the Government in support

of realising the vision to reduce the National Debt by 2020 and make significant advances in meeting the challenges of the fiscal gap
of meeting the likely medium term balance of payments challenges
of liberating the country from poverty and delivering the socio economic rights of citizens
of realising the set objectives of
increasing State revenue to GDP
assuring equity and inclusiveness in national resource allocations
liberating marginalised families impacted hitherto by war, conflict and natural disasters
ensuring good governance in a corruption and narcotic substances free society
sustainable development in line with the Paris Declaration
A National Involuntary Resettlement/Reparations Policy applicable across the country
Developing the capability (knowledge, skills, attitudes and values) of the human resource pool to meet emerging job opportunities
Investing in infrastructure and urban and rural development with equity and inclusiveness
Attracting foreign direct investments and promoting public private participation led investments creating niche market new job opportunities

It is also the wish of civil society that the budget to follow the economic policy announcement will spell out the medium term action strategies and fiscal/monetary outcomes of the policy framework announced by the Prime Minister.

On Blasts from the Past

by Tisaranee Gunasekara-September 17, 2016, 8:36 pm

Time past and time future
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.
Eliot (Four Quartets)

It should have been a time of confidence. The long Eelam War had been won, the opposition was floundering and the Rajapaksas were at the acme of their prestige and popularity. Sumanadasa Abeygunawardane, the astrologer (whose pleasing predictions were rewarded with directorships at the National Savings Bank and the Employees Trust Fund and an advisor-post at the ITN) proclaimed the verdict of the stars: "President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Rajapaksas will rule this country for a long time…. The Rajapaksas will become beloved leaders of this country…. The next chapter in Sri Lanka is reserved for the Rajapaksas."i

Unfortunately success led not to relaxation but to paranoia. The Rajapaksas saw treachery behind every bush, conspiracy under every stone. So when Chandrasiri Bandara, an astrologer known for his pro-opposition views, made an unfavourable prediction, the regime reacted with ferocity. Mr. Bandara was arrested, taken to the CID and grilled.

This unprecedented act of repression had its desired effect, in the short term. Mr. Bandara came out of custody in the safe guise of a born-again Rajapaksa man. During the run up to 2015 Presidential election, when astrological predictions played the role allocated to opinion polls and statistical forecasts in less superstitious lands, Mr. Bandara predicted a resounding Rajapaksa victory and pledged to shoot himself if proven wrong – on live TV.

The Buddha in Samaññaphala Sutta categorised astrology, demonology et al as ‘animal arts’ii (The extensive list mentioned in the Sutta includes palmistry, reading omens and signs, interpreting celestial events and dreams, making predictions for state officials, chasing demons, casting auspicious times, predicting life spans, forecasting political or natural events and casting horoscopes). But in Sri Lanka, said to be repository of the Buddha’s teachings in their purest form, his followers regard astrological predictions with the reverence that adherents of theistic faiths accord to the words of their particular god or prophet.

In the second decade of the twenty first century, it is not uncommon to hear of pious Sinhala-Buddhists dying because they threw ordinary commonsense to the four winds and obeyed the orders of an astrologer, an exorcist or some other practitioner of ‘animal arts’. The latest such example comes not from a rural backwater, but from the urbanised Piliyandala, a town close to Colombo. An artist died after drinking a concoction given to him by an exorcist as a cure for a skin ailmentiii.

The exorcist has been arrested. It is to be hoped that he will be charged formally and tried in a court of law. Perhaps the publicity garnered by such a trial would make at least some Lankans – including the country’s current leaders - understand the idiocy of trusting one’s future and one’s life to dabblers in ‘animal arts’.

On a Time Machine?

One of the most satisfactory outcomes of the defeat of the Rajapaksas was the relegation of astrology from the public to the private sphere. Most Lankan leaders were slavish believers of stars and their untutored interpreters; but none of them went as far to use state power and resources to reward or persecute astrologers as the Rajapaksas did.

Recent media reports indicate that the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration might have taken a step back to that silly past.

