Midweek Review

House erupts over Met Chief’s 12 Nov unheeded warning about cyclone Ditwah

Published

5 months ago

2025/12/3

Colombo harbour: A Chetak helicopter takes off from aircraft carrier INS Vikrant with Sri Lankan Air Force personnel onboard on Search And Rescue (SAR) operations. INS Vikrant was here to participate in the International Fleet Review (IFR) to mark SLN's 75th anniversary but it could not be held on 30 November, as scheduled. Instead India threw its weight behind Sri Lanka's efforts (pic courtesy IHC)

Pakistan arranged a series of C-130 humanitarian flights to transport the Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team, fully equipped field hospitals, and approximately 100 tons of relief assistance. Pakistan, whose assistance during the war prevented the breaking up of Sri Lanka, also directed a Pakistan Navy Ship (PNS), that was here to participate in the International Fleet Review to mark Sri Lanka Navy’s 75th anniversary, to engage in humanitarian operations. The Pakistan High Commission here said that the vessel’s onboard helicopter was deployed for relief and rescue missions, in coordination with Sri Lankan Forces, extending crucial aerial support to affected areas. (At the time this edition went to press, Pakistan hasn’t been able to dispatch the aid aircraft due to India not granting sufficient time to carry out the movement, Pakistan HC in Colombo alleged. India earlier said that approval has been granted for Pakistan to fly over India)

The year 2025 ends with devastating loss of lives and property, both private and public, as a result of floods and landslides triggered by Cyclone Ditwah.

Social media erupted over accusations that the National People’s Power (NPP)government failed to issue a proper warning, in spite of the Director General of the Meteorology Department, Athula Karunanayaka, declaring the impending unprecedented danger.

Karunanayaka made the deadly prediction on 12 November on ‘Big Focus.’ He said so responding to ‘Big Focus’ presenter Kalindu Karunaratne.

Karunanayake didn’t mince his words when he warned of the impending catastrophe. The top official warned that the situation could take a turn for the worse on or after 14 November. Declaring that the threat could progress rapidly though it may not happen on 14 November, Katunanayake said at that moment he wouldn’t call the development a cyclone.

Cyclone Ditwah made landfall on 27 November, two weeks after DG Karunanayake’s warning.

Some compared the alleged lapse with the failure on the part of the Yahapalana administration to thwart the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage, though the powers that be received actionable intelligence.

The nearly one-hour long programme entirely dealt with the developing weather situation. The Director General of the Disaster Management Centre (DMC), Major General (retd.) Sampath Kotuwegoda, and scientist Imaya Ariyarathna of the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) joined the discussion.

What really prompted ‘Big Focus’ to invite them for a discussion on weather at a time when much more interesting developments were taking place, with a section of the Opposition planning the Nugegoda protest. Let me emphasise that the Meteorology Department comes under the purview of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and it works closely with the DMC. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is the Minister of Defence, while his deputy is Major General (retd.) Aruna Jayasekera. The Secretary to the MoD is celebrated helicopter gunship pilot, Air Vice Marshal (retd.) Sampath Thuyakontha.

It would be pertinent to ask whether the Meteorology Department alerted the Defence Ministry, in writing, regarding the impending threat. Had DG Karunanayake been so sure of the developing threat shouldn’t he have advised the government immediately? In addition to DG Karunanayake, it would be necessary to inquire into the DMC’s response and that of NBRO as both organisations had been represented at the discussion.

In fact, the Metrology Chief should have advised the government of the developing situation before he appeared on ‘Big Focus.’ What did the Metrology Department, the DMC and NBRO do over the next 10 days before Cyclone Ditwah ravaged Sri Lanka?

Instead of demanding a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to ascertain the overall failure of those responsible to act on available data, the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) pursued a politically motivated agenda. Finally, the SJB forcefully raised the issues at hand in Parliament on 01 December. The government struggled to cope up with Opposition accusations.

A section of the Opposition sought to take political advantage of the developing crisis by demanding the cancellation of a national programme called the ‘Sri Lankan Day’, meant to foster unity and understanding among the country’s diverse communities and utilisation of the funds, allocated for that project, to provide urgently required assistance for the needy.

Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs Ministry has been tasked with implementing that programme, which is scheduled to take place on 12, 13, and 14 December, 2025. The Opposition should have pressed both the government and DG Meteorology as to how specific warnings weren’t issued at least in the wake of the ‘Big Focus’ disclosure.

