Features

Scandinavian aid and World View International Foundation

Published

3 years ago

2023/03/26

Excerpted from volume ii of the Sarath Amunugama autobiography

Norway which was a poor country at the beginning of the 20th century quickly became very rich after the discovery of North Sea oil. These offshore oil deposits in the cold seas between Norway and Scotland changed the fortunes of Scandinavian countries which earlier depended on fishing for their national income. Another factor was that Norway was a Protestant Christian country which believed, as much as feasible, in social equality and charity. All Norwegian churches collect a tithe which is reserved for charity.

Much of their missionary work was in East Africa, particularly Tanzania, where the local people were not subject to extreme cruelty as in the Belgian Congo or South Africa. Norwegian missionary activity was benign because they had no imperial ambitions. For instance Julius Nyrere, the Tanzanian leader was a Christian, schooled in a Nordic missionary institution. It was much later that Norway was interested in Asia – Sri Lanka in particular. Like other Scandinavian countries which had got rich and also had a history of brutal subjugation by Nazi rulers in the thirties and forties.

Norway set up a foreign funding agency called NORAD. NORAD began to fund small projects in South -Asia- At this juncture most western donor agencies began to select ‘target countries’ where they could invest with the hope of obtaining good results. With JRJ’s policies which were perceived as ‘rolling back socialism’ and being more liberal in associating with foreign donors, Sri Lanka became the number one target country for donors like NORAD, SIDA [Sweden], FINNIDA [Finland], DANIDA [Denmark] and CIDA [Canada].

Our Finance Ministry was in a good position to negotiate with these donor agencies on the basis of viable project proposals. We had excellent bureaucrats like David Loos, Nihal Kappagoda, Wickreme Weerasooria, Sivagnanam and Akiel Mohamed who could interact with these agencies easily and efficiently. Foreign aid flowed freely to Sri Lanka before the communal riots of 1983.

The World View Foundation was born in this milieu. Two young cyclists from Jaffna had reached Oslo. Radio Norway sent one of its talented reporters named Arne Fjortoft to cover this story. Arne and his wife Ragnar were well known TV and radio journalists and they not only featured the story of the cyclists and found jobs for them in Norway but also wanted to help the people of the North by setting up a factory to make and repair fishing boats. This was a Norad funded project which was approved by the Sri Lankan government and was named the CEY-NOR which even today is managed by our Ministry of Fisheries.

But this was a very bad time for building and repairing boats because very soon the Tamil insurgents [many of whom were later to establish the LTTE] acquired some of these boats. The sea was their lifeline for survival as they could retreat to a ‘base area’ in southern India whenever they were on retreat from the SL army. CEY-NOR was sponsored by the GA Jaffna Wimal Amarasekere but by accident or design it became a project of great interest to the terrorists.

Arne handed over CEY-NOR to the GA and came down to Colombo. Here going back to his familiar trade he entered the field of Information and Communication and set up the World View Foundation with partial support from NORAD. His first contact was with our Ministry but Anandatissa was lukewarm about sponsoring a foreign NGO. At that time Hameed, the Foreign minister, had established links with Scandinavian countries and was soliciting funding for projects in his electorate. He had obtained funds from FINNIDA for a water project in Harispattuwa which was so irregular that it led to an inquiry in the Finnish Parliament and the sacking of the Head of FINNIDA after the media highlighted his culpability.

Hameed’s unorthodox behavior of soliciting funds bypassing the Finance Ministry was referred to President JRJ and a circular was issued by the Treasury prohibiting Ministers from soliciting funds for their own projects outside the procedures laid out by the Department of External Resources. Despite the Harispattuwa scandal Hameed persisted in soliciting funds from foreign countries. A donation from a Korean businessman was not accounted for and a police investigation was launched. An indictment was ready in the Attorney General’s office during President CBK’s tenure when Hameed died suddenly of a heart attack.

