Features

Imran, a baby born without arms and Ayu, a teen with Down’s Syndrome

Published

2 years ago

2023/08/27

Thilina Walpola

Exploring Geneva with my colleagues

(Excerpted from Memories that linger: My journey is the world of disability by Padmani Mendis

My responsibility (in Malaysia) was to facilitate two training courses. One was five weeks long and was for social welfare assistants and other officers from the district who will initiate CBR here in this part of Kuala Terengganu. The second of the courses was for two weeks and was for social welfare officers from other selected states as well. Participants of this second course will be responsible for planning and developing CBR projects in their own states. We discussed how monitoring and evaluation could be carried out as a continuous process during project development and the material in the Manual for measuring these.

All through my three-month assignment I had as my national counterpart a Social Welfare Officer from the Training Division of the Ministry of Social Welfare. She was an experienced trainer and we shared our teaching tasks. When I left, I was confident that she will be quite capable of carrying out the training function that we had carried out during our time together. The Secretary of the Ministry in Kuala Lumpur and that of the State took personal responsibility to ensure the CBR programme will benefit their disabled people.

In Batu Rakit, the work that was started during the training course blended with field work. In both courses it was possible to spend much time in field learning and teaching. We met community leaders in Batu Rakit for mobilisation. We also made visits to the homes of people who were in need of interventions. Many children were not going to school. Some immediate improvement was evident soon after starting CBR. Two children started going to kindergarten. Others who had been isolated before were participating with the family, going visiting together and so on. Many showed functional improvement.

The seed had been sown. How would it grow?

Two disabled individuals and another family stand out in my mind from those that we visited. One was a baby boy called Imran, six months of age. Imran had been born without both arms. He was not sitting up by himself as yet and spent most of his time lying on his mat and cooing. His mother appeared not to know quite what to do. We talked with her and introduced to her the possibility of teaching Imran to use his feet as his hands.

She welcomed the idea. His mother propped him up with pillows and gave him the toys that lay around him to hold. Imran soon caught the idea. It is of course natural that babies should do so. It is just that the mother either had not thought of the possibility, or did not want him to use his feet for some reason.

When we returned a few days later we found his sisters playing with Imran with great fun and making lots of noise; they were throwing back and forth a colourful cloth ball. Other playthings lay around on the floor. The Social Welfare Assistants taught Imran’s mother how to use the package on play activities from the Manual to take his development further. They taught her to assess at which stage of development Imran was at in areas such as communication, movement and so on. Then they showed her how to select corresponding play activities from the Manual to take him to the next level of development.

We visited Imran once more before I left. He was now sitting up on his own. And he was discovering with joy what a lot he could do with his feet. Later he would stand, walk and run about with neighbourhood playmates like any child would. He would go to school and out on trips with his family. Grow up to be an independent young man. He may now be in the fourth decade of his life. Where are you now Imran? How are you doing?

The second individual was Ayu, a young girl of fifteen years. She had Down’s Syndrome with some intellectual impairment and difficulty in learning. Here the mother cared for Ayu completely not letting Ayu do anything by herself, including washing, bathing and all other self-care activities. Ayu never went out of the house. We talked with both mother and daughter who were alone at home at that time. Ayu talked with us and responded to us shyly. We asked her whether she would like to be able to feed herself so her mother could do something else at that time. She nodded her head happily. The Social Welfare Assistants talked for some time with mother and daughter. They talked about going out to meet neighbours.

After explaining to them about it, the Social Welfare Assistants left relevant material from the WHO Manual for the mother and daughter. They asked them to look at it and see if they could do some of the things that were suggested. When we went back in five days the mother was preparing the family meal. Ayu was sitting with her in the kitchen cleaning vegetables. The mother said that Ayu was helping her now with simple tasks. The mother took Ayu out to the village – Ayu had gone with her to a meeting of the women’s group the previous day. Ayu had been very happy and the women had talked a lot with her.

The third I recall is of visits to a family. A home we visited quite early on in the programme. When we entered, we found the family ready to receive us. The mother, father and with them, three young children. The two older children lay on mats while a younger child was sitting up. All three were boys. All three had a progressive muscular condition. All three had gone to school but as each reached the age of ten to eleven they had dropped out because they could no longer move independently. Now the older two had to be fed, washed and clothed. The youngest needed assistance. We talked with the family for a while. The biggest problem I saw here was that the family was completely isolated with no help and no social support.

