Midweek Review

CP Chief calls for re-alignment of political forces to thwart Ranil

Published

2 years ago

2023/07/5

DEW Gunasekara at the Communist Party office last week (pic by Shamindra Ferdinando)

CP Chairman DEW G says lawmakers here should be aware of what is going on in the world. The Parliament cannot turn a blind eye to global developments, the former MP said, pointing out that the ongoing Ukrainian crisis underscored the need for greater understanding of international affairs as the rapid developments taking place with the US hegemony under threat. The crisis reflects the global power struggle.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Veteran politician Don Edwin Weerasinghe Gunasekara or DEW G, 88, wants left-wing political parties, including his Communist Party (CP), to join forces with centrist political elements to meet the growing future right wing challenge posed by ‘Pohottuwa,’ backed incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The former CP General Secretary warned those opposed to the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa juggernaut to reach consensus on a tangible political strategy soon or be prepared to face the consequences.

As things stand, Gunasekara declared that UNP leader Wickremesinghe would be the SLPP’s candidate at the next presidential election, therefore urged, what he called, the genuine Opposition to take a stand.

The CP is represented in Parliament by just one MP Weerasinghe Weerasumana from Matara. The first time entrant to Parliament contested the last general election on the Sri Lanka Podujana Peremauna (SLPP) ticket.

Having parted company with the SLPP, or the Pohottuwa party, the CP is now a constituent of the Uththara Lanka Sabhagaya (ULS).

DEW G acknowledged that left-wing parties, including the CP, couldn’t anticipate any future political alliance with the Rajapaksas’ led party, especially with Basil, an arch right winger, like Ranil, playing such a pivotal role in the family and the party they lead. “Therefore, a realignment of political forces, opposed to the incumbent administration, is a must”, he said.

Gunasekara didn’t mince his words when he admitted that left parties lacked the wherewithal to take on the government, though the ground situation has changed quite drastically, owing to unprecedented public protests, engineered or not by the West, as in the case of the Maidan rebellion in Ukraine in 2014, forced Gotabaya Rajapaksa elected, with 6.9 mn votes, to flee.

A smiling Gunasekara asserted that the emerging world environment could be quite advantageous to Sri Lanka with the US and its fiat currency dollar likely to lose world dominant position, if proper repositioning of political parties and groups takes place here to ensure a Left and Centre combination surging ahead with the best global economic environment after 1945, Gunasekara assured.

In an interview with the writer at the CP’s recently refurbished office at No 91, Dr. N.M. Perera Mawatha, Colombo 08, last week, DEW G discussed a range of issues, both domestic and international, with the focus on the deteriorating economic-political and social crisis against the growing uncertainty caused by restructuring of domestic debt.

Unless left parties reached a consensus with those in the centre, the latter would move to the right to the advantage of Ranil Wickremesinghe, Gunasekera said. “At least 90 percent of the country’s capitalist class is with Wickremesinghe and unless something goes awry, the UNP leader is certain to be SLPP’s nominee with or without machinations by the West.”

The Island

sought the much respected politician’s views on current issues against the backdrop of the CP preparing to celebrate its 80th anniversary this week.

At the onset of the interview, one-time Rehabilitation and Prisons Reforms Minister, an Octogenarian himself, emphasized that what the country experienced was an unprecedented critical situation. “We are at a crossroads. We experienced crises in 1952 and in the ’70s, primarily due to external factors. However, though there were certainly foreign influences and interventions, we created the current catastrophe,” the former lawmaker said.

Gunasekara identified what he called an explosive combination of factors that plunged the country into its worst ever post-independence crisis, namely dearth of foreign exchange even to buy basics, like fuel, drastic drop in government revenue, coupled with a crippling debt due to borrowings at high interest from international bond markets, especially by the previous Yahapalana regime.

Referring to the times of JRJ’s Finance Minister Ronnie de Mel (1977-1988) who presided over Sri Lanka embracing a free market economy in the late ’70s, and his successor M.H.M. Naina Marikkar (1988-1989) at the height of the JVP-led second insurrection (1987-1990), the CP veteran pointed out that the erosion of government revenue began after 1978.

