Features
Magnificent Sri Lanka Police
(A tribute to our PC Ralahamy)
by Lalin Fernando
We citizens are safe and secure in our homes day and night, at our work places and on the roads and when disasters strike or when people have to be rescued from fire and water. This is only because you are around 24 hours a day. Yet we have with no saving grace, abandoned, humiliated, berated, insulted and even physically attacked you when it suited us. All manner of accusations are thrown at you. Yet you never let us down come flood or fire, robbery or murder or even when old people need to cross the street. You are surprisingly polite at even the worst of times especially now during the unprecedented violent turmoil that is ongoing. You are also the best looking police anywhere.
The ungrateful public, misguided by western envoys, choose to overlook it all. They join hands to accuse you of brutality when possibly excessive force may have been used. Westerners who used and those that did not condemn the use of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki cannot ever be guardians of Asian liberty. They can never escape their guilt. They were ready to repeat their inhumanity in Korea (1950) and Vietnam (1972), and used napalm and defoliants too. It was always against Asians
However with whatever pride and high ideals you joined the police you had over the last 50 years to obey, among your superiors, those few gazette officers in high posts who were never meant to be leaders. You lost your innocence. They are afflicted by a common disease that affects most people in authority in both the public and private sectors in SL. They are all easily compromised by the incorrigibly corrupt politicians of all shades and sizes. A few of them even looked as though God was about to deliver a Gorilla but being in haste, dumped something indescribable at Diyawanna.
People from all walks of life, without exception, sought favours from you when they got into legal scrapes. These were not limited to traffic offences alone.
Law breakers including politicians, businessmen, professionals including lawyers, offered you bribes to look the other way. They then decried cursed and poured scorn at you when a few of you were tempted. Protesters now throw stones and attack you with clubs and rods and knives at barriers, knowing you were ordered not retaliate. But you go back to routine duties day after day without let, knowing the danger and the humiliation you and the inspectorate mostly, face.
You do not hesitate like in the USA when about 20 fully armed policemen for eight hours stood idle while a lone gunman went about shooting nursery children unhindered. Nor do you pump about 20 bullets into an innocent man (Brazilian) as did a Constable Locke at the underground station in England in 2005 after the bus bombings. You were the ‘kos ata’ (sacrifice) that your superiors and the politicians offered the public to hammer to cover up their multiple frailties in strategy, tactics , command and control and concern for the people.
In 1971, 1988-9 and for nearly 30 years from 1979, while being in the first line of defence of the country, over 2,000 of you were killed. It included one SDIG and four DIGs. You, together with the defence forces, secured the country from terrorists for over 30 years despite over 100, 000 citizens being killed.
In 1988 an abominable Foreign Minister, serving a treacherous President, asked a supine IGP to order you to surrender to appease the terrorists. Six hundred (600) of you in the East, ready to fight back, obeyed superior orders without question that unknown to you were illegitimate. Your comrades were butchered and buried within a few hours after capture in the shallow graves they were forced to dig. No one has yet admitted to their villainy or was punished.
Out of overwhelming sorrow and guilt a few in the police stood up for you, time and again. Not a single politician bothered. However the people have not forgotten the 600 even though there is no monument to them. They were sacrificed to the genocidal LTTE by abominable politicians who were willing to betray their countrymen to cut a deal with terrorists. That was the cost to you for having trusted your superiors and obeyed their flawed orders in carrying out your duty in the service of Sri Lanka.
Today you man barriers facing howling mobs that are described by the blind as exercising their right of ‘peaceful’ assembly, even as they throw bricks, stones and boulders with abandon. They threatened to storm the private residence of the President. They then tried to isolate the Prime Minister’s home. They made their ‘peaceful’ intentions absolutely clear when thousands threatened the guards manning the main entrance gate of the Navy at the Trincomalie Dock Yard. They were led by a woman screaming ‘kappapang, kappapang, (cut cut) and then ominously ‘kelli ‘kelli (into pieces, into pieces).You stood unbowed and firm. Preventing complete anarchy has become your daily duty for the last few months .You have succeeded so far. May you always.
The Police have been neutered by a spineless leadership of their own senior officers and a completely baffled and petrified political leadership. The bosses are only interested in themselves it would appear. The police were and are thrown virtually naked to man barriers with no plan, strategy or tactics with just tear gas and water canon to thwart violently hostile and threatening mobs. They use the original ‘peaceful’ protestors as bait. The leaders of the mobs are well hidden in the rear, reminiscent of the 1988-9 tactics of the JVP.
