Opposition Leader criticizes inaction of law enforcement authorities regarding communal violence

Wed, Mar 7, 2018, 11:06 am SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Mar 07, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Leader of Opposition and the Leader of main Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) R. Sampanthan seriously questioned the inaction of law enforcement authorities in response to the recent attacks on Muslim establishments in Ampara in the East and Digana area in the central hills.

Speaking in parliament on the chaotic situation in the Kandy area, the Opposition Leader said all these people who have engaged in these hostile activities seem to have been able to get away without being obstructed by the law enforcement authorities.

He said such incidents are clearly unacceptable and is indicative of sense of impunity. "People seem to have the confidence that they can engage in such acts and that the arm of the law would not reach them; that the Rule of Law would not be enforced against them," Sampanthan said.

He said it is not sufficient that some actions to be taken after the incident is over. The role of law enforcement authorities is called into serious question, he added.

"Have we reached a stage when people think that the law enforcement authorities can be taken for granted? And the law enforcement authorities are not a deterrent to whatever the activities they are engaged in," he asked.

Such incidents happening intermittently & frequently, the TNA leader pointed out. "History is replete with such incidents against people in numerical minorities. That's not a good reflection on the majority people," he remarked.

'Are they indicative of a purely law & order situation, or is there a deeper dimension to it?" he asked.
"What is the point of having 4-5 ministers of a particular community in the government when those people whom the ministers represent are not safe in this country?" he asked.

The opposition leader said under the present government structure the ministers of the minority communities cannot achieve what the people they represent deserve.

"Under the present system of governance there must be alterations and amendments, advancement of the system of government to enable all the people in this country to feel that they are equal without any one community feeling that they are superior to the others," he said.

He said it is the duty of the state to ensure that the system of governance is altered in such a way as to ensure that all the people in this country feel equal.

An open letter to Auditor General

Gamini

By C. A. Chandraprema-March 7, 2018, 10:15 pm 

On the day that campaigning ended for the recent local government election, the Auditor General, Gamini Wijesinghe, made some explosive statements about Sri Lanka’s state of indebtedness. Public attention has since focused on more sensational happenings and the AG’s statement has been all but forgotten. However, some days ago, former Auditor General Sarath Mayadunne wrote an article to a Sinhala newspaper upholding the incumbent Auditor General’s statement. So the matter may have been forgotten due to intervening events but it’s not dead. We often see the phenomenon of one person saying something which is endorsed by another person and it soon comes to be the generally accepted view by those who may not be equipped to figure out the veracity of what was said.

The Auditor General’s work in particular takes place in a rarified atmosphere and any pronouncement he makes should be adequately explained to the general public. This letter is a request for more information. I have requested a response to a series of questions which I believe will help our readers to understand the issue at hand better. What the Auditor General said at his controversial press conference on 7 February 2018 as shown on the TV news bulletins that night was as follows:

"If anybody asks me what the debt of the country is, I will have to tell him to ask Vaima (the son of God Sakra). I can’t say what our national debt is because the management of public debt has been turned into such a mess over the past 10 years….There has been excessive recourse to debt and the debt limits set by parliament have been exceeded. Debt has been shifted to other places and concealed…. The former Secretary to the Treasury referred to by some as an ‘economic assassin’ has done much to destroy the financial discipline of the country…The debt figures compiled by the finance ministry include only transactions that go through the consolidated fund. The debt of the provincial councils, local authorities and state enterprises have not been included in the public debt figures of the finance ministry, resulting in a situation where there are piles of debt everywhere…Over the past five years, a lot of loans were taken and we are now in the grace period before the repayment of these loans commence… All this happened because the Treasury Secretary began to work under the President with his powers…. If the Kapuwa defecates inside the devale, God does not take umbrage…."

"Debt according to the records of the Central Bank is Rs. 10 trillion but the balance sheet contains only Rs.1.1 trillion in assets. Because they could not control debt, they concealed it. The loans taken for the Norochcholai Power Plant are with the CEB, and the Loans for the Mattala airport and the Suriyawewa stadium are with the Aviation Authority and loans amounting to Rs. 136 billion taken for rebuilding rural roads are with the RDA. The Pensions Dept. has loans amounting to Rs. 37 billion taken to pay pensions and the interest payable for this money amounted to Rs. 1.3 billion in 2016."

