By B.Raman

(April 30, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) When he was President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan had sought to counter the Indo-US deal on civilian nuclear co-operation at two levels. He did not oppose the deal. Nor did Pakistan energetically try to have the deal disapproved by the US Congress through Congressmen and Senators sympathetic to it. Instead, it sought to counter the deal by using the following arguments. First, it would be discriminatory to Pakistan if it was not made applicable to it too. Second, it would create a military nuclear asymmetry in the sub-continent by enabling India to divert its domestic stock of fuel for military purposes, while using the imported fuel for civilian purposes under international safeguards. Thus, it would have an adverse effect on Pakistan's national security.

The Bush Administration rejected the Pakistani arguments by pointing out that Pakistan's economy was unlikely to grow as rapidly as the Indian economy in the short and medium terms and hence it should be possible to meet its energy requirements from conventional sources. The Bush Administration also repeatedly made it clear that in view of the role of Dr. A. Q. Khan, the so-called father of Pakistan's atomic bomb, and some of his colleagues in clandestinely supplying nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya, Pakistan cannot be treated on par with India, which had an unimpeachable record of non-proliferation.

During his State visit to China in February, 2006, Musharraf requested for Chinese assistance in the construction of six more nuclear power stations, with a capacity of 600 or 900 MWS each. The Chinese reportedly agreed in principle to supply two stations of 300 MWs each to be followed later by four more. This subject again figured in the General's bilateral discussions with President Hu Jintao in the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in June, 2006, and in the subsequent discussions between the officials of the two countries, who met at Islamabad and Beijing for doing the preparatory work for Mr. Hu's visit to Pakistan from November 23 to 26,2006. Gen. Musharraf and his officials were so confident that an agreement in principle for the construction of two nuclear power stations would be initialed during Mr. Hu's visit that they even set up a site selection task force.

However, there was no substantive reference to the co-operation between China and Pakistan in the field of civilian nuclear energy during Mr. Hu's visit to Pakistan. The joint statement issued on November 25, 2006, by Gen. Musharraf and Mr.Hu said: “The two sides also agreed to strengthen cooperation in the energy sector, including fossil fuels, coal, hydro-power, nuclear power, renewable sources of energy as well as in the mining and resources sector.” Addressing a press conference after his talks with Gen. Musharraf, Mr.Hu said in reply to a question on nuclear co-operation: "Cooperation in the energy sector is an important component in the relationship between the two countries. We reached a common understanding on strengthening energy cooperation. We would continue this cooperation in future as well." While Mr.Hu himself did not refer to any future supply of new nuclear power stations, some Pakistani analysts interpreted Mr. Hu's remarks as indicating a willingness to supply more nuclear power stations.

Well-informed Pakistani sources attributed the more guarded Chinese position to the bilateral discussions between President George Bush and Mr.Hu at Hanoi in the margins of the summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Organisation on November 18 and 19, 2006. The speculation was that during these bilateral discussions, Mr. Bush pointed out to Mr.Hu that the Chinese supply of new nuclear power stations to Pakistan could not be projected as a continuation of the Chinese assistance to Pakistan under a 1985 bilateral co-operation treaty under which CHASHMA I and CHASHMA II were given and hence would need the clearance of the NSG. According to this speculation, Mr. Bush was also reported to have referred to the Pakistani rejection of repeated requests from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to hand over Dr. A. Q. Khan for an independent interrogation and pointed out that the Chinese supply of the new power stations could encourage Pakistan's non-cooperation with the IAEA.

The Chinese attempt to project its proposal to supply two more power reactors to Pakistan as continuation of an old project of 1985 entered into by China with Pakiatan before the safeguards of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) imposing restrictions on the supply of civilian nuclear equipment and technology to countries that have not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and not a new project was rejected by the Bush Administration. The Chinese sought to compare their Chashma project with the Russian project for the supply of nuclear power stations to India being set up at Koodankulam in Tamil Nadu. The Russians went ahead with the project on the ground that the agreement for its construction had been reached before the NSG restrictions went into effect.

Following the rejection of the Chinese arguments by the Bush Administration, the Chinese did not take any further action for going ahead with their proposal. During their visits to China, President Asif Ali Zardari and other Pakistani leaders kept pressing the Chinese to finalise the agreement and start its implementation. The Chinese were reluctant to do so.

In a surprise move, the Chinese have now announced that they are going ahead with the project. There have been two announcements in this regard. The first is by the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), which set up Chashma I and is now constructing Chashma II. It has now announced that an agreement for the provision of a Chinese loan for two new nuclear reactors at the Chashma site designated as Chashma III and IV was signed with Pakistan on February 12 and that it went into effect in March,2010.

The second announcement is in the form of a confirmation by the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The "Global Times" , the English daily of the Party-owned "People's Daily" group, reported as follows on April 30,2010: "Beijing confirmed Thursday (April 29) that Chinese and Pakistani officials have signed an agreement to finance the construction of two nuclear reactors, to be built in Pakistan by Chinese firms. Jiang Yu, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said Thursday that the nuclear deal conforms to international standards set by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)."

The paper quoted Shen Dingli, Executive Deputy President at the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University, as saying as follows:"Beijing and Islamabad had started joint civilian nuclear projects before China joined the NSG in 2004, which means the mutual cooperation is legal. Washington can't find reasons to criticize Sino-Pakistani nuclear cooperation."

This is a reiteration of the original Chinese stand that Chashma III and IV are extensions of an agreement of 1985 signed before the NSG safeguards went into effect and hence not affected. This would also indicate that China does not consider it necessary to seek the approval of the NSG for going ahead with the construction of Chashma III and IV.

The surprise Chinese announcement has come at a time when Pakistan has stepped up pressure on the US for a US-Pakistan civilian nuclear co-operation agreement similar to the agreement signed with India in July 2005, followed by action to have the restrictions against Pakistan lifted. This issue was raised by Pakistan at the recent Ministerial-level strategic dialogue between the two countries at Washington DC. While the Obama Administration was reported to have rejected the Pakistani request, there were indications that it was treating the A.Q.Khan affair as a closed chapter and was sympathetic to Pakistan's energy needs. The US has already made a commitment to help Pakistan improve its conventional energy production capacity.

While rejecting the Pakistani request for a nuclear agreement once again----though not as firmly as was repeatedly done by the Bush Administration--- did the Obama Administration indicate to China that it would not raise an objection to China's going ahead with its proposal for the construction of Chashma III and IV by accepting the Chinese interpretation that it did not attract the NSG safeguards? If so --- I am inclined to believe it is--- this is the second instance in which the Obama Administration has enlisted the co-operation of China in strengthening Pakistan's capacity in various fields.

The " Los Angeles Times" reported on May 25,2009, that the Obama Administration had appealed to China to provide training and even military equipment to help Pakistan counter a growing militant threat and that Richard C Holbrooke, the administration’s special representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan, had visited Beijing in this connection for talks with the Chinese authorities. Following his visit, the Chinese Government announced an aid package of US $ 290 million to enable Pakistan strengthen its counter-terrorism capability.

Indications of the Obama Administration taking a benign view of China's military and nuclear co-operation with Pakistan ought to be taken seriously by Indian policy-makers.

( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre for China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )

(April 30, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) A unique picture of the gangster maverick politician appointed as Media Minister gave the true taste of the would be governance of the President Mahinda Rajapakse government. The President has appointed anti-media man- well known thug as Media Minister and it speaks volume of the Mahinda’s expected goon governance in the days, months and years ahead.

Is the newly appointed Media minister saying:

Thank you, thank you my Guru
You are the only man who has recognised my talents.
Thank you for reciprocating,
For the orders I humbly executed without any fear.

Thank you, thank you ever so much my Guru,
I will lick and wet your feet with my holy saliva for
recognising and rewarding me.

I will extend your Chinthanaya policy.
You have taught me the best Chinthanaya’s that
I executed for you to reward me with this esteemed ministry.

I will be ever so grateful for recognition of my talents.
I will redouble my efforts to reward you in return
with the best performance, I’m specialist in,
in the days ahead.

I have already told the media
that I do not sleep with my wife,
to maintain utmost confidentiality of my role as media minister.
If you want Sir,
I can even move to the Temple trees
to totally keep away from my wife to
Satisfy the media.

Thank you once again my guru
for taking the greatest risk in appointing me
as the media minister.
You have recognised my talents
And I will return my sincerity in kind.

Heil Mervin!

Written by Day
EXCLUSIVE TO SRI LANKA GUARDIAN

(April 30, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Balraj’s brilliance came to light when he landed with tiger fighters in Kudaarappu for Iththaavil fighting on the A9 highway during his attack on the Elephant Pass garrison. Soosai and his sea tigers helped Balraj, who always led his tigers from the front and about 1,200 tigers to land behind SLA lines to capture the Elephant Pass complex, which was deemed impossible to overrun by a lightly armed force or by infantry alone.

He cut off supplies going to the Sri Lankan Army and attacked from three directions. This attack was notable not only for the heavy casualties SLA suffered, most of them died of dehydration but scotching the military thinking or the assumption that rear defense in depth of a nation’s conventional army could only be seriously threatened by an armed force supported by strategic air power (StratAir) or close air support (CAS). Another reason that this operation was very successful for LTTE because Theepan aka Velayuthapillai Baheerathakumar and Col K attacked south of Elephant Pass stopping reinforcements coming in. The rest is sad history.

