Distress of Informal Muslim Workers

3 June 2019 

Crises of any form have class, gender and caste characteristics. Social disparities are aggravated by crises whether it is a natural catastrophe such as a tsunami, a political disaster such as a coup or social trouble as with the climate of fear after the Easter Sunday attacks.  
The Easter Sunday attacks have led to a situation where the livelihoods of Muslim informal workers are under considerable stress. In this column, I outline some of the concerns raised by Muslim informal workers about their crippling livelihood problems to the Jaffna People’s Forum for Coexistence—a group of multi-ethnic and religious leaders, community leaders and progressive activists formed immediately after the Easter attacks. 

Jaffna Muslims

Following the complete eviction of the Muslims from the North by the LTTE on October 30, 1990, an act which I consider to be one of ethnic cleansing, only 650 out of an estimated 8,000 families originating from Jaffna have returned. Most of the Muslims who returned are the working class sections of Jaffna Muslims, who had for decades lived in refugee camps in Puttalam; the better off Muslims began residing in the South including in Colombo after the eviction. Many of the Muslims that returned did not own a plot of land, and even those who did, were early on denied post-war housing grants by local officials using bureaucratic barriers. In fact, my own engagement with the Muslim community in Jaffna emerged in the context of some efforts by the Tamil-Muslim Relations Forum in Jaffna initiated in 2012, where we documented the housing needs of the returning Muslim community, and submitted their concerns to the various authorities. 
In any event, of the 2,000 Muslim families that had returned to Jaffna after the war and registered their interest to resettle in Jaffna, only 650 families remain in Jaffna today, due to the lack of job opportunities and bureaucratic obstacles to resettlement. Furthermore, about 90% of the currently resident Jaffna Muslims are involved in informal sector jobs including scrap iron collection, mutton and beef trading, pavement vending and door to door sales. 
Despite the suspicion and antagonism of some sections of the Tamil community, particularly the middle class Tamil opinion makers, members of the Muslim community claim that they have good relations with Tamil people whom they interact in their day to day life. When it comes to their livelihoods over the last decade they have built strong relationships with Tamil customers and small business people. They go to the same villages to collect scrap iron, they purchase goats from known individuals in each village who act as agents and street vendors claim Tamil households often provide them tea and even food, when they go on their day-long forays of trade into different parts of Jaffna.
Next in the neighbourhoods bordering the Moor Street area in Jaffna, such as Navanthurai, Tamil children and Muslim children go to the same schools and the Catholic Church in particular has had many supportive social programmes. They participate in each other’s religious festivals and feasts. The Muslim traders and eating shops are completely dependent on Tamil clients and customers.

"Livelihoods of these informal workers are characteristic of how a crisis always affects the marginalised sections of society"

After Easter Sunday attacks

Amidst the challenges of the resettlement process after close to two decades of displacement, the Muslim community that had returned was sensing a certain level of normalcy in their social and economic lives over the last couple years. However, all that changed with the Easter Sunday attacks. Overnight the media portrayal of the Muslim community pushed them into a corner and created tremendous fear of a backlash. Some Tamil newspapers exaggerated or distorted the findings from search operations by the military and police, further damaging the Tamil public’s opinion about the Muslim community. 
When tens of us from various walks of life came together and formed the Jaffna People’s Forumfor Coexistence in the days after the Easter Sunday attacks, one of the first issues that was brought up by the Muslim community in Jaffna was how their livelihoods were being affected. At a recent discussion organised by the Coexistence Forum, eleven informal sector workers informed us of their crippling difficulties with respect to earning their livelihoods. They said, they did not even attempt to go out for petty trading due to fear of a backlash during the month after the Easter attacks. When they eventually ventured out in recent weeks, all kinds of actors have been harassing them. From village officials demanding to see their National Identity Card and Family Card, overzealous officers at check points to local goons who attempt to chase them away. 
These eleven informal workers said that having lost a month’s income after the Easter Sunday attacks, they are only getting about 50% of the income they used to get over the past week. They are nevertheless determined to make an income, as the survival of their families depends on their livelihoods. Furthermore, many of the scrap iron collectors use vehicles that were bought on leasing, and without an adequate income they are unable to make the necessary monthly payments. 

"Only Muslim 650 families remain in Jaffna today due to lack of job opportunities and bureaucratic obstacles"

Addressing the crisis

The hand to mouth livelihoods of these informal workers are characteristic of how a crisis always disproportionately affects the marginalised sections of society. If many of these Muslim men involved in such informal work have been shattered economically, the women in the Muslim quarters have been socially shut up in their homes as they are afraid to go out as their dress has become the subject of attack. Many Muslim women who spoke to the Co-existence Forum have complained that their many efforts to become independent by meeting with officials as well as errands such as going to the bank and shopping for their homes, have all been undermined through fear and the related restriction of movement, and they are now increasingly dependent on their male family members for even mundane tasks.    
There are no simple solutions to this crisis. On the one hand, high authorities should send a clear message to their local administrators and law enforcement officers that the pretext of security should not be used to harass working class Muslim men and women. Indeed laws and regulations work in such a manner that if any of us, our houses or our vehicles are checked, authorities could find many reasons to find fault, as modern states have tremendous powers over our day to day lives. On the other hand, such measures from high officials alone will not work, unless there is broader engagement to change ordinary people’s perception of Muslims, and thus the need for broader engagement in the media and in various forums. 
The discussions organised by the Jaffna People’s Forum for Coexistence have educated many of us about the various challenges facing the Muslim community, even in what seems like a fairly non-threatening environment in Jaffna today. If this is the situation in Jaffna, one worries how devastating the situation must be for Muslims in regions where riots and violence against Muslims have taken place in recent years such as Aluthgama and Digana. All those concerned about social justice should consider the attack on the livelihoods of Muslims and come to the defence of the Muslim community. People’s economic lives are the bedrock of pluralism and democracy.

Exposing negligence of officials not a threat to national security – Dr. Jayampathy

*PSC has not exposed intelligence officers :

*Parties seeking political gain – Prof. Ashu Marasinghe

Rukshana Rizwie-Saturday, June 1, 2019

Acting Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) Dr. Jayampathy Wickremaratne mandated to investigate the Easter Sunday terror attacks said that exposing the negligence of officials who did not thwart the terror attacks despite having ample warnings, is not a threat to the country’s national security.

“Opening of the PSC for media and public viewing is not only an opportunity but a challenge as we have no experience of having done this in the past,” he said. “This was a long felt need and we personally believe that every PSC from hereon should be open to both media and telecast on TV for the public to see. The public have the right to know and may as well exercise the Right to Information.”

He said that the PSC members have repeatedly cautioned witness from revealing information that might be prejudicial or threat to national security. “Both witnesses who appeared at the commission on Wednesday are seasoned officials and have spoken to us in private, none of the information revealed at the hearing was deemed confidential,” he said.

“Everyone knows the names of high ranking officials including the directors, as such revealing their names does not put their security at risk. But there are thousands who work in the intelligence services who we do not want to know of.”

Dr. Wickremaratne inquired as to why the opposition of which nearly 40 members signed a document that would make the sessions open for the media were now either backtracking on their decision and bickering about it.

“Revealing lapses, negligence and failure which led to the Easter Sunday attack is in no way a threat to national security,” he said. “But giving those individuals a sense of impunity is a threat to national security. They fear being exposed.”