Political conspiracy

Sampath Kotuwegoda / Athula Karunanayaka

Lawyer and political commentator Nayana Tharanga Gamage lambasted Derana over repeating that segment of the programnme where DG Karunanayake issued the warning. Gamage found fault with the television channel for its reportage while raising the possibility of that channel propagating anti-NPP government propaganda for the benefit of Derana Chief. Gamage was referring to Sarvajana Balaya leader and its only MP Dilith Jayaweera (National List).

Referring to previous instances of the media exploiting crisis situations, Attorney-at-Law Gamage, in his regular social media comment that always addressed issues, lambasted Derana for its reportage of Cyclone Ditwah.

However, the failure on the part of the SJB, and those who organised the Nugegoda rally, to take up vigorously the disclosure made on ‘Big Focus,’ is quite disappointing. All three institutions that had been represented at the discussion with Kalindu Karunaratne owed an explanation and apology as to why absolutely no action was taken until Cyclone Ditwah struck Sri Lanka.

Had the JVP-led NPP represented parliamentary Opposition, that party would have definitely raised the issue. Even if the irresponsible Opposition so far failed to take up this issue, it would be the responsibility of the government to explain the developments since 12 November.

But even if prior warnings had been issued in the wake of ‘Big Focus’ declaration, the destruction caused to infrastructure and houses/buildings couldn’t have been averted but it could have been minimised and certainly many lives could have been saved. Experts say the impact could have been minimised if the authorities had lowered the water levels in the reservoirs, systematically, much earlier as they had been forewarned of the coming monster storm, instead of suddenly releasing vast quantities of water when things were too late, which caused devastating floods downstream. At the time of writing this, the death toll had passed 800 with bodies of over 400 men, women and children yet unaccounted for, and they may never be found.

The number of deaths caused by Cyclone Ditwah is much more than from the Easter Sunday carnage. Multiple attacks, blamed on the National Thowheeth Jaamath (NTJ), claimed the lives of approximately 270 people, andabout 500 received injuries.

Economic fallout of the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah has to be ascertained. The national economy, still struggling to cope up with the disgraceful financial status, may experience intensified pressure as the government had no option but to review its overall strategy. The impact on tourism would be devastating as happened in the wake of 2019 Easter Sunday carnage and those who are responsible for managing the economy would be compelled to rethink their economic strategy.

Both the government and the Opposition would have to sink their differences and work together to overcome the developing crisis. The devastation is so huge a reappraisal of budget expenditure, too, may be necessary without delay. Whatever the ruling party politicians may say, it would be prudent to reexamine the arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as well as the World Bank and other lending bodies as to how the 2028 deadline for the resumption of debt repayment can be met.

The reportage of the post-Cyclone Ditwah situation primarily focused on rescue efforts and providing of relief. The long-term impact of the devastation caused seemed to have been conveniently forgotten.

The government should realise that its overwhelming 2/3 majority in Parliament does not mean anything. In fact, the re-building of public infrastructure and private property would pose such an intimidating challenge, the NPP, perhaps, may have to change its priorities and think of short, medium and long-term plans to revive the national economy, especially the agriculture sector, which received a body blow as never before.

The urgent need to examine the devastating impact of the disruption of overland main roads, leading to/from the upcountry region, cannot be overemphasised. Unfortunately, the powers that be seemed to be interested in the basic coverage of the post-Cyclone Ditwah developments.

It would be interesting to know whether the Meteorology Department alerted the Examination Department regarding the developing situation before or after the ‘Big Focus’ discussion or never bothered to do so before Cyclone Ditwah swooped down on Sri Lanka. The failure on the part of the Meteorology Department to do so cannot be pardoned under any circumstances. The DMC is also equally responsible for the lapse as its head, Major General (retd.) Kotuwegoda, had been part of the ‘Big Focus’ panel.

The Advance Level examination commenced on 10 November, two days before the Meteorology Department issued a warning. Regardless of assurances given by the Examination Department, the government would find it extremely difficult to re-schedule the examination which was earlier scheduled to be completed on 05 December. Let us hope Advance Level candidates weren’t among the dead and those disappeared.

Operation Sagar Bandhu

In line with India’s ‘Neighbourhood First Policy’ New Delhi acted swiftly and decisively in the wake of Cyclone Ditwah strike.

