I delayed NCM against govt.: Ranil

April 22nd, 2022

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said today the no-confidence motion against the government was delayed following a request made by him.

He said this when Leader of the House Dinesh Gunawardena asked as to why the opposition didn’t bring in the no-confidence motion against the government as planned earlier.

“The opposition said that they would bring in the no-confidence motion against the government. It is Friday today. Why it is not presented as said?,” he asked.

Mr. Wickremesinghe said that it was absurd brining in the no-confidence motion before the speech of the finance minister who is in Washington to engaged in discussions with the IMF.

“I requested to delay the NCM. It would serve no purpose brining in the NCM before the Finance Minister’s speech. We can get together and discuss what should be done after his speech,” he said. (Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera)

PM and Cabinet should resign and form an all party govt- Dullas writes to Prez

April 22nd, 2022

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

PM and Cabinet should resign and form an all party govt- Dullas writes to Prez Former Minister Dullas Alahapperuma in a letter to the President says the Prime Minister and cabinet should resign immediately and form a new All Party government soon.

In his two-page letter, the former minister stated that a small cabinet representing all parties in parliament should be appointed for at least one year period in order to find the immediate solution to the current crisis situation.

While praising the President for appointing a cabinet with a majority of young MPs, the former Minister said that the decision could have taken much earlier and now it too late.

Ruling party MPs unanimously agree to continue with govt under PM

April 21st, 2022

Courtesy Adaderana

A unanimous decision has been taken at the parliamentary group meeting of the ruling party to strengthen and continue with the government under Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, the PM’s Office said.  

The parliamentary group of the ruling party had convened a meeting at the parliament complex today (21) and unanimously approved the proposal to strengthen and continue with the government under the leadership of PM Mahinda Rajapaksa, the statement said.

During the meeting, MP Sahan Pradeep had proposed that given the current state of affairs in the country, the government should face it vigorously and for that the government should continue with the leadership of Prime Minister Rajapaksa. 

All parliamentarians had raised their hands in unanimous support of the proposal which was then ratified by MP Sahan Pradeep, the PM’s Office said.

The statement added that the relevant ministers had explained, during the meeting, the steps taken to provide relief to the people in the coming weeks.  

Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekara had stated that necessary measures have been taken to resolve the fuel and power cuts issues within a couple of weeks while Minister Ramesh Pathirana expressed hope that the gas issue could also be resolved within a couple of weeks. 

පාස්කු ප්‍රහාරයේ වින්දිතයින්ට සාධාරණය ඉටුකළ නොහැක්කේ මන්ද? .

April 21st, 2022

චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි

උත්තරීතර ස්වභාව ධර්මය තුල සාධාරණය හා අසාධාරණය දෙකරුනම අඩංගුව පවතී. විටෙක සාධාරණය ඉස්මතුවෙන අතර තවත් විටෙක අසාධාරණය ඉස්මතුව දිදුලන බවක් අපි දකිමු. මේ ලොවෙයි අගනා දර්ශනයන් රාශියක් ග්‍රන්තාරුදව ඇති අතර, මේ ග්‍රන්ථ අතර ඇති තවත් වටිනා ග්‍රන්ථයක් වන්නේ බයිබලයයි. මේ වටිනා ග්‍රන්ථය පරිශීලනය කිරීම තුලින් උගත හැකි පාඩම් සංඛ්‍යාව මෙතෙකැයි කියා නිම කල නොහැක. බයිබලය කියන්නේද අනිකුත් දර්ශනයන් මෙන්ම වරක් කියවා ඉවත දැමිය හැකි කෘතියක් නොවේ. එය නැවත නැවත කියවීම තුලින්, මිනිස් මනස තුල සිදුවෙන චින්තන පරිවර්තනය අතිවිශාලය. එවැනි තත්වයකට පත්වූ මිනිසාට මෙරට මිට වසර තුනකට පෙර සිදුවූ පාස්කු ප්‍රහාරය සම්බන්ධව සාධාරණත්වය ඉටුකරන මෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටින ඉල්ලීම තුල ඇති හිස්භාවය පැහැදිලිව දර්ශනය වේ
ජිවිතයක ආරම්භයක් හා අවසානයක්ද ඇත. යේසුස් ක්‍රිස්තුස්වහන්සේගේ උපත සම්බන්ධව කරුණු දැනගත් හෙරෝද් රජු, උන්වහන්සේව ළදරු අවදියේදීම ඝාතනය කිරීමේ අරමුණෙන්, බෙත්ලෙහෙම අවට සිටි අවුරුදු 2කට අඩු සියලුම ළදරුවන් ඝාතනය කරවන ලදී. ඝාතකයා කවුදැයි සියල්ලෝම දැන සිටියහ. නමුත් කිසිවෙක් ඒ ඝාතකයාට දඬුවම් දීමට ඉදිරිපත් නොවිණි. නමුත් ඔහුට ස්වභාවය විසින් දඩුවම් කල බවක් පසක් වන්නේ,යේසුස් ක්‍රිස්තුස්වහන්සේ ළදරු අවදියේදීම හෙරෝද් මියගිය බව සඳහන්ව ඇති බැවිණි.

යේසුස් ක්‍රිස්තුස්වහන්සේව කුරුසයට තබා ඇණ ගැසීමට මුලිකව කටයුතු කලේද එදා දේව මාලිගාව ආශ්‍රිතව කටයුතුකළ ප්‍රධාන පුජකයින්ය. එදා පුජකයින් යේසුස් ක්‍රිස්තුස්වහන්සේ නිර්දෝෂී පුද්ගලයෙක් බව දන දැනම, ඔහු වැරදි කාරයෙක් කිරීමට බොරු සාක්ෂි නිර්මාණය කල ආකාරය, අපිට යලි සිහියට නැගෙන්නේ, වර්තමාන අගරදගුරු රන්ජිත් මැල්කම් පියතුමා, පාස්කු ප්‍රහාරයට කිසිදු සම්බන්ධයක් නැති, ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ් බලයට එම සඳහා මේ ප්‍රහාරය සැලසුම කලාදෝයි යන සැකය ඇති බව සියුම් ලෙස කතෝලික ප්‍රජාවගේ සිත් තුලට කාවැද්දීම තුලිනි. මේ පාස්කු ප්‍රහාරය සිදුවෙන මොහොතේ ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂයන් ජනාධිපති වශයෙන් තරංග වැඩිම සඳහා කිසිවෙක් නම්කර නොසිටි පුද්ගලයෙකි.

එදා  නිර්දෝෂී යේසුස් ක්‍රිස්තුස්වහන්සේව කුරුසයට තබා එන ගසා සතුටුවූ ඒ පුජක පරපුරේ තත්වයට අගරදගුරු රන්ජිත් මැල්කම් පියතුමා ගරා නොවැටිය යුතුය. ඒ එදා ලේ විලක් බවට පත්වීමට ඉඩතිබු මේ රට එසේ නොවීමට වගබලා ගත්  ගෞරවනීය පුද්ගලයාද වන්නේ, අගරදගුරු, රන්ජිත් මැල්කම් පියතුමා විසින් ඉවසිලි වන්තව කතෝලික ජන සමාජය තුලවූ ශෝකය හා කෝපය ඉතා සංයමයකින් හැසිරවීම හේතු කොටගෙනය.

එදා යේසුස් ක්‍රිස්තුස්වහන්සේගේ ඝාතනයට වග කිවයුතු කිසිවෙකුට දඩුවමක් නොලැබිණි. ඒ ඝාතනය 2019 මහා සිකුරාදා සමරා,උට්ඨනයේ, ප්‍රීතිය බුක්ති ව්දීමට සුදානම්වූ කිතුනුවන් රාශියක් ඝාතනය වීම හා තවත් පිරිසක් තුවාල ලබා මේ වෙනතුරු කායික හා මානසික පිඩාවන්ට ලක්ව සිටීම ඉතාම කනගාටු දායකය. මේ මිනිසුන්ව කිසිවෙකුගේ පටු දේශපාලන අරමුණු වෙනුවෙන් පාවිච්චි කිරීමට කිසිවෙකුට ඉඩදිය යුතු නැත.

අපි පළමුව තේරුම්ගත යුත්තේ මේ රටතුල නීති ගරුක හෝ යුක්තිගරුක සමාජයක් නැති බවයි. එවැනි සමාජයකින්, මේ වින්දිතයන් වෙනුවෙන් අපේක්ෂාකරන සාධාරණත්වය ඉටු නොවන බව සියල්ලන්ම තේරුම්ගත යුතුය. එවැනි සමාජයක් නැති නිසා එවැනි සමාජයක් ස්ථාපිත කිරීම අරමුණු කරගෙන අප වර්තමාන ජනාධිපතිතුමාව බලයට පත්කර ගනු ලැබුවද, වඳ පිදුණ කෙසෙල් ගසක් මෙන්වූ මේ රාජ්‍ය යාන්ත්‍රනය භාවිතා කොට ඒ කාර්ය ඉටු කිරීමට එතුමාටද නොහැකිය. ඒ මේ රාජ්‍යයේ නිලධාරීන්ට මුදල් වෙනුවෙන් කල නොහැක්කක් නොමැති බැවිනි. හාස්‍යට කරුණ වන්නේ,මේ වනවිට පාස්කු ප්‍රහාරයට වගකිව යුතු රජය කළවුන් කතෝලික පල්ලිය සමග එකතුව Go Gota go home කියනවිට මෙරට ජනතාවට ඇතිවෙන අප්‍රසන්නතාවයයි. එදා ක්‍රිස්තුස්වහන්සේ සැරිසැරුව සමාජයම මෙහි නිරුපනය වෙන බවක් අපට දැනේ.

