On Vesak Day a newly built Danasala (refectory) and kuti (lodging) for monks were opened adding to the other buildings including the Main Hall, which were build earlier.

Villagers were associated in the opening ceremony officiated by the Vietnam Ambassador to Sri Lanka Ho Thi Thanh Truc.

Young people in the area and students are also closely involved with the temple.

“When we first started the monastery, it was the children who came to see what this was about,” Venerable Dhammaloka Thero said.

“They helped me plant trees. The parents came later and got involved in temple activities.”

The monastery conducts English classes and Vietnamese classes for children and adults.

“We had a 70 year old lady who came to study Vietnamese as well,” he says.

Venerable Vietnam Dhammaloka thero came to Sri Lanka 10 years ago to study at the Sri Lanka International Buddhist Academy (SIBA Campus) in Pallekelle.

When Vietnamese groups visited Sri Lanka, they were asking whether there was a Vietnam temple in the island, he said. At the time he was planning to go to London to read for a Master’s degree.

But also at the time there were five young Vietnamese monks studying at several Pirivenas in Sri Lanka. Out of consideration for them he abandoned plans to go to London did his Master’s in Buddhist Studies and Pali language at the Kelaniya University in Sri Lanka.

He then started to make plans to set up a Vietnam temple.

The two-acre land for Truc Lam Monastery was donated by Venerable Ilwane Ananda Thero, the chief incumbent of Sri Sugatha Thapowana Temple in Digana, where the Vietnamese monk had stayed while studying for his degree.

“There were a lot of bamboo trees in the land,” the monk recalls. “Truc Lam means forest of bamboo.”

The main hall was built first. Benefactors from Vietnam and others helped him.

“We focus on meditation,” Venerable Dhammaloka explains. “Everyday in the evening from 5 to 6 pm many locals come to our temple to do meditation.

“Every Sunday we have mindfulness meditation for adults and foreigners. On Poya Days we conduct a meditation program for children. I have been to many Dhamma schools in Sri Lanka to teach meditation to children.”

The monk has also taught meditation to children at several local Tamil language schools.

“At the Truc Lam Monastery we make no distinction between ethnic groups or religions ,” explains the Thero.

“Everybody is welcome. Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, Tamil and Sinhalese and foreigners come here.”

It took four years from 2020 to build the Main Hall, Budu Geya, the Main Gate, as well as the Danasala and Kuti which were the latest buildings to be opened on Vesak day 2024.

The Covid pandemic was a tough time for the villagers who are considered the family of Truc Lam Temple.

“We provided rice and dry rations for those in need,” recalls the Chief monk. The Temple also helped dig wells in the Ambakote village and the school.

On Poya days food is still distributed to some needy people.

Then a scholarship program was set up for students. Each student in the program now gets 5,000 rupees and 10 kilograms of rice per month.

The Truc Lam scholarship program was also extended to students who went to university with a 10,000 rupee stipend. One student is in Jaffna university, one in Peradeniya and one in the Open University.

They are sponsored by the Chief monk and benefactors in Vietnam.

The temple is also helping some elderly nuns, who are around Kandy. “They are very old and cannot support themselves,” the monk explains. (Colombo/June02/2024)

At least 695 new HIV positive people were identified in the country in 2023 and it has seen a 14 percent rise over 2022, the National STD and AIDS Control Programme in Sri Lanka said last month.

Sri Lanka has witnessed mushrooming spas or wellness centers throughout the island nation in the last three years amid an unprecedented economic crisis, tourism officials say.

However, most these spas do not provide wellness service.

State Tourism Minister Gamage said there are around 600 spas in the highly populated Colombo suburb area

“I don’t know how many people go for wellness to these 600 places, just a 50 meter away from each other. We have about 100 spas in a stretch. I don’t know whether I have seen anyone who is interested in wellness going in there,” she told reporters at a media briefing in Colombo.

“Without beating around the bush, we have to be truthful and speak the facts and the fact is those are not spas and they are not wellness centers.”

“Definitely, there should be regulations. If this is the case, if this is exactly what is taking place, if illegal prostitution is taking place, we cannot stop it. We are never going to be able to stop it. It doesn’t matter how hard we try, it is something that cannot be stopped anywhere in the world.”

“The fact is it is going to carry on, but we have to stop the danger when it comes to health issues of the people of the country and specially of the people who are working in these places, they have to make sure they are healthy and they are not with any disease and this needs to be regulated.”

“They should be given medical check up on a monthly basis. Things like this should happen.”

“CAN’T STOP” ILLEGAL PROSTITUTION 

The highest number of those infected with HIV have been reported from the Western Province, according to the UNAIDS estimate received. HIV infection happens through three main channels of having unprotected sex, from an infected mother to a child in the womb and the blood of an infected person entering the body of a healthy person.

“I spoke to the health minister as well about it where we have to bring some sort of a rule,” Gamage said.

Prostitution in Sri Lanka is illegal, but data from police-raided spas show it has been taking place many places in Sri Lanka.

“When there is a demand, there is a supply. The demand will remain until the supply is there. If we can’t stop this, what we have to do is, we have to bring regulations for this because this is unhealthy for the people of this country. Not only that, we need to consider the health of the people who are providing services.”

“So, we need to bring medical checkups, they should be medically checked once a month. So these things should be regulated. Otherwise this is a huge disaster.”

“In the recent past, the majority of the people who got AIDS were youth aged between 19-25. This (spa) is one of the reasons for this. If this is not regulated, where will this end? What will happen to the young generation?”

“It is a requirement of the human life. We should supply for that requirement in a healthy way. When we impose regulations, it should be regulated under the laws. I have been talking this continuously in the parliament,” she said. (Colombo/April 29/2024)

Nor are those handful of rights universally applied, a recent discussion which looked at the European and South Asian perspectives on same-sex rights and unions revealed. Most developed nations have introduced protections for those identifying as LGBTQIA+, and a view from a distant lens paints a picture of tolerance. Yet, a closer look at the European arena throws up the many gaps that are evident in the application of the law.

In the so-called conservative South Asian nations, changes to legislation are slow to be implemented. That may come as a surprise, for, contrary to popular belief, same-sex relationships were culturally acceptable in the South Asian region and is not a Western concept points out Ruhaan Joshi, a Public Policy Practitioner from India.

Society’s view on same-sex relationships dimmed with the imposition of Western values and the criminalisation of such relationships with the advent of colonial rule.

While the LGBTQIA+ communities in South Asian countries currently battle to have same-sex relationships decriminalised and their unions legally accepted, the irony is that countries that first made such relationships punishable by law have moved on to be more welcoming, though some discriminatory practices continue.

Joshi was part of a discussion themed ‘On Being Queer and LGBTQIA+ in South Asia and Europe, held in Germany on April 9 this year. The discussion which included the release of two papers which examined the rights and protections of the LGBTQIA+ community in Europe and South Asia, respectively, was organised by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom.

Joining Joshi in the discussion were lawyer and parliamentarian Premnath C Dolawatte from Sri Lanka, Milosz Hodun, President, Projekt Polska Foundation, Poland, Michael Kauch, a Member of the European Parliament and RENEW Europe Group and Inaya Zarakhel, a Dutch-Pakistani actress and an activist on Queer Rights, who moderated the discussion. The two papers were presented by Hodun and Joshi, respectively.

In his opening remarks, Kauch pointed out that while the view of the liberals is that the rights recognized in one member nation of the EU must be accepted by all member countries, that is not the ground reality, the issue of Rainbow families being a case in point.

