Features

Effort to break logjam, Vijaya K, food drop and JR’s letter to Rajiv

Published

2 years ago

2023/08/20

Thilina Walpola

Vijaya on the peace mission with LTTE in Jaffna

(Excerpted from volume ii of the Sarath Amunugama autobiography)

In fact it was Rajiv who made an attempt to break the logjam The Parathasarathy proposals had insisted on the joinder of the North and East. This was a ‘shadow’ of the TULF concept of their ‘traditional homelands’. No Sinhala leader could accept this ‘imaginary nation’ to use the celebrated phrase of Benedict Anderson and hope to survive not only politically but even as a living human being.

‘Kill the old man’ later became a JVP slogan inscribed on city walls. The Sinhalese and Muslims. and even sections of the Eastern Tamils who had been earlier ostracized by the Jaffna Tamils as low caste, were not willing to play second fiddle to the northerners. By now JRJ had accepted the notion of devolution and a second tier of Government by way of Provincial Councils which were originally proposed only for the North and East.

In Bangalore Rajiv shifted the Indian position by suggesting two Provincial Councils – North and East – which as two entities could evolve a system of cooperation at the ground level. Then came the fatal shock for Rajiv. He wanted Prabhakaran who up to then was looked upon as a client of the Indians -whom RAW insisted could be whipped into line – brought to Bangalore to agree to this new formulation which had the consent of the other Tamil groups.

Let us listen to Bernard Tillekeratne, our High Commissioner in Delhi at that time. “It was reported that Prabhakaran, who was then resident in Madras, had initially refused to proceed to Bangalore as desired by Gandhi, to meet Jayewardene and himself, should the need arise during their discussions. However, he was forced to be in attendance in Bangalore but reportedly refused to meet the Sri Lankan President.

At this point Gandhi decided to impose some restrictions on LTTE movement in Tamil Nadu and even sought to prevent Prabhakaran from leaving India, but he slipped across to Jaffna to continue his fight from there.”

This was a historic encounter which had fatal consequences. Some years later both Rajiv and Prabhakaran had premature and violent deaths as a consequence of the Bangalore impasse. Only JRJ died in bed after retirement at a ripe old age.

Intensified Conflict

JRJ flew back to Colombo after establishing cordiality with Rajiv to find that Prabhakaran’s LTTE was adamant in sabotaging a peace deal which had been agreed to by the other Tamil parties. As Bhandari told me, India had invested much hope in a consensus emerging from an all-party conference. JRJ’s invitation had been accepted by the LSSP, CP, NLSSP and Vijaya’s party. Tamil parties, save the LTTE, were also represented.

After the opening session the meeting broke up into different committees to discuss problematic issues. Gamini Dissanayake headed the committee on land matters, and I was asked to assist him. We were able to find unanimity in assigning land alienation undue village expansion to the relevant district as it was the prevailing practice even then. The knotty issue was the development of land under the major schemes in the Eastern Province.

The expansion of the Mahaweli settlement was being held back because of the impasse. We decided that sixty percent of the allotments should be on a ratio of the population in the district and forty percent on national quotas. Regarding the sharing of water on a cross border basis we recommended the setting up of a Riverine Commission, like in India, which would adjudicate on the distribution of water.

This found general acceptance and was indeed used for land alienation subsequently. Similarly other committees too made their recommendations. However the value of these efforts were undermined by the refusal of the party now dominated by Anura, to attend or endorse the findings of the all party conference.

Though the Tamil parties agreed to these suggestions their position on the ground in the North and East was deteriorating rapidly and Prabhakaran, who boasted that he had outwitted the Indians, was launching attacks particularly on unarmed Sinhala and Muslim civilians, which made JRJ’s position extremely unpopular among the Sinhala majority. He was under pressure from Lalith Athulathmudali who had reorganized the army under his watch, to take the fight to the LTTE, which in JRJ’s vulnerable position with the electorate, appeared to be a good move.

Accordingly the Lankan armed forces launched `Operation Liberation’ targeting Vadamaradchi. This was led by Cyril Ranatunga – a smart Sandhurst trained leader, together with Denzil Kobbekaduwa, who was my collegemate, and Wijaya Wimalaratne – three of the ablest fighting generals in our army which up to then had seen many setbacks due to poor leadership.

It was much later in Sarath Fonseka, who was then a subaltern, that we produced a military leader who could take his soldiers to victory. He was ably supported by the then Secretary of Defence, Gotabaya Rajapaksa who too had taken part in the Vadamaratchi operation. Much later in time I was a keynote speaker at the launch of a book by C.A. Chandraprema entitled `Gotas War’. I referred to the combination of persons and events which enabled the Government to successfully conclude the fratricidal war which had changed the trajectory of the country’s future.

