Features
Probably most brilliant officer the Army ever had
Lt Col PVJ (Jayantha) de Silva, SL Light Infantry (1941-2023):
Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Lalin Fernando
“Do not stand at my grave and cry; I am not there; I did not die”
Late Lt Col PVJ (Jayantha) de Silva, Sri Lanka Light Infantry, (the oldest regiment in the Army – raised in 1881), served in the SL Army from 1964 to 1987.He sadly passed away in Australia after a fall just short of his 80th birthday.
He was probably the most brilliant officer the Army ever had; some say even a genius. He was also an unwavering, staunch, stubborn patriot as he was unforgiving of those, military or political who faltered. I admired him. He was my very good friend.
Educated at Royal College where he was prefect and Cadet Sergeant, he was also a national basketball player. He was in the first intake of five officer cadets to the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul in 1964. He, showing extraordinary leadership potential to prove himself among Pakistani cadets from the famed martial races of Punjabis, Pathans and Baluchis being appointed Battalion Junior Under Officer in his final term. He was the first and only one from Ceylon (SL) to be so appointed on the regular long course of two and a half years (It is now a two-year course).
He came third (of over 200 cadets) in the order of merit. The others in the Ceylon intake of five included Srilal Weerasuriya, later General and Army Commander. He later graduated from the Indian Staff College, Wellington, being recommended for Operations and Training, the plum posting for the best achievers. He was excellent in the field and on the staff.
I came across some of his Light Infantry soldiers in Talaimannar on a search operation when on Anti Illicit Immigration duties in the late 1960s. They spoke with pride of their lean, six-foot-tall whipcord strong, platoon commander’s successes. Clearly, he had looked after their every need as indeed the regimental motto “Ich Dien” (I serve) expected him to do – to serve his men. Many senior officers in a politicized army do not understand the motto believing ‘I serve’ means serve politicians!
Jayantha’s extraordinary feats were many and legendary. When the Russians gifted 82 mm mortars after the 1971 JVP Insurgency, Jayantha was the leader of the army infantry team of officers and sergeants chosen to be instructed on the weapon. The Russians took the whole of the first day to introduce the new weapon in the belief that the locals had to learn from scratch probably unaware we were well trained on the British three-inch mortars albeit of WW 2 origin.
At the end of the first day Jayantha asked the bemused Russians to take the next day off. He asked the infantry team to assemble at the Panaluwa range the next morning. The team was taught everything about the weapon including how to fire it by Jayantha. The following morning the Russians were taken to the firing range instead of the weapon training area. The sections of the team then demonstrated the dismantling and assembling of the mortar.
The Russians were next taken to the field firing range where the mortar bombs (shells) were fired. The planned six-week course was over! That was PVJ.
When his SLLI commanding officer Lt Col (later Major General) HV (Henry) Athukorale wanted a regimental museum, he created one almost overnight. He was entrusted with revising the Regimental Standing Orders. When Military Assistant (MA) to the Commander of the Army, Lt Gen Denis Perera, he produced the most comprehensive Army Dress Regulations. All in quick time.
I remember Jayantha as the first ever MA to an Army Commander (Maj Gen Denis Perera) accompanying the Commander on the first of the Army Commander’s bi-annual Inspection team at HQ Task Force One at Pallaly (Jaffna). In the evening at the Officers’ Mess the mood was convivial with the gift of two bottles of whiskey from the Commander helping; but Jayantha was missing.
The next morning as the Commander and his staff left for the airport the Minutes of the inspection, accurate and critical with action to be taken, would be in my hands. This speed of response upset some commanding officers (who complained). They were used to ambling along previously. Now their command deficiencies were pinpointed. The Army was in a resurgent era.
At the Non-Aligned Conference held in Colombo, about 100 heads of state or government, attended. They had each to be given a Guard of Honour at Katunayake whatever time they arrived. Their arrivals were within a short intervals of each other. Jayantha was Deputy to Brig TI Weeratunge (later Army Commander). Brig Weeratunge had time on his hands as Jayantha had organized rehearsals, timings and dress inspections with passion. The ceremonials were outstanding.