It has been an extraordinary few months of political metamorphosis

All that’s familiar is falling apart

The Ugly American
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/09/donald-trumps-cruel-streak/501554/

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kazakhstan's appointed president
(Kazakh State Press Service)

The Falsified Idol - http://desispeaks.com/rohingya-ethnic-cleansing/

by Kumar David-June 1, 2019, 5:45 pm 

The hundreds of millions strong pack that backed Modi is mainly Hindu ‘nationalist’; Muslims largely did not vote BJP. But the social and economic programme the pack is crying out for is far from "alt-right". Modi’s post-election ‘acceptance’ speech to the assembled mass was about poverty reduction, farmer’s problems and creating jobs. Hardly an alt-right rant and I do not recall anything about serving the interests of the business or Hindutva communalism was said. You might say he is a cunning hypocrite or it may be wiser to say that mass and subaltern bottom-up pressures have made Modi a real populist. He was re-elected with a majority in excess of his most optimistic expectations. The traditional centre has been hollowed but it would be a great simplification to call what is replacing it as either alt-right or alt-left. Reality is more complex and that is the theme of today’s column.

At the same time the big centre-right and social democratic centre-left blocks suffered big setbacks in the European Parliament elections last week. Though their combined strength is still the largest alliance they will have to seek alliance to secure a majority. Liberals and Greens made across a board right-wing nationalists made sweeping gains in the UK, Italy and France. A second wave of seismic change is sweeping across post-war European politics (the first wave was the annihilation of Stalinist Communist parties in Europe and across the world after the demise of the USSR). The centre is hollowing out and the left and the right are gaining. These are variations on a theme that is sweeping across the world and making irreversible transformations to the global order.

Changes in the global political landscape in recent months have been at the same time both remarkable and as expected. Theresa May has been sent packing and Trump sinks deeper into the hole that he digs for himself. Scot Morrison’s anti-immigration and anti-environmental conservatives have been re-elected in Australia in defiance of every opinion poll on this pair of socially regressive and ecologically primitive agendas. Netanyahu’s come back spells continuing statelessness and years more oppression for the Palestinian people. Aung Sang Suu Ki, once time a heroine has turned monster. She backs if not inspires, crimes against Roghinya’s and it is believed that she more than the military was responsible for holding the Reuters journalists is prison for so long. The world seems to be oddly made and upside down.

There have been a bright spots: re-election Joko Widodo in Indonesia beating back a military-Islamic challenge, defeat of Najib Razak in Malaysia, López Obrador’s victory in Mexico, exemplary Jacinda Ardern is New Zealand’s PM, and Pedro Sánchez’s Socialists secured a plurality in Spain. It’s unclear what kind of president, Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Mnangagwa will turn out to be and in South Africa the 2019 the total poll fell to 65% from 73% in 2014 and incumbent president Cyril Ramaphosa’s ANC’s share fell from 62% to 58% while Mmusi Maimane's Democratic Alliance raised its share from 17% to 22%. It is good that the ANC was returned to power and that voters at the same time gave it a kick in the butt. Turkey’s Erdogan is a bundle of contradictions – a firm, commendable stand on the murder of a Saudi journalist in the Istanbul Saudi Consulate most likely on the instructions of the Crown Prince, and at the same time shameless subversion of a democratic election verdict by the people of Istanbul in local government elections.

Theresa May is the worst casualty of the moment. Her efforts at hauling the Brexit boulder uphill has, Sisyphus-like, rolled down again and again. Parliament trounced her three times and it is inexplicable why the good lady, hats off to her grit, has not chucked up and gone home. The fatal blow was last month’s local government elections in England and Northern Ireland. May’s Tories lost 25% of their local government seats and Labour lost 5% while the Lib-Dems astoundingly doubled the number they hold. UKIP was pulverised, down from 176 to 31 seats. The message could not be clearer; the Brits are fed up with Brexit haggling, they want a Second Referendum and it’s as clear as daylight that Brekshit will be confined to the loo. I have the habit of making predictions which often turn out to be true so let me stick my neck out and counsel government and business in Sri Lanka to go ahead and plan on the basis that Brexit will not happen – certainly not full scale – and that Theresa May is on her last spindly legs.

At first sight it appears that there is no general pattern or trend. But in this clutter and bramble there is, on one the hand the consolidation of the trend to nationalism that became pronounced as an alternative global ideology following the demise of the Soviet-Block. Disappearance of the Soviet-Stalinist-‘Socialist’ option has left a lacunae that the Chinese-‘Socialist’ model has been unable to fill as a full-spectrum alternative anti-imperialist ideology. The appeal of the Chinese model has been the achievements of the state-led public-private economic fast growth strategy, not as a comprehensive alternative ideology.

Secondly, it is not correct to discuss all nationalism as alt-right proto-fascism or capitalism by other means than bourgeois democracy. It is not as simple as that. The social classes pushing from the bottom are simply petty-bourgeois scum and lumpen hordes that made up the battering ram of fascism in the 1930s. The entirety of the economically lower, say 80% of society are angry and alienated if not in open revolt. The "99% versus the 1%" slogan rings true for the majority even in rich countries like the US, Europe, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. While the centre is hollowing out and people seem to be piling up on the left and the right depending on whether socialist-egalitarian-environmental motives or nationalist-religious-cultural concerns, respectively, socially and class-wise they are much the same sort of people. The common denominator of both is the rejection of established order of society and alienation from traditional, inherited and often liberal social values. This is the underlying commonality of the 99% versus the 1% short-hand.

Trump is not only a nutty narcissist, he is also an idiosyncratic enigma. They used to say that Bush-2 was a moron, this guy is not; he is a cunning and deceitful survivor. His Base, as the 25-30% hard core loyalists are called, is holding firm since the Democrats (bourgeois democratic old style liberals) and the trivial media have nothing to offer the alienated American voter. You will never find a study of wealth and income inequality, the hegemony of finance capital, neo-imperialism, Trump’s hot-and-cold foreign policy and his unqualified support for Israel grinding the Palestinians into the rubble, in the sloppy liberal media. MSNB, CNN are vapid; they ridicule Trump, an easy target since is loathsome, but cannot reach the Trump Base because they do not cognize the issues that alienate ordinary people.

Let me repeat this because it is so overlooked by Sri Lanka’s educated public. Millions of Americans, the white working class in the rust-belt states (home of at one time great American industry), the majority in southern and central parts of the USA, the red-necks (a derogatory name for less educated whites) and indeed the most less well-off people ARE alienated from the ‘system’. The system is those in control of finance, business and the state, Wall Street and the elite. The term swamp or Washington-swamp is short for it. Trump promised to "drain the swamp". He did nothing of the sort, he is a charlatan but he was and still is to a large extent believed; remember Trump did poll 60 million votes (to Hilary Clinton’s 63 million). Liberal capitalism, the elite and the snobs in the media are incapable of broking this base; they cannot because they are protecting their class interests and do not comprehend the alienation of ordinary people. If you say Trump set America alight, I will add the elite, the liberals and the Democrats (Sanders, AOC et al excepted) fiddled and watched while it burnt.

Though the barbarians are at the gate (of course they are) there is a fifth column of free-market capitalists and effete liberal elites inside the fortress asleep at the wheel. With variations Brexit-May in Britain (Corbinite Labour too is in disarray) and Macron in Paris illustrate a similar malady. Whichever way they turn seems wrong; there seems to be no way out. "Change the system" is glib to say, but change exactly how? Old-formula socialism is not convincing, the Chinese economic model though relevant for the developing world doesn’t fit advanced capitalist economies. Its central pillar, the one-party state, will never take root in America and Europe. Looking further ahead galloping technology is making work and extraction of surplus value irrelevant. Funny thing isn’t it, a Dark Age when a blinding light is shining at the end of the tunnel!

