Opinion

Fateful history of last 75 years: food for thought

Published

3 years ago

2023/03/2

A Connoisseur of Journalism

Several participants at a very popular night-time political chat programme on television recently talked about the history of Sri Lanka after gaining independence. They also chose to lament that the historical events in Sri Lanka are not even taught, let alone mentioned even and discussed in our schools. As a direct result of this, the younger generation is quite unaware of how things had panned out over the last seven and a half decades. Some of the younger members of the community have not even heard the anecdotes nor even a few of the true-to-life stories of numerous cardinal mistakes made by many people who wielded power over the nation.

It really is an intellectual crime that the salient features and the glaring mistakes made by them during the reign of different governing parties and their modus operandi have not been adequately outlined in the history of our country. We talk so proudly of the magnificent three-century-or-so-old heritage of this country without graphically describing the damage done by political leaders in a period as short as seventy-five years; that is of course since the time we managed to secure the so-called independence from our colonial rulers.

Well, as a matter of fact, it is not just the children and the younger generation who have missed it. Even adults, the middle-aged as well as the elderly too have done so and missed the bus completely in their response to various man-made calamities that fell on this beautiful country. The Sri Lankan populace is notorious for having very short memories; virtually minute memories. All the faults and failures of the political clowns of our legislature are generally not remembered and acted upon to prevent a recurrence, thereby allowing repetitions of the very same misdemeanours, over and over…, again and again. Come any election time, the rhetoric of politicians makes the populace forget all that water that has gone under the bridge.

If one looks dispassionately at the way this island has been governed over the last three-quarters of a century, initially by the Prime Ministers from the time when independence was secured, and then by Executive Presidents from the 1970s, one could point out the very many glaring mistakes made to convert a once prosperous nation to the current status of bankruptcy as a country with untold and miserable suffering inflicted on our people. Short-sighted policies with the end result being complete disorganisation of the country, together with purposive manipulations to deeply fracture the coherent nature of Sri Lanka as a united country has wreaked havoc over many a decade.

The self-serving, utterly selfish and do not care attitudes of almost all our so-called leaders over many decades have been the bane of this nation. Making a quick buck and resorting to all forms of corruption with almost complete impunity has been how things have repeatedly gone along. Family cronyism and building personal empires, all at the expense of the people of the country and with enormous gains to the hangers-on, henchmen and henchwomen, really makes one want to retch and puke. However, these have become almost the norm.

The united Ceylonese of the late 1940s has been torn apart by all kinds of religious, ethnic and societal bitterness, and even unbridled sectarianism, leading even to a war, by leaders who fanned the flames of communal disharmony of Sri Lankans. Insurgencies by certain sections of disgruntled inhabitants of our land have dealt severe body blows to Lanka. Some of the proponents of those misdemeanours have now ostensibly entered into the political scenarios to apparently save the country and its people without shedding even a reluctant tear for the atrocities committed in the not-too-distant past. They do not have even an iota of remorse for the suffering of the people brought on by their dastardly capers in the 1950s, 1970s and the 1980s. They have never had the inclination or the guts to come forward and clearly state that they made mistakes in the past, that they murdered innocent people, that they violently rose against the state and that they are so sorry for those mistakes which will never be repeated. We can clearly see many wolves in sheep’s clothing in these shameful sections of our politicians and their supporters in our populace. Then there are the ‘wannabe’ leaders who are adept at only shouting themselves hoarse at the drop of a hat and coming out with grandiloquence that is at best laughable. If you listen to some of them raising the decibel level to the realm of sheer suffering, you would not laugh at all.

We have not had even one elected Prime Minister or an elected Executive President who has TOTALLY eschewed violence and not behaved like a dictator or a tyrant. Of course, they have all got their hangers-on to do all the dirty work without getting their own hands sullied. There are all too well-known instances of those dissidents who have opposed their views and actions, being sent on their way to the next world without any hesitation or remorse whatsoever. Some of these so-called leaders have been corrupt to the core and amassed unimaginable fortunes through filthy lucre. They have not thought even twice about bleeding Mother Lanka virtually to death. There is no doubt that such dishonestly accrued wealth is safely stashed away in other countries which do not ask too many questions about the origins of such vast fortunes. Nobody has up to now even made a feeble try to get that money back into our country coffers. Instead, they have made a concerted attempt to strangle the people with a draconian tax act.