Afterwards, I discussed with the Social Welfare Assistants what they would do to improve the situation of the boys and the family. I visited this family again before I left. The mother, along with the three boys, greeted us with a smile. She said her husband had been found work with a farmer. She herself no longer felt alone because her neighbours and even the community leaders visited her. She had made two special friends in whom she could confide. One would sometimes stay with the boys so she could go out to visit family and friends.

Former school friends of the boys visited. They shared with her boys some of what they had learned at school. She felt what was important is that her boys now had friends with whom they could play and interact.

The Social Welfare Assistants were hoping to soon deliver three wheelchairs to the home so that the boys could be taken out into the kampong. So here, in the presence of severe disability, the therapy or the medical rehabilitation required by the boys was not available. But the social impact of CBR was remarkably evident.

Many are the stories of how a visit from a trained Community Worker could make such a difference to the quality of life of individuals and families living in somewhat different circumstances. How will Ayu’s life change with the visits from the Social Welfare Assistant and with interest taken by the women in the village? The Social Welfare Assistant planned to join a meeting of the women and then take Ayu to other activities in the village. Will this make a difference to other disabled people in the village as well as to Ayu? What will be the quality of life of the three boys? Time will tell.

Malay Houses

Although the rest house in which I lodged was made of brick and mortar, other houses in the Kampongs were stilt houses. Kampongs are what villages are called in Malaysia. Stilt houses are the traditional Malay architecture. Wooden houses built on thick strong pillars. There is a central pillar surrounded by may be by six to twelve pillars spaced around the periphery and some closer to the central pillar, depending on the size of the house. The roofs were also made of timber. They were high allowing for good ventilation in a humid climate. The walls of the houses in Batu Rakit were made of wood because that was plentiful. I was told that in some areas walls were made of bamboo. The space under the house was used for storage.

Houses were generally spaced out in large compounds. In their compounds owners had planted trees which they could use in twenty to thirty years to refurbish their houses. Or to extend a house when a child was getting married and needed a home. Extended families lived together, cooking together as one household. I was glad I had lived in Batu Rakit and experienced their traditional lifestyle when I visited their homes.

One entered the house on a wooden ladder. At night they took the ladder up to prevent small animals like rats and bandicoots from climbing into the house. I would not have experienced this traditional Malay architecture and lifestyle had I been confined to Kuala Lumpur as I was on subsequent visits to Malaysia.

Gunnel Nelson

Gunnel Nelson, my much-loved friend and travel companion on my CBR Journey passed away in July 1984. She met with a fatal car accident in Zambia while on an assignment for UNICEF. The assignment concerned improving the lives of disabled children. A cause that Gunnel was devoted to since she started working as an Occupational Therapist, and later as the Principal of the School of Occupational Therapy in Goteborg, Sweden.

With her sudden passing away CBR suffered an unexpected loss – the loss of a human being who would have hastened considerably improvement in the quality of life of disabled people in developing countries. She was firm in her beliefs and convictions with a rare ability to take action to realise them. Like her fellow-Swede Einar, she empathised with the poor and vulnerable and worked tirelessly to bring them social justice. Like Einar and me she was convinced that CBR would initiate changes required to bring disabled people that social justice.

Gunnel and I first met in Geneva in May 1979 when we came together at WHO to work with Einar on developing a strategy for implementing WHO’s new disability policy. Our work in CBR was targeted at enabling disabled people come out of their isolation and exclusion and be included and be participating members within their families and their communities.

Gunnel and I had similar but separate roles in this work. She travelled to certain countries and I to others. But in those all-too-brief five years that we worked together, we met regularly in Geneva and at meetings held in other parts of the world; meetings which brought people together to discuss the way forward for disabled people through CBR. Although the concept and implementation of the CBR system was pioneered in Geneva as a seed, nurturing the growth of it was a global effort involving too many countries to be counted at the time of her passing away.

Gunnel’s work flowed from Geneva like mine, with assisting countries to set up field trials of CBR. She visited first Nigeria in January 1980 for three months. A research project was set up jointly by the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Orthopaedics in Lagos and the National Youth Service Corps. She followed this up with a visit in December of the same year.

Her next task was to set up a research project in Kerala, India in collaboration with the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation of the Medical College in Trivandrum. Her counterpart was Prof. P.B.M. Menon. Before starting on the project with Prof. Menon she visited the WHO South-East Regional Office in New Delhi for discussions. She also met other Rehabilitation Specialists first in New Delhi and then in Kerala to inform them and their institutions and seek their support for the project; and similarly, with the Ministry of Health in Kerala and other professorial staff at the Medical College in Trivandrum.