Now, we have had another huge setback in Australia against all expectations. Scot Morrison, an evangelical Christian and admirer of Trump triumphed at a time of rising anti-China tension. Disliked and dysfunctional, the Liberal-National alliance held onto power for a third term and added to a growing list of rightward shifts including Brazil, Hungary and Italy. Like Trump, Morrison warned that the Labour Party would leave rural and older voters behind, favour condescending elites and he scare mongered white Australia about hordes of dark-skinned, circumcised and slit-eyed immigrants.

The real scare is climate change and the business-worshiping conservative alliance’s denial syndrome on climate change is a death wish. It is the worst affected by climate change rich country. A million dead fish washed up the Murray-Darling river system in summer, annual rainfall in New South Wales has dropped from 20 to 15 inches, in the far North storms and cyclones strike with increasing frequency and rising ferocity and droughts are getting worse. Most horrible to contemplate, the Great Barrier Reef is dying. The young are angry and were out canvassing for the survival of their future but an ignorant and selfish older generation sold out to coal, pollution and environmental ruination.

A clear message to the nation

Status of Forces Agreement: A possible threat to our sovereignty

Monday, 3 June 2019

The timely intervention of the religious dignitaries of our country in the extremely burning issue regarding the proposed agreements with the US brings in some consolation amidst the prevailing desperation.

It is heartening to note that important respected clergy of the highest order were associated in this magnanimous move to settle down the volatility surrounding the suspicions hanging over. The effect of this most-welcomed intervention of public interest became obvious with the almost immediate response by the President’s open reassurance that he will not permit any foreign armies to come to our country as conjectured.


The prelates associated in this declaration, of 31 March, comprised of the most reverent Mahanayake Thero of the Asgiriya Chapter, Both (Deputy Dignitaries) Anu Nayake Theros of the Malwatte Chapter and his Eminence Malcom Cardinal Ranjith of the Roman Catholic order, among other religious dignitaries. 

This historic move came as a welcome surprise and a ray of light to the despair that was overwhelming the country centred round the proposed controversial Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), with the US, following the Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement (ACSA) that has been renewed in 2017.

ACSAs are applicable worldwide to acquire logistics support, supplies, and services directly from or provide them to a foreign government or organisation (such as NATO or UN). Such agreements provide for military cooperation between the two concerned countries including the use of ports and airports in addition to other specified areas of support.

These agreements are invariably supportive of the foreign powers more than any accruing benefits to us with regard to the direct objectives. Because the military support a country such as ours could offer to a leading military power is minimal while the superpower stands to gain huge benefits in their strategic positioning both economically as well as militarily.       

“A Status of Forces Agreement is an agreement between a host country and a foreign nation stationing military forces in that country. SOFAs are often included, along with other types of military agreements, as part of a comprehensive security arrangement. A SOFA does not constitute a security arrangement; it establishes the rights and privileges of foreign personnel present in a host country in support of the larger security arrangement. According to international law any application under a SOFA will not be regarded as something related to military occupation.

The effect of this most-welcomed intervention of public interest became obvious with the almost immediate response by the President’s open reassurance that he will not permit any foreign armies to come to our country as conjecturedThese agreements are invariably supportive of the foreign powers more than any accruing benefits to us with regard to the direct objectives We do not want any slaughter-tapping of our resources, subjugation of our freedom, independence and the national sovereignty behind this ostensible Xavier move masquerading under their strategic manoeuvres in disguise of support to establish their fast-losing grounds and hold in the Asian region

“A SOFA is intended to clarify the terms under which the foreign military is allowed to operate. Typically, purely military operational issues such as the locations of bases and access to facilities are covered by separate agreements. A SOFA is more concerned with the legal issues associated with military individuals and property. This may include issues such as entry and exit into the country, tax liabilities, postal services, or employment terms for host-country nationals, but the most contentious issues are civil and criminal jurisdiction over bases and personnel.
“For civil matters, SOFAs provide for how civil damages caused by the forces will be determined and paid. Criminal issues vary, but the typical provision in a US SOFA is that US courts will have jurisdiction over crimes committed either by a service member against another service member or by a service member as part of his or her military duty, but the host nation retains jurisdiction over other crimes.”

It is very clear from these world accepted definitions that SOFA is required for the legitimisation of the entry of foreign military forces into a country. We are fortunate that we are not invaded by any foreign military power since independence.

Even under the height of LTTE insurgency we only confronted a local group, though suspected with international financing, without any aggression or direct involvement of an invasion. The latest episode believed to be an ISIS backed massacre quite unfounded from the point of view of ‘why Sri Lanka?’, also does not assume the proportions of a direct foreign invasion.

Hence the big question, why do we need an American Army in our soils, facilitated under an agreement which tantamount to long term occupations with several other accesses going beyond a normal standard ACSA. Under these circumstances the conjectures and concerns of the people regarding the independence of our citizens and the sovereignty of the country are extremely justified.

The visits of US Ambassador to clarify matters to the Buddhist religious dignitaries and the catholic clergy shows that a SOFA is an urgent necessity of the US in the current international context than a need of our country to combat an ISIS financed, locally supported, terrorist movement.

The accomplishing suspicious nature behind the move to enter into SOFA in a hurry at this moment by our politicians, is worst confounded as displayed by their actions and pronouncements positively hell bent towards such a step.

In this context the entire country should applaud the steps taken by our prelates to publicly denounce any foreign army disguised in any form entering our country. If our politicians are concerned about the restoration and reconstruction of the damages caused due to the recent terrorist attack, as highlighted by the religious dignitaries we do not need the stationing of an enormous army or armies for such purposes.

We do not want any slaughter-tapping of our resources, subjugation of our freedom, independence and the national sovereignty behind this ostensible Xavier move masquerading under their strategic manoeuvres in disguise of support to establish their fast-losing grounds and hold in the Asian region.

As emphasised in the declaration of the religious dignitaries, our culture going beyond 2,500 years marked with amazing historical achievements, can sustain our survival as one united nation with multifarious communal and religious interests, without any external support or intervention. Among other important aspects highlighted in the statement issued under the signatures of the religious leaders the following points need to be emphasised.

• The party and patrician political system that thrived since independence has resulted in creating a challenge to our independence and the sovereignty
• The unilateral agreements and understandings by this Government have caused a challenge to our non-alignment and our declared foreign policy
• The Parliament that has been elected for a period of five years has no mandate for taking any measures to subjugate our sovereignty
• They strongly oppose any agreement that permits the entry of any foreign army or power to the country
• The current country situation is hardly conducive to enter into any such agreements
• The Government should take steps to ban all forms of extremist organisations and take measures to implement a uniform law applicable to the whole country
• Any agreement that has any consequential adverse effect to our sovereignty should receive the prior consensus of the people through a referendum

While respectfully endorsing the above views we express our wholehearted satisfaction and appreciation for this highly important national step taken by our religious leaders.

It is equally heartening to note that this step was not associated with any party political clouts or with any association of political elements.

PSC on Easter Sunday attacks; for whom and for what?

By Gagani Weerakoon - JUN 02 2019

President Maithripala Sirisena travelled little over 1300 nautical miles to the Capital of ‘big brother’ India to finally announce a possible date of the next Presidential Election of his own country in which he stands as the only clear candidate in the vicinity - even though he still pretends to shy away from the idea.

President Sirisena who was in India, on Friday, said that the next Presidential election is most likely to be held on 7 December 2019.

Speaking to journalists in New Delhi, shortly after a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the day after his induction, President Sirisena said that the Elections Commissioner has told him that the Presidential Election should be held by the end of this year.

President Sirisena said that no political party in Sri Lanka had announced their presidential candidate as yet. Therefore, he is not in a hurry to announce his decision.

“I will wait till others announce their presidential candidates to announce my decision,” he said fielding a question.

He also said, although Indian Intelligence agency reports of possible terror attacks had reached officials on 4 April, he was not informed about the impending attacks before he left the country on 16 April.