In the context of the European Union, though the Court of Justice has ruled on the freedom of movement of those in same-sex partnerships and their families, the ruling is not universally applied by member nations.

In Italy, and some European nations, surrogacy which helps childless couples to become parents is illegal. In other situations where same-sex parents are of different nationalities a child in that union faces restriction of movement or the possibility of being stateless if one parent hails from a country where such parental rights are not recognised.

Hodun meanwhile stated that in Poland transgender persons must first sue their parents for the gender assigned to them at birth, to have their gender marker changed on documents.

Some countries such as Russia and Azerbaijan resort to State-sponsored homophobia, and in many instances politicians and political parties promote such biases to boost their voter base it was pointed out. Even where laws are in place for the protection of LGBTQIA+ rights, there is no political will to implement them.

In Europe where migrants arrive in droves seeking asylum, and are frowned upon by many of those countries, LGBTQIA+ members face even more discrimination Hodun says, both by other refugees and governments, where most often the state ignores the situation despite the guidelines issued by the UN and the European Court of Justice. Hate speech and hate crimes too are on the rise he adds stating that at least 80 per cent go unreported.

Increasingly the LGBTQIA+ community has experienced a diminishing of their safe spaces as right-wing and populist governments are elected across the globe. Taking a dig at feminism, meanwhile, Kauch states that though feminists uphold a woman’s right to opt for an abortion, they take a different approach on the topic of surrogacy.

Dolawatte who waded into unchartered waters when he presented a Private Member’s Bill to decriminalise same-sex relationships through an amendment to section 365 of the Penal Code and the repealing of section 365A in its totality, is hopeful that the Bill will pass its third reading. It’s been an uphill battle he says, referring to the case filed in the Supreme Court against the Bill. The court ruled in his favour.

He had little or no support from his own party members, but says the President of the country, and younger party members are with him on this issue. Apart from making Sri Lanka a safe space, it would encourage foreign nationals identifying as LGBTQIA+ to visit without fear, and thus boost tourism he opines.

As Joshi states society has come a long way from when LGBTQIA+ were made fun of and were subject to violence to the positive portrayal in movies. Such movies are also well-received by society. Transgender identity has a distinct recognition in South Asian religious beliefs. Hijra, Khwaja Sara or Kinnar are some names given to transgender folk and they have, since ancient times been an accepted group in society. On the one hand, there’s Afghanistan and the Maldives which make no allowances for the LGBTQIA+ community, while Nepal became the first South Asian nation in 2023, to register a same-sex marriage, Joshi states. In most South Asian nations, the courts have ruled in favour of relaxing the rules against this community, and, like in Europe, it is the governments that drag their feet.

For governments to change their stance, society must take the lead in fighting for the unconditional dignity of the individual, freedom of movement, and safeguarding the tenets of democracy, he says adding that it must also run parallel with the LGBTQIA+ community looking beyond themselves at issues that impact democratic values, and the societal restrictions non-LGBTIQIA+ groups face, such as opposition to inter-caste marriage and the right to adopt outside their caste systems and equal access to many other privileges.

While the panellists advocated working together across the global divide as a step towards achieving equal rights for all, Dolawatte also called for caution; too much pressure on such issues from Europe he said may not be welcome, and must be handled with care.

With right-wing and populist governments getting elected across the globe, Kauch claims the forthcoming EU elections will prove crucial in deciding how future and current governments ensure tolerance and diversity amongst their citizenry.

Speaking at the Presidential Film Awards on Tuesday November 14, Wickremesinghe said films must be issued a “classification certificate” going forward.

“Technology has changed. Today film and television have become mixed as media. We can now watch movies on our mobile phones. Even small countries now submit to international film festivals.

“We have access to their movies. We too must enter that industry. I know we have the talent for it. The film corporation must now be reorganised. Competition must be brought in. We must go for a new system,” said Wickremesinghe.

“We consider film an industry. Since we’ll be getting funds after next year, we have the opportunity to start working on it now itself,” he added.

President Wickremesinghe said the government plans to take “new measures” with regard to the regulation of public performances.

“Our public performances ordinance is now about a hundred years old. In place of the Public Performances Board, we wish to establish a Public Performances Classification Board,” he said.

Media reports in January 2023 said the Public Performance Board Act was to be replaced with new legislation to reflect recent developments in the field of performance arts, ensuring principles of free expression.

A committee headed by former Chairman of the Public Performance Board Saman Athaudahetti was appointed to recommend proposals. Film directors Ashoka Handagama and Anoma Rajakaruna, playwright Rajitha Dissanayake and President’s Counsel Jagath Wickremenayake were members of the committee, according to reports.

“We must remove the word censorship from artistic endeavours. At present, creations have been brought under various criminal laws, which has led to our artists facing various [legal] difficulties,” said Wickremesinghe.

“I think films have to be issued a film classification certificate. We have to think new. We cannot be stuck with the old ways if we are to do this,” he said. (Colombo/Nov15/2023)

Anthony was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the National Hospital in Colombo following an accident in Anuradhapura in July 2022, when the vehicle he had been travelling in hit an elephant.

In addition to being an award-winning actor in film, television and theatre, Anthony — famously nicknamed by broadcaster Premakirthi de Alwis as Panaputhra Kuhumbupaniya (a literal translation of Anthony’s name) — was also a director, singer and talk show host over a career that spanned three decades.

Anthony also courted controversy through the 2000s over his politics and his views on Sri Lankan history. However, later in his career he would distance himself from these controversies and shift his focus back on artistic pursuits. A man of many talents, he was also renowned for hosting at least two well-received travel shows.

Anthony was 65 at the time of death. (Colombo/Oct09/2023)

“Sanskrit is among the oldest surviving languages and is a sacred language in several traditions,” the Indian High Commission said in a statement.

“It is a repository of ancient knowledge including the Vedas and other renowned literary works such as the Yoga Shastra.

“Sanskrit is also known as the mother of many present day languages such as Hindi and Sinhala.

“The celebration of World Sanskrit Day will underscore the centuries old shared heritage of India and Sri Lanka.”

An academic and cultural event will be held at the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies, BMICH, Colombo on 31 August at 2 pm, which is also the silver jubilee of the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre, the cultural arm of the Indian High Commission

The University of Kelaniya, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Faculty of Indigenous Medicine of the University of Colombo, Buddhist and Pali University, Gampaha Wickramarachchi University of Indigenous Medicine, Bhiksu University, Units of Pirivena, National Institute of Education, University of Jaffna, University of Peradeniya, Eastern University and Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies will participate in the event.

The event will be inaugurated by the High Commissioner of India Gopal Baglay and the State Minister for Higher Education Suren Raghavan will attend as the Chief Guest.

Students and scholars of Sanskrit from across the country will participate in the event, and Sanskrit scholars of Sri Lanka will also be felicitated. (Colombo/Aug31/2023)

Of the six movies to be produced, five will be in Sinhala and one will be in Tamil.

“Every film we have announced to release today has come with heavy investments on our part, which cannot be recovered in the Sri Lankan market,” Janaki Wijeratne, Vice President of Lyca Productions Sri Lanka told reporters in Colombo.

“Through the Lyca Groups film distribution channel, we look forward to screening Sri Lankan films to Middle Eastern, European and North American audiences.

To win those markets we have to raise our filmmaking standards, which Lyca has a vested interest in.”

Lyca Productions “aims to bridge the gap between up-to-date industry technology and art appreciation among Sri Lankan audiences, and to enable effective competitiveness of Sri Lankan films in the global film industry,” Group Chairman Allirajah Subaskaran said in a statement.