With regard to these statements, the questions we have to ask are as follows:

1. According to Article 154 of our Constitution, the Auditor General’s assigned task is to audit all departments and agencies of the central government, all provincial councils and all local authorities and each and every enterprise where the shareholding of the government is 50% or above. Article 154(5) of the Constitution vests the Auditor-General with sweeping powers to enable him to carry out his duties, making it mandatory for information to be provided to him and giving him access to all books, records, returns and other documents, stores and other property belonging to the institutions that come under his jurisdiction. That being the case, why has it not been possible for the Auditor General to collect data relating to the outstanding debt of each of the state owned enterprises and other institutions coming under his jurisdiction?

2. In a situation where the Auditor General says that nobody knows how much the country owes and to whom, how is it that the Central Bank can say that they know exactly how much the country owes and to whom and further that they have an unblemished record in meeting debt service payments?

3. Even though the Auditor General says that the debt of the central government has been shifted to various other institutions, and he gave the specific example of the Road Development Authority, the RDA is in fact specifically authorized by its statute to borrow money and even to pay their salaries with borrowed money. In such circumstances, can we find fault with the RDA and other such institutions for having debts on their books?

4. The Establishments Code specifically permits money to be shifted around among institutions under the same ‘chief accounting officer’ (ministry secretary) and this has been going on under all governments. One celebrated case which comes immediately to mind was how Prime Minister R.Premadasa borrowed money from the Colombo Municipal Council for his Gamudawa programmes. When the housing ministry got its allocations from the Treasury, the money owed was paid back to the CMC. He was able to do that because he was the minister of housing as well as local government and both ministries came under the same chief accounting officer. How does the Auditor General view such practical arrangements among government agencies?

5. Even though the Auditor General says that there are piles of debt everywhere thus painting a picture of total confusion, how is it that we almost never hear of any of these various institutions going belly up without being able to repay what they owe? The debts of the provincial councils, local government institutions and the state owned enterprises will be owed almost entirely to local banks. (Only the top rung state owned enterprises would be able to raise money from overseas.) Somehow, all these institutions seem to be keeping the line to the banks open by servicing their debt. What has the local banking industry been telling the Auditor General about the money owed to them by the SOEs, PCs and local authorities?

6. Another statement made by the Auditor General during his controversial press conference was that the country had borrowings of more than Rs.10 trillion in its books but that the assets of the country were only Rs. 1.1 trillion. Laymen like us have been led to believe that only private companies look at their liabilities against their assets. In the case of nations, what matters is the debt to GDP, and govt. revenue figures because the debt is finally paid with the revenue not the assets. Have we been wrong all this while?

7. The assets of a nation are the total value of its housing stock, buildings, factories, mineral deposits, farmlands, tourist attractions and literally everything that stands on its soil which can be given a monetary value. Is there any useful purpose in compiling such information? This writer has seen articles in foreign journals arguing that while the debts of the USA may be USD 20 trillion, they have assets worth hundreds of trillions so things are not so bad after all! If Sri Lanka also compiles its asset values, our debt of Rs. 10 trillion will look insignificant.

Other than making a bad situation look good, what other useful purpose is served by giving estimates of a nation state’s assets in the state accounts?

8. The Auditor General should explain to the public whether there is a difference in the way the accounts of private companies are kept as against the accounts of states and what those differences are. What in particular are the accounting conventions used in the preparation of a State’s accounts in Sri Lanka as against the conventions used in other countries? Without such technicalities being explained, the public will not be able to come to an informed decision about the Auditor General’s assertion that our debts amount to Rs. 10 trillion while our assets amount to only Rs. 1.1 trillion.

Even though former Auditor General Sarath Mayadunne has written a full length feature article to a Sinhala newspaper stressing how significant the present Auditor General’s revelations were, that article does not provide any answers to the questions posed above. Perhaps the problem was that nobody has asked the questions that need answers. Well, we have now posed some specific questions and we would be grateful if the Auditor General explains these matters to the public.

Please Find Sirisena’s Sword

By Shyamon Jayasinghe –MARCH 8, 2018

Shyamon Jayasinghe

“He went about like a Samurai swaying this sword and warning all and sundry that he will fearlessly use it and stamp out the corruption that has been endemic in the island…” ~ Lost Sword and King Arthur’s Legend

President Maitripala Sirisena’s sword is lost! Stuck somewhere. It was a powerful tool that could destroy the corrupt-whoever that may be. He who finds it, deserves the crown of Lanka for he alone can deliver the goods: end the corrupt system and launch development sans corruption. A famous story in King Arthur’s Legends comes to my mind.