A calamity of unimaginable proportions

Pointing out that in 1978 the government revenue had been 24 percent of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) a gradual decrease began during JRJ’s reign and by the time Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in his capacity as the President, brought in his brother Basil Rajapaksa as the Minister of Finance, in July 2021, the state revenue had dropped to a poor six percent of the GDP. That the Rajapaksa family compelled Gotabaya Rajapaksa to accommodate BR in the Cabinet, even at the expense of the coalition, is a matter that should be addressed separately, the outspoken politician said. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa paid a very heavy price for exploiting the 20th Amendment to the Constitution to appease the family to bring in Basil Rajapaksa, he added.

The drastic drop of the state revenue to just six percent of the GDP meant that the government didn’t have sufficient funding in Rupees, especially due to a drastic cut in vital taxes, no sooner Gotabaya assumed office. “I have never heard of a disruption of an economy in a particular country for want of whatever local currency, though foreign exchange crisis is certainly not a new occurrence. We ran into trouble at a time when the then government was on a money printing spree.”

Gunasekara attributed the developing crisis to neoliberalist policies adopted in the wake of JRJ’s victory at the 1977 general election. “The change of tax policy in line with neoliberalist strategy brought about the crisis. The gradual change in direct and indirect taxes was nothing but a disaster. At the time of the late Premier Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the direct and indirect tax ratio was 70 to 30 percent. JR reduced direct taxes to 55 percent, Ranasinghe Premadasa to 45 percent, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga to 35 percent, Mahinda Rajapaksa to 28 percent (during his first tenure as the President), then to 24 percent and subsequently to 18 percent and Basil Rajapaksa brought it down to 14 percent.”

The increasing loss of income, due to a sharp drop in direct taxes, was compensated by corresponding increase in indirect taxes, the former Minister said, added that finally the irect and indirect tax ratio stood at 10 and 90 percent, respectively. Instead of taxing the affluent, those struggling to make ends meet were further burdened, Gunasekara said, alleging that tax evasion at the moment was at its zenith. “There is no point in denying successive governments facilitated the tax fraud. The fraudulent process over the years became part of the system in place,” the ex-MP said.

Asked whether Parliament, as the supreme institution responsible for public finance, should be held responsible for the current predicament, a smiling Gunasekara said that was the position constitutionally.

“However, the actual situation is different or in other words Parliament is irrelevant. The Finance Minister takes decisions on behalf of the Cabinet of Ministers which exercises executive powers in Parliament. Whoever at the helm, exercises political authority thereby implements a strategy that may not be in the best interests of the country though appropriate as a political tool. That is the reality.”

Neoliberalism, or market-oriented reform policies, such as doing away with price controls, freeing of capital markets, and reckless lowering of trade barriers, as well as privatization, brought us to this pathetic situation, the former CP leader said.

Regardless of the recent crash, the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government seemed to be hell-bent on following the same wretched policies. “If not, President Wickremesinghe and his acolytes wouldn’t have considered USD 2.9 bn IMF loan facility as the panacea for our economic ills. In a way we are now in an irreversible situation,” Gunasekara said.

The one-time Chairman of the parliamentary watchdog COPE sarcastically declared without hesitation that he was too optimistic of the much-touted economic recovery plan, based on the much debated agreement with the IMF.

“Don’t forget we sought IMF intervention on 16 occasions previously. And the worst IMF intervention is now underway”, the still crisp thinking octogenarian said.

Parliament has deteriorated to such an extent that it no longer commanded the respect of the public. That, too, contributed to the overall decline, Gunasekara said, explaining how the Ranil-Maithree-led Yahapalana government borrowed heavily from international money markets during the 2015-2019 period, though they have conveniently forgotten their own role in the economic ruin. In foreign money markets, minimum interest was six percent and out of the USD 15 bn taken at such high interest rates as much as USD 12.5 bn was obtained by the Yahapalana rule within a short period of time, Gunasekara pointed out.

Perhaps if Mahinda Rajapaksa won the 2015 presidential election, he, as the Finance Minister, too, would have sought more loans from international money markets, Gunasekara said, asserting that the then Secretary to the Treasury Dr. P.B. Jayasundera may have pushed for early presidential elections as he was aware of the impending financial crisis. “But I tried unsuccessfully to convince President Rajapaksa not to face the electorate as he couldn’t have won under any circumstances,” Gunasekara said.