ජනතා ප්‍රශ්න විසඳීමට ලැබෙන වෘත්තිය සමිති සහයෝගය අගය කරනවා – අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා

April 21st, 2022

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

ජනතාව මුහුණ දෙන ප්‍රශ්න කඩිනමින් විසඳීම සඳහා රජය ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන වැඩපිළිවෙළට වෘත්තීය සමිති තුළින් ලැබෙන සහයෝගය අගය කරන බව අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා පැවසීය.

ප්‍රගතිශීලී වෘත්තීය සමිති ජාතික මධ්‍යස්ථානයේ වෘත්තීය සමිති නියෝජිතයන් සමඟ ඊයේ (20) පස්වරුවේ අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේදී පැවති සාකච්ඡාවකින් අනතුරුව අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා මේ බව සඳහන් කළේය.

වර්තමානයේ පවතින අර්බුදය නිර්මාණය වුයේ සියලු දේශපාලන පක්ෂ අතීතයේ ගත් තීරණ නිසා බවත්, එමගින් නිර්මාණය වූ ආර්ථික අර්බුදය අද දේශපාලන අර්බුදයක් දක්වා පැමිණ ඇති බවත් වෘත්තීය සමිති නියෝජිතයෝ මෙහිදී පැවසූහ.

අර්බුදය නිර්මාණය කිරීමට දායක වූ පිරිස නිර්දෝෂීන් ලෙස පෙනී සිටිමින් වර්තමාන රජය මත සියලු චෝදනා එල්ල කරමින් සිටින බවද වෘත්තීය සමිති නියෝජිතයෝ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා හමුවේ පෙන්වා දුන්හ.

ජනතාව මුහුණ දී ඇති අසීරු තත්ත්වයෙන් මුදා ගැනීමට රජය ගන්නා ක්‍රියාමාර්ග කඩිනම් කර ගැනීම වෙනුවෙන් වෘත්තීය සමිති ලෙස ලබාදිය හැකි සෑම සහයෝගයක්ම ලබා දෙන බව මෙහිදී වෘත්තීය සමිති නියෝජිතයෝ පැවසූහ.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ, අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ලේකම් අනුර දිසානායක මහත්වරු සහ පොදුජන ප්‍රගතිශීලී සේවක සංගමය, ප්‍රගතිශීලී රාජ්‍ය සේවක සම්මේලනය, ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන ගුරු සංගමය, පොදුජන වතු සේවක සංගමය, පළාත් පාලන සේවක සංගමය,  පොදුජන පෙර පාසල් සංගමය ඇතුළු ප්‍රගතිශීලී වෘත්තිය සමිති ජාතික මධ්‍යස්ථානයේ වෘත්තීය සමිති නියෝජිතයෝ රැසක් එක්ව සිටියහ.

Hela Voice Today

April 21st, 2022

Media Release

https://sites.google.com/view/heladiva-net/hela-voice-today

CIVIC EDUCATION

April 21st, 2022

Sugath Kulatunga

In the past we had Civics as an important subject in the school curriculum. Later this subject was hidden in a broad collection called social studies. When one observes the palpable ignorance of the general population and even many politicians, on the Constitution of the country it behooves that the subject of CIVICS be reintroduced as a compulsory subject for all students. It is ridiculous that a campaign with a battle cry of ‘Gotago’ is underway without knowing that a President is deprived of his post only with his resignation, his death, a vote of no confidence in Parliament and not by street demonstrations or shouting slogans in Parliament. There are some learned persons claiming that sovereignty of the people allows them to sack a President or change a government. Fortunately, it is not open-ended. The Constitution is clear on how the sovereignty can be exercised.

The Sovereignty of the People shall be exercised in the following manner

 (a)the legislative power by Parliament and by the People at a Referendum.

(b) the executive power by the President of the Republic elected by the People;

(c) the judicial power by Parliament through courts, tribunals and institutions created and established, or recognized, by the Constitution.

This reveals the level of the knowledge of the Constitution of the country by most Parliamentarians and even some professionals who think that the Constitution is made of rubber.

SL is one of the first among developing countries to enjoy universal adult franchise, which was introduced in 1932. However even with the long history of democratic institutions and high levels of literacy, we cannot be proud of our level of civic consciousness and awareness of basic instruments of government. In recent decades, increasing numbers of Sri Lankans have disengaged from civic and electoral activities, voluntary associations, community-based organizations, and lost interest in balanced and dispassionate information on public issues.

But now the present crisis in the economy, its total mismanagement and the resultant unprecedented burdens on the citizens have created a protest campaign which has brought a new awakening in citizens’ rights. But it is only a lopsided Civic consciousness which must start with a clear appreciation of the rights and duties of the citizen. In the Constitution of Sri Lanka sovereignty of the people is enshrined in the constitution. To fully enjoy the sovereignty endowed with the people, they should become fully aware of their powers, and rights. 

There are also the Directive principles in the Constitution, which call for affording all possible opportunities to the People to participate at every level in national life and in government.

The exercise and enjoyment of rights and freedoms is inseparable from the performance of duties and obligations, and accordingly it is the duty of every person in Sri Lanka inter alia –

(a)    to uphold and defend the Constitution and the law;

(a)(b) to further the national interest and to foster national unity and

(a) c) to respect the rights and freedoms of others.”

(b)   Unless the people are fully aware of their rights and duties the high principles and expectations in the Constitution cannot be realized.

Good governance is a primary duty of any government, and the maximum participation of the people is a main plank of good governance. People cannot meaningfully participate in governance if they are not equipped with the knowledge and skills of proficient citizenship and there is a lack of communication between the government and the governed. The main cause of the present crisis is the abysmal lack of communication between the executive and the legislature and even within the Cabinet. Of course it cannot be accepted as a convenient excuse.

Today we live in a culture where the absence of the rule of law is most conspicuous. Rule of law means that the dominant or mainstream culture, ethos, and thought in a society are sympathetic to the rule of law. In a society governed by the rule of law, people can participate in the making and implementation of laws that bind together all the people and institutions in society, including the government itself. Under the rule of law, everyone, irrespective of race, creed, color, gender, family background, or economic, social, and political circumstances, is to be treated uniformly. Rule of law can flourish only where there is a well-informed, enlightened, and responsible citizenry.

Civic consciousness is not something that can be imposed on people or can be brought about by sermonizing or exhortation. It includes imparting of knowledge, developing skills and most importantly instilling attitudes such as fairness and tolerance. The making of a civic minded citizen must start with the young who should be equipped with the needed values and social attributes that enhance their acceptance, integration, and participation in the society.
It can be achieved only by exposing the youth to appropriate learning experiences and activities that help to raise their civic consciousness and develop appropriate social values and attributes for effective relationships in the society. This is best achieved in the schools where they are exposed to a microcosm of the society. For several reasons, school-based education is the most promising way to advance and foster the requisite qualities. By changing the attitudes and knowledge of the next generation, students can become a key constituency in effecting long-term change.

Fundamentals of Civic Education

At the core of Civic Education are the values and principles of transparency, participation,

responsiveness, accountability, empowerment and equity.

Civic Education is a critical and effective empowerment tool for promoting citizen participation in democratic and development processes. It empowers citizens, both as individuals and as part of collective groupings. Citizen participation is built by protecting individual and collective rights and ensuring appreciation of each citizen’s obligations to the society of which s/he is a part.

Fundamentals of civic education as are defined as:

1) learning for effective participation in democratic and development processes at both local and national levels,

2) essential for transforming people’s lives and therefore a core part of the democratic governance,

3) a key enabler for exercising civil, political, economic and social rights and for bringing about greater transparency and accountability,

4) a prerequisite for stimulating, enhancing and deepening civic engagement,

5) an area that needs to be understood in its own right and not simply equated with civic participation.

In the current context of Sri Lanka, civic education should accord the highest priority to imbibe in the young the importance of the fundamental duties of a citizen i.e. to further the national interest and to foster national unity and to respect the rights and freedoms of others.

Devolution of power and any institutional arrangements for empowerment of the people will bear no fruit unless the capacity of the people for civic engagement is enhanced through civic education starting from the impressionable young age.

Campaigns like at Galle Face would be more meaningful if all the participants are driven through a civic consciousness devoid of partisan politics.

