Features

Childhood and Growing Up

Published

3 years ago

2023/03/12

Thilina Walpola

Excerpted from Memories that Linger by Padmani Mendis

(continued from last week)

Published in Sri Lanka by The Jam Fruit Tree Publications and is available as a Kindle eBook.

“For when the One Great Scorer comes
To mark against your name,
He writes not that you won or lost
But how you played the game”
Grantland Rice, 1941

This is what my mother would quote to us at regular intervals, lest we forget the values she wanted us to have.

My first memories are too hazy to share. Running barefoot up and down the never-ending patnas of Bandarawela with seemingly countless cousins. Ice-cold spring-baths at the peella at the foot hills below, every morning as a pre-lunch ritual. We were spending the years of World War II in Bandarawela, where many Colombo families had moved for protection from possible Japanese bombs and attacks.

And then my recall becomes clearer as it continues after we returned to Colombo to live at 11, Sunandarama Road, Kalubowila. This is where I spent a remarkable childhood. What made it so remarkable were the oodles and oodles of love that I was showered with. My mother had told me at some point in my childhood that the more love you are given now, the more you will be able to give later. It is a truism I believe in firmly. It influenced me when I chose to work with disabled people. It influences me now as an aunt and a grand-aunt to many in the next generations. Nalin and I do not have children of our own to shower my love on.

Growing up, I never had many bought toys to stimulate my development. My mother barely managed to feed her large household to be able to afford toys for me. There were always relatives living with us. Friends of Uncle Lyn (more of Uncle Lyn later) and of the siblings dropped in to visit daily, and they were welcomed warmly by my mother to share our meals.

A vivid image I have in my mind is that of a little brother and sister, perhaps of the ages of six and eight years, coming frequently to our home as dusk fell, clinging to each other perhaps with fear and apprehension. They would say something like “Mummy told to ask for a loaf of bread”. They always had a loaf and more – perhaps a couple of eggs to eat with the bread. We had plenty of those because Uncle Lyn also bred poultry on his farm. To help with the feeding of all of us and more. For this also her cousin Uncle Geoff was always there for my mother. The same Uncle Geoff who had registered my birth.

Uncle Geoff brought groceries for my mother from the Marketing Department Wholesale Store in Maradana. He would bring these in his blue Plymouth. Riding on the back seat with his legs stretched out in front to rest on the front seat. Driven by the ever-faithful Lionel. And a practice he would always adhere to was to display the purchases to my mother. He would set out what he had bought for her on the dining table. She would be sitting at the table adding up the costs which he said he had paid.

And we would love to stand by to watch this ritual being enacted. We all knew that Uncle Geoff always, always, understated the costs of the things he had bought, just to help her. She knew it. But through a mutual understanding between them his kindness was never put into words.

Of Santa, Dolls and Books

I got my first doll when I was about six or seven. My older brothers and my oldest sister had, by this time, passed the age of 21 and were entitled to a small monthly allowance from my father’s estate. They contributed to buy me my first doll. They did not disclose this to me at the time. The doll was in the pillow-case I had hung up that Christmas for Santa Claus; and, because my siblings told me, I had been a good girl. To me the doll was a living idol – in dresses that could be changed, she could open and close her eyes – what wonder! The younger of my sisters made dresses for her so I could not only bathe her but also wash her clothes regularly.

The next year that same Santa gave me a silver tea set. Who was to know or care that it was aluminum? I became the perfect hostess making real tea for any and all. With milk and sugar. With never a show of reluctance, all my guests actually drank my tea. Then I had to collect the used items, wash and dry them and have them ready for my next guests. I was eight or nine years old when, sadly, I learned the truth about Santa.

I got my first book when I was six years old. It was the prize I got in the middle kindergarten when Miss Freda Welikala was my class teacher. It was called “Thumper” and was about a rabbit. The next book I had was “The Water Babies” by Charles Kingsley. That too probably came in the annual pillowcase. It was about a chimney-sweep called Tom. I remember another character in it called “Mrs. Do-As-You-Would-Be-Done-By”. She had a significant impact on me. And only in my youth did I know that this book was a children’s classic written in 1863. I learned much from both. Both books had delightful illustrations, so attractive to a child of that age; both grew my mind with wonder and imagination.