Bid to save Gotabaya

The former Minister recalled how representatives of political parties met at the residence of lawmaker Tiran Alles in the wake of the violent Mirihana protest, in March 2022, to discuss ways and means of saving Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s mandate. According to him, there had been a general agreement of an interim national government for at least a period of one year until some sort of stability could be restored. Among those who had been present were Dullas Alahapperuma and Maithripala Sirisena and other rebel SLPP MPs, Gunasekara said, adding that consensus couldn’t be reached as the President was not free to act as he desired.

“The President somewhat struggled to address never ending concerns of the Rajapaksa family,” the ex-CP boss said, expressing disbelief that the premiership was first offered to Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka and then SJB leader Sajith Premadasa before beleaguered UNP leader accepted the proposal in the second week of May 2022.

Gunasekara acknowledged the writer’s suggestion perhaps the UNP leader was the best choice, politically, at the time though he personally didn’t agree at all with the destructive market-oriented reform policies agenda pursued by the incumbent President to please the IMF.

In the run-up to the July 2022 calamity, Gunasekara had advised and warned Gotabaya Rajapaksa of the impending economic crisis but was ignored. “Obviously Dr. PBJ and Basil Rajapaksa were at the helm of economic matters. They shaped the damaging policy,” Gunasekara said, recalling him warning Gotabaya Rajapaksa regarding the impending economic crisis at the first public meeting held in Matara following the handing over of nominations for the 2019 presidential election. “The CP organized the Matara meeting where over 5,000 attended. Mahinda Rajapaksa and Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena were among those present. I handed over a printed booklet that dealt with the impending crisis and measures to be taken to Gotabaya. Obviously, he didn’t bother with it.”

Responding to another query, the one-time Prison Reforms Minister said that Gotabaya Rajapaksa was overwhelmed by the Rajapaksa family. “That is the ugly truth. The family didn’t allow the President to proceed on his own path,” Gunasekara said, explaining how the ill-advised Cabinet decision to abolish a range of taxes at the first Cabinet meeting chaired by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, enactment of the 20th Amendment to pave the way for Basil Rajapaksa’s re-entry into Parliament, chemical fertiliser ban and cancellation of the Japanese-funded Light Rail Project, without consulting the donor, caused immense damage.

The former Minister said that the unveiling of a comprehensive and far reaching alternative economic development programme that dealt with repositioning of Sri Lanka’s foreign trade and economic relations by the CP coincided with their 80th anniversary. Gunasekara emphasized the responsibility on the part of the decision-makers to focus on human resources development, especially against the backdrop of the brain drain and the general perception that there was absolutely no hope of an economic recovery.

Gunasekara said that the vast majority of those who now represented the Parliament, as well as the executive, refused to accept the heavy impact the restructuring of domestic debt was having on the public. Whatever the economic recovery plans under discussion or at the onset of implementation, we lacked the wherewithal and political consensus, Gunasekera said, adding that the issues at hand should be addressed accordingly.

Gunasekara also discussed the continuing failure of Parliament to respond to the growing threats, with quite formidable external interventions taking place right under the noses of the political leadership. References were made to USAID and UNDP interventions at the highest level.

Need for urgent reforms

Gunasekera urged political parties to give sufficient time for new entrants. The ex-lawmaker said that sufficient time should be allocated for new MPs to address Parliament on important issues. How could they deal with a particular issue within three minutes, Gunasekara asked, acknowledging that he wouldn’t have achieved current status if he was denied adequate time.

Gunasekera recalled how he entered Parliament in 1986 in the wake of the death of Sarath Muttetuwegama, 51, lawyer, killed in a car crash at Ratnapura. At the time of his death, Muttetuwegama, married to Manouri, daughter of Dr. Colvin R. de Silva, represented the Kalawana electorate.

Gunasekera said that the decision-making Central Committee of the CP nominated him to fill the vacancy created by Muttetuwegama’s untimely death. There had been provision for a political party to nominate a person to Parliament, within a month, following the creation of a vacancy, and Dew Gunasekera was the CP’s choice though not unanimous. One member of the decision-making body had voted to appoint Manouri Muttetuwegama. In case, a particular political party failed to reach a consensus within a stipulated period of time, the then Election Commission would have called a by-election.