From Kerala, in November 1980 she proceeded to the Philippines to evaluate the progress made in the ongoing field trial of CBR and of the WHO Manual in the Rizal District of Metropolitan Manila. The project used Primary Health Care as an entry point with PHC workers who had been trained for two years. As in Bacolod City where the Philippines had their first experience of CBR, the urban project here commenced with an intensive information programme.

When we had an assignment in Geneva, Gunnel always drove down from Goteborg so that we had the use of her car in Geneva. Many a time she offered me the use of it. I told her I would not dare to drive in Europe. All those multi-lane high-speed highways and one-way road systems had me quite confused even sitting by her side as a passenger. In these circumstances, I could never be a navigator either.

It was not too difficult to find accommodation in Geneva for a period of three months. Sometimes we stayed separately, sometimes we shared an apartment. I recall how amused she was when once I stayed in a guest house run by the Salvation Army. I had selected it because it was located in the old city which I thought would be interesting.

It was. Only after I went into occupation did I know that it was maintained for retirees from the Red Light District not far away.

The ladies would come to breakfast in flimsy negligees with their faces made up as they would have been made up when they were employed. The trade was lawful in Geneva. The occupant of the room next to mine was quite elderly and confined to bed. She was looked after 24/7 by staff of the guest house. Still dressed in her flimsy negligees. Still with her face made up immaculately.

Most Saturdays we spent working. If we did not, I was out window shopping. On Sunday we would relax, driving out of Geneva. Sometimes we drove around the picturesque countryside of Switzerland through pretty mountain villages. In the spring and summer colourful wild flowers covered every available space on roadsides and spread up the mountainsides. But to me all this appeared to be organised just like all else in Switzerland. I felt that the flowers had been planted there by human hands. Not really wild. But of course they were wild. Just God’s wonders.

One Sunday we drove through the very old village of Gruyere famous for the cheese it produces. Outside this village high up in the Alps, fat and healthy cows were grazing on the mountain sides.

Other Sundays we drove in the French countryside. More often than not I had no French entry visa. But this was no obstacle for someone who knew the back roads where there were unmanned border posts. We would drive around and find a Michelin recommended restaurant to enjoy a late lunch.

On Sundays roads in France were deserted not just of vehicles, but there were no people to be seen either. When once I remarked on this to Einar he said to me, “Do you expect to see people as you would in your part of the world?” Sunday, for the French, was a day spent with one’s own family at home. For us, it was largely visiting extended family and friends. And catching up with the weekly marketing.

Gunnel and I enjoyed the food of foreign countries. In Geneva, after a long day of work, we indulged in dinner at different restaurants. One of our favourites was a Turkish restaurant popular for its Doner Kebab. Lamb grilled on the spit to perfection and served as slices as thin as paper.

In autumn as the weather became colder it was time for genuine Swiss Cheese Fondue – two or three special cheeses melting and blending together in a pot into which one would dip cubes of soft bread and pop them hot into one’s mouth. My favourite Swiss food was Raclette. Although here traditionally, the melting slices of cheese were served on potatoes, I preferred this on toasted bread. Eaten with pickled gherkins and onions.

Knowing my liking for steak, Einar would, on each one of our periods in Geneva, take Gunnel and me to enjoy a good French steak at the Café du Paris on the Rue du Mont Blanc in the centre of the city. Such a popular spot that we had always to stand in a queue to get in.

Before my first visit to Geneva in 1979 I did not drink wine. Associated this with alcohol. But dining out so often with those two Swedes, that habit soon changed. After some time I was persuaded to, “Just try it. Have a sip.” I enjoyed it so much that before the end of three months, I could drink three glasses of it with a meal. And feel no effects of it.Those days in Geneva were memorable – both for the work we did and for the enjoyment we had. I missed having Gunnel to work with. She still lives in my memory from day to day.

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Features

Theocratic Iran facing unprecedented challenge

Published

23 hours ago

2026/01/15

Sahan Weerasooriya

Anti-government protests in Tehran (BBC)

The world is having the evidence of its eyes all over again that ‘economics drives politics’ and this time around the proof is coming from theocratic Iran. Iranians in their tens of thousands are on the country’s streets calling for a regime change right now but it is all too plain that the wellsprings of the unprecedented revolt against the state are economic in nature. It is widespread financial hardship and currency depreciation, for example, that triggered the uprising in the first place.