The VVIPs arriving included Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Sadat, Makarios (Cyprus), Hafiz al Assad and the eccentric Libyan leader Gaddafi. Marshal Tito arrived in his yacht in the Colombo harbour.
As Commandant of the Combat Training School in Ampara he revamped it entirely. Everything from theory lessons, conduct of field tactical exercises and Standard Operating Procedures were in writing. His successors had only to follow them.
While SL was laboring to match the terrorists early lead in technology, it was to Jayantha that the Army Commander turned to build SL’s first indigenous Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) with a V shaped hull. It proved to be far superior against mines to the imported, much acclaimed South African APC. He did so with a team of technicians from the Electrical and Mechanical Engineers at their Colombo workshop. And he was just an infantry officer.
Had Jayantha remained in the Army instead of emigrating, he would have worked wonders with technology but he had no far thinking Gen Sundarji (brilliant Indian Chief of Army Staff and the only infantry officer to command the First Indian Armoured Division too) or any brass hat to back him in an unsophisticated army given to sycophancy and later even commanded by one who gifted weapons and ammo to the terrorists.
He could have given the Army a lead in AI too. Instead, his inputs were apparently in the Australian Defence Industry. He was last heard providing (unsolicited?) detailed inputs for Australia’s indigenous aircraft carrier. While Sundarji wrote “Blind Men of Hindustan” as his treatise on Indian Nuclear Policy was not too well received, Jayantha wrote a new Constitution for SL that he insisted I read to know how to resolve our problems. I was tactful in responding.
Jayantha had a Kodak camera with which he recorded many events in camp and on training. I requested him to photograph my wedding and gave him a roll of film. He gave me a whole lot of super wedding photos and returned the film as he was wont to do. When years later he found his camera outdated, he searched for the newfangled parts needed to upgrade it. He could not find any. Jayantha then manufactured them and soon had a camera that was uptodate.
He then sent the drawings of his work to many camera companies. Only Kodak responded. They asked whether he had registered for copyrights. He said no. Kodak asked whether they could come to an agreement about producing the parts. He told them there was no need for an agreement and they could just have it. They asked whether they could use his name. He said it was unnecessary as both knew who did the work!
I first met Jayantha when he was an officer cadet in 1964.I was on a Regimental Signals Officer’s course at Rawalpindi. He would come with four other cadets including Srilal Weerasuriya (later General and Commander of the Army) and stay in my officers’ mess quarters during the rare training breaks. They would each bring their bed rolls and lay it out in the sitting room so they had no problem about sleeping.
They also joined four officers (Capts Kamal Fernando and WM Weerasuriya, Lt SJ Weerasena and me to form a ‘Ceylon Army’ cricket team to play GHQ Pakistan. The five cadets were not very impressive cricketers. We were loaned two Pakistani officers who were not any better. We lost. They had a national player who had just played against the MCC. He scored a century.
The next time we met was in mid-1968 was when we were both appointed Instructors for the first ever Officer Cadets course held in SL at the Officer Cadet School (now the SL Military Academy) at the Army Training Center (ATC) Diyatalawa. We replaced the two instructors who had been there during the first term. This was a most rewarding posting ever as we were in charge of not just new officer cadets but of the promise of the army’s future. This intake, initially of 12, was incomparable.
We were very fortunate that Lt Col (later General and Commander of the Army from the first Ceylon Intake at Sandhurst Denis Perera was first the Deputy (to Col Lyn Wicramasuriya) and then Commandant of the ATC. He ensured that the cadets wanted in nothing. Maj MD Fernando was the Chief Instructor (CI).
We soon discovered that instructor sergeants and sergeant major whose duties were respectively drill and weapons, had been allowed to impose themselves on the cadets in their free time and in the cadets’ mess. A hurried meeting on the first day itself laid down the ground rules. The other rank instructors were told that the accommodation and cadets mess were not in their province and to desist from going there as everything there was the responsibility of Officer instructors alone.
This was a clean break from what had been going on when directly enlisted officers were trained and NCOs ran the roost after close of the days play. Warrant Officer Ahmath (Armoured Corps) was an excellent Wing Sergeant Major.
