Words such as `Sir fail’ have come into the limelight these days because there is no proper mechanism in the Government to reply to such fabrications. The Government needs a proper mechanism to reply to such falsehood, the Head of the Department of Sanskrit and Eastern Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Senior Prof. Ven. Induragare Dhammarathana Thera said.
The Thera was speaking at the launch of two books authored by Ven. Muruththettuwe Ananda Thera, at the Abhayaramaya, Narahenpita on Thursday, February 25.
The ceremony was held under the patronage of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The Ven. Professor said that various people said things against this Government. The current Government has been in office for only one year and three months. “We brought in this Government as the people rejected the previous Government due to its many shortcomings.
“Which Government in Sri Lanka provided employment for those who failed the GCE Ordinary Level examination? During the past few months the Government has provided over 37,000 jobs to those from needy families who had failed the Ordinary Level examination. This Government has provided employment opportunities to over 60,000 jobs for graduates during the past few months. I ask whether Sir has failed? If so, then who has passed?”
The Ven. Thera said no one can find fault with the Government as it did not sign the MCC Agreement and has said that the Eastern Container Terminal of the Colombo harbour will not be given to anyone.
How is it that the Yahapalana regime which tried its best to sign the MCC Agreement was better than this Government? Is the Yahapalana Government that sold the entire Hambantota Harbour better than this Government?, he said.
Ven. Prof. Dhammarathana Thera said many rich countries did not pay due salaries and pensions to their citizens due to Covid-19 but the Government paid all salaries and pensions on time while having to repay loans amounting to 18 trillion rupees. If this success is a failure then what is a success? he said.
The Thera said some people co-sponsored proposals against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Commission. But this Government bravely withdrew the co-sponsorship of the Resolution. Can we speak against a Government that does not sell national assets, does not imprison bhikkhus, and freed war heroes? Now arrangements have been made to recruit 10,000 more undergraduates to state Universities. Can we call these things a failure?
This Government stopped importing turmeric and pepper. Now a kilogram of turmeric is just Rs. 180 and the Indian High Commissioner says that Indian turmeric cultivators do not get an adequate income now. This Government stopped the flow of millions of rupees to foreign countries. Unfortunately the Government does not have a proper mechanism to tell these things to the people. It is a major weakness.
Words such as ‘Sir Fail’ are being created and circulated on social media. There is no one to reply to them. Some say bhikkhus should reply, others say professors should reply, or that Parliament should reply and yet others say the Abhayaramaya should reply.
The final report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) into the Easter Sunday attacks has recommended direct punishment for people who are away while not recommending adequate punishment for the culprits directly responsible for the attack. This is like the Sinhala saying, `Muwa hamata thadi bema’ and like a judgment given by King Kekille. Maybe another Commission will be needed to inquire about this commission which produced the final report.
It is 206 years since the destruction of Sinhala society in Sri Lanka. According to history, the Sinhala Kingdom was handed over to the British by Sinhala Ministers. John Doyle made use of the disunity among the Sinhala Nilames (then Ministers) to capture the Sinhala King and hand him over to England. That is how the Sinhala Kingdom was totally destroyed. It is very sad if some people try to destroy the Government built by them with much hardship.
In the past, colonialists took away around 6,400 ancient historical valuable Sri Lankan books, especially those such as Hugh Neville. Now those books are in British museums. Sri Lankan-made rifles are now in museums in the Netherlands. They took away our heritage.
It is believed that airplane technology was found in ancient Sri Lanka. Now individuals who cannot put their knowledge into action are being produced by the Sri Lankan education system. Today agriculture is taught in schools but there are not many paddy fields. In the past there was no subject called `Agriculture’ in the school syllabus but there were 100,000 paddy fields. That is why it was called `Wellassa, and 33,000 tanks were built without the subject of engineering.