Of the six movies to produced by Lyca Productions Sri Lanka, five are directed by veteran directors Asoka Handagama, Prasanna Vithanage, Jayantha Chandrasiri, Priyantha Colombage and Channa Perera.

Last year, Lyca Productions’ Telugu language film, RRR (2022), became India’s highest opening-day grossing film to date, Indian media reports said.

RRR was then released in the United States and Japan, and grossed 88 million dollars worldwide, according to Forbes, a US-based business magazine.

Lyca Productions India has a strategic partnership with EAP Films and Theatres in Sri Lanka, and has collaborated with Prasanna Vithanage and Shyam Fernando in the last two years, releasing Ponniyin Selvan I (2022) and II (2023).(Colombo/Aug23/2023)

Lohia: General aims, Immediacy and Heretical Gandhism

Long-time Gandhi Acolyte Finds Gandhian Socialism the Only ’True’ Socialism.

Rigorous critic and independent thinker, Rammanohar Lohia (1910-1967) came into the world at Akbarpur (U.P.), the son of a small businessman. He studied at the Universities of Bombay, Benares and Calcutta before receiving his Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Berlin in 1932 with a thesis on civil disobedience (satyagraha) in India over the salt tax.

At the age of 10, Lohia had joined Gandhi’s Non-cooperation Movement, and in 1934 he became one of the chief founders of the Congress Socialist Party. At the outset of World War II, Lohia’s anti-British agitations landed him in jail for more than a year. He was released and he escaped capture during the early months of the anti-British Quit India movement launched by the Congress in 1942. After directing underground activities including radio transmissions for nearly two years, he Was arrested in 1944 and he then endured a second imprisonment and torture at the hands of the British. He gained release in 1946.

Lohia was elected Chairman of the Congress Socialist Party, but in 1948 the Socialists voted to leave the Congress and form an independent Party. In 1949, he became the first president of the Hind Kisan Panchayat (Indian Peasant Council), founded to work for prompt alleviation of India’s agrarian poverty. In 1952, after Socialists were routed by the Congress in India’s first general election, the Praja Socialist Party (P.S.P.) came together, merging the Socialist Party with the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party. Lohia became General Secretary of the new party and Chief Minister of the first state government it was able to form, in Travancore (Kerala). He resigned from the latter post in 1954, protesting against that government’s use of lethal force against demonstrators. That same year, he was arrested for his role in P.S.P.-supported peasant satyagraha over government irrigation policy. He was ultimately acquitted of charges.

In 1955, after disputes with other P.S.P. leaders over political strategy, Lohia founded a separate Socialist Party aiming opposition at Nehru’s Congress. He was arrested several times thereafter for civil disobedience. He was elected to the Lok Sabha, the powerful lower house” of India’s parliament, in 1963, and he served briefly, then spent the last years of his life helping organize anti-Congress movements and governments throughout India. As Gandhi’s younger disciple, Lohia deliberately crafts his socialist thought around Gandhian themes. If J.P. Narayan (see Chapter 10) arrives at his thorough Gandhian socialism by a roundabout route, Lohia begins with Gandhian socialism and maintains it throughout. Lohia focuses his thought on articulating “socialism” as an ideology distinct from both capitalism and state-centered communism. His writings have baffled many with their slippery organization and peculiar, not to say eccentric, terminology. Main themes can easily be discerned, however, within the problematic explored here: that of juxtaposing socialist material concerns with religious or spiritual ones. In a variety of ways, using idiosyncratic phraseology, Lohia tries to frame conceptions of socialism and of spirituality dovetailing with each other.

ECONOMIC AIMS, GENERAL AIMS

One of Lohia’s frequent themes is the relationship between what he calls “economic aims” and “general aims” in a social system. The term “economic aims” generally denotes material prosperity and may also refer to the economic objectives of a particular system. The particular economic aims of capitalism, for example, are “mass production and low costs and profits to owners,” along with “self-interest” operating under “competition,” while the economic aims of communism entail “social ownership over means of production.” The term “general aims” implies such universal goods as “democracy, truthfulness, good conduct, peace of the heart, and a general state of culture.”‘ Basically, “economic aims” refers to material concerns, while “general aims” refers to spiritual or cultural ones. Lohia equates “economic aims” with “body” and “general aims” with “soul.”

The relationship of economic and general aims must be properly understood, Lohia maintains. Two opposite fallacies are possible. The first bears some affinity to what I call “materialist socialism,” which imagines that establishing right economic organization will by itself secure a high quality of cultural life. Lohia attributes this error not only to communism—corresponding to what I call “materialist socialism”— but also to capitalism. Both suppose that “the general aims of society… flow out of certain economic aims.” He dubs this fallacy the “automotive” fallacy because it posits automatic connection between achievement of certain economic arrangements and realization of “general aims.”

A second fallacy, in Lohia’s words is suppose “that any set of general aims can be superimposed by effort on any set of economic aims…” This fallacy, which could be called the “grafting” fallacy, comes in two varieties.

One variety resembles what I call “pure religious ideology,” which imagines that spiritual transformation can occur in society regardless of economic constraint. An example of this is Gandhi’s doctrine of capitalist trustee ship which tries to graft, general aims of “democracy and good conduct and moral and ethical values” onto the economic structure of capitalism. A second variety occurs not when economic constraints are ignored, but when economic transformation and general or spiritual transformation are viewed as separate tasks requiring separate methods, with results that may then be grafted into a harmonious whole. As an example of this, Lohia cites Burmese socialism, which is similar to Ambedkar’s thought in simultaneously positing a socialist economic agenda and a Buddhist spiritual/moral agenda. Lohia criticizes Burmese socialism along the lines I take above in criticizing Ambedkar. The socialist and Buddhist components are added together but do not entail or reinforce each other.

As opposed to the two fallacies- automotive and grafting- Lohia argues that economic and general aims are best pursued in deliberate synchrony with each other. “An integrated relationship between the two sets of aims has to be set up by the intelligence of man,” he writes. Synthesizing the two sets of aims within an “integrated harmony” provides socialism with its proper “doctrinal foundation.” The two sets of aims must be “interwoven so the economic structure admits of realizing general aims and the general aims are…so construed that they can sustain the economic structure.”

Of the two, the automotive fallacy is more prevalent. In pursuit of particular economic aims, a system may fail to achieve and may even subvert all general aims. Against communism, which sees an ideal society emerging automatically from “social ownership over means of production,” Lohia insists that general aims “do not inevitably flow out of economic aims…” “Without integrated harmony,” he writes, “it is generally the economic aims which command the right of way, no matter what calamity they might thereby bring.” To prevent the havoc caused by single-minded focus on economic aims, he proposes that economic aims be shaped “in the image” of various “faiths” such as the “great religions” and the “creed of organized non-violence.”

Disproportionate stress on “economic aims” to the neglect of “general aims” pervades the ideological vice Lohia labels “environmentalism.”

Environmentalism is the erroneous conceit that it is possible to create an ideal social system in which personal virtue becomes either automatic or unnecessary. Communism and capitalism are chief examples of this conceit. They both imagine social systems “where all will be automatically good. It will not be necessary for one to be good.”