While Anandatissa hesitated Hameed jumped into the fray. He accepted the post of Chairman of the Board of WIF. Arne had established WIF with a powerful Board of distinguished personalities which included Bondevick who became the Prime Minister of Norway. At a later time Arne himself contested for a seat in the Norwegian Parliament as a party leader and was expected to be the Minister of Development Assistance but his party fared disastrously and he could not make it. I had visited his electorate Stavvanger with him and was surprised when he was defeated.

WIF contributed to our TV training which was badly needed m view of our foray into Television. I visited Nepal, Thailand and Bangladesh where WIF ran important projects. The ‘power ‘, behind the Nepali throne’, Royal Councillor Chiran Thapa was on the WIF Board as was Police General Chavalit of Thailand. In Bangladesh Mohammed Yunus was a leading member of WIF.

I will refer here to two imaginative projects undertaken by WIF. In Nepal where there was incredible poverty in the highlands WIF pioneered the ‘TV letter to the King’. Our young cameramen went to the poorest villages and recorded the complaints of the villagers which we screened for the King as arranged by Chiran Thapa. This disclosure, we were told, had distressed the King who initiated action on land reform in our target village. The Director of the ‘TV letter’ project, a young US returned Nepali Subhadra Belbase, later became well-known in Kathmandu as a social activist.

After WIF Subhadra joined the UN to work among Nepali farmers. The Bangladeshi project attempted to tackle river blindness which was caused by malnutrition. We were told that the simple remedy for this disease which was caused by the lack of a vitamin was readily found in a variety of Banana recommended by WHO and found in plenty in the delta. With the help of the ‘Thana’ or divisional administration WIF undertook a publicity programme followed by the distribution of banana shoots for the poor who could not even afford that. This was a successful project which was later adopted by the Bangladesh government with good results.

WIF was the first international organization to popularize the Yunus concept of setting up groups of credit worthy village women entrepreneurs which was later picked up and recommended by the World Bank. Perhaps the promotion of Yunus in the Norwegian media helped in his selection for the Nobel Prize which is a Scandinavian initiative. There were many such projects including the introduction of media studies to the University of Chiang Mai in Thailand, which earned a niche in practical development strategies for WIF unlike the discussion oriented AMIC. Unlike AMIC many UN development agencies worked closely with WIF. However they ran into problems after expanding faster than they could cope with.

UNESCO

The global debate on the New Information Order took a greater urgency due to the rapid escalation of the Cold War. With the ascent to power of Ronald Reagan as President of the US, the laid back approach of Jimmy Carter was replaced by a greater competitive spirit. While special attention was paid to the arms race because only the US economy was strong enough to produce `both guns and butter’, the USSR economy had to choose one or the other. Reagan’s challenge by unleashing his ‘Star Wars’ weapons programme, undercut the Soviet boast that they were on a par with the West.

At the same time resurgent China, having overcome the disastrous Cultural Revolution, was also gaining ground and the rapprochement of Nixon and Mao was perceived as a potential threat to Soviet hegemony. With the Vietnam War concluded, the US could now focus on its economic strength. All these cross currents were at play in the international arena. The UN system in particular was under scrutiny by the US which kept on proclaiming that it was the UN’s major financial contributor.

Reagan took a personal interest in the Information debate. He rightly perceived that it was a veiled attack on American dominance all the way from his favourite Hollywood film industry to the new communications frontier technology which was a byproduct of their space research programmes. They were now spoiling for a fight. The President revamped the USIS or Information Service [which was rebranded as USIA – the Information Agency] and placed it under a crony who had been a band leader in Hollywood.

As Secretary of the Ministry of Information I was invited to tour the USA and view its communications facilities. This tour which was sponsored by the US Education Foundation took me from the East coast to Hollywood in the West coast and onto Hawaii and back to Colombo through Japan. It was an amazingly well-organized tour which had been arranged with the cooperation of our embassy in Washington. The Ambassador at that time was Professor W.S. Karunaratne whom I knew from my Peradeniya days. He had arranged a dinner at his residence with eminent Washingtonians who knew me.

