Features

EDUCATION IN THE PLANTATION SECTOR

Published

2 years ago

2024/02/4

Thilina Walpola

Happy and fulfilled children are a gift to the world

(Excerpted from the autobiography of Merrill J. Fernando)

Apart from livelihoods, post-tsunami, children’s education was one of the most deeply-affected dimensions. Our team established pre-schools for children in the affected areas and supplied teachers, specially trained by the Foundation not only to educate but also to handle emotional and physical trauma, resulting from the tsunami experience.

The outcomes of the educational assistance initiatives are probably most visible in the plantation sector, across three Regional Plantation Companies, benefiting several thousand children in terms of learning, equipment, accessories, and other facilities and, equally importantly, nutrition. At a higher level, bright students have been provided scholarships to enable them to pursue university education. This initiative has already produced two medical doctors and two lawyers, whilst there are five such students currently reading for their medical degrees in the medical faculties of the Jaffna, Rajarata, and Peradeniya Universities. The present judge in the Magistrate’s Court of Jaffna is also a direct beneficiary of the plantation residents’ scholarship programme.

The inadequacies of education in plantation areas are not visible to the mainstream because of the insular nature of the plantation society. Most plantation youth, male and female, because of overcrowded housing, a reluctance to engage in the traditional manual work of their parents, the desire for easy money, and the real need for augmenting family income, drop out very early from educational systems and seek employment outside.

However, due to lack of marketable skills and the minimalistic level of formal education, these youth are relegated to employment mostly below the blue collar level, condemning them and their progeny to the same vicious cycle of marginalization. Without assistance from specially-designed schemes, providing plantation youth access to higher education, the plantation sector will remain, well into the foreseeable future, a source of unskilled, low-paid labour, for the benefit of the more affluent external society.

The sweat and toil of our plantation workers, for over a century, have helped create billionaires in the other countries, in Europe and elsewhere, and in our country as well. I was first exposed to this culture of exploitation on my first visit to England, more than six decades ago when I underwent training as a Tea Taster at Mincing Lane, then the global centre of the tea trade. However, the worker who produces the tea, which enriches so many others in the commercial pipeline, remains marginalized. Unless the value created by the tea remains in the country and a surplus is channeled back for the workers’ benefit, as Dilmah is doing, the plantation worker’s lot will not change.

Personal experience

When I visited the tsunami-hit areas of the south, I saw for myself the impact of the devastation. I met children who had lost parents and siblings, and parents who had lost their children. People had lost homes and livelihoods. Some of these children had been so traumatized by their experiences, that they would not communicate or interact with society, in their silence and mute withdrawal, finding a measure of solace for an inexplicable tragedy.

Those who could muster the will to talk related the most harrowing tales of personal loss and deprivation. Listening to individual stories of such tragedies I felt so distressed that I could not even imagine how devastating it would have been to the individual who was telling me the story.

On one of his visits to the north, two doctors serving in the region had met Dilhan and requested him to build a new wing for the Accident Ward of the Kayts Hospital. I was not confident of the benefits of this kind of initiative, largely because of a disappointing experience previously with the Maharagama Cancer Hospital. The Foundation donated to the hospital a mammogram machine, which was idle for months after installation as the hospital did not provide X-ray film. However, Dilhan ascertained that the doctors who approached him were genuine and, about a year later, we completed construction of the new wing.

At Kayts – with a happy beneficiary

I attended the opening with my friend Ravi Thambiayah. After the ceremony, people of the area came and thanked me personally, assuring me that the new wing would actually save lives, which otherwise would be lost. Their gratitude was overwhelming. Such was their appreciation that they perceived me as an emissary of the gods they worshiped.

Apparently, in that area, people struck down by sudden and serious illnesses, snake-bites, and those injured in accidents, normally had to travel to the Jaffna Hospital, 16 km away and because of the inadequacy of transport facilities, two hours’ travel time away at best. With the new wing, such patients would be attended to within minutes. I was told that over 40,000 people were dependent on that hospital.

It takes little to enrich the lives of simple people, to whom the fulfillment of a basic need is an unexpected luxury. The Kayts experience encouraged me to extend the Foundation’s assistance in the north, and the next result was the construction of a new, three-storey, 90-bed ward block for the Point Pedro General Hospital, opened for operations in February 2021.