I understand that some in the Sri Lanka military and police/STF, who have not ever been to the frontlines at least couple of times, I mean 300-1000m from where the action is now, sadly and shamelessly, fancy themselves or show off as Balraj of LTTE!

Then there was Imarn, the karateka, the trusted bodyguard of Prabakaran, CID is said to have ‘taken care’ of him in Jaffna at a very early stage of LTTE movement, like a surgeon take care of a ‘patient in an operation theater’! You cannot blame the CID for becoming ‘surgeons’ as a CID team was brutally killed and burnt and their car buried in Murugandi in the early stage of LTTE terrorism in the north.

Another one is Shanmugam Kumaran Tharmalingam (alias Selvarasa Pathmanathan, Kumaran Pathmanathan or simply ‘KP’) who is said to be very good in bed and to have a big ‘tool’. ‘Size’ does matter when one has to tame ‘Thai dolls’ and build up a safe haven for the clandestine and procurement activities of LTTE in Phuket, Chiang Mai, Koh Samui or Pattaya. Another tiger who was said to have a ‘big tool’ was Bala the Theoretician, that is why a nurse who has seen many a phallus in her nursing career opted to leave the Australian outback, Adele leaving Adelaide, to follow Bala for the mosquito infested jungles of Wanni to live in squalid conditions (or the other belief, to engage in lesbian relationships with young tigresses: carnal knowledge using sex toys with young female tigers, how do you like that!)

Erasing Shankar or taking him out was so much important, not only because he was the brains behind TAF (Tiger Air Force), or the founder-commander or commander in charge of the LTTE AA Wing (anti-aircraft or Ack-Ack unit), Military Intelligence (MI), the Sea Tigers Division or Underwater Attack Unit [(Under Water Delivery Team (UDT)] but because of his very closeness to Prabakaran, his IQ (Intelligence Quotient) level, academic and technical brilliance, and most importantly for his vision for LTTE. All the Units or Divisions he headed were not mere routine appointments given to him by Prabakaran based on nothing, but on his total trust in Shankar and his capabilities.

You can gauge the importance, respect commanded or swagger a person has had in life by looking at his funeral arrangements after his demise; who or what sort of dignitaries or powerful people attended his funeral; very elaborate decorations; or by reading the heaps of condolences, the eulogy, and elegies. To give you a sense how LTTE felt about Shankar’s loss I quote here from the official LTTE statement issued; “the LTTE leadership shares the Tamil people's outrage and treats the killing of a senior leader with utmost gravity….Col. Shankar has been an active participant in the Tamil people's freedom struggle for nearly two decades. He was a close confidante of the LTTE leader, Mr. Vellupillai Pirapaharan and accompanied him in the first historic meeting in the Wanni with Oslo's Special Envoy".

Lalth and his team hit where it hurt most!

If a military analyst needs to prepare a target list to erase or to take out some high value targets (HVTs) or key leaders (KLs) he will get hold of the ‘Wedding Album’ of the leader of the terrorist outfit. It is human nature to invite your best friends or very close confidants and immediate family members or close relatives to the wedding. Everything is ‘best’ on that day! Isn’t it? From Best Man, best friends, best dress, best hotel, best wedding car, best dress to best food.

To run a secretive or clandestine and lethal terrorist outfit, a leader needs to surround himself with very loyal, dependable and reliable friends who will be with him through thick and thin, in bad times and good times, and above all in the moment of truth. If they are bright and smart too it is so much better. It is even true for a successful business organization. For Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to necessarily have very loyal, dependable and reliable officers who have to be bright and smart in his ‘Tiger Team’. Why then you blame MR for nepotism? He has also had to have very loyal, dependable and reliable people around him. But the difference between his Cabinet, Secretaries or Chairmen and a CEO’s ‘Tiger Team’ is MR’s selectees may be dumb, crooks or mutt but a successful CEO’s always tend to bright and smart!

Take a look at the Wedding Album recovered by SLA troops of Prabakaran and the duped medical student Madavadani; who is sitting next to the psychopathic killer Prabakaran? Shankar and KP! Take a look at the photo taken with the Norwegian peace negotiation team in 2000; Shankar and Tamilselvam. You can now easily prepare the ‘target list’ and give to 2SF!

Shankar’s Brilliance, Smartness and IQ Level; I do not know how many readers have noticed when a picture of a graduation certificate out of recovered items was published in the Internet (most may have thought or treated it as another photo of a recovered item. I also doubt SLA has the possession of it now, may have thrown into a WPB, for them they do not know the value of Sensitive Site Exploitation (SSE)). If one had read between the lines he would have noted this; ‘Distinguished Graduate-Aeronautical Engineering, Hindustan College of Engineering (HCE). To whom does that certificate belong? Vaithilingam Sornalingam aka Shankar! If one can graduate as a distinguished graduate from a reputed Indian technical college it really says a lot about the graduate.

Shankar was a visionary. He gave new dimensions to the Drealam war. He created TAF that we know for sure. He was said to have set up the overseas procurement of LTTE for lethal and non-lethal cargo before KP aka Kumaran Pathmanathan took over the reins and was said to have also been the founder-commander of many a Division in the LTTE to include sea tigers.

With the creation of TAF it created a balance of terror situation overnight; it sent a bold message to Colombo if we (Tamils) were vulnerable in Wanni, if SLAF could bomb us at will in Drealam then Sinhalese or the places of symbolic importance or the power, economic or population centers were equally vulnerable in Colombo or in the south to tiger attacks. The Palali army camp in Jaffna or the naval dockyard in Trincomalee was no different either. This balance of terror situation tied down military personnel to man AA sites and guns in Colombo, this created fear and anxiety in everyone in the south. This created less freedom of movement for the populace. GOSL needed more money to install cameras, radars and sirens, and what have you and had to conduct air raid drills to create awareness and reduce casualties. You know now the total mess, pandemonium, mockery, and own casualties created by ack-ack fire due to virtually unchallenged TAF forays from time to time into Colombo until the last suicide mission. The LTTE was so emboldened and became more and more audacious. The TAF caused heavy economic damages requiring a lot of FOREX to restore normal operations at the economic targets hit.

With the sea tigers unit being launched it became a balance of terror situation on the coast or seas around Sri Lanka. During the initial days the LTTE dinghies ran away from Dvoras, Fast Attack Craft (FAC) of Sri Lanka Navy (SLN), and beached, unless air around OBMs caught fire due to five zero or 20mm rounds fired from the Dvoras. The air around back of the dinghy are so charged with fuel from the heated outboard motor engines, a round fired from a SLN craft can ignite the boat instantly setting off secondary explosions on board due to the nature of lethal cargo the LTTE are transporting. During those days tigers were burning bright and to death in their boats on high seas. This changed with the sea tigers being introduced, especially ‘suicide sea tiger cadres’. The oppressed became the oppressor overnight!

We know now the names of the officers and sailors or the pennant numbers of the craft and ships that ended up in the Davy Jones’ Locker. We know the enormous amount of national wealth we spent to buy these craft or ships against all odds as no nation except China, South Africa, Israel or Pakistan was willing to sell warlike materials or equipment with military use to the end-user that was GOSL. The economists at Sri Lanka Central Bank or capitalists would tell you the wealth spent on these craft and ships that were lost due to LTTE terrorism would never create wealth, as it was lost forever!

He was the founder-commander of the LTTE Underwater Delivery Team (UDT) and anti-aircraft unit. We know how SLN was clueless at times as to what had hit their FAC sinking it, as there was no ‘contact’ or a ‘blip’ on the radar screens of the FAC in distress or the ships and craft in the surrounding area. It was same balance of terror in the skies over Wanni with the introduction of MANPADS (Man-Portable-Air-Defence-Systems) by LTTE to bring down SLAF craft, from AVROs to MI-24, HINDs.

With these new dimensions in the Drealam war envisioned by visionary Shankar LTTE went from defenceless to being able to defend. To quote Late Saimamoorthi Thondamn about state Tamils asserting against hooligans harassing the state workers; “The worm has turned!”

The first time I saw the visuals of Shankar was in the BBC documentary filmed in 80s in the jungles of Wanni, Sri Lanka. I was in the military, a minnow or a small shot, not even in the Intelligence. If you have seen the documentary by chance you would see him act as the Liaison Officer (LO) to the BBC camera crew, the man with a walkie-talkie in hand, at one time, asking the camera crew to get into an underground bunker under the jungle canopy. He says on camera that they hear the sound of enemy planes (probably the sound of SIAI-Marchetti ground attack planes of Sri Lanka Air Force-SLAF). He also discloses his motivation for leaving his lucrative job as an aeronautical engineer, very cushy life, though cold in Canada for the mosquito infested jungles, to sleep in a cot, to break bread with boys and to be in constant or mortal fear of being captured or killed by Sri Lankan military; he says on camera “Because of the 83 July massacre of Tamils”.

Remember, Sri Lanka is quick to blame LTTE for all the ills due Tamil terrorism, but who is going to accept the responsibility for the tacit contribution of thug politicos and their goon squads, hoodlums and hooligans, the opportunistic ‘red revolutionaries’ (do not be defensive or go into denial now, Red Brothers! Two guys came on a motorbike and tried to incite ‘military personnel’ in a camp in Rathmalana and to seek personnel support to burn down the Maharaja warehouse in Rathmalana).