Today, driven to near insanity by shortages of essentials including food, fuel and cooking gas and despairing in queues but with exemplar discipline, the patience of the people has held. Their plight is compounded by the continuing cupidity of politicians. How deep the infiltration of society by anarchists and their paymasters as a consequence is the question.
Yet you Ralahamy and your immediate superiors in the field have done a magnificent job against overwhelming odds, in extraordinary times. We want you to. Few realize the police reflect society and not the other way round. You come from the same background as the rest of us. If you fail we are responsible too to varying degrees according to how we subverted you and not the other way round. When we criticize you, we must admit our own guilt in the example we set, interfering in your duties, selfishly using influence to achieve our often illegal ends for personal benefit and generally perverting both the nation’s law and order and the course of justice and abusing your patience, understanding and tolerance.
Despite enormous sacrifices you remain silent scapegoats for all the ills that vile politicians and their benefactors have bequeathed SL. The former have for nearly 75 years subverted, corrupted and abused public servants in general and the police in particular. Many of the higher ranks of the police in recent times and the Police Commission swam with the political tide for their own benefit compromising their status instead of standing up to protect the rule of law and the entire judicial system in SL and you. Who cared? Yet you stood firm knowing that facing violent crowds day and night without let was your unenviable duty. You had no time to look into the needs of your family. We know that, even if the politicians and media do not care.
Meanwhile the public, that include corrupt Ministers and MPs, prolific profiteering businessmen to citizens living in low cost housing, live safely and with few cares in their homes and work places simply because you Ralahamy are there. You endure, despite being abused, reviled, and unforgiven, day and night for the sins of your superiors and all politicians and other law breakers. This is not only in cities and towns and in the streets but in rural areas, in hills, jungles and farm land.
Unarmed, using water cannon and tear gas and heavily outnumbered, you thanklessly man barriers to prevent thousands of ‘peaceful’ rioters from storming public places including parliament .You then carry out your duties the next day, unarmed as usual, on the streets helping people and maintaining law and order. No one attacks you despite the hatred spread by extremists. The general public recognizes the debt they owe you .Yet who would want to be a policeman right now?
The police, if they do their duty properly, will never be popular even if many discerning citizens respect them. Difficult as it may be for its critics to understand or admit, the police simply wish to do what the public expects them to do while carrying out its duties. That is the ethos of the Police. Left to their own devices they are an excellent force as was seen very recently when a small child was murdered in Beruwala (July 2022). They found the murderer within hours. Older people may remember how a headless corpse of a German tourist was found in the peak wilderness on the route to Adams Peak in the 1960/70s.The police found the murderer. How did this happen? There was no political interference. There are many more of such astonishing actions. The fact is:
You are a better man than I am, Ralahamy’
(Apologies to Rudyard Kipling and Gunga Din)
by Dr Gotabhya Ranasinghe
Senior Consultant Cardiologist
National Hospital Sri Lanka
When we sought a meeting with Hon Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, Minister of Health, he graciously cleared his busy schedule to accommodate us. Renowned for his attentive listening and deep understanding, Minister Pathirana is dedicated to advancing the health sector. His openness and transparency exemplify the qualities of an exemplary politician and minister.
Dr. Palitha Mahipala, the current Health Secretary, demonstrates both commendable enthusiasm and unwavering support. This combination of attributes makes him a highly compatible colleague for the esteemed Minister of Health.
Our discussion centered on a project that has been in the works for the past 30 years, one that no other minister had managed to advance.
Minister Pathirana, however, recognized the project’s significance and its potential to revolutionize care for heart patients.
The project involves the construction of a state-of-the-art facility at the premises of the National Hospital Colombo. The project’s location within the premises of the National Hospital underscores its importance and relevance to the healthcare infrastructure of the nation.
This facility will include a cardiology building and a tertiary care center, equipped with the latest technology to handle and treat all types of heart-related conditions and surgeries.
Securing funding was a major milestone for this initiative. Minister Pathirana successfully obtained approval for a $40 billion loan from the Asian Development Bank. With the funding in place, the foundation stone is scheduled to be laid in September this year, and construction will begin in January 2025.
This project guarantees a consistent and uninterrupted supply of stents and related medications for heart patients. As a result, patients will have timely access to essential medical supplies during their treatment and recovery. By securing these critical resources, the project aims to enhance patient outcomes, minimize treatment delays, and maintain the highest standards of cardiac care.