Learning from Nature

But it was not these rare and expensive toys and books that first made my life joyful. Nor were they the toys that I learned my earliest lessons from. My earliest toys were from nature and the toys came free. We lived in a house with a very large garden, well over an acre of it or even two. Someone wise had lived there before us. This person had covered the land with trees – not just any trees, but those that would bear useful produce.

So coconut, that-was-a-plenty; and thambili, always ready to be plucked for guests or to quench a thirst. There were many different varieties of mango, jambu and guava; there was ambarella, lovi, and other fruit trees that many will not see now – huge masang and veralu trees among them. And then there was jak or kos and breadfruit or del. Always seemed to be available cooked for lunch or dinner or boiled or fried as chips at any time to satisfy a hunger.

My brother Shatra would often take me down the garden and show me how the seeds that fell to the ground germinated and grew into trees. He would show me buds burst into blossom from which fruits magically appeared. Always with catapult in hand he would shoot down luscious fruit which we would share. We would collect the bi-coloured red and black olinda seeds.

On a rainy day when we had to be indoors, we would play games using these seeds. They suited the playing of counting games. One game I recall was to throw them up with the palm of one’s hand then see how many one could catch with the back of the hand. With others to help me, I would make garlands and chains and bouquets for guests from flowers we collected from the garden.

Our front garden at No. 11 was covered with neat beds on which my young brothers would grow an array of different kinds of flowers. Seeds were available at not much cost – zenias, marigolds, cosmos, and there had to be the pretty little phlox. At Easter, parts of the back garden would be covered with orange Easter lilies. I would collect some bulbs and plant them in areas that that did not have them so that next year we would have more lilies. This is where my love of flowers blossomed. I have pots of these lilies even now on my balcony.

There was space in this garden of wonder for animals – goats, pigs and a small dairy which Uncle Lyn took care of. Uncle Lyn was more than a relative. My mother had married again and this was her husband “Llewellyn Adolphus Dalrymple Perera Abeyewardene. Although he was married to my mother, to us he was never considered a stepfather. He was always Uncle Lyn. That was our relationship. An amiable but distant uncle – and always there to drive us around and about. Besides, no one could replace our father. My siblings talked often about him and I would listen attentively. We still loved him hugely.

So here in this environment, nature provided my first remembrances of fun and of joy and of sadness, and of my first toys. It promoted my early learning and my early development. I loved especially playing with the baby kid goats of which there was always a steady supply. So much time I spent with them that my sister Nali would call me “Padi the Kid”. And that is how I came to be called “Padi”, then and to this day.

Theva

The dairy cattle were housed in a shed in one corner of the back garden. To care for them, and for the goats and pigs when we had them, was Theva from South India. I don’t recall that we had a bull full-time. I think Uncle Lyn got one down when he felt the cows needed a bull. When Theva required an assistant, he got down his son-in-law from South India. Ranga was a graduate from the University of Madras but had no job back home, and this solved the problem for both father and son-in-law.

Theva and I had a special relationship. I would stand by when I could while he bathed and then fed the cattle with poonac and with grass he cut from the grassland he had tended; while he milked the cows and bottled the milk; while he led the calves to their mothers for their feed. Theva explaining to me what he was doing and why, talking to me about the animals he cared for and about his home in South India and the family he had left behind. Me a keen listener, but full of questions which he had only to answer, helping him with fetching and carrying, and with other little tasks.

A vivid memory I have is of the toys Theva made for me. He would, for example, clean and then cut a dried fallen coconut branch into various sizes. Then he would shape them. The largest part of the branch would be made into a bull and later sections into cows and calves of various ages. Each had their nose and ears as well as a neck round which he would tie coconut string with which I could move them from tree to tree. I had to make sure they were tied firmly so they would not break loose. Then he would help me to tend to my own cattle, while he tended to his.