Addressing Media at the Taj Hotel, he said that had he known about the information, he would not have left the country.

He told Indian Media that a clear report was sent by the Indian intelligence agency about possible attacks. “The info was passed on 4 April. Letters and correspondence took place between the Defence Chiefs and the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence on the issue.”

He said that he was in Sri Lanka for 12 days, but none of the Defence staff informed him of these letters. “Had I known it I wouldn’t have left the island. I would have stayed back and not allowed the attacks to take place. “
He added: “This is why I sacked the Inspector General of Police and the Defence Secretary.”

This is not the first time President Sirisena denied having any information about a possible attack on Easter Sunday.

He, time and time again, not only denied having information to this effect but also sent his Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara on compulsory leave after the latter refused to give in to the demand by the Head of the State to resign. However, then Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, who completely displayed a nonchalant behaviour about the attacks and its gravity and also admitted to have taken the pre-warnings lightly resigned paving way for President Sirisena to appoint a former Army Commander as the Defence Ministry Secretary. IGP Jayasundara has however, filed a Fundamental Rights petition challenging President Sirisena’s decision to send him on compulsory leave and appointing an acting IGP.

President Sirisena on 30 May through his media division issued a statement denying media reports that appeared as the outcome of the Parliamentary Select Committee to probe Easter Sunday attack proceedings.

It said in a statement that there were media reports of a statement made by the Head of the National Intelligence Service, while giving evidence at the Parliamentary Select Committee appointed to look into the 21 April terrorist attacks.

The media reports stated that the National Security Council (NSC) did not meet after February 2019.

As there were media reports appearing unofficially on the proceedings of the NSC, it was decided to establish an NSC with a new format and this has been in operation for more than one year. The new NSC has been meeting every two weeks and, on some occasions, the President has convened the meetings of the NSC every week, it said.

Furthermore, on 8 April 2019, the President has convened the monthly meeting of the Inspector General of Police and Senior Police Officers. This meeting was held for more than two hours and none of the Police Officers informed the President that advance reports on a possible terrorist attack had been received.

Neither the Defence Secretary nor the IGP nor any other officer had informed the President about a warning letter received from a friendly foreign country about the impending 21 April terrorist attacks, the statement said.

This was following National Intelligence Chief Sisira Mendis dropping a bombshell at the first meeting of the PSC when he declared that the IGP Pujith Jayasundara did not respond to any of the communications he sent, since December 2017, on the need to beef-up security measures against possible Islamic State (IS) threats on Sri Lanka.

Mendis, responding to questions by the PSC, appointed to look into and report to Parliament on the terrorist attacks that took place at different places in Sri Lanka on 21 April, also acknowledged that he verbally informed the then Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, about a State Intelligence Service (SIS) report on a possible attack, at around 3 p.m. on 8 April, but until the day the attack took place, none in the defence hierarchy had any dialogue in this connection with him nor had they appeared to have taken things seriously.

Mendis also said that during a weekly Intelligence Coordination Meeting (ICM) in 2017, the SIS raised concerns about information it got that a group of Sri Lankans, who had gone to Syria and joined the IS, was returning to the country. There was a discussion that laws in Sri Lanka were not sufficient to question those alleged IS Members when they returned to Sri Lanka.

Mendis noted that there was a unanimous adoption of Resolution 2253 (2015) under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter to expand and strengthen its Al-Qaida sanctions framework and to include a focus on the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh).

“Pointing out this Resolution, I sent a letter to IGP Jayasundara on 27 November 2017 requesting him to hold discussions with the Attorney General regarding a comprehensive legal mechanism to tackle the IS threat to Sri Lanka. But I did not get a response from his side to the letter. On 1 February 2018, I again sent a letter to him on the same subject. But again I did not receive any response from his end,” Mendis added.

Mendis also said that the NSC discussed about possible IS threats to Sri Lanka several times since 2015 (after his appointment as the National Intelligence Chief on 28 July 2015).

“We saw a threat from the IS and we discussed it. The SIS Director is the one who is given priority during the NSC meetings. He is also given the priority in the ICM as well. He reports directly to the Secretary to the Defence Ministry. The name of Zahran Hashim was first raised in the NSC in March 2017 following a clash between two Muslim groups in Kattankudy. There were discussions that Hashim held extremist ideology. The Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) had done an investigation on him and issued warrants against him,” he said.

Furthermore, the intelligence reports regarding a possible terror attack on Catholic churches, luxury hotels and the Indian High Commission of Sri Lanka were not given priority in the ICM which was held on 9 February 2019, Mendis added.

“SIS Chief, Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (SDIG) Nilantha Jayawardena sent me a letter with an attachment which contained information of an alleged plan to carry out attacks on Catholic churches, luxury hotels and the Indian High Commission of Sri Lanka on

8 April (later, Mendis corrected this as an imminent plan to carry out attacks). I opened the letter at about 11 a.m. that day. I did not know from where the SIS got that information. Jayawardena’s letter did not mention it. After reading it, I sought an opportunity to speak with the then Defence Secretary Fernando. But he was busy because the Indian Defence Secretary had arrived in Sri Lanka and there was a previously planned meeting between them. I got a chance to speak to Fernando at about 3 p.m. on the same day and I conveyed the information I received verbally.

It seemed to me that he was not aware of the information as such prior to my message.”

“Fernando told me that the matter could be discussed on 9 April during the weekly ICM. State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardena did not participate in that meeting. However, during the meeting, that information on a terror attack was not given priority. I was keeping the letter I received from the SIS Chief on my table. I was seated between the IGP and the SIS Chief. When the meeting was going to end, I told them that we should discuss about the terror attack plan,” he added.

Mendis further said that on the same day (9 April) he sent a letter regarding the terror attack plan to the IGP. “I mentioned at the top of the letter that the information contained in it should be given top priority. But the IGP did not respond to that. Until 21 April, no one talked with me regarding the importance of that information,” he noted.

The National Intelligence Chief made another shocking revelation during the PSC hearing. He said that after 19 February 2019, the NSC had not met until 22 April, a day after the deadly terror attacks.

“Before 19 February, the NSC met on 14 January 2019. The meetings days in 2018 are 5 January, 19 February, 5 March, 2 May, 10 July, 23 October, 13 November and 3 December. During some of these meetings, SIS Chief Jayawardena spoke about Hashim and his allies spreading hate speech and extremism. The IGP did not attend the NSC meetings after November 2018. Normally, it is the Defence Secretary’s office which sends messages to the participants of the NSC regarding the date and time of the meetings. I remember that since November 2018, those messages did not say that we were summoned for the NSC meetings. Instead, the messages stated that they are special meetings.”

“When colossal amounts of explosives were found in Wanathawilluwa in January 2019, the NSC discussed about it. At that moment, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was carrying out investigations regarding that. It was discussed that the CID should continue its investigations further.”

Secretary of the Defence Ministry, Retired General Shantha Kottegoda, who was appointed to the post after Fernando stepped down, giving a statement to the PSC said that it seems to him that no proper mechanism had been formulated to address the terror attack even though information regarding such an act was there since 2014.  He also said that there had been flaws in analysing the intelligence information.

He said that the immediate terror threat has been decreased by 99 per cent as of now.
“I mentioned it as a short term plan. To prevent these types of terror attacks, we must have long term plans as well. This is not something like the war we fought with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. We cannot tackle the current terror threats in two to three months,” he pointed out.

He said that he will present lists of participants who attended the NSC meetings in 2018 at a future date as per the request of the PSC.

He said that after his appointment, there had been at least one NSC weekly meeting being held following the current security situation. Sometimes the NSC meets two to three days per week, he added.

Kottegoda also said that he personally believes that certain statements made by Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) General Secretary Ven. Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thera after being released from prison should not have been made.