However, there is no denying that Iran’s current movement for drastic political change has within its fold multiple other forces, besides the economically affected, that are urging a comprehensive transformation as it were of the country’s political system to enable the equitable empowerment of the people. For example, the call has been gaining ground with increasing intensity over the weeks that the country’s number one theocratic ruler, President Ali Khamenei, steps down from power.

That is, the validity and continuation of theocratic rule is coming to be questioned unprecedentedly and with increasing audibility and boldness by the public. Besides, there is apparently fierce opposition to the concentration of political power at the pinnacle of the Iranian power structure.

Popular revolts have been breaking out every now and then of course in Iran over the years, but the current protest is remarkable for its social diversity and the numbers it has been attracting over the past few weeks. It could be described as a popular revolt in the genuine sense of the phrase. Not to be also forgotten is the number of casualties claimed by the unrest, which stands at some 2000.

Of considerable note is the fact that many Iranian youths have been killed in the revolt. It points to the fact that youth disaffection against the state has been on the rise as well and could be at boiling point. From the viewpoint of future democratic development in Iran, this trend needs to be seen as positive.

Politically-conscious youngsters prioritize self-expression among other fundamental human rights and stifling their channels of self-expression, for example, by shutting down Internet communication links, would be tantamount to suppressing youth aspirations with a heavy hand. It should come as no surprise that they are protesting strongly against the state as well.

Another notable phenomenon is the increasing disaffection among sections of Iran’s women. They too are on the streets in defiance of the authorities. A turning point in this regard was the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022, which apparently befell her all because she defied state orders to be dressed in the Hijab. On that occasion as well, the event brought protesters in considerable numbers onto the streets of Tehran and other cities.

Once again, from the viewpoint of democratic development the increasing participation of Iranian women in popular revolts should be considered thought-provoking. It points to a heightening political consciousness among Iranian women which may not be easy to suppress going forward. It could also mean that paternalism and its related practices and social forms may need to be re-assessed by the authorities.

It is entirely a matter for the Iranian people to address the above questions, the neglect of which could prove counter-productive for them, but it is all too clear that a relaxing of authoritarian control over the state and society would win favour among a considerable section of the populace.

However, it is far too early to conclude that Iran is at risk of imploding. This should be seen as quite a distance away in consideration of the fact that the Iranian government is continuing to possess its coercive power. Unless the country’s law enforcement authorities turn against the state as well this coercive capability will remain with Iran’s theocratic rulers and the latter will be in a position to quash popular revolts and continue in power. But the ruling authorities could not afford the luxury of presuming that all will be well at home, going into the future.

Meanwhile US President Donald Trump has assured the Iranian people of his assistance but it is not clear as to what form such support would take and when it would be delivered. The most important way in which the Trump administration could help the Iranian people is by helping in the process of empowering them equitably and this could be primarily achieved only by democratizing the Iranian state.

It is difficult to see the US doing this to even a minor measure under President Trump. This is because the latter’s principal preoccupation is to make the ‘US Great Once again’, and little else. To achieve the latter, the US will be doing battle with its international rivals to climb to the pinnacle of the international political system as the unchallengeable principal power in every conceivable respect.

That is, Realpolitik considerations would be the main ‘stuff and substance’ of US foreign policy with a corresponding downplaying of things that matter for a major democratic power, including the promotion of worldwide democratic development and the rendering of humanitarian assistance where it is most needed. The US’ increasing disengagement from UN development agencies alone proves the latter.

Given the above foreign policy proclivities it is highly unlikely that the Iranian people would be assisted in any substantive way by the Trump administration. On the other hand, the possibility of US military strikes on Iranian military targets in the days ahead cannot be ruled out.

The latter interventions would be seen as necessary by the US to keep the Middle Eastern military balance in favour of Israel. Consequently, any US-initiated peace moves in the real sense of the phrase in the Middle East would need to be ruled out in the foreseeable future. In other words, Middle East peace will remain elusive.

Interestingly, the leadership moves the Trump administration is hoping to make in Venezuela, post-Maduro, reflect glaringly on its foreign policy preoccupations. Apparently, Trump will be preferring to ‘work with’ Delcy Rodriguez, acting President of Venezuela, rather than Maria Corina Machado, the principal opponent of Nicolas Maduro, who helped sustain the opposition to Maduro in the lead-up to the latter’s ouster and clearly the democratic candidate for the position of Venezuelan President.