He also saw to it that I had my own little house. He had not heard of a doll’s house and neither had I. But this was the real thing. Walls and roof made of thatch using fresh coconut leaves. He also made dolls and carts and other toys for me using bits of cloth and paper and empty cans from the house, and sticks and leaves and string and I know not what, except that they were all from the house and garden. Theva, who had never been to school and was not able to read and write, taught me how to be innovative and stimulated creativity within me.

Pets and Other Living Things

In the house we had many dogs – the first I recall is an Alsatian called Marina. She was beautiful and ever so affectionate. I remember Marina allowing me to ride on her back, although when I think of that now, I am angry with myself for having done so.

Then there were the Cocker Spaniels, Chappie and Bessie. Each dog spent a lifetime with us and made us so sad when they left this earth and us. But they were soon replaced with other dogs.

We had two monkeys in the garden. To recall that they were always tied with chains to sturdy posts now makes me wonder how we could have done that. We had, at one end of the verandah, a green parrot who was the same age as my oldest brother, then in his twenties. She was called peththappu. At the other end, we had a white cockatoo Uncle Lyn brought from Anuradhapura where he had inherited paddy lands. Called Polly, she was a very polite cockatoo, and sociable, always ready to greet us in the morning and at other times, and greet also any visitor. She would love to have us sit down in front of her cage and converse with her. Uncle Lyn was a hunter, and on our walls hung leopard and deer skins and antlers of various sizes, and on the floor were bear skins.

Of Songs and Relatives

My mother had a beautiful voice and she had many favourite songs. Some that had been taught to her by her English Governess. My fondest memories of her are when she was relaxing on a sofa, singing. Equally happy singing when we would be traveling in a car with many of the children jostling together on the back seat. I would often be sitting on her lap in the front seat. No seat belt requirements then.

A routine weekly trip would be to Moratuwa because that is where my aunt Violet, my mother’s oldest sister, lived with her brood of eight. My mother had to see each of her sisters at least weekly. I recall those songs she sang often – “One day when we were young” and “After the Ball is over”. The favourite of all was however “Jerusalem”. I can sing those to this day even in my now ageing and crackling voice.

My mother also used to visit her surviving aunts and uncles regularly. So almost always, on the return trip from Moratuwa we would stop by to visit Eddie Seeya. This was her father’s brother, her uncle E.L.F. who lived in a “cottage” on his coconut plantation, situated in what is now Ratmalana. As we drove up the long straight drive, the cottage under the tall coconut trees came into view. It was painted in colours of green and gold.

E.L.F was a well-known horse-racing enthusiast – for several consecutive years, the winner of the Governor’s Cup with his horse called Orange William. His racing colours were green and gold. These are the colours worn by the jockeys who rode his horses. But it seemed to us children that to E.L.F., everything he owned had to be in green and gold. I recall clearly those green and gold flower pots at the end of the drive and surrounding the cottage.

One day Eddie Seeya gifted to me a toy Daschund pup. He told me I could call it Gypsy. She was my loving companion at Kalubowila for many long years.

With me hanging on to her sari pota there would be visits to Mary Archchi and to Willie Seeya in Colombo. There were also regular visits to other relatives in Moratuwa and Angulana where many of them still lived on their large coconut properties.

Anura, Summa and Shatra

The younger of my six brothers, Anura, Summa and Shatra, I came to know better than I did the older three who had already embarked on their post-secondary studies. And those three did tease me with tall stories. A favourite was that my mother had found me in the “kaanuwa” or drain at Kadugannawa, felt sorry for me and brought me home. They even had a rhyme that went with that story – “kalu, katha, kota ape nangee, Kadugannawa kaanuwen gedara genawe ape ammi”.

To the extent that sometimes I believed stories like this and that would have me in tears. But there were always loving sisters to admonish them and send them off to do something more productive. And comfort me with stories of me as a baby and of my father, and action songs I liked to hear. These would end with tickles and hugs and kisses.