The Defence Secretary made this remark when PSC Member and Parliamentarian, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka showed a report published in a national newspaper to him. The news headline showed Gnanasara saying, “We will create a new force to crackdown on extremism.”

“There were intelligence reports about possible unrest in Kurunegala on 28 April following an organised gathering in the town. We saw that outsiders and several powerful figures including a Buddhist monk were wandering in the area. As we took necessary steps, we were able to control the situation without any damage. These things are like poking in one’s eyes. Because of these things, we have to use our strength to control the communal tensions instead of focusing on counter terrorism operations,” he elaborated.

The inaugural meeting of the PSC was chaired by President’s Counsel and MP Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne as its Chairman, Deputy Speaker Ananda Kumarasiri was overseas. Apart from Kumarasiri, Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne and MP M.A. Sumanthiran PC were also overseas.
MPs Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa and Professor Ashu Marasinghe, Minister Ravi Karunanayake, Field Marshal Fonseka and Minister Rauff Hakeem participated in the meeting.

This is the first time in Sri Lankan Parliament’s history in which the Media was allowed to cover a PSC meeting.

The next PSC meeting will be held on 4 June from 3 p.m. However, now there is a debate whether the proceedings of the PSC should be made open to the public through Media or not.

UPFA General Secretary Mahinda Amarawera and SLFP National Organiser Duminda Dissanayake slammed the Government for live telecasting the sittings of PSC. They said that it was putting the lives of Intelligence officers in peril and in addition jeopardising national security.

Amaraweera told a Media briefing at SLFP headquarters that this will not only disclose information to Sri Lankans but all other countries, adding that no other country has done such a thing to make the Intelligence Service vulnerable.

“Everyone knows that any fact or information on the national security of a country will not be inked in any paper or will not be talked about in public. That is how national security information should be protected. But by doing this, even the lives of Intelligence officials are imperilled,” he added.

Amaraweera stressed that if any danger befalls these officials, those who represent the PSC should take responsibility. He said officials of the Intelligence Service have the right to be without giving information when asked, but acknowledged that it was not ethically practical.  
 
On behalf of the UPFA, Amaraweera and Dissanayake urged Speaker Karu Jayasuriya to look into the matter and take action to stop live telecasting of PSC proceedings.

Interestingly, Leader of the House and Minister Lakshman Kiriella stated all areas that came under attack, such as Beruwala, Digana, the Eastern areas, Kochchikade, Negombo and Kurunegala, are considered UNP strongholds and “therefore there is something behind these attacks, which we have to reflect as to who is really trying to gain advantages by attacking UNP strongholds.”

He stated: “I must say that a Select Committee was appointed to look into the unfortunate event that took place on 21 April, on a proposal I had made. I emphasise that everybody has a right to know about that unfortunate event.  Accordingly, the Speaker decided to broadcast the Committee proceedings live. However, a person disrupted this revelation of truth to the people by pulling the plug during the live broadcast that day.

That was a violation of Parliamentary privileges. Nobody has a right to disrupt a decision taken by the Parliament as per the provisions of the Constitution. What are they trying to conceal? People in this country have a right to know what really happened on 21 April and where the system was not in line.”

Thank You Very Much Our Venerable Gnanasara Monk!

I kindly request this venerable monk not repeat the history of Barmaids/Barmakīyān/ Barmak in Arabic or Pramukha in Sanskrit in Sri Lankan soil with his missionary work for Islam and Muslims in Sri Lanka. 

by a special correspondent-2019-06-01

 

I happened to watch the interview of our venerable monk Gnanasara on Hiru TV. (27/5/2019) I must thank Hiru TV too for this interview. Thank you very much for you Ven monk for taking Islamic message into each Sinhalese household in Sri Lanka. In fact, taking Islam into hearts and minds of each Sinhalese in the world today. I must thank Hiru media for using its previous time to preach Islam on behalf of 2 million Sri Lankans. In fact, on behalf of 1.7 billion Muslims in the world. Many innocent Sinhalese people did not have any clue about Islam and Muslims until you have made them learn about Islam and Muslims. The majority of Sinhalese community did not have time and resources to learn about Islam until you have opened their senses and human faculties to listen about Islam and Muslims. You have created some golden opportunities for many Sinhalese people to learn about Islam and Muslims. May God bless you for this great service on behalf of 2 million Sri Lankan Muslims.

 

 

Dear Ven, monk the more you talk about Islam and Muslims, the more you educate your people about Islam and Muslims. The more you speak about the Holy Qur’an, the more Sinhalese people learn about the Holy Qur’an. The more you talk about the Holy Prophet of Islam, the more you educate your people about the Holy prophet of Islam. The more you speak about Islamic law, the more your people get interested in learning about Islamic law. The more you speak about Islamic ideological groups, the more your people learn about Islamic ideological groups. The more you speak about Islamic dress codes, the more your people learn about Islamic dress codes. Likewise, you have spoken about Islam and Muslims on many issues. I’m sure you have directly and indirectly invited Sinhalese youths to learn about Islam and Muslims in this age of digital technology and social networks. I’m sure that today, more Sinhalese youths will learn about Islam and Muslims with your missionary work on behalf of Sri Lankan Muslim community in Sri Lanka. I must thank you for this great service on behalf of innocent Muslim community of Sri Lanka. Soon After 9/11, more copies of the Holy Qur’an were sold in many western countries than ever before.

 

Curious people begun to read about Islam and Muslims in many parts of western countries soon after 9/11. Many of them ended up Muslims after reading Islamic books. In fact, it is reported that more westerners were converted into Islam after 9/11 than ever before. Likewise, I think more copies of the holy Qur’an will be sold soon in Sri Lanka too with your missionary work for Islam and Muslims in Sri Lanka. Thankfully, the holy Qur’an has been translated into Sinhala language now (without any comprehensive Qur’anic exegesis). Yet, this Sinhalese translation itself is enough to those who want to learn about Islam. You are inviting your people to read this holy book with your emotional talks, debates and behaviours. I’m sure that more and more Sinhalese people will be keen to read about Islam and Muslims.

 

Dear venerable monk. Whether you like it or not, in this age of globalization and multiculturalism people are exposed to different ideas and ideologies. This is the social phenomenon of the modern world today. No one could stop it. Whether you like it or not. It is reported that more than 1.5 million Sri Lankans work in many Gulf countries and many of them are Sinhalese. Many of them have been living over there more than 30 years. Naturally, they are naturalised with Arab customs and Islamic culture. Many of them are exposed to Islamic teaching and ideologies. Dear venerable monk why don’t you stop them from migrating into Arab countries?

 

The Sri Lankan Muslims community has been complicit in taking the peaceful message of Islam into hearts and minds of the majority of Sinhalese people in Sri Lanka. Muslims have failed in their duty to reach out with the peaceful message of Islam for the last 1000 thousand years in Sri Lanka. They have failed to do this for many reasons. The majority of Muslims do not speak in good Sinhalese language. So, there has been a language and intercultural barrier between Muslim and Sinhalese communities. Yet, Hiru and the most venerable monk have done a great job on behalf of 2 million Sri Lankan Muslim community in Sri Lanka. The entire Muslim community in Sri Lanka ought to thank them for this great service they have done on behalf of Muslim community. They have taken the peaceful message of Islam into each Sinhalese household with this interview with the venerable monk.

