Champika mincing no words

The National Anthem is sung by one with pride and dignity about his or her country, and altering it without a complete appraisal can offend the sensitivities of a nation. Respecting such sentiments, the proposal made by National Languages and Social Integration Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara earlier to compose a common National Anthem with lyrics from both Sinhala and Tamil was nipped in the bud.  

Refreshing the discussion on the National Anthem, an incident was recently reported from a small school in the Ratnapura district where the National Anthem was sung in a manner that went against the accepted traditional norm. The matter was so sensitive in nature that President Mahinda Rajapaksa personally paid his attention to the matter.

After the Central Committee meeting of Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) on October 14, the President hosted the participants to dinner as usual. As he came out of the Presidential Secretariat, he saw Sabaragamuwa Chief Minister Mahipala Herath and remarked, “I was thinking of telling you something Mahi. After pondering for a while, the President referred to this particular incident regarding the singing of the National Anthem in an unconventional way.




Purity of the National Anthem
“In a country, there should be only one National Anthem and one National Flag. Don’t allow anybody to distort that accepted norm,” the President told the Chief Minister.
After receiving the President’s advice, the Sabaragamuwa Chief Minister summoned the secretaries of all the provincial ministries, and conveyed the President’s message. He remarked that due respect should be accorded to the singing of the National Anthem and to the hoisting of the National Flag at official functions. A circular to that effect was ordered to be sent to all school principals in the province and heads of other institutions coming under the purview of his Provincial Council. “The National Anthem cannot be sung according to the whims and fancies of anyone. It cannot be sung in two languages either,” Chief Minister Mahipala Herath asserted.




DS-Dudley property
Having sent out this stern order, Mr. Herath left for the opening of a new co-operative shop named as ‘Co-op City Shop’- at Kivuldeniya in Dedigama electorate. The land where this shop had been built had special significance as it used to be a property of Sri Lanka’s first Prime Minister, the late D.S. Senanayake and his son, the late Dudley Senanayake who had served four terms as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.







Commonwealth Games harbinger
In view of the Commonwealth Games to be held in Glasgow, Scotland, the Queen’s Baton Relay, similar to the Olympic Torch Relay, arrived in the country on Saturday.
The Baton is expected to visit 71 countries, ahead of the Game scheduled for next year.  Sri Lankan Olympic officials received it at the airport, and took it to the Independence Square. From there, it was taken to Kandy on a special train. The Baton was accorded receptions at several main railway stations for its significance-- as it carried a message from the Queen for the Commonwealth Games-- among other things.




War-time she elephant enjoying peace
At the reception held in Rambukkana, a she elephant from the Pinnawala elephant orphanage was used to welcome the Baton Relay visitors. This loving animal called ‘Menike’ drew the attention of all at this event because she was a one-time pet of the slain LTTE terrorist leader Velupillay Prabhakaran.

Amid the military onslaught on terrorist hubs, LTTE leaders including Prabhakaran retreated till they met with their final decimation at the hands of the advancing military.  In the rush, abandoned were their pet animals. The she elephant was one among them. The military found this animal, and took steps to hand her over to the Pinnawala orphanage to be taken care of. Named as Menike she has been there ever since.

Today, Menike has turned to be very playful and friendly.  A foreign lady who had arrived with the entourage wanted to take a ride on this she elephant. In her first attempt to climb atop the back of the elephant, the foreigner fell down. Nevertheless, she was successful in her second attempt.

The Baton started its journey on October 9, 2013. It will tour some 70 Commonwealth countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America before returning to Europe.  It will finish its journey at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, on July 23, 2014.




Casino hullabaloo
Amid intense pressure from political parties and religious leaders, the government took a step back and decided to shelve the parliamentary approval of two gazette   notifications for the establishment of two casino projects in Colombo.

On Monday, President Mahinda Rajapaksa even called a meeting with the leaders of political parties in his ruling coalition.  Present at this meeting were  Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa, Senior Ministers D.E.W. Gunasekara, Prof. Tissa Vitarana , Science and Technology Research Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka of Jathika Hela Urumaya(JHU), Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem, National Languages and Social Integration Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara, and Finance Ministry Secretary Dr. P.B.  Jayasundara.





Champika not mincing his words
Minister Ranawaka has been fighting tooth and nail against casino operators being allowed into the country due to their social, economic and cultural consequences.  The JHU which he represents had taken a tough stand right from the beginning against these regulations issued under the Strategic Development Act.
Mr. Ranawaka who had been airing views against the casino project both in and out of the government said he would vote against the related Bill if presented.
Minister Nanayakkara, meanwhile, said he was opposed to the regulations that seek to approve casino projects because it could drain out the country’s foreign reserves.




Vasu’s concern
Mr. Nanayakkara speaking to Daily Mirror about this said, “In our country, foreign exchange regulations have been relaxed now. If casino businesses are allowed here, it will drain our foreign reserves further. There is no clause to monitor the amount of dollars to be brought in when participating in gaming activities here, and to be taken out. This aspect has to be looked into. Otherwise, we will be compelled to go for further external borrowings to sustain our foreign currency reserves,” He said that he had raised his concerns at the meeting with the President on Monday. Meanwhile, taking a similar stand on this issue, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Leader Rauff Hakeem said his party would abstain from voting if a Bill was presented in this regard.

Finally, the government withdrew the two gazette notifications that were to be taken up for debate in the House on October 24 and 25. Now, it has been decided to reintroduce the two regulations with amendments. Allowing entrance only for foreigners is one such amendment proposed and announced by the government later.




Casino confusion continues
Confusion over the government’s next step of its casino projects remained high even at Tuesday’s Business Committee Meeting of Parliament.
Chief Opposition Whip John Amaratunga asked whether the government would reintroduce it with amendments later or scrap it completely. Responding to this, Leader of the House, Nimal Siripala de Silva said that no final decision had been taken about the matter yet.