Many of these ‘top leaders’ have also suffered from delusions of grandeur and a case in point is one who dreamed of making this country the Pride of Asia and taking it to Vistas of Prosperity. That worthy destroyed the country by instituting drastic cuts in inland revenue taxes to suit his hangers-on and then went on to completely crush the agriculture landscape of the country by banning chemical fertilisers overnight. He listened to some acolytes who did not even have a clue about agriculture. He did just that, rather than making a solid effort towards obtaining skilful and well thought out advice from the experts in agriculture sciences. He completely chose to ignore the facts of the matter such as the woeful lack of even one country on the planet that has been able to change to 100 per cent to organic fertiliser. In fact, there is no single country that has successfully gone into 50 per cent of organic fertiliser usage or for that matter, even into it by 25 per cent. The maximum a country has been able to successfully use an organic fertiliser mode is by a small proportion akin to 10 to 15 per cent of the entire agriculture situation in that country. Yet for all that, the hard nut decided to ban all imports of chemical fertiliser overnight. One could only echo the immortal words of Marcus Tullius Cicero, ‘O tempora, O mores’. We can only shake our heads in exasperation and incredulity at those who commit such wanton sedition.

The ‘selected’ latest leader who has been in the saddle for the last few months is even more of a cunning fox than his famed uncle who basked in the glory of the nickname ‘old fox’. The current glibly speaking nincompoop seems to have outsmarted all his adversaries. However, mark my words, he will get his just desserts, as one Siri…… from Polonnaruwa did to the tune of one hundred million Sri Lankan smackers. The blue fellow will ultimately learn to his cost that the delusion that he is under, which is that leaders control the people, will not work. That would be because, in a vibrant democracy, the people are sovereign, and they would ultimately take meaningful steps to control the leaders. In addition, at present, we are governed in the legislature by a plethora of buffoons, a set of liars, kings of corruption, confirmed murderers, renowned rapists and drug lords of all hues. They are totally indifferent to the suffering of all fellow Sri Lankans. Those who can do so, are leaving this sinking ship in droves. The youth are emigrating, seeking greener pastures. The intellectuals are deserting our beloved Motherland looking for better landscapes on the other side of this abyss of despondency. The powers-that-be are totally oblivious to the suffering of the masses. As for the legislators enjoying all the perks at the expense of the common masses, we need to remind them, in the illustrious words of the Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist George Bernard Shaw; “The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that’s the essence of inhumanity”. Such cold-hearted indifference towards the misery of our countrymen, women and children, will definitely boomerang on them, and hopefully with interest too.

In the current status of this wonderful country of ours, in this summer of discontent, everybody is suffering, in an unfathomable chasm of despair. Even the rich are in misery to a certain extent but they will survive because money talks, even in the very worst of circumstances. The middle class and the lower classes have no such lever to fall back on but the worm may turn at some time or the other.

It is noteworthy that in the most recent 75-year-long history of Sri Lanka, oppressor leaders and despotic legislators have been made to pay…, eventually. Some have even been made to pay dearly. The foregoing tirade of the content of this article was written to show how important the history of a country is. It is also axiomatic to remind the people of this thrice blessed land that history has a funny, inexorable and sometimes most unpleasant habit of repeating itself.

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Opinion

Appreciation: D. L. O. Mendis Visionary Engineer, Philosopher, and Mentor

Published

1 day ago

2026/01/2

Thilina Walpola

D.L.O. Mendis

Today, we honour the life and legacy of D.L.O. Mendis, a visionary engineer and philosopher whose contributions defined the standards of our profession. D.L.O. possessed a rare combination of analytical rigor and creative foresight. His numerous technical papers presented here and abroad related to water resources development stand as enduring monuments to his brilliance.