 

I kindly request this venerable monk not repeat the history of Barmaids/Barmakīyān/ Barmak in Arabic or Pramukha in Sanskrit in Sri Lankan soil with his missionary work for Islam and Muslims in Sri Lanka. In fact, the venerable monk and Hiru TV think that they are doing a favour for Buddhism with this campaign against Islam and Muslims, yet, they do not realise their programs are counterproductive. Hereditary Buddhist administrators of the Buddhist monastery of Nava Vihara of west of Balkh (Northern Afghanistan) became Muslims in Abbasids Era of Islamic history. These Buddhists elites occupied prestige positions and posts in Abbasids Empire. This conversion of Buddhist elites took place in medieval Islamic history. No one forced those elite Buddhists of Nava Vihara of west of Balkh (Northern Afghanistan) to embrace Islam those days. I fear that these anti-Muslims and anti-Islamic propaganda may encourage Sinhalese youths to read more about Islam in this age of social network. Please not make this Sinhalese community Barmaids of Sri Lanka. There is no compulsion in religion. You may have control over physical presence of Sinhalese community and yet, you do not have control over their minds and hearts.

 

Who could control what is going on in the minds of Sinhalese youths today in this age of digital technology? Today, the venerable monk Gnanasara Thero is ideally reaching out with Islamic message into the hearts and minds of millions of Sinhalese youths with his debates and talks. What thousands of Muslim clerics have failed to accomplish in Sri Lanka has been accomplished for Islam and Muslims by this venerable monk. Muslim clerics do not have skills and platforms to reach out Sinhalese mass with Islamic message and yet, this has been done by our venerable monk on behalf of Muslim clerics in Sri Lanka. The venerable monk claims that there are 50 Islamic groups in Sri Lanka. All these groups failed to reach with Islamic message into wider Sinhalese community in Sri Lanka. yet, our venerable monk has taken Islamic message into ears of Sinhalese community. He has indeed, created a curiosity in the minds of Sinhalese to know about Islam and Muslims. Every action has its reaction as well in this world. I’m sure now, many people are keen to learn about Islam today than ever before in Sri Lanka.

 

So, no Sri Lankan Muslim should get annoyed or angered with what the venerable monk does today in Sri Lanka rather the Sri Lankan Muslim community must thank him for his dedication and sacrifice to spread the message of Islam among his community. Finally, for Hiru, some other media and some Newspapers in Sri Lanka, you are doing a great job by promoting Islamic teaching in Sri Lanka, each negative news items are counterproductive too. People have skills and resources to verify fake news. You are indeed, doing a great service for Islam and Muslim through your negative images of Islam and Muslims. You too stimulate the curiosity of Sinhalese people to know about Islam and Muslims: A big thank for you as well.

SRI LANKA POLICE CHIEF MAKES EXPLOSIVE REVELATIONS ON EASTER SUNDAY ATTACKS IN COURT FILING

02/06/2019

 – Sri Lanka’s police chief Pujith Jayasundera, now on compulsory leave, following Easter Sunday bomb attacks, has petitioned the Supreme Court alleging he was kept out of national security council meetings after October 2018, and he was offered a diplomatic post if he resigned.

A Deputy Inspector General who was head of State Intelligence was not repoting to him but the President, the police terrorist investigations deprtment had been asked to stop investigations into Islamist extremists and he did not have full information to take action, he had said.

National Security Council

In the fundamental rights petition, he alleged that on the instructions of the president he was excluded from National Security Council meetings since early October.

The president had required Nialantha Jayawardena, Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police as Director, State Intelligence Services (SIS) to report directly to him, the IGP alleged.

“The Petitioner was only made privy to whatever information was sent to him from time to time, and was denied the ability to have full recourse to or participate in vital consideration of matters of national security,” the IGP pleaded.

“It is in this context, that the Petitioner did all he could on the basis of limited information given to him, subject to constraints imposed on him.”

Usually the first briefing at an NSC meeting is done by State Intelligence Services, which includes developments on extremist organizations, LTTE and diaspora issues, threats to VIPs and activities of certain international terrorist groups.

“In the absence of a State of Emergency in the country, preventive steps such as arrest and prosecution must necessarily be done by the Police and hence the presence of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) at the NSC was very critical,” Jayasundera said.

“However, the Petitioner despite being the Inspector General of Police, was excluded from attending NSC meetings, since October 2018.”

He said the President had required Nilantha Jayawardena, Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police as Director, State Intelligence Services (SIS) to report directly to him.

Vigilance

On April 09, IGP was called to a meeting at the Defence Ministry, where the director of SIS referred to a threat by extremist Islamist elements, but there was no emphasis on the urgency of the matter, he alleged.

He had then received a letter from Chief of National Intelligence, Sisira Mendis with an annexure containing information about an attack by Zahran Cassim and his group, saying secret inquiries are on, and that it was “important to alert the law enforcement agencies to be vigilant concerning the information.”

There was no classification to indicate the urgency of the situation, such as Top Priority.

The IGP had decided to forward letters to four Deputies Inspector General, to improve vigilance. To make sure it was taken seriously he had marked them ‘Top Priority.’

He said he forwarded the letter to Senior DIG in charge of Western Province where many important churches and the Indian High Commission was located, the head of STF, which had operations around the country and had good relations with embassies and provided security to VIPs.

The letter was also given to the head of Special Protection Range who was in charge of ministerial, diplomatic, judicial security and security of retired presidents and counter terrorism units.

He had also informed other Senior DIGs about the matter, when discussing daily situation reports.

Investingations Suspended

A year ago, in a letter of April 08, 2018 the State Intelligence Service asked the the IGP to tell the police Terrorism Investigation Department to suspend all investigations in to extremist Muslim factions with links to known terror organizations, the petition said.

He had received letters on the 18, 19 and 20 April, which shared information on SIS investigations, which were continuing, but they did not request any action.

He was unaware whether the matter had been discussed at the National Security Council and what actions had been decided, if any.

On the night of April 2019, the IGP had got a phone call from the Defense Secretary regarding an intelligence input from SIS regarding an imminent attack, but no action was requested.

He was not given information on the identity of the foreign intelligence, whether it was a friendly or hostile nation or the credibility of the information.

On Easter Sunday he had been informed around 8.50 am about the bombs and by around 9.00 he had gone to Kochchidade church. The President had called him around 9.15.

He was called to a special meeting at the Defence Ministry. He was also summoned by the Prime Minister.

On April 22 a meeting of the National Security Council was called at the President’s house to which he was invited for the first time since October 2018.

On April 23, Jayasundera was asked to come to the Presidents house, where he was told the Defense Secretary and IGP had not informed the President about Easter Sunday attacks.

He was told that a commission of inquiry had been appointed and that it will be converted to Presidential or Special Presidential Commission.

Diplomatic Post

The petitioner alleged that that he was told that the Commission would find the IGP guilty.

But if he resigned he would be given a diplomatic posting or made a senior government official and the inquiry report would not be adverse.

The plaint said the President was not the disciplinary authority in respect of the IGP and he had no power to send the police chief on compulsory leave.

There was specified process for removing from office both the IGP and the Attorney General, to protect their independence.

Jayasundera pleaded that he was willing to be subject to an inquiry according to the Removal of Officers (Procedure) Act which assured the “degree of protection afforded to the independence of the holder of the office of Inspector General of Police.”

He alledged that the president was “taking various measures to circumvent the need to set up an inquiry into whether the Petitioner IGP was guilty of gross neglect of duty, in a bid to circumvent the protections” given in the Removal of Officers (Procedure) Act.

He alleged that the President and Constitutional Council exceeded powers in sending him on compulsory leave and appointing an acting IGP.

He alleged that several constitutional provisions and principles, had been violated, principles of natural justice had been violated, it was unreasonable and the actions were motivated by ‘collateral considerations.’

The petitioner sought leave to proceed with the application and interim relief suspending his compulsory leave, and the appointment of an acting IGP, and order the President not to remove him until the case was heard. (Colombo/June02/2019)

Cometh The Hour; Cometh The Leader? 