“Gotagogama” තරුණ පරපුර අසමත් නොවීමටනම් “ගෘන්නෝම”/ Grundnorm  නීති මූලධර්මය ගැන දැනගත යුත්තේ ඇයි?

April 21st, 2022

නීතීඥ අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන B.Sc(Col), PGDC(Col),  සමායෝජක, වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යයන වැඩසටහන.

මහජන ජාතික ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවක් (People’s National Constitution) කෙටුම්පත් කිරීම මේ දක්වා “Gotagogama” තරුණ පරපුර ආරම්භ කර නොතිබීම නීතිය නොදැනීම පිළිබඳ ප්‍රශ්නයක් පමණක් නොවේ. එය රටේ ජනතාවගේ නෛතික නිදහස පිළිබඳ මූලික ප්‍රශ්නයකි. ගෘන්නෝම”/ Grundnorm  නීති මූලධර්මය ගැන අවබෝධයක් නැතිකම පිළිබඳ ප්‍රශ්නයකි.

“The People’s Constitution should be drafted and presented to the people according to the Grundnorm principle before or after the president Gotabhaya is sent home.
If not a dictatorship may arise.”

“ගෝඨාභය ජනාධිපතිවරයා ගෙදර යැවීමට පෙර හෝ පසූව මහජන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව කෙටුම්පත් කර ජනතාව හමුවේ තැබීම ගෘන්නෝම මූලධර්මය අනුව සිදුවිය යුතුයි.
එසේ නොවුණහොත් ඒකාධිපති පාලනයක් බිහි වනු ඇත.”

වැද්දා වටුකූරුල්ලන්ට දැල දැමූ පසු වටුකුරුල්ලන් ඉන් මිදුන ආකාරය ලස්සන සිත් ඇදගන්නා බෞද්ධ කතාවක් පමණක් නොවේ. ඉන් ඉගෙනිය හැකි පාඩම් බොහෝය.

පළමු වැන්න වන්නේ අනතුරේ හෙළන්නාගෙන් කිසිවිට සහායක් නොඉල්ලිය යුතු බවයි. ඒ මූලික පාඩම “Gotagogama” අරගලයේ යෙදෙන තරුණ ප්‍රජාව මේ දක්වා අවබෝධකර නැති බව පෙනී යන්නේ ගෘන්නෝම (Grundnorm) නීති මූලධර්මය ගැන ඔවුන් මේ දක්වා කතිකාවක් ආරම්භ කර නැති හෙයිනි.

එනම් පවතින නීතිය උල්ලංඝනය කරමින් නව මහජන ජාතික ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවක් (People’s National Constitution) කෙටුම්පත් කිරීමට අවශ්‍ය මූලික සංවාදයවත් ඔවුන් මේ දක්වා ආරම්භ කර නැත.

ඒ පිළිබ‍ඳ කතිකාවක් ආරම්භ කිරීමට පවතින ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව උල්ලංඝනය කරමින් අලුත් ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවක් තැනිය හැකි ජර්මන් ජාතික දාර්ශනිකයෙකු වූ කෙල්සන් (Kelsen) ඉදිරිපත් කළ ගෘන්නෝම නීති මූල ධර්මය පිළිබඳ දැනගත යුතුය.

දෙන්නන් කාසිවලට යමක් කිරීමට යාම හෝ  ගෙනෙන නීතියේ මූලික ආකෘතිය නොමැතිව නීති කැඩීමට යාමේ ඇති අනතුර පිළිබ‍ඳව බුද්ධිමත්හු කල්පනා කරති.

වැද්දා දැල දැමූ විට වටු කුරුල්ලෝ වැද්දාගෙන්  දැල අයින් කර දෙන ලෙස ඉල්ලා නොසිටි අතර, වටු කුරුල්ලන්ම එකතු වී දැල අයින් කර ගත්තේය. ඒ සමාජ සිද්ධාන්තය මෙහිදීද අදාල වේ.

වර්තමනයේ සමාජ ආර්ථික ජීවන ප්‍රශ්නය ඇති කිරීමට මුල් වූයේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ 225 සහ විධායක ජනාධිපතිවරයා පමණක් නොවේ. අධිකරණය සහ පරිපාලන යාන්ත්‍රණයත් එයට වග කිව යුතුය. ජනතාව ගෑස්, තෙල් පෝලිමේ දුක් විඳීමට සැළැස්වීමට සහ විදුලිය කප්පාදුවට විධායකය, අධිකරණය සහ ව්‍යවස්ථාදායකය එකිනෙකා නොදෙවෙනි ලෙස දායක වී ඇත. ඒ සත්‍ය එළිදරව් කරන්නෝ බන්ධනාගාර ගත කිරීමෙන් ප්‍රශ්නය පාලනය විය හැකි වුවත් ජනතාවට සහනයක් ලැබෙන්නේ නැත.

ජනප්‍රිය පාසල්වලට සිසුන් ඇතුළත් කරන අයදුම්පත්‍රවල ලිපින අනුව පාසල් බස් රථ හෝ පාසල් වෑන් රථ මෙතරම් ප්‍රමාණයක් නගර වෙත  පැමිණීමට අවශ්‍යතාවයක් නැත.

විධායක, ව්‍යවස්ථාදායක සහ අධිකරණ ආයතන ත්‍රිත්වයේ අකාර්යක්ෂමතාවය,නාස්තිය, දූෂණය පිළිබඳ සමාජයේ ප්‍රසිද්ධ සංවාදයක් ඇති වී තිබේ. “Gotagogama” තරුණ ප්‍රජාව ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් අවධානය යොමුකර නැති අතර, ගෝඨාභය ජනාධිපතිවරයා ඉලක්කකරගත් පෞද්ගලික අවලාද කිරීමක ස්වරූපයෙන් උද්ඝෝෂණ මෙහෙයවන ආකාරයක් දක්නට තිබේ.

ඝාතන කිහිපයක් පමණක් ඉස්මතුකරමින් සහ තෙල්, ගෑස්, විදුලිය අර්බුදයට පමණක් සමාජ ආතතිය සහ සමාජ පීඩනය ලඝු කරමින් වසර ගණනාවක් සමාජය මුහුණ දෙන වහල් පාලන ක්‍රමය පිළිබඳ සාකච්ඡා නොකිරීමට   “Gotagogama” තරුණ පරපුර පරිස්සම් වන ආකාරයක්ද දක්නට තිබේ.

සමාජයේ පවතින සෑම ආයතනයකම, ව්‍යුහයකම පවතින බලවන්තයින් විසින් දුබලයන් සහ සම්බන්ධතා නොමැති අය පෙළන පාලන ක්‍රමයේ ගැටළු “Gotagogama” සාකච්ඡා කරනවා පෙන්නුම් කරන්නේ නැත.

එය ගෝඨාභය ජනාධිපතිවරයා ධූරයෙන් ඉවත්කිරීමේ සීමිත ඉලක්කයක් පමණක් දරයි.

ගෘන්නෝමය (Grundnorm) ගැන නීතීඥවරු පමණක් දැන සිටීම ප්‍රමාණවත් නොවේ.  “Gotagogama” තරුණ ප්‍රජාවද ඒ පිළිබඳ සකච්ඡා ආරම්භ කළ යුතුය.

“Gotagogama” තරුණ ප්‍රජාගේ අරගලය ජන අරගලයක් වන්නේ ඔවුන් එය තේරුම් ගැනීමට කල්ගත නොකිරීම සහ දක්වන උනන්දුව මතය.

නීතීඥ අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන B.Sc(Col), PGDC(Col),  සමායෝජක, වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යයන වැඩසටහන.
දුරකථන 0342256066, 0342256067, 0712063394

Sri Lanka’s Economic Recovery Efforts to Continue Despite Social Media Brickbats

April 21st, 2022

Embassy of Sri Lanka Washington D.C

The Embassy of Sri Lanka to the United States has noted with disappointment the unjustified and undue criticism leveled against the eight member delegation led by the Minister of Finance who are currently attending the Springmeetings of the Bretton Woods Institutions in Washington DC. It must be emphasized that these meetings and the various bilateral engagements undertaken by the Sri Lankan delegation are aimed at garnering international support in aid of Sri Lanka’s economic recovery pursuant to the several challenges being faced by the country.

Among the meetings in the schedule of engagements, apart from the regular Spring meetings of the IMF/Worlds Bank, a number of additional meetings were held with relevant divisions and departments of the IMF/World Bank including meeting with the Managing Director of the IMF and the World Bank’s Managing Director of Operations.

In addition, during the short duration the delegation met with the US Department of the Treasury, the US
Department of State, USAID, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and had a number of bilateral
engagements including with the Finance Minister of India. The delegation will continue with its work with theexpectation of garnering the best possible outcomes for Sri Lanka.

Social media postings have been made with distorted accounts and malicious attempts to denigrate the
delegation and its work. These are apparently made with the invidious goal of undermining Sri Lanka’s efforts forovertly political gain by fostering hatred against and opposition to the delegation – aimed specifically at Sri Lankan-Americans and Sri Lankans resident in the United States and, generally, at Sri Lankans all over the world.