Touching the table, at where he sat, Gunasekara said on the day he took oaths as an MP, the then CP Chairman Pieter Keuneman advised him how to conduct himself in Parliament right here. “We were in this room. I was told to address Parliament while looking at the direction of the Speaker to prevent being disturbed and distracted by opposing MPs. Keuneman stressed the need to be fully prepared to address Parliament. I was also told the importance of having the address in point form and being logical. Perhaps the most important advice was to keep in mind that as an MP he should address the electorate not members of Parliament.”

Towards the end of the interview Gunasekera said that he was not sure whether Gotabaya Rajapaksa wanted to contest the 2019 presidential election or the family fielded him due to Mahinda Rajapaksa being disqualified by the 19th Amendment barring a third term. Gotabaya was not like other Rajapaksas and his wife a humble and gracious lady who never stepped on the toes of anyone. They were never extravagant and basically lived a simple life but Gotabaya Rajapaksa never realized the pitfalls in the political party system here.

Referring to the Matara meeting, immediately after presidential nominations where he advised SLPP candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa, ex-MP Gunasekera said that the President’s response to concerns raised by the CP at a meeting he chaired on 20 December, 2020, deeply disappointed him.

The meeting had been called to discuss the government response to the Covid-19 threat. “On behalf of the CP, our General Secretary Dr. G. Weerasinghe urged President Rajapaksa not to force Muslims to cremate Covid-19 victims as the decision was not backed by scientific reasons nor by the World Health Organization. The President and others present there were warned of dire consequences of such a drastic decision. But Dr. Weerasinghe’s plea was ignored.”

Gunasekera said that he took advantage of the opportunity to warn the President of the impending economic crisis again. The ex-MP recalled him telling the President that unless he addressed the issue at hand none of those 6.9 mn voted for him would remain when the troubles erupted. “The President didn’t say anything but smiled nicely.”

Gunasekera criticized the Mahanayake Theras’ response to the developing crisis. Underscoring the responsibility on their part to rein in politicians, Gunasekera said that the emergence of the likes of ‘Pastor’ Jerome Fernando and Natasha Edirisuriya should be examined against the backdrop of the pathetic conduct of politicians and most religious leaders.

Commenting on the Aragalaya and related developments, Gunasekera confirmed that the US Ambassador Julie Chung advised Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena to succeed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

He said that National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Wimal Weerawansa’s recent declaration to that effect was based on what he told the MP.

Wickremesinghe’s emergence as the President, an Office he couldn’t have won at an election, highlighted the ruination of the political party system and the dearth of leaders. The UNP, being restricted to just one National List seat, and the SLFP down to one elected MP (other 13 elected on the Pohottuwa ticket) highlighted the collapse of the political party system, as hitherto known, and further deterioration of the situation.

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Midweek Review

Year ends with the NPP govt. on the back foot

Published

1 day ago

2025/12/24

Sahan Weerasooriya

President Dissanayake addresses Parliament as PM Dr. Harini Amarasuriya looks on. Dissanayake is the leader of both the JVP and NPP

The failure on the part of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) government to fulfil a plethora of promises given in the run up to the last presidential election, in September, 2024, and a series of incidents, including cases of corruption, and embarrassing failure to act on a specific weather alert, ahead of Cyclone Ditwah, had undermined the administration beyond measure.

Ditwah dealt a knockout blow to the arrogant and cocky NPP. If the ruling party consented to the Opposition proposal for a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to probe the events leading to the November 27 cyclone, the disclosure would be catastrophic, even for the all-powerful Executive President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, as responsible government bodies, like the Disaster Management Centre that horribly failed in its duty, and the Met Department that alerted about the developing storm, but the government did not heed its timely warnings, directly come under his purview.

The NPP is on the back foot and struggling to cope up with the rapidly developing situation. In spite of having both executive presidency and an overwhelming 2/3 majority in Parliament, the government seems to be weak and in total disarray.

The regular appearance of President Dissanayake in Parliament, who usually respond deftly to criticism, thereby defending his parliamentary group, obviously failed to make an impression. Overall, the top NPP leadership appeared to have caused irreparable damage to the NPP and taken the shine out of two glorious electoral victories at the last presidential and parliamentary polls held in September and November 2024 respectively.