One thing that I have not forgiven those three brothers for is that even after plea after plea, none of them ever taught me to ride a bike. And after that I could never do so, in spite of trying over and over again. It must have been a mental block.

Anura was the one who had the most number of interests and hobbies, was always looking for something creative to do. At one time, he produced a family newspaper, a replica of the real thing with current news of family members and sketches of their activities. At another time, he was an amateur photographer. He started with a Kodak box camera and then, when he saved up enough from the allowance he got as an accountancy apprentice, bought a real fancy one which had to be focused each time before taking a photograph. He developed his own films in a dark room he made, sectioning off a corner of the front room with dark curtains.

,I would love to join him there, smell the chemicals and watch his photographs as they came to life. With this he introduced me to elementary science, which I learned later was physics and chemistry.Anura and Summa were boxers at school. Shatra still has his trophies earned in his childhood from his prowess in athletics. They played rugger at school and later for the Havelock’s Sports Club. I had no interest in sports and, come to it, in any physical activity. At school, I would be standing at the back of the class when we had physical education hoping I would not be seen.

(To be continued)

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Features

Indian Ocean Security: Strategies for Sri Lanka

Published

2 days ago

2026/02/20

Thilina Walpola

During a recent panel discussion titled “Security Environment in the Indo-Pacific and Sri Lankan Diplomacy”, organised by the Embassy of Japan in collaboration with Dr. George I. H. Cooke, Senior Lecturer and initiator of the Awarelogue Initiative, the keynote address was delivered by Prof Ken Jimbo of Kelo University, Japan (Ceylon Today, February 15, 2026).

The report on the above states: “Prof. Jimbo discussed the evolving role of the Indo-Pacific and the emergence of its latest strategic outlook among shifting dynamics. He highlighted how changing geopolitical realities are reshaping the region’s security architecture and influencing diplomatic priorities”.

“He also addressed Sri Lanka’s position within this evolving framework, emphasising that non-alignment today does not mean isolation, but rather, diversified engagement. Such an approach, he noted, requires the careful and strategic management of dependencies to preserve national autonomy while maintaining strategic international partnerships” (Ibid).

Despite the fact that Non-Alignment and Neutrality, which incidentally is Sri Lanka’s current Foreign Policy, are often used interchangeably, both do not mean isolation. Instead, as the report states, it means multi-engagement. Therefore, as Prof. Jimbo states, it is imperative that Sri Lanka manages its relationships strategically if it is to retain its strategic autonomy and preserve its security. In this regard the Policy of Neutrality offers Rule Based obligations for Sri Lanka to observe, and protection from the Community of Nations to respect the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka, unlike Non-Alignment. The Policy of Neutrality served Sri Lanka well, when it declared to stay Neutral on the recent security breakdown between India and Pakistan.

Also participating in the panel discussion was Prof. Terney Pradeep Kumara – Director General of Coast Conservation and Coastal Resources Management, Ministry of Environment and Professor of Oceanography in the University of Ruhuna.

He stated: “In Sri Lanka’s case before speaking of superpower dynamics in the Indo-Pacific, the country must first establish its own identity within the Indian Ocean region given its strategically significant location”.

“He underlined the importance of developing the ‘Sea of Lanka concept’ which extends from the country’s coastline to its 200nauticalmile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Without firmly establishing this concept, it would be difficult to meaningfully engage with the broader Indian Ocean region”.

“He further stated that the Indian Ocean should be regarded as a zone of peace. From a defence perspective, Sri Lanka must remain neutral. However, from a scientific and resource perspective, the country must remain active given its location and the resources available in its maritime domain” (Ibid).

Perhaps influenced by his academic background, he goes on to state:” In that context Sri Lanka can work with countries in the Indian Ocean region and globally, including India, China, Australia and South Africa. The country must remain open to such cooperation” (Ibid).