The existing ward buildings were over a century old and dilapidated, severely limiting the services the hospital could offer to over 150,000 people who depended on it. This initiative was co-sponsored, by the Ian and Barbara Karan Foundation for Youth Development. In fact, it was declared open on my behalf by Ian and his wife Barbara, in association with K. Ravindran and Rajan Asirwatham, both Trustees of the MJF Charitable Foundation, and my son Dilhan.

Symbolically, Ian Karan, my dear friend of many years, had been born in the very same hospital in 1939! Orphaned at a young age, he received his early education at Hartley College, Point Pedro. Thereafter, he entered the London School of Economics. Subsequently securing employment in a shipping company in Hamburg, in 1975 he set up a shipping company of his own.

Selling off that business in 1996, he established a container leasing company which, by the time he sold it a few years later, had become one of the largest such enterprises in the world. His foundation supports youth development, particularly in Sri Lanka, through the nationwide promotion of charitable initiatives, institutions, and projects. Like me, Ian is also a man of simple origins and strong in faith, who later became a successful entrepreneur. He too subscribes to the principle of the entrepreneur’s responsibility towards social justice.

Ian, Barbara, and his children became great friends with my family as well. All my visits to Hamburg included meetings with Ian and his family; knowing my fondness for opera and other performing arts, Ian and Barbara would ensure that my visits to them were enlivened by attendance at the Hamburg State Opera, for which they would very kindly get tickets for me.

The world of children – the dark side

I am haunted by the recurrent image of little children born with serious disabilities, undergoing rehabilitation and therapy, at both the Moratuwa and Kalkudah Centres. As a man with an abiding faith in a merciful God, the afflictions of such children is to me an inexplicable tragedy. Dilhan has always warned me against showing outward demonstrations of my distress on my visits to them, as that could upset the parents. However, I am also deeply grateful to providence that I have been able to contribute in some measure to make such lives more comfortable.

Children with congenital impairments are a heart-break for the concerned families. Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and autism are conditions, which affected children and their families are compelled to live with till the end as there is no cure. Such children are marginalized and isolated, both by society and often by their own families. Both our Moratuwa and the East Centres provide for the care and training of disadvantaged children, as well as their family members, who need to be educated in the management and care of affected children. These programmes relieve parents from much of the pressure of caring for such children.

The stigmatization that such children are subject to by mainstream society, was brought home to me in a most unpleasant development soon after the commencement of the operations of the Ambagahawatte Centre, which specializes in the rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy and other developmental disorders.

Families in the immediate neighbourhood protested at its purpose and activities, as they considered the housing of such disadvantaged children so close to their homes as potential for bad luck for themselves! Such superstitious and insensitive attitudes prevalent in mainstream society strongly reinforce the need for special initiatives to assist the disabled and to empower their families as well.

These children are also trained, educated, and stimulated by well-trained and caring staff to create art and, in various other ways, such as dance and theatre, to express themselves. Our annual MJF Centre ‘Celebrating Differences’ event, has become an ideal platform for the self-expression of these children, under normal circumstances condemned to lives of loneliness and an absence of recognition.

The performances that these differently-abled children produce year after year, with such self-confidence despite impediments to speech, movement, and cognition, are inspirational and deeply moving. What’s on display is not just child theatre, but, also, the power of love and caring. I witness this event every year and each time I am moved to tears.

Nipuna, one such child who has been with the Moratuwa Centre for several years, has become a child artist and improved his interpersonal skills to such an extent that we were able to place him in charge of a little restaurant we opened. Despite the inherent disadvantages of Down syndrome, he has developed to a stage where he considers himself an entrepreneur. He has told me very confidently that he wants to be a chairman of a company.

The progress of our initiatives with disabled children are signposted by such small, hard-won victories, but which loom large in the lives of those so enabled. One of the greatest joys of my life is seeing the beautiful smiles of little children, reflecting their joy at the liberation from congenital impediments.

There are other heart-warming moments, such as on a visit to an orphanage that the Foundation supports, when a blind child grabs Dilhan’s hand, smells his palm, and says with a brilliant smile: “This must be Mr. Dilhan.” To me, a little episode like that justifies all the resources that Dilmah diverts to the Foundation.

My world view

In the unforgiving world of big business and corporate enterprise, amid the relentless and mercenary crusade to become better, bigger, and more profitable, it is very easy to lose sight of the very society which big business feeds on; a society which consists largely of small people, struggling daily to make ends meet. The slightest disruption to the equilibrium of the diverse forces which regulate that society, whether through natural calamity, man-made conflict, or ungovernable economic disorder, immediately affects small people; they are the very first casualties of any upheaval as, their condition makes them the most vulnerable of our society.