The NPP has deteriorated, both in and out of Parliament. The performance of the 159-member NPP parliamentary group, led by Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, doesn’t reflect the actual situation on the ground or the developing political environment.

Having repeatedly boasted of its commitment to bring about good governance and accountability, the current dispensation proved in style that it is definitely not different from the previous lots or even worse. (The recent arrest of a policeman who claimed of being assaulted by a gang, led by an NPP MP, emphasised that so-called system change is nothing but a farce) In the run-up to the November, 2024, parliamentary polls, President Dissanayake, who is the leader of both the JVP and NPP, declared that the House should be filled with only NPPers as other political parties were corrupt. Dissanayake cited the Parliament defeating the no-confidence motions filed against Ravi Karunanayake (2016/over Treasury Bond scams) and Keheliya Rambukwella (2023/against health sector corruption) to promote his argument. However, recently the ongoing controversy over patient deaths, allegedly blamed on the administration of Ondansetron injections, exposed the government.

Mounting concerns over drug safety and regulatory oversight triggered strong calls from medical professionals, and trade unions, for the resignation of senior officials at the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) and the State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC).

Medical and civil rights groups declared that the incident exposed deep systemic failures in Sri Lanka’s drug regulatory framework, with critics warning that the collapse of quality assurance mechanisms is placing patients’ lives at grave risk.

The Medical and Civil Rights Professional Association of Doctors (MCRPA), and allied trade unions, accused health authorities of gross negligence and demanded the immediate resignation of senior NMRA and SPC officials.

MCRPA President Dr. Chamal Sanjeewa is on record as having said that the Health Ministry, NMRA and SPC had collectively failed to ensure patient safety, citing, what he described as, a failed drug regulatory system.

The controversy has taken an unexpected turn with some alleging that the NPP government, on behalf of Sri Lanka and India, in April this year, entered into an agreement whereby the former agreed to lower quality/standards of medicine imports.

Trouble begins with Ranwala’s resignation

The NPP suffered a humiliating setback when its National List MP Asoka Ranwala had to resign from the post of Speaker on 13 December, 2024, following intense controversy over his educational qualification. The petroleum sector trade union leader served as the Speaker for a period of three weeks and his resignation shook the party. Ranwala, first time entrant to Parliament was one of the 18 NPP National List appointees out of a total of 29. The Parliament consists of 196 elected and 29 appointed members. Since the introduction of the National List, in 1989, there had never been an occasion where one party secured 18 slots.

The JVP/NPP made an initial bid to defend Ranwala but quickly gave it up and got him to resign amidst media furor. Ranwala dominated the social media as political rivals exploited the controversy over his claimed doctorate from the Waseda University of Japan, which he has failed to prove to this day. But, the JVP/NPP had to suffer a second time as a result of Ranwala’s antics when he caused injuries to three persons, including a child, on 11 December, in the Sapugaskanda police area.

The NPP made a pathetic, UNP and SLFP style effort to save the parliamentarian by blaming the Sapugaskanda police for not promptly subjecting him for a drunk driving test. The declaration made by the Government Analyst Department that the parliamentarian hadn’t been drunk at the time of the accident, several days after the accident, does not make any difference. Having experienced the wrongdoing of successive previous governments, the public, regardless of what various interested parties propagated on social media, realise that the government is making a disgraceful bid to cover-up.

No less a person than President Dissanayake is on record as having said that their members do not consume liquor. Let us wait for the outcome of the internal investigation into the lapses on the part of the Sapugaskanda police with regard to the accident that happened near Denimulla Junction, in Sapugaskanda.

JVP/NPP bigwigs obviously hadn’t learnt from the Weligama W 15 hotel attack in December, 2023, that ruined President Ranil Wickremeinghe’s administration. That incident exposed the direct nexus between the government and the police in carrying out Mafia-style operations. Although the two incidents cannot be compared as the circumstances differ, there is a similarity. Initially, police headquarters represented the interests of the wrongdoers, while President Wickremesinghe bent over backwards to retain the man who dispatched the CCD (Colombo Crime Division) team to Weligama, as the IGP. The UNP leader went to the extent of speaking to Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya, PC, and Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena to push his agenda. There is no dispute the then Public Security Minister Tiran Alles wanted Deshabandu Tennakoon as IGP, regardless of a spate of accusations against him, in addition to him being faulted by the Supreme Court in a high-profile fundamental rights application.

