by A. Nillanthan, March 4, 2023
[translated from the original Tamil by Google Translate, with some improvement by the Editor.]
The soldier said on the last day that Buddha had appeared in a dream to him in a army camp in Nilavara on the island of Sri Lanka. As Rauf Hakeem once said, the statues of Buddha have been converted into borders.
From whom is the soldier protecting the land in that Nilavara camp?
Statistics show that nearly two -thirds of the total of Sri Lankan island’s total army are in Tamil land. According to Nishan de Mel the director of Verite Research, the country’s expenses for security forces are about 50% of the country’s public sector. de Mel says the reason for the island’s economic degradation is that the cost for the security forces is higher than the sum for both education and health costs combined.
The small Sri Lankan island has economic troubles much like Pakistan. But, according to reports in the Pakistani media a few days ago, the special funds allocated for the soldiers ran out, and there was no cash for the soldiers. But the monks who protest against the 13th Amendment in Sri Lanka get three times.
Reducing the number of the security forces in the country could save a large portion of the country’s wealth. Such a reduction was previously said to be one of the conditions of the IMF. Ranil knows that it is political suicide to reduce the number. So is he postponing the issue so that the monks and the opposition parties can go on the streets against the 13th Amendment?
But the military cannot be able to dismantle the Tamil areas without the smuggling of the soldiers. Did the Tamil Diaspora insist that the West present reducing the military as a condition for a bailout? Is it possible to restore the economy without being fascinated by the soldiers? Does the government believe that the other conditions of the IMF can be fulfilled without reducing the number of soldiers?
But the grassroots people have suffered the most, from subsidies being cut to meet the other conditions of the IMF to raising the price of fertilizer and bank interest rates.
The price of fertilizer is high. So farmers have increased the price of paddy. That is why a large number of Sinhalese participated in the JVP-organized demonstration last Sunday. Similarly, last Wednesday, less than 40 trade unions showed their opposition. On the other hand, the new tax imposed by the government has led to many begunning to flee the country.
The meeting organized by the JVP last Sunday
Izuru Kasthuri Ratna, Joint Secretary of the Engineers Association of the Electricity Board has said that 72 engineers of the Electricity Board have left the country in the last one year and 22 of them are working at Nuraicholi Power Plant. He pointed out that 123 engineers are required to run the Nuraicholi Power Plant on a regular basis, but today only 100 people are working. He said that due to shortage, the plant may have to be shut down in the future and if that happens, the power crisis will be severe.
Samil Wijesinghe, Media Spokesperson of Government Medical Officers Association has said as follows….. “50 to 60 government doctors have left the country this month. In particular, some doctors have left the country without taking leave. However, the names and number of medical professionals who have left the country have not yet been released by the Ministry of Health. According to the information available to us, the statistics indicate that a total of more than 1,000 medical professionals have left the country”…
“Meanwhile, hospital operations have been severely affected by the exodus of doctors in rural and urban hospitals. However, the Colombo National Hospital, Lady Ridgeway Children’s Hospital and Maharagama Cancer Hospital have so far not been affected by the shortage of medical specialists….Also, despite the presence of specialist doctors in the hospital, nurses and other health workers have left the hospitals and gone abroad for business. At the same time, most of the medical consultants have also left the hospitals,” says Samil Wijesinghe.
Thus, on one hand, intelligent and educated people are leaving the country. On the other hand, recently, American warplanes have entered the country with military officers. On the 14th of last month, an online magazine called “Sri Lanka Guardian” published an article saying that the US and India are going to build a joint base in Trincomalee.
Despite the begging this small island has not lost its charm due to its strategic importance. That is why empires are looking at this small island. China has already squatted permanently in Hambantotai for 99 years. A starship was built in the port of Colombo. India is working hard to find where it can spread its foothold in Sri Lanka against Chinese expansion. In the north, Cuddalati has become a diplomatic commodity. On the one hand, empires are looking at this small island. On the other hand, the educated brains of this small island are fleeing the country. Whose land is the soldier camping on the moon on and dreaming of protecting from whom?