By S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole –

Prof S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole

This is our Lenten Season. By my father’s regimen, we had at home fish and no meat on Lenten weekdays and not even fish on Fridays. But Sunday was feast day. The vegetarian Nallur Bhavan gives good food at moderate prices. It being Friday the waiter was gracious and served me sago pudding to make up for the required fasting, saying, “I know it is also “nonebu” for you, for Muslims and us [Hindus].” It was kind of him although he did not know delicacies like desserts were off on Fridays in Lent.

Lent is also a special season of prayer. The Bishop of Jaffna, The Rt. Rev. Justin Bernard Gnanapragasam, on 9 March 2025 which is the first Sunday in Lent, asked all Parish Priests to read his Pastoral Letter in lieu of the sermon. He emphasized the duties in Lent of Prayer, Fasting and Giving. After elaborating on these, he heads a section titled “Today’s Political Situation.” Here he says,

The new government echoing the sentiment “We will make Sri Lanka Clean,” has started many programmes. It is also mentally weighing in on efforts aimed at economic upliftment. Even though many anti-corruption efforts are brought before the law, the continual killings in South Sri Lanka are causing dysentery among the people. In the midst of this, we will have to face off the Local Government Elections. The people must take a decisive decision. May the Lord give our country a wholesome peace.

Propitious words for Jaffna’s NPP. He urges us in our endeavours to support our parish fathers who have guided our voting. It is noteworthy that of the 27 seats in Jaffna’s Municipality, 17 are predominantly Roman Catholic. The Church will determine who gets to be Mayor.

I wish the two Anglican Bishops (Dushantha Rodrigo and Nishantha Fernando) would read Bishop Gnanaparagasam’s Pastoral Letter from which they can learn Lenten Charity, desisting from devilish, vindictive and cruel punishment of St. John’s College’s Rev. Fr. Vijayadasan Daniel, keeping him suspended without a salary running into 9 months. They are so authoritarian that they gave the CMS Chairman’s post held once by a Bishop so that they can keep their hands clean by getting a stooge greedy for office to be chairman and turn the screws on people they do not like through him. Now when people ask why the enquiry is so long drawn out, they say they do not like to interfere with the chairman. So what do the Bishops do as members of the CMS Board? More than drink tea I trust. The outstanding charge against Fr. Daniel is that as President of the Teachers’ Guild at St. John’s, Fr. Daniel is asking the Principal Thuseetharan to put down his instructions in writing, a necessary precaution because I documented the Principal lying to the OBA Executive committee three times in one meeting! Even at the inquiry, Thuseetharan has untruthfully claimed that the Education Department stopped Fr. Daniel’s salary whereas an RTI request from the Department confirms that they had nothing to do with it and it was Thuseetharan’s doing.

The inquiring officer, one Janaprith Fernando, AaL, is a Thomian well-connected to the Anglican Establishment. He is very friendly with the Principal, comes for the inquiry with him, allows proceedings to be on the school computer in the custody of the Principal, and drags on the inquiry to force Fr. Daniel to run out of money and go away, and at the same time increases his own charges. Is that bribery of sorts by the Church?  Manager Dhanon Senathirajah was present at school on Day-1 of the enquiry 3 Jan. 2025, but did not show himself and avoided being questioned.

What brand of Christianity is the Anglican Church and its two Bishops on the CMS Board preaching? The reputation of the Church ought to be much higher than saving the neck of an unsuitable, tyrant of a Principal.

In this age when Muslims are all too easily branded terrorists, it is good to note that the renewed assault on Palestine this week was after Netanyahu consulted Trump on breaking the legally binding ceasefire (Times of India as informed by the White House). The so-called Christian Trump selling Golden Bibles is the terrorist. Remember, even the venerated Barrack Obama after murdering children through drone bombings in Afghanistan and Pakistan, exposed his ugly side when he said, “No American lives were lost.” Are American lives more important than other lives? (See adjacent picture from my US Class notes on Professional Ethics).

On 4 March 2025 I returned from the US after attending my grandson Thoma’s birth. I had a court case in Trincomalee and pushed my return date to the last to be with my family. From the airport I went to attend court (where, as often happens, the Magistrate did not show up. How many days I have wasted going to court (two trips in March to Trincomalee to waste my time and money with no advance towards justice) where the judges have excuses for their absence. That certainly does not usher in a clean government.) I drove then to Jaffna. I remember thinking I am feeling sleepy and should stop. The next thing I know, I wake up to a bump. I had crossed the road and driven into an agricultural drain in Rotawewa. One Mr. Satthar, showing a lot more Lenten Charity than our two Anglican Bishops, pulled me out of my van because my seat-belt was stuck, hauled the van out with his tractor, and sent his two sons to drive me home in Jaffna and return by bus. They were like Angels. They took only the bus-fare back saying it is their Nonebu duty, a sentiment of kindness our two bishops lack towards Father Daniel whose ban on setting foot into St. John’s prevented him from attending to see his daughter in a music competition and coming first. He received no response when he wanted to attend the big-match at Central which is not in the banned zone. His daughter, like my children, may leave the Anglican Church after seeing how our Bishops behave – like tyrants, even defrauding endowment funds. It is all about silencing criticism and revenge.

I may be permitted to wonder who, Mr. Sadam or our two Bishops, showed the spirit of Lenten Giving and Charity that Bishop Gnanapragasam urged upon us. I thank God for my angels and how God moved through them.