The latter development could be considered a downgrading of the democratic process and a virtual ‘slap in its face’. While the democratic rights of the Venezuelan people will go disregarded by the US, a comparative ‘strong woman’ will receive the Trump administration’s blessings. She will perhaps be groomed by Trump to protect the US’s security and economic interests in South America, while his administration side-steps the promotion of the democratic empowerment of Venezuelans.

Features

Silk City: A blueprint for municipal-led economic transformation in Sri Lanka

Published

23 hours ago

2026/01/15

Sahan Weerasooriya

Mayor Saman Samarakoon (L) / J.M.C. Jayasekera (R)

Maharagama today stands at a crossroads. With the emergence of new political leadership, growing public expectations, and the convergence of professional goodwill, the Maharagama Municipal Council (MMC) has been presented with a rare opportunity to redefine the city’s future. At the heart of this moment lies the Silk City (Seda Nagaraya) Initiative (SNI)—a bold yet pragmatic development blueprint designed to transform Maharagama into a modern, vibrant, and economically dynamic urban hub.

This is not merely another urban development proposal. Silk City is a strategic springboard—a comprehensive economic and cultural vision that seeks to reposition Maharagama as Sri Lanka’s foremost textile-driven commercial city, while enhancing livability, employment, and urban dignity for its residents. The Silk City concept represents more than a development plan: it is a comprehensive economic blueprint designed to redefine Maharagama as Sri Lanka’s foremost textile-driven commercial and cultural hub.

A Vision Rooted in Reality

What makes the Silk City Initiative stand apart is its grounding in economic realism. Carefully designed around the geographical, commercial, and social realities of Maharagama, the concept builds on the city’s long-established strengths—particularly its dominance as a textile and retail centre—while addressing modern urban challenges.

The timing could not be more critical. With Mayor Saman Samarakoon assuming leadership at a moment of heightened political goodwill and public anticipation, MMC is uniquely positioned to embark on a transformation of unprecedented scale. Leadership, legitimacy, and opportunity have aligned—a combination that cities rarely experience.

A Voluntary Gift of National Value

In an exceptional and commendable development, the Maharagama Municipal Council has received—entirely free of charge—a comprehensive development proposal titled “Silk City – Seda Nagaraya.” Authored by Deshamanya, Deshashkthi J. M. C. Jayasekera, a distinguished Chartered Accountant and Chairman of the JMC Management Institute, the proposal reflects meticulous research, professional depth, and long-term strategic thinking.

It must be added here that this silk city project has received the political blessings of the Parliamentarians who represented the Maharagama electorate. They are none other than Sunil Kumara Gamage, Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs, Sunil Watagala, Deputy Minister of Public Security and Devananda Suraweera, Member of Parliament.

The blueprint outlines ten integrated sectoral projects, including : A modern city vision, Tourism and cultural city development, Clean and green city initiatives, Religious and ethical city concepts, Garden city aesthetics, Public safety and beautification, Textile and creative industries as the economic core

Together, these elements form a five-year transformation agenda, capable of elevating Maharagama into a model municipal economy and a 24-hour urban hub within the Colombo Metropolitan Region

Why Maharagama, Why Now?

Maharagama’s transformation is not an abstract ambition—it is a logical evolution. Strategically located and commercially vibrant, the city already attracts thousands of shoppers daily. With structured investment, branding, and infrastructure support, Maharagama can evolve into a sleepless commercial destination, a cultural and tourism node, and a magnet for both local and international consumers.

Such a transformation aligns seamlessly with modern urban development models promoted by international development agencies—models that prioritise productivity, employment creation, poverty reduction, and improved quality of life.

Rationale for Transformation

Maharagama has long held a strategic advantage as one of Sri Lanka’s textile and retail centers. With proper planning and investment, this identity can be leveraged to convert the city into a branded urban destination, a sleepless commercial hub, a tourism and cultural attraction, and a vibrant economic engine within the Colombo Metropolitan Region. Such transformation is consistent with modern city development models promoted by international funding agencies that seek to raise local productivity, employment, quality of life, alleviation of urban poverty, attraction and retaining a huge customer base both local and international to the city)

Current Opportunity

The convergence of the following factors make this moment and climate especially critical. Among them the new political leadership with strong public support, availability of a professionally developed concept paper, growing public demand for modernisation, interest among public, private, business community and civil society leaders to contribute, possibility of leveraging traditional strengths (textile industry and commercial vibrancy are notable strengths.