Aircraft carrier INS Vikrant and INS Udaygiri — the second ship of Project 17A’s stealth frigates that arrived in Colombo to participate in the International Fleet Review (IFR) to mark Sri Lanka Navy’s 75tth anniversary that was to be held on 30 November brought in urgently needed supplies for Sri Lankan victims. India seemed to have been aware of the developing threat and brought in essential items which were handed over to Sri Lanka. The vessels that were sent here to participate in the IFR, according to a press release issued by the Indian High Commission in Colombo, carried 4.5 tons of dry rations and 2 tons of fresh rations, consisting of staple foods, packaged and ready-to-eat items, dairy and bakery products, beverages, and other nutritional essentials to meet urgent household needs. In addition, the vessels delivered other essential survival items.

Chetak helicopters were launched from INS Vikrant to airlift those who had been marooned while Mi 17 helicopters of Indian Air Force (IAF) conducted search and rescue operations over the last weekend near the inaccessible Kotmale area, saving stranded persons, including pregnant women, infants, and those critically injured. The IHC declared that those who had been rescued consisted of Sri Lankans, Indians, Germans, Slovenians, British, South Africans, Polish and people from Belarus, Iran, Australia, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Further, the helicopters also airlifted critical casualties to Colombo as well as carrying Sri Lankan Army personnel to landslide affected regions.

Obviously, Sri Lanka couldn’t have faced the dire situation without Indian assistance. The Indian response is very much similar to the action during the economic crisis here a few years back. It would be also interesting to examine whether against the backdrop of the scheduled IFR, Navy Headquarters sought clarification from the Meteorology Department regarding the 12 November Cyclone warning. The Navy couldn’t go ahead with the IFR with the participation of eight warships from seven countries.

Two IAF aircraft, a C-130J and an IL-76, brought in approximately 21 tonnes of relief supplies, along with 80 personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). They were deployed in Puttalam and Badulla, two of the worst-affected regions. Subsquently, India sent more assistance, both in the form of men and material. We should also be grateful for assistance provided by India, China, Japan, the US, Australia, UK, New Zealand and others but New Delhi cannot absolve itself of the responsibility for causing terrorism here.

Tragedy

During relief missions on Sunday (30), SLAF lost a pilot, Wing Commander Nirmal Siyambalapitiya, when he was forced to make an emergency landing near the Lunuwila bridge. Siyambalapitiya, with over 3,000 flying hours during his distinguished service, succumbed to his injuries, and had been in command of the Bell 212 altogether carrying five personnel, including a co-pilot.

Against the backdrop of the Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshal Bandu Edirisinghe, ordering the setting up of a board of inquiry to investigate the incident, the government cannot ignore the need to probe the failure to act in spite of the Met Department issuing warnings.

Five SLN personnel, attached to the Chalai detachment, in the Vettilaikerni sector, also died, on Sunday, when they were caught in flood waters.

In spite of the setbacks, the war-winning armed forces sustained relief and rescue efforts in virtually all affected areas. The social media comments on the role played by the armed forces reminded the country again and again how the public are divided over the government’s approach.

Let me be clear, regardless of the issuance of an early warning, floods and landslides were certain to cause catastrophe but some lives could have been saved and household items, and vehicles, moved to safety. The government is accountable for the failure to act on the basis of the Meteorology Department’s assessment.

Some social media posts reminded me of the alleged Helping Hambantota financial scam perpetrated after the 2004 tsunami. International funds that had been sent to the then Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s official account were allegedly transferred to a privately-run scheme. That had been a major issue at the 2005 presidential election won by Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Helping the Hambantota scheme caused Mahinda Rajapaksa immense harm. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) sought permission from the courts to investigate the accounts alleging that there was a breach of trust concerning nearly 83 million Sri Lankan rupees (approx. 820,000 US dollars).

Deputy Solicitor General, Palitha Fernando, who represented the Attorney General, told court that the CID was directed to initiate an investigation after a complaint made by United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian Kabir Hashim.

This transpired when a fundamental rights petition by Mahinda Rajapaksa against the probe by the CID was taken into consideration by the Supreme Court. The then Chief Justice Sarath Nanda Silva is on record as having said the CID seemed to have worked under political influence as there was no written evidence against the then Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The CJ said President Rajapaksa had to seek legal assistance due to “inappropriate” action by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Years later Sarath Nanda Silva changed his stand on this particular case.

The bottom line is the latest calamity has weakened Sri Lanka further. That is the undeniable truth. Whatever the politicians say Sri Lanka faces an uphill task in pursuing economic recovery.