Upon its fruition, this monumental building will serve as a beacon of hope and healing, symbolizing the unwavering dedication to improving patient outcomes and fostering a healthier society.We anticipate a future marked by significant progress and positive outcomes in Sri Lanka’s cardiovascular treatment landscape within the foreseeable timeframe.
by Fr. Emmanuel Fernando, OMI
Jesuit Fr. Aloysius Pieris (affectionately called Fr. Aloy) celebrated his 90th birthday on April 9, 2024 and I, as the editor of our Oblate Journal, THE MISSIONARY OBLATE had gone to press by that time. Immediately I decided to publish an article, appreciating the untiring selfless services he continues to offer for inter-Faith dialogue, the renewal of the Catholic Church, his concern for the poor and the suffering Sri Lankan masses and to me, the present writer.
It was in 1988, when I was appointed Director of the Oblate Scholastics at Ampitiya by the then Oblate Provincial Fr. Anselm Silva, that I came to know Fr. Aloy more closely. Knowing well his expertise in matters spiritual, theological, Indological and pastoral, and with the collaborative spirit of my companion-formators, our Oblate Scholastics were sent to Tulana, the Research and Encounter Centre, Kelaniya, of which he is the Founder-Director, for ‘exposure-programmes’ on matters spiritual, biblical, theological and pastoral. Some of these dimensions according to my view and that of my companion-formators, were not available at the National Seminary, Ampitiya.
Ever since that time, our Oblate formators/ accompaniers at the Oblate Scholasticate, Ampitiya , have continued to send our Oblate Scholastics to Tulana Centre for deepening their insights and convictions regarding matters needed to serve the people in today’s context. Fr. Aloy also had tried very enthusiastically with the Oblate team headed by Frs. Oswald Firth and Clement Waidyasekara to begin a Theologate, directed by the Religious Congregations in Sri Lanka, for the contextual formation/ accompaniment of their members. It should very well be a desired goal of the Leaders / Provincials of the Religious Congregations.
Besides being a formator/accompanier at the Oblate Scholasticate, I was entrusted also with the task of editing and publishing our Oblate journal, ‘The Missionary Oblate’. To maintain the quality of the journal I continue to depend on Fr. Aloy for his thought-provoking and stimulating articles on Biblical Spirituality, Biblical Theology and Ecclesiology. I am very grateful to him for his generous assistance. Of late, his writings on renewal of the Church, initiated by Pope St. John XX111 and continued by Pope Francis through the Synodal path, published in our Oblate journal, enable our readers to focus their attention also on the needed renewal in the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka. Fr. Aloy appreciated very much the Synodal path adopted by the Jesuit Pope Francis for the renewal of the Church, rooted very much on prayerful discernment. In my Religious and presbyteral life, Fr.Aloy continues to be my spiritual animator / guide and ongoing formator / acccompanier.
Fr. Aloysius Pieris, BA Hons (Lond), LPh (SHC, India), STL (PFT, Naples), PhD (SLU/VC), ThD (Tilburg), D.Ltt (KU), has been one of the eminent Asian theologians well recognized internationally and one who has lectured and held visiting chairs in many universities both in the West and in the East. Many members of Religious Congregations from Asian countries have benefited from his lectures and guidance in the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI) in Manila, Philippines. He had been a Theologian consulted by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences for many years. During his professorship at the Gregorian University in Rome, he was called to be a member of a special group of advisers on other religions consulted by Pope Paul VI.
Fr. Aloy is the author of more than 30 books and well over 500 Research Papers. Some of his books and articles have been translated and published in several countries. Among those books, one can find the following: 1) The Genesis of an Asian Theology of Liberation (An Autobiographical Excursus on the Art of Theologising in Asia, 2) An Asian Theology of Liberation, 3) Providential Timeliness of Vatican 11 (a long-overdue halt to a scandalous millennium, 4) Give Vatican 11 a chance, 5) Leadership in the Church, 6) Relishing our faith in working for justice (Themes for study and discussion), 7) A Message meant mainly, not exclusively for Jesuits (Background information necessary for helping Francis renew the Church), 8) Lent in Lanka (Reflections and Resolutions, 9) Love meets wisdom (A Christian Experience of Buddhism, 10) Fire and Water 11) God’s Reign for God’s poor, 12) Our Unhiddden Agenda (How we Jesuits work, pray and form our men). He is also the Editor of two journals, Vagdevi, Journal of Religious Reflection and Dialogue, New Series.
