Lanciburuwa on holiday in Blighty!

Folks I am on holiday for some time in Blighty. Will do some work from there as time permits. Will see you on a regular basis in a few weeks time. 

Ranaviru Remembrance Day

Mahanayake Thera appears on behalf of thief with Rs. 550 m cash in hand!

From LankaNewsWeb

New Mahanayake of Asgiriya Chapter Galagama Attadassi Thera has expressed displeasure over the FCID’s questioning of Diyawadana Nilame of Sri Dalada Maligawa, Pradeep Nilanga Dela Bandara, whom audit reports say has Rs. 550 million cash in hand, media reports say.

When auditors asked him as to how he had kept the money, Nilanga has told them that he had put them in fertilizer bags and kept them. Upon hearing that the FCID has questioned him, audit officers of Dalada Maligawa telephoned him and asked, “Nilame, will we have to go inside with you?” Nilanga answered, “These are conspiracies by former Diyawadana Nilame Neranjan Wijeratne. Now, the election is nearing. That is why they are throwing mud. Neranjans are not like us, who do business. They are the ones who even took the daily paper from Dalada Maligawa. We haven’t taken even five cents from Dalada Maligawa.

But, the actual situation is that Nilanga and his henchman, Krishantha Hiswella, also known as Sulu Diyawadana Nilame and "Mathan", had swindled much more than five cents. The FCID is investigating how land owned by the Maligawa had been sold through ‘Prime Land.’

All Ceylon Buddhist Congress president Jagath Sumathipala and several of its members recently had a discussion with Hiswella with regard to what they should do if Nilanga is arrested. When Hiswella said that Buddhists all over the country should be taken to the streets, one of the ACBC members asked, “What have you done for Buddhist people of this country? What you two have done was to swindle the properties of Dalada Maligawa, the most sacred place of Buddhists of this country. Buddhist people of this country will take to the streets not against your arrest, but against you.”

When the country’s Buddhists say so, the Mahanayake Theras express displeasure over the questioning of thieves, and what we will have to ask is, ‘Will the sacred relic remain in the casket?”

“Peace in Wilpattu”-A Muslim hatred campaign or raising environment alarms?

By K.T.Rajasingham

Colombo, 11 May, (Asiantribune.com)

Since of late, Sri Lanka’s historic Wilpattu Jungle Reserve is in national news and has become the centre of two campaigns that are trying to go at each other- one against Muslims and Minister Rishad Bathiutheen (the alleged perpetrators) and another, to protect it from imminent destruction.

The controversy broke out when media reports alleged that there was illegal forest clearing and settlement of people taking place within the Sanctuary. Minister Bathiudeen was alleged to be responsible for these illegal projects.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who raised his voice on Wilpattu for the first time in a public meeting which was telecast by a private TV channel during the weekend, said “We have to preserve our national heritage. Wilpattu is one such heritage and we cannot allow such national assets to be destroyed. This appears also to have taken place even when I was in power but we did not know that such a thing was taking place at that time.”

Wilpattu National Park is located 25km north of Puttalam or 30km west of Anurdhapura. The park that lies on the northwest coast spans the border between North Central Province and North Western Province of Sri Lanka. To the south of Wilpattu National Park is River Modergam Aru; to the north is River Kalay oya. Wilpattu National Park’s unique feature is the existence of "Willus" (Natural lakes) - Natural, sand-rimmed water basins or depressions that fill with rainwater. The park is 131,693 hectares and ranges from 0 to 152 meters above sea level. Nearly sixty lakes (Willu) and tanks are found throughout Wilpattu which is the largest and one of the oldest National Parks in Sri Lanka.

Minister Bathiudeen was one of the leaders of a minority community and he courageously crossed over to the common opposition’s Presidential campaign on 24 December.

He was one of the seven national level leaders involved in bringing about change and Yahapalanaya (good governance) to Sri Lanka giving up all his perks and privileges and crossing over to support Maithripala Sirisena, the common opposition’s candidate to challenge President Mahinda Rajapaksa bringing one other parliamentarian and 69 other elected members of Provincial Councils from the party he created-ACMC.

Earlier, the former Minister of Economic Development, Basil Rajapaksa who was in-charge of the Presidential Task Force was responsible for the development work undertaken at the end of the war. Rishad has made valuable contribution towards Basil’s efforts as the Minister in-Charge of resettlement and rehabilitation -in that has consolidated Basil’s position amongst the minority communities. Rishad understood the need for support for IDPs as he himself was displaced in 1990 when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) forcibly evicted the Muslims from the Northern Province with less than 24 hours’ notice. The Muslims were not allowed to take with them anything of value, not even the deeds to their properties. Rishad has been fighting for the last 24 years on behalf of his “forgotten people” who have still not been provided the opportunity of returning to their former homes as they are termed “old refugees”.

His involvement in Muslim community welfare was such that Rishad’s Ministry premises was besieged by the anti-Muslim movement Bodu Bala Sena threatening him, to whom the then government chose to ignore and turned a blind eye.

No arrests were made, nor any action taken despite this thuggery by men in robes that was undertaken in front of the mass-media in broad daylight. To date some of the so called media involved in promoting national consensus and unity are still to condemn the thuggery and utter disdain displayed by the Bodu Bala Sena on this occasion.

Unfortunately, thousands of Muslim IDPs as well as Tamil IDPs in the North still remain displaced and so far not one Sinhalese organization has come forward to make any arrangements to resettle them.

The imaginary notion of Sinhalese being the "Sons of the Soil" and that other ethnic and religious groups in the country are being “allowed to live on a temporary basis" as a concession to the non-Sinhalese and to the non-Buddhists , is the latest scourge that the country is being threaten with.

The Buddhist ‘Chosen Syndrome’ grew with the emergence of ‘Mahavansa Mentality,’ which espoused ‘killing as a virtue in defence of Buddhism.’

On 2nd April, when a Muslim delegation led by Minister Rishad Bathiutheen met Sri Lanka President Maithripala Srisena in Colombo and urged the President to investigate into those allegations that “Muslims were resettled in the jungle reserves.”

Subsequently President Sirisena on 09 May issued orders to immediately halt the deforestation and allocation of land to people inside the Wilpattu National Park.

Issuing a communiqué on May 9 Saturday, the President’s Media Unit said that President Sirisena instructed the respective authorities to take immediate legal action against persons involved in the deforestation and land clearing at the National Park.

The controversy broke out when media reports alleged that there was illegal forest clearing and settlement of people taking place within the Sanctuary. Minister Bathiudeen was alleged to be responsible for the illegal project.

Addressing a special media briefing held at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce on 6th May , Minister Bathiudeen strongly rejected the apparent vilification campaign taking shape in certain media segments targeting him, among others, alleging that Muslim IDP resettlements led by him are damaging the Wilpattu Forest Reserve.

The Minister said that during the past few weeks, some television and the news media have negatively reported on continued and illegal Muslim resettlements in the Marichchikatti Grama Seva division which is outside the Wilpattu National Park.

He said that one privately owned media channel, during the last seven days, alleged that he has been destroying the Wilpattu jungle areas and also mentioned that he has been working to create an exclusive Zone to settle Pakistani nationalities and people from other Districts in this zone.

“These are campaigns of vilification. Certain recent media reports stated that the Wilpattu National park had been affected by the alleged land grab by me and I am also involved in illegally resettling Muslim people in these areas. I challenge anyone who could prove that he I re-settled any Pakistani national or even other outsiders, that is people from other Provinces, within the Northern Province-and if proven, I vowed that I am ready to resign from my portfolio immediately. A certain anti-Muslim movement that most of us are aware is also in this campaign.”

President Maithripala Sirisena on May 09 issued orders to immediately halt the deforestation and allocation of land to people inside the Wilpattu National Park following allegations that people were being resettled inside the park illegally.

President’s Media Unit said that President Maithripala Sirisena instructed the respective authorities to take immediate legal action against persons involved in the deforestation and land clearing at the National Park.