In contrast to Bishop Gnanapragasam, we see renowned journalist D.B.S. Jeyaraj, unlike his normally cautious self, contradicting himself in his piece in The Daily Mirror (15 March 2025) in quoting “informed sources,” that the NPP star has not waned but in fact waxed. He plays it both ways in guarded journalistic hedging of bets, by following this up saying that;

Despite the optimism within the NPP, there are doubts as to whether the party will get ample support from the people of Jaffna in the local poll. The main reason for this is the hiatus between pledge and performance.

There is, however, some truth in this statement. The only authenticable poll we have is old and from “Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS) from June 2024 showing that support for SJB leader Sajith Premadasa increased to 43% (+4) but decreased for NPP/JVP leader AK Dissanayake to 30% (-6) compared to May. But the real poll from the elections shows a huge surge for the NPP.

Did anything change? Were the polls manipulated? However, despite varied and contradictory predictions like fom Jeyaraj’s cousin M.A. Sumanthiran on the eve of the Parliamentary elections,  there are good reasons for the NPP to be weary. The corrupt are always seeking appointments and getting them. Many good people are turned away saying they are too old – although there is much to hate about Trump, age discrimination is not a reason for the man 3 months short of 79 years. His nominee to head the Centers for Disease Control, is Michael Burgess, 74. A clean government must end every kind of discrimination and seek talent, placing it above party loyalty. In asking why so many months after the electios many positions are unfilled, Paikiasothy Saravanamuththy asks if they were not prepared. This was on 10 Dec. 2024. Today it is 22  March and the situation is no different.

Then there are signs that the Chinese are moving into the North. The Velanai Naval base, say reporters, has a radar station built by the Chinese. Will the Chinese have access to the data? Will India take it lying down? There is a letter from the Chinese asking for P. Balasundarmpillai to be the next Chancellor of Jaffna, the head of the univerity.

There are worrying signs that the armed services have some veto power over government policy. After initially honoring the promise to remove road blocks such as at Elephant Pass, the disappeared checkpoints have reappeared but with few interdictions. So also on the Jaffna-Poonakary Road where the two removed roadblocks have reappeared although with fewer personnel.

The Chinese are pressuring the government to appoint gormer VCmProf. P. Balasundarampillai as the Chancellor, i.e., the Head of the University. It is said at the university  (I do not know this for a fact) that the Chinese pushed for 5 people to be put on the Council and 4 of them are now Council Members. Likely true after their pressure on behalf of Prof. Balasundarampillai.

Then three days ago, the U.S. Embassy in Sri Lanka announced that the Commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), Admiral Samuel J. Paparo, will travel to Colombo from March 19-21. During his visit, Admiral Paparo will engage with senior Sri Lankan government officials and military leaders to reaffirm the enduring U.S.-Sri Lankan security partnership and share the U.S. vision for regional stability and security in the Indo-Pacific. (19 March 2025 letter to Americans in Sri Lanka)

This is no coincidence. Do we want a security partnership with a power that thinks that the loss of American lives is somehow more heinous than the loss of other lives? A power that will run away when their people take hits as they did from Vetnam and Afghanistan? Remember, if there is ever a confrontation in Jaffna between the US and China, China has more lives to throw away to realize its objectives. And India? We want non-alignment, not be a theatre of warfare.

Worse and worrisome is that the Sri Lankan Navy has gone berserk with its corruption. After stopping Indian trawlers in Sri Lankan seas, the navy with no sense of shame as the public watches removes as much as 6-12 l of diesel from the interdicted trawlers and takes the trawlers for processing  sans the diesel. The Navy Commaders do not seem to care as if assured of impunity. At the next level of impunity, Rear Admiral A.A.R. Abeysinghe, (Commander Northern Naval Area), is also into seemingly thieving activities charging Pilot’s Fees for the ferry service from India, presumably for guiding the ferry into port. He is charging fees in US$ at a rate of Rs. 300.04 per dollar (which should have been at the lower buying rate). What is terrible is that he is seemingly so arrogant and assured of impunity that he asks in writing for the money to be deposited in a personal account in his name.

In another development, Governor/North, Mr. N. Vedanayagam, has accused in a letter to the PM that the Government Agent M. Piratheepan is corrupt. He has cited three instances. The one I will briefly detail is about alienating government land for himself which was not allowed given his salary level and moving it around and losing justifying documnts. An RTI request establishes this. As the government allows him to hang on to his job – perhsps someone finds him profitable – Vedayaham, according to reliable sources, will resign as Governor before the election if no action is taken. Doing one better than Anglican Bishops who insist on their right to appoint anyone in the church, the Governnt should tread with caution in taking the Anglican lead. Pirtheepan is not worth it. Vedanayahan is a highly respected civil servant whose loss will hurt the government severely, especailly as to its credentials in honesty. As the public places much stock in the integrity of Harini Amarasuriya, I am unable to get my press sources to assert the same about some Ministers about one of whom the allegation is that some business persons gifted a car worth more than Rs. 100 million. We will know more through an RTI request when the car completes change of ownership at the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu excoriates the NPP for reneging on the promise to repeal the PTA. He asks, if AKD and the NPP fail, then who is there to take over?  Sajith and the SJB?  Ranil and the UNP?  No. It will be Namal and the Pohottuwa!  By 2029, the public amnesia about Rajapaksa corruption would be complete. Namal would further develop his communication skills. And the masses will rally around Namal Kumaraya!

Terrible! Do the people of Lanka want this to happen?

Vishwamithra says (and I agree with him) “The Elite Wants AKD To Fail, But Failure Is Not An Option [for us].”

We must all presure the government to not fail our revolution that we worked for. We must force the NPP to adhere to its promises and not fail and indeed not fail us!