One legend tells of a lost sword that is later found stuck and embedded in a rock. The challenge went round that the person who is able to extricate the  sword  from the rock without damage will be King of England.

“Who so pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil is right-wise King born of all England.’’

Numerous persons took up the challenge; but all of them failed. Arthur, then no king, went up and managed to pull out the sword. This is how he became King of England and  later unified the kingdom.

Passionate Show Against Corruption

Likewise, is this mysterious sword of Maitripala Sirisena – our President. In his case, he had the sword; didn’t use it; it got lost and stuck somewhere and somebody who can take it out should win the crown of Sri Lanka-Paradise!

President Sirisena became suddenly belligerent and passionate about public corruption during the recent local government elections. He went about like a Samurai swaying this sword and warning all and sundry that he will fearlessly use it and stamp out the corruption that has been endemic in the island since the days of the Rajapakse family dictatorship. His threatening stare was aimed at Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his party, too. And this, regardless of the fact that it was that party which worked to have him elected President in 2015. He was so committed, that even those who enabled him to get into the President’s chair could not be saved. “Sorry, Ranil,” he sought of said. It was almost as if he had followed the Bhagawad Gita line about duty being foremost.

Disbelief

It was evident that nobody believed Sirisena’s threat as he had such a miserable showing in the results. People remembered that he was a high profile Minister in the Rajapaksa cabinet but did not bat an eyelid about Mahinda’s abuse of power and the widespread corruption of his regime. Sirisena and the rest of the cabinet watched over all that and they watched over the murders and disappearances of dissenting journalists during that time. He had also participated in the foul acts of faking charges and jailing Sarath Fonseka after a controversial coup hearing. So did he watch and participate in the foul event of removing the Chief Justice. Maitripala never showed an iota of passion or principle about these and other outrageous acts.

Rejection of Sarath Fonseka

The election gone, and we hear no word about stamping corruption anymore. The ‘horu allanawa,” slogan is still lost as we find that court cases against the former bigwigs Gota, Basil, Wimal Weerawansa, Aluthgamage, Gammanpila, Johnston etc etc are being postponed into long dates. Communal riots are being organised by opposition forces. Thugs from outside are being organised to disrupt the country and bring down the government before it reaches its mandated time. Maitripala Sirisena looks on satisfied with issuing some vacuous threat or another. The Prime Minister cannot take too much on his plate and handle the portfolio of Law and Order. He and his party has been insisting that the only man who can do that job be given the portfolio and that is Field Marshall Sarath Fonseka. However, the President has not acceded because of the pressure of Mahinda’s men outside and inside the Sirisena administration.

Aligned with Pohottuwa?

There is a lot of talk going round that Sirisena has been persuaded  to align  with his former enemy camp-the Pohottuwa boys. The rumour is that his own brother Dudley, who is a big business magnate and friend of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, is acting as the bridge between the Pohottuwa camp and Sirisena. If this is true, then Sirisena has really thrown that sword away and joined the thieves. There was no need for a hopper feed this time.

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Emergency declared Island wide ! Curfew extended; Bhikkhus collect Rs. 1.5 million ransom from Moulavis if Muslims are not to be attacked !

(Lanka-e-News - 07.March.2018, 10.30AM)  Following the racial riots that erupted in Teldeniya- Digana districts tending to spread across the country , the president after a cabinet discussion decided to declare a state of emergency for ten days Island wide , by virtue of the powers vested in him. If the emergency is to be extended thereafter , the parliamentary approval will be necessary.

Meanwhile the curfew that was to be withdrawn early morning yesterday in Kandy district was extended to Teldeniya and Pallekelle police divisions . 24 arrested by the police

The racial riot which erupted following an attack launched on a Sinhalese lorry driver has claimed the life of a 28 years old Muslim youth by now. 

The lorry driver who died has been having most cordial relations with the Muslims in the district , and the Muslim youth who died too was most closely and cordially associated with the Sinhala Buddhist community. On the facebook of the Muslim youth there is even a  photograph of his taken  in the vicinity of the Dalada maligawa . He is a youth suffering from hearing impairment.