Wijemuni Vijitha, an astrologer known for his anti-government views, has been summoned to the CID over a prediction he made about the future of President Maithripala Sirisena. While violent crimes are rampant, the Criminal Investigations Department is busy chasing astrologers.

But there, the similarity between 2009 and 2016 ends.

In 2009, the astrologer was arrested and grilled. In 2016, the astrologer informed the CID that he has already given one statement, has no intention of giving another and will complain to the Human Rights Commission if harassed any further.

In 2009, the astrologer came out of custody with his political sympathies changed from anti-Rajapaksa to slavishly pro-Rajapaksa. In 2016, the astrologer has not changed his political colour or deleted the video which drove the CID out of its collective senses.

That difference is due to the democratic transformation brought about by the regime change of January 2015.

The attempt to persecute an astrologer demonstrates that the current crop of rulers is as seeped in superstition as the Rajapaksas were.

The failure of that attempt demonstrates that unlike the Rajapaksas, the current rulers cannot abuse state power and resources at will.

That inability is a result of the positive changes which resulted from the electoral ouster of the Rajapaksas, especially greater accountability and partial restoration of the rule of law. As the case of Mr. Wijemuni proves, these are changes which benefit even those who voted against them.

In post-Rajapaksa Sri Lanka, the past is not dead. Abuses remain, but impunity is less rampant, as the tragic case of GG Gayashan demonstrates.

Disappearances and deaths in police custody became a Lankan problem long before the Rajapaksas won power. But as with so many execrable practices, this too was turned into a norm during the Rajapaksa years. The North and the East had to bear the brunt of it; but even the South was not immune, both during and after the war.

Twenty year old Gayashan, a resident of Bandagiriya, Hambantota, vanished after being taken into custody on an allegation of theft. The police initially claimed that he was not arrested, that he escaped. The story would have ended there, just two years ago. Not now. His family demanded the truth and the media picked up the story. Immediate inquiries were launched by the National Police Commission and the Human Rights Commission, two entities empowered by the democratising 19th Amendment, a key achievement of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration. A team from the Police Commission visited the area. The IGP personally called the family of the victim and promised a quick investigation. The police spokesman admitted to the media that the arresting officers had falsified the records.

Whether Mr. Gayashan is alive or not remains to be uncovered. Even in the worst case scenario, the authorities will not be able to sweep this story under the carpet. The truth will come out and if a crime was committed, the perpetrators will be brought to justice.

The whole episode might persuade the police to be a little less abusive in the future, at least in their own interests.

The Rajapaksas promised to enact a Right to Information Act and broke the promise. In 2011, they defeated the much delayed Freedom of Information Bill in parliament.

Today the Right to Information Act is law in Sri Lanka.

Thanks so that Act it will be harder for politicians and state authorities to use the power vested in them to the detriment of ordinary Lankans. Increased transparency cannot eliminate power-abuse; but it can make those inclined to abuse power think twice.

The current government is not immune to superstitious cures or dictatorial solutions. But thanks to changes of post-January 2015, the space for such cures and solutions has shrunk. It is in our own interests as citizens to safeguard that achievement and build on it, rather than let thins slide.

Two Steps Forward One Step Back?

This week Parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa met the Chief Incumbent of the Malwatte Chapter with a tale of horror about a new constitution. The Mahanayake reportedly advised the parliamentarian not to succumb to paranoia or propagate phobia since the constitution-making process has been open and transparent so far.

Whether the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration will actually come up with a new and a better constitution, whether that constitution will be able to gain a two thirds majority in parliament and a simple majority at a referendum remains to be seen. But so far, the process has been more open and more inclusive than anything Sri Lanka has previously experienced.

Be it new constitutions or amendments to existing one, every past effort had been top-down ones where leaders decided and people accepted – willingly or unwillingly. In stark contrast, the new government is encouraging a public discourse about the nature of the new constitution and has provided the necessary space for such a broad discussion.

This new openness has created opportunities to place on the drafting table issues which had languished in the outer darkness despite their seminal importance to broad swathes of Lankans. An excellent case in point is the effort made by progressive groups such as the Women’s Action Network (WAN) to place on the constitutional agenda such ‘taboo’ issues as the rights of Muslim women and girl children.

