News

NJC reminds President of the separatist tactic: ‘little now more later’

Published

3 years ago

2023/03/4

The National Joint Committee (NJC), on Thursday, wrote to President Ranil Wickremesinghe cautioning him against the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.The letter, signed by Lt Col (Ret.) Anil Amarasekera, Co-President of NJC, said the full implementation of the 13th Amendment would amount to opening a Pandora’s Box.

Given below are excerpts of the letter: “The Indo-Lanka accord, signed on 27th July, 1987, that was forced on Sri Lanka by India, through gunboat diplomacy, is illegal, according to articles 51 and 52 of the Vienna Convention on the law of Treaties. India also failed to implement some of the provisions therein, such as disarming the terrorists, and, as such, the Indo-Lanka Accord can be considered as repudiated. Therefore, do you consider the 13th Amendment, enacted on 14th November, 1987, in accordance with the Indo-Lanka Accord, to have any validity?

“The English meaning of decentralization and devolution of power seem very similar when looked at superficially. However, the important fact that needs to be realized, when it comes to the governing power of a country, is that decentralization amounts to the transfer of that power, from the central government, to a local authorit, be it a region, a province or a district, while devolution is, on the other hand, the removal of central government power and handing that power over to a region, a province or a district. Therefore, decentralized power, if misused by a region, a province or a district, could be recalled by the central government, while devolved power cannot be recalled by the central government, if misused by a region, a province or a district. Taking into consideration the difficulty, or virtual impossibility, for a central government to recall devolved power to a region, a province, or a district, let us consider the possible repercussions of such an eventuality in this country, with several simple examples.

“Firstly, let us consider irrigation, which is the life blood of the farming community in the northern and eastern provinces. Once this subject is devolved to a province, if the provincial administration fails to maintain the reservoirs (Wewas), and irrigation canals, in the Sinhala villages, there is nothing the central government can do to help the Sinhala cultivators in distress. The only alternative left for them would be to leave those villages, in the northern and eastern provinces, and migrate to some other province.

“Secondly, let us consider the subject of health. Once this subject is devolved to a province, if the provincial administration fails to provide adequate funds to maintain the rural hospital buildings, serving the Sinhala community, or fails to provide adequate doctors, nurses and other staff, or even medical supplies, to rural hospitals in their area, the Sinhala villagers will have no other alternative left other than to leave the province and to migrate to some other province where these facilities are available.

“Thirdly, let us consider the subject of education. Once this subject is devolved to a province, if the provincial administration fails to appoint the teachers needed to schools in Sinhala villages and also does not allocate adequate funds to maintain and repair school buildings in the Sinhala villages, there is nothing that the central government can do in this regard. The Sinhala population will therefore leave the province and migrate to some other province where good education facilities are available for their children.

“These are only three simple examples that I have provided to bring to your attention the danger of devolving power to the provinces. However, the situation would be the same with regard to distribution of electricity, repair of roads, purchase of agricultural produce and many other such subjects, if there is devolution of power to a province, where the Sinhala population is a minority. Therefore, while devolution will only hasten the division of the country by creating administrative avenues to encourage the migration of the Sinhala population, from the northern and eastern provinces of the country, to other provinces, decentralization of power will not encourage such action as these powers can be withdrawn by the central government, if found to be misused by any provincial council.

“C.V. Wigneswaran, MP, said recently that the full implementation of the 13th Amendment is good but that he will not look back until a federal constitution is promulgated. He is trying to apply Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam’s policy of ‘little now more later’ with an intention to first federate a unitary state, through the full implementation of the 13th Amendment. The federated state will subsequently be divided to establish Eelam, which is the final objective of the separatists. If Wigneswaran, and likeminded separatists, succeed to achieve during peace what they failed to achieve through three decades of war, all the sweat, blood, tears and toil expended by the security forces, sometimes even by sacrificing their very life and limb to defeat the separatists, would have been in vain.

“This ‘little now later’ policy has been applied with great success by racist Tamil politicians since independence. They first succeeded in making Tamil, a language of the minority community, an official language, in par with Sinhala, which is the language of the majority community in this country. Tamil, incidentally, is not an official language, even in India, where the majority of the Tamil population live in this world. Through the enactment of the controversial 13th Amendment, the racist Tamil politicians succeeded in devolving much of political and administrative power to the northern and eastern provinces that can be utilised to create an exodus of the minority Sinhala population, from these two provinces, as pointed out previously in this letter.

“Through the enactment of the 16th Amendment, these racist Tamil politicians succeeded in making Tamil the language of administration in the northern and eastern provinces, for the maintenance of public records and transactions of all business by public institutions. The majority Sinhala population, not being racists, had little or no objection while such discriminatory legislation was enacted for political expediency, but can the Sinhala majority continue to allow this ‘little now more later’ policy to continue?

Therefore, in the interest of the Sinhala minority that is living in the northern and eastern provinces, the NJC kindly request you to promulgate a new Constitution for which the majority of the people in this country gave a mandate both at the last presidential and general elections so that the people living in any part of this country are not discriminated, based on their ethnic, caste or religious identity.”

