Columns

When India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar visited the country this week, his office allocated time from his busy engagement with Tamil political leaders from North and Upcountry. For some time now, this has been the ‘norm’ whenever a top-ranking official from the neighbouring country visits.

During these discussions, northern political leaders regularly express concerns and aspirations, particularly on the devolution of powers to the provinces.

They say they raise these issues on behalf of the people they represent, as the ’13th Amendment’ was the brainchild of India, while the plantation sector Tamil politicians reiterate a ‘moral duty’ on the part of India to ensure the wellbeing of Sri Lanka’s upcountry region due to their origin and family roots.

Despite these usual talking points, it is rare for any other matters to be discussed. One such moment came up this week, though, during Dr Jaishankar’s discussion with Tamil political leaders from the North.

At the end of their discussion, Tamil leaders raised the issue of how they are concerned about the presence of new ‘actors’ in the North—the Chinese and Pakistani presence in recent times.

The Tamil politicians stressed that they wanted to bring to the attention of the visiting External Affairs Minister the presence of ‘new actors’, which they argued ‘should be a concern of India’ considering geographical location and national security aspects. To support their argument, they claimed that more than 40 Pakistanis are working for a local wind power company in Mannar.

By the end of the discussion, the delegation also handed in a memorandum consisting of their concerns to the Indian High Commissioner, Santhosh Jha. However, it was not certain who had drafted the memorandum.

In praise of China: SLPP Gen. Sec. highlights Beijing’s help for Lanka

The Sri Lanka Podu Jana Peramuna General Secretary, Sagara Kariyawasam, this week called out political parties and leaders for having double standards in their dealings with China.

In a brief address at an event held in Colombo to promote China’s 15th Five-Year Plan, with which Sri Lanka’s national initiatives seek to align, Mr Kariyawasam remarked that China and Sri Lanka had maintained a historical and cordial relationship dating back to the visit of Fa Hien, the Chinese Buddhist, in the 5th century right through to the Rubber-Rice Pact of 1951 and beyond.

He explained that during the recent past, bilateral relations between the Rajapaksa,ties grew in strength under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa with large Chinese investments heralding a new era for Sri Lanka’s infrastructure development.

Mr. Kariyawasam added that after ending the 30 year war, and achieving victory against terrorism in 2009, China extended an extremely helpful hand to assist Sri Lanka in rebuilding the nation. This included the Colombo Port City, Hambantota port, Mattala airport, Lotus Tower and expressways, the Norocholai power plant and other infrastructure projects with Chinese investments, he said.

“Even though there were so many critics against these projects, when they were carried out, we are glad to see that many political parties and political leaders who were then opposed to Chinese assistance in these projects have admitted that those were the best projects in Sri Lanka carried out post-independence,” he claimed.

Neighbourhood in trouble: Policy challenge for India

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Neighbourhood First policy, conceived in 2008, is aimed at the management of relations with countries in its immediate neighbourhood, namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

However, some old India hands in Colombo recently quipped that the policy is more a Sri Lanka First policy than a Neighbourhood First one, given that India’s relations with most other countries in the region have gone downhill since the policy took effect. With tension rising on the Bangladesh border, it will add more to its neighbourhood woes, these old-timers pointed out.

If JVP had been in opposition during disaster

Taking part in a television show this week, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) frontliner Mujibar Rahuman tried to explain how the JVP would have reacted if they were in the opposition during a natural disaster like the one that hit the country last month.

He said the welfare centres would have been turned into ‘Satan Madhayasthana’ or agitation centres by now.

In response, NPP Parliamentarian Nishantha Samaraweera defended the party, saying that they have acted in an exemplary manner in the past whenever there was a crisis. He questioned the SJB MP if he could point out at least one instance where they protested during the tsunami.

“How could you have protested as you were supporting the UPFA government at that time’, MP Rahuman responded.

Police officers advised to decline seasonal gifts; accept only wishes

Police media spokesman F.U. Wootler told me that the Inspector General of Police had sent a reminder to those in the Police Department to not accept gifts from well-wishers during the festive season.