A business cannot engage in charity at the expense of profit but, by the same token, a business cannot ignore the inequalities and inequities of the world in which it operates. A business creates genuine and lasting shareholder value when, within the means of its operation, it addresses those issues in the external society.

`Fair Trade’ has become a catchy slogan and the labels which carry that mantra provide comfort to civic-minded customers, who believe that part of what they pay for the product will go back to the producer. In the business reality of my perception, the ‘Fair Trade’ of corporate jargon is little more than marketing strategy, leveraged to perpetuate the existing system of multinational exploitation. In that system, from what the consumer pays at the cashier’s counter, the supermarket, the packer, the distributor, the importer, and the broker each get their piece of the action. The producer and the farmer are left with the crumbs off the table.

The ‘Fair Trade’ slogan has been introduced to marketing-speak by the multinationals because, after decades of exploitation along the chain, they have been compelled to accept the fact their trade has been, essentially, always unfair! In the hands of most traders, ‘Fair Trade’ has become a tool to gain the sympathy and support of the consumer, without genuinely addressing the consequences of unfair trade.

Genuinely fair trade presupposes the empowerment of the producer, but in reality very little of the value goes back to the farmer. Trade becomes genuinely fair only when earnings surplus is deployed in the country of origin, outside the ambit of the business, in caring for and empowering the marginalized and the indigent.

The country which grows the product is the best location for ‘Fair Trade’. That is what Dilmah does. Every cup of Dilmah tea, wherever in the world it is drunk, brings a measure of happiness, comfort, and empowerment, to either an individual or a community in need back in the country where the Dilmah tea is grown.

Opening of 100 bed ward at Point Pedro; Ian, Dilhan, Rajan, Ravi & Barbara

The needs of the disadvantaged in our society are many. Governments, which are shackled by bureaucratic restrictions, can only do so much and because of the size of the problem, that is insufficient. I know that I am also making a small impact within the means enabled by my business. But my view is that if all entrepreneurs make whatever contribution possible, addressing genuine community inadequacies in a sustainable manner, the world will become a much better place for the disadvantaged and the marginalized. I stand by my view, that every business must have a greater purpose which lies beyond profit.

After I launched the Foundation and its work got going in an organized manner, Dilhan kept bringing me more and more projects for sponsorship. I agreed to help with whatever resources I can divert for the cause and, despite my initial misgivings regarding the sustainability of our philanthropy, somehow the means have always appeared. The Bible says that the charity that you do is a gift to God and God repays you in abundance. In this world there is no shortage of wealth, but there is a great inequity in its distribution. Those who possess the means must correct that imbalance and that correction can be achieved only by sharing.

The fruits of the success of Dilmah have been many. It has provided employment to thousands, both here and abroad; it has also enriched many. In the process, it has carried across the world the message of the value of Pure Ceylon Tea and established its image as a desirable product in over 100 countries. It has brought me fame, fortune, recognition, and accolades. However, in my mind, its most valuable outcome is the goodness that I, along with my family, have been able to create with the value created by Dilmah. That will be its most enduring legacy.

‘Business as a Matter of Human Service’ is a responsibility we all share and that which we must all contribute to. What I shared with 18 of my workers six decades ago has, through the efforts of the many people who accompanied me on my long journey, and with the grace of God, increased exponentially and today benefits thousands of less-fortunate individuals and their families. As my friend Leighton Smith of New Zealand has expressed so very simply in his book, ‘Leighton Smith, Beyond the Microphone: “Merrill is an admirable example of how what you put out comes back to you; in his case, in droves… “

We come into this world with nothing, we leave with nothing. The wealth that some of us acquire is owed to the efforts and cooperation of many others around us. Let us, therefore, share that wealth while we are still around, so that the goodwill and contentment created thereby may make our world a happier place for others too.