Such a recommendation reflects a poor assessment of reality relating to current major power rivalry. This rivalry was addressed by me in an article titled “US – CHINA Rivalry: Maintaining Sri Lanka’s autonomy” ( 12.19. 2025) which stated: “However, there is a strong possibility for the US–China Rivalry to manifest itself engulfing India as well regarding resources in Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone. While China has already made attempts to conduct research activities in and around Sri Lanka, objections raised by India have caused Sri Lanka to adopt measures to curtail Chinese activities presumably for the present. The report that the US and India are interested in conducting hydrographic surveys is bound to revive Chinese interests. In the light of such developments it is best that Sri Lanka conveys well in advance that its Policy of Neutrality requires Sri Lanka to prevent Exploration or Exploitation within its Exclusive Economic Zone under the principle of the Inviolability of territory by any country” ( https://island.lk/us- china-rivalry-maintaining-sri-lankas-autonomy/). Unless such measures are adopted, Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone would end up becoming the theater for major power rivalry, with negative consequences outweighing possible economic gains.

The most startling feature in the recommendation is the exclusion of the USA from the list of countries with which to cooperate, notwithstanding the Independence Day message by the US Secretary of State which stated: “… our countries have developed a strong and mutually beneficial partnership built on the cornerstone of our people-to-people ties and shared democratic values. In the year ahead, we look forward to increasing trade and investment between our countries and strengthening our security cooperation to advance stability and prosperity throughout the Indo-Pacific region (NEWS, U.S. & Sri Lanka)

Such exclusions would inevitably result in the US imposing drastic tariffs to cripple Sri Lanka’s economy. Furthermore, the inclusion of India and China in the list of countries with whom Sri Lanka is to cooperate, ignores the objections raised by India about the presence of Chinese research vessels in Sri Lankan waters to the point that Sri Lanka was compelled to impose a moratorium on all such vessels.

CONCLUSION

During a panel discussion titled “Security Environment in the Indo-Pacific and Sri Lankan Diplomacy” supported by the Embassy of Japan, Prof. Ken Jimbo of Keio University, Japan emphasized that “… non-alignment today does not mean isolation”. Such an approach, he noted, requires the careful and strategic management of dependencies to preserve national autonomy while maintaining strategic international partnerships”. Perhaps Prof. Jimbo was not aware or made aware that Sri Lanka’s Foreign Policy is Neutral; a fact declared by successive Governments since 2019 and practiced by the current Government in the position taken in respect of the recent hostilities between India and Pakistan.

Although both Non-Alignment and Neutrality are often mistakenly used interchangeably, they both do NOT mean isolation. The difference is that Non-Alignment is NOT a Policy but only a Strategy, similar to Balancing, adopted by decolonized countries in the context of a by-polar world, while Neutrality is an Internationally recognised Rule Based Policy, with obligations to be observed by Neutral States and by the Community of Nations. However, Neutrality in today’s context of geopolitical rivalries resulting from the fluidity of changing dynamics offers greater protection in respect of security because it is Rule Based and strengthened by “the UN adoption of the Indian Ocean as a Zone of peace”, with the freedom to exercise its autonomy and engage with States in pursuit of its National Interests.

Apart from the positive comments “that the Indian Ocean should be regarded as a Zone of Peace” and that “from a defence perspective, Sri Lanka must remain neutral”, the second panelist, Professor of Oceanography at the University of Ruhuna, Terney Pradeep Kumara, also advocated that “from a Scientific and resource perspective (in the Exclusive Economic Zone) the country must remain active, given its location and the resources available in its maritime domain”. He went further and identified that Sri Lanka can work with countries such as India, China, Australia and South Africa.

For Sri Lanka to work together with India and China who already are geopolitical rivals made evident by the fact that India has already objected to the presence of China in the “Sea of Lanka”, questions the practicality of the suggestion. Furthermore, the fact that Prof. Kumara has excluded the US, notwithstanding the US Secretary of State’s expectations cited above, reflects unawareness of the geopolitical landscape in which the US, India and China are all actively known to search for minerals. In such a context, Sri Lanka should accept its limitations in respect of its lack of Diplomatic sophistication to “work with” such superpower rivals who are known to adopt unprecedented measures such as tariffs, if Sri Lanka is to avoid the fate of Milos during the Peloponnesian Wars.

