Opinion

A new dawn for Sri Lanka

Published

2 months ago

2024/11/7

by Ayampillai Dharmakulasingham,
(Retired Sri Lankan career diplomat)

The Communist Party of India won Legislative Assembly elections in the Indian states of West Bengal and Kerala, establishing their respective governments. Leftist parties were also influential in some other states, especially in Tamil Nadu, though they could not capture power there.

In Sri Lanka, JVP/NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s rise to the presidency marks a new chapter in the country’s history. The upcoming general election, on 14 Nov. holds significant importance and has raised hopes that Sri Lanka is undergoing a transitional period for good. It may mark the first time a left-wing party comes to power in Sri Lanka. There are other factors that make the upcoming election important. Major political parties have become notorious for corruption, mismanagement of national resources, family dynasties, elitist politics, etc. Corruption has been widespread throughout government, accompanied by nepotism, lack of transparency, and mismanagement of public funds

It is indeed true that the JVP’s presence in the northern and eastern regions, is not as strong as in the south, such as Galle, Matara, Hambantota, Anuradhapura, Kurunegala, and other districts. However, Anura’s popularity has drawn attention in the north as well. For the first time, substantial support appears to be emerging for the JVP in the northern and district districts of Jaffna, Batticaloa, Ampara, and Trincomalee. However, every parliamentary election has been similarly heralded as “historic” by the press and media, though often without substance. The major parties – the United National Party, Sri Lanka Freedom Party, and Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna – have ruled Sri Lanka repeatedly, with the media often playing a supportive role by portraying each election as historic, ultimately misleading the public.

Sri Lanka’s first left-wing political party, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), once had widespread support across the country and grew powerful enough to become a significant opposition force. The plantation population, in particular, supported both the LSSP and the Communist Party. The LSSP achieved major victories in parliamentary elections after the 1940s. In response, the first Prime Minister, D. S. Senanayake, revoked the citizenship of people of Indian origin, stripping them of their political rights. As a result, the LSSP lost a significant portion of its support base. When the citizenship rights of people of Indian origin were revoked, the prominent Tamil leader G. G. Ponnambalam served as a key Minister in the UNP Cabinet. Although he opposed the provisions of the Act within the Cabinet, Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake ultimately prevailed. Despite his opposition, Ponnambalam failed to take meaningful action to protect the political rights of the hill-country Tamil population. This perceived betrayal led S. J. V. Chelvanayakam to leave the Tamil Congress Party and establish the Federal Party.

In the northern and eastern regions, the parties and organizations that once formed the traditional alliances of the Tamil Alliance and other Tamil parties have fragmented. They are now contesting the general election as separate alliances. Like it or not, the Federal Party remains somewhat influential today, although its support base is not as strong as it once was

Tamil parties have often criticized and blamed the major national parties as being racist. Ironically, most Tamil political parties – such as Thamil Arasu Katchi, Tamil Congress, and the Tamil National Alliance – include “Tamil” in their names. In contrast, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, United National Party, and Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna do not reference any race in their names. Yet, Tamil parties have continued to win elections by appealing to Tamil-speaking people with claims that only the major parties are racist. Some insights into racism are important here. Muslim citizens representing major parties have been elected as members of Parliament in predominantly Sinhala areas. However, the stark reality is that the Muslim population in the North and East has been alienated by the Jaffna-centered major Tamil parties.

G. G. Ponnambalam, the leader of the Tamil Congress, advocated for 50/50 representation for the Sinhalese and other ethnic groups, despite the fact that Sinhalese people are the majority. This 50/50 representation demand is seen as an extremely racist slogan. In other words, he openly undermined the representation and political rights of the majority Sinhalese people. S. J. V. Chelvanayakam left the Tamil Congress and founded the Federal Party due to G. G. Ponnambalam’s perceived betrayal of the upcountry Tamils. However, Chelvanayakam’s own performance was not markedly better than that of Ponnambalam. Chelvanayakam’s own words deserve attention. In 1970, when the SLFP coalition swept the parliamentary elections, Chelvanayakam famously declared, “Only God should save the Tamils from now on.” It is essential to closely examine the underlying implications of this statement. The first implication is that the UNP government is preferable. The second is that Sirimao’s party will not benefit the Tamils. Notably, Chelvanayakam’s loyalty to the UNP correlates with the historical voting patterns of the Tamil (Jaffna) people, who have traditionally supported UNP candidates in all elections within the Colombo Municipal limits and the adjoining areas of Dehiwela and Ratmalana.