The JVP/NPP must have realised that though the Opposition remained disorganised and ineffective, thanks to the media, particularly social media, a case of transgression, if not addressed swiftly and properly, can develop into a crisis. Action taken by the government to protect Ranwala is a case in point. Government leaders must have heaved a sigh of relief as Ranwala is no longer the Speaker when he drove a jeep recklessly and collided with a motorcycle and a car.

Major cases, key developments

Instead of addressing public concerns, the government sought to suppress the truth by manipulating and exploiting developments

* The release of 323 containers from the Colombo Port, in January 2025, is a case in point. The issue at hand is whether the powers that be took advantage of the port congestion to clear ‘red-flagged’ containers.

Although the Customs repeatedly declared that they did nothing wrong and such releases were resorted even during Ranil Wickremesinghe’s presidency (July 2022 to September 2024), the public won’t buy that. Container issue remains a mystery. That controversy eroded public confidence in the NPP that vowed 100 percent transparency in all its dealings. But the way the current dispensation handled the Port congestion proved that transparency must be the last thing in the minds of the JVPers/NPPers holding office.

* The JVP/NPP’s much touted all-out anti-corruption stand suffered a debilitating blow over their failure to finalise the appointment of a new Auditor General. In spite of the Opposition, the civil society, and the media, vigorously taking up this issue, the government continued to hold up the appointment by irresponsibly pushing for an appointment acceptable to President Dissanayake. The JVP/NPP is certainly pursuing a strategy contrary to what it preached while in the Opposition and found fault with successive governments for trying to manipulate the AG. It would be pertinent to mention that President Dissanayake should accept the responsibility for the inordinate delay in proposing a suitable person to that position. The government failed to get the approval of the Constitutional Council more than once to install a favourite of theirs in it, thanks to the forthright position taken by its civil society representatives.

The government should be ashamed of its disgraceful effort to bring the Office of the Auditor General under its thumb:

* The JVP/NPP government’s hotly disputed decision to procure 1,775 brand-new double cab pickup trucks, at a staggering cost exceeding Rs. 12,500 mn, under controversial circumstances, exposed the duplicity of that party that painted all other political parties black. Would the government rethink the double cab deal, especially in the wake of economic ruination caused by Cyclone Ditwah? The top leadership seems to be determined to proceed with their original plans, regardless of immeasurable losses caused by Cyclone Ditwah. Post-cyclone efforts still remain at a nascent stage with the government putting on a brave face. The top leadership has turned a blind eye to the overwhelming challenge in getting the country back on track especially against the backdrop of its agreement with the IMF.

Post-Cyclone Ditwah recovery process is going to be slow and extremely painful. Unfortunately, both the government and the Opposition are hell-bent on exploiting the miserable conditions experienced by its hapless victims. The government is yet to acknowledge that it could have faced the crisis much better if it acted on the warning issued by Met Department Chief Athula Karunanayake on 12 November, two weeks before the cyclone struck.

Foreign policy dilemma

Sri Lanka moved further closer to India and the US this year as President Dissanayake entered into several new agreements with them. In spite of criticism, seven Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs), including one on defence, remains confidential. What are they hiding?

Within weeks after signing of the seven MoUs, India bought the controlling interests in the Colombo Dockyard Limited for USD 52 mn.

Although some Opposition members, representing the SJB, raised the issue, their leader Sajith Premadasa, during a subsequent visit to New Delhi, indicated he wouldn’t, under any circumstances, raise such a contentious issue.

Premadasa went a step further. The SJB leader assured his unwavering commitment to the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution that was forced on Sri Lanka during President JRJ’s administration, under the highly questionable Indo-Lanka Accord of July, 1987, after the infamous parippu drop by Indian military aircraft over Jaffna, their version of the old gunboat diplomacy practiced by the West.

Both India and the US consolidated their position here further in the post-Aragalaya period. Those who felt that the JVP would be in a collision course with them must have been quite surprised by the turn of events and the way post-Aragalaya Sri Lanka leaned towards the US-India combine with not a hum from our carboard revolutionaries now installed in power. They certainly know which side of the bread is buttered. Sri Lanka’s economic deterioration, and the 2023 agreement with the IMF, had tied up the country with the US-led bloc.