These efforts to incite enmity among national stakeholders apparently seek to undermine national efforts that will accrue to the benefit of Sri Lankan people and the nation. Among the negative comments made are the supposed wastage of funds at a time of economic crisis, particularly on facilities for transport and accommodation made use of by the 8-member delegation.

The posts show a photograph taken at random of two luxury vehicles parked at some location, insinuating that these are the vehicles being made use of by the delegation. The Embassy would like to state for the record that the delegation has been provided with two sedans which are non-luxury vehicles. In addition, an extra vehicle was provided free of charge by the Embassy for the use of the delegation due to space constraints.

As to accommodation, the hotel/s chosen were from a list recommended by the IMF/World Bank for the use of all international delegations visiting Washington DC. These hotels are offering concessionary rates for the delegations in Washington DC at present. The Hotel chosen by the Sri Lankan delegation is not among the more expensive in the list.

It can only be assumed that the posters of the distorted, inaccurate information only intend to sow disharmony and disapprobation among Sri Lankans and those interested in the country’s welfare. The Embassy wishes to place on record the factual situation in order that these misleading statements and misrepresentations are understood in context and the motivation and intent behind these mischaracterizations and the personalities involved, are exposed.
Embassy of Sri Lanka
Washington D.C
20.04.2022

Tug of war breaks out between GR and MR

April 21st, 2022

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

*PM is now to table the 19th amendment in Parliament soon with some amendments to the clauses

* One of the proposals to which consensus will be sought from all party leaders is for Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down as President

A tug of war seems to have broken out between President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa with the latter now preparing to push for the 19th amendment which will take away the powers of the executive and empower more powers back to the Parliament. 

The Daily Mirror learns that for weeks now, there has been severe political instability among the government parties and its coalition members, many of who are now seated in the opposition with the 11 member alliance calling for Mahinda Rajapaksa to resign as the Prime Minister while some others stating that if there is a resignation then it should be the President who should step down.

Senior political sources said that the recent cabinet appointments and all the state ministry appointments were done by the President’s selection alone and the Prime Minister was not consulted nor did he attend the swearing-in ceremonies.

The Prime Minister had been calling for some senior ministers to be included in the cabinet but President Rajapaksa had insisted for a younger and new cabinet, hoping that this would calm down the protestors and put the country back on track. 

The Prime Minister is now to table the 19th amendment in Parliament soon with some amendments to the clauses while the Daily Mirror learns that the main opposition the SJB will also table the 19th amendment in Parliament this week.

UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe who has also hinted that he will support the 19 amendment has proposed for a two-day discussion with the All-party Leaders where proposals are going to be sought as to what the immediate solution to the crisis should be.

The Daily Mirror learns that the party leaders will meet today and tomorrow to discuss the proposals and one of the proposals to which consensus will be sought from all party leaders is for Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down as President.

If consensus is reached, then the decision will be conveyed to the Speaker by Friday after which he will convey it to the President. However whether the President will then step down is to be seen. (JAMILA HUSAIN)

IMF says any loan to Sri Lanka requires debt sustainability

April 21st, 2022

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The International Monetary Fund said discussions with Sri Lanka on a potential IMF loan program are at an early stage and any deal would require “adequate assurances” that the island country’s debts can be put on a sustainable path.

In a statement emailed to Reuters, IMF Sri Lanka Mission Chief Masahiro Nozaki said that IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva discussed lending options and policy plans with a Sri Lankan delegation on Tuesday.

“An IMF-supported program should be designed to resolve Sri Lanka’s acute balance of payments problems and put the economy back on a sustainable growth path as early as possible,” Nozaki said.

The statement came after protests in response to shortages of fuel and other essentials turned deadly on Tuesday and Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister formally asked the Fund for a Rapid Financing Instrument loan for countries needing urgent balance-of-payments support.

Nozaki said the IMF is “very concerned about the current economic crisis in Sri Lanka and hardships suffered by the people, especially the poor and vulnerable.”

But he noted that IMF staff had determined last month in an annual economic review that Sri Lanka’s public debt was unsustainable, and the country needs to take steps to restore debt sustainability prior to any IMF lending, including the emergency Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI).

Such restoration of debt sustainability typically requires a restructuring or reprofiling of public debts, which in Sri Lanka’s case would require cooperation from China, one of its largest bilateral creditors.

The IMF used the low-conditionality RFI loans extensively to assist countries during the COVID-19 pandemic and has provided such loans to ease balance of payments problems after natural disasters, conflicts and commodity price shocks.

“These considerations would need to be examined for a potential RFI for Sri Lanka, once adequate assurances are obtained that debt sustainability will be resolved,” Nozaki said.

He added that the specific design of a Sri Lanka IMF loan, including program targets and conditionality, would be agreed through extensive discussions between the government and IMF staff.

“The discussions are still at an early stage,” Nozaki said.

Army Chief urges public to assist unhindered passage of road transport

April 21st, 2022

Courtesy Adaderana

The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) today appealed to the general public engaged in protests to assist unhindered passage of transport movements without blocking roads and causing inconvenience to the public.

In a special message issued today (21), the Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army, General Shavendra Silva stated that in the face of present economic constraints, people of Sri Lanka in various areas are holding protests and agitations in a peaceful manner. 

We have not to-date caused any hindrance to such peaceful protests.” 

However, he emphasized that a few elements, who have shown up at those places were seen in the past few days engaged in particularly blocking road movements, causing inconvenience to the general public and transport of fuel supplies and essentials to different island-wide areas

He said the Sri Lanka Army at the request of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), in an attempt to assist the Police, particularly for unhindered passage of transport movements since yesterday (20) has deployed Army troops and other forces to assist in this connection.

He therefore urged all Sri Lankans to lend the same degree of support at this critical juncture to all the armed forces and the Police for passage of essentials to the public by dispensing with roadblocks and other obstructions.

The army chief recalled how all Sri Lankans overwhelmingly supported the armed forces during the height of COVID-19 control work and the war against terrorism by way of holding blessing ceremonies, services, etc. 


The full text of his message is as follows;

In the face of present economic constraints, people of Sri Lanka in various areas are holding protests and agitations in a peaceful manner. We have not to-date caused any hindrance to such peaceful protests. However, a few elements, who have shown up at those places were seen in the past few days engaged in particularly blocking road movements, causing inconvenience to the general public and transport of fuel supplies and essentials to different island-wide areas”.

The Sri Lanka Army at the request of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), in an attempt to assist the Police, particularly for unhindered passage of transport movements since yesterday (20) has deployed Army troops and other forces to assist in this connection. Particularly we saw on Wednesday (20), some members of the general public who have volunteered and come forward to remove those blockades on their own, for which we would like to pay tribute to such volunteers”.

Let me earnestly appeal to all intelligent Sri Lankans to support our forces and the Police in the same way you all cooperated with the armed forces in the control of the most recent COVID-19 epidemic and the war against terrorism in the past. 

I kindly urge all Sri Lankans to lend the same degree of support at this critical juncture to all the armed forces and the Police for passage of essentials to the public by dispensing with roadblocks and other obstructions”.

Chinese Ambassador pledges continued support to Sri Lanka

April 21st, 2022

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor G.L. Peiris met with the Ambassador of China to Colombo, Qi Zhenhong, at the Foreign Ministry on Thursday (21).

While welcoming the Ambassador, Minister Peiris appreciated China’s continued assistance to Sri Lanka which had begun even before establishing formal diplomatic relations between the two countries. 

He also recalled the Chinese monuments erected in Sri Lanka with the funding of the Chinese Government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The Foreign Minister also apprised the Ambassador of the current situation in the country and the shortage of energy which has adversely affected the economy of Sri Lanka. 

He briefed the Ambassador on the measures which are being put in place by the Government to immediately overcome the prevailing situation, including the ongoing discussion with the IMF for financial assistance as well as reformulating Sri Lanka’s debt and in that context Minister Peiris requested further assistance from China, particularly in the field of bridging finance during a difficult time.

The Ambassador of China stated that the Embassy of China in Colombo and Beijing were closely monitoring the evolving situation in Sri Lanka. 

Ambassador Qi assured that the Chinese Government would continue extending assistance to Sri Lanka in every possible way including direct Chinese Government support, regional Government support and support through Red Cross China.

The China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) has pledged an urgent emergency humanitarian aid of RMB 200 million to Sri Lanka, including 5000 tonnes of rice (with the previously announced 2000 tonnes), pharmaceuticals, production materials and other essentials. 

Furthermore, the Yunnan Province has announced a donation of RMB 1.5 million worth of food packages to Sri Lanka.

The Foreign Minister extended Sri Lanka’s profound gratitude to the Government of China for the unwavering and consistent support, the release said. 

The ministry said the discussions also focused on people to people exchanges, support at the multilateral fora, poverty alleviation, among others.

Foreign Secretary Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage, senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and officials of the Chinese Embassy were present during the meeting.