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Features

The Venezuela Model:The new ugly and dangerous world order

Published

16 hours ago

2026/01/9

Thilina Walpola

The US armed forces invading Venezuela, removing its President Nicolás Maduro from power and abducting him and his wife Cilia Flores on 3 January 2026, flying them to New York and producing Maduro in a New York kangaroo court is now stale news, but a fact. What is a far more potent fact is the pan-global impotent response to this aggression except in Latin America, China, Russia and a few others.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro described the attack as an “assault on the sovereignty” of Latin America, thereby portraying the aggression as an assault on the whole of Latin America. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva referred to the attack as crossing “an unacceptable line” that set an “extremely dangerous precedent.” Again, one can see his concern goes beyond Venezuela. For Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum the attack was in “clear violation” of the UN Charter, which again is a fact. But when it comes to powerful countries, the UN Charter has been increasingly rendered irrelevant over decades, and by extension, the UN itself. For the French Foreign Minister, the operation went against the “principle of non-use of force that underpins international law” and that lasting political solutions cannot be “imposed by the outside.” UN Secretary General António Guterres said he was “deeply alarmed” about the “dangerous precedent” the United States has set where rules of international law were not being respected. Russia, notwithstanding its bloody and costly entanglement in Ukraine, and China have also issued strong statements.

Comparatively however, many other countries, many of whom are long term US allies who have been vocal against the Russian aggression in Ukraine have been far more sedate in their reaction. Compared to his Foreign Minister, French President Emmanuel Macron said the Venezuelan people could “only rejoice” at the ousting of Maduro while the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz believed Maduro had “led his country into ruin” and that the U.S. intervention required “careful consideration.” The British and EU statements have been equally lukewarm. India’s and Sri Lanka’s statements do not even mention the US while Sri Lanka’s main coalition partner the JVP has issued a strongly worded statement.

Taken together, what is lacking in most of these views, barring a negligible few, especially from the so-called powerful countries, is the moral indignation or outrage on a broad scale that used to be the case in similar circumstances earlier. It appears that a new ugly and dangerous world order has finally arrived, footprints of which have been visible for some time.

It is not that the US has not invaded sovereign countries and affected regime change or facilitated such change for political or economic reasons earlier. This has been attempted in Cuba without success since the 1950s but with success in Chile in 1973 under the auspices of Augusto Pinochet that toppled the legitimate government of president Salvador Allende and established a long-lasting dictatorship friendly towards the US; the invasion of Panama and the ouster and capture of President Manuel Noriega in 1989 and the 2003 invasion of Iraq both of which were conducted under the presidency of George Bush.

These are merely a handful of cross border criminal activities against other countries focused on regime change that the US has been involved in since its establishment which also includes the ouster of President of Guyana Cheddi Jagan in 1964, the US invasion of the Dominican Republic in 1965 stop the return of President Juan Bosch to prevent a ‘communist resurgence’; the 1983 US invasion of Grenada after the overthrow and killing of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop purportedly to ensure that the island would not become a ‘Soviet-Cuban’ colony. A more recent adventure was the 2004 removal and kidnapping of the Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, which also had French support.

There is however a difference between all the earlier examples of US aggression and the Venezuelan operation. The earlier operations where the real reasons may have varied from political considerations based on ideological divergence to crude economics, were all couched in the rhetoric of democracy. That is, they were undertaken in the guise of ushering democratic changes in those countries, the region or the world irrespective of the long-term death and destruction which followed in some locations. But in Venezuela under President Donald Trump, it is all about controlling natural resources in that country to satisfy US commercial interests.

The US President is already on record for saying the US will “run” Venezuela until a “safe transition” is concluded and US oil companies will “go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money” – ostensibly for the US and those in Venezuela who will tag the US line. Trump is also on record saying that the main aim of the operation was to regain U.S. oil rights, which according to him were “stolen” when Venezuela nationalized the industry. The nationalization was obviously to ensure that the funds from the industry remained in the country even though in later times this did lead to massive internal corruption.

Let’s be realistic. Whatever the noise of the new rhetoric is, this is not about ‘developing’ Venezuela for the benefit of its people based on some unknown streak of altruism but crudely controlling and exploiting its natural assets as was the case with Iraq. As crude as it is, one must appreciate Trump’s unintelligent honesty stemming from his own unmitigated megalomania. Whatever US government officials may say, the bottom line is the entire operation was planned and carried out purely for commercial and monetary gain while the pretext was Maduro being ‘a narco-terrorist.’ There is no question that Maduro was a dictator who was ruining his own country. But there is also no question that it is not the business of the US or any other country to decide what his or Venezuela’s fate is. That remains with the Venezuelan people.