The government may be compelled to cancel a controversial deal to procure over 1,700 diesel double cabs in violation of laid down procedures. We wonder why the government at least did not make any attempt to procure electric vehicles for the government fleet as it would have at least helped to lessen air pollution that many areas of the country has been enveloped in for some time. It would even save the money that would have been spent on costly diesel and engine oil. Perhaps, in economic terms, the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah is definitely far worse than the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks. The cost of infrastructure losses is yet to be estimated and appropriate measures taken to restore them. The task seems to be overwhelming, especially against the backdrop of interested parties seeking to take advantage of the calamity.

Maybe we should ask our powerful friends in the West, like the USA, to postpone sending attack helicopters and military transport planes as we are not in any war with any other country, but instead to send us things like medicines that our hospitals are gravely short of. Definitely when we can hardly stand up on our own feet how can we afford to get into scrapes started by others?

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Midweek Review

Squeaky clean image of JVP in tatters

Published

5 days ago

2026/04/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

During the recent debate on the No-Confidence Motion (NCM) against Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody, Illankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) Batticaloa District lawmaker, Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam, warned that the next NCM would be moved against Fisheries Minister Ramalingham Chandrasekaran. Rasamanickam accused the National List member of corruption, a charge vehemently denied by the NPPer. The NPP/JVP needs to initiate an internal inquiry before corruption allegations overwhelm the party that received the full advantage of Aragalaya to transform the outfit from just a three-member parliamentary group, in 2024, to a staggering 159, a year later. The UNP and SLFP led alliances were dealt harshly by the electorates for want of action to curb corruption. Today, the UNP and SLFP are not represented in Parliament, while the SLPP, that secured 145 seats at the 2020 general election, was reduced to just three with its parliamentary group leader Namal Rajapaksa entering Parliament through the National List. Rajapaksa junior obviously feared to face the Hambantota electorate at the last general election. That is the undeniable truth.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

The ongoing controversy over Agriculture, Lands, Irrigation and Livestock Minister K.D. Lal Kantha’s three-storeyed luxury house has intensified pressure on the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) government struggling to cope-up with the devastating coal scam, blamed on Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody forcing him to resign.

Jayakody, one of those who financed the NPP/JVP campaign in the run-up to the 2024 national polls ,resigned on 17 April, along with Prof. Udayanga Hemapala, Secretary to the Energy Ministry. Their resignations happened eight months after the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP), a breakaway faction of the JVP, revealed the alleged coal scam. The Lal Kantha affair received significant public attention though the primary issue at hand is the massive coal scam that ripped through the government.

Jayakody will continue as a National List member of the ruling party. The NPP/JVP won an unprecedented 159 seats, including 18 National List slots at the November 2024 parliamentary elections.

The Opposition dismissed government claims that the resignations were meant to facilitate the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the procurement of coal, since the commissioning of the country’s only coal-fired power plant during the onset of Mahinda Rajapaksa’s second term. In the wake of the much delayed resignations, NPP/JVP heavyweight Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath, addressing the media at the Information Department, pathetically vouched for Jayakody’s integrity.

Let us discuss the accusations directed at Lal Kantha who had served the SLFP-led Cabinet for a short period, years ago, in terms of an agreement between the SLFP and the JVP. Lal Kantha had never been accused of corruption and was, in fact, one of those lawmakers who raised the issue both in and outside Parliament. Political parties may have forgotten that the UNP got rid of Lacille de Silva, Director General of Administration, Parliament, during Ranil Wickremesinghe’s premiership, in the 2001-2003 period, alleging he passed on information to Lal Kantha to attack the government.

The NPP Executive Committee member, as well as JVP politburo and Central Committee heavyweight, has publicly defended his right to own a luxury house amidst a section of the social media pushing for police investigation into the lawmaker’s wealth.

Unlike the owner/owners of the mysterious Malwana mansion, built on a 16-acre land overlooking the Kelani river, Lal Kantha didn’t try to disclaim the house ownership at Jusse Road, Welivita, in the Kaduwela area. The Malwana house was built towards the end of Mahinda Rajapaksa’s second term as the President. The hullabaloo over the ownership of the Malwana mansion, and construction costs, dominated the 2015 presidential election campaign. On the basis of the Malwana mansion, the UNP and the JVP built a strong case against the Rajapaksas, accusing the family of corruption.

It would be of pivotal importance that the JVP backed Maithripala Sirisena’s 2015 presidential polls candidature. The campaign was built on an anti-corruption platform that earned the appreciation of the public who disregarded the unprecedented development work successfully carried out by the Rajapaksas, while also fighting a war to defeat the most ruthless terrorist organisation that was out to break up the country.