Based on reports reaching Lanka e news , on the day before the riots , the infamous leader of a Bhikhu organization best noted for provoking worst communal  hatred in this country had attended the funeral house  of the Sinhala youth. It is to be noted , this is the same monk who masterminded the Beruwala violence too.

These monks after reaching the funeral house have telephoned the Muslim Moulavis of the area and threatened , because the blood is boiling of the Sinhalese , the Muslims are going to be attacked ,and if that is to be averted , a sum of Rs. 2.5 million shall be paid to the relatives of the deceased.

The Moulavis have told the monks , that youth who was involved is one who does not even attend the mosque , and no Muslim will come forward to get  him out on  bail over this attack . The Moulavis have also spoken most kindly and told , they are prepared to pay compensation but not the colossal  ransom  of Rs. 2.5 million demanded by the monks.

The Bhikkhu leader has then brought down the ransom  to Rs. 1.5 million  and the Moulavis have  paid that sum to the Bhikkhu leader. The latter   had then come  to Colombo again  that night . Whether that sum collected was paid to the deceased’s relative is unknown. The group who organized the violence  the previous day  had nevertheless launched the attack on the Muslims  ,and incited the racial riots. The investigating officials  should probe into these lurid details.

While the three youths who caused the death of the lorry driver should be meted out maximum punishment , the monks who are propagating racial hatred and animosities through the face book wantonly should also be duly punished.

This being a Buddhist country , the monks should act with compassion  and mercy, without desecrating the sacred saffron robes. As they are expected to be sentinels of the true Buddhist faith so  they should set an example  to others . 
 

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by     (2018-03-07 05:20:25)

Anti-Muslim violence rears its ugly head again in Sri Lanka

This incident carries the hallmarks of a well-planned covert attempt to disturb the peace, particularly in the wake of a grenade explosion a few days ago in a bus in Bandarawela, which was deliberately misinterpreted as being the work of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE).

by Dr Lionel Bopage-Mar 7, 2018

( March 7, 2018, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) Inciting violence, hatred and threats against other citizens because of their diverse backgrounds is harmful for sustained peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka. Ridiculing their religious beliefs and destroying their properties is terrifying for the targeted groups and distressing for the law abiding community members. A free nation shows its maturity by allowing minorities to enjoy the same rights and privileges the rest of the community is entitled to.

In June 1980, Sri Lanka acceded to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and it came into force in September 1980. Article 17 of the ICCPR provides that “No person shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honour and reputation”, and “Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks”. Article 20(2) states that “any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law”.

However, in practice, legislative measures have done little to address or deter the reasons for such unacceptable forms of behaviour. The international experience indicates that racial hatred legislation is not the answer to curb these situations. The use of community education in schools and local communities and mass public education campaigns better serve such purpose.

Since 2013, the violence against Muslims in Sri Lanka has become more frequent. The latest round of attacks has taken place in Ampara last week. An unsubstantiated rumour that tablets that could cause infertility had been either mixed or found mixed in a meal served by a wayside restaurant owned by a Muslim to a Sinhala customer has been the cause for these senseless attacks. This rumour has been debunked by many medical specialists including gynaecologists. However, the fact that it had gained traction shows that extremist and nationalist rhetoric have influenced the thinking of the ordinary people. The repercussions of this incident have become internationalised with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation expressing its deep concern about the developing situation.

The fundamentalists accuse Muslims of expansionism, pursuing an anti-Sinhala-Buddhist agenda through destroying their relics and heritage, building Mosques on Temple grounds/ruins, forcibly converting Buddhists, forcing Sinhalese out of business, taking over land and sanctuaries to expand the population, and using various methods such as mixing birth control/infertility medication with food items and underwear etc. to make Sinhala women barren. By handing out leaflets and sending inflammatory and spurious SMS messages and videos with inflammatory and spurious SMS messages and videos, the fundamentalists frequently whip up anti-Muslim sentiment throughout the island.

After a mosque and several shops owned by Muslims had been attacked, the situation has now been brought under control with the intervention of the security forces and certain civil society and religious entities. Attempts are also being made to establish an inter-faith peace committee to subdue tensions and maintain peace and unity of the communities. The security forces had taken measures to safeguard all vulnerable religious places of worship in the Ampara Town. The food in question that led to this issue had been referred to the government analyst for further investigation.