Among them were Howard Simon of the Washington Post who had played a major role in exposing President Nixon over the Watergate scandal. Howard was a keen ornithologist who had visited Sri Lanka the previous year to study birds in our hill country. One day he burst into my office to complain that he could not get a hotel room near Kandy. I immediately telephoned Hunnas Falls Hotel which was supervised by the Hotels Corporation in my Ministry, and arranged for a deluxe apartment. His bird watching was a success and he wrote from Washington to thank me.

He gladly accepted our Ambassador’s invitation for dinner. We also had Dillon Ripley from the Smithsonian Institute. My Ministry had supported the survey of wild life in our country, particularly the elephant population, and their chief local contact was Lyn de Alwis, the head of the Zoological Gardens and a legend in our times. Lyn was a difficult person and I had to intervene several times on his behalf because I knew of his dedication.

The Pinnawela. Elephant Orphanage and later the Singapore Zoo were his creations. Another dinner invitee was Alan Whicker who brought his TV unit to Sri Lanka for a coverage for his popular TV series. Indra de Silva who was my friend from USIS Colombo had taken early retirement and had been granted US citizenship. He was living in Washington and had contacted several American diplomats who had served in Sri Lanka. They too were present, making the evening a very pleasant and productive one for our Embassy.

In this tour the first stop was Washington where I visited the Congress on the Hill and spoke to some Congressmen who were interested in the communications debate. Then I spent time in the Aeronautical and Space Exhibition Centre which was a novel attraction in Washington with its displays of original spacecraft and details of the moon landing. I was permitted to touch the moonrock that had been brought back to earth by the Astronauts. The Curator of the Exhibition was a close friend of Arthur Clarke whose name opened many doors for me in the space research world.

Then I flew to Los Angeles and was lodged in the famous Wiltshire Hilton which was patronized by Hollywood film stars. From there I took a cab to Burbank which was being transformed from a Hollywood movie lot to shooting floors for several upcoming Television series. TV was fast taking over from the classic film studios of the past like Paramount, MGM and Twentieth Century Fox. Movie production was being passed over to the ‘Independents’ or movie makers who made their own films and came to the ‘movie giants’ only for distributing their films.

Since I was from Asia I was taken to a film distribution Office in Wiltshire Boulevard. I was surprised to find that their whole Asian film distribution system was computerized and required only a few secretaries and accountants to manage the operation. This contrasted with our Film Corporation which was full of political appointees who were running the distribution operation with a mountain of files.

Leaving Los Angeles I flew to Honolulu to renew my contacts in the University where my friend Professor Juergensmayer was the Head of the Department of Religious Studies. I also met Mary Bitterman who served as the head of Voice of America under President Carter and Wimal Dissanayake attached to the East-West Centre. It was also an oppornunity to meet ‘Babu’ Wickremeratne and his family again and join in a cook out on Waikiki Beach.

My impressions of the US approach to the New Order debate and reading of the literature about it was useful for the Asian in UNESCO. It was clear that because of his Hollywood ground and links with the communications equipment manufacturers, Reagan would take a personal interest in this debate unlike in the past when State Department officials called the shots. He was also committed to the notion of a ‘free press’ partly because it was related to the First Amendment of the US Constiution and partly because it was a vital ingredient in his commitment to confront Communism. But he was open to the argument that the US would be a beneficiary in the investment communications technology and therefore should engage positively with the ongoing debate.

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Features

Misinterpreting President Dissanayake on National Reconciliation

Published

12 hours ago

2026/02/10

Sahan Weerasooriya

President Dissanayake

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has been investing his political capital in going to the public to explain some of the most politically sensitive and controversial issues. At a time when easier political choices are available, the president is choosing the harder path of confronting ethnic suspicion and communal fears. There are three issues in particular on which the president’s words have generated strong reactions. These are first with regard to Buddhist pilgrims going to the north of the country with nationalist motivations. Second is the controversy relating to the expansion of the Tissa Raja Maha Viharaya, a recently constructed Buddhist temple in Kankesanturai which has become a flashpoint between local Tamil residents and Sinhala nationalist groups. Third is the decision not to give the war victory a central place in the Independence Day celebrations.