On 27 Oct., a book titled “Jaffna on Fire” (Tamil version) was launched in Jaffna. Original Sinhalese book was translated by well-known media personality and translator, Manoranchan, into Tamil. The author, Nandana Weerasekhara, presented evidence that the Jaffna Public Library, modern market, and other locations were set on fire during the presidency of J. R. Jayewardene, allegedly with his blessing. Another notable aspect is that Tamil leaders, both before and after this incident, provided full political support to the UNP.

President Dissanayake’s NPP is expected to win significantly in the upcoming general elections. This expectation arises from the fact that most Sri Lankans are seeking change. President Dissanayake has emphasised the need to elect representatives from the NPP in large numbers to cleanse the Parliament. It is understandable that the President requires a strong Parliament to effectively govern the country with new legislative measures. During a meeting in Kilinochchi on 04 Nov., Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya captured the attention of the audience by stating that Parliament should be cleansed. She emphasised the importance of electing the right representatives in the upcoming general elections. The overwhelming response from the audience reaffirmed the prevailing mood of the country.

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Opinion

Boxing day tsunami:Unforgettable experience

Published

4 hours ago

2024/12/27

Thilina Walpola

The aftermath of the 2004 tsunami. (Picture Sena Vidanagama for AFP)

The first and only tsunami that Sri Lanka experienced was on Boxing Day(26th) of December 2004. My wife and I, as usual, went down to Modara in Moratuwa to purchase our seafood requirements of seafood from our familiar fishmonger, Siltin, from whom we had been buying fish for a long time. Sometimes we used to take a couple of friends of ours. But on this day, it was only both of us that went on this trip.

We made our purchases and were returning home and when we came up to the Dehiwala bridge, many people were looking down at the canal from both sides of the bridge. This was strange, as normally if there was something unusual, it would be on one side.

Anyway, we came home unaware of anything that had happened. A school friend of mine (sadly he is no longer with us) telephoned me and asked whether I was aware of what had happened. When I answered him in the negative, he told me to switch on the TV and watch. Then when I did so and saw what was happening, I was shocked. But still I did not know that we had just managed to escape being swept away by the tsunami.

Later, when I telephoned Siltin and asked him, he said that both of us had a narrow escape. Soon after we had left in our car, the tsunami had invaded the shore with a terrifying wave and taken away everything of the fishmongers, including their stalls, the fish, weighing scales and money. The fishmongers had managed to run to safety.

This had been about five minutes after we had left. So, it was a narrow shave to have escaped the wrath of the demining tsunami( the name many Sri Lankans came to know after it hit our island very badly}

HM NISSANKA WARAKAULLE

Opinion

Shocking jumbo deaths

Published

4 hours ago

2024/12/27

Thilina Walpola

Revatha, one of five electrocuted in North Central province. Image courtesy of Mahinda Prabath. (It first appeared in Mongabay)

Sri Lanka has recorded a staggering 375 elephant deaths in the past eleven and a half months due to a multitude of causes, according to the Department of Wildlife Conservation. U. L Thaufeeq, Deputy Director – Elephant Conservation said the deaths include 74 from gunshots, 53 from electrocution, 49 from hakka patas (explosive devices hidden in food), seven from poisoning, 10 from train accidents, three from a road accident, and six by drowning. It makes such diabolical reading!

“The causes of other deaths are due to natural causes or causes that could not be identified. Most of the elephants that died were young,” the official said.

Meanwhile, the human-elephant conflict has also taken a toll on people, with 149 human deaths reported this year.

Accordingly, human-elephant conflict has resulted in 524 deaths of both elephants and humans in 2024.

In 2023, a total of 488 elephants and 184 people have died consequent to the conflict, according to Wildlife Department statistics.

The human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka has escalated to unprecedented levels with reasons like habitat destruction, encroachment, and the lack of sustainable coexistence measures contributing to the issue.

This is an indictment of the Wildlife Department for just giving the sad yearly statistics of shocking losses of our National treasures !

Given the fact that Sri Lanka boasts of 29.9% of the country declared as protected forests, Sri Lanka is a haven for nature lovers. Boasting 26 national parks, 10 nature reserves including 3 strict nature reserves, and 61 sanctuaries, the national parks in Sri Lanka offer an incredible variety of wildlife experiences.