Fr. Aloy has a BA in Pali and Sanskrit from the University of London and a Ph.D in Buddhist Philosophy from the University of Sri Lankan, Vidyodaya Campus. On Nov. 23, 2019, he was awarded the prestigious honorary Doctorate of Literature (D.Litt) by the Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, the Most Venerable Welamitiyawe Dharmakirthi Sri Kusala Dhamma Thera.
Fr. Aloy continues to be a promoter of Gospel values and virtues. Justice as a constitutive dimension of love and social concern for the downtrodden masses are very much noted in his life and work. He had very much appreciated the commitment of the late Fr. Joseph (Joe) Fernando, the National Director of the Social and Economic Centre (SEDEC) for the poor.
In Sri Lanka, a few religious Congregations – the Good Shepherd Sisters, the Christian Brothers, the Marist Brothers and the Oblates – have invited him to animate their members especially during their Provincial Congresses, Chapters and International Conferences. The mainline Christian Churches also have sought his advice and followed his seminars. I, for one, regret very much, that the Sri Lankan authorities of the Catholic Church –today’s Hierarchy—- have not sought Fr.
Aloy’s expertise for the renewal of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka and thus have not benefited from the immense store of wisdom and insight that he can offer to our local Church while the Sri Lankan bishops who governed the Catholic church in the immediate aftermath of the Second Vatican Council (Edmund Fernando OMI, Anthony de Saram, Leo Nanayakkara OSB, Frank Marcus Fernando, Paul Perera,) visited him and consulted him on many matters. Among the Tamil Bishops, Bishop Rayappu Joseph was keeping close contact with him and Bishop J. Deogupillai hosted him and his team visiting him after the horrible Black July massacre of Tamils.
Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement
By Gomi Senadhira
senadhiragomi@gmail.com
“You might tell fairy tales, but the progress of a country cannot be achieved through such narratives. A country cannot be developed by making false promises. The country moved backward because of the electoral promises made by political parties throughout time. We have witnessed that the ultimate result of this is the country becoming bankrupt. Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet.” – President Ranil Wickremesinghe, 2024 Budget speech
Any Sri Lankan would agree with the above words of President Wickremesinghe on the false promises our politicians and officials make and the fairy tales they narrate which bankrupted this country. So, to understand this, let’s look at one such fairy tale with lots of false promises; Ranil Wickremesinghe’s greatest achievement in the area of international trade and investment promotion during the Yahapalana period, Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA).
It is appropriate and timely to do it now as Finance Minister Wickremesinghe has just presented to parliament a bill on the National Policy on Economic Transformation which includes the establishment of an Office for International Trade and the Sri Lanka Institute of Economics and International Trade.
Was SLSFTA a “Cleverly negotiated Free Trade Agreement” as stated by the (former) Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate on the SLSFTA in July 2018, or a colossal blunder covered up with lies, false promises, and fairy tales? After SLSFTA was signed there were a number of fairy tales published on this agreement by the Ministry of Development Strategies and International, Institute of Policy Studies, and others.
However, for this article, I would like to limit my comments to the speech by Minister Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate, and the two most important areas in the agreement which were covered up with lies, fairy tales, and false promises, namely: revenue loss for Sri Lanka and Investment from Singapore. On the other important area, “Waste products dumping” I do not want to comment here as I have written extensively on the issue.
1. The revenue loss
During the Parliamentary Debate in July 2018, Minister Samarawickrama stated “…. let me reiterate that this FTA with Singapore has been very cleverly negotiated by us…. The liberalisation programme under this FTA has been carefully designed to have the least impact on domestic industry and revenue collection. We have included all revenue sensitive items in the negative list of items which will not be subject to removal of tariff. Therefore, 97.8% revenue from Customs duty is protected. Our tariff liberalisation will take place over a period of 12-15 years! In fact, the revenue earned through tariffs on goods imported from Singapore last year was Rs. 35 billion.
The revenue loss for over the next 15 years due to the FTA is only Rs. 733 million– which when annualised, on average, is just Rs. 51 million. That is just 0.14% per year! So anyone who claims the Singapore FTA causes revenue loss to the Government cannot do basic arithmetic! Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I call on my fellow members of this House – don’t mislead the public with baseless criticism that is not grounded in facts. Don’t look at petty politics and use these issues for your own political survival.”