In spite of India still procuring large quantities of Russian crude oil and its refusal to condemn Russia over the conflict in Ukraine, New Delhi has obviously reached consensus with the US on a long-term partnership to meet the formidable Chinese challenge. Both countries feel each other’s support is incalculably vital and indispensable.

Sri Lanka, India, and Japan, in May 2019, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) to jointly develop the East Container Terminal (ECT) at the Colombo Port. That was during the tail end of the Yahapalana administration. The Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration wanted to take that project forward. But trade unions, spearheaded by the JVP/NPP combine, thwarted a tripartite agreement on the basis that they opposed privatisation of the Colombo Port at any level.

But, the Colombo West International Terminal (CWIT) project, that was launched in November, 2022, during Ranil Wickremesinghe’s presidency, became fully operational in April this year. The JVP revolutionary tiger has completely changed its stripes regarding foreign investments and privatisation. If the JVP remained committed to its previous strategies, India taking over CDL or CWIT would have been unrealistic.

The failure on the part of the government to reveal its stand on visits by foreign research vessels to ports here underscored the intensity of US and Indian pressure. Hope our readers remember how US and India compelled the then President Wickremesinghe to announce a one-year moratorium on such visits. In line with that decision Sri Lanka declared research vessels wouldn’t be allowed here during 2024. The NPP that succeeded Wickremesinghe’s administration in September, 2024, is yet to take a decision on foreign research vessels. What a pity?

The NPP ends the year on the back foot, struggling to cope up with daunting challenges, both domestic and external. The recent revelation of direct Indian intervention in the 2022 regime change project here along with the US underscored the gravity of the situation and developing challenges. Post-cyclone period will facilitate further Indian and US interventions for obvious reasons.

****

Perhaps one of the most debated events in 2025 was the opening of ‘City of Dreams Sri Lanka’ that included, what the investors called, a world-class casino. In spite of mega Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan’s unexpected decision to pull out of the grand opening on 02 August, the investors went ahead with the restricted event. The Chief Guest was President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who is also the Finance Minister, in addition to being the Defence Minister. Among the other notable invitees were Dissanayake’s predecessor Ranil Wickremesinghe, whose administration gave critical support to the high-profile project, worth over USD 1.2 bn. John Keells Holdings PLC (JKH) and Melco Resorts & Entertainment (Melco) invested in the project that also consist of the luxurious Nüwa hotel and a premium shopping mall. Who would have thought President Dissanayake’s participation, even remotely, possible, against the backdrop of his strong past public opposition to gambling of any kind?

Don’t forget ‘City of Dreams’ received a license to operate for a period of 20 years. Definitely an unprecedented situation. Although that license had been issued by the Wickremesinghe administration, the NPP, or any other political party represented in Parliament, didn’t speak publicly about that matter. Interesting, isn’t it, coming from people, still referred by influential sections of the Western media, as avowed Marxists?

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Midweek Review

The Aesthetics and the Visual Politics of an Artisanal Community

Published

1 day ago

2025/12/24

Sahan Weerasooriya

Through the Eyes of the Patua:

Organised by the Colombo Institute for Human Sciences in collaboration with Millennium Art Contemporary, an interesting and unique exhibition got underway in the latter’s gallery in Millennium City, Oruwala on 21 December 2025. The exhibition is titled, ‘Through the Eyes of the Patua: Ramayana Paintings of an Artisanal Community’ and was organized in parallel with the conference that was held on 20 December 2025 under the theme, ‘Move Your Shadow: Rediscovering Ravana, Forms of Resistance and Alternative Universes in the Tellings of the Ramayana.’ The scrolls on display at the gallery are part of the over 100 scrolls in the collection of Colombo Institute’s ‘Roma Chatterji Patua Scroll Collection.’ Prof Chatterji, who taught Sociology at University of Delhi and at present teaches at Shiv Nadar University donated the scrolls to the Colombo Institute in 2024.