The cadets had been told to start digging a well at the top of the hill overlooking the Halangode Wewa! This was stopped on the first day itself. The foundation, standards, customs and traditions were set initially by the officer instructors. They were handed down inviolate by Intake One who by the time Intake Two and a volunteer force intake of young officers arrived, had matured enough to govern and set the pattern for the succeeding intakes. The term Beast Billet (for first termers) came into vogue then. Bullying and ragging were not allowed as Intake One had set the standard.
The first three intakes had the founder commander of the Commandos and two Army Commanders including SL’s only Field Marshal and a rifle shooting Olympian who twice contested!
Field training exercises were talked about long after they ended. The first initiative exercise was held in the Passara hills with planters being ‘friendly collaborators’ of ‘cadet saboteurs’, then in Ampara in a tropical thunderstorm at night that made the cadets think the exercise would be called off. It wasn’t. The two instructors accompanied each ‘sabotage’ patrol across flooded paddies and raging torrents near the airport. The third was in Trincomalee.
Conventional warfare exercises were held on Fox Hill, in Gurutalawa and Horton Plains. Jungle training was carried out in the South Eastern jungles off Kuda Oya by the British Far East Jungle Warfare School Malaya-trained Capt (later Major General) Wijaya Wimalaratne and Warrant Officer Jayasinghe, both from Gemunu Watch.
On parade Warrant Officer Dayananda, (Armoured Corps) trained at the Brigade of Guards Drill Depot Pirbright, UK) never failed to say after each rehearsal for the Commissioning parade that every officer must try to match Jayantha’s sword drill standard – that included the parade commander- me!
The rugby team with a galaxy of schoolboy players in Intake Three won the Clifford Cup C Division the first time it entered.
Jayantha had the very best leadership characteristics starting from unshakable integrity, physical and moral courage, in depth knowledge of his profession including its technical side, initiative, was lightning fast in taking decisions and implementing them. He was fair and just in all his dealings. He was straight, unafraid to speak his mind but not haughty or arrogant, pleasant mannered and adaptive, lean and hard, highly motivated and disciplined. He never spoke of race or religion in the best traditions of the Army. He was first class at everything he had to do in the Army except for playing cricket. He was a true friend and loyal.
He had little patience, never gossiped, was firm, hardly merciful, was uncompromising and not very flexible. When asked by a retired Army commander visiting Australia why he did not want to meet him (the former commander), he said simply ‘You saluted the terrorists’ (during the 2001-3 phony Norwegian sponsored peace initiative).
The question must then be asked why an outstanding mid ranking officer whose early promise blossomed throughout his career abruptly decided to quit the army and migrate to Australia as a Lt Col, when achieving the highest command rank was a probability. Clearly in SL it was not. I cannot think of any army other than SL’s where such an exceptional officer would have been allowed to go without an effort to retain him. Was there an exit interview? I doubt it as at that time the army had lost a lot of its confidence and a few army commanders had openly said the war could not be won, shamelessly contradicting their own appointments.
One had secretly followed treacherous orders and arranged weapons and ammo plus cash in dollars and cement to be given to the LTTE on the treasonable orders of a Commander-in Chief!
As for career planning it appeared that was in the hands of politicians. Shocking debacles followed. Thousands died. No senior commander was punished. Many were promoted. Sadly, it appeared that the deaths of thousands of soldiers and young officers mattered less than the need to protect the guilty Generals.
A guilty conscience pervaded the upper ranks. They did not in many cases serve their men. By 2006 the lessons were well learned, the surviving fighting elements had been to hell and back for decades They were ready to finish it off. They did so with a political leadership that for once made sure the Army and the forces in general lacked nothing to win the conflict.
Jayantha had not been given command of his battalion despite being the most outstanding mid ranking officer not only in his regiment but also in the army to deserve it. When asked, two former Army Commanders, one his intake mate to the Pakistan Military Academy and the other who he had trained, thought it was due to the fact that Jayantha’s last two bosses as Army Commanders (1981-88) made prolific use of his amazing grasp of technology for the army rather than release him to command his regiment, the vital starting point of higher command. This could have happened only in the SL Army as any career plan had to give command of one’s own regiment the highest priority.