I was surprised to read the minister’s speech because an article published in January 2018 in “The Straits Times“, based on information released by the Singaporean Negotiators stated, “…. With the FTA, tariff savings for Singapore exports are estimated to hit $10 million annually“.
As the annual tariff savings (that is the revenue loss for Sri Lanka) calculated by the Singaporean Negotiators, Singaporean $ 10 million (Sri Lankan rupees 1,200 million in 2018) was way above the rupees’ 733 million revenue loss for 15 years estimated by the Sri Lankan negotiators, it was clear to any observer that one of the parties to the agreement had not done the basic arithmetic!
Six years later, according to a report published by “The Morning” newspaper, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) on 7th May 2024, Mr Samarawickrama’s chief trade negotiator K.J. Weerasinghehad had admitted “…. that forecasted revenue loss for the Government of Sri Lanka through the Singapore FTA is Rs. 450 million in 2023 and Rs. 1.3 billion in 2024.”
If these numbers are correct, as tariff liberalisation under the SLSFTA has just started, we will pass Rs 2 billion very soon. Then, the question is how Sri Lanka’s trade negotiators made such a colossal blunder. Didn’t they do their basic arithmetic? If they didn’t know how to do basic arithmetic they should have at least done their basic readings. For example, the headline of the article published in The Straits Times in January 2018 was “Singapore, Sri Lanka sign FTA, annual savings of $10m expected”.
Anyway, as Sri Lanka’s chief negotiator reiterated at the COPF meeting that “…. since 99% of the tariffs in Singapore have zero rates of duty, Sri Lanka has agreed on 80% tariff liberalisation over a period of 15 years while expecting Singapore investments to address the imbalance in trade,” let’s turn towards investment.
Investment from Singapore
In July 2018, speaking during the Parliamentary Debate on the FTA this is what Minister Malik Samarawickrama stated on investment from Singapore, “Already, thanks to this FTA, in just the past two-and-a-half months since the agreement came into effect we have received a proposal from Singapore for investment amounting to $ 14.8 billion in an oil refinery for export of petroleum products. In addition, we have proposals for a steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million), sugar refinery ($ 200 million). This adds up to more than $ 16.05 billion in the pipeline on these projects alone.
And all of these projects will create thousands of more jobs for our people. In principle approval has already been granted by the BOI and the investors are awaiting the release of land the environmental approvals to commence the project.
I request the Opposition and those with vested interests to change their narrow-minded thinking and join us to develop our country. We must always look at what is best for the whole community, not just the few who may oppose. We owe it to our people to courageously take decisions that will change their lives for the better.”
According to the media report I quoted earlier, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) Chief Negotiator Weerasinghe has admitted that Sri Lanka was not happy with overall Singapore investments that have come in the past few years in return for the trade liberalisation under the Singapore-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement. He has added that between 2021 and 2023 the total investment from Singapore had been around $162 million!
What happened to those projects worth $16 billion negotiated, thanks to the SLSFTA, in just the two-and-a-half months after the agreement came into effect and approved by the BOI? I do not know about the steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million) and sugar refinery ($ 200 million).
However, story of the multibillion-dollar investment in the Petroleum Refinery unfolded in a manner that would qualify it as the best fairy tale with false promises presented by our politicians and the officials, prior to 2019 elections.
Though many Sri Lankans got to know, through the media which repeatedly highlighted a plethora of issues surrounding the project and the questionable credentials of the Singaporean investor, the construction work on the Mirrijiwela Oil Refinery along with the cement factory began on the24th of March 2019 with a bang and Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his ministers along with the foreign and local dignitaries laid the foundation stones.
That was few months before the 2019 Presidential elections. Inaugurating the construction work Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the projects will create thousands of job opportunities in the area and surrounding districts.
The oil refinery, which was to be built over 200 acres of land, with the capacity to refine 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day, was to generate US$7 billion of exports and create 1,500 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs. The construction of the refinery was to be completed in 44 months. Four years later, in August 2023 the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to cancel the agreement with the investors of the refinery as the project has not been implemented! Can they explain to the country how much money was wasted to produce that fairy tale?
It is obvious that the President, ministers, and officials had made huge blunders and had deliberately misled the public and the parliament on the revenue loss and potential investment from SLSFTA with fairy tales and false promises.
As the president himself said, a country cannot be developed by making false promises or with fairy tales and these false promises and fairy tales had bankrupted the country. “Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet”.
(The writer, a specialist and an activist on trade and development issues . )
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