Vijayas Call

At about this time I got a call from Vijaya Kumaratunga who played a vital role in the All-Party Conference. It was his bold leadership that helped in the positive outcome of the meeting. By this time he was recognized as the leader of the left and their obvious common candidate at the next Presidential poll. He was adored by his party loyalists as well as film fans who made him the most popular actor on our silver screen.

While many political leaders were ambivalent about devolution and a settlement with the Tamils, it was Vijaya who boldly spoke out on the need for a second tier administration – Provincial Councils – which were closer to the grass roots. Vijaya first told me that Denzil was leading a successful march to the heart of LTTE country in Vadamarachchi. He thought this offensive would change the tide and the All Party Conference conclusions were significant for the next steps in resolving the ethnic crisis.

Of all the leaders it was Vijaya and Chandrika who were winning the confidence of the non LTTE Tamils. Then he dropped a bombshell. He said that JRJ was going to make me the Minister of Information as Anandatissa de Alwis was ill and in hospital. He urged me to accept the offer and on no account have second thoughts. I told him that JRJ had made no such offer and anyway the younger Ministers would be unhappy to see an intruder complicating their well-planned ascent to power.

I heard later that this idea was shot down by them as I expected. But it was true that at that stage I was close to the President, and he would contact me regularly by telephone and also summon me to ‘Braemar’ to discuss the rapidly changing scenario. The only result of this little cameo was that Anandatissa who was very close to me became distant – the wonderful relationship we had could not be recreated due to his jealousy.

After retirement Ananda sent many messages to make up but I felt that I had been badly misunderstood and did not respond with the earlier warmth. One of my characteristics is that once a close friendship is broken it becomes for me to ‘forgive and forget’. On the other hand, this episode highlighted the natural generosity of Vijaya Kumaratunga that could reach out across barriers of politics at a personal level and encourage his friends without petty considerations of advantage

He had good relations with the non LTTE Tamil militants. the LTTE cadres had a regard for him and in typical bold ‘film’ style Vijaya undertook a visit to LTTE held Jaffna to free soldiers who were held hostage by Prabhakaran. His LTTE host was Kangaratnam, an old Trinitian, a fluent Sinhala speaker. Vijaya’s visit was facilitated by Colonel Kotelawela, a strapping six-footer of the army who was the official army liaison in Jaffna with Kanagaratnam who had assumed the ‘nom de guerre’ of Colonel Rahim.

No other Sinhala politician would dare to follow Vijaya’s bold venture. His political enemies circulated a video of Vijaya shooting at a target provided by the LTTE. But he not only returned unscathed but also retained his popularity though earning the hatred of the Sinhala ultras, particularly of the JVP. They marked him as their chief challenge and made plans to eliminate him from the political scene. Vijaya received many warnings from his friends but with typical bravado he chose to ignore them. He even challenged the JVP to harm him.

Nadir of Indo-Lanka Relations

Though JR and Rajiv had established a rapport in Bangalore despite Prabhakaran’s intransigence, the immediate aftermath led to a period when the two countries were on the verge of open conflict. There were four main reasons for the breakdown. The first was the reaction of the LTTE now led on the ground by Prabhakaran, which went on the rampage against unarmed Sinhalese villagers. In Vavuniya they stopped a passenger bus and slaughtered all 140 travelers. The pressure was building on JRJ to act decisively as the Sinhalese looked on him to give a fitting response.

He was conscious of the fact that he was fast losing popularity, which awakened his atavistic fear of losing everything as he did in 1956. The second was the success of ‘Operation Liberation’. The Sri Lankan army was on the verge of defeating the LTTE militarily when the Indian government represented by their ‘gung-ho’. High Commissioner Dixit forced JRJ to call off the offensive much to the anger of the military and Lalith Athulathmudali who gave leadership to the armed services. The Indian Government was giving in to the pressures exerted on it by the Tamil Nadu administration.

The third was the blockade on the North which was enforced on the orders of the President. He had been reading the memoirs of the Secretary of the British Cabinet during the world war, which referred to Churchill’s blockade of Northern Ireland to prevent its support to Hitler. The blockade and its images of starvation that was evoked by the Tamil Nadu administration of M.G. Ramachandran forced the hand of Rajiv whom advisors like Chidambaram believed was being manipulated by the ‘Old Fox’ from Sri Lanka.

Ramachandran unilaterally announced a donation of two million dollars to the LTTE, which brought relations between the two countries to near breaking point. JRj was also afraid of the reaction of the army which had borne the brunt of the fight with the LTTE. Cyril Ranatunga was a loyalist, but he too was under pressure to talk back to the President. As Esmond constantly reminded us, JRJ was afraid of a military coup.