It is probable that in many other armies a similar talent would have seen the incumbent given a double promotion straight to Brigadier. All this was not to be. In my humble opinion, had Jayantha stayed on he would have made the best and most effective and successful Army commander albeit in his time, after Gen Denis Perera.
On a personal note, I remember going with my family to Kandy for the Perahera. Jayantha who was the senior staff officer in Central, Command made all the arrangements for our stay. At night he saw that only my elder daughter and I were going out as my wife would stay with our two-year old second daughter. He immediately said he would look after the baby and asked for instructions. On our return about midnight, we saw Jayantha with a pen light torch reading a book having prepared and given the baby her milk on time. In his spare time Jayantha coached the Trinity College basketball team.
When Jayantha left SL, the Army lost her most talented officer, his friends lost a wonderful and close friend. His death in Australia came as a shock to all. The saddest part was that we in SL were sure he would outlive all of us even as most of us had not seen him for nearly 35 years; but he never forgot SL, the Army and us and kept our morale up during the darkest days of the conflict with his unrelenting confidence in final victory.
He will be much missed by all who knew him. May his stay in Samsara be short. He leaves his wife Chintha, daughter Piyumali and son Suresh.
Note
Intake one had the head prefects of Royal, S Thomas’, Kingswood and St John’s, Jaffna, the cricket captain of Ananda and Combined Schools, national rifle firing pool member (and twice future Olympian), three public school athletes, a Nalanda cricketer, vice-captain Royal College rugby, one Royal College rowing team member and a soldier entry who was a national rugby player.
In this article, I introduce an idea which is simple to implement but is powerful and helps with building technical skills, strengthening the country brand and creating international opportunities for Sri Lankans. Furthermore, it can diversify and extend the country’s tourism revenue streams.
The simple idea is to introduce a hassle-free visa for Internships, Volunteering, Expert Exchange Programs and Short-term Studies. For brevity, let me call it a Knowledge Transfer Visa or KTV. There are three important clarifications to make up-front. Firstly, this visa is not for those seeking paid employment in Sri Lanka. Secondly, the local partner needs to ensure that if any local permits or permissions are applicable, these are in place and cover any KTV holders. Thirdly, it is not a resident’s visa and tourist rates will have to be paid by KTV holders for their sightseeing.
It is also important to spell out up-front a critical requirement for success. This is that an applicant from a country who is entitled to obtain an online tourist visa quickly and easily should be able to obtain a KTV with the same ease and convenience. It would be reasonable for the Department of Immigration to have an additional information box in the visa application to ask for the name and contact details of the local partner (corporate or individual). But it should not be the role of the visa issuing officer in a Sri Lankan foreign mission or the Department of Immigration to examine paperwork to assess the credentials of the visitor and the local partner. This should be left to the applicant and local partner to assess each other. By analogy, a tourist is not asked to demonstrate that the hotel they have booked into is validly registered as a tourism business. Nor does the visa issuing process ask the hotel if they have vetted the tourist’s ability to pay. If the KTV is kept as simple as an online tourist visa, it will succeed, otherwise it will fail to deliver the potential benefits.
A reader may ask why this sort of visa is needed. The answer is that Sri Lanka is well positioned to benefit from activities covered in a knowledge transfer visa. However, such visits will only materialise if foreign nationals are reassured that they can arrive for such purposes with a visa where the purpose of their visit is explicitly recognised and they are confident that their visit is welcomed. Visitors on a KTV will bring in hard currency revenues in much the same way as ordinary tourists but importantly lead to other benefits such as the import of expertise, building international networks for local corporates and individuals and being potential repeat visitors. Let me explain by running through the various strands.
Internships
With the first strand, Internships, there is an overt intention that people want to work in a very structured manner and obtain useful work experience to help obtain paid employment back in their home country. Sri Lanka for various reasons, wishes to have tight controls over foreign workers and to limit foreign nationals on work visas. It is important to point out that facilitating internships need not conflict with this thinking. Incoming foreign interns are different to full-time foreign workers and caters to a younger demographic looking for a short period of work experience. If Sri Lanka restricts foreign internships to unpaid internships, this will limit the candidate pool to those interns who have parental financial support. Nevertheless, this is still a start and better than not opening the door at all.