District and Divisional Secretaries of areas belonging to lands allocated to Muslim IDPs categorically state that no lands have been allocated from the Wilpattu Jungle Reserve areas to Muslim IDPs.

JVP’s Lal Kantha who recently visited the area remarked: "The lands are said to be given to those possessing the original deeds. The legal documents are to be found at the Divisional Secretariat according to them. The original landowners had fled areas like Puttalam and in the ensuing 24 years consumed much by the conflict, vegetation had grown in these areas and the place had become like a jungle, they noted. The jungle therefore needed to be cleared in order to resettle, they said. They also said that no land grabs whatsoever have taken place forcibly."

The District Secretary has confirmed that the giving of lands to original settlers was being done legally and in accordance with the procedures laid down in the law. JVP Western Provincial Councillors K. D. Lal Kantha, Attorney-at-Law Sunil Watagala and Wasantha Samarasinghe along with Director of Environment Conservation Trust Sajeewa Chamikara visited the sanctuary area on May 09 to ascertain whether under the guise of resettlement, jungles were being cleared, the sanctuary was being harmed and timber trafficking was taking place. Lal Kantha noted that the officials had declined to comment when queried” “If this occupying of lands and resettlement by Minister Bathiudeen is being done legally, then why had the officials not cleared the controversies surrounding the issue in the public discourse raised by the media?”

Interestingly, as the volumes of political and media voices on Wilpattu issue are rising louder with each passing day, the Wilpattu Reserve itself has found sudden peace thanks to the weekend Presidential Order.

How long would the largest and historic forest reserve of Sri Lanka continue to enjoy this fragile peace?

Is our aggregate debt level excessive?

by R.M.B. Senanayake

Our Gross External Debt position increased from $ 39,905 billion in 2013 to $ 42,988 billion in 2014. As a Percentage of GDP gross external debt was 59.4%. Short term debt was 9.7% and long term debt was 47.7 %. As a percentage of GDP gross external short term debt was 16.9% and long term debt 83.1 %.

Our Total Debt is 78% 
of the GDP.

Our Foreign Debt level is around 58% of GDP. Is this foreign debt level too high? What are the risks in having a high foreign debt level? There are two issues. Is the debt level for the economy too high in terms of the size of the economy and the capacity to earn and spend foreign exchange? Or is it that the foreign debt of the government is too high?

Debt and Growth

Economists are divided on whether the debt level (including the domestic debt) affects the growth rate adversely or not. In 2010 two famous economists - Reinhart and Rogoff of Harvard University used empirical data to come to the conclusion that when the aggregate debt level exceeds 90% of GDP, economic growth is adversely affected. They found that when the aggregate debt exceeds 90% of the GDP, the country experiences a sharp downturn in its growth. But subsequently three economists of the University of Massachusetts found certain errors in their calculations which undermined their conclusion. But a new IMF paper poses a more substantial challenge to Reinhart and Rogoff. Using data for debt and growth from 1821 to 2012, the authors found that growth in GDP per head is slower in countries with a debt to GDP ratio above 90% when looking at the data year by year. The problem is how to ascribe these slowdowns to debt only and not other factors. If one looks at average debt levels over 15 year periods instead, there is no evidence that countries with a debt level above 80% of GDP grow more slowly. Even countries with debt ratios of more than 200% such as postwar Britain experienced solid medium term growth (Economist of March 1, 2014 "Breaking the Threshold" Page 70.

The Economist article points out that more important than the absolute levels of debt may be their trajectory. Countries with rising public debt ratios suffer slower growth than those where it is falling - even if their accrued borrowings are already very high. This may be because budget deficits make them more vulnerable to economic instability. This is the current situation in our country since our Public Debt keeps rising with the continuous increases in deficit budgeting year after year.

Previous government depended on foreign debt for growth

The growth rate under the previous government was driven by foreign debt financed public sector investments. In fact, the private sector hardly moved. The present government will have to resort to similar foreign borrowing if it wants the public sector to drive economic growth. The economy needs a stimulus and it cannot be from larger budget deficits. It is time for us to consider seriously how long term growth in our economy should take place. Singapore in a similar situation resorted to expanded regional economic agreements. India and Pakistan have signed Free Trade Agreements with us but except for businessmen taking advantage of differential taxes between us and our partners, nothing significant has happened. We cannot protect our high cost industries forever. They must expand their production and benefit from economies of scale. They cannot do so unless they export. The Free Trade Agreements with India and Pakistan offer opportunities. But our businessmen do not have the capital to expand. They also don’t have knowledge of the Indian and Pakistani markets.

Our trade with neighboring countries has been previously driven by minority community traders who originally hailed from the subcontinent. But the third generations have lost such relationships. So we need a more active trade promotion policy. Our government should promote the local businessmen - exporters to have closer contacts with their neighbors. In the 1960s Ratne Deshapriya Senanayake, CWE Chairman, used to view the Pettish merchants as Indians who ran the business in the interests of their Indian partners. Travel to these countries should be freed from restrictions. We have the fear that we will be submerged by Indian businessmen if we throw open our economy. Yes, there will be risks. But with risks also come opportunities.

Private sector credit growth has been stagnating as pointed out by the Central Bank. Why? The economy expanded by 7.4 per cent in 2014 compared to the 7.2 per cent growth recorded in 2013. But we had growth rates of 8% and 8.2% in 2010 and 2011. Did the Central Bank curb the growth rate by tightening monetary policy too early in 2012? The Central Bank has been too pre-occupied with the control of inflation. But a certain degree of inflation, say 5%, is a benign factor for business. The problem is with our risk averse banks. They don’t take risks. In developed countries banks finance projects based on project reports. But our banks don’t take risks and insist on collateral in the form of property -mortgages of the property of the proprietors or directors.

The Central Bank will have to take a more active role and underwrite loans to the private sector and encourage the banks to lend on the balance sheet strength and the soundness of the projects. Our banks are still oriented towards the traditions of the exchange banks of the British colonial days. Those days the exchange banks, as they were called, lent mostly to British businesses in Sri Lanka and not to local businessmen. The latter could borrow only where the Shroff recommended local businessmen to get loans and the Shroffs had to take the risk of default. Only the Central Bank can coax them or even goad them out of this risk averse mentality and to lend on their balance sheets. The Central Bank might have to underwrite the loans wholly or partially initially at least. The late NU Jayawardena was alive to the problem and wanted to set up local banking agents who borrow from the banks and re-lend to local businessmen. But his ideas were not implemented.

The Peoples Bank used to provide agricultural credit for the small farmers. In fact it was set up specifically for the purpose but SLFP businessmen captured control of it and the Bank neglected its primary function and became like the other banks.

We are too concerned with the interest rates on loans and emphasize on the provision of loans without which businesses cannot expand. The interest rate includes a risk premium and cannot be the same for all businessmen. Economists refer to the natural long term rate of interest as determined by the supply and demand for savings and investment. Nowadays this concept is all but forgotten by central bankers and monetary authorites. AS inflation rises the rates of interest must also rise to enable a real interest rate which is positive. We cannot have negative or zero real interest rates without undermining savings. The economist Knut Wicksell referred to a natural rate of interest and drew a distinction between the natural rate and the financial rate of interest. The financial rate is what businessmen pay for their loans. But the natural rate is determined by the return on capital. Wicksell thought the financial rate of interest is determined by the banks. But this function has been unnecessarily taken over by the central banks. The Taylor Rule followed by central banks in developed countries tends to incorporate a real interest rate of 2% (nominal rate minus the rate of inflation). By limiting interest rates we are depriving lending to businessmen who are small and not so well known not forgetting newcomers to business. We have a large informal sector which provides credit to small businessmen. What is necessary is not so much reducing or regulating interest rates but providing loans to businessmen. Fixing interest rates arbitrarily is detrimental to such a function. The interest rate must take into consideration the rate of profit that can be earned in the economy. We have an economy that is not fully integrated and hence different rates of profit will prevail in different sectors - particularly in the informal sector which is quite dominant here. The policy of keeping interest rates real benefits the government which is the largest borrower and it borrows to invest in projects which don’t yield adequate returns. The rate of interest must ration the use of scarce loanable funds. The previous government went on a pending spree and used borrowings to fund projects which provided little or no returns.