Sri Lanka may take weeks to hire debt advisers, Sabry says

April 21st, 2022

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka may take nearly three weeks to appoint advisers to guide an overhaul of its debt, according to the country’s finance chief, a move seen as key to unlock emergency funds needed to ease its worsening economic crisis.

The country is aiming to choose financial and legal advisers in 15 to 20 days, Finance Minister Ali Sabry said in a Bloomberg Television interview with Kathleen Hays and Haidi Stroud-Watts late Wednesday in Washington.

Sri Lanka is seeking as much as $4 billion this year to help ease shortages of food, fuel and medicines as its foreign reserves dry up and it heads for a default on its international debt. The economic decline in recent weeks has spiraled into a domestic crisis, with protests seeking the ouster of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa turning deadly on Tuesday when police killed at least one person and wounded several others.

About $500 million of the total funds sought by Sri Lanka is expected to come as emergency aid from the Asian Development Bank and World Bank in the next six months, Sabry said.

The IMF has said its rapid aid depends on progress on debt restructuring, but the lender has declined to comment on what represents adequate steps toward developing a credible debt plan.

The July dollar bond rose for a fourth day, indicating up 0.4 cents on the dollar at 46.3 as of 11:35 a.m. in Singapore. That’s the longest streak of gains since Feb. 10.

Our talks have been centered around restructuring, and along with that to go forward for a proper program with the IMF,” Sabry said. An IMF program requires debt restructuring when they come to the finding that it is not sustainable in the long run.”

While the IMF’s board could approve release of funds earlier if necessary, a first step along that path will be for the country to appoint advisers to chart the restructuring and payments of debts. That’s accompanied by fiscal reforms and other points, to meet the requirements of traditional multilateral lenders like the IMF and WB.

A comprehensive aid package from the IMF may require about six months, Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris said earlier Wednesday in Colombo.

Sabry is in Washington with other officials seeking emergency funds during the so-called spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank. He added in the interview that Sri Lanka has been contacted by a couple” of creditors, and that he also plans further talks with officials from the U.S., Japan, India and China, among others.

It’s early days,” he said.


Source: Bloomberg
-Agencies

Sri Lanka makes face masks mandatory again

April 21st, 2022

Courtesy Adaderana

The Director General of Health Services today said the lifting of mandatory requirement to wear face masks outdoors is temporarily suspended, considering the large public gatherings currently taking place in the country.

DGHS Dr. Asela Gunawardena therefore stated that face masks should be worn outdoors as done before.

Issuing a press release, he said that this directive will be effective from today (April 21). 

Other measures stipulated in the press release issued by the Director General of Health Services dated 18.04.2022 shall remain in force, it further said. 

SJB hands over proposals for constitutional amendments

April 21st, 2022

Courtesy Adaderana

The main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) has put forward a set of proposals for the new amendment to the Constitution including the abolishment of the executive presidency and the repealing of the 20th Amendment.

The draft resolution has been handed over to the Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa told the House today.

In its proposals, the SJB also seeks a tripartite system of checks and balances and the establishment of independent commissions and a National Security Council.

The general secretary of SJB, MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara, who received the document from party leader Sajith Premadasa at the office of the Opposition Leader this morning, has subsequently handed it over to the Speaker.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ඉන්දියාවේ ප්‍රාන්තයක් කර ගැනීමට යන කතාවේ ඇත්ත නැත්ත මෙන්න

April 21st, 2022

උපුටා ගැන්ම නෙත්

ඉන්දීය විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍ය ආචාර්ය එස්. ජෙයිශංකර් විසින් නිකුත් කළ ට්විටර් සටහනක් බවට හුවා දැක්වෙන අසත්‍ය ට්විටර් සටහනක් මේ වන විට සමාජ මාධ්‍ය තුල හුවමාරු වෙමින් පවතිනවා.

” ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ජනතාව කැමැති නම් ලංකාව ඉන්දියාවේ ප්‍රාන්තයක් ලෙස පිළිගැනීමට සුදානම්. ශ්‍රී ලංකාව මුහුණ දී සිටින ගෑස්, ඉන්ධන, කිරිපිටි, පොහොර ඇතුළු අත්‍යවශ්‍ය භාණ්ඩ ගැටලු සඳහා විසඳුම් ලබා දීමට මෙන්ම ඉදිරියේදී ඇතිවෙන ගැටලු සඳහා උපකාර කිරිමට ඉන්දියාව පියවර ගන්නවා”. යැයි එම අසත්‍ය ට්විටර් සටහනේ සඳහන් කර තිබෙනවා.

මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ පිහිටි ඉන්දීය මහා කොමසාරිස් කාර්යාලය ට්විටර් සටහනක් තබමින් සඳහන් කර සිටින්නේ දෙරට අතර පවතින දිගු කාලීන මිත්‍රත්වය දුර්වල කිරිමට බංකොලොත් පාර්ශවයක් විසින් ගන්නා මෙවන් ක්‍රියා මාර්ග කිසිදා සාර්ථක නොවනු ඇති බවයි.

ඉන්දීය විදේශ ඇමතිවරයා ගේ ජායාරූපය යොදා ගනිමින් සැකසූ අසත්‍ය ට්විටර් සටහන පහතින් :

POLITICS IN SRI LANKA Part 3 L

April 20th, 2022

KAMALIKA PIERIS

UNP loyalists were overjoyed when the UNP won a landslide election in 1977. They felt a sense of power, they thought they were going to be there forever and started to intimidate those opposed to the UNP.

Wiswa Warnapala saw this in action in University of Peradeniya and wrote about it in his autobiography. After 1977, the academic community within Peradeniya divided into two camps, one in total support of the UNP government and the other against, said Wiswa. The Department of History was for 1978 constitution and Department of Political Science against it. . Wiswa and others in Political science had heavily critiqued the 1978 constitution.

University administration was politicized.  There was discrimination in promotions, scholarships and administration. A group of pro UNP dons began to dominate the campus. This group interfered in practically all matters  and took all the decisions. They wanted to put a   specialist in history as Professor of Economics. This was commented on in Kandy as well. I heard it there.

The pro-UNP group discriminated against those who disagree with them. They were gunning for anti UNP elements in the University. The UNP group said the UNP could never be defeated with proportional representation.  Wiswa said it can.

They tried to stop Wiswa from getting a promotion to Associate Professor. Wiswa was not able to get a fellowship through the University and had to arrange his own sabbaticals. The UNP clique in University knew everything that that was going on, including Wiswa making plans to go, he said. Wiswa’s wife was sent from school to school as a teacher.

One member of the Pro-UNP group had started to throw out all the Marxist literature in the main library, such as New Left Review.  Some items were found in a botal kade. Wiswa had complained about this and the Library committee of the University had summoned Wiswa before it.

The University Librarian resigned but others stayed put. They knew that the JR government was not going to last forever.  Eventually this UNP clique, which consisted of three or four academics and their wives, fell out with each other. One family stayed on in Sri Lanka, the other two families went to America. I think they did well there.

When the Open Economy was started and Accelerated Mahaweli got going, everybody was praising the new economy.  Ralph Pieris was not impressed. He was very contemptuous of JR‘s policies. He announced, dramatically, and with much emphasis, to anybody who was prepared to listen, ‘the degree of corruption in this county now will exceed anything we have ever seen so far.”   No one cared, they were so thrilled with the opening up of the economy.

The Open Economy and Acerbated Mahaweli threw open the gates for bribery corruption and corruption  said  critics later on. With open economy, there was much corruption  said KM de Silva.

JR has initiated a system that allowed the plunder of public property by Presidents, Ministers, Members of Parliament, their crony officials and businessmen, said critics. MP were maintaining styles they could not otherwise live, expensive houses in exclusive residential areas, children educated in expansive private schools , duty –free facilities of one kind or another, KM de Silva said.

 After Privatization, opportunity for corruption began to rise as government contracts and licenses       were given by politicians to their loyal business partners. Entrepreneurs needed direct political patronage. Those who did not have      correct political contacts found it difficult.

Accelerated Mahaweli opened the floodgates for corruption added critics. Commissions obtained were not bribes, said JR.   Some Commissions were routine payments that were made only after a purchase, not before. (Continued)

ගෝට ගේ ගම

April 20th, 2022

ජයන්ත හේරත්

අප බොහෝ දෙනාගේ ගම්

වෙනස් වෙනව වගේ,

ගෝටගේ ගමත්

වෙනස්වන සුලුය.

ඒවා මානව අයිතින්ය.

ඉස්සරහට එංග ලන්තේ

වෙන්නත් බැරි නැත.

නියතය වෙනස් වීමය.

ගම කොහේ වුනත්

වැඩ්ඩ වැඩ්ඩමය.

මැදවච්චි යනවා කියා

ගියේ

කිලිනොච්චිය.

ඇමරිකාව

සෑදී ඇත්තේ

රතු ඉන්දියානුවන්ගේ

ඉඩම්

මං කොල්ල කාලාය,

කෑ ලි  කෑ ලි  එකතු කරලා ය.