By Tharaka Kodippili –MAY 30, 2019

Tharaka Kodippili

This is a follow-up to my previous piece – Self-interest, an Ostrich, & a Sri Lankan. One recurring theme in the comments section throughout that article was the mention of “leadership,” or the lack thereof in Sri Lanka. I made it a point that leadership was hard and that it required a lifetime of work and commitment.

Sri Lanka has a leadership vacuum (more like a black hole in space, to be honest). There is no simple prescribable solution to this Hobson’s choice of elected leaders. History, however, has proved that Sri Lankan voters have been fickle and jarring in their decision-making as the Roman spectators were at the Colosseum.

Ironically, we Sri Lankans find ourselves in a constant pickle when it comes to finding the best suitable candidate to lead our country, let alone in voting for him or her. However, maybe, during that time of examination (of the candidate), it may behoove us as a nation to look at several “leadership attributes” that would distinguish the candidate’s leadership potential.

There are many qualities a leader should possess to lead/govern a nation. Initially, we need a retrospective about the nature of the beast – i.e. Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans.

State of our union 

We are a nation with a long and proud culture and history. Sadly, that rich history has led to deeply rooted cultural-biases and confirmation-biases that prevent us from progressive thinking and in logical decision-making. Resulting in Sri Lankans entombed in a cocoon of xenophobia. Rotting, decaying, and mummifying in a soup of ignorance and malice. Our self-anointed Feng Shui is paid sponsorship via raging social upheaval and religious bickering; propelled with finger-wagging towards the unknown; ripe with fear, and disharmony.

This sort of retrograde rationale- institutionalized within our societies- over several generations, is the reason why we find ourselves constantly stranded at the precipice of chaos. Negativity breeds negativity. If the self-fulfilling prophecy has taught us anything, it is that negative expectations will result in surefire negative outcomes.

A million and one “leadership attributes” differentiates a true leader from the feckless- the type we have in abundance. Taking practicality into consideration (and for starters), I will put forth three important (and basic) attributes. Any potential Sri Lankan leader could learn and perfect (hopefully) these qualities.

Accountability 

This is the most important precept in any leadership training. A leader has to be accountable to his or her fellow citizens and for his/her actions. Being accountable has far-reaching consequences. Both pros and cons. However, being accountable on the right side of good-deeds will mostly lead to actionable, positive outcomes.

Accountability is the Woolly Mammoth of leadership attributes in modern-day Sri Lanka. It roamed the plains of politics in this land a long time ago but has ceased to exist over the course of time. As politicking became a business, its malignant attributes have metastasized throughout our society to debilitating degrees and repercussions. Today’s upper-echelons of leadership in Sri Lanka have lost sight of what accountability is. Moreover, they have willfully forgotten what it once stood for.

An accountable leader is principled- in the premise that he or she works within the parameters of law and order of the nation, he or she serves. Such leaders make sure that groups that follow them intend well for the betterment of the nation, and have no ulterior, self-serving motives. Accountability is taking ownership of a problem with follow up and resolve to see it through.

Situational awareness 

Is to understand your surroundings – take stock of your resources and plan accordingly with the help of common sense. Easier said than done here in Sri Lanka, it seems. Permeating from over half a century of eroded political-leadership, today, Sri Lanka is in dire economic stability. Unlike developed nations, our political leaders lack resources to justify many a decision. Yet, giving petty excuses is an anathema for a leader who practices situational awareness.

As a leader, one has to delegate and manage existing resources. Every large, successful business today- be it local or global- was once a small company, but grew to become a behemoth in its respective industry thanks to its leaders’ capacity to manage their (then) resources, and therefore, maximize output.

Road map (Vision) 

Every leader has to have a road map as to where he/she wants to be at- both personally, as well as for the nation. Short term and long term. It is mandatory to know your true north. If not, one ends up in a Neverland of incompetence and false promises. That is not ideal for progress.

Over the years, we have all come to loathe the quasi “100-day action plans” of newly-minted political leaders, only to see those plans fizzle away into a footnote in history and a constant supply of campaign jokes. Such road maps (action plans) need not limit themselves to mere “campaign propaganda.” A planned out vision should be attainable. Especially, when claimed to be “achieved” in a mere 100-days or less.

Voters should also look at these proposed “road maps” using a lens of objectivity, beyond party-line politics that have so far defined our collective scope of view. A road map is a layout, a sketch, a plan that defines clear touch-points of a leader’s journey while in office.

Above points are some of the elementary, yet critical and practical attributes that would truly define a leader from the largely unqualified we often elect. Obviously, as voters, it is up to us to make the informed decision of “choice” at the ballot box.

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Institutionalise macro policy to make it sustainable: Dr. Coomaraswamy

• ASJ Memorial Oration

 Monday, 3 June 2019

Delivering the first memorial oration of the late A.S. Jayawardena in Colombo last week, the incumbent Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy emphasised the need for institutionalising the macroeconomic policy being presently pursued by the bank in order to make it sustainable.

He spoke on ‘Creating Frameworks for Macroeconomic Policy Making and Institutionalising them to Achieve Sustained Improvement in Macroeconomic Fundamentals’ before an audience of ASJ’s contemporaries, colleagues, admirers and students (available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFVq18srDG8#action=share ).
ASJ: A man for all seasons

ASJ was a career central banker but he was much more than that. He wore many hats simultaneously during his career spanning for more than five decades. He lent his academic wisdom to students at the old Vidyodaya University as a visiting lecturer in late 1960s. That was where I first met him not as a top economist but as a versatile teacher.


He was an advisor to the newly-formed Ministry of Plantation Industries in early 1970s advising the Minister on how best the resources belonging to the nationalised plantation sector could be utilised. Then, for a short period, he was handpicked by the Government to head the country’s largest commercial bank, Bank of Ceylon, as its General Manager. Many years later, he functioned as its Chairman too. He was a top bureaucrat in the Government, first as the Secretary to the Ministry of Industries and later as Secretary to the Ministry of Finance.

His longest outside involvement happened to be at the International Monetary Fund as its Alternative Executive Director looking after the interests of India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bhutan. ASJ used to telling us that IMF was his fourth university after Peradeniya, London and Harvard, helping him to refine his economic thoughts on modern lines.

But his main career was at the Central Bank where he rose from a junior staff officer to Senior Deputy Governor before he was elevated as its Governor in late 1995. He held that post till 2004 successfully going through many calamities which the country as well as the bank had to face during that period converting adversity to prosperity.

When the bank was destroyed by an LTTE bomb in January 1996, instead of lamenting over it, he used the opportunity to reform the bank on modern lines. His motto was that if Phoenix, the mythical bird in ancient Greek mythology, could rise from ashes, so could the bank. He in fact saw to it. I have analysed ASJ’s contributions to Sri Lanka in these numerous capacities in a series of articles to FT and other media and interested readers could have access to them via the links provided in the Box on this page.
Macro-stability

Restoring the macroeconomic fundamentals in Sri Lanka’s economy was something which ran through ASJ’s blood. Hence, Coomaraswamy as the incumbent Governor of the Bank was the best to do justice to him and the title of his oration was both apt and opportune.
Sri Lanka in a historical setting

To understand Sri Lanka’s current economic problems and identify what it should do to overcome them in the future, it is useful to place the country in a historical setting.

At the time of independence in 1948, Sri Lanka was a promising economy in South Asia with capacity to win the economic race along with even a war-ravaged nation like Japan. But over the years, while other comparable countries in East Asia moved forward faster, Sri Lanka slipped away from them relegating itself to the common category known as a developing country.  While there were many reasons for this, Coomaraswamy diagnosed macroeconomic issues, called ‘macroeconomic stress’ by economists, as the prime causal factor for this sad fate of the country.