Some persons participated in this disgraceful act of looting and burning down, and killing the totally innocent out of business jealousy and for economic gain, or the poor took part out of ignorance, necessity and opportunity.

LTTE would not have had the fertile grounds for collecting funds, oops sorry, ransom or hotbeds of terrorism to plan terrorist plots, sway the public opinion in western capitals towards LTTE or influence western government to turn a blind eye to their activities and inhibit GOSL from mounting effective anti-terrorism operations.

In a nutshell, though Gangai Amaran was ‘erased’ before 9/11, Shankar’s death which happened on the death anniversary of Thileepan, was the first ‘tipping point’ that set off the domino fall for the total military defeat of LTTE, and burying the leaders, en-masse, on or about 18 May 2009 in or around the NANTHIKADAL Lagoon and in the mangroves of MULLIVAIKAL.

Part One: In Gratitude to Late Lieutenant Colonel Lilith Jayasinghe

To be continued….

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

(April 30, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka Guardian) A few days ago a large group of people protested at Annamaduwa against the officers of the local police stations against the killing of one of the young people from the village. No one has been arrested for this killing and the villagers protested against the impunity that has been assured to the police.

The commotion created by this demonstration was so overwhelming that a local politician had to come to the scene to bring about some reconciliation between the people and the officers of the police station. While the Officer-in-Charge of the local police station had actually fled the scene officers from another police station had to be brought in to assure the people that the killing would be investigated and that action would be taken against the perpetrators. However, when another police officer appeared at the scene with a video camera and attempted to film the protestors, the crowd reacted angrily and tried to storm the police station. It was at this stage that the local politician had to intervene and promise the people that action would be taken against the police. The villagers warned the police officers that if kind of police brutality happened against it would lead to serious consequences.

The incident at Annamaduwa reflects the general mood of the people around the country with regard to the police. Prior to this in Colombo, several serious protests were held following extrajudicial killings and brutal physical torture perpetrated by the police. In some instances the higher ranking officers were forced to arrest some of their officers in order to appease the anger of the public. However, this public anger has now been directed towards the manner in which the police behave and is being prominently expressed throughout the country.

It is in such a climate that the Secretary of the Ministry of Defense, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, stated at a public event held at the Police Training Centre at Katana that the police should now try to win back the hearts and confidence of the people. The Inspector General of Police who also spoke at this meeting also expressed unhappiness at the behaviour of the police in the country and promised action. He admitted that the people are unhappy about the police failure to investigate crimes. However, as IGP he expressed no responsibility for the failures in the policing system.

These words will not convince anyone since it is the government itself that is involved in exploiting the police for their own purposes and much of the violence that the police have engaged in recently has been done for political ends in favour of the local politicians of the ruling party. The political patronage that the government has granted the police remains the major cause of their indiscipline and their engagement in serious crime.

Before the hearts of the people can be won in order to obtain their cooperation with the Sri Lankan police the police themselves will have to convince the people that they sincerely regret their notorious past. The public image of the police as that of a law enforcement organisation engaged in murder and other serious crimes and one that supports the political regime for their petty aims cannot be easily erased. There is a lot of convincing to be done if the credibility of the police service is to be reestablished.

There are no signs that the police have any regrets at all about their past actions or that they are willing to mend their ways now or at any time in the future. The statements made in public by the Secretary of the Ministry of Defense and the Inspector General of Police under such circumstances will be merely seen as a bluff and cannot be taken seriously.

On such a serious matter as this where the issue of public security rests without a serious approach on the part of the government nothing can be done to resolve this problem. Indeed, instead of solutions to these problems what the people are getting is mere gestures and public statements from the two officers who have greatly contributed to the failure of the policing system.

One of the excuses the government is using is attributing the failure of the policing system to thirty years of the war with the LTTE. In this manner the government is trying to find an excuse to explain the failure rather than address that failure. In 2001 the Parliament, in fact, did identify the cause of this failure which was the way that the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka operates. The impunity that is extended to everyone through the patronage of the executive president is the root cause of the failure of the policing system.

A policing system must be placed on the rule of law and strict adherence to the principle of equality before the law. When a system is created that allows some persons to be above the law and it is the weak that are subjected to the rigour of the law there cannot be any kind of rational policing. As long as this problem goes unacknowledged there will not be any way in which to improve the policing service.

Each year the situation degenerates further and public anger is growing at an ever increasing rate. The people have endured this evil for far too long. The people need an answer and a solution. What all political parties should address is how a genuine solution may be found as to how the lunatics may be removed from their positions of management in the asylum.

By Dr Muttukrishna Sarvananthan

1. Introduction

(April 30, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Entrepreneurship is about putting ideas into action. It is the function of scientists to invent and the entrepreneurs to innovate. Whereas scientists invent (or dream of) ideas, it is the entrepreneurs who materialise those ideas into consumable products (innovation): i.e. tangible goods and intangible services. Today I am going to spur your minds with the power of ideas as opposed to power of numbers.

In the past six months, Sri Lanka went through the ritual of elections. As usual our politicians have outperformed each other with facts and figures about what a marvellous country we live in (or lack thereof) and how they are going to make Sri Lanka even better place to live in. For both, the governing party and the main opposition party, economic development would be the heart of government. I have no disagreement with putting development at the heart of government. My disagreement is with the ways and means of spurring economic development that were propounded by both the main political parties in the country.

It is not only the government (politicians as well as the bureaucrats) that lacks innovative ideas to unleash the full potential of the Sri Lankan people; our development partners (bilateral and multilateral donors) and non-governmental organisations as well lack innovative ideas to rebuild a war-torn economy by learning from the experiences of other countries that have undergone such experiences.

In spite of recording the second lowest growth rate (3.5%) in the past decade (2000-2009) (the lowest being in 2001: (-1.5) and third lowest growth rate in South Asia (after Maldives: (-) 3% and Pakistan: 2%) and other macroeconomic vulnerabilities in 2009, the prospects for the Sri Lankan economy are pretty good. The end of the protracted civil war and a stable government with an invincible majority in parliament has removed two structural impediments (i.e. political and security) to economic take-off in Sri Lanka. However, what are lacking are a robust growth strategy and an optimal policy framework to implement the envisioned growth strategy.

Despite a high intensity civil war, Sri Lanka’s growth in quantitative terms is remarkable in comparison to countries under similar circumstances. However, the quality (or the source) of such growth is the cause for concern. In 2009, Afghanistan’s growth rate of 15.1% was the highest in South Asia and one of the highest in the world. (In fact, in the past several years Afghanistan has recorded double-digit growth rate annually). However, foreign aid accounted for 40% and poppy plants and opium trade accounted for another 40% of the Afghan economy1. Is this the kind of economy that would secure Afghanistan from war and poverty? Therefore, it is imperative, especially in war-times and post-war times, to look beyond the numerical rate of economic growth and identify the source/s (or quality) of growth to determine the success or otherwise of the economic model/strategy pursued.

Sri Lanka’s growth during the times of war has been largely fuelled by the growth of the public sector; both the civilian public administration and the security forces. That is, the increase in the number of personnel in public services and frequent pay rises to public sector employees were the main sources of economic growth in the past five years (2005-2009). Productivity in the public sector is too low and the cost of the public sector is too expensive. The total public debt has almost doubled between the end of 2004 (Rs2,140 billion) and end of 2009 (Rs4,161 billion or 86% of the GDP) and the budget deficit was almost 10% of the GDP in the fiscal year 2009. Politicians who brag about doubling of per capita income between 2004 (US$1,100 per year) and 2009 (US$2,100 per year) have never highlighted the doubling of public debt during the same time period. Moreover, bulk of the rise in public expenditure was for public consumption rather than public investment. Public expenditure fuelled growth is wealth diversion rather than wealth creation.

In the same way as the economic growth strategy at the national level, the government’s post-war economic revival strategy both in the East and North has been overwhelmingly based on government-funded projects with majority financial contributions from the bilateral and multilateral donors. For the four-year period (2007-2010), the budget provision for the Eastern Reawakening Programme (Nagenahira Navodaya) was a total of Rs197 billion (US$1.75 billion); 52% of this amount was to be financed by foreign aid, nearly 30% by the GoSL, and the rest 18% by the private sector. Similarly, the development programme for the North (Uthuru Vasanthaya and other projects) has been earmarked a total sum of Rs7 billion thus far (foreign funding accounting for 40.5% and the rest by the government of Sri Lanka.)

Both at the national and regional levels there is a heavy emphasis on government-funded and government-driven development strategy, which is a cause for concern because of the limited fiscal space available to the government, low (or less than optimal) productivity of the public sector, and the perpetuation of dependency on foreign donors and the non-governmental sector for delivery of goods and services to the people. Now let us look at some of the economic activities undertaken by the government in the North which could be more productively and profitably done by individual entrepreneurs in those regions.

2. Businesses of the government road transport

The end of the war in May 2009 and the subsequent opening-up of the A9 highway have created opportunities for individual entrepreneurs and private transport companies to operate passenger and cargo transport services to and from Jaffna and other towns in the North. At the earlier stage, the government monopolised the passenger transport services through the use of Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB), which is a perpetually loss-making state-owned enterprise. Though, since the beginning of this year, private bus operators have been allowed to operate bus services, the government buses continue to operate along with the private buses.