In any case keeping interest rates low will not necessarily promote more private sector investments. Profit margins are more important than the rate of interest for businessmen who borrow money. Private investments have not shown any appreciable improvement despite the low rates of interest. Liberalizing the economy is more important than promoting private sector investment.

Official assaulted for singing National Anthem in Tamil

From SL Mirror

A Development officer of the Chenkalady Divisional Secretariat has been hospitalised after being attacked by a group of Sinhalese students in the East University, reports say.

The official has been assaulted after singing the National Anthem in Tamil during a function held at the university, reports say.

Speaking to 'BBC Sandeshaya', the assaulted official - Paththukuddiy Suman said that a 03-day exhibition of the Divisional Secretariat's technical unit held at the university, had ended yesterday (16).

The National Anthem was initially played in Tamil and then in Sinhala, he has added.

"After the incident when myself and three others were coming out, we were chased and assaulted by a group of Sinhala students. The other three escaped while i was caught," he has further said.

Noting that he has also lodged a complaint with the Eravur police on this regard, the victim says he can also identify one of his assaulters.

MR's words nearly turn wedding into funeral

From SL Mirror

Although he was unable to ensure another term in office, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is still a favourite among the public especially as a wedding witness and a chief guest at openings of functions and religious activities.

Last Thursday proved to be extra busy as he was reportedly invited to witness for 09 weddings during that day.

These weddings included a wedding of an artiste's son, which was held in Mt. Lavinia.

However, 10 minutes before the auspicious time for the signing, Mr. Rajapaksa was required to witness for another wedding in Colombo.

As it was impossible for the former President to travel from Colombo to Mt. Lavinia in 10 minutes, he has kindly urged the artiste to invite another witness.

Deeply disturbed, the artiste has said he would drink poison and commit suicide if Rajapaksa did not turn up and a funeral would take place instead of the wedding.

Hearing this, Rajapaksa has explained he had declined as he won't be able to make it for the auspicious time because he was required to be elsewhere 10 minutes prior.

"To hell with the auspicious time... I will wait until whenever you can make it sir..." the artiste has reportedly retorted.

Medicine at Cancer Hospital siphoned to pharmacies! - Dirty rotten Scoundrels

From SL Mirror

A major scandal is on the arise at the Maharagama Cancer Hospital after three in four injection medicine bottles are sold to private pharmacies while one bottle is shared among four patients, 'Sri Lanka Mirror' learns.

As a result, the patients are injected a lower dosage than prescribed, hence making their treatment useless.

These injection medicine bottles are priced between Rs. 95,000 - 400,000 each and pharmacists are charged of being involved in this racket.

It is said that child patients and patients close to death are the ones who are mostly deprived of their medicine in this manner.

Alien Sinhalese Re-Settlers From Hambantota Given Three Acres In Wilpattu… But Half Acre To Muslims Is An Environmental Disaster!

From Colombo Telegraph

The 2860 Sinhalese families settled in the Wilpattu area have been provided with three acres of land each compared to the half an acre for the Muslims, says the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka.

Muslims in Sri LankaFrom where did the land for these settlers come from?, the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka has asked.

Writing to the JVP leader, the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka says;”Large extents of jungle and reservations had been cleared and handed over for their resettlement, grants and allowances disbursed, and all other facilities including schooling have been provided by the state. Neither land kacheries were held nor deforestation undertaken with proper approvals. It is also alleged that the Army built the houses for these alien re-settlers from Hambantota and elsewhere. Further, over 500 acres of Muslim land has been taken over by the Navy.”

We publish below the statement in full;

Hon. Anura Kumara Dissanayake Leader,

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Pannipitiya Road, Pelawatte.

Dear Hon. Anura Kumara Dissanayake

RECENT HYPE ABOUT THE RETURNING MUSLIM IDPs IN MANNAR DISTRICT

We wish to bring to your kind attention that racist elements with the support of some environmentalist and media have embarked on a campaign to harass and intimidate the Muslim IDPs who are being resettled 5 years after the end of the war. It is regrettable that the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), a party that had gained the respect and admiration of the Muslim community for its non-racial stand has been dragged and misled in to the controversy created by extremist Buddhist forces.

While we appreciate your attempt to resolve this issue as stated in your conversation with our vice president Mr. Hilmy Ahamed, without allowing racist elements to mislead, some of the recent remarks made by your members seem to be contradictory. Mr Lal Kantha who visited the resettlement zone spoke to the press and strongly emphasized that there has been no infringement by the Muslims on the land reservations as accused by the extremists. As you are aware, the Government administrative officers strongly emphasized that there was no illegal or unauthorized Muslim settlements and that due process has been followed in allocating the land for their resettlement. Later in Colombo, at a press conference convened by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, doubts have been cast on the statement of the Divisional Secretary and other government officials. Let me try to explain the background to these IDPs.

The Muslim IDPs who were expelled with less than 2 hours notice from the North by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 1990. As you are aware, this ethnic cleansing exercise by the LTTE is considered to be the worst that had taken place in the Sri Lankan history. An estimated 70,000 Muslims comprising of the entire Muslim community in the North had to leave abandoning their properties and livelihood and without any of their material possessions. Their losses could be estimated to run in to billions of rupees. They lived in refugee camps for over 22 years in Puttlam and other urban centers. They continued to face obstacles in their bid to return to their ancestral abode since the end of the war in 2009 and have now come under attack once again from Buddhist extremists and some environmentalists..

The Presidential Task Force (PTF) and other state mechanisms that were set up at the end of the war to facilitate the return of the IDPs and commence their resettlement and rehabilitation processes failed to support and accommodate the Muslim IDPs who wished to return. Priority was given to the Tamils who were displaced during the final days of the Eelam war.

The Muslims of the North were expelled because they refused to support the LTTE’s quest for Eelam. They stood for and sacrificed their lives for Sri Lanka to remain a unitary state. The price they had to pay for their patriotism was over 25 years of life as refugees and is even now treated as a “forgotten people”. These unfortunate refugees deserve better. All these resettling Muslims have either title deeds or permits for their properties, which could be perused if required. These returning families have been allocated only 1⁄2 an acre of land and no other infra structure development has taken place in their resettlement areas. In the absence of support from the government, Muslim civil society, its business community and political leaders have come forward to assist.

While these extremist are protesting against the Muslim IDPs returning to their own lands, it has been alleged that there has been organized colonization along the Wilpattu Reserve on the Welioya road by Sinhalese from Hambantota and families of armed forces personnel. The following are the available statistics for the Sinhala settlements;

1 Veratenna – 520 families

2. Bogaswewa 1- 500 families

3. Bogaswewa 2 -560 families

4. Namalgama – 470 families

5. Senaleenigama – 450 families

6. Nandamitragama -360 families

None of these settlers are from the area. These 2860 families settled in the Wilpattu area have been provided with three acres of land each compared to the half an acre for the Muslims. From where did the land for these settlers come from? Large extents of jungle and reservations had been cleared and handed over for their resettlement, grants and allowances disbursed, and all other facilities including schooling have been provided by the state. Neither land kacheries were held nor deforestation undertaken with proper approvals. It is also alleged that the Army built the houses for these alien re-settlers from Hambantota and elsewhere. Further, over 500 acres of Muslim land has been taken over by the Navy.

As you have stated clearly that the JVP will not look at the resettlements through racial eyes, we kindly request you to study the Sinhala colonization as well and evaluate the faculties and incentives provided to them in comparison to the returning Muslim IDPs and ensure that all citizens in this country are treated as equals. If there is no wrongdoing by Muslims, please defend them in and out of parliament. We agree that the environment needs to be protected and our community will fully support its conservation.

We would be pleased to provide you with necessary documentation and evidence that no illegal settlements have taken place if required.