මුළු ඇලස්කාවම

ගත්තේ

සෝවියට් රුසියාවෙන්ය

ඇමරිකන් ඩොලර් මිලියන 7.2 ටය

අක්කරය ශත 2 ය.

ඕනෑම කෙනෙකුට

ඇමරිකාවේ ඉඩම්

ගන්නට පුළුවන.

අපේ රටේ

ප්රශ්න වලට

විසඳුම

ඇමරිකාවය

එංග ලන්තය ය.

එකතු කිරීමය.

විදෙස් රටවල ඇති

රාජ්ය බලය

ව්යාපාර

දේපල

කෙසේ හෝ

ලබා ගැනීමය.

ඉන්දියාව කරන්නේ ඒකය.

කමලා ඉන්දියානුය

කොයි වෙලාවක හරි

Biden ගියොත්

ජනාධිපතිනිය ය.

ප්රේමේ ගේ පුතාට

එංග ලන්තේ

අගමැති වෙන්න බැරි උනේය

රනිල්ටත් එහෙමය.

චන්ද්‍රිකාටත් බැරි උනේය.

ප්රීති පටෙල්

එංග ලන්තේ

Home Secretary ය

සත්ය නදෙල්ල

Microsoft CEO ය.

ලංකා තරුණයින්

ගෙදරින්

ගෝල් පීසයට

බැසීම first ස්ටෙප් එකය.

ඒ කට

Light Off

කරන්නම උනාය.

පීනන්නට පළමුව

ගස් නැගීම ඉගෙන ගත යුතුය 

පොල් කැඩිය යුතුය

කොස් කැඩිය යුතුය.

අවුරුද්දට

මාසයක් දෙකක්

නගරෙන්

පිටවී ගමේ ජීවත් විය යුතුය

කිරි පිටි

petrol

V-8 නැතුව.

ලංකාවෙන්

එලියට බැස

ජීවන සටන

පටන් ගත

යුතුය.

විදෙස්

දේපල ලබා ගැනීමේ

රාජ්ය බලය

අල්ලා ගැනීමේ

ලා ක්රියාන්විත

විය යුතුය.

කිපී

දේපල ගිනි තැබීමෙන්

කාටවත් සුගතියක් නැත

සාමකාමී විය යුතුය 

නිකරුනේ

දිවි පුදන්න නම් එපාය.

විජේවීර නම් බෙල්ල දුන්නේය,

ඒ මෝඩකමටය.

පුටින්ට ඕනෑ එකතු කරන්නය.

Brezhnev Gorbachev

බෙදා වෙන් කල

සෝවියට් රුසියාව

නැවත එකතු කිරීමය.

Biden ට ඕනෑ යුද්ධයය

නැටෝ එක ව්යාප්ත කරන්නය.

ඒ කට හොඳම තේරීම

Zelensky ය.

ගෝටා කලේ

අනිත් යට බැරිවූ දේ කිරීමය.

ගමම අයිති

ගෝ ටා ටය

හමුදාවටය.

The Vatican must apologize to Sri Lanka

April 20th, 2022

Senaka Weeraratna

The Portuguese landed in Sri Lanka in 1505 and after a couple of decades in occupation started the inhumane Portuguese Inquisition intending to destroy Buddhism Temples and the Buddhist Civilization, and convert Buddhists to Christianity. Its inspiration was the Goa Inquisition which led to the Inquisition being conducted in almost all territories of the Portuguese Asian Empire.

It is the Portuguese that started Hate institutions i.e., Catholic Church and Missionary Schools. From day one in pre – school the innocent child is brainwashed in self – hate. To transfer his loyalty from the local sovereign to the foreign sovereign in the Vatican i.e., The Pope, and change religion by conversion. 

The Sinhala Buddhists did not invade foreign lands and conquer the territory of non – Buddhists. But three European powers did. Portuguese, Dutch and the British. The Catholic Church keeps preaching to the Buddhists on Human Rights from a pedestal.  But it keeps mum on the fact that it was the willing collaborater of the Portuguese Conquistadors. 

Most of the Churches in Sri Lanka are on land forcibly seized from Buddhist Temples and the Churches were built on sites of destroyed Buddhist Temples. Portuguese Historian Queyroz gives the full details.

 The Buddhists have every right to call for accountability including an apology and reparations from the Vatican for the vast damage caused to the Buddhists, Buddhist monks and temples by the Conquistadors and the Catholic Church in the past. It is not a closed chapter as yet. 

ජාතික හෙද විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය ආරම්භ කිරීම පිළිබඳව ඒකාබද්ධ කැබිනට් පත්‍රිකාවක් යොමු කරන්නැයි අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාගෙන් උපදෙස්

April 20th, 2022

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

ජාතික හෙද විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය ආරම්භ කිරීමට අදාළව අධ්‍යාපන හා සෞඛ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශය ඒකාබද්ධව කැබිනට් පත්‍රිකාවක් යොමු කරන්නැයි අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා අද (20) දින පෙරවරුවේ විෂය භාර අමාත්‍යවරුන්ට උපදෙස් දුන්නේය.

ජාතික හෙද විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය ආරම්භ කිරීමට අදාළව පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ පිහිටි අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය කාර්යාලයේ පැවති සාකච්ඡාවට එක්වෙමින් අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා මෙම උපදෙස් දුන්නේය.

තමන් විසින් මෙයට පෙර යෝජනා කළ පරිදි හෙද අධ්‍යාපනය සඳහා ජාත්‍යන්තර මට්ටමේ පිළිගත් උපාධියක් ලබාදීම කාලෝචිත ක්‍රියාවක් බව ද අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා මෙහි දී පෙන්වා දුන්නේය.

දැනට දිවයින පුරා හෙද විද්‍යාල 17ක් තුළින් හෙද හෙදියන් සෞඛ්‍ය සේවාවට එක්වන අතර සේවා අවශ්‍යතාව සහ දැනට ක්‍රියාත්මක හෙද අධ්‍යාපනයේ ගුණාත්මක භාවය ඉහළ නැංවීම පිළිබඳව ද මෙම හමුවේදී අවධානය යොමු විය.

ඒ අනුව දේශීය සහ විදේශීය වශයෙන් හෙද සේවාවේ ඇති ඉල්ලුමට සරිලන ගුණාත්මක හා ජාත්‍යන්තර මට්ටමේ පිළිගත් හෙද උපාධියක් පිරිනැමීමට ගත හැකි ක්‍රියාමාර්ග සම්බන්ධයෙන් රාජ්‍ය නිලධාරීහු මෙහි දී අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා දැනුවත් කළහ.

ජාතික හෙද විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය පිහිටුවීමේ අවශ්‍යතාව පෙන්වා දුන් රාජ්‍ය සේවා එක්සත් හෙද සංගමයේ සභාපති, නාරාහේන්පිට අභයාරාමාධිපති, කොළඹ විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ කුලපති, පුජ්‍ය මුරුත්තෙට්ටුවේ ආනන්ද නායක ස්වාමීන්වහන්සේ සිය සංගමය 1991 වර්ෂයේ සිට මේ පිළිබඳව ඉල්ලීම් ඉදිරිපත් කර තිබූ බව පෙන්වා දුන්හ.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍ය වෛද්‍ය රමේෂ් පතිරණ, සෞඛ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය මහාචාර්ය චන්න ජයසුමන, විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ප්‍රතිපාදන කොමිෂන් සභාවේ සභාපති ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ මහාචාර්ය සම්පත් අමරතුංග, අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය පාර්ලිමේන්තු කටයුතු සම්බන්ධීකරණ ලේකම් ප්‍රියන්ත රත්නායක, ආසියානු සංවර්ධන බැංකුවේ සහ ආසියානු ඵලදායීතා ආයතනයේ උපදේශක මහාචාර්ය එම්. තිලකසිරි, රාජ්‍ය සේවා එක්සත් හෙද සංගමයේ උපසභාපති ආර්.කේ. බටුවිට මහත්වරු ඇතුළු අධ්‍යාපන හා සෞඛ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශයට අදාළ නිලධාරීහු පිරිසක් සහභාගී වී සිටියහ.

Lankan regime’s intention to bring about constitutional changes is suspect

April 20th, 2022

By P.K.Balachandran Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, April 19: With pressure mounting on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to quit, both in parliament and on the streets of Sri Lanka, the President and his Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, are proposing constitutional changes in the hope that these will satisfy the people, yearning for democracy.   

While constitutional changes to restore democracy are a crying need, political observers see hidden agendas in the offers the Rajapaksas are making in terms of constitutional changes.ADVERTISEMENT

Observers dismiss the suggestion that the Rajapaksas are genuinely interested in reducing the gargantuan powers vested in the Executive Presidency.  

Sceptics say that President Gotabaya wants to buy time by re-starting the exercise to give Sri Lanka an entirely new constitution, which is a long drawn out process. He is hoping that the economic difficulties that Sri Lanka is passing through will ease over time with aid pouring in from India and other countries and also international financial institutions. All he has to do, in the interim, is to encourage the parliamentary opposition and the political protestors outside his office to go chasing the mirage of democracy.  