The inter-city bus services operated by the SLTB have curtailed the local services within the Jaffna peninsula and other major towns in the North because hardly any new buses were made available for the new routes. Curtailment of local bus services has restricted the mobility of people and goods to the local markets; thereby stifling economic growth.

Leaving the passenger transport sector entirely in the hands of the private sector could have created new entrepreneurs in the formerly war-torn areas and provided new employment opportunities to local youth; the most vulnerable group in the population. Furthermore, it would have reduced the losses made by the SLTB and thereby contributed to reduction in public expenditure.

Food and beverages

Another folly of the government is to let the army establish and operate tea boutiques and snack bars along the A9 (from Omanthai to Mirusuvil) to cater to the passenger traffic. As you are aware, thousands of passengers travel daily along the A9 highway on both directions. It provides a good business opportunity to people living along or near the A9 highway to set-up refreshment boutiques to serve the passing traffic.

Instead, bulk of those refreshment stalls is run by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and a few in places like the Murukandy temple are run by local multi-purpose cooperative societies (MPCS), which are perpetually loss-making local government welfare shops. The income earned by these army and co-operative society boutiques hardly contribute to economic growth in those remote areas. Instead, it unnecessarily diverts the valuable time of the armed forces personnel and co-operative society personnel to this mundane function. These public service personnel are paid by the government not to prepare and serve tea, coffee, snacks, or meals to passing travellers. Their salary is much higher than what would be required for such a job. Therefore, it is an economic loss to the government and the country.

Alternatively, if the local people, who have recently returned from welfare camps, were allowed and facilitated (with appropriate loan facility) to undertake these businesses it would have created new jobs, boosted the incomes of their households, and increased the money circulation within the local impoverished communities. Individual entrepreneurs from outside those areas could also be encouraged to set-up roadside boutiques to serve the passing traffic, which would have boosted the local economies. Of course, few returnees have put up makeshift boutiques to sell soft drinks, biscuits, chocolates, and other refreshments along the A9 highway. However, they should be encouraged and facilitated to put up bigger stalls.
Domestic air transport

With the 24-hour opening of the A9 highway since the first week of January 2010, the market for air travel to and fro Jaffna has dropped dramatically. This has paved the way for the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) to monopolise domestic air services through its commercial wing, viz. Helitours; thereby driving the private sector out of the domestic air travel and freight markets. These developments are not conducive for curtailing public expenditure or promoting private enterprises.

I doubt that domestic air transport to and fro North and East is commercially viable given the current policy framework. If this is so, why should the SLAF made to incur losses? Instead, I would suggest that larger private budget airlines should be facilitated to operate the domestic air passenger market. With the upgrading of the Pallaly airport in Jaffna, not only the domestic air travel, but air passenger services to India could also be promoted.

Hospitality trade

The proposed three-star hotel construction in Nallur (a suburb of Jaffna town) by a state-owned financial institution (Mercantile Bank of Sri Lanka; a subsidiary of state-owned Bank of Ceylon) is another blow to spurring private enterprises in the formerly war-torn areas. It is doubtful that MBSL is competent to manage a commercial venture in the hospitality market.

Instead of undertaking to build the hotel itself, MBSL should have called for expressions of interest from private entrepreneurs in the country and the diaspora to build and operate the hotel. State-owned enterprises are not only a burden to the economy and the tax payers, but are stifling private entrepreneurship by diverting public financial resources to uncalled for purposes.

There are many more such examples of unwarranted government involvement in commercial and economic activities within the formerly war-torn areas and elsewhere that could be profitably avoided.

3. Governmental impediments

Not only is the government forestalling private entrepreneurship in the North, East, and elsewhere by monopolising certain commercial activities, it is also impeding economic revival in the formerly war-torn areas by the continuation of the following restrictions in spite of the lifting of many other restrictions in the past several months:

Firstly, vehicles carrying commercial cargo to and fro Jaffna and the Vanni (beyond Omanthai) need to obtain a pass from the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Although officially there is no payment required to obtain this pass, payment is made informally to obtain the same. This increases the transaction cost of businesses and restricts market access on both directions to the producers.

Secondly, foreign nationals need MoD permission to travel by air or road to Jaffna even one year after the end of the civil war. For instance, Indian nationals travelling to participate in the Jaffna International Trade Fair during the third week of April had to obtain prior permission from the MoD. The Sri Lankan diaspora visiting their kith and kin in the North are required to obtain MoD clearance. This puts-off people visiting, let alone investing in those areas.

Thirdly, maintenance of the High Security Zone (HSZ) in the commercial hub of the Jaffna city continues to hamper business development due to the dearth of commercial property and office space. I do not think there is any security imperative to hold on to this HSZ in the commercial hub of the city.

The foregoing restrictions and impediments are hardly conducive to promote foreign investment and private entrepreneurship and thereby spur growth in the formerly war-torn areas. Not only is the government getting involved in commercial activities and thereby forestalling individual entrepreneurship and private enterprises, it continues to stifle growth incubation by unnecessary and irrational impediments. The government should restrict its activities to those there is absolutely no other viable alternative (like restoring economic and social infrastructure) and leave the rest to individual entrepreneurs and private enterprises.

4. Negative Effects of Dependence

Like other war-time and post-war countries, Sri Lanka has been substantially dependent on foreign aid, non-governmental assistance, and private foreign remittances for the sustenance of livelihoods of its people, especially in the North and East. However, there is a threshold beyond which these concessionary and philanthropic benefits could be counterproductive and even disruptive for economic revival.

International experiences reveal that foreign aid may not necessarily buy quality economic development or promote enduring economic growth during the time of war or in the aftermath of war. War-time experiences of Iraq and Afghanistan and the post-war experiences in the Balkans have ample evidence to prove this. In Bosnia, for example, in spite of nearly US$10 billion of foreign aid disbursed since the end of the war in the mid-1990s and current per capita income of circa US$.3,500 per year, both the rate of unemployment and poverty is about 25% today. Similarly, current unemployment rate among the age group of 15-29 years in Iraq is about 28% in spite of a higher per capita income than that of Sri Lanka4. Hence, the real economic development should be measured in terms of rate of net increase in new private businesses, real increase in disposable income of the population, and creation of new employment, in lieu of economic growth, per capita income, etc.

Anecdotal evidences suggest that ‘food-for-work’ and ‘cash-for-work’ programmes of the foreign multilateral donors, various relief and welfare programmes of the non-governmental organisations, and private remittances from abroad are perpetuating the culture of dependence and stifling the culture of entrepreneurship, in spite of their good intentions. Yet, there is a call for a ‘Marshal Plan’ for the North and East by one of our experts5.

Similarly, Improving the Relevance and Quality of Undergraduate Education (IRQUE) project funded by the World Bank and the Secondary School Education Modernisation Project funded by the Asian Development Bank at the national level appear to be hitting the wrong targets. On and off, I read newspaper advertisements by these projects calling for tenders for the supply of furniture and equipments (computers, etc) to the universities and schools, and construction of new buildings. Although the objective of these projects are to improve the "quality" of secondary and tertiary education in the country, significant proportion of the funds is expended on buildings, furniture, and electronic equipments. How could these material goods improve the quality of education?

Although private foreign remittance is the second largest foreign exchange earner and thereby indispensable to the balance-of-payments of the country, it has negative consequences for economic revival in the formerly war-torn areas. Free flow of foreign remittances has dis-incentivised productive work and had made the youths laid-back. Ironically, amidst complains from many in the North and East about the high unemployment and underemployment rates, there are labour shortages during agricultural harvest season. Thus, the threshold for incentive to work is high.

5. Conclusion

Money or wealth cannot buy quality economic development or economic dynamism; oil-rich Arab countries are prime examples of this fact. What Sri Lanka requires is not a ‘Marshal Plan’ of any sort; instead what we require is entrepreneurial capitalism. Modest scale enterprises, as opposed to donor and/or government-funded grandiose projects, could contribute to substantive and enduring growth. Wipro (vegetable oil trading turned technology company), Infosys (one of the largest IT companies), and the likes are the ones spearheading and transforming the Indian economy, and the role models for budding young entrepreneurs.

Suppose the government gave one million rupees per household to about 50,000 households in the East and North based on their innovative ideas and viable business plans (total cost of Rs50 billion or less than Rs500 million; just 25% of what the government would have spent in those areas in the four-year period 2007-2010), and if only 5,000 or 10% of them succeeded in establishing growth invigorating dynamic enterprises, the economic and social landscape of the former war-torn areas could have been vastly different.

Last year (2009) and this year (2010) have been watersheds in our political history. I hope and wish this year would also become a watershed in our economic history by way of overhauling our traditional economic thinking or paradigm, and embracing transformative entrepreneurial capitalism.

Concluded

By Nury Vittachchi

(April 30, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) A group of marketing gurus last week voted for the best five US presidential slogans ever. The results were, in order, "A New Deal for the American People" (Roosevelt, 1932); "It’s Morning Again in America" (Reagan, 1980); "I Like Ike" (Eisenhower, 1952); "It’s the Economy, Stupid" (Clinton, 1992); and "Yes, We Can!" (Obama, 2008).