Thanking you for your kind consideration and support

Yours sincerely

N M Ameen

Swiss bank exposé: Names of 40 Lankans revealed

From The Sunday Times

US$ 50 million in secret accounts

The largest amount is in the name of Edmund Wijenaike Balasuriya and members of his family. Mr. Balasuriya is described in bank documents as the “owner of a shop of games” with an address in Colombo north. The Balasuriya family amounts listed in the balances add up to US$ 16,325,742 which at today’s exchange rate works out at more than two billion rupees. Together with his wife, his account balance is shown as US$ 10,668,094. The balance in the name of his daughter Lakshmi Fernando is listed as US$ 1,989,370. His son Rohan Balasuriya, the records show, has a balance of US$ 1,975,594. Three other sons – Mahendra, Lakshman and Asoka – reflect the same balance of US$ 1,975,319 each in accounts under their names.

Documents from the HSBC describe the Balasuriya family as being “good clients of ours for many years and retain an account in Barclays Bank Suisse holding several million dollars.” Among some 17 Sri Lankans whose names appear as having closed their accounts are Jeevaka Lalith Bhupendra Kotelawala, the holder of the country’s highest national honour – Deshamanya — and head of the beleaguered Ceylinco Consolidated. His Golden Key Credit Card Company collapsed in 2008 owing millions of rupees to clients who are still fighting court action.

Mr. Kotelawala opened his account on December 21, 1988 and closed it on March 3, 1997. Also opened and closed on the same dates was an account in the name of Daya Ranjit Senanayake, described in Colombo business circles as Mr. Kotelawala’s deputy at one time. The Sunday Times is in possession of all details related to the Sri Lankan secret account holders. They include their IBAN (International Bank Account Numbers), dates of birth, listed addresses, dates of opening of account, dates of closure and other related details. Whilst some operated accounts giving Sri Lankan addresses, they were found to be residents in countries including Australia, Britain and Canada. At least one was an attorney representing a ‘client.’

Exchange Controller D.M. Rupasinghe declined to comment when the Sunday Times asked whether Sri Lankans were allowed to open bank accounts overseas, particularly secret offshore accounts. He only cited the Exchange Control Act which requires the permission of the Central Bank (CB). Another high ranking CB official who spoke on grounds of anonymity said no clearance was given for any Sri Lankan to operate offshore “secret” accounts since they were illegal and a mechanism to avoid tax payments.

The HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) was accused of knowingly aiding thousands of individuals to evade taxes and break other financial laws of a number of countries. The bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Stuart Gulliver, extended his “sincerest apologies” after his bank was charged with helping clients conceal their identities to avoid taxes on deposits. The apology was printed as large advertisements in British and other foreign newspapers.

The second highest amount in the secret accounts is held in the name of Subramaniam Surendran, a Colombo businessman and his wife. He is described in local trade circles as one who did a large volume of business with the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB). They are shown together in two separate accounts as holding US$ 13,129,904. While his balance is reflected as US$ 6,564,952 in two accounts, his wife Charlotte Ranjitha, described as a ‘housewife’ held a balance of US$ 6,495,287.

The names of others who are listed as holding large sums are Anura Leslie Perera (Bandarawela) US$ 1,692,959. He is described as an attorney and was reportedly representing an account holder. Others are Aruna Rajendran Vasvani (Colombo) US$ 1,384,149, Nikhil Kishore Hirdaramani (Colombo) US$ 817,446, Vinod Kishore Hirdaramani (Colombo) together with Leena Vinod Hirdaramani US$ 646,243.

Video - Upul Jayasuriya & J C Weliamuna at "'Naduwa" on ITN

Putting cat among the Pigeons - Former JVPers join the UNP

Former JVP members, Nandana Gunathileka and Achala Jagoda have been appointed as organizers of the UNP.

Gunathileka has joined the UNP after joining the NFF and the SLFP. He has now been appointed as the UNP organizer for Panadura.

Jagoda joined the SLFP from the JVP and has now been appointed as the UNP organizer for Balangoda.

A photograph speaks a million words!!!!

What a sad deception or depiction! 

Image from Sri Lanka Guardian

අපට ගෝඨාභය විතරයි කන් දුන්නෙ – ඥාණසාර හිමි

කල්ප අනුත්තර – උපුටා ගැනීම : රන්දිව 

හිටපු ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා ප‍්‍රංශ පුවත් සේවයට කියා තිබුණා බොදු බල සේනාව බටහිර සමඟ කළ කුමන්ත‍්‍රණය ඔහුගේ පරාජයට හේතුවක් වුණා කියලා. මේ ගැන ඔබවහන්සේගේ විග‍්‍රහය මොකක්ද?

සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම වැරැදි අදහසක්. අපි දන්නෑ එතුමා මොන කරුණු පදනම් කරගෙන අපිට ඒ චෝදනාව කරනවද කියලා මොකද, හේතුව එතුමාගේ රජය පැවති අවධියේ නිතරම වගේ බටහිර ජාත්‍යන්තර කුමන්ත‍්‍රණ පිළිබඳ කතා කරන විමල් වීරවංශ අමාත්‍යවරයාත් මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ රජය කාලේ ඔය චෝදනාව එලෙසින්ම අපට එලෙසම කළා 2013 මැයිවලදී.

අදත් අපිට පේනවා විමල් වීරවංශලා, ඩිලාන් පෙරේරා වැනි දේශපාලනඥයෝ ඇතැම් වාමාංශික නායකයෝ දිගින් දිගටම ඒ චෝදනාව අපිට එල්ල කරනවා ඒ විතරක් නෙවෙයි අපිට පුදුම මේ දයාන් ජයතිලකලා වගේ උදවිය පවා කිසිදු කරුණක් නොවිමසා මේක මේ බටහිර බලවේගයක් කියලා චෝදනා කරනවා. කවුරුහරි චෝදනාවක් කරනවා නම් ඒක මහින්දටත් විවෘතයි.

ඒ වගේම අපි ලැජ්ජා වෙනවා කේ.පී. වගේ ජාත්‍යන්තර ත‍්‍රස්තවාදියකු ලංකාවට ගේන්න පුළුවන් තරම් මෙහෙයුමක් දියත් කළ හැකි බුද්ධි අංශ තිබෙද්දී ඒ වගේම පරාජය කරන්න බෑ කියපු ත‍්‍රස්තවාදයක් පරාජය කරලා ජාත්‍යන්තර වශයෙනුත් නම් දරාගෙන හිටපු ත‍්‍රස්තවාදීන් හඳුනාගෙන, ඔවුන් අත්අඩංගුවට අරගෙන නීතිය හමුවට පමුණුවලා ඒ රාජකාරි කරන්න පුළුවන් දක්ෂ බුද්ධි ජාලයක් තියෙන රටක බොදු බල සේනාව කරන්නෙ නෝර්වේ කොන්ත‍්‍රාත්තුවක්ද? නැද්ද? කියන එක හොයාගන්න බැරි වීම ගැන.

බොදු බල සේනාව බිහි වුණේ ඇයි?

බොදු බල සේනාව කියලා කියන්නෙ අහම්බයක් නෙවෙයි. බොදු බල සේනාව බිහිවෙන්නෙ එවකට ඒ සමාජය තුළ ගොඩනැගුණු අතිශය ප‍්‍රශ්නකාරී වූත් අර්බුදකාරී වූත් වටපිටාවක් සමඟයි. හැරත් අපේ ජීවිතයේ ජීවන භාවිතාව තුළ ගත්තොත් අපි අවුරුදු 20ක් විතර මේ ජාතික ව්‍යාපාරයේ දිගටම නියැළිලා ඉන්නවා. ඒ එක එක ස්ථරයන්හි අපි වැඩ කර තියෙනවා. අපි මේ සියලු අත්දැකීම් එකතු කරගෙන අලුත් පිරිසක් එක්ක රටට ගැළපෙන ආකාරයට මේ වැඩපිළිවෙළ පටන් ගත්තා.

මේකෙදි හැමෝටම තිබිච්ච ප‍්‍රශ්නයක් තමයි බොදු බල සේනාවට මේ තරම් සල්ලි ලැබුණෙ කොහෙන්ද කියලා?