It is, of course, puzzling for Lohia to lump capitalism together with communism and also to speak of a system where people are automatically good that is also one where it is unnecessary to be good. Lohia’s inartfully expressed thought can be clarified through images from two divergent schools of thought. First, there is the Marxist notion that with communist production, humans will for the first time find it fully possible and natural to be “good,” to treat each other benevolently in all spheres of life. This makes goodness, in Lohia’s terminology, “automatic.” Second, there is Adam Smith’s notion of a capitalist market economy in which, by the magic of the “Invisible Hand,” the self-serving pursuit of interest on all sides yields maximum common good. According to some formulations, though not perhaps Smith’s, this makes goodness, defined as virtuous self-restraint, not “necessary.” The ironic upshot, as Lohia notices, is that both communist and capitalist ideologies deny the relevance of virtue, conceived as personal self-restraint.

Lohia wants to replace this environmentalism with an approach to human change emphasizing not only social reorganization but also cultivation of personal virtue. Latent in all people, he argues, are the virtues of the “Saint,” among which is capacity for “denial of the flesh.” “Let us not be frightened of sainthood,” writes Lohia, suggesting that practice of saintly virtues is worthwhile in two senses. First, virtue intrinsically fosters personal growth and self-realization. Second, it nourishes progressive social action. Practitioners of virtue treat themselves as both “end” and “means.” They “enact virtues which do not change, ” while becoming “an instrument of better future…

RELIGION, GANDHI AND IMMEDIACY

Lohia’s religious concerns, reflected by interest in saintly virtue, comes to him mainly through Gandhi. Lohia both admires and criticizes Gandhi’s view of human change. While Gandhi merits applause for avoiding environmentalism, he errs by exaggerating too far in the opposite direction, tending to “over-emphasize the individual and underemphasize the environment,” that is focusing excessively on personal virtue and slighting the need for transformed institutions. Despite his reservations, Lohia finds Gandhi without peer as agent of progressive human change. Gandhi “was the first in world history to be a revolutionary of political and social structures together with being a revolutionary of the inner world and ways of conduct.” Hence, Lohia attributes to Gandhi a breakthrough in the problematic central in modern Indian thought: dialogue between socialist and religious ideas. Though these two spheres of thought, as he puts it, have previously appeared as “antipoles,” it is both worthwhile and possible to weave them into a harmonious program of “change in the environment and change in the individual, revolution and religion, social reconstruction and moral uplift…”

Though styling himself a non-believer, Lohia takes great interest in religion and often appropriates religious language and metaphors to explain his ideas. Socialists, he argues, “cannot stay unconcerned about religion,” despite traditional socialist disdain. Socialism’s attitude toward religion should be “exploratory,” not “contentious,” and should not postulate an undue “antinomy” between religious and non-religious concerns. Socialism cannot, of course, tolerate religious tenets “hostile to the abolition of the enslavement of man by man or to the release of his energies in free association.” Socialists can, however, embrace aspects of “religion at its best,” such as “an ethical and social training in good conduct” and a “discipline of compassion and contemplation.”

Other Lohia themes also track our problematic. One of these Lohia calls the “dichotomy between multiplication of things and reduction of wants.” The “multiplication of things” in Lohia’s mind is a “materialist” approach to life, while “reduction of wants” is a “spiritual” approach. These represent two opposed responses to material scarcity. “Multiplication of things” means attempt to satiate material wants through ever increased production. Like thinkers explored above, Lohia doubts that human contentment can ever arrive this way. “Reduction of wants” means a spiritual approach, linked by Lohia to “Gandhian doctrine,” seeking to constrain material desire through heroic self-discipline. Lohia finds this latter approach, taken by itself, one-sided and unrealistic.

Like Mehta, Lohia finds a balance between the two opposed responses most appealing and he equates this balance specifically with Indian socialism. He describes the Indian socialist approach as one of “comparative multiplication of produce and comparative disciplining of wants” within a framework of social ownership and comparative equality of incomes. Hence he concludes that Indian socialism entails simultaneous focus on counterbalancing elements: the economics of production and the spiritualities of restraint. Like Mehta, he stresses that this requires at least relative equality in wealth.

The stress on equality is itself an area where Lohia explores relationships between material and spiritual concerns. Western culture, he somewhat cryptically thinks, tends to emphasize material equality, broadly including “social, political and economic.” Indian culture, by contrast, cultivates “Spiritual equality,” but has ignored social and economic equality. What does Lohia mean by “spiritual equality” and how has India cultivated it? He seems to mean India’s contemplative spiritual techniques which bring “the joy of being one with the universe, of being equal with everything in it.”

Lohia argues that this sense of spiritual equality, though divorced in Indian life from material equality, in general bears affinity with it. Experience of spiritual equality propels people to at least imagine material equality with others. On the flip side, experience of material equality with others helps provoke the insight of spiritual equality. Though Indian culture proves that insight into “spiritual equality” can arise even alongside great material disparity, such insight thrives best with material equality. Excessive material disparity blunts sentiments of spiritual equality.

With these ideas in mind, Lohia explains that Indian socialism seeks a “doctrine” of “thought and action” cultivating material and spiritual equality simultaneously. In the familiar manner of an entire tradition, he portrays Indian socialism as a synthesis of Western socialism and Indian spiritualism.

In a discussion of property abolition, Lohia comments further on this convergence. Socialism seeks to abolish “property as institution,” while Indian religion, at least in its “Upanishadic” strain of “non-attachment,” seeks to abolish “property as emotion.” Put another way, Marxism abolishes property “objectively,” while religious thought like the Upanishads abolishes it “subjectively.” Neither abolition suffices by itself. Lohia writes: “Let no one…make the mistake that destruction of property as emotion reduces one whit the need to abolish it as institution.” Likewise, “abolition of property as institution does not reduce one whit the need to destroy it as emotion.” Institutional and emotional propertylessness must reinforce each other.

Emotional propertylessness and “reduction of wants” both suggest a socialist solidarity-in-austerity ethic much like Mehta’s. Even under socialist economic arrangements, the “emotional lure” of material greed may fuel desire for “unequal comfort or show.” An ethic of austerity must prevail so as to secure socialist economic arrangements against corruption or subversion by recalcitrant material greed.

Lohia pushes the association of socialism with Indian religion still further when he suggests “socialist ashrams” where activists could retreat “in times of spiritual need” for “creative work and creative rest.” It is “Indian tradition” to build ashrams “for the training of the spirit and the spread of a doctrine.” The practice of ashram living could provide the socialist movement with an “uplifting quality of the spirit.”

It is perhaps from Gandhi’s experiments in community living that Lohia picks up the idea for socialist ashrams. In any case, he highly affirms the debt his own socialist thought owes to Gandhi. He applauds Gandhi’s evolution toward socialism. Gandhi’s methods and insights can be joined creatively with socialism but not with either capitalism or communism, which are “closed” to Gandhian influence. Socialist strategy should entail “rational application of Mahatma Gandhi’s teaching.”

Gandhi’s contributions emerge in what Lohia calls the “principle of immediacy.” Immediacy-directness or tangibility-carries two main and somewhat disparate Gandhian meanings. The first concerns mean and ends in social struggle. The second concerns decentralized economic and political organization.

In a Gandhian view of interpenetration between means and ends, Lohia writes: Means are ends in the short run and ends are means in the long run. Whatever method one employs in order to achieve one’s desired aim tends to become the end in the long run and whatever aim one desires to achieve…the means are piecemeal achievements of that end.

“Immediacy” in this kind of means-ends sense requires that “each act of struggle should contain its own justification.” Lohia ties this idea to “general aims.” General aims should stand not only as “remote” ends, but also as proximate “immediate” ones. Each act of struggle must “pass the tests of general aims of society.” By passing the test of general aims, satyagraha especially exemplifies “immediacy.” We will have more to say in a moment about Lohia’s doctrine of satyagraha.