During a US-India backed violent protest campaign, in March-July 2022, an organised gang set the stately Malwana mansion ablaze. The general consensus was that the Malwana mansion belonged to Basil Rajapakasa, though he vehemently denied having anything to do with it.

Yahapalana Justice Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, PC, is on record as having declared that the Malwana mansion would be renovated and used to accommodate a state institution. Lal Kantha’s newly acquired wealth has to be examined and discussed, taking into consideration his long standing claim that as a fulltime member of the JVP he entirely depended on his wife’s monthly salary and help provided by friends and associates. If that was the case, Lal Kantha couldn’t have ended up among the richest group of politicians, within less than two years after the last presidential election, held in September 2024.

Lal Kantha couldn’t have been unaware of the possibility of the Opposition, particularly the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), attacking him and the NPP/JVP over his Kaduwela house. Responding to critics, the Anuradhapura District lawmaker has claimed, on YouTube, that he sold a property he owned in Anuradhapura and used that money to acquire the Jusse Road land.

The outspoken Minister is also on record as having said that the existence of his new house, to which he moved in late 2024, was disclosed by him. However, incisive Youtuber Dharma Sri Kariyawasam has claimed that he made the revelation on 01 October, 2025, while another You-Tuber, Abeetha Edirisinghe, rammed up pressure on the NPP by lodging a complaint with the police, via the special number 1818. Edirisinghe’s SL Leaders YouTube posted a video of him lodging the complaint.

What made the complaint really interesting was Edirisinghe’s declaration based on ‘Dark Room’ YouTube allegations that wealthy businessman Nissanka Senadhipathi, who had been one of the closest associates of the Rajapaksas, provided the wherewithal required to acquire land, build and then furnish the Jusse Road mansion. Defending his position, Lal Kantha claimed that he acquired a piano for his daughter, about 15 years ago, while declaring he enjoyed the capacity to raise large sums of funds if necessary. A smiling Lal Kantha explained how he could effortlessly collect Rs 500,000 each from 100 associates/friends. Programmes posted by Dharma Sri Kariyawasam and Abeetha Edirisinghe are must-watch for those genuinely interested in knowing the explosive story, from different angles.

Close on the heels of debates on Lal Kantha’s mansion, the media reported the Minister’s last available asset declaration, sent to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), dealt with over Rs 80 mn worth of property, vehicles and gold, etc. The JVP heavyweight’s annual income has stunned even the staunchest supporters of the ruling party. Lal Kantha, through his lawyer, demanded Rs 10 bn in damages from ‘Hiru’ for wrongly estimating his properties, etc., at Rs 460 mn.

Both Dharma Sri Kariyawasam and Abeetha Edirisinghe propagated that police wanted the public to complain to special the number 1818, created to accept such complaints in case they felt suspicious about newly acquired property, regardless of who owned them.

Unexpected disclosure of Lal Kantha’s unprecedented wealth obviously stunned the public who genuinely believed in the unshakable NPP/JVP stand on corruption. Lal Kantha, who had joined the JVP in 1982, before becoming a full time member, in 1987, had no qualms in defending his new lifestyle, having repeatedly and bitterly complained about the difficulties experienced by him and his family.

In his defence, Lal Kantha emphasised that he hadn’t been accused of robbing the taxpayer or public sector corruption. However, the NPP/JVP all-out attack on all previous governments, over waste, corruption, irregularities and mismanagement, and branding all their MPs corrupt, cannot adopt such a stance. The Kaduwela mansion has sent shockwaves through the electorate. Dharma Sri Kariyawasam, in his response to Lal Kantha, repeatedly stressed that his wealth was being questioned by those who exercised their franchise in support of the NPP/JVP at the national elections and Local Government polls, in 2025.

Growing public resentment over what various interested parties, including the NPP/JVP called ill-gotten wealth of members and henchmen of previous governments fuelled Aragalaya (31 March-14 July 2022). Those who set houses and other property, belonging to various then government politicians and their associates ablaze, operated on the presumption that they were beneficiaries of ill-gotten wealth. The NPP/JVP powered the campaign, alongside the breakaway JVP faction, styled as Peratugami Pakshaya (Frontline Socialist Party) as well as the UNP.