ඒක හොඳ ප‍්‍රශ්නයක්. අපි හිතනවා මේ රටේ කිසිදු දේශපාලන පක්ෂයකට නැති කිසිදු සංවිධානයකට නැති අති දැවැන්ත සමාජ ප‍්‍රාග්ධනයක් අපි එකතු කරගෙන තියෙනවා. ඒ එකතු කරගත්ත සමාජ ප‍්‍රාග්ධනය තමයි බොදු බල සේනාවේ ශක්තිය බවට පත්වුණේ.

අපි විශේෂයෙන්ම විදෙස්ගතව ඉන්න අපේ දේශපේ‍්‍රමී ජාතිමාමක සිංහල අය, ඒ වගේම සිංහල කතෝලිකයන්. ඒ විතරක් නෙවෙයි හින්දුන් පවා අපේ වැඩපිළිවෙළට උදව් කර තිබෙනවා. ඒ හැම කෙනෙක්ම උදව් කළේ අන් කිසිවක් නිසා නෙවෙයි විශේෂයෙන් මේ රට තුළ මේ මොහොත වෙද්දිත් බරපතළ ගැටලුවක්ව පවතින කිසිදු විසඳුමක් ලැබී නැති, සදාචාර විරෝධී හා නීති විරෝධී අන්‍යාගමිකකරණය පිළිබඳ ප‍්‍රශ්නවලට එරෙහිවයි.

පසුගිය කාලයේ චෝදනා තිබ්බා බොදු බල සේනා සංවිධානයට රාජ්‍ය අනුග‍්‍රහය ලැබුණා කියලා. හිටපු ජනාධිපතිවරයා ළඟදි කරපු ප‍්‍රකාශයක් ඊට සාක්ෂි දරනවා. ඒ මඟින් එතුමා කිව්වා බොදු බල සේනාව කරපු දේවල්වලට පරීක්ෂණ කරලා දඬුවම් දුන්නෙ නෑ කියා. ඒ ගැන ඔබවහන්සේ මොකද හිතන්නෙ?

කාරණා දෙකක්. පළවැනි දේ තමයි නීතිය ක‍්‍රියාත්මක කරන්න අපි වැරැද්දක් කරන්න ඕන. අපි විශ්වාස කරනවා මේ රටේ පවතින නීතියට පිටින් අපි කිසිවක් කරලා නැති බව. අපිට නීතිය ක‍්‍රියාත්මක නොවුණා කියලා කියන්න බෑ. දැන් උදාහරණයක් විදිහට නිපොන් හෝටලයේ සිද්ධිය ගත්තොත් අපිට නඩු පවරලා තියෙනවා. මාස ගණනාවක් තිස්සෙ උසාවි යනවා. ඒ වගේම කුරානයට අපහාස කළා කියලා තවත් චෝදනාවක් එල්ල කරලා තියෙනවා. ඒකටත් අපි උසාවි යනවා. මම හිතන්නෙ උසාවි ගණනාවක අපිට නඩු පවරලා තියෙනවා. ඒ නිසා නීතිය ක‍්‍රියාත්මක නොවුණා කියන්න බෑ.

හැබැයි නීතිය ක‍්‍රියාත්මක කරන්න හේතුවක් තියෙන්න ́ඕන. අපි කොතැනකදීවත් කිසිදු ගැටුමක් නිර්මාණය කරලා නැහැ. හැබැයි ඇතැම් අන්තවාදී මාධ්‍යවේදීන් ගැටුම් නිර්මාණය කළා ඒ වගේම ඒගොල්ලන් ලියපු කියපු දේවල් සහ දේශපාලනඥයොත් ගැටුම් නිර්මාණය කළා.

ඒ වගේම හිටපු ජනාධිපතිවරයාගේ ප‍්‍රකාශය පිළිබඳ අපිට ලැජ්ජ හිතෙනවා. මොකද කුමන්ත‍්‍රණයක් තියෙනවා කියලා දැනගත්තා නම් ඒ වෙලාවෙ ගෙන්නලා සාකච්ඡා කරලා ඒක විසුරුවා හරින්න එපායැ. දැන් මේ වෙන වෙන බයිලා කතා කියලා හරියන්නෙ නෑ. ඉතින් දැනුත් අපිට පේනවා, උන්නැහේ ඉල්ලගෙන කෑවෙත් ඒකනෙ. ඒ වැරැදි උපදේශකයෝ වටේ තියාගෙන පරාජයට පත්වෙලා දැන් මේ වට වන්දනාවේ ගියාට හරියන්නෙ නෑ අනුන්ට බැන බැන.

දැන් අපිට අහන්න තියෙන්නෙ බොදු බල සේනා සංවිධානය නිසා නම් උන්නැහේ පැරදුණේ 2010 අවුරුද්දේ තිබිච්ච ජනාධිපතිවරණයේදී 2005ට වඩා ඡන්ද දහඅට ලක්ෂයක් ගත්තා. එතකොට ඒ ඡන්ද දහඅට ලක්ෂය නැති වුණේ අපි නිසාද. ඊළඟට තමන්ගේ අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩලයේ හිටපු ප‍්‍රධාන ඇමැතිවරයෙක් මෛත‍්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන අමාත්‍යවරයා, අපි දන්නවා අගමැති සිහිනෙනුත් හිටියා ඒ කාලේ. ඉතින් ඒවා හරියට කළමනාකරණය කරගත්තා නම් සමහර වෙලාවට සිරිසේන මහත්තයා වගේ කෙනෙක් ඔහුගේ ප‍්‍රතිවාදියා නොවෙන්න තිබුණා.

එතකොට ඒ තමන්ගේ කැබිනට් එකේ හිටපු ඇමැතිවරයා පොදු අපේක්ෂකයා වෙනවා කියලා හොයාගන්න බැරිවෙච්ච මහින්ද කොහොමද නෝර්වේ කුමන්ත‍්‍රණ ගැන හොයන්නෙ. එතැන ඔහු ෆේල් සෝල්ජර් කෙනෙක්. ඊළඟට අනිත් කාරණාව තමයි මෛත‍්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන මහත්තයා ශ‍්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයෙන් අයින් වෙලා පොදු අපේක්ෂකයා වුණෙත් බොදු බල සේනාව හින්ද ද?

ජාතිවාදී ප‍්‍රකාශ කිරීම පිළිබඳ බොදු බල සේනා සංවිධානයේ සාමාජිකයන්ටත් විශේෂයෙන්ම ඔබවහන්සේටත් චෝදනා තියෙනවා ?

මේකත් හොඳ ප‍්‍රශ්නයක්, සාකච්ඡා කළ යුතු ගැටලුවක්. මේ රට තුළ දේශපාලනය කරන ඇතැම් දේශපාලන නායකයෝ, ඒ වගේම අන්‍ය ජාතික ආගමික පූජකවරු හෝ ඒ නායකයන් මේ ජාතිවාදය මොකක්ද? ජාතිකවාදය මොකක්ද? කියලා නොදැනීම ප‍්‍රශ්නයක්.

අපි කොතැනකදීවත් මේ රටේ ජීවත්වන අපේ සහෝදර මුස්ලිම් හෝ දෙමළ ජනයා ඉලක්ක කරගෙන වෛරී දේශන පැවැත්වූවේ නෑ. අපි කතා කළේ මිනිස්සුන්ගේ හදවතට. මම හිතනවා ඒක තදින් කරපු කතාවක් නෙවෙයි. හදවතට කතා කරපු දේශනාවක්.

