Ceylon Today Editorial

Power Games

10 May 2017

Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy's forte is not restricted to his discipline of raw economics alone.

In the wider context, it extends to the importance of playing big power games with Beijing, New Delhi and Tokyo, to Colombo's economic advantage.

Speaking at a press conference in respect of the measures taken by the Government of Sri Lanka to get out of a possible debt trap by leasing out the Hambantota Seaport, one of several white elephant investment legacies of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa leading to the island's chronic external debt situation, the Governor said that the first tranche from this lease would raise US$ 100 million, and the second, to be received three months later, another $ 300 million.

But when it was brought to his notice of Indian sensitivities, Coomaraswamy inferred that Colombo should learn to play Delhi against Beijing for its own commercial advantage.

When Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe visited New Delhi hardly three weeks ago, Indian Premier Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, National Security Adviser (NSA)Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and former Indian Premier Manmohan Singh, all raised concerns over Chinese interests in Hambantota.

Wickremesinghe in his talks assured that Chinese interests were purely commercial, a stance also taken by Coomaraswamy and more, where the latter told reporters yesterday that the country should take advantage of its strategic location to attract big power investments in the form of Chinese, Japanese and Indian investments.

The Governor inferred that Sri Lanka should play the role of a woman wooing eligible suitors. In economic parlance, eliciting demand where supply is scarce.

Modi is due to visit Sri Lanka tomorrow on account of Vesak celebrations.

Soon after that, Wickremesinghe is due to fly to Beijing in regard to China's 'one belt, one road' initiative which talks purportedly also encapsulates Chinese investments in Hambantota as well, in a debt to lease swap.

Nevertheless, these developments are taking place with Colombo at the centre stage, in the backdrop that India and China fought a bitter border war in 1962 which led to the loss of thousands of square miles of India's territory to the Chinese and hastening the death of its founder Premier Jawaharlarl Nehru, who died a broken man, two years later.

Delhi's sensitivities are that already surrounded by enemies to its east, north and west it now feels that its southern flank is also threatened due to Chinese interests, vis-à-vis Hambantota.

To India's North it's surrounded by China and Pakistan. India has also fought four bitter wars with Pakistan, beginning with the war of partition in 1947.

To the greater part of North-East and North-West, once more India finds itself surrounded by these two belligerent nations of hers, while further down to the North-East, it borders Nepal and Bangladesh with which it has uneasy relationships, while to the rest of the East and to the West it's surrounded by the Indian Ocean.

In this context, the last thing that India might want to have is China at its doorstep from the South as well, vis-à-vis a physical presence in Sri Lanka.

Coomaraswamy in his speech further said that former National Security Advisor and India's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Shivshankar Menon in a book had referred to Sri Lanka as a floating submarine 20 miles off India's borders.

This statement of Menon, referring to Sri Lanka as a submarine is double edged.

During the latter part of the Rajapaksa regime, i.e. in 2014, two Chinese submarines docked in Colombo to Delhi's chagrin.Nonetheless, Coomaraswamy inferred to reporters that Sri Lanka should take advantage of this 'submarine' mentality that Delhi has on Sri Lanka, to the island's own advantage.

And not just Delhi and Beijing, but roping in Tokyo as well in this big power game.

Tokyo's enmity with its giant neighbour Beijing is historical, dating back to the times that Tokyo invaded Chinese Manchuria in the 1930s and coming down to the present times of China's claims to the Senkaku islands on the East China seas controlled by Tokyo, but recognized as Diaoyutai Islands by Beijing.

Coomaraswamy said that Colombo should make it clear to Delhi that its interests with Beijing is purely commercial, whilst also playing on this theme to attract Chinese, Japanese and Indian investments on to the island in 'big power games' in the overall picture.

He further said, when Modi was Gujarat Chief Minister, he made a number of visits to Beijing to attract Chinese investments. The Governor said, the value of two way trade between India and China was between $ 75-100 billion.