Food Drop

We now come to the lowest Point in Indo-Lanka relations when India decided to unilaterally intervene through a physical violation of a neighboring country’s boundaries. It was an unprecedented violation of Sri Lankan sovereignty and a crossing of the Rubicon which has Permanently affected the relations between the two countries. At the personal level it was a bitter humiliation of a leader whom even his opponents regarded as the best defender of national interests by hook or by crook.

At first the Indians sent a flotilla of ships carrying food supplies. But on JRJ’s personal orders the navy was made ready to intercept them. The Indians then withdrew to base and got ready to airdrop the food supplies in spite of JRJ’s personal entreaty which is reproduced below. Indian Airforce transport planes carrying food cargoes were given an escort of fighter jets. It was touch and go but since we were badly outnumbered the President ordered non retaliation and the food was air dropped unhindered and the planes flew back without a mishap.

It is burnished in the Sinhala psyche as the ‘parippu drop’ on Sri Lankan soil, the first infringement of our airspace after the bombing of Colombo and Trincomalee by the Japanese during the Second World War. This was a sad moment in JRJ’s presidency. The sense of anguish is seen in the draft of a letter to Rajiv that JRJ himself penned and is now in my possession. A photograph of the draft, mostly in JRJs own handwriting, is included in this book. My recollection is that this final version was sent to Rajiv Gandhi. An offer to send Hameed as a personal envoy of the President was turned down by the Indians.

Letter to Rajiv Gandhi

I am reproducing JRJ’s letter to Rajiv Gandhi here not only because it is a historic document but also since it shows the sense of despair and frustration of a man who had always looked to India for inspiration when all his contemporaries either turned to the West or the Soviet Union. There is a legend that when the LSSP leaders in the forties sought to gather him to their fold (As a young lawyer he appeared for Bracegirdle of the LSSP in their challenge to the Colonial Governor’s order of deportation) he responded that he could not join them as he was ‘a follower of the Buddha and a lover of India’. Now he was forced to eat humble pie by a grandson of Nehru whom he had admired throughout his life. He wrote as follows:

“The Cabinet of Ministers has studied very carefully the representations made to his Excellency the President by his Excellency the Prime Minister of India, Shri Rajiv Gandhi. It is apparent that the Prime Minister is both incorrectly informed and wrongly advised.

“Firstly the attempts made over a period of 10 years by the President and his Government to find a political solution to the so called ethnic problem in Sri Lanka are well known to the Government of India, for they too have taken part in discussions since 1983. These steps have been outlined in detail in the President’s addresses to Parliament in 1984,1985 and 1986 and will be summarized again in his address of February 19th with complete documentation. There is nothing more any Sri Lankan Government can offer, now or in the future, without violating the independence, integrity and unity of Sri Lanka’s constitution.

“The Indian Government has stated publicly to the Tamil groups that it does not support the joinder of the northern and eastern provinces, the concept of a Tamil homeland and the creation of a separate state. It is these three issues that supposedly keep these groups from accepting the proposals.

“During these 10 years, except the TULF, the other groups have unleashed a violent, terrorist campaign in which more than 4,000 security personnel, civilians, men, women and children of all races have been killed, many more injured, rendered homeless and suffered immeasurable losses. The latest atrocity has been the killing of several Sinhala women and children, without provocation in the darkness of the night by the cutting of their throats.

As far as we know no terrorist group in the world has been guilty of such inhumane behavior. India has experience of terrorism in several states and particularly in the Punjab where a separatist movement is using violence to achieve its goal.

“The Sri Lanka Government, both politically and militarily has done nothing more nor less than the Indian Government has done and is doing in the Punjab to arrive at a solution. A speech in India made by Prime Minister Gandhi is available. If the proper names are used to indicate Sri Lanka and what is happening here, the speech will apply to Sri Lanka in its entirety.

“And what has the state of Tamil Nadu been doing during these .ten years? It has given refuge to Tamil groups, including those using violence. The leader of the LTTE group Prabhakaran who publicly says he murdered the Tamil Mayor of Jaffna, Mr. Duraiappah, and many others is entertained as a guest by the Chief Minister. He as well as others who direct violence in Sri Lanka, against a lawfully elected democratic government and self-governing local institutions are permitted to buy, possess arms and wireless sets, and train in military exercises. They are permitted to some over to Sri Lanka with men and military material to wage war on an independent, democratic Government.