Lohia also thinks in Gandhian vein about decentralized economics and politics. This second meaning of “immediacy”-directness and decentralization in “ownership and political control,” implies active and direct participation in managing terms of collective life. It requires decentralized technology, the “smallunit tool,” and abolition of private productive property, except that which employs no non-owning wage labor. Socialized property should be held at various levels, including province, village and cooperative, not just that of the central state. In articulating “immediacy” in “ownership and political control,” Lohia focuses especially on fostering vital communal democracy in India’s villages. This requires equitable redistribution of land holdings.

SATYAGRAHA AND MILITANT GANDHISM

Lohia’s extensive commentary on satyagraha composes an integrated theory of social action and human virtue while criticizing certain strands in Gandhian thought.

Satyagraha is, first, a method of social change, an alternative to non- violent but often feeble parliamentary methods on the one hand and to violent revolution on the other. Like most Gandhi-influenced thinkers, Lohia rejects Ambedkar’s argument that constitutionally or legally valid action represents the exclusive legitimate avenue for suing change in a democracy. Satyagraha, he argues, is more effective than either violence or parliamentary constitutionalism, avoiding the mayhem of one and the inertia of the other.

Satyagraha is, second, a requisite atmosphere of any society that embodies and seeks justice. It should prevail not as extraordinary last resort but as habitual response by vigilant citizens to tyrannies of all kinds. A nation’s freedom and commitment to justice can be measured by the number of its potential satyagrahis, practitioners of satyagraha.

Satyagraha is, third, a method of cultivating virtue, “an essay in the reformation of human nature.” There is, to be sure, confusion over the “change of heart” that satyagraha seeks. The most important change comes in the hearts of satyagrahis, who learn sensitivity to injustice, courage in resisting it, and enhanced “determination” and “capacity for action.” As Lohia sees it, changing the heart of the adversary is a decidedly secondary and seldom achieved objective. He repudiates…

Gandhi’s notion of capitalist trusteeship along with attempts to achieve non-violent redistribution by petitioning landlords to give land away. (This failed Gandhian movement, led by Vinoba Bhave and known as bhoodan, will receive attention in Chapter 10.)

Satyagraha is, fourth, a doctrine of class struggle. Even if wealthy people may sometimes be “declassed” by satyagraha or other factors and converted to actions or positions at odds with their own material interests, satyagraha should operate primarily as an effort by the downtrodden to increase their own power and to diminish that of elites. The point is to transform systems, not adversaries. Lohia’s views on this resemble Aurobindo’s more than Gandhi’s, except perhaps for Gandhi’s late career. The purpose of satyagraha, is always pragmatic: “reduction of the power of evil and increase in the power of good.”

Lohia’s commentaries on satyagraha are part and parcel with claims to the Gandhian legacy. Lohia scorns forms of so-called “Gandhism” that downplay active struggle for justice: the true Gandhian legacy. Focus on converting adversaries yields a Gandhism overly “moderate” and “cozy” toward the status quo. Lohia mocks this “priestly” Gandhism along with “governmental” Gandhism: ineffectual propaganda programs. True Gandhism, “heretical Gandhism,” organized non-violent action against injustice, finds its home in Indian Socialism

GANDHIAN SOCIALISM AND WORLD ORDER

To Lohia, “socialism” is an ideology distinct from both capitalism and communism and it represents the best promise of human progress today. Socialism is a Third World ideology, independent from both Western and Soviet systems, responding to specific predicaments of weak and exploited lands. Lohia coins what he calls the “theory of equal irrelevance” to criticize capitalism and communism, viewing both together as a “single complex of civilization.” Both systems share a bias toward capital-intensive production and aspirations for ever-higher living standards. Lohia deploys Marxist terminology to explain that though communism has different “relations of production”-patterns of ownership- from capitalism, the two share the same “forces of production”-rationalized capital-intensive organization. Socialism, he argues, seeks to transcend capitalism not only as to relations of production but also as to forces of production. Socialism requires forces of production differing from capital-intensive capitalist and communist structures. It stresses “small unit” organization.

“Small-unit organization” would correspond with living standards settled at a lower level than those pursued in both capitalism and communism. Socialism differs specifically from communism by adhering to “general aims” of society-non-violence-in pursuing its transformative agenda. Factors distinguishing “socialism” from capitalism and communism-decentralized production, modest living standards, and non-violent transformation-are all Gandhian. Socialism is Gandhian socialism.

India and the Third World, Lohia thinks, must reject both capitalism and communism. One reason for this is that both systems fail to harmonize economic aims with general aims. Both sacrifice general aims to economic aims. A second reason is that economic aims shared by both systems-capital-intensive production-simply cannot be achieved in the Third World. Third World socialism must think about problems very different from those imagined in traditional socialist theory. Such theory often imagines socialism simply commandeering capital-intensive production already developed by capitalism. But in the Third World, capital-intensive production does not exist and cannot foreseeably exist on a widespread scale. Prohibitively massive amounts of new capital would be needed to raise Third World capitalization to heights achieved under capitalism and communism. Third World socialism must therefore adhere to lower-capital production.

Third World plight, according to Lohia, stems directly from the rise of capitalism in the West. Capitalism and imperialism have been intertwined from the start. Capital accumulation in the West has been a process of extracting value from both home and colonial labour. Colonial surplus value has been extracted in two ways: through direct employment of colonial wage labour by Western capital and through trade advantages asymmetrically favouring the West. The latter point requires brief elaboration.

According to Lohia, it takes less labour for an advanced country than for a colonial one to produce the goods exchanged in trade. Advanced high-capital countries expend less labour power in producing a trade item than low-capital colonized ones do in producing its exchange equivalent. In trade with colonial countries, advanced countries trade lesser labour expenditures for greater and thereby appropriate the labour of poor countries. Foreign trade therefore represents a transfer of congealed labour power or surplus-value from current or former colony to advanced country, yielding capital accumulation there. High capital levels in advanced countries, giving power to extract labour value from poor ones, itself stems from past colonial exploitation. Lohia explains that, “in the current produce of labour in West-European factories, appears the saved labour of many generations of colonials.”

Though possibly circular (assuming capitalization disparities in explaining how they arise) this picture accounts for Lohia’s skepticism that Third World lands can achieve Western affluence levels. Such affluence embodies wealth extraction from the Third World. With no equivalent field for exploitation, the Third World cannot hope to match it. To equalize world wealth distribution requires equalizing capitalization worldwide. Lohia doubts this can be done on the basis of capital-intensive production. Evenly-distributed low-capitalization must become the worldwide socialist pattern. Of course, this lower capitalization will spell lower living standards than those currently enjoyed in wealthy lands, but Third World living standards will rise.

His views on capitalist accumulation convince Lohia that a Gandhian pattern of production must prevail not only in India but throughout the world. Like other thinkers in the modern Indian tradition, he sees a bridge linking India’s spiritual genius to the world’s progressive future. Gandhian socialism is that bridge

But concerns are raised over how they are going to be protected from robberies, which have taken place at the National Museum in the past.

The request was made by Vidura Wickremenayake, the Minister of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs, to the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. The Dutch authorities have agreed to return the artefacts – a Kandyan cannon, a golden sword, a silver sword, two guns and a knife which was used by ancient Sinhalese rulers.

“This is just the first batch. We do not know how many batches are there. I do not want to pressurize them,” Wickremenayake told Economy Next on Wednesday (12).

He said the value of the artefacts are priceless.

“How can you value artefacts? Can you value your grandparents? We cannot say an exact amount.”