The Silk City initiative therefore represents a timely and strategic window for Maharagama to secure national attention, donor interest and investor confidence.

A Window That Must Not Be Missed

Several factors make this moment decisive: Strong new political leadership with public mandate, Availability of a professionally developed concept, Rising citizen demand for modernization, Willingness of professionals, businesses, and civil society to contribute. The city’s established textile and commercial base

Taken together, these conditions create a strategic window to attract national attention, donor interest, and investor confidence.

But windows close.

Hard Truths: Challenges That Must Be Addressed

Ambition alone will not deliver transformation. The Silk City Initiative demands honest recognition of institutional constraints. MMC currently faces: Limited technical and project management capacity, rigid public-sector regulatory frameworks that slow procurement and partnerships, severe financial limitations, with internal revenues insufficient even for routine operations, the absence of a fully formalised, high-caliber Steering Committee.

Moreover, this is a mega urban project, requiring feasibility studies, impact assessments, bankable proposals, international partnerships, and sustained political and community backing.

A Strategic Roadmap for Leadership

For Mayor Saman Samarakoon, this represents a once-in-a-generation leadership moment. Key strategic actions are essential: 1.Immediate establishment of a credible Steering Committee, drawing expertise from government, private sector, academia, and civil society. 2. Creation of a dedicated Project Management Unit (PMU) with professional specialists. 3. Aggressive mobilisation of external funding, including central government support, international donors, bilateral partners, development banks, and corporate CSR initiatives. 4. Strategic political engagement to secure legitimacy and national backing. 5. Quick-win projects to build public confidence and momentum. 6. A structured communications strategy to brand and promote Silk City nationally and internationally. Firm positioning of textiles and creative industries as the heart of Maharagama’s economic identity

If successfully implemented, Silk City will not only redefine Maharagama’s future but also ensure that the names of those who led this transformation are etched permanently in the civic history of the city.

Voluntary Gift of National Value

Maharagama is intrinsically intertwined with the textile industry. Small scale and domestic textile industry play a pivotal role. Textile industry generates a couple of billion of rupees to the Maharagama City per annum. It is the one and only city that has a sleepless night and this textile hub provides ready-made garments to the entire country. Prices are comparatively cheaper. If this textile industry can be vertically and horizontally developed, a substantial income can be generated thus providing employment to vulnerable segments of employees who are mostly women. Paucity of textile technology and capital investment impede the growth of the industry. If Maharagama can collaborate with the Bombay of India textile industry, there would be an unbelievable transition. How Sri Lanka could pursue this goal. A blueprint for the development of the textile industry for the Maharagama City will be dealt with in a separate article due to time space.

It is achievable if the right structures, leadership commitments and partnerships are put in place without delay.

No municipal council in recent memory has been presented with such a pragmatic, forward-thinking and well-timed proposal. Likewise, few Mayors will ever be positioned as you are today — with the ability to initiate a transformation that will redefine the future of Maharagama for generations. It will not be a difficult task for Saman Samarakoon, Mayor of the MMC to accomplish the onerous tasks contained in the projects, with the acumen and experience he gained from his illustrious as a Commander of the SL Navy with the support of the councilors, Municipal staff and the members of the Parliamentarians and the committed team of the Silk-City Project.

Voluntary Gift of National Value

Maharagama is intrinsically intertwined with the textile industry. The textile industries play a pivotal role. This textile hub provides ready-made garments to the entire country. Prices are comparatively cheaper. If this textile industry can be vertically and horizontally developed, a substantial income can be generated thus providing employment to vulnerable segments of employees who are mostly women.

Paucity of textile technology and capital investment impede the growth of the industry. If Maharagama can collaborate with the Bombay of India textile industry, there would be an unbelievable transition. A blueprint for the development of the textile industry for the Maharagama City will be dealt with in a separate article.