Even in the opposition, when his party held only three seats in parliament, Anura Kumara Dissanayake took his role as a public educator seriously. He used to deliver lengthy, well researched and easily digestible speeches in parliament. He continues this practice as president. It can be seen that his statements are primarily meant to elevate the thinking of the people and not to win votes the easy way. The easy way to win votes whether in Sri Lanka or elsewhere in the world is to rouse nationalist and racist sentiments and ride that wave. Sri Lanka’s post independence political history shows that narrow ethnic mobilisation has often produced short term electoral gains but long term national damage.

Sections of the opposition and segments of the general public have been critical of the president for taking these positions. They have claimed that the president is taking these positions in order to obtain more Tamil votes or to appease minority communities. The same may be said in reverse of those others who take contrary positions that they seek the Sinhala votes. These political actors who thrive on nationalist mobilisation have attempted to portray the president’s statements as an abandonment of the majority community. The president’s actions need to be understood within the larger framework of national reconciliation and long term national stability.

Reconciler’s Duty

When the president referred to Buddhist pilgrims from the south going to the north, he was not speaking about pilgrims visiting long established Buddhist heritage sites such as Nagadeepa or Kandarodai. His remarks were directed at a specific and highly contentious development, the recently built Buddhist temple in Kankesanturai and those built elsewhere in the recent past in the north and east. The temple in Kankesanturai did not emerge from the religious needs of a local Buddhist community as there is none in that area. It has been constructed on land that was formerly owned and used by Tamil civilians and which came under military occupation as a high security zone. What has made the issue of the temple particularly controversial is that it was established with the support of the security forces.

The controversy has deepened because the temple authorities have sought to expand the site from approximately one acre to nearly fourteen acres on the basis that there was a historic Buddhist temple in that area up to the colonial period. However, the Tamil residents of the area fear that expansion would further displace surrounding residents and consolidate a permanent Buddhist religious presence in the present period in an area where the local population is overwhelmingly Hindu. For many Tamils in Kankesanturai, the issue is not Buddhism as a religion but the use of religion as a vehicle for territorial assertion and demographic changes in a region that bore the brunt of the war. Likewise, there are other parts of the north and east where other temples or places of worship have been established by the military personnel in their camps during their war-time occupation and questions arise regarding the future when these camps are finally closed.

There are those who have actively organised large scale pilgrimages from the south to make the Tissa temple another important religious site. These pilgrimages are framed publicly as acts of devotion but are widely perceived locally as demonstrations of dominance. Each such visit heightens tension, provokes protest by Tamil residents, and risks confrontation. For communities that experienced mass displacement, military occupation and land loss, the symbolism of a state backed religious structure on contested land with the backing of the security forces is impossible to separate from memories of war and destruction. A president committed to reconciliation cannot remain silent in the face of such provocations, however uncomfortable it may be to challenge sections of the majority community.

High-minded leadership

The controversy regarding the president’s Independence Day speech has also generated strong debate. In that speech the president did not refer to the military victory over the LTTE and also did not use the term “war heroes” to describe soldiers. For many Sinhala nationalist groups, the absence of these references was seen as an attempt to diminish the sacrifices of the armed forces. The reality is that Independence Day means very different things to different communities. In the north and east the same day is marked by protest events and mourning and as a “Black Day”, symbolising the consolidation of a state they continue to experience as excluding them and not empathizing with the full extent of their losses.

By way of contrast, the president’s objective was to ensure that Independence Day could be observed as a day that belonged to all communities in the country. It is not correct to assume that the president takes these positions in order to appease minorities or secure electoral advantage. The president is only one year into his term and does not need to take politically risky positions for short term electoral gains. Indeed, the positions he has taken involve confronting powerful nationalist political forces that can mobilise significant opposition. He risks losing majority support for his statements. This itself indicates that the motivation is not electoral calculation.