Daily News Editorial

A Day for Peace

10 May 2017

“Hard is it to be born a man; hard is the life of mortals. Hard is it to gain the opportunity of hearing the Sublime Truth, and hard to encounter is the arising of the Buddhas”. (The Dhammapada)

Today, Buddhists all over the world celebrate the Birth, Enlightenment and Passing away (Parinibbana) of the Buddha. Hence Buddhists call it a Thrice-Blessed Day. These events occurred on Vesak Poya Days more than 2,500 years ago in what is now India and Nepal. The Buddha is also believed to have visited Sri Lanka three times during the 45 years he spent spreading the Dhamma in the region.

This year’s Vesak day is especially significant for Sri Lanka, which is hosting the United Nations (UN) Day of Vesak celebrations for the first time, under the theme “Buddhist Teachings for Social Justice and Sustainable World Peace”. This is a great honour bestowed upon Sri Lanka and our tribute goes to all those who worked tirelessly to make it happen. It is significant that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has a deep and abiding interest in Buddhism, is participating in the main events as the Chief Guest along with President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. After all, Buddhism itself was India’s Greatest Gift to Sri Lanka. King Dharmasoka sent his son Arahat Mahinda to Sri Lanka to spread the message of Buddhism in our island, where he met King Devanampiyatissa. The rest, as they say, is history. The President of Nepal, Bidhya Devi Bhandari will participate in the closing ceremonies of the UN Day of Vesak. This is also very significant, since the Buddha was born in Nepal.

At this moment, we must remember with gratitude the true son of the soil who campaigned tirelessly at the UN to gain wider recognition for Vesak internationally – the late Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar. The UN has been celebrating Vesak officially since 1999.

The original decision to make Vesak a special holiday was taken at the World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB) Conference held in Colombo in 1950. Today, Vesak is a holiday in most Asian countries, including the predominantly Muslim nations of Malaysia and Indonesia. There is greater awareness about Buddhism in Western countries too thanks to the large Asian Diaspora populations who engage in Vesak activities in their adopted countries. In short, Vesak is now a worldwide event and President Sirisena is expected to urge the International Community to proclaim Vesak a global holiday.

In Sri Lanka, where Vesak is celebrated every year on a grand scale, it has transcended ethnic and religious boundaries to become a national festival. Every community takes part in activities related to Vesak such as pandals and dansals. Vesak is a true indicator of religious and communal harmony.

In a way, it is the Buddhist backdrop which enabled Sri Lankans to remain calm and resilient even in the face of the cruelest forms of adversity such as the war and the tsunami. As the Buddha enunciated, hatred does not cease by hatred – it ceases by love alone. A culture inspired by Buddhism has permeated the heart of every Sri Lankan regardless of community and religion. Buddhism is a unifying force in this country and indeed, in many others.

However, many religious leaders have expressed dismay at the level of commercialization of our main national festivals, including Vesak. This could result in the danger of the original message of the festival getting lost in a torrent of commercialism. It is imperative that we get back to our roots – the temple-village-school nexus held the social fabric together in the days of yore. Crime was minimal as everyone harboured good thoughts and engaged in good deeds. We have veered away from religious and moral values to a great extent in the relentless pursuit of material wealth, which has resulted in anti-social behaviour.

Despite the belief that the Buddha Dhamma is a very complex philosophy that offers little for day-to-day life, the Dhamma in fact offers guidance for lay people to lead pious and contended lives. In fact, Singalovada is an entire Sutra dedicated for lay men and women who want to lead their lives according to Buddhist tenets. Anyone can follow these tenets to lead a happy life. The Buddha’s words are timeless and apt even 2,500 years later. This Vesak, when international focus is on Sri Lanka, must be thought of as a turning point in our history. Sri Lanka is on the cusp of entering an era of lasting peace through a new Constitution that will enable all Sri Lankans to live in harmony, forging a truly Sri Lankan identity. Buddhism can be a guiding and uniting force, as it has always been, to show us the way forward. This is also the only way to defeat extremists on all sides who want to use religion for their own sinister ends. Religious leaders have a major role to play in defeating such ominous plans for discord and rancor. As the Buddha espoused, peace is the one option that we should pursue.