ඒ වගේම බොහෝ අය කිව්වා බොහොම සද්දෙට අපේ කතාව ගෙනිච්චා කියලා. ඉතාම සරල උදාහරණයක් කිව්වොත් ඔබ දන්නවා මේ මඟ තොටේ යානවාහනවල යනකොට….හෝන් එක ගැහුවත් අයින් නොවන ජාතියකට හෙමිහිට කතා කරලා බැරි බව. අපි නිර්වින්දනය වෙච්ච ජාතියක්, ජාතිය කියන එකෙන් අදහස් කරන්නෙ සිංහලයො විතරක් නෙවෙයි. වගකීම් පැහැර හරිමින් රට තුළ දවසින් දවස බුර බුරා නැගෙන මුස්ලිම් අන්තවාදය වෙන්න පුළුවන්, ක‍්‍රිස්තියානි මූලධර්මවාදය වෙන්න පුළුවන්, සිංහල අන්තවාදය වෙන්න පුළුවන් මොනවා හෝ කාරණා ගැන නිශ්ශබ්දව වගකීම් පැහැර හරිමින් ඉන්න සියලුදෙනාම අවදි කරන්න අපට වුවමනා වුණා.

සුළුතර ජාතිවාදය හරි බහුතර ජාතිවාදය හරි මේකෙන් රටට හානියක් වෙලා තියෙනවද? ශ‍්‍රී ලාංකේය අනන්‍යතාවය ගොඩනැගීමට මේක බාධාවක් වෙලා තියෙනවද? මේ රට දියුණු කරන්න නම් අපට ශ‍්‍රී ලාංකේය අනන්‍යතාවයක් තුළ මේ සියලු දෙනාට එක සමානව සලකන සියලුදෙනාටම සතුටින් ජීවත්වෙන්න පුළුවන් පරිසරයක් ගොඩනගන්න බොදු බල සේනා සංවිධානය කොහොමද කල්පනා කරන්නෙ ඒ ගැන මොනවා හරි වැඩපිළිවෙළක් කල්පනා කරනවද?

අපි කල්පනා කරනවා බරපතළ විදිහට සිංහල බෞද්ධයෝ බහුතරයක් වෙලා ඉන්න තාක්කල් අන් සියලු ජාතීන් සුරක්ෂිතයි කියලා.

එයත් එක්තරා විදිහක අන්තවාදී චින්තනයක් නොවේද?

ඔබට එහෙම හිතෙන්න පුළුවන්. ඔබට ආරාධනා කරනවා. ඔබ දෙහිවල කවුඩානට ගිහිල්ලා බලන්න. ඔබ කතා කරන ආගමික සහජීවනය එතැන තියෙනවද කියලා. ඔබ ගිහිල්ලා බලන්න කිරුළපන, ඔය කතා කරන ආගමික සහජීවනය අරවා මේවා හිටපු ජනාධිපති එතැන තියෙනවද කියලා. බලන්න අකුරන කාතන්කුඩියට ගිහිල්ලා. සරලව කිව්වොත් මුස්ලිම් බහුතරයක් ජීවත්වන තැනක සිංහලයා සුරක්ෂිතදැයි කියන්න. එක උදාහරණයක් විදිහට මුස්ලිම් පවුල් සීයක් ඉන්න තැනක සිංහල පවුලකට ජීවත්වෙන්න මේ රටේ ඉඩක් නෑ. හැබැයි සිංහල පවුල් සීයක් හිටියත් එක මුස්ලිම් පවුලක් තිබුණත් අදටත් ඒ මිනිස්සු සුරක්ෂිතයි.

අපි එක දෙයක් කියනවා, මුස්ලිම් මිනිහෙකුට වුණත් දෙමළ කෙනෙකුට වුණත් මැලේ, බර්ගර් ජාතිකයෙකුට වුණත් මේ රටේ රජවෙන්න පුළුවන්. මේ රටේ නායකත්වයට පත්වෙන්න පුළුවන්. හැබැයි ඔහු හෝ ඇය මේක සිංහල බෞද්ධ රටක් කියලා පිළිගත යුතුයි. මොකද සිංහලයන්ට බෞද්ධයන්ට තියෙන එකම රට මේක නිසා. රුසියාව, ඔස්ටේ‍්‍රලියාව, බෙල්ජියම, ස්විට්සර්ලන්තය, ස්වීඩනය, ප‍්‍රංශය මේ රටවල් ගත්තොත් බහුතරය විසින් සුළුතරයට ප‍්‍රශ්න හදලා තියෙනවද? නැහැ.

මට තව එක දෙයක් කියන්න පුළුවන්. බලන්න මුස්ලිම් ජනයාගේ නමින්ම තියෙනවා පක්ෂයක් මුස්ලිම් කොංග‍්‍රසය කියලා. කවුරුවත් ඒක ජාතිවාදී පක්ෂයක් කියන්නෙ නෑ.

ද්‍රවිඩයින්ගේ නමින්ම තියෙනවා ද්‍රවිඩ සන්ධානය කියලා පක්ෂයක්. මේ හැම පක්ෂයකම ‘දමිළ’ කියලා සඳහන් වෙනවා. දමිළ දමිළ කියලා තමයි තියෙන්නෙ. කවුරුත් කියන්නෙ නෑ ඒවා ජාතිවාදී පක්ෂ කියලා.

හැබැයි අපි සිංහලයෝ හෝ හාමුදුරුවරු කවුරු හරි සිංහලයන් වෙනුවෙන් හරි බෞද්ධයන් වෙනුවෙන් හරි මොකක් හරි නමක් දාලා ඉස්සරහට එනකොට ‘අන්න ජාතිවාදී, අන්න ජාතිවාදී’ ගානවා. මොකක්ද මේකෙ තියෙන සාධාරණය.

සරලව ඔබ අහපු ප‍්‍රශ්නෙට උත්තරය නම් මම හිතනවා මේ රටේ ජාතික කොඩිය පවා වෙනස් විය යුතුයි. එතැන ඉඳලා මේ ජාතිය ගොඩනැගිය යුතුයි. එදා 48දී නිදහස ලබාගන්න කලින් සුද්දො මේ රට පාලනය කෙරුවේ බෙදා වෙන්කර පාලනය කිරීමේ තියරිය යටතේ. මම හිතනවා එදා සුද්දො කරපු දේ මේ ගෙවුණු අවුරුදු 66 තිස්සේ රට පාලනය කරපු කළු සුද්දෝ ඔක්කොම සුද්දන්ට වඩා හොඳට කළා.

ජාතික කොඩියට ඇයි පාටවල් දෙකක් එකතු කරන්නෙ?ඒ දෙමළ මිනිහත් මුස්ලිම් මිනිහත් මේ රටේ උපන් මිනිස්සු. ඒ සම අයිතිය ලැබෙන්නෙ නෑ කොඩියෙන්වත්. ගත්තොත් ඉන්දියාව අපේ අසල්වැසි රට. ඉන්දියාවේ ඉන්න ජාති ප‍්‍රමාණයට පාට දාන්න ගියොත් මං හිතන්නෙ නෑ ජීවිතේට කොඩියක් මහන්න වෙයි කියලා. එතැනම අපි වැරැද්දක් කරගෙන තියෙනවා.

නැවත සිංහ කොඩිය ගැනීම තුළ අපි සිංහල බහුතරයේ බලපෑම අනිත් අයට එල්ල කරන්න උත්සහ ගන්නවා නෙවෙයිද?

මම කියන්නෙ ඒක වැරැදියි. බලන්න රටේ කොච්චර ඉන්නවද ගත්තොත් දෙමළ උගතුන්, දෙමළ ධනවතුන්, මුස්ලිම් සමාජයත් එහෙමයි. ඇයි මේ සමාජයට අපිට මුහුවෙන්න බැරි? ඇයි හුරුවෙන්න බැරි? මේ රටේ ජීවත්වෙන සහෝදර ස්වදේශික මුස්ලිම් ජනයා අපේ මිනිස්සු. ඒ මිනිස්සුන්ට මදිපුංචිකමක් දැනෙන්නෙ නැද්ද කොඩියෙන් පොඩි කොටසක් විතරක් ඔවුන්ට තිබුණාම. දැන්වත් ‘එක රටක් එක නීතියක්’ කියන සංකල්පයට ඇවිල්ලා එක නීතියට රට යටත් කළ යුතුයි.

ඔබවහන්සේ දේශපාලන පක්ෂයක් හදනවද?