Beyond creating blueprints and technical specifications, D.L.O. presented bold ideas that challenged and strengthened our professional communities. He was a dedicated mentor to junior engineers, and a leader who firmly believed that engineering was, above all, a service to humanity. While we mourn this great loss, we take solace in knowing that his radical influence shaped our careers and the ethical code that governs our profession.

A Career of Integrity and Excellence

Throughout his career spanning more than 70 years, D.L.O. embodied the highest standards of integrity and technical excellence. He was particularly instrumental in advancing our

understanding of ancient irrigation systems, bridging the gap between historical wisdom and modern development.

Academic and Professional Journey

D.L.O.’s educational journey began at Ladies’ College(which accepted boys in lower grades at the time) before he moved to Royal College. He later entered the University of Ceylon as a member of the pioneering first batch of engineering students in 1950, graduating in 1954 in a class of nearly 25 students.

His professional path was distinguished and diverse:

Irrigation Department:

Served for nearly 10 years.

River Valleys Development Board (RVDB):

Contributed during the construction of the Uda Walawe reservoir.

Ministry of Plan Implementation:

Served as Deputy Director under Director M. S. M. De Silva, where his main contribution was the promotion of appropriate technology, particularly the advancement of historical Kotmale ironwork which has existed since the era of Parakrama Bahu the Great, and the South Eastern Dry Zone Project. (SEDZ).

Consultancy:

Served as a freelance consultant.

Leadership:

A prolific contributor of a large number of technical papers to the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL), eventually serving as its President.

Personal Reflections and Anecdotes

My association with D.L.O. spanned more than 50 years. I first saw him riding a bicycle past Akbar Hall while I was an engineering student. I later learned his family was residing at Prof. Paul’s residence nearby while he was serving at Uda Walawe Reservoir Project as a senior engineer for the RVDB.

Through D.L.O., I had the privilege of meeting legendary professionals outside the Irrigation Department, includingthe exceptionally bright M.S.M. de Silva and the international economist, Dr. Lal Jayawardena (Mr. N.U.Jayawardena’s son).

A Tribute to a Legacy

We extend our deepest gratitude for Mr. D.L.O. Mendis’slifelong service and offer our sincerest condolences to his family and colleagues. His monumental work and numerous publications remain a lasting gift to future generations of engineers.

May he attain the supreme bliss of Nibbana!

G.T. Dharmasena,
Former Director General of Irrigation

Opinion

Nature’s revenge for human greed and the plight of the Third World

Published

1 day ago

2026/01/2

Thilina Walpola

Now there is no doubt about the phenomenon of global warming, its far reaching effects and its causes. Yet Donald Trump says global warming is con and Europe, too, is dithering about what measures should be urgently taken to save Earth. Deliberations at the COP30 meeting in Brazil did not bring the desired results regarding emission of greenhouse gases. The biggest polluters like the US, who have not met the minimum goals regarding emissions, decided at the 2015 Paris Agreement, failed to provide guarantees that they will correct themselves in the coming years. Cyclones that hit Sri Lanka and other Asian countries last month are the direct result of unrestricted burning of fossil fuel and other activities that cause emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Extreme climate events hit poor countries like the proverbial lightning that strikes the begging bowl.

The last decade has seen some of the worst natural disasters in the history of mankind. The devastating impacts of the climate crisis reached new heights in 2024, with scores of unprecedented heatwaves, floods and storms across the globe, according to the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Yet human greed which is the ultimate cause of global warming continues unabated and CO2 emissions reach new records. The WMO’s report on 2024, the hottest year on record, sets out a trail of destruction from extreme weather that took lives, demolished buildings and ravaged vital crops. More than 800,000 people were displaced and made homeless, the highest yearly number since records began in 2008.

The report lists 151 unprecedented extreme weather events in 2024, meaning they were worse than any ever recorded in the region. Heatwaves in Japan left hundreds of thousands of people struck down by heatstroke. Soaring temperatures during heatwaves peaked at 49.9C at Carnarvon in Western Australia, 49.7C in the city of Tabas in Iran, and 48.5C in a nationwide heatwave in Mali.