J.A.A.S Ranasinghe
Productivity Specialist and Management Consultant
(The writer can becontacted via Email:rathula49@gmail.com)

Features

Reading our unfinished economic story through Bandula Gunawardena’s ‘IMF Prakeerna Visadum’

Published

23 hours ago

2026/01/15

Sahan Weerasooriya

Book Review

Why Sri Lanka’s Return to the IMF Demands Deeper Reflection

By mid-2022, the term “economic crisis” ceased to be an abstract concept for most Sri Lankans. It was no longer confined to academic papers, policy briefings, or statistical tables. Instead, it became a lived and deeply personal experience. Fuel queues stretched for kilometres under the burning sun. Cooking gas vanished from household shelves. Essential medicines became difficult—sometimes impossible—to find. Food prices rose relentlessly, pushing basic nutrition beyond the reach of many families, while real incomes steadily eroded.

What had long existed as graphs, ratios, and warning signals in economic reports suddenly entered daily life with unforgiving force. The crisis was no longer something discussed on television panels or debated in Parliament; it was something felt at the kitchen table, at the bus stop, and in hospital corridors.

Amid this social and economic turmoil came another announcement—less dramatic in appearance, but far more consequential in its implications. Sri Lanka would once again seek assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The announcement immediately divided public opinion. For some, the IMF represented an unavoidable lifeline—a last resort to stabilise a collapsing economy. For others, it symbolised a loss of economic sovereignty and a painful surrender to external control. Emotions ran high. Debates became polarised. Public discourse quickly hardened into slogans, accusations, and ideological posturing.

Yet beneath the noise, anger, and fear lay a more fundamental question—one that demanded calm reflection rather than emotional reaction:

Why did Sri Lanka have to return to the IMF at all?

This question does not lend itself to simple or comforting answers. It cannot be explained by a single policy mistake, a single government, or a single external shock. Instead, it requires an honest examination of decades of economic decision-making, institutional weaknesses, policy inconsistency, and political avoidance. It requires looking beyond the immediate crisis and asking how Sri Lanka repeatedly reached a point where IMF assistance became the only viable option.

Few recent works attempt this difficult task as seriously and thoughtfully as Dr. Bandula Gunawardena’s IMF Prakeerna Visadum. Rather than offering slogans or seeking easy culprits, the book situates Sri Lanka’s IMF engagement within a broader historical and structural narrative. In doing so, it shifts the debate away from blame and toward understanding—a necessary first step if the country is to ensure that this crisis does not become yet another chapter in a familiar and painful cycle.

Returning to the IMF: Accident or Inevitability?

The central argument of IMF Prakeerna Visadum is at once simple and deeply unsettling. It challenges a comforting narrative that has gained popularity in times of crisis and replaces it with a far more demanding truth:

Sri Lanka’s economic crisis was not created by the IMF.
IMF intervention became inevitable because Sri Lanka avoided structural reform for far too long.

This framing fundamentally alters the terms of the national debate. It shifts attention away from external blame and towards internal responsibility. Instead of asking whether the IMF is good or bad, Dr. Gunawardena asks a more difficult and more important question: what kind of economy repeatedly drives itself to a point where IMF assistance becomes unavoidable?

The book refuses the two easy positions that dominate public discussion. It neither defends the IMF uncritically as a benevolent saviour nor demonises it as the architect of Sri Lanka’s suffering. Instead, IMF intervention is placed within a broader historical and structural context—one shaped primarily by domestic policy choices, institutional weaknesses, and political avoidance.

Public discourse often portrays IMF programmes as the starting point of economic hardship. Dr. Gunawardena corrects this misconception by restoring the correct chronology—an essential step for any honest assessment of the crisis.

The IMF did not arrive at the beginning of Sri Lanka’s collapse.

It arrived after the collapse had already begun.

By the time negotiations commenced, Sri Lanka had exhausted its foreign exchange reserves, lost access to international capital markets, officially defaulted on its external debt, and entered a phase of runaway inflation and acute shortages.

Fuel queues, shortages of essential medicines, and scarcities of basic food items were not the product of IMF conditionality. They were the direct outcome of prolonged foreign-exchange depletion combined with years of policy mismanagement. Import restrictions were imposed not because the IMF demanded them, but because the country simply could not pay its bills.

From this perspective, the IMF programme did not introduce austerity into a functioning economy. It formalised an adjustment that had already become unavoidable. The economy was already contracting, consumption was already constrained, and living standards were already falling. The IMF framework sought to impose order, sequencing, and credibility on a collapse that was already under way.

Seen through this lens, the return to the IMF was not a freely chosen policy option, but the end result of years of postponed decisions and missed opportunities.