The Dutch government is currently in the process of returning 478 cultural objects to Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

The six artefacts that are currently being returned are in the custody of the Rijksmuseum, the national museum of the Netherlands which has historical products since 1200.

The Dutch ruled Sri Lanka, which was popularly known as Ceylon for nearly 140 years until they were expelled by the British in 1796.

“As far as Sri Lanka’s colonial occupiers go, the Netherlands has taken the lead in the space of artefact restitution. The Netherland’s decision to return several objects from Sri Lanka to the island is thus a welcome one, and a testament to the former coloniser’s desire to make some amends,” Shamara Wettimunny, a historian and political analyst, told EconomyNext.

Dutch King Willem-Alexander on July 1 formally apologized for the Netherlands’ involvement in slavery, saying he felt “personally and intensely” affected.

“The Dutch government has, however, ruled out the idea of reparations for now. Although not all objects taken from Sri Lanka are due to be returned, included in the returns is the beautifully adorned Lewke Cannon, taken as war loot from the Kandyan Kingdom in 1765,”  Wettimunny said.

“This announcement of artefact restitution should be seen as a process, which we are just embarking on, rather than concluding. The important question for us in Sri Lanka is, what will become of those artefacts once they return to the island? Where will they be kept and how well will they be looked after? Who owns an object that was gifted to a monarchy that no longer exists in Sri Lanka?”

“Robberies at the National Museum in 2012 and 2017 and the inadequate protection provided to such important heritage sites give cause for concern for the future of restituted artefacts in Sri Lanka.”

The event which was organized by the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre (SVCC) of the Indian High Commission with the ministry of health also saw traditional doctors participating.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution, piloted by India in 2014, proclaiming June 21 as the ‘International Day of Yoga’ with Sri Lanka as a co-sponsor at the Independence Squire in Colombo, the Indian High Commission said.

The event saw participation of several ministers including Susil Premajayantha, Minister of Education, Bandula Gunawardena, Minister of Transport & Highways and Mass Media, Ali Sabry, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sisira Jayakody, State Minister of Indigenous Medicine, Aravindh Kumar, State Minister of Education, Suren Raghavan, State Minister of Higher Education.

High Commissioner of India, H.E. Gopal Baglay, officials and staff of the High Commission, students, police personnel, members of the Indian community and yoga enthusiasts in Sri Lanka also participated.

In line with the celebration in Colombo, SVCC in collaboration with government institutions, yoga organisations and local partners, has organized Yoga events, workshops, lectures and demonstrations for different age-groups and professions across the island.

(Colombo/ June 18/2023)

According to Prof G P V Somaratne, former Head of the Department of History and Political Science at the University of Colombo, the ancient history of Buddhism among Tamils in Sri Lanka has been entangled with prejudices associated with the more recent ethnic dispute between the Sinhalese and Tamils.

In a paper he published titled ‘Tamil Buddhism in Sri Lanka’, Somaratne notes that a number of Buddhist archaeological sites in Sri Lanka’s Northern and Eastern provinces have given rise to controversial claims and have been subject to a politicised interpretation with the escalation of the conflict.

“Both groups argue with an agenda to promote the claims of their side, overstepping the boundaries of academic impartiality,” the academic writes.

According to Somaratne, archaeologists including a prominent Buddhist monk who famously dabbles in archaeology have attempted to ascribe a Sinhala Buddhist origin to certain archaeological discoveries made in the Tamil-dominated provinces, while other scholars have interpreted a wholly Tamil heritage or Tamil ownership of Buddhist ruins found in the two provinces.

“There are writers who claim the entire island as the heritage of Tamils while there are others who claim the island as Sinhala Buddhist heritage. Even scholars of international fame have fallen into this pit,” writes Somaratne.

The scholar argues that in the wake of the British census, ideas of ethnic division became more deeply entrenched in Sri Lankan society which had otherwise enjoyed relatively cordial relations between Sinhalese and Tamils in times of peace over the centuries. “Religious differences generally did not add fire to the ethnic tensions,” he writes, adding that during the Dutch period racial distinctions between the two communities were largely unseen in contrast to the sharper caste divisions.

“The conflict about the discovery of Buddhist sites in the North and East in Sri Lanka emanates from the attempt to identify religion and ethnicity as two sides of the same coin,” he says.

Somaratne’s paper, which provides exhaustive examples of Tamil Buddhist sites in Sri Lanka and a detailed account of Tamil Buddhism’s origin in Tamil Nadu, its evolution and expansion into northern Sri Lanka and its historiography, can be found here.

An argument put forward by Somaratne in the paper is that both Sinhalese and Tamils, including certain scholars, are hesitant to acknowledge the historicity of Tamil Buddhism for their own politically motivated reasons.

“Some Sinhala Buddhist scholars have assumed that the presence of Buddhist archaeological sites in the North and Eastern Provinces, where Tamils live today, would prove the presence of Sinhalese there. The impression among the Sinhalese Buddhists is that Buddhism in Sri Lanka is exclusively for the Sinhalese.

“In this assumption there seems to be an unwillingness to accept that Tamils too were Buddhists in a bygone era,” he writes.

On the other hand, says Somaratne, Tamil speakers who now occupy these lands are also “uneasy” about the discovery of Buddhist sites due to fears populist Sinhala politicians using it for their own political gains.

“A Buddhist past is unpleasant to many Tamils today. Thus they are reluctant to admit the reality that their ancestors had been Buddhists in the past. Today most Tamils in Sri Lanka are Hindu or Christian. Modern researchers on the Sinhala as well as the Tamil side work on an agenda to prove that their side of the story is true,” the professor writes.

It is against this backdrop that President Wickremesinghe publicly acknowledged the historicity of Tamil Buddhism in the island nation. The president’s remarks were welcomed by, among others, opposition MP Mano Ganesan who said recognising Tamil Buddhism as historical fact is “the key to many deadlocks”.

Wickremesinghe made his comment in what appeared to be a heated exchange of words with Director General of the Department of Archaeology Prof Anura Manatunga who resigned on Monday June 12 after a video recording of the exchange went viral on social media. The presidential talking-to occurred at a meeting with archaeology department officials and a number of opposition MPs from Tamil constituencies regarding land acquisition by the department in the country’s north and east allegedly under the pretext of preserving heritage sites.

The Department of Archaeology has been at the centre of a controversy going back some years over alleged acquisition of land that critics claim rightfully belongs to Tamil-speaking residents of the areas marked as sites of archaeological importance.

Historian Dr Shamara Wettimuny speaking to EconomyNext on Tuesday June 13 noted that the modern scientific investigation into various archaeological sites in Sri Lanka has roots in the British colonial period.

According to Wettimuny, the origins of the Department of Archaeology can be traced back to British interventions in the 19th century when, in 1858, an Archaeological Commission was appointed by the then Governor to investigate ancient monuments in Anuradhapura, with more state funds directed towards excavation and restoration over time. In 1890, H C P Bell was appointed the first Archaeological Commissioner, the equivalent of the present day Director General of the Archaeology Department.

“The study of the island’s historical sites was not done for the sake of knowledge production alone. Instead, as Pradeep Jeganathan has observed, ‘knowledge of history was quite central in [colonisation] efforts; to know the ‘past’ was to control the ‘present’,” said Wettimuny.

“That applied very much to the British interest in archaeology and indeed, to the post-colonial Sri Lankan state. Nevertheless, the British appeared to prioritise, archaeologically speaking, a Sinhala-Buddhist narrative of Sri Lankan history,” she said.