What is dangerous is, the same ‘narco-terrorist’ rhetoric can also be applied to other Latin American countries such as Columbia, Brazil and Mexico which also produce some of the narcotics that come into the US consumer markets. The response should be not to invade these countries to stem the flow, but to deal with the market itself, which is the US. In real terms what Trump has achieved with his invasion of Venezuela for purely commercial gain and greed, followed by the abject silence or lukewarm reaction from most of the world, is to create a dangerous and ugly new normal for military actions across international borders. The veneer of democracy has also been dispensed with.

The danger lies in the fact that this new doctrine or model Trump has devised can similarly be applied to any country whose resources or land a powerful megalomaniac leader covets as long as he has unlimited access to military assets of his country, backed by the dubius remnants of the political and social safety networks, commonsense and ethics that have been conveniently dismantled. This is a description of the present-day United States too. This danger is boosted when the world remains silent. After the success of the Venezuela operation, Trump has already upended his continuing threats to annex Greenland because “we need Greenland from the standpoint of national security.” Greenland too is not about security, but commerce given its vast natural resources.

Hours after Venezuela, Trump threatened the Colombian President Gustavo Petro to “watch his ass.” In the present circumstances, Canadians also would not have forgotten Trump’s threat earlier in 2025 to annex Canada. But what the US President and his current bandwagon replete with arrogance and depleted intelligence would not understand is, beyond the short-term success of the Venezuela operation and its euphoria, the dangerous new normal they have ushered in would also create counter threats towards the US, the region and the world in a scale far greater than what exists today. The world will also become a far less safe place for ordinary American citizens.

More crucially, it will also complicate global relations. It would no longer be possible for the mute world leaders to condemn Russian action in Ukraine or if China were to invade Taiwan. The model has been created by Trump, and these leaders have endorsed it. My reading is that their silence is not merely political timidity, but strategic to their own national and self-interest, to see if the Trump model could be adopted in other situations in future if the fallout can be managed.

The model for the ugly new normal has been created and tested by Trump. Its deciding factors are greed and dismantled ethics. It is now up to other adventurers to fine tune it. We would be mere spectators and unwitting casualties.

Features

Beyond the beauty: Hidden risks at waterfalls

Published

16 hours ago

2026/01/9

Thilina Walpola

Bambarakanda waterfall. Image courtesy LANKA EXCURSIONS HOLIDAYS

Sri Lanka is blessed with a large number of scenic waterfalls, mainly concentrated in the central highlands. These natural features substantially enhance the country’s attractiveness to tourists. Further, these famous waterfalls equally attract thousands of local visitors throughout the year.

While waterfalls offer aesthetic appeal, a serene environment, and recreational opportunities, they also pose a range of significant hazards. Unfortunately, the visitors are often unable to identify these different types of risks, as site-specific safety information and proper warning signs are largely absent. In most locations, only general warnings are displayed, often limited to the number of past fatalities. This can lead visitors to assume that bathing is the sole hazard, which is not the case. Therefore, understanding the full range of waterfall-related risks and implementing appropriate safety measures is essential for preventing loss of life. This article highlights site-specific hazards to raise public awareness and prevent people from putting their lives at risk due to these hidden dangers.

Flash floods and resultant water surges

Flash floods are a significant hazard in hill-country waterfalls. According to the country’s topography, most of the streams originate from the catchments in the hilly areas upstream of the waterfalls. When these catchments receive intense rainfalls, the subsequent runoff will flow down as flash floods. This will lead to an unexpected rise in the flow of the waterfall, increasing the risk of drowning and even sweeping away people. Therefore, bathing at such locations is extremely dangerous, and those who are even at the river banks have to be vigilant and should stay away from the stream as much as possible. The Bopath Ella, Ravana Ella, and a few waterfalls located in the Belihul Oya area, closer to the A99 road, are classic examples of this scenario.

Water currents

The behaviour of water in the natural pool associated with the waterfall is complex and unpredictable. Although the water surface may appear calm, strong subsurface currents and hydraulic forces exist that even a skilled swimmer cannot overcome. Hence, a person who immerses confidently may get trapped inside and disappear. Water from a high fall accelerates rapidly, forming hydraulic jumps and vortices that can trap swimmers or cause panic. Hence, bathing in these natural pools should be totally avoided unless there is clear evidence that they are safe.