“Though promises have been made that all this will be stopped these promises have not been fulfilled. Because of open warfare between nine groups a large quantity of arms and equipment was confiscated. The wireless sets that were confiscated were returned.

President JR Jayewardene and Indian Premier Rajiv Gandhi signing the historical Indo-Lanka Accord in 1987. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution facilitated by India through Indo-Lanka Treaty

:They are used to direct the war in Sri Lanka. The Central government of India is aware of these facts. The Government Sri Lanka will not cease its activities to defend democratic institutions and to restore law and order to free its citizens from attacks of a bunch of terrorists, just as much as it will not cease its attempts to arrive at a political solution. While following this two-pronged policy it is entitled to use its powers to persuade its opponents that their efforts cannot succeed but will only cause hardships to inhabitants living in the areas they control, namely the Jaffna Peninsula.

“During the Indian movement for freedom Mahatma Gandhi initiated a boycott of the use of foreign cloth. This hurt the workers in the Lancashire mills in England causing unemployment and severe hardships to hundreds of thousands. During a visit to England in 1931 for the Round Table Conference Mahatma Gandhi visited the Lancashire Mills and saw the hardships caused by his boycott. His reply was ‘Lord Irwin suggested that I give up the boycott for three months as a gesture. I said I could not give it up for three minutes’. [See Gandhi; ‘Essential Writings’, p 309].

“During the 1939 War the United Kingdom enforced a boycott on goods going to and coming from the Ports of Ireland because that Government was sympathetic to the Nazi Government. What we are doing is a legitimate method of non–violent tactics against a deadly foe, and instead of abandoning it, we should intensify it, rather than use more and more violence.

“Summing up we should state that our Government is committed to non-violence. If the terrorist groups give up violence and lay down their arms, the Government will immediately direct the security services to stay in their barracks. We will then implement the Provincial Councils scheme and hold elections so that together with the other seven provinces the people of the northern and eastern provinces may elect their councils, members, Chief Ministers and govern themselves in all the subjects and functions devolved on those councils as discussed and decided with the TULF and the Indian Government. The Tamil groups can take part in these elections for they will be pardoned under an amnesty if they abandon violence.

“All we ask of the Indian Government is, not to permit the soil of India to be used for violent activity against a friendly neighbor and not to permit such activities to be brought to Sri Lanka in the form of men and arms. This Government’s sole aim is to permit democracy and the rule of law flourish once again in the northern and eastern provinces, as in other provinces, under the administration of the elected representatives of the people living in them.

“May the Government of India help us to achieve this goal and may they persuade the Government of Tamil Nadu to do the same for the immortal heritage of India is that “We must not appease evil ….we must remember that evil is not surmounted by using methods that themselves produce more evil….means should not be subordinated to ends”.

“These quotations are from K. Natwar Singh’s book ‘The legacy of Nehru’. All we ask is be true to your heritage, fulfill the legacy of Nehru, refuse to compromise with violence, support the Government of Sri Lanka in its call to terrorists to lay down their arms and discuss your aims and solutions peacefully as we are always prepared to do”.

The Aftermath

The clear violation of Sri Lankan sovereignty came as shock to JRJ and the Government. The anguish is clear in JRJ’s heartfelt letter quoted above. But what was even more disconcerting was the silence of our friends on whom the President had banked heavily to restrain India. While Pakistan made some noises it was counterproductive in that it led to India being more intransigent. But what was disappointing to JRJ was the silence of the western countries which had been wooed assiduously by him.

He was particularly disappointed by the US reaction which relied on backroom warnings to India and not much else. There was no public condemnation by the West, SAARC or the ASEAN. To make the humiliation complete they advocated the hiring of mercenaries to supplement the local armed forces. They were willing to recommend private trainers but were reluctant to `Put boots on the ground’ which would have meant a clash with the Indian armed forces who were strenghtened with Indian weaponry under Rajiv.

Only Fidel Castro, as head of the Non-Aligned Movement, offered to call Rajiv urging caution. It was in this background when the only o[tion seemed to move to serious negotiation which our erstwhile western friends also recommended. With this shift JRJ began to turn to Gamini Dissanayake as his aide, while Lalith, angry that his ‘Operation Liberation’ had been aborted was consigned to the sidelines where he adopted a hawkish approach to India with many tragic consequences as we shall see later.

All News Advertisement

Up Next

AidData report warns of a Chinese naval base in Lanka’s Hambantota Port

Don't Miss

Remembering Lalith Senanayake

Click to comment

Features

Counting cats, naming giants: Inside the unofficial science redefining Sri Lanka’s Leopards and Tuskers

Published

17 hours ago

2026/01/12

Thilina Walpola

For decades, Sri Lanka’s leopard numbers have been debated, estimated, and contested, often based on assumptions few outside academic circles ever questioned.