The question that must be asked is how could a mob initiate these violent incidents at a location not so far away from several camps of the Police, army, air force and the STF, and also attack some mosques situated further away from the location? Several arrests have been made allegedly in the midst of objections some Buddhist monks in the area had raised. Apparently, the person who claimed to have found the ‘pill’ in his meal has given a wrong address to the police and disappeared. Nevertheless, the Government has taken measures to launch a special investigation into the alleged initial inaction of the Police and them submitting an incomplete ‘B’ report. In addition, the government is to provide compensation for the damages caused to private property during this incident.

This incident carries the hallmarks of a well-planned covert attempt to disturb the peace, particularly in the wake of a grenade explosion a few days ago in a bus in Bandarawela, which was deliberately misinterpreted as being the work of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE). The situation could have turned out much worse. The political affiliations of those who initiated this erroneous claim must be carefully looked into.

In this light, the future of the country depends on advancing national reconciliation by upholding the dignity of all ethnic groups and promoting inter-racial and inter-religious tolerance, as well as allaying the unfounded fears of the Sinhala people. The government actions to address the fear psychosis created by the recent incidents is awfully inadequate. The silence of the political leadership, particularly the President and the Prime Minister, is stunning and incomprehensible. Publicly declared commitment and proactive intervention of the political leadership are essential for managing such inflammable situations.

It could be said that people who have become increasingly alienated and angry due to their desperate situations have become tools of the far right racists. While there is no quick fix, a better solution would be to improve the socio-economic conditions that will help curtail such behaviours. A truly mature pluralistic society can be gauged by its capacity to meet intolerant opinions, attitudes and vile invective with tolerance, so long as they do not breach criminal laws of conduct. The best way to counter their scurrilous claims is by engaging in informed public dialogue and debate.

The Sri Lankan Government needs to proactively conduct an urgent inquiry to protect peace, establish the rule of law, take all those involved in violence into custody and bring the perpetrators to justice. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation has also called upon the government to expeditiously investigate this incident. Unless the civil society and the government work together to bring the issues being rumoured into public debate, the non-majoritarian communities will continue to be harassed and subjected to further violence. And the ordinary people should be skeptical of the rumours and false propaganda publicised through social media to mislead and divide communities with devastating consequential violence.

Dr Lionel Bopage is the President, Australian Advocacy for Good Governance in Sri Lanka, Melbourne, Australia

Have We Divested Ourselves Of Any Pretence To Civilized Behaviour?

By Emil van der Poorten –MARCH 7, 2018

Emil van der Poorten

The title of this piece is in no way intended to be simply provocative but poses a question that is more than legitimate in a nation that, all protestations of a cultural heritage going back a few thousand years aside, has become, as one wag proclaimed it, “The armpit of southern Asia!”

The temptation to say, “I told you so” is great and is one I will not ignore.

I am not the only person writing for the electronic and print media that has consistently decried our slide into amorality and unprincipled and simply opportunistic behaviour.  However, that does not preclude me from harking back to the fact that some of us at least have insisted that good governance can only exist where morality, ethics and principles guide our political institutions and functions.

The fact that all the mainline political parties, bar perhaps the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, have only sought to rationalize their behaviour doesn’t make it okay or even permissible. A Sri Lankan as close to the late Lasantha Wickrematunge as he could possibly be, responded to my query in an obvious context by saying that Ranil Wickremesinghe saw nothing wrong with the very close business and personal association of one of his right hand men with the Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR1) regime. This was at the time that the MR1 regime ruled the roost and the UNP was, supposedly, mounting a principled opposition to it. It should be noted that that “right hand man” has achieved even more importance as a member of the inner cabal within Ranil’s current Cabinet.

I had more than a passing acquaintance, as a senior member of the Kandy Sports Club, one whose association with that organization goes back to the ‘fifties’ of the last century, of the kind of coziness between the MR1 Regime and prominent UNPers.  I have, even today, a CD provided to me by the single most powerful member of the Kandy Sports Club which provides ample evidence of the mayhem that was visited upon the (working class) Kandy supporters by Namal Rajapaksa’s personal security and some of the hundreds of navy personnel, transported to Kandy at state expense in buses that also carried the poles that were used as assault weapons. Subsequent to the Rajapaksa “supporters” hospitalizing several dozen Kandy fans after the Navy team, containing all three of the Rajapaksa progeny, had lost a rugby game at Nittawela, I was delegated to write the official complaint to the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union on behalf of the Club.