Short, sweet and memorable. But they made me depressed. It reminded me just how different Asia is when it comes to witty leaders. In China, the most famous presidential slogan is: "The three represents." Huh? The three represents what? Something’s clearly missing—I suspect it’s the speechwriter’s brain.

South Asian political slogans lack pizzazz. In India, we had: "Congress is with the common man." In Sri Lanka, a cliché: "A brighter future". In Bangladesh, we had "Wake up Bangladesh"— rather insulting. So they reckon all their people are snoring? In Indonesia, the president’s reelection slogan was "Continue!" which sounds like a school master announcing that the maths lesson is going to be a double-period. Groan. The most famous political slogan in Malaysia’s history is: "Malaysian Malaysia."

Mind you, America may have cooler political slogans than Asia, but that doesn’t make their leaders better wordsmiths. Take former US Vice President Dan Quayle for example. "The holocaust was an obscene period in our nation’s history," he told a baffled audience. "No, not our nation’s, but in World War II. I mean, we all lived in this century. I didn’t live in this century, but in this century’s history." When someone pointed out that he was talking complete rubbish, he argued that he sometimes got things right. "I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future." Okay. Right.

Quayle paved the way for the coming of George W Bush, who set new standards in talking nonsense: "Families is where our nation finds hope, where our wings take dream," Bush told amazed listeners. And just in case his stance wasn’t clear, he went into detail on his key policy agenda: "I know that the human being and the fish can co-exist."

Huh? When the world’s biggest nations and most powerful individuals can’t handle words, one may be tempted to despair. But fear not! Salvation comes from the activists of the world, who regularly show genuine sharp wit. The Anarchists slogan was: "Bigger cages! Longer chains!" (In case Mr Bush is reading this, this is called irony.)

But I’d give the top prize to the protestors against the World Trade Organization. Realizing that demonstrators tend to shout three-word phrases such as "Save the whale" or "[Name] get out", this group marched through Seattle in 1999 shouting: "Three word chant. Three word chant."

Your humble narrator once met a guy designing "Vote for me" posters for his college election. Everyone thought he was a really boring guy, and expected him to lose. I redesigned his poster to be a tad ironic. The revised version said: "Vote for the other guy. (Only joking!!!)"

The new poster changed his image and he made loads of new friends (two). He still lost the election, which kind of spoils my anecdote, but, hey, life ain’t easy. What can you do? Wake up. Let your wings take dream. Continue!

(April 30, Washington, Sri Lanka Guardian) World leaders have failed to deliver commitments made in 2002 to reduce the global rate of biodiversity loss by 2010, and have instead overseen alarming biodiversity declines.These findings are the result of a new paper published in the leading journal Science and represent the first assessment of how the targets made through the 2002 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have not been met.

Compiling over 30 indicators -- measures of different aspects of biodiversity, including changes in species' populations and risk of extinction, habitat extent and community composition -- the study found no evidence for a significant reduction in the rate of decline of biodiversity, and that the pressures facing biodiversity continue to increase. The synthesis provides overwhelming evidence that the 2010 target has not been achieved.

"Our analysis shows that governments have failed to deliver on the commitments they made in 2002: biodiversity is still being lost as fast as ever, and we have made little headway in reducing the pressures on species, habitats and ecosystems", said Dr Stuart Butchart of the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre and BirdLife International, and the paper's lead author.

"Our data show that 2010 will not be the year that biodiversity loss was halted, but it needs to be the year in which we start taking the issue seriously and substantially increase our efforts to take care of what is left of our planet."

The indicators included in the study were developed and synthesised through the 2010 Biodiversity Indicators Partnership -- a collaboration of over 40 international organizations and agencies developing global biodiversity indicators and the leading source of information on trends in global biodiversity.

Among these indicators was the Ecological Footprint, which measures the aggregate demand that human activities, through consumption of resources and emission of carbon dioxide, place on ecosystems and species.

"A better understanding of the connections between the Ecological Footprint and biodiversity loss is fundamental to slowing, halting and reversing the ongoing declines in these ecosystems and in populations of wild species," said Dr. Alessandro Galli, senior scientist for Global Footprint Network and co-author of the study.

Among the drivers of threats to biodiversity are human demands for food, water, energy and materials, according to Galli. Such threats include climate change, pollution, habitat loss, as well as over-exploitation of resources and species.

"Since 1970, we have reduced animal populations by 30%, the area of mangroves and sea grasses by 20% and the coverage of living corals by 40%," said the United Nations Environment Programme's Chief Scientist Prof Joseph Alcamo. "These losses are clearly unsustainable, since biodiversity makes a key contribution to human well-being and sustainable development, as recognised by the UN Millennium Development Goals."

By Meenakshi Ganguly
Courtesy: Open Democracy

(April 29, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) The end of Sri Lanka’s post-war electoral cycle makes it even more important for the world to stand for justice over the country’s human-rights abuses, says Meenakshi Ganguly.

Sri Lanka’s authorities have failed seriously to investigate the allegations of abuses committed during the first months of 2009 - the endgame of the twenty-six-year internal armed conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). An approach based on semi-private polite persuasion, often referred to as the “Asian way of diplomacy”, has been unable to convince President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Colombo government to respond to widespread international concern. What now needs to be done?
The Sri Lankan military’s final defeat of the Tamil Tigers in early 2009 was messy and bloody. The insurgents who had long fought for a separate Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka had already been condemned both by the international community and human-rights organisations for widespread abuses. Now, in this last period of the war, Human Rights Watch research found that both the military and the LTTE had violated international humanitarian law, including abuses amounting to war crimes (see “Sri Lanka’s hollow victory”, 20 August 2009).

The history of efforts to ensure accountability for such violations is not promising. For example, a Sri Lankan presidential commission of inquiry was established in 2006 to investigate sixteen important human-rights cases that implicated both sides); this was supplemented by an oversight body - an “International Independent Group of Eminent Persons”, headed by India’s former chief justice PN Bhagwati and including the leading Japanese professor Yozo Yokota. But the eminent-persons group quit in disappointment in March 2008, after the presidential commission was subjected to government interference; the commission failed to finish its job, and President Rajapaksa has never made public even its limited findings.

The pattern has continued in 2009-10. Soon after the war ended, Mahinda Rajapaksa signed a joint communiqué with United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon. This expressed Sri Lanka’s “strongest commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights, in keeping with international human rights standards and Sri Lanka’s international obligations”, and promised that “the government will take measures” to address allegations related to violations of international humanitarian and human-rights law.” Between the lines, it was clear that the Sri Lankan government wants the international community to trust it to address accountability issues without external intervention.

The bonds of law

The Sri Lankan president declared victory in the long war on 19 May 2009. Almost a year on, Colombo has done nothing to fulfil its promises, and there has still been no accountability for the actions undertaken in the war’s prolonged and destructive climax (see Luther Uthayakumaran, “Sri Lanka: after war, justice”, 21 May 2009). As a result, Ban Ki-moon announced on 5 March 2010 that the secretary-general had decided to establish a panel of experts to advise President Rajapaksa on accountability in Sri Lanka.

The Rajapaksa administration reacted with characteristic venom. Since the end of the long war, it had repeatedly insisted that - against overwhelming evidence to the contrary - there had been no violations by the armed forces. In the same spirit, it described the proposed panel as “intrusive” and “unwarranted”. Sri Lanka’s foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama even warned that it “has the potential to dent or sour the excellent partnership” with the United Nations.

Sri Lanka also convinced a few of its allies to intervene on its behalf. The non-aligned movement’s ambassador and permanent representative to the UN in New York, Maged A Abdelaziz, sent a letter to Ban Ki-moon in March 2010 warning that he “strongly condemns selective targeting of individual countries, which it deems contrary to the founding principles of the movement and the United Nations charter.”

Such criticism is wholly unjustified. Ban’s initiative can in no way be considered interference in Sri Lanka’s domestic affairs. The panel’s mandate will be limited to advising Ban on next steps to facilitate accountability in Sri Lanka. As the secretary-general has said, it is well within his power to “ask such a body to furnish me with their advice.”

Furthermore, Sri Lanka is bound by international humanitarian law, according to which states are obligated to investigate allegations of war crimes committed by their citizens or on their territory and ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted. The Geneva conventions make clear that justice for war crimes is not solely a matter of a country’s “internal affairs”.

Asian way, western way, human way

In this situation, India and Japan - two Asian countries that can in principle influence Colombo - should support a United Nations initiative to examine options for accountability in Sri Lanka.

India has considerable influence with the Sri Lankan government. It has provided humanitarian relief and assistance for those displaced by the war, including the hundreds of thousands of people interned in military camps for months before their recent release. An Indian field-hospital provided emergency care to over 50,000 people harmed during the fighting or otherwise in need of medical assistance. India is also providing de-mining assistance, and has provided equipment to repair and rebuild homes.

Japan’s voice too carries influence. Its foreign minister Katsuya Okada said on 29 January 2010 that he “strongly expects [that] Sri Lanka will steadily and swiftly carry forward political processes for national reconciliation” and pledged to “support efforts by the government of Sri Lanka.” Japan has since provided Y36,664 million (around $390m) to Sri Lanka under its official development assistance (ODA) loan scheme to finance infrastructure projects, including building roads and water-supply facilities.