Record rains in Italy led to floods, landslides and electricity blackouts; torrents destroyed thousands of homes in Senegal; and flash floods in Pakistan and Brazil caused major crop losses.

Storms were also supercharged by global heating in 2024, with an unprecedented six typhoons in under a month hitting the Philippines. Hurricane Helene was the strongest ever recorded to strike the Big Bend region of Florida in the US, while Vietnam was hit by Super Typhoon Yagi, affecting 3.6 million people. Many more unprecedented events will have passed unrecorded.

The world is already deep into the climate crisis, with the WMO report saying that for the first time, the 10 hottest years on record all occurred in the last decade. However, global carbon emissions have continued to rise, which will bring even worse impacts. Experts were particularly critical of the purge of climate scientists and programmes by the US president, Donald Trump, saying that ignoring reality left ordinary people paying the price.

“Leaders must step up – seizing the benefits of cheap, clean renewables for their people and economies – with new national climate plans due this year,” said the UN secretary general, António Guterres.

Extreme climate events like heat waves, intense rainfall, droughts, and severe storms have significantly increased in frequency and intensity over the past decades, driven by global warming, with studies showing a fivefold increase in climate disasters compared to the 1970s, and human influence now clearly linked to many specific events, according to reports from organisations like the UN, WMO, and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The number of recorded climate-related disasters (storms, floods, droughts, wildfires) surged from 711 in the 1970s to over 3,000 in the 2000s and 2010s.

The intensity of these events is also alarmingly rising. Heatwaves, heavy precipitation events, and sea-level impacts from cyclones are becoming more severe, with phenomena like extreme heat in North America now considered “virtually impossible” without human-caused climate change. Scientists can now more confidently attribute specific extreme events (like heatwaves in Europe or floods in Asia) to climate change, moving beyond general predictions to clear causation. The warming atmosphere holds more moisture, fueling more intense precipitation, while human activities (like burning fossil fuels) continue to warm the planet, loading the dice for extreme weather.

These disasters could have been considerably lessened if the signatories to the Paris Agreement on climate change signed in 2016 had fulfilled their commitment to the agreement. The goal of the UN agreement was to reduce the average global temperature rise well below 2 degrees C above pre-industrial levels. To achieve this, it was necessary to cut down CO2 emission by 20%, increase the renewable energy market by 20% and improve energy efficiency by 20%, the so called 20/20/20 targets. However, the agreement was non-binding for the individual countries.

Despite all this effort, green-house gas emissions reached an all-time record of 37 billion tons in 2018 and 41 billion tonnes in 2024. This has caused havoc all over the world, long dry periods affecting crops, desertification, forest fires alternating with torrential rain, huge floods and storms. Countries like China, the US, EU and India who in that order are the largest emitters of greenhouse gases have a great responsibility in saving the world from total destruction. Though China, EU and India appear to be on course to achieve Intended Nationally Determined Contributions towards emission reduction, they must do more in double quick time if global temperature rise is to be kept at 1.5C. In contrast President Trump in his usual bumbling and foolish attitude is planning to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. .

It has been calculated that if meat consumption is reduced by 20% carbon emission would be reduced by 5%. Cutting down on meat consumption would be good for health also and would lesson cruelty to animals. There are several similar measures that people and governments could do to mitigate this problem. But human greed seems to be uncontrollable. Obviously rich countries have the capacity to deal with extreme weather events and don’t care much about their devastating impact on poor countries.

In a country like Sri Lanka, for instance, when the waters rage, people have nowhere to go. Poor people with limited land resources cannot choose where to live. This is why hawkers whose wayside shops on the Kadugannawa climb were destroyed by recent earth slides are seen reconstructing the shops in the same places. There may not be sufficient land available to relocate all those who live in unsafe places like the foot of unstable hills, in river basins, sea beaches, etc. in a small country like ours. A significant portion of Sri Lanka’s population lives in disaster-prone areas, with nearly 19 million people residing in vulnerable spots like low-lying or landslide-prone regions, including hill slopes, making them highly susceptible to climate impacts. The National Building and Research Organisation (NBRO) has identified over 14,000 specific landslide-prone locations, affecting thousands of rural and estate homes, with thousands more at high or medium risk, especially in districts like Badulla, Kandy, and Kegalle.