To cut a long story short, the letter “disappeared” after the draft was sent to the Club’s office for signature of the President and onward transmission to the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union. On a subsequent occasion, when a letter did reach the self-same SLRFU after an Air Force player discharged an assault weapon on the field of play, hitting the broadcast booth at Nittawela, and we collected the spent cartridge casing as evidence, the complaint was never so much as acknowledged. The only reference to it came from one of the Rajapaksa stooges at the Rugby Football Union who, long afterwards, made passing reference to the incident in the most dismissive of comments to the print media. I expect that further comment is hardly necessary save to challenge anyone to point out a similar incident in the annals of rugby football at any time in its history, anywhere in the world!

The foregoing is simply proof, if proof be needed, of the collaboration of the forces of darkness and those that claimed to be one of “sweetness and light” that emerged after the Presidential and General elections of 2015.

What we are seeing in the racist carnage of recent days and, probably, more to follow, is the result of political opportunism at its highest level.  The MR1 and the MR2 coalitions are two peas in a pod.  The fact that those who’ve orchestrated the anti-Muslim mayhem have succeeded, one more time, in reducing our political discourse to the gutter has only been possible because of the “politics of accommodation,” to put a respectable name to it, between MRs 1 and 2.

The worst of it is that after the total destruction of democracy and communal amity in this country, those responsible for the hell on earth that will be our lot will walk away, continuing to collaborate on the continuing rape and pillage of Sri Lanka or, in the absence of anything to pillage, enjoy their stolen wealth in some salubrious foreign clime, preferably one that welcomes laundered money.

In their public utterances the broad mass of political movers and shakers don’t seem, any longer, to even indulge in the traditional hypocrisies about law and order, honour, fairness etc. etc.

The practice of hypocrisy has been much reviled over the centuries and deservedly so.  However, the fact that it is an accusation that is leveled in countries with a tradition of civilized behaviour is deserving of more than cursory examination.

A hypocrite is one who pretends to a higher standard in the eternal verities while acting in contravention of them and what they stand for. However, the positive side of the practice of hypocrisy is the clear admission that the standards in question are the right ones and those that are required to ensure the very survival of civilization as we know it.

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The Beast Rides Again

Photo courtesy Asian Mirror

“…they can hate so much they’ll tear the world to pieces.”
Arthur Miller (All My Sons)

TISARANEE GUNASEKARA- 03/07/2018

Even as I write these words, Kandy is burning.

Muslims, their homes and their properties are being targeted in the name of Buddhism, within shouting distance of the Temple of the Tooth. If the custodians of the Tooth Relic, the chief prelates of Malwatte and Asgiriya, look out from their windows, they’d probably see the smoke from the fires, if not the fires and the fire-makers.

The Beast Rides Again.docx by Thavam on Scribd

Duality of the general public and the Parliamentarians

In Sri Lankan politics, whether parliamentarians are educated or not, they behave in the same manner in divisive issues such as ethnicity, religion and affiliations to political parties

  Thursday, 8 March 2018

Member of Parliament M.A. Sumanthiran was a panellist at the Panel Discussion on ‘Mindfulness in Policy Making, Governance and Diplomacy’ on day two (25 February) of the Global Mindfulness Summit 2018 held at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute.

He added colour to the panel discussion and said he would reveal a secret. It was announced sometime ago that for a period of one hour of every day, there would be a live streaming of the sessions of Parliament. This was a precursor to the current unrestricted live streaming of the parliamentary sessions.

The audience expected that the MP would say that all the MPs behaved nicely during the said period and they would have started the normal behaviour after that. To our astonishment he said what happened was completely the opposite. MPs behaved very badly and accused each other during that period of one hour and their behaviour was calm after that. He said they were playing to the gallery and if the gallery thinks that listening is better than fighting, they will listen.

Prior to the summit, we visited Parliament twice on behalf of the ‘Sati Pasala Foundation’ which organised the summit. We conducted a practical session of mindfulness for the parliamentary staff and on the second occasion, a session was conducted for the parliamentarians. We had the patronage of the Speaker on both occasions. Whenever we announced in the previous sessions conducted to various parties that we would be going to the Parliament to conduct a session, all of them laughed. It was a common experience we encountered.