Ranwala and others

Against the backdrop of Auditor General Samudrika Jayarathne’s devastating report on coal procurement for the 2025/2026 period and Lal Kantha’s declaration that he owned a three-storeyed house, the resignation of Asoka Ranwala, as the Speaker of Parliament, over his failure to prove his declared academic qualifications seemed uncalled for. Jayarathne signed that report on behalf of the National Audit Office (NAO).

The Gampaha District MP resigned on 13 December, 2024, just 22 days after being appointed the Speaker. The main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) relentlessly attacked Ranwala over his fabricated or unverified educational qualifications, specifically a Ph.D. from a Japanese university and a degree from the University of Moratuwa.

The NPP/JVP tried to defend Ranwala but quickly succumbed to SJB pressure. We never managed to establish whether Ranwala resigned on his own accord or the NPP/JVP asked him to resign to save the party. Similarly, the resignations of Energy Minister Jayakody and Prof. Hemapala, who cut a sorry figure before the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) recently, must have been demanded by the ruling party. Had the NPP bosses acted prudently, much earlier, after he was indicted before the Colombo High Court on a previous corruption case, they could have easily asked Jayakody to resign his ministerial portfolio before the Parliament debated the no-confidence motion against him.

Another case that really embarrassed the ruling party was accusations directed at Dr. Jagath Wickremeratne, who succeeded Ranwala as House Speaker. The Polonnaruwa District MP was the next to face fire, following a dispute with the Deputy Secretary General of Parliament Chaminda Kularatne who is also the Chief of Staff of the House. Kularatne hit back hard after Parliament sacked him over alleged irregularities. In a petition, dated 2 February, 2026, sent to CIABOC, Kularatne disclosed the circumstances the Speaker reacted angrily after he brought to the NPPer’s notice illegal actions and corruption, as well as his (Kularatne) recommendation in his capacity as the Right to Information (RTI) officer, to release certain information sought by civil society activists. Kularatne further claimed that the situation deteriorated further over an incident that happened on 18 June, 2025, or a date closer to that date, in the room where Speaker Wickremeratne had his lunch. Kularatne refrained from revealing the incident.

There hadn’t been a previous instance of a senior parliamentary official moving the CIABOC against the Speaker. The allegations directed at the Speaker, in respect of abuse of vehicles, taking two fuel allowances, misuse of equipment belonging to the Media Unit of Parliament, inadequate payment for lunch obtained for Chameera Gallage, Speaker’s private secretary, who had lunch with him, illegal payments made to retired Ministry Additional Secretary S.K. Liyanage, who was appointed to inquire into Kularatne’s conduct, suppression of release of information in terms of RTI, and uncalled for interventions in administration.

Kularatne’s complaint to the CIABOC failed to result in an expeditious inquiry, though a complaint lodged against a sacked parliamentary official appeared to have received much more attention. The NPP has responded cautiously to Kularatne vs Wickremeratne battle as pressure mounted on the ruling party over the coal scam that threatened to cause further increase in already unbearable electricity tariffs. The Auditor General’s report, in no uncertain terms, has implicated the Energy Ministry and Lanka Coal Company in the sordid operation that resulted in low-grade coal ending up at the Lakvijaya coal-fired power plant that earlier met about 30 to 40% percent of the country’s power requirements at essentially low cost, barring hydroelectricity.

The report declared that the term tender for the supply of coal was awarded to Trident Champhar, an Indian company that hadn’t been registered at the time it bid for Sri Lanka’s largest tender and procedures in respect of loading and unloading the cargo. To make matters worse, Minister Jayakody, who had been implicated in the coal scam, was recently indicted on corruption charges in the High Court of Colombo. There hadn’t been a previous instance of a sitting member of the Cabinet being indicted for corruption. Therefore, the NPP government cannot be happy over its steamroller majority in Parliament having defeated the no-confidence motion moved against Jayakody who remained confident in the parliamentary group’s support at the behest of the top party leadership.

The NPP/JVP finds itself in an extremely embarrassing and pitiful situation over the coal scam. The damning report issued by the Auditor General pertaining to the coal scam has to be examined taking into consideration the failure on the part of the government and the Constitutional Council to reach a consensus on filling the vacant Auditor General’s post in 2025. The post of Auditor General remained vacant from early April 2025 to early February 2026.

Role of NAO

The NAO functions as an independent body answerable to Parliament. The recent NAO report that dealt with coal procurement exposed the utterly corrupt system in place, regardless of assurances given by the government. The report proved that irregularities can be perpetrated and corrupt practices continued, regardless of assurances given by the current dispensation.