To make life safe from extreme weather for at least the most vulnerable and the poorest may be beyond the means of our poor country with all its economic ills. Experts say we have to be prepared to live with climate change. Rather we may have to die with it unless the preventable is prevented ! According to climate scientists, global warming is preventable. The Director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability & the Media, Michael Mann is among many scientists who point to the “game-changing new scientific understanding” that global warming would stabilize relatively quickly (within a decade) if emissions were to reach net zero, meaning that the worst outcomes are avoidable if we act swiftly. The authors of the comprehensive IPCC reports emphasize that every fraction of a degree of warming that is prevented will save countless lives and protect vital ecosystems. These reports serve as the authoritative voice on climate science and policy recommendations.

The battle against global warming, it appears, has to be fought by the Global South as the North is not doing enough. It is the poor countries of the Global South that do not have the capacity to absorb the blows that nature delivers, and it is they who have to bear the brunt of the relentless onslaught. As I have mentioned in my earlier letters the Global South has to get together to fight the greed driven neo-liberalism which is the cause of so many ills including global warming. In this regard China, India, South Africa and perhaps Iran with the backing of Russia may have to take the leadership and construct an alternative to the present global economic system which would have to take strong cognition of the need to safeguard the environment and cut down on emissions drastically and quickly. This is not impossible if consumerism, which is the driver of neo-liberalism, could be controlled. To achieve this human greed will have to be restrained, perhaps by means of good morals. Unless the Global South realizes the impending peril and takes necessary measures we are doomed.

by N. A. de S. Amaratunga ✍️

Opinion

Remembering Douglas Devananda on New Year’s Day 2026

Published

2 days ago

2026/01/1

Thilina Walpola

Douglas in Geneva

I have no intention of even implicitly commenting on the legality of the ongoing incarceration of Douglas Devananda.

I’ve no legal background, and that’s because having been selected for the Law faculty at the University of Colombo on the basis of my A level results, I opted to study Political Science instead. I did so because I had an acute sense of the asymmetry between the law and justice and had developed a growing compulsion on issues of ethics—issues of right and wrong, good and evil.

However, as someone who has had a book published in the UK on political ethics, I have no compunction is saying that as a country, as a society, there has to be a better way than this.

It is morally and ethically wrong, indeed a travesty, that Douglas, a wounded hero of the anti-LTTE war, should spend New Year 2026 in the dreaded Mahara prison.

Douglas should be honoured as a rare example of a young man, who having quite understandably taken up arms to fight against Sinhala racism and for the Tamil people, decided while still a young man to opt to fight on the side of the democratic Sri Lankan state and to campaign for devolution for the North and East within the framework of a united Sri Lanka and its Constitution.

Douglas was an admired young leader of the PLA, the military wing of the Marxist EPRLF when he began to be known.

Nothing is more ironic than the historical fact that in July 1983 he survived the horrifying Welikada prison massacres, during which Sinhala prisoners, instigated and incentivized from outside (Gonawela Sunil is a name that transpired), slaughtered Tamil prisoners and gauged out their eyes.

Having escaped from jail in Batticaloa, Douglas came back to Sri Lanka in 1989, having had a change of heart after hundreds of youngsters belonging to the EPRLF, PLOT, and TELO had been massacred from 1986 onwards by the hardcore separatist, totalitarian Tigers. He was welcomed by President Premadasa and Minister Ranjan Wijeratne who took him and his ‘boys’ under their wing. There are photos of Douglas in shorts and carrying an automatic weapon, accompanying Ranjan Wijeratne and the Sri Lankan armed forces after the liberation of the islands off Jaffna from the Tiger grip.

It is Douglas who kept those vital islands safe, together with the Navy, throughout the war.

Douglas stayed with the democratic Sri Lankan state, remaining loyal to the elected president of the day, without ever turning on his or her predecessor. He probably still wears, as he did for decades, the fountain pen that President Premadasa gifted him.