ඔව්.

ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහත්මයා බොදු බල සේනා එක්ක තිබෙන සම්බන්ධය?

එතුමා ඉතාම දුර්ලභ ගණයේ මිනිහෙක්. ඒ වගේම අධිෂ්ඨානශීලී පුරුෂයෙක්. අපේ ගෞරවය දිනාගත්ත මනුස්සයෙක්. ඒ නිසාම අපි සහ එතුමාගේ නම සම්බන්ධ කරලා බොදු බල සේනාව පිටුපස එතුමා ඉන්නවා යැයි කියමින් එතුමාට කරන ගර්හාව අපි නැවැත්විය යුතුයි. එය පිළිකුලෙන් අපි බැහැර කරනවා. මොකද ගෝඨාභයට මොකක්ද තියෙන වුවමනාව බොදු බල සේනා වගේ සංවිධානයක් හදන්න. එතුමාට ත‍්‍රිවිධ හමුදාව තියෙනවනේ. ඇයි පොලීසිය? ලක්ෂ තුන හතරක නිල බලයෙන් හමුදාවක් තියෙද්දී මොකටද බොදු බල සේනාව වගේ කණ්ඩායමක් හදන්නෙ? මම හිතන්නෙ නෑ එහෙම ඔළුවෙ අමාරුවක් එතුමාට තියෙනවාය කියලා.

ඉතින් එක දෙයක් අපි කියන්න ඕන, පසුගිය ආණ්ඩුවේ මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂගේ පරාජයට හේතු හොයන්න. ලොකු දෙයක් කරන්නඕන නෑ. එතුමා කණ්ණාඩිය ගාවට ගිහිල්ලා පැය භාගයක් විතර හොඳින් සිහි නුවණින් කල්පනා කළා නම් මොකක්ද මං කරපු දේ කියලා… උත්තරය එතැනම තියෙනවා. නැතුව දැන් එක එක්කෙනාට චෝදනා කළාට වැඩක් නෑ.

මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂගේ යුගයේ සිංහලයාට මොකක්ද කළේ? යුද ජයග‍්‍රහණය හැරුණුකොට රට සංවර්ධන ක‍්‍රියාවලියකට ගෙනිච්චා. ඒකට අපේ ගරුත්වය තියෙනවා. හැබැයි ජාතියක් විදිහට පිරිහුණා, අපි බෙදුණා, කඩන් වැටුණා, ආධ්‍යාත්මිකව පිරිහිච්ච ජාතියක් බවට අපි පත්වුණා. ඒ නිසා නෙවෙයිද මිනිස්සු වෙනසක් ඉල්ලු වේ.

එතකොට ඒ ඒ අවස්ථාවන්වලදී පැන නැගිච්ච කාරණාවන්ට හරිහමන් උත්තර නොදීම නිසා මිනිස්සු හිටියේ ව්‍යාකූලතාවයෙන්. එක නිලධාරියයි හිටියේ. මිනිස්සු හැමෝගෙම හිත්වල තිබුණා ඒ නිලධාරියා ගැන බලාපොරොත්තුවක් ගෝඨාභයට කිව්වා නම් මේක කරවගන්න පුළුවන් කියලා විශ්වාසයක් ඇතිවෙලා තිබුණා. ඒ විශ්වාසය මත අපිත් සංවිධානයක් විදියට එතුමාට සහයෝගය දුන්නා.

අපි මතුකරපු ප‍්‍රශ්න සමාජය තදින් වැළඳගෙන ඒ වෙනුවෙන් මිනිස්සු නැගිටිද්දි ගෝඨාභය විතරයි කන් දුන්නෙ. එතුමාගෙන් තමයි අපිට කැඳවීම් ලැබුණෙ. මොකක්ද මේ ප‍්‍රශ්නෙ? මේවා වැඩි දියුණු වෙන්න බෑ, මේවා නැෂනල් සෙකියුරිටි එකට ප‍්‍රශ්නයක්. එක ප‍්‍රශ්නයක් විසඳලා හුස්ම ගත්තා විතරයි කියලා එහෙම තදින් අවවාද කළේ. එතුමාට පුළුවන් හැටියට ඒවා විසඳන්න මැදිහත් වුණා. එතුමා ඒ කරපු කැපවීම උන්නැහේට පාරාවළල්ලක් වෙලා තියෙනවා බොදු බල සේනා පිටිපස්සෙ හිටියා කියලා. බොදු බල සේනා පිටිපස්සෙ හිටියා කිව්වත් මොකද? එතුමා සිංහල බෞද්ධයෙක්.

ගෝඨාභය හිටියා කියලා ඇති ප‍්‍රශ්නෙකුත් නෑ.

S.B says Mahinda failed on Geneva issue

From Colombo Gazette

Minister S.B. Dissanayake says former President Mahinda Rajapaksa had failed on the Geneva issue when he was in power.

Dissanayake, who was a Minister in the Rajapaksa Government, said that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the United People’s Freedom Alliance did not agree on the stand taken by the former President on the human rights issue.

Sri Lanka continued to face pressure at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva when Rajapaksa was in power for failing to address serious human rights concerns.

Speaking to reporters in Kandy today after meeting the new Chief Prelate of the Asgiriya chapter, Dissanayake said that following the end of the war Rajapaksa had failed to win the hearts of the Northern Tamils.

He says the former President also angered India who had helped Sri Lanka at the most crucial time of the war.

“The former President had a snap Presidential election this year with the hope that he will win and will be able to stand strong in Geneva in March. But things did no go as planned,’ Dissanayake said.

He also said that some members of Rajapaksa’s cabinet did not agree with the decision taken just before the January Presidential elections to appoint Tissa Attanayake as the Health Minister.

“Some of the issues including the Geneva issue could have been resolved. Even we tried to advise the former President,” Dissanayake said.

Dissanayake said current President Maithripala Sirisena was able to counter the pressure in Geneva by getting both the United National Party and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party to work together in the Government.

“President Sirisena won the confidence of India and Europe. He also won the support of the US and gave assurances to the UN,” Dissanayake said.

The Minister meanwhile said that once the 20th Amendment to the constitution is approved, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party will contest separately at the Parliament elections and look to form the new Government. 

B. B. King - The Thrill Is Gone (Live at Montreux 1993)

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… and now ‘ judges undress on behalf of rogues’ Eva and Sarath stoop so low to save Medamulana rogue Gota – justice at nadir !

(Lanka-e-News- 13.May.2015, 11.55PM) The obnoxious practice  of defeated rejected  ex president Mahinda Rajapakse of politicizing the judiciary  , and appointment  of his political stooges who would give judgments in favor of Mahinda Rajapkse and his family is still devastating the country’s lofty judicial Institutions and traditions in this Democratic republic of Sri Lanka (SL) . The egregious evils of this  legacy was clearly demonstrated  today by  the controversial and reprehensible decision taken by the Supreme court (SC) in regard to the fundamental rights petition filed by Gotabaya Rajapakse.

The SC today conducted itself most derogatorily to forestall the imminent arrest of Gotabaya Rajapakse the ex defense secretary and brother of ex president Mahinda Rajapakse when  it took up the   fundamental rights (FR)  petition filed by Gotabaya Rajapakse .That is, the SC  granted leave without any legal foundation or legality  for  the FR petition to be heard amidst a maelstrom of controversy .

When Buvaneka Aluvihara was the solicitor general in the attorney general’s department before he was appointed to the SC, in   the trial  in the case against Gen. Fonseka it was Aluvihara who appeared against the general to serve the vindictive goals of Gotabaya, at the latter’s behest. Incidentally , the decision taken today by Aluvihara to withdraw himself from hearing the petition of Gotabaya was to save his skin amidst  the grave prejudices against him among the people . By his withdrawal today from the case , he indicated he is  no longer prepared to stoop to do the sordid biddings of the villainous brutal Rajapakses who are   now a  byword for  corruption and lawlessness. 