This was a part of the gallery the MP was talking about. It may or may not be a representative sample. So why is there this duality of the general public? Is this the reality or only an incorrect perception of parliamentarians?

When the MP further explained at the summit that at the Committee stages, MPs are not aggressive and in fact, they tend to forget their affiliations to the political parties, he got a round of heart-felt applause from the audience. He joked that he would like to see that the committee proceedings would not be live streamed.

This is evident when one considers the behaviour of MPs during the proceedings of six sub-committees that cover the areas of fundamental rights, judiciary, law and order, public finance, public service and centre-periphery relations to assist the Steering Committee of the Constitutional Assembly to draft a new constitution.

Those sub-committees were headed by Mahinda Samarasinghe, Rauff Hakeem, Sagala Ratnayaka, Bandula Gunawardana, Susil Premajayantha and Dharmalingam Sithadthen respectively. They have different political affiliations and all the parties represented in the parliament were represented in those committees, including the Joint Opposition. The reports of these sub-committees were published and were available on the web but there was insufficient public debate on those reports.

Rajitha Ratnayake has written an article to Ravaya newspaper on 25 February stating the following opinion in respect of local government elections: “According to the data and information we obtained, Buddhist clergy and the leaders of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuma created a public opinion based on race and religion that Sinhala Buddhists should come forward to protect themselves and their war heroes and defeat the attempt of bringing a federal constitution by voting for SLPP.” Based on his research, this ideology influenced approximately 68% to the total outcome.

This ideology, if correct, does not match with the behaviour of the parliamentarians of the Joint Opposition at the sub-committees of the Steering Committee of the Constitutional Assembly. Once again, there is a duality.

The recent political history of Sri Lanka illustrates this duality. When the ruling party tries to bring a solution to ethnic/religious issues, the Opposition party counters it. When that very same Opposition party comes into power and tries to bring about a solution to the same ethnic/religious question, the current opposition, which was the previous ruling party, opposes it.

My observation of Sri Lankan politics is that, whether parliamentarians are educated or not, they behave in the same manner in divisive issues such as ethnicity, religion and affiliations to political parties. Both the majority and the minority parties are equally obsessed with their own race and religion and therefore have no capacity to perceive the importance of the nation and the country to which we all belong.

Although the behaviour of listening and discussing is advocated and admired by the conscious mind, the subconscious mind demands the advancement of one’s respective subsets – whether it is political party, ethnicity or religion. This is one reason why people like their representatives to unleash verbal attacks on their opponents. In order to get votes, parliamentarians perform without realising that the very people they want to please do not consciously approve their behaviour.

This may be the same in relation to the problems we face in ethnic and religious harmony. If appropriate discussions can be initiated, conscientious people can be convinced to resolve those issues in an amenable manner.     

There are some nations that have addressed these complicated issues of ethnicity and religion successfully. India, during their struggle for independence, brought all its communities under one banner. This rich heritage is now being gradually reversed, knowingly or unknowingly, by the present Indian administration.

Mahatma Gandhi conducted his last hunger strike demanding the rights of the Muslims. Nelson Mandela, after becoming the President of South Africa, insisted on harmony between the members of the previous apartheid regime and the new South African Government – amidst stiff resistance by his own political party – for the sake of the future of South Africa.

Committed and strong political leadership is a must for this type of exercise. Leaders should lead rather than allowing them to be led by the general public. Maybe mindfulness can provide the necessary glue in this endeavour.

SRI LANKA BLOCKS SOCIAL MEDIA AS BUDDHIST MOBS ATTACK MOSQUES

Image: Sri Lanka’s navy soldier stands guard near a burnt shop and a motorbike after a clash between two communities in Digana, central district of Kandy, Sri Lanka March 7, 2018.(REUTERS/Stringer.)

Shihar Aneez, Ranga Sirilal-07/03/2018

COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka shut down social messaging networks including Facebook on Wednesday to control violence targeted at the country’s minority Muslims, officials said, even after the imposition of emergency in the Buddhist-majority island.

 

Tension has been growing between the two communities in Sri Lanka over the past year, with some hardline Buddhist groups accusing Muslims of forcing people to convert to Islam and vandalizing Buddhist archaeological sites.

Some Buddhist nationalists have also protested against the presence in Sri Lanka of Muslim Rohingya asylum seekers from mostly Buddhist Myanmar, where Buddhist nationalism has also been on the rise.