However, these large-scale building projects can contribute to long-term national reconciliation only if accompanied by a process of ensuring accountability for abuses that have inflicted deaths on thousands of civilians. For a long time, India and Japan have tried to engage with Sri Lanka, rightly pushing for reconciliation between its ethnic communities, government reform and the return home of those displaced by the armed conflict (see "Sri Lanka's displaced: the political vice", 8 April 2009). That process will be severely hampered if there is no accountability and the minority Tamils believe they are being treated as second-class citizens and a defeated population.

Both New Delhi and Tokyo often contend that their efforts at polite persuasion are more effective than the public condemnation they describe as the “western way”. There is a time and place for private diplomacy, but for years now the Sri Lankan government has ignored such behind-the-scenes advice. In any case, private diplomacy should never become an excuse for inaction in the face of grave human-rights violations. Ban Ki-moon’s panel of experts, although modest, could yet prove to be an important step toward accountability for wartime abuses in Sri Lanka. India and Japan should publicly and wholeheartedly support his initiative.

( About the author : Meenakshi Ganguly is the South Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch.)

(April 29, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) A Chinese worker on the Norochchali coal power project has been taken into custody in connection with the alleged rape of a 14-year-old minor at Mundalama, police said today.

They said the suspect had repeatedly abused the girl over a period of time, inside an abandoned truck close to the Mundalama tank police spokesperson Senior Superintendent SSP Prishatntha Jayakody said.

The suspect was scheduled to be produced in court later today.

By B.Raman

(April 29, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) 1991: Liviu Radu, a Romanian diplomat posted in New Delhi, was kidnapped by some Khalistani terrorists. He was got released as a result of an operation mounted by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW). A Western intelligence agency co-operated in the operation.
A senior officer of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) told the media about the identity of the Western agency. It was prominently carried by some sections of the media. The Western country concerned through its Embassy in New Delhi strongly protested against the failure of the MEA officer to protect the identity of its agency.

1993: After the serial blasts in Mumbai in March 1993, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the US secretly sent a team of its explosive experts to Mumbai to help the investigators of the Mumbai Police. They were put up in a Mumbai hotel under a non-official cover. The leader of the team was surprised to receive a phone call from a journalist of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) then posted in New Delhi, who was aware of their FBI identity. Enquiries revealed that a senior officer of the Mumbai Police had told the journalist about their FBI identity and revealed to him the name of the hotel where they were staying. There was a strong protest from the FBI over the indiscretion of the Mumbai Police officer.

2010: Madhuri Gupta, a Second Secretary working in the Press and Information wing of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, was arrested on a charge of working for the Pakistani intelligence. While reporting on her arrest and interrogation, sections of the media named another officer of the High Commission and claimed that he was from the Indian intelligence. According to a report carried by a national daily, this was mentioned to the journalists by an officer of the MEA.

It is important to protect the identity of serving intelligence officers posted abroad for three reasons. Firstly, the exposure of his identity will make it impossible for him to perform his intelligence tasks in future. Secondly, it could pose a serious threat to his life from terrorists. And, thirdly, it could create operational problems.

In the 1970s, the revelation of the identity of a serving officer of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) posted in Europe led to his assassination by some terrorists. The Congress passed a law making it a criminal offence for anyone to reveal the identity of a serving intelligence officer. Since then,American officials and media take care not to reveal the identity of a serving intelligence officer even if they come to know of it. Dick Cheney, the Vice-President under George Bush, came under severe criticism for asking one of his aides to brief a journalist about the identity of a serving woman officer of the CIA. Cheney's aide had to face an enquiry for carrying out the request of Cheney, which amounted to a crime.

In other countries too, officials as well as the media take great care to protect the identity of serving intelligence officers posted in foreign countries. In Israel, as in the US, it is a crime to reveal the identity of a serving intelligence officer. In India, we have neither laws nor traditions to protect the identities of serving intelligence officers posted abroad. During the last five years, Indian media has exposed the identities of at least a dozen serving external intelligence officers posted abroad, thereby damaging their utility as intelligence officers and exposing them to likely physical threats from terrorists.

This is highly unwise on the part of the journalists, but how can we blame them when they are tipped off by other officers of the Government, who do not realise the importance of protecting the cover and security of intelligence officers serving abroad. There could be strong opposition from the Indian media to the Government enacting a law similar to the US law to protect the identity of intelligence officers serving abroad, but it should at least ensure that such leakages and disclosures do not take place from the officials of the Government.

The case of Madhuri Gupta has been handled in an unprofessional manner, with almost a leak an hour. If some of these leaks are to be believed, she must be the greatest intelligence agent ever produced in the history of espionage from a diplomatic mission comparable to the legendary Cicero, a Nazi agent in the British Embassy in Ankara. ( Please see click here)

If our news channels are to be believed, what all she has done: Exposed the identities of Indian agents in Pakistan; exposed the identities of Indian agents in other countries; gave to the Pakistani intelligence copies of classified documents including what is described as the classified minutes of the Prime Minister's office on India's relations with Pakistan etc etc. If he was alive, Cicero's handling officer would have envied her handling officer in the Pakistani intelligence.There are at least a dozen journalists claiming exclusive access to the results of the interrogation and yet reporting the same unbelievable stories in almost the same language. These dozen journalists are also claiming exclusive access to the interrogation reports. Some of them have even been giving what they claim are quotes from the interrogation reports. I known how interrogation reports are recorded. They are not recorded the way they are shown on some of our TV channels.

Who is Madhuri Gupta? What is her background? She is an Urdu translator posted in Islamabad to monitor the Urdu media. The Press and Information wing in which she was working deals only with open information and handles the Pakistani media. It is not a wing of the mission having access to classified documents. It is the cut and paste from the media wing. And yet our media has been reporting that classified reports passed through her hands. She was not even the head of the wing. She was one of its staff.

I did not know whether to laugh or cry when I saw an anchor criticising Pakistan for not co-operating with India in the investigation of the case. What does he expect Pakistan to do? Admit that she was their agent and tell us the details of what she did for the Pakistani intelligence? The world will be laughing at the kind of reporting that has been going on on our TV channels. Normally, the print media used to be more responsible in reporting. Senior sub-editors used to exercise some check over the exuberance of the reporters and carefully vet their stories before accepting them. Now, even print media journalists are competing with their TV colleagues in being more and more sensational. What is important is not whether one is correct and believable, but whether one's story is sufficiently sensational. The more sensational, the better.

Truth, reliability, balance and restraint in reporting have been the victims of the "breaking news" culture in our TV media. Madhuri Gupta's case is a serious breach of our national security.Even if she had not revealed any classified information to the Pakistani intelligence, the very fact that the Pakistani intelligence succeeded in recruiting her speaks poorly of our counter-intelligence controls. The case deserves to be investigated and analysed in a serious manner on the basis of established facts. Instead, it has been converted into a slapstick serial which will go on until another equally attention-catching serial replaces it.

The Government and our officers who have been talking to the media do not realise the importance of keeping the Pakistani intelligence guessing as to what she has been telling her interrogators. Intelligence agencies worth their salt keep their adversary guessing when they identify and arrest one of its agents. When the KGB, the Soviet intelligence agency, shot down and arrested Francis Gary Powers, the U-2 pilot of the CIA, for quite some time they did not reveal that they had caught him alive. They made an ass of the CIA and then President Dwight Eisenhower by keeping them guessing as to what happened to Powers.

Inatead of making an ass of the Pakistani intelligence by keeping it guessing as to what happened to Madhuri Gupta, our intelligence agencies, the MHA and the MEA are making an ass of themselves by vying with one another in leaking out to the media all sorts of stories after revealing prematurely information about her arrest.

( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute for Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )

In Gratitude to Late Lieutenant Colonel Lilith Jayasinghe WWV, RWP, RSP, SF, SLA

Written by Day
EXCLUSIVE TO SRI LANKA GUARDIAN

(April 29, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Lalith was fast asleep in his grave. All of sudden he was disturbed by the sound of knocks on his tombstone. He was quick to his 9mm strapped on his right thigh and drew it maintaining a pistol grip. He challenged the intruder in military manner “Who goes there?” The intruder replied “Sir, Corporal Kularatne.”