He reminded them that according to the Establishment Code, state officials should not accept gifts, but this rule had long been forgotten. Hence, IGP Police Priyantha Weerasooriya had issued a circular reminding them of the provisions in the code.

The circular said police officers can only accept Christmas/New Year wishes via calls and SMS but cannot accept any hampers which usually flow in during the festive season.

When Jaffna DDC meeting resembles stand-up comedy

Following new government guidelines on District Development Committee (DDC) meetings, governors and MPs from other parties are sidelined, and only ruling National Peoples’ Power (NPP) MPs are appointed as chairman and co-chairmen. Such meetings have become another home-and-home meeting without any tangible, conclusive decisions being taken.

When the Jaffna District DDC meeting was held on Friday at the Secretariat, it resembled a stand-up comedy performance, drawing laughter from the audience, who happened to be some of the top government officials and representatives of local government bodies and civil society representatives.

Jaffna DDC meetings: More social media content than real decisions

Many wonder whether the podium was to make trending remarks or engage in unnecessary personal attacks to generate trending social media content. This is because the sessions were also open to YouTubers and politicians’ media assistants.

It all started when Fisheries and Aquatic Development Minister R. Chandrasekar had a light moment of tickling medical doctor-turned parliamentarian R. Archuna as he reached the podium. What followed later was pure entertainment, with fellow MPs ITAK’s S. Shritharan and ACTC’s Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam exchanging words with Mr Archuna to the amusement of the audience.

Words such as “puppy”, “fool”, “monkey”, and “shut your mouth” were some of the unprintable words that were exchanged during the arguments between the MPs to the horror of those in the gallery.

After all this drama and the walkaway by some officials, Mr Archuna was seen giving sound bites to YouTubers and media outside of the venue.

As the unproductive meeting concluded without any decisions being taken, a top-ranking senior provincial official was heard asking his colleague whether the “medical doctor turned MP was hired to disrupt meetings”.

The official responded that he wished he could have skipped the meeting, as some of his colleagues did, and focused on his work instead of wasting his time by attending such meetings.

Wijepala says detractors using primitive methods to attack the government

The recent incident involving Ratnapura District National People’s Power (NPP) MP Shantha Pathma Kumara and a police officer has drawn widespread mainstream and social media attention.

The officer, attached to the Sooriyakanda Police Station, had initially admitted himself to hospital, claiming he was assaulted by the MP and several of the MP’s associates because he carried out a raid on the MP’s father-in-law’s land where cannabis was alleged to have been cultivated. The MP, in turn, had accused the police officer of attacking him and making a false complaint that he assaulted him, while adding that the land where the cannabis plants were found does not belong to any member of his family.

The officer in question was arrested after a police investigation. However, he was subsequently released on bail and remains suspended from duty. The incident had initially caused outrage on social media, but Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala said the subsequent investigation had established that Mr Pathma Kumara, the MP, was innocent.

“Police have examined CCTV footage of the incident. I also called the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to get details. According to police, it has been established that after the alleged incident, he (the policeman) did not first speak to the police but to an SJB local councillor. He had gone to hospital in the councillor’s vehicle. The medical report also has ruled out any physical assault. Phone records and analysis show that he had spoken to the local councillor on six occasions since being admitted to hospital. The police have now found that the incident was a setup, which is why he was arrested and suspended,” the minister said.

The minister pointed out that the government “is not prepared to allow the SJB to manipulate evidence as it wishes.” The police will report the real facts to the courts soon, he added.

Minister Wijepala remarked that there have been several such incidents involving NPP politicians where some have tried to “blow up isolated incidents”.

He also referred to the recent accident involving Gampaha District MP Ashoka Ranwala, where he was accused of drunk driving. “The report by the Government Analyst exonerated him, but his name was dragged through the mud on social media long before that. Since the truth was revealed, however, those who spread the lie are nowhere to be found,” he said, adding that detractors are resorting to “primitive methods” to attack the government.