The President’s elder brother and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa wants to use the threat to reduce the powers of the President through a constitutional amendment, to get back his clout in the government which he had lost lately. The Prime Minister’s proposal is to curtail the powers of the President by bringing back the 19 th.Amendment of 2015 and discarding the 20 th. of 2020 which give the President enormous power to act arbitrarily.

Mahinda Rajapaksa’s plan is only a temporary expedient to pressurize Gotabaya  Rajapaksa to accommodate his men in the cabinet and lend an ear to his counsel on political matters. Mahinda was irked, or rather incensed, by the President’s choice of ministers in the revamped cabinet. Many senior leaders, who are identified with him, and many who were acolytes, were unceremoniously dropped supposedly to give the government a new-look with younger ministers.

It was widely reported that when the cabinet reshuffle was discussed with the President, the Prime Minster clashed with the President and walked out in a huff.  He also chose not to attend the swearing-in ceremony (though eventually he did meet the new ministers).

What is the 19 th.Amendment?

The 19 th. Amendment (19A) of 2015, which the Prime Minister wants to bring back with some amendments, had clipped the wings of the President and increased the powers of parliament. 19A had set up a Constitutional Council” and Independent Commissions” to oversee recruitments to top positions in the various organs of the State. But the  20 th.Amendment (20A) of 2020, got rid of the Constitutional Council and replaced it with the Parliamentary Council” with little or no power. The 20A crippled parliament and made the Presidency supreme to satisfy Mahinda Rajapaksa’s lust for power as the then President of Sri Lanka.

The 19A was a refreshing piece of legislation. It expanded the fundamental rights chapter. The right to information was included in the Fundamental Rights. The 19A introduced a ceiling of 30 on the number of ministers in the Cabinet. It reduced the scope of immunity of the Executive President. If the President’s actions were thought to be in  violation of fundamental rights, a petition could be filed in the Supreme Court.

Under the 19A, the accountability of the Executive was increased by including in the Constitutional Council”, representatives from Parliament  and three persons of eminence and integrity who have distinguished themselves in public or professional life and who are not members of any political party.” A significant feature of the Constitutional Council” was that it included representation from the Opposition in parliament. The number of statutory commissions that came under the Council was expanded under 19A to include the Audit Service Commission and the National Procurement Commission.

As Groundviews put it, the 19 A required the President to act in consultation with the Prime Minister in determining ministerial portfolios and act on the advice of the Prime Minister in making appointments to the Cabinet. Further, the Prime Minister could only be removed by parliament, the President could no longer remove the Prime Minister. The term of the President was reduced and the President’s power to dissolve Parliament was restricted.

20 th.Amendment

The 20th Amendment (20A) to the Constitution was passed in October 2020. The 20A increased most of the powers of the President abolished by 19A. The 20A was a political project of Gotabaya Rakapaksa which was endorsed by 6.9 million voters in the 2019 Presidential election fought after the Easter Sunday multiple bombings in which more than 250 people died. It was the answer to the need for a strong ruler to control extremism. The ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) secured a landslide victory in the 2020 Parliamentary elections based on a single strong leader” platform. No wonder, the 20A was passed easily with the required two thirds majority .

The Constitutional Council (CC) was replaced by a Parliamentary Council (PC). The Parliamentary Council consists of (a) the Prime Minister; (b) the Speaker; (c) the Leader of the Opposition; (d) a nominee of the Prime Minister, who should be a Member of Parliament; and (e) a nominee of the Leader of the Opposition, who should be a Member of Parliament. There are no representations of the civil society in the PC.

The Independent Commissions introduced by the 19 A were abolished. The 20 A says: The Chairmen and members of the Commissions shall be appointed by the President. In making such appointments, the President shall seek the observations of a Parliamentary Council.” Only observations can be made.

The President enjoys complete immunity under 20A. Fundamental Rights petitions cannot be filed against the President. Article 35 of the Amendment states: While any person holds office as President, no proceedings shall be instituted or continued against him in any court or tribunal in respect of anything done or omitted to be done by him either in his official or private capacity.”

The President is empowered to dissolve parliament at his will” after two and a half years of the election of a new Parliament. Limitations imposed by the number of the Cabinet (30) and Deputy Ministers (45) by 19A were retained at the Committee Stage. The President is empowered to appoint Ministers.

The 20A has reintroduced the Urgent Bills” concept which was  abolished by 19A.  An urgent bill can circumvent the existing procedure. The President can refer it to the Supreme Court requesting its determination within 24 to 72 hours.

Dual citizens, who were not qualified for contesting elections under 19A, got the right to do so under 20A. This enabled Basil Rajapaksa, a sibling of the President and the Prime Ministere to become an MP.   The 20A enables the President to appoint any person to any office at his sole discretion without having to get the consent of parliament.

The draft 20A was challenged in the Supreme Court by 39 petitions. The court suggested some amendments in order to avoid going for a referendum. The government obliged and 20A was passed.

However, having seen the consequences of giving too much power to one man, the Executive President, a good number of MPs of the opposition and even some allies of the government, now want to bring back the 19A either fully or substantially.

Top Sri Lankan Buddhist clergy call upon government and opposition to resolve crisis

April 20th, 2022

By P.K.Balachandran Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, April 20: Sri Lanka’s top Buddhist clergy called Mahanayakes on Wednesday called upon the President, Prime Minister, the Opposition Leader and all Members of Parliament to implement the proposals put forward by them on April 4, to resolve the present crisis in the country.

Issuing a joint statement, the Chief Prelates also warned that a Sangha Convention” would be convened if the political leadership fails to act on the proposals.  

The statement contains four key proposals that should be implemented by the entire political mechanism. The statement expressed regret over the failure of the government and the politicians to pay due attention to the proposals submitted by the Mahanayake Theras.

The joint statement is signed by Most Ven. Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Mahanayaka Thero of the Malwathu Chapter, Most Ven. Dr. Warakagoda Dhammasiddi Sri Gnanarathabidhana Mahanayake Thero of the Siyamopali Maha Nikaya – Asgiriya Chapter, Most Ven. Dodampahala Chandrasiri Maha Nayaka Thero of Sri Kelayanivasa, Amarapura Maha Nikaya and Maha Nayaka Thero of the Ramanna Maha Nikaya, Most Ven. Makulewe Wimalaabhidana Thero.

The Mahanayake Theras said that as responsible citizens, determination to act without falling prey to conspiratorial machinery at this crucial juncture is an essential requirement for the country’s sovereignty and security.

The April 4 statement said: As Mahanayaka Thera’s we are deeply saddened by the difficulties faced by the entire population of the country today due to the rising cost of living. People are suffering due to the difficulty in obtaining essential food items and medicines as well as fuel, electricity and domestic gas. As preached by the Buddha it is the duty and responsibility of the government to work for public safety by fulfilling the basic needs of the people based on the Dasa Raja Dharmaya”.

Therefore, we strongly believe that it is the duty of the government to avoid all unnecessary expenditure, unnecessary ministerial privileges to alleviate the economic pressure on the people at this time of trouble and to provide the necessary relief to the people expeditiously in order to fulfill the basic needs and ensure public welfare”.

The Mahanayaka Thera’s further said that they believe this massive economic crisis can only be resolved through the proper management of public finances, the elimination of corruption, the implementation of development projects based on public needs and the building of a more appropriate domestic economic model for the country based on sustainable national policies.

The unbearable rise in the cost of living has led to the creation of unprecedented socio-economic crises in the country. In the Kutadanta Sutta it is emphasized that when the basic needs are not met, the citizen is naturally tempted to commit various unjust acts such as theft, kidnapping, corruption, fraud and murder.”

As insensitive decision-making on public grievances exacerbates public unrest, the government must seek to win the trust of the people by intelligently understanding the aspirations of the people about the nature of the crisis, flexibly seeking expert advice, and finding solutions through a proper mechanism acceptable to the public”.

The Mahanayaka Theras further said that if such measures are not taken it will lead to new crises.

Therefore, we believe that patience and intelligence are needed to find solutions to the various problems that have arisen in the country. We have a proud history as a proud nation that has been united and resolute in resolving various crises in the country. A case in point is the service rendered by Sri Lankans who sacrificed even their salaries to save the people from the recent global corona epidemic,” the Mahanayake Thera’s said.

India to provide additional $500-mn assistance to Sri Lanka for fuel

April 20th, 2022

Courtesy Business Standard

Meanwhile China, whose large loans and investments to the island nation led to allegations of debt diplomacy, has said it will provide “emergency humanitarian assistance” to Colombo

Ambassador Kananathan sends letter of demand to Hirunika

April 20th, 2022

Courtesy The Daily News

Sri Lankan Ambassador in Kenya Veluppillai Kananathan sent a letter of demand to Hirunika Premachandra contesting her recent slanderous and baseless statement against him in a press conference on April 15, 2022.