Over the past several years, tangible measures were taken to strengthen the NAO. Parliament certified the National Audit (Amendment) Act, No. 19 of 2025 on 22 September, 2025. That act introduced reforms meant to enhance public sector accountability, enforce audit findings, and streamline the surcharge process. The no nonsense report proved that in spite of interference and undue influence exerted on the NAO, those responsible did their job without fear or favour.

SJB lawmaker Mujibur Rahman, during the debate on the no-confidence motion against Minister Jayakody, alleged in Parliament that COPE (Committee on Public Enterprises) Chairman Dr. Nishantha Samaraweera directly intervened when the NAO was in the process of finalising the report. The former UNPer called for an investigation to establish whether the Galle District NPP MP visited the NAO on several days to meet those handling the investigation.

We are not aware whether the COPE Chief, who called for the NAO to inquire into allegations in respect of coal procurement, visited the NAO.

However, the NAO report on the coal scam, now available online for all to study, underscores the pivotal importance of the anti-corruption fight.

In September 2025, the SJB asked the CIABOC to probe how some NPP/JVP Ministers amassed so much property. The SJB raised the issue with the focus on Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe (like Lal Kantha, he, too, represents the Anuradhapura District) amassed Rs 275 mn. The SJB’s complaint to CIABOC sought investigations on Ministers Sunil Handunetti, Bimal Rathnayake, Dr. Nalinda Jayathissa and Kumara Jayakody, and Deputy Minister Sunil Watagala.

Lal Kantha, who has now acknowledged having as much as Rs 80 mn worth property, was not among the lawmakers targeted by the SJB. Having falsely propagated an anti-corruption campaign to deceive the public, the NPP/JVP stand literally exposed before the public. The coal scam and Lal Kantha fiasco have caused irreparable damage to such an extent, their anti-corruption campaigns may not carry any weight with the public at future elections.

Midweek Review

Some languages confine you; some languages free you

Published

5 days ago

2026/04/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

‘… where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls; ….

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;

Where the mind is led forward….into ever-widening thought and action…’

With wide apologies, I am going to put snatches of that poem into more dreary uses, though not quite desert sand.

What are those narrow domestic walls which break up the world into fragments? Languages.

Amiya reads the Gitanjali but does not read the Tirukkural. Hong Li reads Kong Fut Ze’s Analects but not Plato’s Republic. Paul reads Miton’s Paradise Lost but not Njal Saga. Sarath Kumara reads Wickremasinghe’s satva santatitya but not Darwin’s Origin of the Species. Ngidi does not read Thomas Picketty’s Capital in the 20th Century or Anthony Atkinson’s Inequality at all. Hirono uses Large Language Models to do homework but Rasolomanana has not seen a computer. And so on and so forth. The world is broken into fragments by languages, but not by languages alone. The daughter of a rich black man living in Howard County in Maryland goes to Stanford but a brown dweller in Dharavi cannot enter Jawaharlal Nehru University. The lesson is that it is not only languages or orthodoxies that break up the world into ‘fragments’ but also many other barriers, about one of which Tagore sang.

Language is a marvellous ‘invention’ of nature well cultivated by humans. No other species has the faculty to use language to know. Ludwig Wittgenstein expressed it epigrammatically, ‘whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.’ It is language that carries forth knowledge. It is not only language that carries forth knowledge: mathematics, in its own right, is a powerful carrier of knowledge. One can write something simple like if x-y=0, then x=y, as well as whole pages of complex and complicated arguments using mathematical notations. Mathematics may and often does write nature and about nature; it also writes about things that exist only in the mind. That is not different from languages: heaven and Vishnu exist in some minds but not in others or elsewhere. Galileo Galilei learnt ‘Nature is an open book but it is written in mathematics’. Much of nature is a closed book to those to whom mathematics is alien territory. But today, I am interested in how some languages ‘break the world into fragments by domestic walls’, while a few others fly about regardless. When a team from India played cricket with a team from Pakistan a few weeks back, the commentary was broadcast in India in 14 languages and in Nigeria national news is read in several languages. That same game of cricket also was broadcast to the rest of the world in one language: English.