Under the circumstances, it is in Sri Lanka’s best interest to lay aside its economic gains for security, and live by its proclaimed principles and policies of Neutrality and the concept of the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace by not permitting its EEC to be Explored and/or Exploited by anyone in its “maritime domain”. Since Sri Lanka is already blessed with minerals on land that is awaiting exploitation, participating in the extraction of minerals at the expense of security is not only imprudent but also an environmental contribution given the fact that the Sea and its resources is the Planet’s Last Frontier.

by Neville Ladduwahetty

Features

Protecting the ocean before it’s too late: What Sri Lankans think about deep seabed mining

Published

2 days ago

2026/02/20

Thilina Walpola

Far beneath the waters surrounding Sri Lanka lies a largely unseen frontier, a deep seabed that may contain cobalt, nickel and rare earth elements essential to modern technologies, from smartphones to electric vehicles. Around the world, governments and corporations are accelerating efforts to tap these minerals, presenting deep-sea mining as the next chapter of the global “blue economy.”

For an island nation whose ocean territory far exceeds its landmass, the question is no longer abstract. Sri Lanka has already demonstrated its commitment to ocean governance by ratifying the United Nations High Seas Treaty (BBNJ Agreement) in September 2025, becoming one of the early countries to help trigger its entry into force. The treaty strengthens biodiversity conservation beyond national jurisdiction and promotes fair access to marine genetic resources.

Yet as interest grows in seabed minerals, a critical debate is emerging: Can Sri Lanka pursue deep-sea mining ambitions without compromising marine ecosystems, fisheries and long-term sustainability?

Speaking to The Island, Prof. Lahiru Udayanga, Dr. Menuka Udugama and Ms. Nethini Ganepola of the Department of Agribusiness Management, Faculty of Agriculture & Plantation Management, together with Sudarsha De Silva, Co-founder of EarthLanka Youth Network and Sri Lanka Hub Leader for the Sustainable Ocean Alliance, shared findings from their newly published research examining how Sri Lankans perceive deep-sea mineral extraction.

The study, published in the journal Sustainability and presented at the International Symposium on Disaster Resilience and Sustainable Development in Thailand, offers rare empirical insight into public attitudes toward deep-sea mining in Sri Lanka.

Limited Public Inclusion

“Our study shows that public inclusion in decision-making around deep-sea mining remains quite limited,” Ms. Nethini Ganepola told The Island. “Nearly three-quarters of respondents said the issue is rarely covered in the media or discussed in public forums. Many feel that decisions about marine resources are made mainly at higher political or institutional levels without adequate consultation.”

The nationwide survey, conducted across ten districts, used structured questionnaires combined with a Discrete Choice Experiment — a method widely applied in environmental economics to measure how people value trade-offs between development and conservation.

Ganepola noted that awareness of seabed mining remains low. However, once respondents were informed about potential impacts — including habitat destruction, sediment plumes, declining fish stocks and biodiversity loss — concern rose sharply.

“This suggests the problem is not a lack of public interest,” she told The Island. “It is a lack of accessible information and meaningful opportunities for participation.”

Ecology Before Extraction

Dr. Menuka Udugama said the research was inspired by Sri Lanka’s growing attention to seabed resources within the wider blue economy discourse — and by concern that extraction could carry long-lasting ecological and livelihood risks if safeguards are weak.

“Deep-sea mining is often presented as an economic opportunity because of global demand for critical minerals,” Dr. Udugama told The Island. “But scientific evidence on cumulative impacts and ecosystem recovery remains limited, especially for deep habitats that regenerate very slowly. For an island nation, this uncertainty matters.”

She stressed that marine ecosystems underpin fisheries, tourism and coastal well-being, meaning decisions taken about the seabed can have far-reaching consequences beyond the mining site itself.