Article 16 of the 1978 Constitution upholds, in its entirety, the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act of 1951. One of the many egregious results of this is that Muslim women and girl children are, denied by the constitution, several key constitutional rights and protections enjoyed by non-Muslim women and girl children. For instance, though the minimum age of marriage for Lankan girls is 16, a girl child from a Muslim family can be married at 12, or even below with consent from the Quazi courtsiv.

According to media reports, traditional Muslim political and religious leaders are opposed to any change in the Article 16 even though many Muslims countries have enacted laws criminalising child marriage (according to UN sources, in Algeria, Bangladesh, Jordan, Iraq, Malaysia and Morocco, the legal marriageable age for a female is 18; in Tunisia it is 20v.). This issue has now been placed on the public stage, not as a divisive slogan but as a serious topic of discussion, thanks to the open and inclusive nature of the constitution-making process.

Sri Lanka is not a paradise of good governance. But it is indubitably a better place for its people today than it was under the Rajapaksas.

In 2013, Sri Lanka was one of the saddest places on earth, according to the (UN-sponsored) World Happiness Report. Of the 156 countries rated, Sri Lanka ranks 137.

By 2016, Sri Lanka’s rank has improved to 117vi.

A long way more to go, but the direction is the right one; more advances are possible, unless economic intervene.

The Rajapaksas placed absolute faith on superstition and none on science. That is why they paid no attention to one of the earliest warning signs about growing discontent in their own electoral base.

As the CPA’s Top line survey revealed, in 2011, a mammoth 70% of Sinhalese thought that the general economic situation will get better in the next two years. In 2013 only 38.5% of Sinhalese thought that the general economic situation will improve in the next two years – a decrease of 45%, in just two years.

Had the Rajapaksas heeded such findings instead of clinging to astrological predictions, they may not have lost in 2015.

The current government can launch any amount of propaganda blitzes about the necessity of the VAT bill; it can scream to high heavens declaring that the VAT increases will not affect ordinary people. But people will feel the pinch, when they make a purchase, take a call or channel a doctor.

And they will begin to lose hope, as they did between 2011 and 2013.

This government can make its share of mistake and survive. But if it repeats the mistakes of the Rajapaksas as well, the future will be like the past we escaped from in January 2015.

Take two steps forward and one step back, you can still head to the future. Take one step forward and two steps back, the past will be the unavoidable destination.

i Silumina – 7.6.2009; the astrologer in another interview predicted that President Rajapaksa will get the Nobel Prize. http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2001/pix/PrintPage.asp?REF*/2009/09/06/spe03.asp

ii http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.02.0.than.html

iiiiii Lankadeepa – 14.9.2016

iv http://adaderana.lk/news/36624/wan-seeks-repeal-of-article-16-of-lankan-constitution-as-it-hurts-muslim-women

v http://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/

pub-pdf/MarryingTooYoung.pdf

vi http://worldhappiness.report/http://

worldhappiness.report/

http://issuu.com/earthinstitute/docs/worldhappinessreport2013_online

A most sorrowful odious news ! A robber of lands and a Rajapakse lickspittle as military attaché to New York

(Lanka-e-News- 17.Sep.2016, 11.00PM) Major General Sumedha Perera a despicable lackey and lickspittle of Rajapakses , a close crony of ex defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse , and a notorious robber of lands (court has already given the decision against him ) is to be appointed as the military attaché to the SL office of the permanent representative to the UN in New York .We consider ourselves most unfortunate that we have to shoulder the task of reporting this odious and most rudely shocking news , specially because the government of good governance has decided on this appointment .

The present military attaché General Ubaya Medawala is to go on retirement within the next few weeks , and to replace him this land robber cum bootlicker has been chosen by the good governance government.

Major General Sumedha Perera too is due for retirement in the next few weeks . Yet after enrolling him back into the SL voluntary forces, he is to be sent to New York.