One of the most fundamental was that a leopard’s spots never change. That belief, long accepted as scientific fact, began to unravel not in a laboratory or lecture hall, but through thousands of photographs taken patiently in the wilds of Yala. At the centre of that quiet disruption stands Milinda Wattegedara.

Sri Lanka’s wilderness has always inspired photographers. Far fewer, however, have transformed photography into a data-driven challenge to established conservation science. Wattegedara—an MBA graduate by training and a wildlife researcher by pursuit—has done precisely that, building one of the most comprehensive independent identification databases of leopards and tuskers in the country.

“I consider myself privileged to have been born and raised in Sri Lanka,” Wattegedara says. “This island is extraordinary in its biodiversity. But admiration alone doesn’t protect wildlife. Accuracy does.”

Raised in Kandy, and educated at Kingswood College, where he captained cricket teams, up to the First XI, Wattegedara’s early years were shaped by discipline and long hours of practice—traits that would later define his approach to field research.

Though his formal education culminated in a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Cardiff Metropolitan University, his professional life gradually shifted toward Sri Lanka’s forests, grasslands, and coastal fringes.

From childhood, two species held his attention: the Sri Lankan leopard and the Asian elephant tusker. Both are icons. Both are elusive. And both, he argues, have been inadequately understood.

His response was methodical. Using high-resolution photography, Wattegedara began documenting individual animals, focusing on repeat sightings, behavioural traits, territorial ranges, and physical markers.

This effort formalised into two platforms—Yala Leopard Diary and Wild Tuskers of Sri Lanka—which function today as tightly moderated research communities rather than casual social media pages.

“My goal was never popularity,” he explains. “It was reliability. Every identification had to stand scrutiny.”

The results are difficult to dismiss. Through collaborative verification and long-term monitoring, his teams have identified over 200 individual leopards across Yala and Kumana National Parks and 280 tuskers across Sri Lanka.

Each animal—whether Jessica YF52 patrolling Mahaseelawa beach or Mahasen T037, the longest tusker bearer recorded in the wild—is catalogued with photographic evidence and movement history.

It was within this growing body of data that a critical inconsistency emerged.

“As injuries accumulated over time, we noticed subtle but consistent changes in rosette and spot patterns,” Wattegedara says. “This directly contradicted the assumption that these markings remain unchanged for life.”

That observation, later corroborated through structured analysis, had serious implications. If leopards were being identified using a limited set of spot references, population estimates risked duplication and inflation.

The findings led to the development of the Multipoint Leopard Identification Method, now internationally published, which uses multiple reference points rather than fixed pattern assumptions. “This wasn’t about academic debate,” Wattegedara notes. “It was about ensuring we weren’t miscounting an endangered species.”

The implications extend beyond Sri Lanka. Overestimated populations can lead to reduced protection, misplaced policy decisions, and weakened conservation urgency.

Yet much of this work has occurred outside formal state institutions.

“There’s a misconception that meaningful research only comes from official channels,” Wattegedara says. “But conservation gaps don’t wait for bureaucracy.”

That philosophy informed his role as co-founder of the Yala Leopard Centre, the world’s first facility dedicated solely to leopard education and identification. The Centre serves as a bridge between researchers, wildlife enthusiasts, and the general public, offering access to verified knowledge rather than speculation.

In a further step toward transparency, Artificial Intelligence has been introduced for automatic leopard identification, freely accessible via the Centre and the Yala Leopard Diary website. “Technology allows consistency,” he explains. “And consistency is everything in long-term studies.”

His work with tuskers mirrors the same precision. From Minneriya to Galgamuwa, Udawalawe to Kala Wewa, Wattegedara has documented generations of bull elephants—Arjuna T008, Kawanthissa T075, Aravinda T112—not merely as photographic subjects, but as individuals with lineage, temperament, and territory.

This depth of observation has also earned him recognition in wildlife photography, including top honours from the Photographic Society of Sri Lanka and accolades from Sanctuary Asia’s Call of the Wild. Still, he is quick to downplay awards.

“Photographs are only valuable if they contribute to understanding,” he says.

Today, Wattegedara’s co-authored identification guides on Yala leopards and Kala Wewa tuskers are increasingly referenced by researchers and field naturalists alike. His work challenges a long-standing divide between citizen science and formal research.

“Wildlife doesn’t care who publishes first,” he reflects. “It only responds to how accurately we observe it.”

In an era when Sri Lanka’s protected areas face mounting pressure—from tourism, infrastructure, and climate stress—the question of who counts wildlife, and how, has never been more urgent.