President Dissanayake has recognized that Sri Lanka’s long term political stability and economic recovery depend on building trust among communities that once peacefully coexisted and then lived through decades of war. Political leadership is ultimately tested by the willingness to say what is necessary rather than what is politically expedient. The president’s recent interventions demonstrate rare national leadership and constitute an attempt to shift public discourse away from ethnic triumphalism and toward a more inclusive conception of nationhood. Reconciliation cannot take root if national ceremonies reinforce the perception of victory for one community and defeat for another especially in an internal conflict.

BY Jehan Perera

Features

Recovery of LTTE weapons

Published

12 hours ago

2026/02/10

Sahan Weerasooriya

Sri Lanka Navy in action

I have read a newspaper report that the Special Task Force of Sri Lanka Police, with help of Military Intelligence, recovered three buried yet well-preserved 84mm Carl Gustaf recoilless rocket launchers used by the LTTE, in the Kudumbimalai area, Batticaloa.

These deadly weapons were used by the LTTE SEA TIGER WING to attack the Sri Lanka Navy ships and craft in 1990s. The first incident was in February 1997, off Iranativu island, in the Gulf of Mannar.

Admiral Cecil Tissera took over as Commander of the Navy on 27 January, 1997, from Admiral Mohan Samarasekara.

The fight against the LTTE was intensified from 1996 and the SLN was using her Vanguard of the Navy, Fast Attack Craft Squadron, to destroy the LTTE’s littoral fighting capabilities. Frequent confrontations against the LTTE Sea Tiger boats were reported off Mullaitivu, Point Pedro and Velvetiturai areas, where SLN units became victorious in most of these sea battles, except in a few incidents where the SLN lost Fast Attack Craft.

Carl Gustaf recoilless rocket launchers

The intelligence reports confirmed that the LTTE Sea Tigers was using new recoilless rocket launchers against aluminium-hull FACs, and they were deadly at close quarter sea battles, but the exact type of this weapon was not disclosed.

The following incident, which occurred in February 1997, helped confirm the weapon was Carl Gustaf 84 mm Recoilless gun!

DATE: 09TH FEBRUARY, 1997, morning 0600 hrs.

LOCATION: OFF IRANATHIVE.

FACs: P 460 ISRAEL BUILT, COMMANDED BY CDR MANOJ JAYESOORIYA

P 452 CDL BUILT, COMMANDED BY LCDR PM WICKRAMASINGHE (ON TEMPORARY COMMAND. PROPER OIC LCDR N HEENATIGALA)

OPERATED FROM KKS.

CONFRONTED WITH LTTE ATTACK CRAFT POWERED WITH FOUR 250 HP OUT BOARD MOTORS.

TARGET WAS DESTROYED AND ONE LTTE MEMBER WAS CAPTURED.

LEADING MARINE ENGINEERING MECHANIC OF THE FAC CAME UP TO THE BRIDGE CARRYING A PROJECTILE WHICH WAS FIRED BY THE LTTE BOAT, DURING CONFRONTATION, WHICH PENETRATED THROUGH THE FAC’s HULL, AND ENTERED THE OICs CABIN (BETWEEN THE TWO BUNKS) AND HIT THE AUXILIARY ENGINE ROOM DOOR AND HAD FALLEN DOWN WITHOUT EXPLODING. THE ENGINE ROOM DOOR WAS HEAVILY DAMAGED LOOSING THE WATER TIGHT INTEGRITY OF THE FAC.

THE PROJECTILE WAS LATER HANDED OVER TO THE NAVAL WEAPONS EXPERTS WHEN THE FACs RETURNED TO KKS. INVESTIGATIONS REVEALED THE WEAPON USED BY THE ENEMY WAS 84 mm CARL GUSTAF SHOULDER-FIRED RECOILLESS GUN AND THIS PROJECTILE WAS AN ILLUMINATER BOMB OF ONE MILLION CANDLE POWER. BUT THE ATTACKERS HAS FAILED TO REMOVE THE SAFETY PIN, THEREFORE THE BOMB WAS NOT ACTIVATED.