This colonial legacy of giving pride of place to a Sinhala Buddhist narrative of the island nation’s history, Wettimuny believes, continues to this day.

“A glance at the Department of Archaeology’s official emblem today will leave the curious in no uncertainty about what type of historical site is given state support, often at the expense of other archaeological sites,” she said.

As noted by Prof Somaratne in his widely shared paper, the ambitions of two historically based ethnicities in the new Sri Lankan nation clash, contributing to the conflicting narratives on Tamil Buddhism and its history.

“It is well known that history and archaeology have been put to political uses in nation-building programmes. During the period of politicisation of the Sinhala Buddhist nation, Anuradhapura came to be shaped by a new nationalist consciousness. This view was that the Sinhala Buddhist nation is a historically homogeneous and consistent entity. The purpose of this interpretation of history would assert connections with the past within an imagined history of Sinhala as well as Tamil ethnic groups. This has led to the rise of perilous nationalism (Nissan 1989:64). Both sides are not really interested in the true facts of history as their aim is to use the name of history for present-day needs,” he writes.

According to the academic, Tamil analysts of Buddhist history of Jaffna, too, have used it for political purposes. One has to understand the perception of the history of the Tamils in Sri Lanka in the context of the history of all Sri Lanka by the ownership of the Sinhalese, he argues, noting that their presentation of history is to show that they have a right to be in what they perceive to be their homeland.

“They wish to show that they have a right to exist in this land. They seem to feel that the Sinhalese have stolen their history. In order to protect their rights, they use history as one weapon in their defence.

“Since the Tamils attempt to prove their right to exist and their right to be there, then the purpose of historical claims of Buddhist heritage in Jaffna is to prove that point. They want to justify their present homeland, whether Buddhist or Hindu, with the interpretation of historical facts amidst the attempts of Sinhala Buddhists to subsume them under a dominant majority with the help of democratic governmental apparatus,” Somaratne writes in conclusion. (Colombo/Jun13/2023)

The 68th annual convention of Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) is set to be held from July 6 to 9, 2023, occupying around 400 agents in the travel industry.

“The event will mainly be about their working sessions, various different angles of the tourism industry etc,”Nishan Wijetunga, the President of Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) , told Economy Next. 

 “But the fact that we can get 450 agents to come into Sri Lanka and experience it as it will be a positive outcome for the tourism board.”

 Sri Lanka expected a boom in MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) tourist arrivals this year mainly led by India as the country gradually recovers from the economic crisis from last year.

MICE tourism, which showed a gradual increase in 2018, declined drastically following a series of crises started with the easter sunday attack in 2019.

“This event will increase the numbers and the exposure for Sri Lanka as it will take away the negative news about the country”, Wijetunge said. 

The conference is expecting around 450 travel agents from India joined by 50 media personalities.

“TAAI is the oldest and the largest association of India as we are mostly into outbound tourism and we will be coming with nearly 450 agents,” Jyoti Mayal the President of the Travel Agents Association of India told Economy Next. 

“Even if 10 percent of them start doing business, India will continue to be the number one source market for Sri Lanka”, 

Sri Lanka is expecting 1.55 million tourists in 2023 led by visitors from India as the island nation saw 9,323 arrivals from May in this month. 

In 2019, before the Coronavirus crisis hit, Sri Lanka welcomed 1.9 million tourists, out of which 355,002 tourists were from India. 

 Sri Lanka witnessed a total of 123,004 tourist arrivals from India for the whole year, in 2022. 

The country saw 36,100 tourist arrivals from May 1 -14 and the total number of tourist arrivals for the year so far is 477,277. (Colombo/ May 20/2023)

Sri Lanka started importing eggs after price controls on eggs imposed by the Consumer Affair Authorities amid high feed prices following the collapse of the rupee from money printing, leading mass culling of layer chicken for meat and switching to broiler production.

The fall in demand then led to culling of parent stock at hatcheries. Broiler chicken which was free from price controls saw a steep fall in prices to around 980 rupees kilo from 1700 levels amid higher production.

Minister Siyambalapitiya said 277,360 kilograms of eggs have been imported from February 13.

“If 16 or 17 eggs are assumed to be in a kilogram about 4.5 million eggs have been imported so far,” Minister Siyambalapitiya has said.

No steps have been taken against the Consumer Affaires Authority for decimating the layer chicken sector and driving egg production down.

Cabinet Minister Bandula Gunawardana, a former trade minister said, farmers could consider going to court to seek relief.

Meanwhile some field officers the CAA struck work after some egg farmers assaulted them, reports said. (Colombo/May10/2023)

The controversial new central bank is expected to legalize output gap targeting (printing money for growth) as a sub objective.

The banks will also get a legal mandate to simultaneously operate money and exchange polices, (so-called dual anchor or impossible trinity regime), in the course of operating flexible inflation targeting regime.

Provisional advances – another form of delivering liquidity shocks – will be done for interest instead of free as of now.

Sri Lanka has had monetary instability from shortly after the central bank was created in 1950 with simultaneous money and exchange policies but the country had managed to avoid external sovereign default until 2022.

Flexible inflation targeting with output gap targeting with aggressive open market operations started around seven years ago after the IMF gave technical assistance to calculate a so-called potential output.

The new monetary law is a structural benchmark in the IMF program.

On May 12, a welfare benefit law will be taken up. (Colombo/ May04/2023)

Following a decision by the Ministry of Buddhasasana, Religious, and Cultural Affairs, liquor stores will be closed from May 4-6, including the day before Vesak festival, a spokesman for the Excise Department of Sri Lanka told EconomyNext.

“The decision to close liquor stores for three days will cost the government 337 million rupees per day”.

In Sri Lanka alcohol stores are closed on Full Moon Poya days which are public holidays. Some customers buy extra alcohol the day before.

State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya had said that only 64 percent of the expected revenue by the liquor tax department had been collected in the first quarter.

However, the Inland Revenue Department has earned 105 percent of its target, he said. Excise, Inland Revenue and Customs are the three main tax collecting agencies.

In Sri Lanka liquor stores have to be closed by 9.00 pm and there are also laws limiting their locations.

The Cabinet of Ministers approved a proposal earlier this year to introduce a new excise act to replace a 111-year-old excise ordinance that dates back to the colonial days and President Ranil Wickremesinghe, as Finance Minister, had directed legal draftsman to draft a new Excise bill. (Colombo/May03/2023)

“Electricity charges were increased in February, and that is a big component of the cost of production,” an official from the National Water Supply and Drainage Board told EconomyNext.

“Along with that, the usage has also gone up during the month, and demand has increased by around 10 percent as the country is experiencing extremely hot weather conditions.”

Following the electricity tariff hike in 2022, the water tariff was also increased in September 2022.

However, after the second electricity tariff hike in February 2023, no changes were made to the water tariff.

The proposed tariffs will be run through the water board, the ministry, and will be presented to the Cabinet of Ministers for approval in the coming weeks, the official said.

Last year the State Minister for Water Supply Sanath Nishantha said, the water tariff needs to be increased in order to get to a breakeven point as the water board is selling water incurring a loss at the moment.

Also read; Sri Lanka mulls second water tariff hike after currency collapse

“Currently the water board is providing water at two cents per liter, which is extremely low,” Minister Nishantha said in an earlier report.

“The Water Board is selling at 2.0 cents a litre when its cost of production is 3.5 cents.”