The paintings on display are what might be called narrative scrolls that are often over ten feet long. Each scroll narrates a story, with separate panels pictorially depicting one component of a story. The Patuas or the Chitrakars, as they are also known, are traditionally bards. A bard will sing the story that is depicted by each scroll which is simultaneously unfurled. For Sri Lankan viewers for whom the paintings and their contexts of production and use would be unusual and unfamiliar, the best way to understand them is to consider them as a comic strip. In the case of the ongoing exhibition, since the bards or the live songs are not a part of it, the word and voice elements are missing. However, the curators have endeavoured to address this gap by displaying a series of video presentations of the songs, how they are performed and the history of the Patuas as part of the exhibition itself.

The unfamiliarity of the art on display and their histories, necessitates broader explanation. The Patua hail from Medinipur District of West Bengal in India. Essentially, this community of artisans are traditional painters and singers who compose stories based on sacred texts such as the Ramayana or Mahabharata as well as secular events that can vary from the bombing of the Twin Towers in New York in 2001 to the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004. Even though painted storytelling is done by a number of traditional artisan groups in India, the Patua is the only community where performers and artists belong to the same group. Hence, Professor Chatterji, in her curatorial note for the exhibition calls them “the original multi-media performers in Bengal.”

‘The story of the Patuas’ also is an account of what happens to such artisanal communities in contemporary times in South Asia more broadly even though this specific story is from India. There was a time before the 21st century when such communities were living and working across a large part of eastern India – each group with a claim to their recognizably unique style of painting. However, at the present time, this community and their vocation is limited to areas such as Medinipur, Birbhum, Purulia in West Bengal and Dumka in Jharkhand.

A pertinent question is how the scroll painters from Medinipur have survived the vagaries of time when others have not. Professor Chatterji provides an important clue when she notes that these painters, “unlike their counterparts elsewhere, are also extremely responsive to political events.” As such, “apart from a rich repertoire of stories based on myth and folklore, including the Ramayana and other epics, they have, over many years, also composed on themes that range from events of local or national significance such as boat accidents and communal violence to global events such as the tsunami and the attack on the World Trade Centre.”

There is another interesting aspect that becomes evident when one looks into the socio-cultural background of this community. As Professor Chatterji writes, “one significant feature that gives a distinct flavour to their stories is the fact that a majority of Chitrakars consider themselves to be Muslims but perform stories based largely on Hindu myths.” In this sense, their story complicates the tension-ridden dichotomies between ethno-cultural and religious groups typical of relations between groups in India as well as more broadly in South Asia, including in Sri Lanka. Prof Chatterji suggests this positionality allows the Patua to have “a truly secular voice so vital in the world that we live in today.”

As a result, she notes, contemporary Patuas “have propagated the message of communal harmony in their compositions in the context of the recent riots in India and the Gulf War. Their commentaries couched in the language of myth are profoundly symbolic and draw on a rich oral tradition of storytelling.” What is even more important is their “engagement with contemporary issues also inflects their aesthetics” because many of these painters also “experiment with novel painterly values inspired by recent interaction with new media such as comic books and with folk art forms from other parts of the country.”

From this varied repertoire of the Patuas’ painterly tradition, this exhibition focusses on scrolls portraying different aspects of the Ramayana. In North Indian and the more dominant renditions of the Ramayana, the focus is on Rama while in many alternate renditions this shifts to Ravana as typified by versions popular among the Sinhalas and Tamils in Sri Lanka as well as in some areas in several Indian states. Compared to this, the Patua renditions in the exhibition mostly illustrate the abduction of Sita with a pronounced focus on Sita and not on Ravana, the conventional antagonist or on Rama, the conventional protagonist. As a result, these two traditional male colossuses are distant. Moreover, with the focus on Sita, these folk renditions also bring to the fore other figures directly associated with her such as her sons Luv and Kush in the act of capturing Rama’s victory horse as well as Lakshmana.

Interestingly, almost as a counter narrative, which also serves as a comparison to these Ramayana scrolls, the exhibition also presents three scrolls known as ‘bin-Laden Patas’ depicting different renditions on the attack on New York’s Twin Towers.

While the painted scrolls in this collection have been exhibited thrice in India, this is the first time they are being exhibited in Sri Lanka, and it is quite likely such paintings from any community beyond Sri Lanka’s shores were not available for viewing in the country before this. Organised with no diplomatic or political affiliation and purely as a Sri Lankan cultural effort with broader South Asian interest, it is definitely worth a visit. The exhibition will run until 10 January 2026.