Slipping risks

Slipping is a common hazard around waterfalls. Sudden loss of footing can lead to serious injuries or fatal falls into deep pools or rock surfaces. The area around many waterfalls consists of steep, slippery rocks due to moisture and the growth of algae. Sometimes, people are overconfident and try to climb these rocks for the thrill of it and to get a better view of the area. Further, due to the presence of submerged rocks, water depths vary in the natural pool area, and there is a chance of sliding down along slippery rocks into deep water. Waterfalls such as Diyaluma, Bambarakanda, and Ravana Falls are likely locations for such hazards, and caution around these sites is a must.

Rockfalls

Rockfalls are a significant hazard around waterfalls in steep terrains. Falling rocks can cause serious injuries or fatalities, and smaller stones may also be carried by fast-flowing water. People bathing directly beneath waterfalls, especially smaller ones, are therefore exposed to a high risk of injury. Accordingly, regardless of the height of the waterfall, bathing under the falling water should be avoided.

Hypothermia and cold shock

Hypothermia is a drop in body temperature below 35°C due to cold exposure. This leads to mental confusion, slowed heartbeat, muscle stiffening, and even cardiac arrest may follow. Waterfalls in Nuwara Eliya district often have very low water temperatures. Hence, immersing oneself in these waters is dangerous, particularly for an extended period.

Human negligence

Additional hazards also arise from visitors’ own negligence. Overcrowding at popular waterfalls significantly increases the risk of accidents, including slips and falls from cliffs. Sometimes, visitors like to take adventurous photographs in dangerous positions. Reckless behavior, such as climbing over barriers, ignoring warning signs, or swimming in prohibited zones, amplifies the risk.

Mitigation and safety

measures

Mitigation of waterfall-related hazards requires a combination of public awareness, engineering solutions, and policy enforcement. Clear warning signs that indicate the specific hazards associated with the water fall, rather than general hazard warnings, must be fixed. Educating visitors verbally and distributing bills that include necessary guidelines at ticket counters, where applicable, will be worth considering. Furthermore, certain restrictions should vary depending on the circumstances, especially seasonal variation of water flow, existing weather, etc.

Physical barriers should be installed to prevent access to dangerous areas by fencing. A viewing platform can protect people from many hazards discussed above. For bathing purposes, safer zones can be demarcated with access facilities.

Installing an early warning system for heavily crowded waterfalls like Bopath Ella, which is prone to flash floods, is worth implementing. Through a proper mechanism, a warning system can alert visitors when the upstream area receives rainfall that may lead to flash floods in the stream.

At present, there are hardly any officials to monitor activities around waterfalls. The local authorities that issue tickets and collect revenue have to deploy field officers to these waterfalls sites for monitoring the activities of visitors. This will help reduce not only accidents but also activities that cause environmental pollution and damage. We must ensure that these natural treasures remain a source of wonder rather than danger.

(The writer is a chartered Civil Engineer specialising in water resources engineering)

By Eng. Thushara Dissanayake ✍️

Features

From sacred symbol to silent victim: Sri Lanka’s elephants in crisis

Published

16 hours ago

2026/01/9

Thilina Walpola

The year 2025 began with grim news. On 1st January, a baby elephant was struck and killed by a train in Habarana, marking the start of a tragic series of elephant–train collisions that continued throughout the year. In addition to these incidents, the nation mourned the deaths of well-known elephants such as Bathiya and Kandalame Hedakaraya, among many others. As the year drew on, further distressing reports emerged, including the case of an injured elephant that was burnt with fire, an act of extreme cruelty that ultimately led to its death. By the end of the year, Sri Lanka recorded the highest number of elephant deaths in Asia.

This sorrowful reality stands in stark contrast to Sri Lanka’s ancient spiritual heritage. Around 250 BCE, at Mihintale, Arahant Mahinda delivered the Cūḷahatthipadopama Sutta (The Shorter Discourse on the Simile of the Elephant’s Footprint) to King Devanampiyatissa, marking the official introduction of Buddhism to the island. The elephant, a symbol deeply woven into this historic moment, was once associated with wisdom, restraint, and reverence.

Yet the recent association between Mihintale and elephants has been anything but noble. At Mihintale an elephant known as Ambabo, already suffering from a serious injury to his front limb due to human–elephant conflict (HEC), endured further cruelty when certain local individuals attempted to chase him away using flaming torches, burning him with fire. Despite the efforts of wildlife veterinary surgeons, Ambabo eventually succumbed to his injuries. The post-mortem report confirmed severe liver and kidney impairment, along with extensive trauma caused by the burns.