Nishantha said, the hike will be done in order to run the water board without the government’s financial support. (April/May 01/2023)

Officials have said the European Union has demanded to address the human rights issues faced by sexual minority groups including homosexuals. However, the country of 22 million with Buddhist majority has not changed its constitution to recognize sexual minorities in Sri Lanka.

“Homosexuality is an offense under the Penal Code,” the PMD said quoting President Ranil Wickremesinghe during a discussion with Harvard University on March 24,2023.

“However, it has never been enforced for the last five decades to my knowledge,” he said.

“Certainly, the government will or will not enforce that law, but a group of parliamentarians are discussing this and will most probably take action to repeal this provision.”

Sri Lanka’s Penal Code prohibits “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” and “gross indecency between persons”, which rights groups including Human Rights Watch (HRW) have said is “commonly understood in Sri Lanka to criminalise same-sex relations between consenting adults, including in private spaces.”

Human Rights Watch has documented that other laws, including a vaguely worded Vagrancy Law and a penal code provision banning “cheating by personation,” are also used to target transgender and gender non-conforming people for arrest.

Also the report has documented the various abuses such as forced anal examinations that are often used by the authorities in their prosecution of homosexuals.

A Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP) Plus – a lucrative trade concession worth over 500 million US dollars that has boosted Sri Lanka’s exports to EU member states – is at a stake as the island nation has failed to implement some of the 27 international conventions including addressing the rights of minorities requested by the EU in return for the GSP plus.

Sri Lanka lost access to GSP Plus in 2010 due to alleged human rights violations but regained it in 2016 after pledging to implement the international conventions. However, rights groups have asked the EU to consider the rights violations in the country when renewing the trade concession.

The bloc has warned that the concession could be withdrawn if the island nation fails to implement a few key demands including the repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and the release of long detained suspects under the PTA. (Colombo/ March31/2023)

Her raw materials consist of waste items such as unusable aircraft seats covers, blankets, uniforms and other items originating from the aircraft.

The airline spends around 500,000 rupees for waste disposal, Anushad Liyanagoda, Captain of Sri Lankan Airlines said.

SriLankan is able to prevent discarded waste material of up to 16 tonnes, while unwanted textiles weighing 167 kilograms is prevented from going to landfill dumps, minimising the long-term negative impacts to the environment, Liyanagoda said.

The upcycled materials, once converted into finished goods, make up a product line of 1,580 products.

“Being a designer, I was thinking how I might be able to find a solution to the problem of waste,” Rodrigo,who is a nature lover, said.

“The more I upcycle, the more experience I get and the more I explored different materials, and the more I worked with divergent cooperatives. I was able to explore ways and possibilities to creatively exploit the waste,” Rodrigo said.

As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, House of Lonali focuses on empowering women hit by poverty and abuse.

In 2019, Rodrigo joined hands with SriLankan’s “Mathaka” project, and eight months later, retailing had commenced.

The airline project became a turning point in Rodrigo’s life.

“It is not easy to deal with tons of waste, and there is a variety of garments we deal with, so we have to be very creative with each piece that we are given,” she said

Upcycling the projects has to come with a creative turn, Rodrigo said.

“Joining SriLankan Airlines in this project has helped us expand ourselves with good exposure. For a small brand, the biggest benefit is joining hands with a bigger brand,” Rodrigo said.

Rodrigo’s biggest support system is her family, she said. While she learns her entrepreneurial skills from her father husband who works in the IT sector assists her in the digital and technical end of retail.

Anushika Priyadarshni, a 31- year- old, housewife, living in Hokandara, Sinhapura, who has been a part of the Mathaka project for eight years8 said she has seen financial changes in her life after she juggled flexible working and household duties.

A mother of two schooling children, Priyadarshani is able to contribute to her family whilst working.

“The work hours are very flexible andI can manage sewing while taking care of the children,” she said.

Priyadarshani has not taken on the project alone., Hher husband also helps as an apparel cutter.

“My husband cuts the material while I sew the product.,”

“It’s a privilege to give a hand to the family income since one -person earning is a not enough in the current situation” she added.

Sri Lanka’s sky rocketing cost of living has led to a situation where more than one member of the family is compelled to find wor.

“There is a lot we have accomplished financially through this project., We built a small house of our own in front of our parent’s house,”said Priyadharshani.

Her day begins early in the morning when she cooks for the family and drops the children at school.

“When the kids are at school I start sewing and when they are home I spendt time with them helping them with their homework. If I get any free time, sew.”

Priyadarshini’s main products consist of bags and pouches, and in December she earned an income of 54,000 rupees., However, earnings tend to fluctuate

“I feel productive when I work rather than staying home without doing anything and it is more encouraging when you receive a good sum of money for the effort you put into it,” she said. (Colombo/Feb02/2023)

No Cost Push Inflation?

“There is no point of increasing it further, ” Bakery Association Chief, N K Jayawardena told EconomyNext.

“We did it several times and we do not think we can increase it more; we hope to discuss this with the authorities.”

Previous price rises had led to customers buying less, he said.

“The current prices are too high and if we more it will result in further downfall of the business.”

Sri Lanka’s central bank hiked rates in from April 2023, ran out of dollars to engage in sterilized interventions around July and has since avoided money printing and kept a policy which was not against a 360 to the US dollar guidance peg.

Global wheat, maize and freight rates shot up after Fed fired a commodity bubble, but the following rates hikes and liquidity withdrawals (‘un-printing’ dollars or quantity tightening) food and energy prices have eased.

Sri Lanka’s economists in the process of flexible inflation targeting collapsed the rupee from 131 to 182 to the US dollar. They then collapsed it to 360 to the US dollar by printing money for ‘stimulus’.

The Ceylon Electricity Board kept prices unchanged from 2014 to 2021, running some losses, largely with the its coal power plants.

The All Island Canteen Owners Association said a packet of price will be raised by 10 percent after the 66 percent electricity hike flowing the most recent collapse of the rupee.

“From yesterday onwards we increased the prices, prices of Kottu, Fried rice and rice and curry were increased by 10 percent ” association president, Asela Sampth said.

“We have already been hit by many issues, our businesses have dropped and we know with this it will further go down,

“We asked to give us solar (power) but so far nothing has been implemented.”

The association was higher costs from rupee depreciation, followed by the fuel and gas shortages, he said.

No Increase

The All Island Poultry Association which has not pricing power and has no history of cartelized price hikes unlike bakers and canteen owners said, the effect of the electricity tariff hike is still being assessed.

“In the poultry industry, production cost of mainly broiler, processing chicken will increase,” Ajith Gunasekera Chairman of the All Island Poultry Association said.

“The frozen chicken market, which use freezers will get highly affected.

“However, I do not think it will have any major impact on the egg production or the live chicken markets.”

Sri Lanka’s government slapped price controls on eggs, where prices are determined by demand, and crippled the sector, leading to severe shortages of eggs, as owners killed layer chicken for meat and avoided growing fresh flocks.

(Colombo/ Feb 17/2023)

Litro said the demand for gas has increased also partly due to ongoing Ukraine and Russia war, festival season, and Winter in the near future.

The price of a 12.5 kg gas cylinder will be increased by 5.7 percent or 250 rupees to 4,610 rupees, while the price of a 5 kg cylinder will be increased by 5.7 percent or 100 rupees to 1,850 rupees. The 2.3 kg gas cylinder price will be increased by 5.5 percent or 45 rupees to 860 rupees.

The Europe region is going through a recession and it is expected to continue in 2023. As a result, the Europe Union has asked countries under he EU to minimize the energy consumption voluntarily, and brace for a colder winter season in the coming months. (Colombo/ Dec05/2022)