By insisting on precision, patience, and proof, Milinda Wattegedara has quietly reframed that conversation—one leopard, one tusker, and one verified photograph at a time.

By Ifham Nizam ✍️

Features

AI in Schools: Preparing the Nation for the Next Technological Leap

Published

17 hours ago

2026/01/12

Thilina Walpola

This summary document is based on an exemplary webinar conducted by the Bandaranaike Academy for Leadership & Public Policy ((https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqZGjlaMC08). I participated in the session, which featured multiple speakers with exceptional knowledge and experience who discussed various aspects of incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into the education system and other sectors.

There was strong consensus that this issue must be addressed early, before the nation becomes vulnerable to external actors seeking to exploit AI for their own advantage. Given her educational background, the Education Minister—and the Prime Minister—are likely to be fully aware of this need. This article is intended to support ongoing efforts in educational reform, including the introduction of AI education in schools for those institutions willing to adopt it.

Artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic concept. Today, it processes vast amounts of global data and makes calculated decisions, often to the benefit of its creators. However, most users remain unaware of the information AI gathers or the extent of its influence on decision-making. Experts warn that without informed and responsible use, nations risk becoming increasingly vulnerable to external forces that may exploit AI.

The Need for Immediate Action

AI is evolving rapidly, leaving traditional educational models struggling to keep pace. By the time new curricula are finalised, they risk becoming outdated, leaving both students and teachers behind. Experts advocate immediate government-led initiatives, including pilot AI education programs in willing schools and nationwide teacher training.

“AI is already with us,” experts note. “We must ensure our nation is on this ‘AI bus’—unlike past technological revolutions, such as IT, microchips, and nanotechnology, which we were slow to embrace.”

Training Teachers and Students

Equipping teachers to introduce AI, at least at the secondary school level, is a crucial first step. AI can enhance creativity, summarise materials, generate lesson plans, provide personalised learning experiences, and even support administrative tasks. Our neighbouring country, India, has already begun this process.

Current data show that student use of AI far exceeds that of instructors—a gap that must be addressed to prevent misuse and educational malpractice. Specialists recommend piloting AI courses as electives, gathering feedback, and continuously refining the curriculum to prepare students for an AI-driven future.

Benefits of AI in Education

AI in schools offers numerous advantages:

· Fosters critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills

· Enhances digital literacy and ethical awareness

· Bridges the digital divide by promoting equitable AI literacy

· Supports interdisciplinary learning in medicine, climate science, and linguistics

· Provides personalised feedback and learning experiences

· Assists students with disabilities through adaptive technologies like text-to-speech and visual recognition

AI can also automate administrative tasks, freeing teachers to focus on student engagement and social-emotional development—a key factor in academic success.

Risks and Challenges

Despite its potential, AI presents challenges:

· Data privacy concerns and misuse of personal information

· Over-reliance on technology, reducing teacher-student interactions

· Algorithmic biases affecting educational outcomes

· Increased opportunities for academic dishonesty if assessments rely on rote memorisation

Experts emphasise understanding these risks to ensure the responsible and ethical use of AI.

Global and Local Perspectives

In India, the Central Board of Secondary Education plans to introduce AI and computational thinking from Grades 3 to 12 by 2026. Sri Lanka faces a similar challenge. Many university students and academics already rely on AI, highlighting the urgent need for a structured yet rapidly evolving national curriculum that incorporates AI responsibly.

The Way Forward

Experts urge swift action:

· Launch pilot programs in select schools immediately.

· Provide teacher training and seed funding to participating educational institutions.

· Engage universities to develop short AI and innovation training programs.

“Waiting for others to lead risks leaving us behind,” experts warn. “It’s time to embrace AI thoughtfully, responsibly, and inclusively—ensuring the whole nation benefits from its opportunities.”

As AI reshapes our world, introducing it in schools is not merely an educational initiative—it is a national imperative.

BY Chula Goonasekera ✍️
on behalf of LEADS forum admin@srilankaleads.com

Features

The Paradox of Trump Power: Contested Authoritarian at Home, Uncontested Bully Abroad

Published

2 days ago

2026/01/11

Thilina Walpola

Protests and a vigil have been held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where the shooting of Renee Nicole Good occurred on Wednesday (photo courtesy BBC)

The Trump paradox is easily explained at one level. The US President unleashes American superpower and tariff power abroad with impunity and without contestation. But he cannot exercise unconstitutional executive power including tariff power without checks and challenges within America. No American President after World War II has exercised his authority overseas so brazenly and without any congressional referral as Donald Trump is getting accustomed to doing now. And no American President in history has benefited from a pliant Congress and an equally pliant Supreme Court as has Donald Trump in his second term as president.