According to him, from 1948 to 1977, the macroeconomic stress was generated by three basic developments.

One was the declining export prices compared to rising or stagnant import prices, known as unfavourable terms of trade. Another was the inability of the country to generate sufficient resources to continue with the liberal social welfare measures like free education and free healthcare system. The third was the dwindling the revenue base of the Government in a background of ballooning consumption expenditure programs.
Loss of real income due to unfavourable terms of trade 

Of these causal factors, the worsening terms of trade need further elaboration. Sri Lanka had long depended on the export of tea, rubber and coconut to earn the needed foreign exchange to pay for its imports. However, when the export prices fell compared to those of imports requiring the country to use more export units to buy a unit of imports, a situation known as unfavourable terms of trade.

The economic consequences of this development were twofold. First, it made the real welfare level of Sri Lankans lower than the real output they had produced because that output could buy a lesser amount of import goods. It is like you work harder every year but get paid less so that the real basket of goods that you can have is also smaller.

Second, the widening trade gap and the consequential deficit in the balance of payments ate up the country’s vast foreign exchange reserves which it had inherited from the British. When the rupee came under pressure for devaluation, it was sought to be corrected by imposing a stringent regime of import and exchange controls, further adding to the macroeconomic stress. In my view, the failure to address this issue appropriately was the reason for the other two macroeconomic ailments identified by Coomaraswamy in his oration.
A fiscal sector in stress

After 1977, according to Coomaraswamy, ‘the out of the shape fiscal sector’ was the main trigger point for macroeconomic stress in the country. While revenue continued to fall as a percent of GDP, expenditure was built up by rising defence expenses and salary and pension payments to an expanded public sector. Since the savings within the economy was insufficient to meet the investments, the country had to borrow in increasing amounts in each successive year.

The result was the need for using almost the entirety of the Government revenue to pay interest and repay the principal of the borrowings by the Government. Since new borrowings had to be made to service the old borrowings and finance new investments, it added to the debt stock year after year changing the country’s ‘debt dynamics’ to its disadvantage.

While the fast growing East Asian economies had done the opposite, Sri Lanka emerged as a major macroeconomic spoiler. This was manifested, according to Coomaraswamy, by several ‘highs’ that can be attributed to Sri Lanka: high budget deficit, high inflation, high nominal interest rates and high-valued exchange rate, all are connected to each other.

The result was the emergence of two deficits as the ailment in the macroeconomy: the high budget deficit in the fiscal sector and the high current account deficit in the external sector. If anyone is interested in taking the stress out of the economy, these are the two ailments that have to be cured. Unfortunately, both are outside the purview and the scope of the Central Bank and come within the legitimate economic policy obligations of the Government.
Ailing Sri Lanka’s economy today

Coomaraswamy was very frank about the present state of Sri Lanka’s economy. Economic growth has been falling continuously since 2013 reaching a record low level of 3.2% in 2018, while foreign exchange reserves have been dwindling in the recent past. The potential growth in 2019 has been 5%, but the estimates made by both the Central Bank and IMF have been below that recording a widened output gap. Both have contributed to put pressure on Sri Lanka rupee to depreciate in the market. The situation has been aggravated by the bunching of the repayment of foreign debt in 2019, a legacy of resorting to foreign borrowings in the past to bridge the country’s resource gap.

Though the impact of the recent bomb blasts and religious clashes has not been precisely measured, Coomaraswamy was of the opinion that the reduction in the aggregate demand due to the loss of income should compress the actual growth in 2019.


In the external sector, though the recent clashes did not cause a sudden panic among the foreign investors, there had been continuous capital outflow from the country. The rupee depreciated by 16% in 2018 against the US dollar, but after that correction was made, its further depreciation has been contained. In fact, the rupee has appreciated by a little more than 3% so far in 2019 over its level at end 2018. In the case of foreign exchange reserves, even if a worst case scenario is assumed, there will be sufficient official foreign exchange reserves to meet the foreign debt repayment obligations.
Measures implemented to attain macroeconomic stability 

Coomaraswamy then elaborated on the measures which the Central Bank has already taken or propose to take in the immediate future to acquire foreign funding to build the country’s foreign exchange reserves. In this regard, the traditional source for Sri Lanka had been borrowing from international markets in US dollar denominated international sovereign bonds. Ever since Sri Lanka began to tap this market in 2007, there had been many issues of international sovereign bonds by the country in the last 12-year period. Even in 2019, the Central Bank on the request of the Government tapped this market to raise funds for the Government.

Now the bank is proposing to diversify its commercial borrowings into SWAP facilities with India, China and Qatar. In addition, sovereign bonds will be issued in Japanese Yen in the form of Samurai bonds and in Chinese Yuan in Panda bonds. The major breakthrough proposed is to borrow from international markets on the strength of the credit worthiness of the World Bank. Coomaraswamy revealed that bank’s Policy-Based Guarantee or PBG facility is being studied in the Central Bank at present in order to borrow from international markets on the strength of AAA credit rating given to the World Bank. If successful, this would enable Sri Lanka to borrow at about 2% compared to present borrowing rate of 6-7%. However, a caveat is the need for introducing a policy package acceptable to the bank.
Long-term stability depends on restructuring the economy

These measures will surely help Sri Lanka to generate foreign exchange funds to repay its existing loans. This is also what the Central Bank could do as the fiscal agent of the Government. But, this solution is temporary enabling Sri Lanka to overcome the most pressing problem of the day, namely, how to meet the foreign exchange obligations on account of the debt repayment and continuing with the import program.

In this regard, the permanent and long-term solution does not rely on foreign borrowing and repaying the country’s foreign debt or paying for imports. The long-term solution is to restructure the country’s economy giving more priority to investments in sectors that would help the country to earn more foreign exchange. By mobilising funds by borrowing from the international markets, the Central Bank has done its job. Now, it is the Government’s job to take measures to influence the real sector of the economy to produce more. Without such a long-term policy, mere borrowing from international markets to service foreign debt and pay for imports will only increase the country’s indebtedness. No country or an individual can live forever by borrowing for is needs without working. It will push Sri Lanka back to the vicious circle of macroeconomic stress which it is trying to avoid.
Sustaining policy is a challenge

Since Sri Lanka is characterised by policy changes whenever the government changes or whenever a new person assumes leadership even within the same government, good policies adopted by the Central Bank have no permanent existence.

This happened when the political power changed from UNP to UPF in 2004. The previous Government had agreed to replace the Monetary Law Act with a new Central Banking Act and repeal the old Banking Act and introduce a Financial Services Institution Act. However the Government that came to power in 2004 did not think it necessary and shelved both draft legislations.

Hence, it is essential to institutionalise the good macroeconomic stability work which the Central Bank has done. Coomaraswamy devoted the last part of his oration to emphasise this need. Already, an Asset and Liability Management Act has been enacted permitting the Central Bank to raise funds outside the appropriations approved by Parliament whenever the market is conducive to do so and keep them without transferring to the Government in order to repay public debt that is to bunch in a given year. This has been strengthened by a medium term debt management strategy that enables the Central Bank to use available unused space to issue debt on behalf of the Government.

To give strength to the flexible inflation targeting program by making the bank independent from fiscal dominance, a new Monetary Law Act is said to be presented to Parliament for approval soon. These are the institutional improvements that have been already implemented or earmarked to be implemented in the near future. They would certainly make macroeconomic stability measures sustainable but do not assure it since the present Government cannot make unchangeable rules for future governments.

That should come from ‘political consensus building’ and that is completely outside the purview of the Central Bank.

(W.A. Wijewardena, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, can be reached at waw1949@gmail.com.)