Prof. Lahiru Udayanga echoed this concern.

“People tended to view deep-sea mining primarily through an environmental-risk lens rather than as a neutral industrial activity,” Prof. Udayanga told The Island. “Biodiversity loss was the most frequently identified concern, followed by physical damage to the seabed and long-term resource depletion.”

About two-thirds of respondents identified biodiversity loss as their greatest fear — a striking finding for an issue that many had only recently learned about.

A Measurable Value for Conservation

Perhaps the most significant finding was the public’s willingness to pay for protection.

“On average, households indicated a willingness to pay around LKR 3,532 per year to protect seabed ecosystems,” Prof. Udayanga told The Island. “From an economic perspective, that represents the social value people attach to marine conservation.”

The study’s advanced statistical analysis — using Conditional Logit and Random Parameter Logit models — confirmed strong and consistent support for policy options that reduce mineral extraction, limit environmental damage and strengthen monitoring and regulation.

The research also revealed demographic variations. Younger and more educated respondents expressed stronger pro-conservation preferences, while higher-income households were willing to contribute more financially.

At the same time, many respondents expressed concern that government agencies and the media have not done enough to raise awareness or enforce safeguards — indicating a trust gap that policymakers must address.

“Regulations and monitoring systems require social acceptance to be workable over time,” Dr. Udugama told The Island. “Understanding public perception strengthens accountability and clarifies the conditions under which deep-sea mining proposals would be evaluated.”

Youth and Community Engagement

Ganepola emphasised that engagement must begin with transparency and early consultation.

“Decisions about deep-sea mining should not remain limited to technical experts,” she told The Island. “Coastal communities — especially fishers — must be consulted from the beginning, as they are directly affected. Youth engagement is equally important because young people will inherit the long-term consequences of today’s decisions.”

She called for stronger media communication, public hearings, stakeholder workshops and greater integration of marine conservation into school and university curricula.

“Inclusive and transparent engagement will build trust and reduce conflict,” she said.

A Regional Milestone

Sudarsha De Silva described the study as a milestone for Sri Lanka and the wider Asian region.

“When you consider research publications on this topic in Asia, they are extremely limited,” De Silva told The Island. “This is one of the first comprehensive studies in Sri Lanka examining public perception of deep-sea mining. Organizations like the Sustainable Ocean Alliance stepping forward to collaborate with Sri Lankan academics is a great achievement.”

He also acknowledged the contribution of youth research assistants from EarthLanka — Malsha Keshani, Fathima Shamla and Sachini Wijebandara — for their support in executing the study.

A Defining Choice

As Sri Lanka charts its blue economy future, the message from citizens appears unmistakable.

Development is not rejected. But it must not come at the cost of irreversible ecological damage.

The ocean’s true wealth, respondents suggest, lies not merely in minerals beneath the seabed, but in the living systems above it — systems that sustain fisheries, tourism and coastal communities.

For policymakers weighing the promise of mineral wealth against ecological risk, the findings shared with The Island offer a clear signal: sustainable governance and biodiversity protection align more closely with public expectations than unchecked extraction.

In the end, protecting the ocean may prove to be not only an environmental responsibility — but the most prudent long-term investment Sri Lanka can make.

By Ifham Nizam

Features

How Black Civil Rights leaders strengthen democracy in the US

Published

3 days ago

2026/02/19

Sahan Weerasooriya

Jesse Jackson / Barack Obama

On being elected US President in 2008, Barack Obama famously stated: ‘Change has come to America’. Considering the questions continuing to grow out of the status of minority rights in particular in the US, this declaration by the former US President could come to be seen as somewhat premature by some. However, there could be no doubt that the election of Barack Obama to the US presidency proved that democracy in the US is to a considerable degree inclusive and accommodating.