Taken in that context, the million dollar question is why on earth the Wildlife Department is not being proactive to capture these magnificent animals and transport them into protected sanctuaries, thus effectively minimising dangers to villagers ?

Being a Buddhist country primarily, to turn a blind eye to these avoidable tragic deaths to mankind and wild elephants, we should be ashamed !

As a practising Buddhist myself, I think our clergy could play a major part in calling upon the Wildlife Department to get their act together sooner rather than later to protect human elephant conflicts !

Sri Lanka being a favourite destination amongst foreign tourists, they are bound to take a dim view of what is happening on the ground!

If the top brass in the responsible department are not doing their job properly, may be there is a case for the new President to intervene before it gets worse!

All animal lovers hope and pray the New Year will usher in a well coordinated plan of action put in place to ensure the well being of wildlife and villagers !

Sunil Dharmabandhu
Wales, UK

Opinion

Laws and regulations pertaining to civil aviation in SL, CAASL

Published

4 hours ago

2024/12/27

Thilina Walpola

This has reference to the article from the Aircraft Owners and Operators Sri Lanka, titled ‘Closer look at regulatory oversight and its impact on Tourism’, published on Tuesday, 24th December 2024.To explain further, in the beginning there was the Air Navigation Act No 15 of 1950 which was followed by the Air Navigation Regulations (ANR) of 1955. This was long before the national airline had acquired pressurised aircraft, intercontinental jets, sophisticated navigation equipment, satellite communication and automatic landing systems, and ‘glass’ flight-deck instrumentation.

Today, civil aviation in Sri Lanka is governed by Civil Aviation Act Number 14 of 2010. Yet the Air Navigation Regulations (ANR) promulgated back in 1955 remain in force.

These outdated regulations still stipulate rules forbidding the carriage of passengers on the airplane’s wings or undercarriage (landing gear). In short, they are neither practical nor user-friendly. In contrast, the Air Navigation Regulations of other countries have progressed and are easy to read, understand, and implement.

To overcome the problem of outdated regulations, as an interim measure in 1969 the then Minister of Communications and Transport, Mr E.L.B. Hurulle issued a Government Gazette notification declaring that the Standard and Recommended Procedures (SARPs) in Annexes to the ICAO Convention signed by Ceylon in 1944 shall be made law.

Even so, nothing much was done to move with the times until updating of the Civil Aviation Act 14 of 2010, while the Air Navigation Regulations remained unchanged since 1955. However, these regulations were modified from time to time by the promulgation of Implementing Standards (IS) and General Directives (GDs) which were blindly ‘cut and pasted’ by the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL), from the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) Annexe ‘SARPS’ without much thought given. To date there are literally 99 IS’s starting from 2010.

The currently effective air navigation regulations are not in one document like the rest of the world, but all over the place and difficult for the flying public to follow as they are not regularly updated. This sad situation seems to have been noticed by the current regime.

The National Tourism Policy of the ruling NPP states, “Domestic air operations are currently limited due to high cost and regulatory restrictions. The current regulatory and operational environment will be reviewed to ensure domestic air connectivity to major tourist destinations. The potential of operating a domestic air schedule with multiple operators is proposed. Additionally, domestic airports and water aerodromes in potential key areas will be further developed, for high-end tourism growth.”

“The tourism policy recognises Sri Lanka’s potential to develop Sri Lanka’s aviation-based specialised tourism products, including fun flying, hot air ballooning, paragliding, parachuting and skydiving, and scenic seaplane operations. To facilitate the growth of these niche markets, existing regulations will be reviewed with the aim of attracting capable investors to develop and operate these offerings.”

It remains to be seen whether the NPP government lives up to those promises.

Note:

That OPA report talks of two funds: ‘Connectivity’ and ‘Viability’ for a limited period like three or five years to help jump-start the domestic aviation industry.

The ‘Connectivity Fund’ will cap the seat price for local passengers to a more affordable value to destinations while the ‘Viability Fund’ will assume that all seats are occupied and compensate the operator for any unutilised seat. The intention is to popularise domestic aviation as a safe, quick and convenient mode of transport.

Capt. Gihan A Fernando
RCyAF/ SLAF, Air Ceylon, Air Lanka, Singapore Airlines and Sri Lankan Airlines.
Now A Fun Flier