Yet he is not having his way in his own country the way he is bullying around the world. People are out on the streets protesting against the wannabe king. This week’s killing of 37 year old Renee Good by immigration agents in Minneapolis has brought the City to its edge five years after the police killing of George Floyd. The lower courts are checking the president relentlessly in spite of the Supreme Court, if not in defiance of it. There are cracks in the Trump’s MAGA world, disillusioned by his neglect of the economy and his costly distractions overseas. His ratings are slowly but surely falling. And in an electoral harbinger, New York has elected as its new mayor, Zoran Mamdani – a wholesale antithesis of Donald Trump you can ever find.

Outside America it is a different picture. The world is too divided and too cautious to stand up to Trump as he recklessly dismantles the very world order that his predecessors have been assiduously imposing on the world for nearly a hundred years. A few recent events dramatically illustrate the Trump paradox – his constraints at home and his freewheeling abroad.

Restive America

Two days before Christmas, the US Supreme Court delivered a rare rebuke to the Trump Administration. After a host of rulings that favoured Trump by putting on hold, without full hearing, lower court strictures against the Administration, the Supreme Court by a 6-3 majority decided to leave in place a Federal Court ruling that barred Trump from deploying National Guard troops in Chicago. Trump quietly raised the white flag and before Christmas withdrew the federal troops he had controversially deployed in Chicago, Portland and Los Angeles – all large cities run by Democrats.

But three days after the New Year, Trump airlifted the might of the US Army to encircle Venezuela’s capital Caracas and spirit away the country’s President Nicolás Maduro, and his wife Celia Flores, all the way to New York to stand trial in an American Court. What is not permissible in any American City was carried out with absolute impunity in a foreign capital. It turns out the Administration has no plan for Venezuela after taking out Maduro, other than Trump’s cavalier assertion, “We’re going to run it, essentially.” Essentially, the Trump Administration has let Maduro’s regime without Maduro to run the country but with the US in total control of Venezuela’s oil.

Next on the brazen list is Greenland, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio who manipulated Maduro’s ouster is off to Copenhagen for discussions with the Danish government over the future of Greenland, a semi-autonomous part of Denmark. Military option is not off the table if a simple real estate purchase or a treaty arrangement were to prove infeasible or too complicated. That is the American position as it is now customarily announced from the White House podium by the Administration’s Press Secretary Karolyn Leavitt, a 28 year old Catholic woman from New Hampshire, who reportedly conducts a team prayer for divine help before appearing at the lectern to lecture.

After the Supreme Court ruling and the Venezuela adventure, the third US development relevant to my argument is the shooting and killing of a 37 year old white American woman by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Minneapolis, at 9:30 in the morning, Wednesday, January 7^th. Immediately, the Administration went into pre-emptive attack mode calling the victim a “deranged leftist” and a “domestic terrorist,” and asserting that the ICE officer was acting in self-defense. That line and the description are contrary to what many people know of the victim, as well as what people saw and captured on their phones and cameras.

The victim, Renee Nicole Good, was a mother of three and a prize-winning poet who self-described herself a “poet, writer, wife and mom.” A newcomer to Minneapolis from Colorado, she was active in the community and was a designated “legal observer of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities,” to monitor interactions between ICE agents and civilian protesters that have become the norm in large immigrant cities in America. Renee Good was at the scene in her vehicle to observe ICE operations and community protesters.

In video postings that last a matter of nine seconds, two ICE officers are seen approaching Good’s vehicle and one of them trying to open her door; a bystander is heard screaming “No” as Good is seen trying to drive away; and a third ICE officer is seen standing in front of her moving vehicle, firing twice in the direction of the driver, moving to a side and firing a third time from the side. Good’s car is seen going out of control, careening and coming to a stop on a snowbank. Yet America is being bombarded with two irreconcilable narratives – one manufactured by Trump’s Administration and the other by those at the scene and everyone opposed to the regime.

It adds to the explosiveness of the situation that Good was shot and killed not far from where George Folyd was killed, also in Minneapolis, on 25^th May, 2020, choked under the knee of a heartless policeman. And within 48 hours of Good’s killing, two Americans were shot and injured by two federal immigration agents, in Portland, Oregon, on the Westcoast. Trump’s attack on immigrants and the highhanded methods used by ICE agents have become the biggest flashpoint in the political opposition to the Trump presidency. People are organizing protests in places where ICE agents are apprehending immigrants because those who are being aggressively and violently apprehended have long been neighbours, colleagues, small business owners and students in their communities.