It is a well and widely known fact that Sumedha Perera was a most corrupt major General , and this has been confirmed beyond doubt by no less an Institution than the sacrosanct court. He was a crooked Colonel who illegally acquired a magnificent Walauwe at Rajagiriya by preparing forged deeds. Mind you the court punished him too having found him guilty . Following this case , he had to quit the army. However , after toffee nosed Gotabaya became the defense secretary , he created a ‘Guinness book’ insulting record by absorbing this crook back into the army, after the LTTE war ended.

This scoundrel who forged government documents and prepared fake records was punished by court , and even when his child could not think of joining the state service , Gotabaya kicked all that aside , and reinstated him in service because Sumedha was his bootlicking stooge.

Thereafter within a most short period he was promoted as Major General (a rare occurrence) . There too a new disgraceful record was created. This appointment was not because of his abilities but based on his extraordinary capacity to be a despicable stooge who would stoop to any lowliest of levels.

At the time Sumedha was dismissed from the army , he was not a full fledged Colonel. Yet, when Gotabaya reinstated him he was given a promotion and appointed to the position of ‘full fledged Brigadier and temporary Major General .’ That is , he was given a double promotion !

This was the first time in the history of the army , an individual who was dismissed based on disciplinary grounds was reinstated . This stigma created by toffee nosed Gotabaya should enter the Guiness book of ignominious records. Moreover Sumedha the fraud was the only one who was given two promotions via one letter by the administrative service unprecedented in SL’s history.

All these illegal methods were made possible by Gotabaya , the ‘American’ tie coat traitor who fled the country in fear of the war after deserting the army and the country at the time he was most wanted by his motherland. After crowing ‘yankee doodle do’ in America for many years , he only returned when his Machiavellian brother became the president to join him to bask in his glory and rout the country economically . After returning ,getting together with his mendacious Machiavellian president brother plunged the country into irretrievable doom and despair economically. When Mahinda was gaily crowing ‘any diddle will do,’ while plundering and pillaging the country , Gotabaya continued with his ‘yankee doodle do’ while bragging about his pseudo patriotic love for the country.

Unbelievably ,corrupt Sumedha was so lucky , no sooner he received his letter of first promotion than he received his next promotion by a letter via the next mail. That was how he was made a ‘full fledged Colonel cum temporary Brigadier’

Truly , according to proper procedure , the appointment of a Major General is only confined to a few members of the forces , and after several years of waiting. Sumedha on the other hand was appointed not based on his abilities or skills as an army officer but because he was skilled at plundering properties on forged deeds, and a Rajapkses’ bootlicking stooge . That was the criterion applied by Gotabaya the tie coat ‘yankee doodle do’ during his time.

Thereafter , Sumedha did exactly what ‘any diddle will do’ and ‘yankee doodle do’ expected of him : Sumedha did all the sordid and lowliest biddings of the corrupt and lawless duo. Sumedha became notorious during the last presidential elections when he campaigned with his uniform for lawless Mahinda unlawfully and shamelessly .

It was General Ubaya Mediwala who was the first to assume duties as military attaché – a new post that was created recently at the SL ‘s office of the UN , New York .

This post however does not suit the high rung officers of the forces. In other countries this post is held by a Colonel. Those countries include India, Pakistan and Nepal among Asian countries ; and USA , Britain and Australia among European countries.

When that post is meant for officers of the rank of Colonel , and a most high ranking officer has to work among such low rung officers he faces grave embarrassment. Indeed Ubaya Medawala an educated talented officer who took over duties in such circumstances too experienced the same difficulties. Consequently , by now it has come to light that he could not give of his best towards the country.

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by (2016-09-17 18:07:20)

INFORMATION REQUESTED FOR EKNALIGODA CASE EXTREMELY SENSITIVE AND ULTRA-SECRET – ARMY HQ

( Prageeth Elnaligoda)

17/09/2016

Information requested form the Sri Lanka Army by the courts in relation to abduction and disappearance of of journalist Eknaligida extremely sensitive and ultra-secret says the Army HQ. Further it has been revealed by the Island newspaper that in a letter written by Colonel E. S. Jayasinghe on behalf of the Commander of the Army Lt. Gen. Crishanthe de Silva to relevant authorities has underscored that the information sought regarding the inquiry contained code names of DMI informants.