In many sectors, Sri Lanka can offer meaningful summer internships of up to 3 months or longer. Two obvious examples are Tourism and Information Technology (IT). Sri Lankan companies cannot run viable business models by relying on a supply of foreign interns. Therefore, foreign interns do not in any way threaten the prospects for locals for employment. On the contrary, foreign interns from developed economies can benefit locals working with them in various ways. These could include improving language skills, and locals gaining exposure to skills such as time-management and project planning. Internships can also be used for foreign students to engage in undergraduate and postgraduate university projects with local academics.
To explain how foreign interns can be very useful, let me construct an example. It is a fact that Sri Lankan companies are writing the software for some of the most technologically advanced companies in the world. Imagine Sri Lankan IT companies actively pitch this to foreign universities in advanced economies and foreign undergraduates take up internships in Sri Lanka. Not only do they gain work experience of an equivalent standard to working in London or New York, but they will have a more exciting time in a tropical country. When they graduate, they will take up jobs in London, New York or wherever. When their employers are looking to outsource work, they may recommend the companies they worked with in Sri Lanka. Some of these foreign interns may even start their own companies in the future and look to outsource work to the Sri Lankan companies they worked with. If the new start-ups do well, there may be frequent business visits. When their former interns start families, they will visit Sri Lanka on visits which combine business meetings with a family holiday. Their children in turn will grow up with Sri Lanka being a place that was a regular holiday destination and, in the future, bring their own children on holiday. Internships in Sri Lanka to foreign students can grow future business revenues and also create a multi-generation chain of tourists.
Some foreign interns can also work in a three-way collaboration between their university, a local university and a private sector company. Take for example, a hotel that has placed camera traps on its property to study wildlife. If they do it on their own, it may simply be for marketing the hotel. If they can partner with a local academic or conservation NGO, it could be elevated into a formal study, perhaps even a long-term study. For both the local academic and the hotel, it would be useful if any work they do is part of a long-term study with a foreign university. International collaborations like this are also more useful to the hotel in their efforts for international publicity. For the local academic or conservation NGO, the international collaboration could also open opportunities for funding and recognition and invitations to present in international conferences. A win for all.
If Sri Lanka companies open up to foreign interns, it may result in them realising the value of well-structured internship programs and the dialogue with overseas interns and their academic supervisors may lead to good internship programs being set up for both local and foreign applicants. This can only help young resident Sri Lankans who at present are frustrated by the paucity of structured internship programs even amongst Sri Lanka’s leading companies.
Before I continue to the next two strands, it is useful to reiterate why a knowledge transfer visa is important. The above-mentioned benefits can only arise if potential foreign interns and volunteers have a mechanism of a special visa to reassure them that the purpose of their visit is properly disclosed and that their activity in Sri Lanka is welcomed and completely above-board within the stated purpose of the visa.
The same will apply, with voluntourism, which is a form of commercial tourism activity. Overseas companies that have a business model of arranging voluntourism abroad are more likely to add Sri Lanka as a destination if a KTV existed.
Volunteering
The second strand is Volunteering and here I define it narrowly to cases where a volunteer is not volunteering to build out their CV to help them gain paid employment in their home country. If they are doing so, it is covered under the Internship category. Under this definition, volunteers are people who fall into two broad categories. They may be volunteering for recreational purposes, coupled with wanting to do something that is societally useful. Or they may be people who are retired and on a comfortable retirement income who now have time and money to give something back to society. For example, a person in a highly paid job may come and volunteer for two weeks on a science (e.g. biodiversity surveys) or an arts project (e.g. cataloguing temple art). They may do this because they enjoy doing something different from their day job which is related to their personal interests and societally useful. This type of volunteering has become a significant form of tourism, known as voluntourism.
For the second type of volunteering an example would be a retired wildlife reserve manager from overseas who is happy to work for free with a Sri Lankan hotel or game lodge to train guides and provide practical help in rewilding the grounds of the property. They may enjoy mentoring and want to share their experience with others who are happy to learn from them. To take another example, it could be a retired museum curator who is happy to volunteer at a government museum to train local staff and inject fresh thinking into how exhibitions are curated.