During the LTTE’s offensive on Jaffna after the fall of Elephant Pass, the mass base built up by Douglas which gave the EPDP many municipal seats, helped keep Jaffna itself safe, with more Tamil civilians fleeing into Jaffna than out of it. I recall President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga giving him a satellite phone. Army Chief Lionel Balagalle gave him a pair of mini-Uzis for his safety.

Douglas was no paramilitary leader, pure and simple. His public speech on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, delivered without a teleprompter, is an excellent roadmap for the graduated implementation of the 13th amendment and the attainment of maximum devolution within a unitary state.

Like Chandrika, Douglas has had his sight severely impaired by the LTTE. As a Minister he had visited Tamil detainees imprisoned in wartime, and been set upon by a group of LTTE prisoners who had planned for his visit, concealing sharpened handles of steel buckets in the ceiling, and slammed the pointed metal through his skull. Douglas still needs repeated daily medication for his eyes which were miraculously saved by the Sri Lankan surgeons who repaired his skull, but at a subsequent stage, he was also treated by surgeons overseas.

No Sri Lankan, Sinhala or Tamil, civilian politician or military brass, has survived as many attempted assassinations by the Tigers as has Douglas. I believe the count is eleven. There’s a video somewhere of a suicide bomber blasting herself in his office, yards away from him.

Under no previous Sri Lankan administration since the early 1980s has Douglas found himself behind bars. He has served and/or supported seven democratic Presidents: Premadasa, Wijetunga, Chandrika, Mahinda, Sirisena, Gotabaya and Wickremesinghe. He has been a Minister over decades and a parliamentarian for longer.

He was a firm frontline ally of the Sri Lankan state and its armed forces during the worst challenge the country faced from the worst enemy it had since Independence.

During my tenure as Sri Lanka’s ambassador/Permanent representative to the UN Geneva, Douglas Devananda came from Colombo to defend Sri Lanka in discussions with high level UN officials including UN Human Rights High Commissioner Navanethem Pillay. This was in April 23, mere weeks before the decisive battle of the UN HRC Special session on Sri Lanka which we won handsomely. The media release on his visit reads as follows:

A high-level delegation led by the Hon. Minister Douglas Devananda, Minister of Social Services and Social Welfare, which also included the Hon. Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services, H.E. Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, Ambassador/ Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, Secretary to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights, and Mr. Yasantha Kodagoda, Deputy Solicitor General, Attorney General’s Department, represented Sri Lanka at the Durban Review Conference.

“Organized by the United Nations, the Durban Review Conference provides an opportunity to assess and accelerate progress on implementation of measures adopted at the 2001 World Conference against Racism, including assessment of contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. On the opening day of this conference, Hon. Douglas Devananda made a statement behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka.

“On the sidelines of the Durban Review Conference which is being held from 20th to 24th of April 2009, the Sri Lankan delegation met with senior UN officials, and a number of dignitaries from diverse countries and updated them on the current situation in Sri Lanka against the backdrop of Sri Lanka’s fight against separatism and terrorism.

Hon. Devananda and Hon. Bathiudeen, along with the rest of the delegation, held meetings with Ms. Navanethem Pillai, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (and a former Prime Minister of Portugal) and Mr. Anders Johnsson, Secretary-General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.’

(https://live.lankamission.org/index.php/human-rights/676-minister-devananda-meets-un-high-commissioners-for-human-rights-and-refugees-2.html)

In contemporary world history, a leader from a minority community who defends the unity of his country against a separatist terrorist force deriving from that minority is hailed as a hero. A leader who takes the side of the democratic state, arms in hand, against a totalitarian fascistic foe, is hailed as a hero. Evidently, not so in current-day Sri Lanka.

[Dayan Jayatilleka, Sri Lanka’s former Ambassador to the UN Geneva; France, Spain, Portugal and UNESCO; and the Russian Federation, was a Vice-President of the UN Human Rights Council and Chairman, ILO.]

by Dr Dayan Jayatilleka ✍️