The relevant sections of the report published by The Island follows:

The high profile case of six Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) personnel remanded in connection with the alleged disappearance of media personality Prageeth Ekneligoda on the eve of January 26, 2010 presidential polls will come up before the Avissawella High Court on Monday (Sept. 19).

They are seeking bail in the wake of the second suspect in the case, Lt. Col. Prabodha Siriwardena, Second-in-Command of the 3rd battalion (V), Military Intelligence Corps (MIC) given bail on May 27, 2016 by Homagama Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake.

The battalion is headquartered at Girithale.

The suspects are among the 3rd battalion (V) MIC personnel taken in by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) since August 24, 2015 over their alleged involvement in the disappearance at issue.

Lt. Col. Siriwardena was three personnel who were arrested on Aug. 24, 2015 at the onset of a fresh investigation. The officer was granted bail under strict conditions following proceedings at the Avissawella High Court. Retired Major and attorney-at-law Ajith Prasanna formerly of the 6SR (6th battalion, Sinha Regiment) told The Island that families of those who had been detained gathered opposite the Fort Railway station on Thursday to gain public attention to their plight. Ajith Prasanna quit active service in Oct. 1995 after being wounded near Atchuveli in the Jaffna peninsula. Addressing the media at the protest, Prasanna explained the circumstances under which the Lt. Col had been given bail. Former Southern Provincial Council member Prasanna said that proceedings in respect of Ekneligoda case were being heard at the Homagama Magistrate Court, Avissawella High Court and the Supreme Court. Lt. Col. Siriwardena was released on cash bail of Rs. 2 million along with two sureties of Rs. 6 million each.

The Magistrate also imposed a travel ban on Lt. Col. Siriwardena. Ajith Prasanna pointed out that Lt. Col. Siriwardena had been given bail after it was brought to the notice of the Supreme Court that the second suspect was a participant in a course at the Army Training Institute at Kukuleganga between January 15, 2010 and February 2, 2010.

Having perused relevant documents produced on behalf of the then suspended officer; the court cleared the way for his lawyers to seek bail from the Avissawella High Court. The State Counsel assured that the Attorney General wouldn’t oppose bail being given to the officer on the basis of documentary evidence produced in court.

Within days after Lt. Col Siriwardena received bail, Army Headquarters reinstated him in accordance with existing regulations.

However, the first suspect, Lt. Col Shammi Kumararatna, the Commanding Officer the Girithale headquartered battalion and the third suspect, Sergeant Priyantha Kumara Rajapaksa were denied bail on Aug. 24, 2016, exactly one year after their arrest. Instead, they were further remanded for two months pending investigations though the State Counsel wanted them re-remanded for a period of three months.

Lt. Col. Kumararatne, Lt. Col. Siriwardena and Sergeant Rajapaksa had been initially detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and held on Detention Orders for about three months before being produced in the Homagama Magistrate Y.R.D. Nelumdeniya.

Ajith Prasanna said that they had been produced in Homagama Magistrate’s court close on the heels of their families filing habeas corpus application in the Court of Appeal.

The suspects had been produced at the Homagama Magistrate court as a result of Ekneligoda’s wife, Sandya, filing a habeas corpus case in respect of her husband’s disappearance at Kottawa, coming under the purview of the Homagama Magistrate. In spite of them (suspects number 1, 2 and 3) being initially arrested on a charge of abduction, they along with two other DMI personnel were subsequently remanded under Section 296 of the Penal Code on a murder charge by then Homagama Magistrate Nelumdeniya. The ruling had been given on Nov 09, 2015.

Ranga Dissanayake, who succeeded Nelumdeniya as Homagama Magistrate told court that he couldn’t change a ruling given by his predecessor in spite of the police not producing fresh evidence to prove murder charges. Dissanayake made his position clear in a detailed statement on March 29, 2016 which dealt thoroughly with the issue at hand.