The Financial crimes division investigation division (FCID) of the CID was established by the government of good governance based on a policy decision with the sole and whole aim of rescuing the country and the people from the monumental frauds and corruption that raged under the previous Medamulana regime involving colossal misappropriation of public funds and properties, and to enforce the law most expeditiously against the crooks and culprits who under the previous regime enjoyed complete impunity, and therefore unhesitatingly continued with their corrupt and criminal activities without let or hindrance , whereby   the country was plunged into economic doom and gloom on a scale never before witnessed in the country ‘s history.

The president Maithripala Sirisena therefore in his election manifesto indicated the indispensable necessity to establish such a crime investigation division , and after his election he created this  FCID duly and lawfully in conformity with the powers vested in the IGP. The creation of the FCID was an integral part of the  main  policies of the government .In  the constitution chapter 6, this is incorporated in the main manifesto  of the government  to be implemented as a fundamental right in section 27 (1) . Moreover therein it is stated , the responsibility when this is being implemented shall be borne by the  Parliament ,president and the cabinet in the main

In the circumstances , when the government’s main policies are being implemented , under the constitution neither the SC nor any other can hinder or interfere with  that process legally.

When the law is very lucid on this , the SC has given a perverted decision hindering the government’s policy implementation and subverting the goals of the government aimed at the common good of the country- riddance of rogues and traitors . Hence , it is the consensus among all that the interim injunction order barring the arrest of Gotabaya delivered  by the SC is to serve the Rajapakse family’s illegal and sordid agendas and objectives.

The best testimony for this is , when the petition was taken up for hearing , the 41 respondents named in the petition were not noticed to be present in court .

Meanwhile the conduct of the  SC  and its decision that followed  have come in for heavy flak of the legal luminaries and senior lawyers. Based on most reliable sources , the AG’s department is making moves to make a special appeal and subject the controversial dubious decision of the SC for a review  given the outrageous miscarriage of justice.

ඡාතික සංඝ සම්මේලනයේ පිවිතුරැ හෙටක් සංවිධානයේ හා පරිසර වේදීන්ගේ විල්පත්ත...

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Father’s theft has become an agony for Vasudewa

From LankaNewsWeb

In 1958 a retail business premises named “Vasu Brothers” situated in Dangedara Galle was owned by a leftist who always appears for the rights of the southerners and a political actor Vasudewa Nanayakkara’s father Francis Nanayakkara. Close to that a wholesale and a retail business premises named “Ashirwadan Pille” which was quite famous in Galle was owned by a Tamil person named Asirwadan Pille a resident of Jaffna who came to Galle and started his business. 

During the 1958 riots when the troubles increased this Tamil businessmen has closed his business and given all his properties, lorry’s, vans and other goods to the owner if “Vasu Brothers” that is Vasudewa Nanayakkara’s father Francis Nanayakkara and left to India seeking protection to his life and family. Francis Nanayakkara too has accepted to look after his assets involuntarily. 

When the ethnic riots ended after a year Ashirwadan Pille has come back to Sri Lanka and tried to meet this Francis Nanayakkara but could not meet the latter. Ashiwadan Pille has thought about his assets and with greatest difficulty he has met Vasu’s father. Francis Nanayakkara has told that all his lorry’s and vans were set ablaze during the riots and nothing is left to give him. What has actually happened is Vasu’s father has sold all the lorry’s and vans for a lower price and acquired the money. Ashiwadan PIlle who was deprived due to the cheating of Vasu’s father has left Galle and gone to Colombo and lived there. 

Recently when Ashirwadan’s nephew met Vasudewa he has narrated this story which was 57 years old. Vasudewa who got vexed vehemently and denied the allegation and told the person “Are you sent by the present Good Governance? If you would have come before I know what I will do”

Gammanpila in a twist

Editorial from the Ceylon Daily News

Pivithuru Hela Urumaya General Secretary Udaya Gammanpila has certainly cast himself as the comedian of the pack clamouring for the return of Mahinda Rajapaksa. He certainly is the showman among the foursome comprising of himself, Wimal Weerawansa, Dinesh Gunawardena and Vasudeva Nanaykkara who forms the frontline in the 'Bring back Mahinda brigade. Nary day passes without local TV audiences being treated to the clownish antics of Gammanpila.

Be it staging a double cross into the bosom of his avowed leader after initially joining his former colleagues in the Hela Urumaya to support Maithripala Sirisena, the flaunting of a spurious national flag during a frenzied protest by the pro- Rajapaksa clan ,or in introducing a novel way to collect campaign funds by asking voters in the Colombo District to fork out Rs. 100 each for electioneering .The man is never out of the limelight and revels in an audience .One has only to see his animated and "eager to be interviewed" countenance when coming out of the Bribery Commission or the Prisons ,where a colleague is languishing, into the glare of the TV lights to realise this.

True, as part of the public face in the Bring back Mahinda campaign Gammanpila needs to be in the media spotlight and it appears he is always ready with his script for the next day's TV show .But Gammnapila will be better advised to chose his script carefully lest he magnifies his clownish image before a discerning public . The former Jathika Hela Urumaya stalwart on Wednesday certainly pulled a stunt one too many which he might come to regret. Going before the Bribery Commission Gammanpila who has a long line of colleagues in the Rajapaksa camp arraigned before the Bribery Commission has complained to Commission that the appointment of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to the post by President Maithripala Sirisena amounted to a bribe and both President Sirisena as the bribe giver and the Premier as the acceptor had committed an offense.

This appears to be a last fling of the dice for Gammanpila and Co. who is fast running out of ideas to staunch the avalanche of bribery complaints against the Rajapaksas and their acolytes and it also appears that Gammanpila true to form is working to a script the lines of which is written at Medamulana or the Abhayaramaya.

Isn't Gammnapila who we believe is up to date on political developments in Sri Lanka aware that prior to the last Presidential election Common candidate Maithripala Sirisena made an open proclamation to the public that in the event of his victory the Prime Minister would be Ranil Wickremsinghe whose party provided the machinery and the votes for the former's victory ? If this was a bribe then indeed it is bribe given in the open before 6.2 million voters who too would be culpable in the offence by virtue of aiding and abetting in a bribe. Is the memory of Udaya Gammanpila so short so as to have all too soon forgotten the episode where the Mahinda Rajapaksa backers screamed their heads off against Bribery charges brought against the former President for appointing UNP renegade Tissa Attanayake as a Minister on the basis that the former President was only exercising his constitutional right to appoint any member of Parliament that catches his fancy (the appointment was made after Sirisena was first sworn in as President). Isn't Sauce for the Goose Sauce for the Gander?

Gammnapila in his haste to be the star on prime time Television once again it appears has shot himself in the foot. So much for the credibility of the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya which is a misnomer of the first order. We offer a word of caution to Gammnapila and his likes. Don't , devalue and denigrate established arms of the state such as the Bribery Commission in the eyes of the public by resorting to frivolity .These bodies are formed for orderly administration of the country .Treating them as a joke to fulfill one's political agendas could only lead to anarchy. This is more so at a time a time these bodies have been given full autonomy to operate on their own. Don't insult the intelligence of the public with puerile claims and showmanship. There is today a big effort being made to camouflage the massive corruption scandals involving the Rajapaksa family with side show and filibuster in order to lead the public up the garden path. The Bribery Commission we are confident is eminently competent to shift the chaff from the grain. There should also be provision to deal with the likes of Gammnapila who attempt to make a mockery of the Commission by bringing before it cases that are frivolous and meant to throw on the smokescreen on the serious cases before it.

The 19th Amendment has infused fresh life to the hitherto to dormant Bribery Commission .The Courts too are functioning independently without the executive breathing down its neck .The Supreme Court verdict stalling the arrest of the former Defence Secretary is glaring example of this. The judiciary is no longer under assault in a literal sense when one recalls the physical attack carried out against the former President of the Judicial service Commission. Anybody can go before the courts to obtain justice unlike in the past when the country's highest court was invaded by police and the armed forces preventing a former Chief Justice no less going to hear her own case. The public should be indebted to President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe for once again enthroning the supremacy of the law in the country.