Thursday 9th April, 2026

The whole world must have heaved a huge sigh of relief yesterday when the US and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire, with Israel consenting to follow suit. Pakistan deserves praise for a timely intervention to de-escalate the West Asian conflict and prepare the ground for negotiations aimed at working out a lasting solution.

However, the situation is far from right as rain. What we are witnessing in the trouble-torn West Asia, which is red in tooth and claw, is an interval in hell, so to speak. Over the past several days, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash hell on Iran unless the Hormuz Strait is reopened for international navigation. Hell hath no fury like a US President piqued, one may say with apologies to the Bard. There are some contentious issues to be resolved for a durable solution to be negotiated.

Iran has put forth 10 conditions and the US 15 for ending the conflict peacefully. It is now up to the other world powers and the UN to step in and ratchet up pressure on the US, Israel and Iran to reach a middle ground, without resuming hostilities, and give peace a chance. They ought to do so for their own sake. Occasions were not rare when the world experienced the so-called butterfly effect, or the phenomenon whereby a minute localised change in a complex system has large effects elsewhere. But what it has recently witnessed in West Asia may be described as the Pterosaur effect, as it were, the impact of the conflict on the rest of the world being so huge. Oil prices soared, making economies around the world scream. Some leading economists even warned of possible global stagflation risks in case of prolonged energy shocks from the Iran war. Oil prices came down significantly following the announcement of the ceasefire, but it is highly unlikely that they will return to the pre-conflict level of USD 70 a barrel any time soon due to irreparable damage suffered by critical energy infrastructure in the region. This has been the cost of US-Israeli military aggression.

Long dead as Mahatma Gandhi is, a core tenet of his teachings, nonviolent resistance, lives on today. What the Iranians adopted yesterday to protect their power plants, bridges, etc., vis-à-vis US President Trump’s threat to destroy them in a matter of a few hours was the Gandhian method of countering violence with nonviolence. According to media reports, a large number of Iranians gathered around potential US/Israeli targets, appealing to the conscience of the Americans. Whether their conscience-stirring method was the reason why Trump decided against carrying out his threat to annihilate the Iranian civilization in one fell swoop is a moot point, but blowing up infrastructural facilities together with thousands of unarmed civilians is something that no leader, other than someone like Hitler, can bring himself to do. Trump is already facing protests in the US against his war and has incurred international opprobrium for US aggression. Most of all, an attempt to wipe out a whole civilization would have triggered a spate of retaliatory attacks by Iran on multi-billion dollar US assets in the region.

It is ironic that the Iranian authorities who mercilessly ordered crackdowns on civilian protests before the eruption of the conflict had to urge the people to come out in their thousands and form human chains around infrastructural facilities to protect them.

One thing we gather from the West Asian conflict is that some elderly leaders’ dreams can become nightmares for others, especially the youth. Driven by his MAGA dream, Trump is trying to build an empire and grab the precious oil resources of other nations. He has graduated from abductions (in Venezuela) to assassinations (in Iran) in a bid to realise his goal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that a 40-year-old dream came true for him when he and Trump started attacking Iran. The Iranian leaders have also been dreaming of obliterating Israel. These dangerous dreams of ageing leaders remind us of Wilfred Owen’s Anthem for Doomed Youth: “What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? — Only the monstrous anger of the guns …” Perhaps, the best elderly leaders with a penchant for belligerence can do for the world, particularly the youth, who bear the brunt of any war, is to stop dreaming.

It is hoped that the peacemakers who have undertaken the onerous task of reconciling the warring parties in West Asia will not lose sight of the need to address the root cause of the conflict. While welcoming the Pakistan-brokered ceasefire, many seasoned analysts have pointed out that without a resolution of the Palestine question, particularly working towards a two-state solution supported by the UN, broader peace initiatives in West Asia are unlikely to reach fruition.

Wednesday 8th April, 2026

It is ironic that the JVP-NPP government is now defending tainted ministers and downplaying corruption in the Parliament it came to power promising to clean up. A few weeks ago, it vehemently denied the allegation that more than a dozen coal shipments obtained from a new supplier for the Norochcholai power plant were substandard. Having realised the futility of defending the indefensible, it chose to eat its words. However, it kept on claiming that the low-quality coal had not affected power generation. Now, it has had to admit that the low-grade coal imports have led to a huge drop in electricity generation at the Norochcholai power plant. However, it claims that there have been no irregularities in the coal procurement process! It has thus craftily conceded some points to defend its main argument that the integrity of its members is above reproach.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday admitted in Parliament that low-quality coal had adversely impacted electricity generation. Assuring that the additional costs would not be passed on to the public, he claimed that the price of the first shipment of coal had effectively dropped from USD 98 per tonne to around USD 68 per tonne after penalties were imposed on the supplier. This cannot be cited in extenuation of the offences of supplying and procuring low-quality coal. The quality of coal was so low that all coal stocks should have been rejected in keeping with the tender guidelines. Instead, the government allowed the errant supplier to dump dirty coal here after paying penalties! Even if the penalties have led to a coal price reduction, as the President has claimed, more than 1.2 million litres of diesel have to be burnt daily to meet the electricity generation shortfall caused by the use of low-quality coal at Norochcholai, according to Convener of the United Trade Union Force, Ananda Palitha, a former Ceylon Petroleum Corporation worker.