Deportation of illegal immigrants is not something that began under Trump. It has been going on in large numbers under all recent presidents including Obama and Biden. But it has never been so cruel and vicious as it is now under Trump. He has turned it into a television spectacle and hired large number of new ICE agents who are politically prejudiced and deployed them without proper training. They raid private homes and public buildings, including schools, looking for immigrants. When faced with protesters they get into clashes rather than deescalating the situation as professional police are trained to do. There is also the fear that the Administration may want to escalate confrontations with protesters to create a pretext for declaring martial law and disrupt the midterm congressional elections in November this year.

But the momentum that Trump was enjoying when he began his second term and started imposing his executive authority, has all but vanished and all within just one year in office. By the time this piece appears in print, the Supreme Court ruling on Trump’s tariffs (expected on Friday) may be out, and if as expected the ruling goes against Trump that will be a massive body blow to the Administration. Trump will of course use a negative court ruling as the reason for all the economic woes under his presidency, but by then even more Americans would have become tired of his perpetually recycled lies and boasts.

An Obliging World

To get back to my starting argument, it is in this increasingly hostile domestic backdrop that Trump has started looking abroad to assert his power without facing any resistance. And the world is obliging. The western leaders in Europe, Canada and Australia are like the three wise monkeys who will see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil – of anything that Trump does or fails to do. Their biggest fear is about the Trump tariffs – that if they say anything critical of Trump he will magnify the tariffs against their exports to the US. That is an understandable concern and it would be interesting to see if anything will change if the US Supreme Court were to rule against Trump and reject his tariff powers.

Outside the West, and with the exception of China, there is no other country that can stand up to Trump’s bullying and erratic wielding of power. They are also not in a position to oppose Trump and face increased tariffs on their exports to the US. Putin is in his own space and appears to be assured that Trump will not hurt him for whatever reason – and there are many of them, real and speculative. The case of the Latin American countries is different as they are part of the Western Hemisphere, where Trump believes he is monarch of all he surveys.

After more than a hundred years of despising America, many communities, not just regimes, in the region seem to be warming up to Trump. The timing of Trump’s sequestering of Venezuela is coinciding with a rising right wing wave and regime change in the region. An October opinion poll showed 53% of Latin American respondents reacting positively to a then potential US intervention in Venezuela while only 18% of US respondents were in favour of intervention. While there were condemnations by Latin American left leaders, seven Latin American countries with right wing governments gave full throated support to Trump’s ouster of Maduro.

The reasons are not difficult to see. The spread of crime induced by the commerce of cocaine has become the number one concern for most Latin Americans. The socio-religious backdrop to this is the evangelisation of Christianity at the expense of the traditional Catholic Church throughout Latin America. And taking a leaf from Trump, Latin Americans have also embraced the bogey of immigration, mainly influenced by the influx of Venezuelans fleeing in large numbers to escape the horrors of the Maduro regime.

But the current changes in Latin America are not necessarily indicative of a durable ideological shift. The traditional left’s base in the subcontinent is still robust and the recent regime changes are perhaps more due to incumbency fatigue than shifts in political orientations. The left has been in power for the greater part of this century and has not been able to provide answers to the real questions that preoccupied the people – economic affordability, crime and cocaine. It has not been electorally smart for the left to ignore the basic questions of the people and focus on grand projects for the intelligentsia. Exhibit #1 is the grand constitutional project in Chile under outgoing President Gabriel Borich, but it is not the only one. More romantic than realistic, Boric’s project titillated liberal constitutionalists the world over, but was roundly rejected by Chileans.

More importantly, and sooner than later, Trump’s intervention in Venezuela and his intended takeover of the country’s oil business will produce lasting backlashes, once the initial right wing euphoria starts subsiding. Apart from the bully force of Trump’s personality, the mastermind behind the intervention in Venezuela and policy approach towards Latin America in general, is Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the former Cuban American Senator from Florida and the principal leader of the group of Cuban neocons in the US. His ultimate objective is said to be achieving regime change in Cuba – apparently a psychological settling of scores on behalf Cuban Americans who have been dead set against Castro’s Cuba after the overthrow of their beloved Batista.

Mr. Rubio is American born and his parents had left Cuba years before Fidel Castro displaced Fulgencio Batista, but the family stories he apparently grew up hearing in Florida have been a large part of his self-acknowledged political makeup. Even so, Secretary Rubio could never have foreseen a situation such as an externally uncontested Trump presidency in which he would be able to play an exceptionally influential role in shaping American policy for Latin America. But as the old Burns’ poem rhymes, “The best-laid plans of men and mice often go awry.”

by Rajan Philips ✍️