All News Advertisement

Latest News

Maldivian President plants a sapling to mark 60 years of Sri Lanka–Maldives Diplomatic Relations

Published

3 hours ago

2026/05/4

Priyan

President of the Maldives, Dr Mohamed Muizzu, who is on a State Visit to Sri Lanka at the invitation of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, planted a sapling this afternoon (04) at Viharamahadevi Park in Colombo to commemorate 60 years of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Upon arrival at the Viharamahadevi Park in Colombo, President Dr Mohamed Muizzu was warmly received by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Children lined both sides of the pathway holding the national flags of the two countries and paid tribute to the visiting Maldivian President.

Among those present at the occasion were Deputy Speaker Rizvi Salih, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, Vijitha Herath and the Mayor of Colombo, Vraie Cally Balthazaar, along with several other dignitaries.

[President’s Media Division (PMD)]

News

Sri Lanka and Maldives strengthen ties with productive bilateral talks

Published

3 hours ago

2026/05/4

Priyan

Following the bilateral meeting between President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu of the Maldives, who is currently on a State visit to Sri Lanka, official-level bilateral discussions between the delegations of the two countries were held this morning (04) at the Presidential Secretariat.

The discussions commenced after the formal welcome ceremony accorded to President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu earlier this morning within the Presidential Secretariat premises.

Extending a warm welcome to the Maldivian President, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake expressed his appreciation for accepting the invitation to visit Sri Lanka.

President Dissanayake noted that President Muizzu’s visit, taking place as the two nations mark 61 years of diplomatic relations, reflects the strong partnership, mutual trust and longstanding friendship between Sri Lanka and the Maldives. The President further expressed confidence that the visit would mark a new phase in bilateral relations.

The two leaders engaged in extensive discussions on ways to further expand and diversify multifaceted cooperation, including economic, cultural and social ties, in a manner that delivers mutual benefits to the people of both countries.

Key areas of focus included tourism promotion, educational cooperation, youth and sports development, challenges faced by both nations in the fisheries sector within the Indian Ocean region, education and vocational training, as well as defence training and broader security cooperation.

Representing the Government of Sri Lanka were Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, Vijitha Herath, Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning, Anil Jayantha Fernando, Minister of Science and Technology, Krishantha Abeysena; Deputy Speaker Rizvie Salih, Secretary to the President, Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha (Retired), Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (covering Europe, North America, East Asia and Oceania, Southeast Asia and Central Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and Legal Affairs) M. R. K. Lenagala, Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to the Maldives, Mohamed Rizvi Hassan and Director (South Asia and SAARC) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, Mahesha Jayawardena.

The Maldivian delegation included Minister of Foreign Affairs Iruthisham Adam, Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Mohamed Saeed, Minister of Fisheries, Agriculture and Marine Resources, Ahmed Shiyam, Minister of Homeland Security and Technology, Ali Ihusaan, Chief of Staff to the President, Abdulla Fayaz, Principal Secretary to the President on Foreign Relations, Mohamed Naseer; Chief Government Spokesperson, Mohamed Hussain Shareef, High Commissioner of the Maldives to Sri Lanka,Masood Imad; Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Chief of Protocol , Mohamed Shahudy, Deputy Minister at the President’s Office, Mr Mohamed Hassaan and Minister Counsellor at the Maldives High Commission in Sri Lanka, Mr. Ismail Mamdhooh.

[President’s Media Division (PMD)]

News

Maldives and Sri Lanka exchange seven MOUs

Published

3 hours ago

2026/05/4

Priyan

Seven Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), signed across several sectors between the Maldives and Sri Lanka, were formally exchanged this morning (04) at the Presidential Secretariat in the presence of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu of the Maldives.

Marking a new chapter in Maldives–Sri Lanka relations, the MoUs cover cooperation in the fields of health, sports, tourism, education and defence.

Accordingly:

1. MoU on Tourism Cooperation between the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the Republic of Maldives was exchanged by Maldives Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms Iruthisham Adam and Sri Lanka’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, Vijitha Herath.

2. MoU on Archiving Cooperation between the Department of National Archives of Sri Lanka and the National Archives of the Maldives was exchanged by Maldives Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms Iruthisham Adam and Sri Lanka’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, Vijitha Herath.

3. MoU on Training and Professional Development of Teachers and School Leaders between the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Skills Development of the Maldives and the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education of Sri Lanka was exchanged by Maldives Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms Iruthisham Adam and Sri Lanka’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, Vijitha Herath.

4. MoU on Sports and Youth Development Cooperation between the Republic of Maldives and the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka was exchanged by Maldives Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms Iruthisham Adam and Sri Lanka’s Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Sunil Kumara Gamage.

5. MoU on Defence Cooperation between the National Counter Terrorism Centre of the Maldives and the Ministry of Defence of Sri Lanka was exchanged by the Maldives High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Masood Imad, and the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha (Retired).

6. MoU between the Ministry of Defence and National Service of the Maldives and General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University of Sri Lanka was exchanged by the Maldives High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Masood Imad and the Vice Chancellor of General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Rear Admiral Dammika Kumara.

7. MoU on Academic Cooperation between the University of Colombo of Sri Lanka and the Ministry of Health, Family and Welfare of the Maldives was exchanged by Maldives High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Masood Imad and the Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo, Professor Indika Mahesh Karunathilake.

The state visit of President Dr Mohamed Muizzu, undertaken at the invitation of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, aims to further strengthen economic, cultural and social ties between the two countries, while enhancing their multifaceted partnership.

Cabinet Ministers, government officials and members of the Maldivian delegation, representing both Sri Lanka and the Maldives, were present at the occasion.

[President’s Media Division]