When and how do some languages come to ‘lead the mind forward into ever widening thought and action’? The transformation occurs when users of one language become conquerors and rulers of peoples using other languages and when the users of a language become generators of new knowledge which are eagerly sought after by users of other languages. Greek, Latin and Arabic contributed mightily to the vocabulary of modern Western European languages. When new ideas in law, government, philosophy, medicine and science had to be expressed, they went to Greek, Latin or Arabic. Consequently, you will bump into Greek terms the moment you begin thinking about those disciplines. The serious study of Greek was introduced to England by Erasmus (of Rotterdam) about 1500 AC. The use of Latin began with the Roman Empire but took on new functions when Latin became the vehicle carrying Christianity east and north (of Europe) and elsewhere later. Until about the 18th century AC Latin was the language of learning in most of Europe. At its inception, Manchester Grammar School was a Latin school and the Boston Latin School which started in 1635 still thrives in that name. The two medieval universities in England were mostly seminaries teaching in Latin well into the 19th century. A wide swathe of languages is written with the Latin alphabet: European languages from the Black Sea to the Atlantic and from the North Sea to the Mediterranean, America from Canada to Chile, sub-Saharan Africa including Togo, and Indonesian, Malaysian and several others. The exodus of Jewish, Arabic and other scholars, after the fall of Constantinople (1453) to the Ottomans, brought Greek and Arabic to Western Europe including England. From about the 14 to the 18th century, European indigenous vernaculars grew to be carriers of new knowledge, especially in sciences. Luther’s reformation and the development of German had much in common. Gutenberg’s new printing press (1450 AC) helped the growth of European vernaculars and the spread of reformed Christianity.

Four western European languages stood out as both conquerors and carriers of new knowledge: Portuguese, Spanish, French and English. Arabic performed the same function from about 800 AC to the 13 AC when that language carried a new religion and new knowledge in mathematics, astronomy and medicine. Arabic replaced the indigenous languages in the entire Maghreb. The language of governance and learning from Mexico south to Chile is Spanish with Brazil using Portuguese and are collectively called Latin America, because Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian and Romanian are Romance or Latin Languages. French is the language of governance and learning in several parts of West Africa. English was a phenomenon in itself. It destroyed the use of hundreds of languages in North America. It conquered almost half the world and English is the language of governance and higher education in a good part of the land it once ruled. As a language carrying new knowledge, English excels all others. As the collapse of four European empires, including the Ottoman, went on from about 1915 to about 1960, English, which produced new knowledge faster than any other, began to break ‘domestic walls’, the world over. China, which had little love for the English-speaking world, had millions of its citizens schooled in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia during the last 30 years and continues to do so, to date. In contrast, during that time how many rushed to Niger to learn Fulfulde or to Lanka to study Sinhala? The prominence of English was promoted by two other processes: one was translation into English of major works in other languages and the other the growth of a class of indigenous writers and readers in the conqueror’s language. One reads Oblomov, Gilgamesh and, indeed, Gitanjali translated into English. India now probably has more readers in English than any other single country. Persons in Western African countries have crafted in French and English, masterpieces in fiction, poetry and drama. Modern European languages have been both conquerors’ languages and carriers of new knowledge.

Several people recently have written in The Island and in Lankadeepa about the importance of using the ‘mother tongue’. They have stressed the importance of the ‘mother tongue’ in creative writing. As with observations regarding empirical phenomena, it is necessary to test those generalisations against reality. Samskrt is a language not entirely unfamiliar to many in this land. Samskrt was nobody’s mother tongue. (After all, it is deva bhaashitam.) There is not a shred of evidence that Kalidasa’s mother talked to him in Samskrt. But Kalidasa wrote rtusmahara and shakuntalam.. The vedas and upanishads were first spoken and later written in samskrt. Pali is nobody’s mother tongue but Theravada writings are almost entirely in that language. Isaac Newton wrote Principia Mathematica in Latin; we have no evidence that baby Isaac babbled in Latin. Paul Dirac wrote about particle physics in mathematics rather than in his father’s beloved French. Leopold Senghor’s mother tongue was not French nor Chinua Achebe’s English. More casually, check your own libraries. I had a collection of about 2,300 books until last year. There weren’t even 200 written in Sinhala and that 200 included editions of works from the 13th century. Check how many books written in Sinhala and English you bought in the last two years. There were far too many writers and scientists who brought forth highly acclaimed work in languages other than their mother tongue, contradicting the argument that the mother tongue was essential or even desirable for original work, in science or in literature.

Most languages ‘break the world into narrow fragments’. A few coagulate them into large masses: 900 million people speak Mandarin and 325 million, Bengali. A half dozen bind themselves together speaking a conqueror’s language. Four languages stand out as having ‘led the ‘mind forward into ever-widening thought and action’: Greek, Latin, Arabic and English. English, so far, is unrivalled.

by Usvatte-aratchi