Sea Tigers

Carl Gustaf 84 mm recoilless gun was named after Carl Gustaf Stads Gevärsfaktori, which, initially, produced it. Sweden later developed the 84mm shoulder-fired recoilless gun by the Royal Swedish Army Materiel Administration during the second half of 1940s as a crew served man- portable infantry support gun for close range multi-role anti-armour, anti-personnel, battle field illumination, smoke screening and marking fire.

It is confirmed in Wikipedia that Carl Gustaf Recoilless shoulder-fired guns were used by the only non-state actor in the world – the LTTE – during the final Eelam War.

It is extremely important to check the batch numbers of the recently recovered three launchers to find out where they were produced and other details like how they ended up in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka?

By Admiral Ravindra C. Wijegunaratne
WV, RWP and Bar, RSP, VSV, USP, NI (M) (Pakistan), ndc, psn, Bsc (Hons) (War Studies) (Karachi) MPhil (Madras)
Former Navy Commander and Former Chief of Defence Staff
Former Chairman, Trincomalee Petroleum Terminals Ltd
Former Managing Director Ceylon Petroleum Corporation
Former High Commissioner to Pakistan

Features

Yellow Beatz … a style similar to K-pop!

Published

12 hours ago

2026/02/10

Sahan Weerasooriya

Yes, get ready to vibe with Yellow Beatz, Sri Lanka’s awesome girl group, keen to take Sri Lankan music to the world with a style similar to K-pop!

With high-energy beats and infectious hooks, these talented ladies are here to shake up the music scene.

Think bold moves, catchy hooks, and, of course, spicy versions of old Sinhala hits, and Yellow Beatz is the package you won’t want to miss!

According to a spokesman for the group, Yellow Beatz became a reality during the Covid period … when everyone was stuck at home, in lockdown.

“First we interviewed girls, online, and selected a team that blended well, as four voices, and then started rehearsals. One of the cover songs we recorded, during those early rehearsals, unexpectedly went viral on Facebook. From that moment onward, we continued doing cover songs, and we received a huge response. Through that, we were able to bring back some beautiful Sri Lankan musical creations that were being forgotten, and introduce them to the new generation.”

The team members, I am told, have strong musical skills and with proper training their goal is to become a vocal group recognised around the world.

Believe me, their goal, they say, is not only to take Sri Lanka’s name forward, in the music scene, but to bring home a Grammy Award, as well.

“We truly believe we can achieve this with the love and support of everyone in Sri Lanka.”

The year 2026 is very special for Yellow Beatz as they have received an exceptional opportunity to represent Sri Lanka at the World Championships of Performing Arts in the USA.

Under the guidance of Chris Raththara, the Director for Sri Lanka, and with the blessings of all Sri Lankans, the girls have a great hope that they can win this milestone.

“We believe this will be a moment of great value for us as Yellow Beatz, and also for all Sri Lankans, and it will be an important inspiration for the future of our country.”

Along with all the preparation for the event in the USA, they went on to say they also need to manage their performances, original song recordings, and everything related.

The year 2026 is very special for Yellow Beatz

“We have strong confidence in ourselves and in our sincere intentions, because we are a team that studies music deeply, researches within the field, and works to take the uniqueness of Sri Lankan identity to the world.”

At present, they gather at the Voices Lab Academy, twice a week, for new creations and concert rehearsals.

This project was created by Buddhika Dayarathne who is currently working as a Pop Vocal lecturer at SLTC Campus. Voice Lab Academy is also his own private music academy and Yellow Beatz was formed through that platform.

Buddhika is keen to take Sri Lankan music to the world with a style similar to K-Pop and Yellow Beatz began as a result of that vision. With that same aim, we all work together as one team.

“Although it was a little challenging for the four of us girls to work together at first, we have united for our goal and continue to work very flexibly and with dedication. Our parents and families also give their continuous blessings and support for this project,” Rameesha, Dinushi, Newansa and Risuri said.

Last year, Yellow Beatz released their first original song, ‘Ihirila’ , and with everything happening this year, they are also preparing for their first album.