The host country receives free expertise and valuable time from such volunteers. The volunteers are also paying tourists.
In G20 countries, volunteering is highly organised and has resulted in businesses that provide on-line platforms to match volunteers with recipient organisations. Sri Lanka can benefit from making it easy for people to volunteer and to come over, whether it is to paint hospital wards, help in beach clean-ups, or to help at a literary, music or cultural festival or to train local wildlife guides. Many volunteers will also look to add on a holiday extension to their volunteering stay. It is not just free people-hours of work and spending as foreign visitors: Carefully chosen good volunteers also bring in ideas, know-how, enthusiasm and energy.
Expert Exchange
The third strand in the knowledge transfer visa is for Expert Exchange. This is for people who are established in their discipline and looking to diversify their experience and build an international network by engaging in short term unpaid assignments overseas. For example, let’s assume a senior academic would like to spend a month working with local counterparts. Perhaps it is someone from a Management Science faculty who is interested in South Asian trade and wishes to work with local counterparts in a Sri Lankan professional institution or the Management Science faculty of a university. Or, perhaps it is an academic with an interest in contemporary Asian art. In such situations, a mutually useful arrangement between the foreign visitor and any local counterparts would be for the visitor to be provided a desk and some working space in the local faculty. Perhaps the visiting academic or professional can even undertake to give a certain number of lectures to Sri Lankan students. Relationships established in this way could lead to reciprocal invitations for Sri Lankan academics to attend foreign conferences and workshops and possibly help with Sri Lankan students receiving guidance and support with doing a PhD overseas. The visiting academic or expert is not being paid by the local partners in Sri Lanka and will continue to be on the payroll of their employer in their home country. Again, such visitors need to be reassured that what they are doing is deemed above -board and welcomed. They would not wish to come to Sri Lanka on a standard tourist visa for an engagement of this kind.
Short-term Study
The final strand of the knowledge transfer visa is for Short-term Study. Sri Lanka already has the skilled teachers and education infrastructure to offer undergraduate degrees from several foreign universities. It also runs accredited courses for professional qualifications from organisations that are based in G20 countries, whether it is in Accountancy or Marketing or IT. This capability can be expanded to provide ‘summer schools’ where foreign students arrive for a combination of classroom and field teaching. Local educational institutions can use their business initiative to develop curricula in consultation with foreign universities to meet the coursework credit requirements. If it is simple and easy to obtain a visa to attend such a course in Sri Lanka, this becomes a tempting offer for foreign students. In areas spanning from medicine, tourism, and the biological sciences, Sri Lanka can become an exciting destination for classroom and field work.
Conclusion
The results won’t be seen immediately as it takes years for local counterparts and foreign counterparts to respond and adapt to the benefits of such a visa. But slowly and steadily, we will see benefits accruing to the country. We also need to keep in mind that with anything that involves people, sometimes things don’t work out. A few foreign visitors or the Sri Lankan partners may not fulfil their obligations properly. We should not allow misguided fears of a few bad apples to block the massive potential for Sri Lanka to benefit from a simple but powerful idea that is easy to implement. It would benefit the private sector, state institutions, the universities, and many other sectors to encourage the government to introduce such a visa.
To conclude, if a knowledge transfer visa (KTV) is created which is as simple and quick to obtain as an online tourist visa, it will create a comforting and reassuring environment to encourage foreign visitors who are looking for something more than a short holiday. This will result in hard currency revenues in multiple ways as with ordinary tourism. However, there are potentially significant additional benefits from the bringing in of know-how, skilled people-hours of work, the scope for new types of businesses to develop, and allow Sri Lankan individuals, corporates and institutions to have doors opened for them for international business and academic opportunities. Furthermore, there is a huge Sri Lankan diaspora out there whose children and grandchildren do not have dual nationality but could be encouraged to bring their money and know-how for a longer length of time in Sri Lanka through a knowledge transfer visa.
by Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne
TV news showed Keheliya Rambukwella with a walking aid and grizzled unshaven, attending courts and leaving in a prison van. His son Ramith is implicated in a corruption case being heard against his father. So it’s a case of like father, like son. We recall this cricketer son was no gentleman. He supposedly broke into an office in his college – Royal, Colombo 7 – to interfere with a marks sheet or whatever. More notoriously, returning from Australia as a member of a cricket team, he attempted opening a door of the Sri Lankan plane they were in. Doors in planes are extra strong and difficult to open; otherwise if he had succeeded, there would have been a fierce rush of air and he surely would have been dragged out to fall to the ocean or land and sure death. More seriously, havoc would have been created within the plane accompanied by dire danger to passengers. He is supposed to be unemployed but living in a very expensive, luxurious flat.
Wages of sin
Not many like to see others suffering, particularly mothers of sons. But there was no sorrow, not a twinge, on seeing Keheliya limping and getting into a prison van; so different from the suave man he was. The reason is that one has to pay for sins and transgressions including the procurement of substandard and fake medicinal drugs for government hospitals.
There is no sympathy in Cass’ heart, even for Rambukwella Jr. since he developed within himself his father’s nature. The uppermost thought in her is that retribution is inevitable. Most people think it passes to manifest itself in the sinner’s next and future births. Not always. They suffer in this life too. Here is a solid example to prove this point.
When we women talk about corruption in this beautiful island some note that entire families are corrupt to the core and have collected vast amounts of illicit money, safely stashed away. They seem to be fine; the younger ones grinning from ear to ear, cock sure of themselves. But what about their minds, their nightly dreams? Are they afraid? Do nightmares torment them? Sure the older thieves suffer thus.
“Retribution often means that we eventually do to ourselves what we have done unto others.”
Qatar’s gift to President Trump
Why two remembrances?
Politicians particularly, often prove that Sri Lanka is a land like no other – negatively – Cass adds. The Medamulana Rajapaksa family proved this point on Tuesday 20 May.
The War Heroes Commemorative ceremony, which is Remembrance Day in Sri Lanka, is observed on May 19, when the end of the civil war in 2009 is marked. Those who died in the 28 year war, both armed forces personnel and civilians, are remembered on this day. A solemn ceremony was held in Battaramulla in the grounds of the stately National War Memorial, with the President, and army, navy and air force heads of that time present. Also the nearest kin of those who gave their lives to save the country, mostly mothers and wives, laid red roses at the foot of the memorial.
Then surprise, surprise, another ceremony was held the following day at the same venue and most prominent were Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The news reporter of the channel Cass watched announced it was a memorial service for war heroes. But the war heroes had already been duly remembered the previous day by the entire nation. Pohottu members would have been present but it was not an SLPP ceremony. What was it then? A public remembrance by private persons since both brothers are out of politics and out of job now.
It is only in Sri Lanka that such a ‘circus’ can be staged. IWere the dead being used to shore waning popularity? Perfectly true, the two brothers did much to bring peace to the country; they went to war against severe objections and obstacles placed by local persons in secondary power, and foreign nations. But that does not justify a separate remembrance.
Maybe they do not know how such ceremonies are conducted in civilized foreign countries. They would not have watched the anniversary of VE Day (May 8) held in London and the respect and homage paid to WWII veterans and the remembrance of those who died in battle. Such an impressive, dignified late morning ceremony with King Charles III, Queen Camilla and other Royals present. The country and its leaders unified in remembrance and gratitude. No politics whatsoever. In this country politics rears its Medusa head in all public occasions and even very private ones like weddings. Next year we may have two separate celebratory events for National Day – February 4.
Lies and subterfuges
As usual a mega Trump deal is surrounded by lies, denials, drawing the wool over the public eye and subterfuges which last means “deceit used in order to achieve one’s goal.” The goal was getting a replacement for the presidential airplane which certainly is old – 40 years – and its interior not up to Trump’s garishly lavish standards. The Trump administration first approached Qatar to acquire a redundant Boeing 747 with a price around USD 400m to replace Air Force One. The other story is that Qatar reached out and offered the jet as a gift to Trump. The 747 flew to Florida in March so Trump could inspect it, which he did. A circulated report is that Qatar gifts the 747 to Trump personally to be used as his presidential jet and once he leaves the White House, it is his private possession. This tale one could well believe knowing the sort of a person Trump is and how wily Middle East potentates are: no giving without getting in return.