In addition to the eight remanded and one given bail, another DMI operative holding the rank of Sergeant Ranbanda also attached to the Girithale base is on record as having said that he questioned a blindfolded person on Jan. 24, 2010.

Ajith Prasanna retired in 2007 after having served the Army Legal Department for about six years.

Kill The Buddha

By Jagath Asoka –September 16, 2016

Dr. Jagath Asoka

Shedding the blood of a Buddha is a heinous crime. I am not trying to be a provocateur, but imagine for a moment, a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk saying to his devout lay followers, “If you see the Buddha coming down on the road, kill him!” Of course, a Zen master used these words “Buddha, road, and kill” metaphorically, when he warned his disciple. This metaphorical Buddha can be a Buddhist monk that you venerate or your own self, if you have been striving to achieve nirvana. I think, it is much easier to understand this metaphorical road: your life or your chosen spiritual path. The Buddha is not a final point but points beyond himself to that ineffable being, virtues, and powers that is in all of us. If you have concretized all the virtues and powers on a figure, like the Buddha, all fix ideas must be killed, dissolved, or disintegrated. You must kill the image of God as well.

What is the insurmountable barrier for a Buddhist? Is it the image of the Buddha that we worship every day, the images that are so ubiquitous in Sri Lanka? When you have an image in front of you, you can worship this graven image, thinking about its inimitable virtues and powers. If you continue this activity every day, morning and night, without realizing that you, too, have these virtues and powers, what would happen to you?

Since Buddhism is not only an elite religion but also a popular religion, Buddhism provides bases or tools for meditation. Relic worship is very common in Buddhism. All these great stupas in Sri Lanka are reliquary mounds. Each one contains a relic. These stupas and Buddha statues are just tools for mediation on the Buddhahood and the Buddha powers within each one of us. For over two thousand years, we have been worshipping the Buddha statues, stupas, and relics and participating in rituals that are supposed to transform us spiritually; Even though the magic and majesty of all these sacred places and activities speak of exaltation of the spirit, furnish a base for mediation, and make the transcendent transparent, I am not certain whether we have any tangible evidence to show that we are spiritually any better now as a nation, compared to the inhabitants who lived before Buddhism was introduced to Sri Lanka. There has to be some correlation between religious activities of a nation and its spiritual growth. Even though there are so many Buddhist activities, discussions, books, and rituals in Sri Lanka, it seems like we—Sri Lankan Buddhists—are craving for something that we have not found, yet. Finding the Buddha within yourself is probably a Sisyphean task. We can meditate on the virtues and powers of the Buddha in front of a granite Buddha Statue, but if we do not find these powers and virtues within us we would remain without any spiritual transformation, just like the granite statue in front of us.

Photo courtesy the BBC

LILANI JAYATILAKA on 09/17/2016

Chaucer’s notorious Wife of Bath claimed that ‘there is no libel on women that the clergy will not paint, except when writing of a woman-saint, but never good of other women’. She was, without a doubt, a woman with a colourful past and with plenty to hide; and the clergy she was maligning belonged to the 14^th century world of Chaucer’s England. Be that as it may, if we were to consider her message instead of shooting the messenger, we would see a remarkable and uncanny resemblance between England in the 14^th century and Sri Lanka in the 21^stcentury. Take for instance, the posters that have recently appeared outside two premier boys’ schools. These carry a series of pictures, with ticks against what is considered ‘right’ attire and a cross against what is considered ‘wrong’ attire. I scrutinized these pictures in order to discern what was so wrong about the so-called wrong attire. As far as I could make out, the women seemed to be well-groomed, neat and smartly dressed. However, one girl’s knees could be seen in one picture; while a few wore sleeveless or strappy tops teemed with jeans, tights or a fairly long skirt. The reason why these were considered objectionable was because boys with ‘raging hormones’ should be safeguarded from an excessive display of sin-inducing, female flesh. It seems as if nothing has changed since the time of Adam and Eve as women are still being blamed for the failures of men.