Although President Dissanayake has said the additional costs arising from low-quality coal will be recovered from the supplier and they would not be passed on to electricity consumers, electricity tariffs have already been increased, and it is feared that another power price hike is in the pipeline. Diesel stocks meant for transport and agricultural purposes are being diverted for power generation. The Opposition yesterday claimed that unofficial power shedding was already on because it was not feasible to burn diesel to produce power to meet the Norochcholai generation shortfall. Power and energy experts have warned that official power cuts will be imposed after the upcoming traditional New Year.

It can also be argued that the government has raised colossal amounts of funds at the expense of the public to absorb losses caused by the coal scam. It has resorted to price gouging. It is accused of having jacked up the prices of fuel stocks procured before the eruption of the Iran war. The Opposition says the government has increased the price of old LGP stocks. The people are without any defence when their government orders them to stand and deliver.

While addressing Parliament, President Dissanayake also sought to defend his friend, Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody the Opposition is all out to oust over the fraudulent coal procurement. A no-faith motion against Jayakody is scheduled to be taken up in Parliament on 10 April. The President laid the blame for the low-quality coal imports solely at the doorstop of the supplier. True, that company must be held accountable for violating the tender guidelines and fined. But the government cannot absolve itself of the blame for the coal scam. It postponed the commencement of the bidding process and changed the tender criteria in favour of the errant company, as the Opposition has revealed in Parliament, holding Minister Jayakody accountable for the corrupt coal deal.

A future government is bound to have the coal scam probed thoroughly, and the JVP/NPP big guns involved in it will have to face legal action when they lose their hold on power. They will have a lot to answer for. Former ministers have been imprisoned for misusing fuel allowances.

Monday 6th April, 2026

Seven years have almost elapsed since the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage, but there are still no answers to some vital questions about the tragedy that shook the world. Several schools of thought have emerged on the mastermind/s behind the 2019 terror strikes. It is being claimed in some quarters that the terror attacks were carried out by National Thowheed Jamaat (NTJ) leader Zahran Hashim and his followers at the behest of Islamic State (IS), which was suffering severe setbacks at the time. This argument has not found favour with others who think that some foreign powers were behind the terror attacks or the handlers of the suicide bombers were on a mission to facilitate the return of the Rajapaksas to power by stoking fears about national security among the people. These allegations, counter allegations, arguments and counterarguments have given rise to various conspiracy theories which have obfuscated the main issue.

There is hardly anything that politicians spare in their quest for power, and they have made the most of many tragedies, from the rape and murder of Premawathi Manamperi during the 1971 counterinsurgency operations against the JVP to the Easter Sunday carnage. The countless extrajudicial killings during the second JVP uprising and the civilian deaths during the Eelam war are issues that politicians have flogged hard to advance their political agendas. The SLPP came to power, promising to uncover the truth about the Easter Sunday carnage, but reneged on its pledge. The JVP/NPP made a solemn pledge to bring the masterminds behind the terror attacks to justice expeditiously, and secured the support of the campaigners for justice, but its promise also remains unfulfilled although it has been in power for nearly one and a half years.

Those who are seeking justice are confused. They first pinned their hopes on the SLPP and backed it in elections. After being ensconced in power, the SLPP insisted that NTJ leader Hashim or Moulavi Nauffer had masterminded the terror strikes; they cited FBI reports, etc., to bolster their claim. Those seeking justice then accused the SLPP of having masterminded the terror attacks to capture power. Now, the leaders of the JVP/NPP who, as Opposition MPs thundered in Parliament, blaming Islamic extremists for the carnage, and urged some Muslim politicians to put the genie back into the bottle, have changed their tune. They have held their immediate predecessors responsible for the terror attacks and are in overdrive, trying to prove their claim.

Partisan politics have stood in the way of efforts to find out the masterminds behind the Easter Sunday terror attacks. There has been a call for a fresh, thorough probe into the carnage, based on the findings of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCOI) which probed it. This, in our view, is a sensible suggestion. Prejudices and political affiliations of some lead investigators have tainted the integrity of the ongoing probe. An investigation must be free from the influence of those who are trying to cover up their own lapses that led to the terror attacks or to settle political scores. The police have impartial, capable officers and they must be entrusted with the task of investigating the 2019 terror strikes.

Meanwhile, Opposition and SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa, in his Easter Sunday message, has said that delivering justice for the victims of the 2019 terror attacks remains a fundamental responsibility of the state. He has lamented that it is a grave failure as a nation that justice has not yet been delivered to those killed, injured and affected by the Easter Sunday terror attacks. What he says is true, but there is no way he and other SJB MPs who were members of the UNP-led Yahapalana government can absolve themselves of the blame for that dysfunctional regime’s failure to prevent the Easter Sunday carnage. They were in the Yahapalana Cabinet. The PCOI report says, “The government, including President Sirisena and Prime Minister [Ranil Wickremesinghe] is accountable for the tragedy” (p. 471). In other words, the PCOI has held all members of the Yahapalana government, including those who are currently in the SJB, accountable for the carnage. The JVP propped up that failed government which could not protect national security.

The former members of the Yahapalana government and others who won elections by promising to serve justice to the Easter Sunday terror victims should now cast their politics aside and make a concerted effort to have the carnage thoroughly investigated and clear doubts in the public mind.