Then Lilith asked “What is going on?” CPL Kularathne replied “Sir, Sri Lanka Army is doomed; the internecine war is at its worst!” This caused Lilith to ‘turn in his grave’! Then Lalith decided to use ‘Challenge’ and ‘Password’ to confirm the identity or positively identify the intruder. Lalith identified, in fact, CPL Kularathne was none other than the Hasalaka Weeraya (Hero). Lalith leaves his grave and smartly salutes Corporal Kularathene (This may look odd to the reader. Lailth is a lieutenant colonel but Kularathne is a corporal. Something does not look right here you wonder. But in the US military if you are a Medal of Honor (MOH) recipient then it does NOT matter what your rank is, even a General is required to salute the private awarded with an MOH on seeing or meeting each other! In this case CPL Kularathne was awarded the parama vīra vibhūṣanaya (Supreme Heroism Decoration), which is the highest Sri Lankan military decoration equivalent to the British Victoria Cross, or US MOH. Lalith, who has undergone training in Fort Benning, Georgia, USA, was very professional and humble even in death and that is why we miss him so much!). The visibly upset CPL Kularathne assumed the position of attention and rendered a smart salute to Lt Col Lalith Jayasinghe. Lalith in his own endearing way calmed down the Hasalaka Weeraya and inquired about what was going on as Lalith‘s whole military life was spent in the Wanni jungles and did not truly know what was happening in the city. CPL Kularathne started to describe what he had seen when he went home to ‘watch over’ his family in Hasalaka for a while. He told Lalith that everybody was fighting each other to claim the credit for the victory; a general being dragged on the floor like a dead dog and locked up in a windowless room; top brass betraying each other in the media; high-ranking military officers being cashiered; transnational Drealamists relentlessly pressing for a UN inquiry for alleged human rights abuses in the humanitarian operations and the final war; Dr. Dutugemunu running amok…so on and on. Lalith said “Let’s take a stroll.” They started to walk a while, and Lalith could not believe his eyes or what he saw. A line of larger than life cutouts of the biggest rascals in Sri Lanka had been erected along the road. Lalith was thoroughly disappointed and disgusted. He said to the Hasalaka Weeraya “I have a good idea; these cutouts are ideal silhouettes for me to target practice! Let me do it right here and my quarterly 9mil refresher training required in 2SF (2nd Special Forces Regiment) for every operator is up.” He drew his 9mil (Chinese pistol) and doubled tapped, in rapid succession, right on the middle of the forehead on the cutouts of MR, SF, GR, Mervin, RW, WW, Sowansa, S’mbandan, Bahu, Mano G. even of JJ, one by one… bam.bam… bam.bam… bam.bam…making holes on the foreheads of the cutouts!

The sound of pistol fire woke me up suddenly. True that it was a dream……but the dream alerted me to something very important. Lalith’s birthday is around the corner. So I thought of writing this article in his honor and release on his birth day, April 29th. Moreover sometime back the SLG editor asked in an e-mail for my thoughts on the military defeat of LTTE. I am not a paid writer at all. I write articles to kill my free time in a warzone away from my family, and send them to Sri Lankan websites, some decide to publish, and some think they are rubbish. I have no political affiliations in Sri Lanka and I dislike the rough and tumble politics we have nowadays in the world.


I write this particular article as a soldier using my military background, know-how and knowledge. I use in the article extrapolations and deductions when necessary. My presentations of the situations, incidents, or outcomes may be true or assumptions or courses of action developed based on possible scenarios using ‘reverse’ battle appreciation or military decision making process (MDMP). I don't pretend to be privy to all the inside details that Combatant Commanders in the north and east have. I would like to own up that I was not in the Operations Room of any Battalion (BN) or Division (DIV) that took part in the colossal humanitarian operation and the final battle. But Been There, Seen and Done That!

Sometimes I digress from topic as I have a lot of information to put out, please be patient and read this article alpha to omega. If you like this article, please e-mail to your friends and family too. There is something I guarantee you will come to know or learn a lot of things from this very long article and be able to do some good for Sri Lanka as a patriotic Sri Lankan.

Truth Nothing but the Absolute Truth;

Winning a war, for that matter, a basketball match, is a total team effort, though the individual contributions vary. If Michael Jordan (MJ/Air Jordan) was the ‘franchise player’ that helped the Chicago Bulls to win the NBA world championship many a time, if Kobe Bryant the Black Mamba for the Los Angeles Lakers, or Tim Duncan the Scientist for the ST Antonio Spurs then it was none other than Late Lieutenant Colonel Lalith Jayasinghe, WWV, RWP, RSP, was the ‘Franchise Officer’ who was singularly responsible for the military defeat of LTTE, not a President or his siblings, not a Commander of Army, Navy , Air Force or CDC, not an IGP of police or a DIG of STF, some of whom now try to project themselves as ‘Balraj the master tactician of LTTE’, saying the Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs) invented or conjured up by them helped to win the war! I disagree; the military analysts who have had the inside knowledge would disagree. I will tell you why here in a minute.

If top brass and politicos have an iota of self-respect or a vestige of humility or selflessness left in them, it is not too late even now; they would cease forthwith claiming the lion’s share of credit! They shamelessly are clamoring and demanding for and crowing about the real credit that belongs to unquestionably to Lalith. But unfortunately this is Sri Lanka where a vast majority of her citizens behave like Alice in Wonderland; their behavior defies description; a Sri Lanka where success has many a father but failure a bastard!

Here is the analogous situation; the persons dying to claim the Lalith’s credit are like Unmanned Ariel Vehicle (UAV) pilots. True they fly planes, but remotely. True they fire weapons, but sitting in the well cushioned seats set up in a very well protected Air Operation Center (AOC) room of a desert air force base in the United States (US) which is monitored on the giant plasma screens installed on a well secured Coalition Air Operations Center (CAOC) in a Middle Eastern country, thousands of miles away from the actual battlefield. True they kill terrorists, but remotely by pressing the ‘Arm’ and ‘Fire’ buttons on the joy stick to release the payload on the target, there is no threat absolutely to UAV pilots’ lives, except possible cardiac arrest due to their very sedentary lifestyle they live in their careers!. But Lalith was like a Night Stalker (pilot) of the 160th Special Operations Air Regiment (SOAR) in the CH-47 Chinook (Cargo Helicopter) G (Golf)-model that went down in the Afghan Korangal Valley, dubbed the Valley of Death, while on a Search and Rescue (SAR) mission to retrieve the 4-man SEAL (SEa Air Land) reconnaissance team, lost for days. He, his bird, the elite operators, 16 in all, on the rescue mission and the crew on board went down in a hail of Rocket-Propelled Grenade (RPG) and automatic gun fire directed at them by Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters, at an elevation where oxygen is low, air thin, visibility dangerously low, and the rugged craggy mountain terrain all around. They literally inhaled smoke and smelled cordite.

I think, now the reader is smart and bright enough to understand the vast difference between waging war from Colombo, being in the air-conditioned rooms and eating Chinese food AND the very risky nature involved in trekking the jungles of Oddusudan to ‘erase’ the top leaders of LTTE against all odds such as tigers on the prowl, snakes slithering in the grass, land mines and booby traps strewn around, treacherous double canopy jungles, Tamil civilians, oops tiger sympathizers out in the jungle for game or to fetch firewood, who could alert tiger cadres. I know you now feel like spitting, in total disgust, at the rascals who try to claim the undue credit or at their posters on the walls and cutouts along the roads! Isn’t it revolting or nauseating to see the shameless attempts to claim someone else’s credit? Aren’t you sick to the stomach? I am!

Here is why Lalith was ‘THE’ man who could have singularly claimed the responsibility if he was narcissistic or bumptious, but ask his friends, peers, subordinate, superiors or the workers of rubber state where his father worked. He was so humble and down to earth he never wanted to bask in glory, for Lalith it was part and parcel of duty, as far as the life or dangers or ‘situations’ he faced ‘outside the wire’, he just shrugged them off as if it was nothing but occupational hazards. He was a ‘silent professional’ in the right sense of the words!

I am telling you this ‘only’ because it is now in the public domain. A national secret that was sadly outed by the parties with self-interests or vested interests to claim personal glory. This should have been a state or national secret forever. At least in 2SF it was a jealously-guarded secret. Here it is; Lalith and his team delivered justice to Col Shankar of LTTE aka Vaithilingam Sornalingam on September 26, 2001 at about 1045hrs (10:45am) in the form of a claymore package. Lalith and team had followed to the letter and spirit what it says on every claymore; ‘FRONT TOWARDS ENEMY’, in the general area of Oddusudan, Wanni, Sri Lanka. The Mission Accomplished, and Lalith and team safely had arrived at base.

The singular importance of that operation could be gauged by the reaction of Prabakaran himself. The panic and fear had ‘really’ struck Prabakaran for the first time in his life. His blood pressure had risen and diabetes worsened. He had sweated a lot too. Madawadani, the wife of ‘Praba’, the unfortunate medical student who playfully threw water at the tiger chieftain or the psychopathic killer in a festival in India not knowing what was really in store for her, could see with her medical background that Praba would be the sick leader of LTTE and a new ‘normalcy’ had dawned for worse in their lives.

Prabakaran declared a virtual state of ‘emergency’ in the tiger controlled regions of Wanni in the aftermath of one of his ‘closest’ associates and senior leader Col. Shankar being killed by Lalith and his team. He went into total recluse, and had started to worry and get angry and annoyed about the slightest or trivial things, started to distrust loyal and close associates. Simply put, since then he was said to have had very bad nightmares! The Shankar’s death created a siege like situation in tiger held areas. The LTTE chief needed to get to the bottom of this issue to get a handle on. Many were taken in for interrogation on suspicion and some of whom were never seen alive. They had died a violent and brutal death at the hands of LTTE interrogators, some ended up in the barbed wire, open air prison cells getting bitten by mosquitoes and beaten and tortured by the barbaric or bestial tiger interrogators.

The usual suspects were or the suspicion fell on sympathizers of anti-tiger groups or a dissident faction supporting former LTTE Deputy Leader Mahendrarajah alias Mahattaya who was executed on charges of treason. It was believed monetary gain, or just retribution for Mahathaya’s violent death was the motivation.

Prabakaran ordered the deployment of LTTE's special commando unit known as "Leopards" and the civilian militia called "Ellaippadai" for intensive combing out operation in the jungle areas in the Wanni in order to kill or capture the Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP-Pronounced ‘lurp’) team members of SLA.