It is not Christianity alone which designates women as the repository and symbol of sin. Whenever sin is equated with sexual temptation, the major religions of the world are guilty of pointing their fingers at the woman, who must therefore be prevented from tempting frail man towards his downfall. And working towards this end, they deem that all attributes of the feminine must be covered up or suppressed. Fear of women is at the root of misogyny writ large in the poster displayed at the boy’s school. And yet, as one commentator has pointed out, the irony of it all is that the sari can be just as or even more revealing than Western attire. Scooped necklines and bare midriffs that are often sported by sari-wearers, reveal more of the body than strappy tops and jeans or a short skirt. As a pre-teen in the late 1960s, I remember wearing ‘micro-minis’ which would have put the so-called minis of the present age to shame. And yet, forty years ago, people took these micro minis in their stride, seemingly without an accompanying apoplectic fit! My family and I would often travel into the (then) relatively undeveloped rural countryside where the only reaction we provoked would be a few stares and suppressed giggles. Oh yes! People laughed at us – but their laughter seemed non-threatening: gentle and amused rather than angry and resentful.

Or so I believed. That is, until the first JVP insurrection of 1971 jolted us all into an awareness of how sharply divided we were as a society. The ethnic divide had already made itself felt with the ‘Sinhala Only Act’ and the race riots of ’58, but with the Southern insurrection, the fissures in society began to deepen and take on the appearance of a grid, with divisions based on economic and social factors. I realized that behind the smiling faces of the rural poor was a seething mass of humanity angry with the perceived ‘haves’ in society when they so clearly did not have. Western attire at that time became synonymous with ‘having’ and a symbol of privilege. Thus when I became a student at the University of Peradeniya in the late 70s, long after the insurrection, I was ragged because of my short hair and western style of clothing – attire that they associated with privilege and oppression. One young man who ragged me repeatedly asked me time and time again why I had cut my hair. He left me alone only after I claimed that I cut my hair because I had a head full of lice!

Thus the claim that the sari–wearer is invariably modest, while the sleeveless, just-above-the- knee skirted, skinny- jeans wearing woman is not, could in part reflect an underlying fear of Western cultural domination – a fallout from our colonial past, perhaps. This attitude is widely prevalent despite evidence to the contrary as the sari can after all be worn in a sexy and provocative fashion. But apart from this East-West divide, there is something else at play here. For in addition to the other fissures in society, sexism seems to be on the rise. Long before the two boys’ schools drew unflattering attention to themselves by putting up such blatantly sexist posters, government schools all over the island had begun to insist that mothers wear sari when they come to the school to pick up or drop their kids. I have heard numerous complaints from mothers from the poorer segment of society because they have had to invest in saris merely for this purpose and who, sometimes in the middle of the day, must shed their customary clothing and drape themselves in six yards of material in order to do so. Now it seems as if some of the private schools, who are under no compulsion to follow such backward and unenlightened rules, have joined the band wagon. If this is in order to keep the ‘raging hormones’ of adolescent boys under control, I wonder whether these boys are blind-folded when they leave the precincts of the school, as the clothing portrayed in the posters is what is commonly seen in the streets of Colombo. Or do these hormones rage only within the school premises?

Fear cripples society. It is fear and suspicion of a perceived ‘other’ that exacerbated the ethnic, socio-economic and religious divides in our society. As long as we treat someone from a different socio-economic, religious or ethnic background as different, we are divided. To cap it all, there is the gender divide which vivisects these other divisions. One has only to read the dailies to realize that gender-based violence is on the rise. Some of these stories haunt us to date – like that of the fresh-faced school girl who was repeatedly gang raped and then strangled while on her way home after school; or like that of the little 5 year old girl who was stolen from her parental home, raped and then murdered. Surely, the response to such violence is not to segregate the sexes, blame the woman for being the agent–provocateur and bring in more repressive measures? Isn’t it time we as a society addressed the underlying causes of the malaise in our society and searched for genuine answers instead of (always) shooting messengers and blaming women?

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Editors note: Also read Deadlier than the Male by Dr. Devika Brendon and Good women and bad women of the post-war nation by Chulani Kodikara, which expand on and deal with the same themes as this article.