If this were not so, Barack Obama, an Afro-American politician, would never have been elected President of the US. Obama was exceptionally capable, charismatic and eloquent but these qualities alone could not have paved the way for his victory. On careful reflection it could be said that the solid groundwork laid by indefatigable Black Civil Rights activists in the US of the likes of Martin Luther King (Jnr) and Jesse Jackson, who passed away just recently, went a great distance to enable Obama to come to power and that too for two terms. Obama is on record as owning to the profound influence these Civil Rights leaders had on his career.

The fact is that these Civil Rights activists and Obama himself spoke to the hearts and minds of most Americans and convinced them of the need for democratic inclusion in the US. They, in other words, made a convincing case for Black rights. Above all, their struggles were largely peaceful.

Their reasoning resonated well with the thinking sections of the US who saw them as subscribers to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, for instance, which made a lucid case for mankind’s equal dignity. That is, ‘all human beings are equal in dignity.’

It may be recalled that Martin Luther King (Jnr.) famously declared: ‘I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed….We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’

Jesse Jackson vied unsuccessfully to be a Democratic Party presidential candidate twice but his energetic campaigns helped to raise public awareness about the injustices and material hardships suffered by the black community in particular. Obama, we now know, worked hard at grass roots level in the run-up to his election. This experience proved invaluable in his efforts to sensitize the public to the harsh realities of the depressed sections of US society.

Cynics are bound to retort on reading the foregoing that all the good work done by the political personalities in question has come to nought in the US; currently administered by Republican hard line President Donald Trump. Needless to say, minority communities are now no longer welcome in the US and migrants are coming to be seen as virtual outcasts who need to be ‘shown the door’ . All this seems to be happening in so short a while since the Democrats were voted out of office at the last presidential election.

However, the last US presidential election was not free of controversy and the lesson is far too easily forgotten that democratic development is a process that needs to be persisted with. In a vital sense it is ‘a journey’ that encounters huge ups and downs. More so why it must be judiciously steered and in the absence of such foresighted managing the democratic process could very well run aground and this misfortune is overtaking the US to a notable extent.

The onus is on the Democratic Party and other sections supportive of democracy to halt the US’ steady slide into authoritarianism and white supremacist rule. They would need to demonstrate the foresight, dexterity and resourcefulness of the Black leaders in focus. In the absence of such dynamic political activism, the steady decline of the US as a major democracy cannot be prevented.

From the foregoing some important foreign policy issues crop-up for the global South in particular. The US’ prowess as the ‘world’s mightiest democracy’ could be called in question at present but none could doubt the flexibility of its governance system. The system’s inclusivity and accommodative nature remains and the possibility could not be ruled out of the system throwing up another leader of the stature of Barack Obama who could to a great extent rally the US public behind him in the direction of democratic development. In the event of the latter happening, the US could come to experience a democratic rejuvenation.

The latter possibilities need to be borne in mind by politicians of the South in particular. The latter have come to inherit a legacy of Non-alignment and this will stand them in good stead; particularly if their countries are bankrupt and helpless, as is Sri Lanka’s lot currently. They cannot afford to take sides rigorously in the foreign relations sphere but Non-alignment should not come to mean for them an unreserved alliance with the major powers of the South, such as China. Nor could they come under the dictates of Russia. For, both these major powers that have been deferentially treated by the South over the decades are essentially authoritarian in nature and a blind tie-up with them would not be in the best interests of the South, going forward.

However, while the South should not ruffle its ties with the big powers of the South it would need to ensure that its ties with the democracies of the West in particular remain intact in a flourishing condition. This is what Non-alignment, correctly understood, advises.

Accordingly, considering the US’ democratic resilience and its intrinsic strengths, the South would do well to be on cordial terms with the US as well. A Black presidency in the US has after all proved that the US is not predestined, so to speak, to be a country for only the jingoistic whites. It could genuinely be an all-inclusive, accommodative democracy and by virtue of these characteristics could be an inspiration for the South.

However, political leaders of the South would need to consider their development options very judiciously. The ‘neo-liberal’ ideology of the West need not necessarily be adopted but central planning and equity could be brought to the forefront of their talks with Western financial institutions. Dexterity in diplomacy would prove vital.