Cancer stalks American VVIP
Trump’s immediate predecessor has had another trauma. President Joe Biden announced he had been diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer, which means his days are numbered. He was the oldest US Prez but much admired and polled to be the 14th best president in the history of the US. His first wife and one-year daughter died in a car accident on December 18, 1972, just four years after marriage. He was a devoted father to his two sons aged 2 and 3 years then. At age 46, in 2015, his elder son Beau died of brain cancer, which Biden maintained was due to his service in the Kosovo war where dangerous gases were used. And now this illness at 82. A good man given more than his fair share of tribulations.
Cruelty beyond measure
Deaths in the Gaza strip increase by the day as Israel bombards it with air missiles and debars food aid getting in. Children are dying by the hundreds and doctors in large numbers as hospitals are targeted for attack. Netanyahu has pronounced he wants the entire Gaza strip as part of Israel. How can he possibly expect this? However, at the rate the war is proceeding he will soon overcome Hamas and ride into Gaza as a vanquisher and acquirer. No nation seems to be ready to help the Palestinians.
Colombo, Sri Lanka – While U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war primarily targeted global economic heavyweights like China and the European Union, its ripple effects are being felt across smaller economies including Sri Lanka. Experts warn that Trump’s protectionist trade policies, particularly the imposition of tariffs and the “America First” doctrine, could significantly impact Sri Lanka’s export-driven growth model.
Global Supply Chains Under Pressure
One of the most immediate threats stems from the disruption of global supply chains. Sri Lanka’s key industries, including textiles, apparel, and electronics components, are heavily reliant on imported raw materials. The U.S. tariffs on Chinese and other foreign goods increased global production costs, leading to delays and price hikes that affect Sri Lankan exporters.
“These disruptions trickle down,” says an economist at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. “Higher input costs and reduced access to affordable materials can hurt the competitiveness of our exports.”
Falling Global Demand Hits Exports
Trump’s tariffs contributed to broader economic uncertainty, weakening global trade and slowing growth. This downturn has lowered demand for Sri Lankan goods, particularly in Western markets. Apparel exports, which account for over 40% of Sri Lanka’s total exports and rely heavily on U.S. consumers, are especially vulnerable.
“As American retailers reevaluate their sourcing strategies, Sri Lankan garment manufacturers face increased competition from countries like Vietnam and Bangladesh, some of which benefit from more favourable trade agreements,” notes a trade policy analyst in Colombo.
Foreign Investment and Tourism at Risk
The trade tensions also made investors more cautious, leading to a decline in foreign direct investment (FDI) in emerging markets. Sri Lanka, already grappling with high debt levels and political instability, may find it increasingly difficult to attract investment in its export-oriented industries and infrastructure projects.
Tourism a vital source of foreign exchange could also see knock-on effects. Global economic instability tends to reduce travel spending, which directly impacts Sri Lanka’s tourism sector.
Regional Spillovers from China and India
China, a key trading partner and infrastructure investor in Sri Lanka, was one of the main targets of Trump’s tariffs. As Chinese economic growth slows due to reduced U.S. trade, its demand for Sri Lankan commodities and its ability to invest abroad could also decline. Similarly, any reduction in India’s economic engagement due to trade tensions with the U.S. may impact regional cooperation and investment flows.
Out of the Trade Bloc Loop
Perhaps, more concerning in the long term is the global realignment of trade alliances. As the U.S. withdrew from multilateral trade deals and others like the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) gained momentum, Sri Lanka risks being left behind.
A Wake-Up Call for Trade Policy Reform
The indirect but significant threats posed by Trump-era tariffs underline the urgent need for Sri Lanka to diversify its markets, join new trade alliances, and upgrade its export infrastructure.
While the Trump administration, the shift towards economic nationalism and trade protectionism continues to influence global policy. Sri Lanka, as a small and open economy, must adapt quickly or risk falling further behind.
By M. I. D Perera,
Economist
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