The Island Editorial

Yahapalanaya on F1 track

10 May 2017

 

Various issues such as unkind cuts in former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s security, postmortems on May Day rallies and a government attempt to tame trade unions have eclipsed the latest supplementary estimate Parliament approved to the tune of Rs. 330 million for ministerial vehicles. No sooner had the township of Salawa been destroyed by the Army’s Central Armoury blast last year than the government demonstrated its callous disregard for people’s suffering by presenting a supplementary estimate seeking more than Rs. 1 billion for super luxury vehicles to keep ministers happy. The disaster victims have since been demanding compensation which the yahapalana administration promised. Out of sheer desperation, they have threatened legal action against the government.

This year, Parliament has so far allocated more than Rs. 1 billion for super luxury vehicles for ministers and their deputies. The latest one for Rs. 330 million was passed on May 05, within less than one month of the Meethotamulla garbage dump tragedy. The survivors are crying out for financial assistance to rebuild their lives and hundreds of others, still living in the disaster-stricken area, fear another collapse of the garbage mountain.

Why can’t the government worthies who came to power, promising to practise austerity, use the dozens of luxury vehicles that former Minister Wimal Weerawansa is accused of having misused under the previous regime? There were also fleets of flashy vehicles at the disposal of other ministers of the Rajapaksa government and the present administration had all of them returned after the 2015 change of government. Those vehicles can also be used by the ministers of the yahapalana government if they are desirous of putting an end to the deplorable practice of wasting public funds on super luxury vehicles for politicians.

The Rajapaksa government was notorious for what is popularly known as rathagaaya (excessive desire for travelling in luxury vehicles). That was one of the issues the yahapalana leaders flogged very effectively to turn public opinion against the previous regime. They claimed that the members of the ruling clan were using Lamborghinis etc. The onus is on them to trace those vehicles and auction them at the Galle Face Green (GFG) and utilise the proceeds therefrom to provide relief to disaster victims. In 1994, Chandrika Kumaratunga vowed to have the fleets of vehicles the UNP MPs and ministers were using seized and auctioned at the GFG immediately after forming an SLFP-led government. But, nothing of the sort happened after she captured power.

The sanctimonious political leaders who live in clover while asking the masses to tighten their belts ought to watch the BBC feature on Mexican Ambassador to India, Melba Pria, travelling in a three wheeler in New Delhi. She has put the diplomats and political leaders of the developing world to shame! We are not suggesting that our political grandees settle for tuk-tuks, but they can use the existing super luxury vehicles without wasting the much-needed forex on new ones.

Meanwhile, grand preparations have been made for this year’s Vesak celebrations which begin today. Political and religious leaders should have called upon the public to scale down the Vesak celebrations and channel funds so saved to help disaster victims. The Ministry of Ports and Shipping built what it described as the world’s tallest Christmas tree last December despite criticism even from some members of the clergy. But, surprisingly, it did not help shore up the collapsing garbage dump at Meethotamulla.

Huge, colourful thoranas have come up in many parts of the country, depicting various Jathaka stories. There is no need to highlight the suffering of Patachara or Kisa Gothami this year; people have witnessed the agony of the Meethotamulla residents whose loved ones were buried alive.

Tearing into those who struck work the other day, President Maithripala Sirisena has said it is unbecoming of doctors to resort to work stoppages and aggravate the suffering of the sick during the month of Vesak. He may have struck a responsive chord with those who frowned on the doctors’ strike. It will be interesting to know what he thinks of Parliament passing billions of rupees for ministerial vehicles while disaster victims are demanding long overdue compensation.