Police clamped an indefinite curfew in the central highlands district of Kandy where the violence has been centered since Sunday following the death of a Buddhist youth in an altercation with a group of Muslims.

 Buddhist mobs attacked mosques and businesses belonging to Muslims overnight, residents told Reuters on Wednesday, even after President Maithripala Sirisena imposed emergency for seven days to control the violence.

Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said there had been “several incidents” throughout Tuesday night in the Kandy area, famous for its tea plantations.

“The police arrested seven people. Three police officers were injured from the incidents,” Gunasekara told Reuters. There was no information about how many civilians had been wounded, he said.

Sri Lanka’s police officers stand guard on a main road after a clash between two communities in Digana, central district of Kandy, Sri Lanka March 7, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer

Some of the violence has been instigated over social media with postings appearing on Facebook threatening more attacks against Muslims, the government said.

On Wednesday, it said Facebook, Viber and Whatsapp would be blocked across the country for three days.

Sri Lanka is still healing from a 26-year civil war against Tamil separatists that ended in 2009, with reports of rights abuses on both sides. Muslims make up 9 percent of the 21 million population, the smallest minority after ethnic Tamils, most of whom are Hindus.

UN rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said he was alarmed by the recurring episodes of violence against ethnic and religious minorities in Sri Lanka and sought accountability.

“There should be no impunity, either for the incitement that led to the attacks, or the attacks themselves,” he said in a speech to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

The U.S. State Department in a security alert warned of the possibility of further unrest in Kandy, famous for a temple said to contain the tooth of Buddha.

A government minister said the violence in Kandy had been whipped up by people from outside the area. “There is an organized conspiracy behind these incidents,” Sarath Amunugama, a senior minister, told reporters in Colombo.

Additional reporting by Stephanie Ulmer-Nebehay in GENEVA; Writing by Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Nick Macfie

Sri Lanka: “The life of my husband can’t be brought back”

There is no point in fighting and claiming more precious lives of the people and making more widows like me

by Piyumi Fonseka-Mar 8, 2018

Mar 8, 2018

( March 8, 2018, Kandy, Sri Lanka Guardian) Thilaka Pushpakumari, widow of the 41-year-old driver Kumarasinghe said that fighting can’t bring back the life of her husband. “There is no point in fighting and claiming more precious lives of the people and making more widows like me. My husband was so innocent and everyone in the village adored him.

Working as a driver, he looked after me, his mother, our disabled son and the daughter. We have become so helpless now. We have no future now. Honestly, we don’t have much hopes and confidence that the Government will support us,” she said.

The ugly head of racism rose its head recently in Digana and Teldeniya areas following a death of H.G. Kumarasinghe, a 41-year-old father of two, who succumbed to head injuries sustained during an assault.

Even though this was an isolated incident, which had nothing to do with racism, the incident later raised fears of renewed ‘racist campaigns’ and violence targeting minority communities.

Social media which has turned itself into powerful source of media in Sri Lanka, has been used by many parties with the aim of spreading false messages and painting a ‘racist’ picture regarding the incident.

The road incident took place on February 22 (Thursday). An exchange of words between the late Kumarasinghe, who was driving his lorry accompanied by his assistant, and four other people, who were travelling in a three-wheeler , occurred when the two vehicles met face to face, while taking turns in a junction in Teldeniya. The seconds-long argument had led to a brutal attack. Before the attack, the lorry driver had not allowed the three-wheeler driver to overtake his vehicle and the two vehicles were stopped near a filling station in Teldeniya where the four people in the three-wheeler started assaulting Kumarasinghe. Kumarasinghe who sustained severe head injuries was admitted to Teldeniya Hospital from where he was later transferred to Kandy General Hospital. After nearly 10 days in the Intensive Care Unit, Kumarasinghe succumbed to his injuries on 3 March (Saturday). Subsequently, reprisal attacks, which triggered off on March 5 afternoon, set the Digana town ablaze. Dozens of shops were burnt down causing colossal damage to their owners.

By March 5 evening, Police curfew was declared in Digana and schools were declared closed in the entire Kandy District. Over 1000 policemen, 300 STF personnel and 300 Army troops were deployed in Kandy to control the situation and prevent it from turning into an inter-communal catastrophe.

( The writer works for Colombo based Daily Mirror from where we adopted the above excerpts from the article first appeared)