Was prevention possible?

The question that now arises is whether this tragedy could have been prevented.

To answer this, we must examine what went wrong.

When Ambabo first sustained an injury to his forelimb, he did receive veterinary treatment. However, after this initial care, no close or continuous monitoring was carried out. This lack of follow-up is extremely dangerous, especially when an injured elephant remains near human settlements. In such situations, some individuals may attempt to chase, harass, or further harm the animal, without regard for its condition.

A similar sequence of events occurred in the case of Bathiya. He was initially wounded by a trap gun—devices generally intended for poaching bush meat rather than targeting elephants. Following veterinary treatment, his condition showed signs of improvement. Tragically, while he was still recovering, he was shot a second time behind the ear. This second wound likely damaged vital nerves, including the vestibular nerve, which plays a critical role in balance, coordination of movement, gaze stabilisation, spatial orientation, navigation, and trunk control. In effect, the second shooting proved far more devastating than the first.

After Bathiya received his initial treatment, he was left without proper protection due to the absence of assigned wildlife rangers. This critical gap in supervision created the opportunity for the second attack. Only during the final stages of his suffering were the 15th Sri Lanka Artillery Regiment, the 9th Battalion of the Sri Lanka National Guard, and the local police deployed—an intervention that should have taken place much earlier.

Likewise, had Ambabo been properly monitored and protected after his injury, it is highly likely that his condition would not have deteriorated to such a tragic extent.

It should also be mentioned that when an injured animal like an elephant is injured, the animal will undergo a condition that is known as ‘capture myopathy’. It is a severe and often fatal condition that affects wild animals, particularly large mammals such as elephants, deer, antelope, and other ungulates. It is a stress-induced disease that occurs when an animal experiences extreme physical exertion, fear, or prolonged struggle during capture, restraint, transport, or pursuit by humans. The condition develops when intense stress causes a surge of stress hormones, leading to rapid muscle breakdown. This process releases large amounts of muscle proteins and toxins into the bloodstream, overwhelming vital organs such as the kidneys, heart, and liver. As a result, the animal may suffer from muscle degeneration, dehydration, metabolic acidosis, and organ failure. Clinical signs of capture myopathy include muscle stiffness, weakness, trembling, incoordination, abnormal posture, collapse, difficulty breathing, dark-coloured urine, and, in severe cases, sudden death. In elephants, the condition can also cause impaired trunk control, loss of balance, and an inability to stand for prolonged periods. Capture myopathy can appear within hours of a stressful event or may develop gradually over several days. So, if the sick animal is harassed like it happened to Ambabo, it does only make things worse. Unfortunately, once advanced symptoms appear, treatment is extremely difficult and survival rates are low, making prevention the most effective strategy.

What needs to be done?

Ambabo’s harassment was not an isolated incident; at times injured elephants have been subjected to similar treatment by local communities. When an injured elephant remains close to human settlements, it is essential that wildlife officers conduct regular and continuous monitoring. In fact, it should be made mandatory to closely observe elephants in critical condition for a period even after treatment has been administered—particularly when they remain in proximity to villages. This approach is comparable to admitting a critically ill patient to a hospital until recovery is assured.

At present, such sustained monitoring is difficult due to the severe shortage of staff in the Department of Wildlife Conservation. Addressing this requires urgent recruitment and capacity-building initiatives, although these solutions cannot be realised overnight. In the interim, it is vital to enlist the support of the country’s security forces. Their involvement is not merely supportive—it is essential for protecting both wildlife and people.

To mitigate HEC, a Presidential Committee comprising wildlife specialists developed a National Action Plan in 2020. The strategies outlined in this plan were selected for their proven effectiveness, adaptability across different regions and timeframes, and cost-efficiency. The process was inclusive, incorporating extensive consultations with the public and relevant authorities. If this Action Plan is fully implemented, it holds strong potential to significantly reduce HEC and prevent tragedies like the suffering endured by Ambabo. In return it will also benefit villagers living in those areas.

In conclusion, I would like to share the wise words of Arahant Mahinda to the king, which, by the way, apply to every human being:

O’ great king, the beasts that roam the forest and birds that fly the skies have the same right to this land as you. The land belongs to the people and to all other living things, and you are not its owner but only its guardian.

by Tharindu Muthukumarana ✍️
tharinduele@gmail.com
(Author of the award-winning book “The Life of Last Proboscideans: Elephants”)