 Hirunika Premachandra said that Kananathan was the owner of the jet bearing number T7JSH on which Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa visited Tirupathy last year. Further she said that Kananthan was a member of the LTTE and he was the owner of ‘Ceylon Cafe’ in Uganda, Hirunika also said that the gold confiscated from the LTTE was in Kananathan’s possession. Kananathan claimed that these allegations were absolutely baseless, fabricated and nothing but an act of character assassination for her cheap political gain and ulterior motives.

Ambassador Kananathan,is a well-known entrepreneur in Uganda and many African countries who has been a longtime resident in Uganda since 1987 with sound corporate, political and social repute to his credit.

Sri Lanka chose to appoint Kananathan as Honorary Consul for Sri Lanka in Uganda for his enterprising status, corporate credentials and the political influence that he had enjoyed with the Ugandan and many African countries. Kananathan also served as the Advisor to former President of Guinea Alpha Condé on foreign direct investments until December 2020.

Impressed by Kananathan’s performance as Honorary Consul to promote Sri Lanka in Uganda, he was appointed as the first High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Uganda. As High Commissioner, Kananathan was able to increase the presence of Sri Lankan companies making them a dominant force in the multi-million mini-hydropower generation sub-sector especially in Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. Proceeds of these investments were contributed to the foreign exchange income of Sri Lanka.

Further, during his tenure as High Commissioner in Uganda until 2015 and currently, High Commissioner in Kenya since 2020, he assisted Sri Lanka to get the support of the African countries to Sri Lanka in the UNHRC. He personally met the Heads of State and Foreign Ministers of the African member countries of UNHRC and lobbied their support.

Kananathan grew up in Bandarawela his whole life until he started his career in Colombo.He is a Sri Lankan citizen of Tamil decent with moderate views who never had any affiliation or connection what so ever with any movement including the LTTE. He was educated at S.Thomas’ College in Sri Lanka.

Kananathan is an ambassador par excellence and he is an asset to the country in Africa.It is regrettable that in the political fray of the ongoing crisis, Ambassador Kananathan has been unnecessarily slandered on the basis of false and unsubstantiated information for petty political motives.

Police had to use minimum force against Rambukkana protesters: IGP

April 20th, 2022

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The Inspector General of Police (IGP) C.D Wickramaratne said that  the Police had to use minimum force against the protesters in Rambukkana today.

Following the Rambukkana incident, the IGP said in a statement that the Police resorted to minimum force to prevent a group from setting fire to a Bowser with 30,000 litres of fuel.

He said the measures were taken to prevent huge damages that may have been caused.

The IGP also said that steps are being taken for a Police Headquarters level investigation to ascertain wheather the Police had used excess force when dispersing protestors at Rambukkana.

IMF says any loan to Sri Lanka requires debt sustainability

April 20th, 2022

Courtesy Adaderana

Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund said discussions with Sri Lanka on a potential IMF loan program are at an early stage and any deal would require adequate assurances” that the island country’s debts can be put on a sustainable path.

In a statement emailed to Reuters, IMF Sri Lanka Mission Chief Masahiro Nozaki said that IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva discussed lending options and policy plans with a Sri Lankan delegation on Tuesday.

An IMF-supported program should be designed to resolve Sri Lanka’s acute balance of payments problems and put the economy back on a sustainable growth path as early as possible,” Nozaki said.

The statement came after protests in response to shortages of fuel and other essentials turned deadly on Tuesday and Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister formally asked the Fund for a Rapid Financing Instrument loan for countries needing urgent balance-of-payments support.

Nozaki said the IMF is very concerned about the current economic crisis in Sri Lanka and hardships suffered by the people, especially the poor and vulnerable.”

But he noted that IMF staff had determined last month in an annual economic review that Sri Lanka’s public debt was unsustainable, and the country needs to take steps to restore debt sustainability prior to any IMF lending, including the emergency Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI).

Such restoration of debt sustainability typically requires a restructuring or reprofiling of public debts, which in Sri Lanka’s case would require cooperation from China, one of its largest bilateral creditors.

The IMF used the low-conditionality RFI loans extensively to assist countries during the COVID-19 pandemic and has provided such loans to ease balance of payments problems after natural disasters, conflicts and commodity price shocks.

These considerations would need to be examined for a potential RFI for Sri Lanka, once adequate assurances are obtained that debt sustainability will be resolved,” Nozaki said.

He added that the specific design of a Sri Lanka IMF loan, including program targets and conditionality, would be agreed through extensive discussions between the government and IMF staff.

The discussions are still at an early stage,” Nozaki said.

Source: Reuters

–Agencies

Army, Air Force to provide security for fuel bowsers and trains

April 20th, 2022

Courtesy Adaderana

Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekara says that the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) will provide security to trains transporting fuel and the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) will provide security to fuel bowsers, if and when necessary. 

The minister had earlier assured safety for fuel bowsers and fuel trains while also requesting the public to cooperate in the island-wide supply of fuel.

World Bank stands ready to provide emergency support to Sri Lanka

April 20th, 2022

Courtesy Adaderana

The World Bank says it is ready to provide emergency support to Sri Lanka and protect the vulnerable people amidst the unprecedented economic crisis in the country.

World Bank Vice President for South Asia Hartwig Schafer said he held talks with Sri Lankan Finance Minister Ali Sabry and Governor of the Central Bank Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe in Washington on Tuesday (19).

He said they discussed actions to address the economic crisis, support stabilization and recovery, and protect the vulnerable people in Sri Lanka.

He also said the World Bank is deeply concerned about the impacts of the crisis on the poor and vulnerable and stand ready to provide emergency support for essential medicines and health-related supplies, nutrition, and education.

Had a good meeting today with Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister Ali Sabry and CBSL Governor Weerasinghe, discussed actions to address the economic crisis, support stabilization and recovery, and protect the vulnerable people.”

We at the World Bank are deeply concerned about the impacts of the crisis on the poor and vulnerable and stand ready to provide emergency support for essential medicines and health-related supplies, nutrition, and education,” he tweeted. 

Finance Minister Sabry and a delegation including the CBSL governor and the Finance Secretary are in the US for the annual spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
 
The Finance Minister also had talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Washington on Monday.

Had a good meeting today with #SriLanka’s Finance Minister Ali Sabry and @CBSL Governor Weerasinghe, discussed actions to address the economic crisis, support stabilization and recovery, and protect the vulnerable people.

[1/2] pic.twitter.com/l40MJeGOjQ— Hartwig Schafer (@HartwigSchafer) April 19, 2022

Special police team appointed to probe Rambukkana incident

April 20th, 2022

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka Police says that a special team of 20 police officers has been appointed under the IGP’s instructions to investigate yesterday’s incident at Rambukkana, which resulted in the death of a protester and left several others injured. 

Senior Police Spokesman SDIG Ajith Rohana stated this during a press briefing held today (20) to brief on the progress of the investigation regarding the incident.

He said that a special police team has been appointed by the Senior DIG in charge of Sabaragamuwa Province, on the instruction of the IGP, in order to conduct investigations. 

He said the team consists of one SSP, three ASPs and in addition to that another 16 police officers. 

Altogether, 20 police officers are in the team and the team is headed by SSP Wasantha Kandewatte, the SSP and division in charge of Seethawakapura-Awissawella police division, he said.

In addition to that, he said that police has submitted a report to the Kegalle Magistrate’s Court in terms of the provisions of the Section 22 of the Criminal Procedure Code in order to conduct an inquest in respect of the dead body, in terms of the provisions of Chapter 30 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

According to the police officers who participated in the operation, they had made their notes and the notes state that they used reasonable force according to the law in terms of the provisions of Sections 89 to 99 of the Penal Code. In addition to that, Section 107 of the Criminal Procedure Code, Section 56 of the Police Ordinance and in addition to that in terms of the provisions of the Chapter 08 of the Criminal Procedure Code.”

In addition to that, we are recording statements from the injured persons.” Senior DIG Ajith Rohana said there are 13 injured persons who had been admitted to hospitals and apart from that, 20 police officers have also been injured in the incident. 

He said a Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), a Sub-Inspector (SI), an Inspector (IP), 06 Sergeants and 10 Police Constables are among them.

We are conducting further investigations and the investigations are conducted in a transparent manner and the investigative team has been instructed to record all the statements of persons involved,” he said.

In addition to that, they have been further instructed to collect scientific, technical and circumstantial evidence in respect for the incident, he said. 

In addition to that, we have made a request from the court to make an order to the Government Analyst to visit the scene and give his opinion in respect of the circumstances of the scene.” 

We are conducting further investigations and after the magisterial inquest, the court will deliver a verdict. According to the verdict police are going to take actions,” SDIG Rohana added. 

Responding to questions, he said that the investigating team has directed its special attention towards the property damages that had occurred during the protest. He stated that public property, private property and property belonging to certain institutions have been damaged and that these damages will be estimated and necessary measures taken.  

He also said that one suspect has been arrested in this connection. 

He also requested the people of the Rambukkana area to act in a peaceful manner and assured that investigations are proceeding.  


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