The master tactician of LTTE, Balraj was vested with special powers by Prabakaran to take all measures necessary to eradicate or prevent the selective assassination campaign conducted against close associates of the tiger chief and the very important leaders of LTTE allegedly by members of a ‘Deep Penetration Unit of the Sri Lankan Army (SLA)’.
The express tasks from the tiger chief to Balraj were:

1. Prevent infiltration into tiger-controlled areas by the army 2. Track down LRRP (DPU) members in the jungles 3. Identify all suspected informants and collaborators among Tamil civilians and bump them off in ‘show’ killings.
The Implied tasks were:

1. Increase the number of bodyguards assigned top very important tiger leaders 2. Allocate more vehicles to the tiger leader motorcade to reduce the probability and vulnerability 3. Hardened the vehicles with armor plates and reduce the visibility with tinted glass 4. Change the routine 5. Wear civilian clothes 6. Increase or heighten awareness of OPSEC (operational security) 7. Maintain a low profile etc.

Did all these measures taken work? Please ask ‘Charles’ aka Shanmuganathan Ravishankar, but one has to wait till he meets Charles in the other world. The operators were patiently waiting for him for the Central Bank bombing and the death of Krishna Mohan, a basketball player (who worked in the Central Bank and died in the blast). The Special Forces operators also did not forget Charles’ spearheading the Bandaranaike International Airport Attack that destroyed the good number of aircraft in the inventories of national carrier and Sri Lanka Air Force, reducing the SLAF to air ‘FARCE’ the way they had defended the only international airport in Sri Lanka and the biggest air force base in Sri Lanka . The SLAF Base Commander at that time, an air commodore named RAA was relieved of his duties.
Tamil terrorists need to remember this always, Sri Lanka Special Operations Forces (SLSOF) avenge the deaths of good Tamils; likes of Dr. Thiru, Kadir, IP Bastiampillai, Krishna Mohan. Sometimes, it takes some time to catch up with the ‘bad guys’! But the SLSOF will. The unofficial of motto of 2SF, I think, should be ‘We do bad things to bad guys!’

Tigers would have been the most lethal terrorists (or the best but bogus freedom fighters) in the world but 2SF are the best anti-terrorist operators in the world, JVP may have been the best but spurious revolutionaries (insurgents) but 2SF are the best counter-revolutionary (insurgency) experts in the world. It has been proven beyond an iota of doubt. The trans-national Drealam terrorists need to accept that fact grudgingly at least and note the following saying as well if they have ‘plans’; if they still wish ill-will towards Sri Lanka; if they do not want let bygones be bygones; ‘Once Bitten Twice Shy, Twice Bitten Shy for Life!’

The single most important live-wire or operational commander in the LTTE terrorist outfit with vision, technical training and know-how and tertiary education was none other than Colonel Shankar though Pottu Amman aka Shanmugalingam Sivashankar who gained the notoriety for brutality on own tigers or the smiling tiger aka Suppayya Paramu Thamilselvan though they held military and political highest posts or designations respectively.
There were other charismatic LTTE operational commanders too, like Victor Oscar (VO) Marcelline Fuseless, a very handsome LTTE leader who was said to have been appointed by Prabakaran as the leader of the female tiger wing to attract young female recruits as there would be no sexual misconduct by VO with LTTE women cadres as he was believed to be gay. He was the LTTE Liaison Officer (LO) to South Indian politician Nedumaran during his illegal visit to Wanni.

Victor Oscar was subsequently killed in Adampan in October 1986. After a skirmish he just appeared around a corner of a street, not knowing soldiers might be present. A soldier just opened fire felling him, but they did not know they had just killed Victor Oscar!

It reminds me always how Lt Col Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu (March 13, 1946-July 4, 1976) was killed. He was the commander of the elite Israeli army commando task force, from Sayeret Matkal, that mounted the famous and successful rescue mission called ‘Operation Thunderbolt’ at Entebbe, Uganda, the elder brother of current Israeli prime minister Benjamin ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu. The Operation Thunderbolt was over, all the hostages had been rescued and they were rejoicing on the Entebbe tarmac then all of a sudden a Ugandan soldier fired at ‘Yoni’ from the control tower fatally wounding him. It was so sad ‘Yoni’ was the only casualty and he was the Task Force Commander. It is also said that ‘Yoni’ was having sex with his wife when he was alerted by telephone to skyjacking and he had stopped immediately what he was ‘doing’ and reported to his unit for a situation update briefing. That is the level of dedication one can expect from true and silent professionals.

Balraj aka Balasegaram Kandiah was another brilliant leader rather the best tactician or strategist ever in the LTTE top rung. He was never trained in a formal ‘military academy’ in Sri Lanka and/or abroad. He was much better than majority of the ones Sri Lankan military has ever had, by the way, some of whom have also undergone advanced training at US Army War College, National Defense College in India or The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in Surrey, UK.

Fortunately or unfortunately for Sri Lanka Balraj did not get a formal military training locally or abroad. My goodness, what if he had had! Your guess is as good as mine. Or shall I say Sri Lanka would have been in ‘deep sh**’ for sure.

To be continued….

By Helasingha Bandara

(April 29, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Malinda Seneviratne’s article ‘Humour: the final frontier in language competency’ inspired me to write this piece. It may be wishful thinking that this would send a message to our fellow Sri Lankans.

(Wikipedia) “Beriberi is a nervous system ailment caused by a deficiency of thiamine (vitamin B1) in the diet. Thiamine is involved in the breakdown of energy molecules such as glucose and is also found on the membranes of neurons. Symptoms of beriberi include severe lethargy and fatigue, together with complications affecting the cardiovascular, nervous, muscular, and gastrointestinal systems”.

“The origin of the term is obscure. One hypothesis is that it comes from a Sinhalese phrase meaning "I cannot, I cannot", the word being doubled for emphasis”

Is it not ironic that roots of this disease are found in Sri Lanka and in the Sinhalese language? The Sinhalese are synonymous with lethargy or laziness.

The recently concluded elections were a great source of entertainment at least for some. My only source of access to the election world was the small TV in my rural base. I was drawn to many hilarious programmes on SL TV during the election period in the absence of any other form of entertainment. A few episodes of some reality shows did not escape my attention either.

Hearing some judges and participants of those shows speaking Singhalese, I was puzzled at the beginning as to why they sounded foreign. Perhaps I need Gamini Weerakoon’s help here to give you some examples of the type of Singhalese they spoke on the shows; I am not a good mimic. First I felt that the speakers lack vitamin B1 and are suffering from the disease called Beri- Beri, particularly because the disease has its maternal heritage from Sri Lanka and that the disease can cause damage to the nervous system. We all know how a person with nerve damage struggles to speak. Next I thought that those people could be foreigners. It is very common at present that more people from Sri Lanka seek to live abroad. The later thoughts were confirmed when they used many English words in between while struggling to speak Singhalese fluently. It felt as if the Singhalese language was inadequate to express ideas. However, it did not take very long for the cat to jump out of the bag. Some of them could not resist the temptation to show off in English. Only then I realised that those people were not foreigners but they have been afflicted with beri-beri syndrome (referred to as BBS hereafter).

It seems that at present, BBS in Sri Lanka is not restricted to physical and mental lethargy but is also spreading fast onto many other fields that are not traditionally associated with BBS. In fact Sri Lanka has turned into a fertile breeding ground for BBS. Sadly it has affected the ability of our people to speak their own language.

For some time it has been becoming trendy, albeit for the wrong reasons, to speak Singhalese as if the speaker is not fluent in Singhalese (Singhala be be wage katha karanawa or Singhala beri beri ganata kathakaranawa.). This was particularly evident among the young women from the main towns and the Colombo city, an obvious effect of the BBS.

The ruling of the post colonial era was handed to the English (perhaps Singlish or Tamiglish) speaking minority. They assumed higher social status as they spoke an idiom that the ordinary folks did not understand. Those who learned English found easy access to employment in all British colonies even after the colonialists left. As the time went by the ability to speak English also became fashionable even in order to attract the attention of the opposite sex. An undesired outcome of this process was that many people began believing that the only way to impress the masses that one can speak English is to pretend that they cannot speak Singhalese well. In a country the Beri-Beri disease (mental lethargy included) originated it is not hard to believe that any garbage is accepted without due rational consideration.

The said show was conducted in Singhalese presumably for the Singhalese speaking audience. If it is for the entire country it could be conducted in both Singhalese and Tamil. English, despite having official language status was not truly necessary in this scenario as almost everyone understands either Sinhalese or Tamil although many can pretend that they do not.

Unlike in the past, now, a significant percentage of Sri Lankans are able to handle English language thanks to international schools, private tutors, the Internet, emigration and foreign employment. Those include people from all social and economic classes. Therefore the ability to speak English does not hold much water anymore. In fact it is becoming the common language of the ordinary people. It has to be realised that bilingualism or even trilingualism will hold more water in the future. Many excellent writers of Sri Lanka origin who write in English give me the impression that their knowledge of the vernacular is excellent too. This means that those who know good English know good Sinhalese or Tamil too. Malinda himself is a good example. Among many the best example I can think of is Prof. Ashley Halpe who is extremely competent in both languages, and indeed he does not struggle to speak Singhalese ( beri beri ganata) to impress others. Does he need to? Yet, in the Fools Paradise anything different is considered something important, so is the BBS in speaking Singhalese.