A Long IMF Relationship, Short National Memory

Sri Lanka’s engagement with the IMF is neither new nor exceptional. For decades, governments of all political persuasions have turned to the Fund whenever balance-of-payments pressures became acute. Each engagement was presented as a temporary rescue—an extraordinary response to an unusual storm.

Yet, as Dr. Gunawardena meticulously documents, the storms were not unusual. What was striking was not the frequency of crises, but the remarkable consistency of their underlying causes.

Fiscal indiscipline persisted even during periods of growth. Government revenue remained structurally weak. Public debt expanded rapidly, often financing recurrent expenditure rather than productive investment. Meanwhile, the external sector failed to generate sufficient foreign exchange to sustain a consumption-led growth model.

IMF programmes brought temporary stability. Inflation eased. Reserves stabilised. Growth resumed. But once external pressure diminished, reform momentum faded. Political priorities shifted. Structural weaknesses quietly re-emerged.

This recurring pattern—crisis, adjustment, partial compliance, and relapse—became a defining feature of Sri Lanka’s economic management. The most recent crisis differed only in scale. This time, there was no room left to postpone adjustment.

Fiscal Fragility: The Core of the Crisis

A central focus of IMF Prakeerna Visadum is Sri Lanka’s chronically weak fiscal structure. Despite relatively strong social indicators and a capable administrative state, government revenue as a share of GDP remained exceptionally low.

Frequent tax changes, politically motivated exemptions, and weak enforcement steadily eroded the tax base. Instead of building a stable revenue system, governments relied increasingly on borrowing—both domestic and external.

Much of this borrowing financed subsidies, transfers, and public sector wages rather than productivity-enhancing investment. Over time, debt servicing crowded out development spending, shrinking fiscal space.

Fiscal reform failed not because it was technically impossible, Dr. Gunawardena argues, but because it was politically inconvenient. The costs were immediate and visible; the benefits long-term and diffuse. The eventual debt default was therefore not a surprise, but a delayed consequence.

The External Sector Trap

Sri Lanka’s narrow export base—apparel, tea, tourism, and remittances—generated foreign exchange but masked deeper weaknesses. Export diversification stagnated. Industrial upgrading lagged. Integration into global value chains remained limited.

Meanwhile, import-intensive consumption expanded. When external shocks arrived—global crises, pandemics, commodity price spikes—the economy had little resilience.

Exchange-rate flexibility alone cannot generate exports. Trade liberalisation without an industrial strategy redistributes pain rather than creates growth.

Monetary Policy and the Cost of Lost Credibility

Prolonged monetary accommodation, often driven by political pressure, fuelled inflation, depleted reserves, and eroded confidence. Once credibility was lost, restoring it required painful adjustment.

Macroeconomic credibility, Dr. Gunawardena reminds us, is a national asset. Once squandered, it is extraordinarily expensive to rebuild.

IMF Conditionality: Stabilisation Without Development?

IMF programmes stabilise economies, but they do not automatically deliver inclusive growth. In Sri Lanka, adjustment raised living costs and reduced real incomes. Social safety nets expanded, but gaps persisted.

This raises a critical question: can stabilisation succeed politically if it fails socially?

Political Economy: The Missing Middle

Reforms collided repeatedly with electoral incentives and patronage networks. IMF programmes exposed contradictions but could not resolve them. Without domestic ownership, reform risks becoming compliance rather than transformation.

Beyond Blame: A Diagnostic Moment

The book’s greatest strength lies in its refusal to engage in blame politics. IMF intervention is treated as a diagnostic signal, not a cause—a warning light illuminating unresolved structural failures.

The real challenge is not exiting an IMF programme, but exiting the cycle that makes IMF programmes inevitable.

A Strong Public Appeal: Why This Book Must Be Read

This is not an anti-IMF book.
It is not a pro-IMF book.
It is a pro-Sri Lanka book.

Published by Sarasaviya Publishers, IMF Prakeerna Visadum equips readers not with anger, but with clarity—offering history, evidence, and honest reflection when the country needs them most.

Conclusion: Will We Learn This Time?

The IMF can stabilise an economy.
It cannot build institutions.
It cannot create competitiveness.
It cannot deliver inclusive development.

Those responsibilities remain domestic.

The question before Sri Lanka is simple but profound:
Will we repeat the cycle, or finally learn the lesson?

The answer does not lie in Washington.
It lies with us.

By Professor Ranjith Bandara
Emeritus Professor, University of Colombo