{"id":218740,"date":"2021-05-04T10:56:12","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T05:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=218740"},"modified":"2021-05-08T13:39:25","modified_gmt":"2021-05-08T08:09:25","slug":"political-rhetoric-or-sounding-the-death-knell-of-lankas-agriculture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/political-rhetoric-or-sounding-the-death-knell-of-lankas-agriculture\/","title":{"rendered":"Political Rhetoric Or Sounding The Death Knell Of Lanka&#8217;s Agriculture?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p3\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">By <a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Chandre+Dharmawardana\">Chandre Dharmawardana<\/a> &#8211;<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_171829\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Chandre-Dharmawardana.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-171829\" class=\"size-full wp-image-171829\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Chandre-Dharmawardana.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Chandre-Dharmawardana.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Chandre-Dharmawardana-50x50.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-171829\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Chandre Dharmawardana<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">A quote attributed to the Greek play write Euripides says that \u201cthose whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad\u201d. Reading the news from Sri Lanka, one can only wonder if a prescient Euripides had Lanka&#8217;s successive rulers in mind.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">The President has \u201cvowed\u201d to ban the import of fertilizers. Politicians are famous for vowing to bring rice from the moon. But they brought the consumer \u201cIti haal\u201d and American flour. Australia worked hard on its organic agricultural content for THREE DECADES, but without keen-jerk bans. Even though some members of the \u201c<b>Viyathmaga<\/b>\u201d may be quite \u201c<b>Viyaru<\/b>\u201d, let us hope that there are enough sane people to exercise restraint, and be cautious with the ever precarious food supply of a nation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">You do not cut your supplies without alternatives on hand. The proposed alternative, \u201corganic manure\u201d is in extreme short supply. A hectare of paddy yielding even a mere five tonnes of grain needs 75-100 kg of nitrogen (N) depending on the soil. If you put more manure, it is a waste and a pollutant since plants absorb only a certain limit.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Even a hungry man cannot eat beyond his fill. A plant denied of any fertilizer uses what ever nitrogen found naturally in the soil, giving a very low harvest until the soil becomes totally infertile in a few years. But it may last till the next election, and that is good enough for the politicians and NGOs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Organic manure, e.g., good cow manure, may contain 1-2 kg of N per tonne. So, to get 100 kg of N per hectare we need 50-100 TONNES of organic fertilizer. The mineral fertilizer that you bring on your tractor now needs 50 lorry loads in a 2-ton truck. Once in the farm, 100 tonnes (100,000 kg) of manure must be distributed. So the cost of labor for organic farming is orders of magnitude MORE than for normal farming, to get less of a harvest. Organic agriculture today feeds the elite, while the poor will face hunger unless the food is subsidized.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Such large mounds of humus-based fertilizer get washed away and add to asphyxiation of aquatic life in waterways, as always found near organic farms.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Sir Lanka has imported about 300,000 metric tons\/year of urea, and this amounts to some 120,000 tonnes of N. So we need some 120 MILLION tonnes of organic manure once the ban is in place. This is close to the current GLOBAL OUTPUT of organic<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>manure!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">The Minister Amaraweera \u201cproposes to implement organic farming instead of toxic agriculture which has led to an increase in the number of kidney and cancer patients here\u201d. Apparently, \u201cAll the rivers, streams, wells and ponds in Sri Lanka are polluted due to use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. No matter how much water there is, we cannot consume it without fear\u201d. Minister Amaraweera has mentioned pesticides. Perhaps the ban includes pesticides like glyphosate! Again!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Since the Lankan water is allegedly unsafe to drink, will the government import bottled water, perhaps from a European source like Perrier or Vittel? It may be cheaper to import water from the Holy Ganges, even with those floating cadavers, with its healing power imbibed by the Gods!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">But the scientists of the University of Tokyo, working with the Kandy Hospital scientists failed to find any of these toxins in the rivers, streams and ponds of Sri Lanka in their 2014 study?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Nanayakkara et al reported the work in 2014, in the Journal of Occupational Health 56:28\u201338, (2014). There were six Lankan scientists and nine Japanese scientists who diligently researched the matter. There was also the WHO study where near-threshold Cd was speculated upon. All these must be \u201cPatta-Pal-Boru\u201d Western Science!<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">There was the study led by SJP scientists and US scientists from North Carolina in 2016 (Levine et al., Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2016). There were seven Lankan scientists and six US scientists collaborating in the study. Another report came in 2020 by roughly the same team of researchers. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">These scientists DID NOT FIND the dire situation claimed by the Minster.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">A hardly publicized study was the investigation of the water from rivers and other sources fed into reverse osmosis (RO) plants, conducted by Dr. Padmakumara Jayasinghe under the aegis of COSTI. This was an all Lankan team that revealed the embarrassing fact that this water did NOT NEED any RO to make the water drinkable \u2013 it was very safe. Interestingly, the study was shelved and<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>never published. It would have upset many who made money by promoting RO plants, claiming that rivers, streams and ponds are polluted!<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Although the Jayasinghe-COSTI study was not published, a Japanese study by Professor Takizawa, jointly with Dr. Oguma and Dr. Imbulana studied the water that are input to these expensive RO plants. They compared areas with chronic Kidney disease (CKD), and healthy areas. They found specific evidence to establish that the water was NOT contaminated by agrochemicals.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Instead, the water in the CKD areas was rich in fluoride and magnesium of geological origin. This research appeared in the prestigious journal \u201cScience of the Total Environment\u201d in 2020 under the title \u201cEvaluation of groundwater quality and reverse osmosis water treatment plants in the endemic areas of CKDu in Sri Lanka\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">There are many other crucial studies, e.g., from Dr. Wasana et al from the Institute of Fundamental Studies in Peradeniya, and from Dr. Rohana Chadrajith and other in the Dept. of geology. The interdisciplinary group CERTKID includes Kandy Hospital Kidney specialists and University Scientists. Their research clarified the origins of the Kidney disease which is no longer \u201cof unknown aeteology\u201d. It has no established correlation with agrochemicals. Furthermore, the trace amounts of toxic agrochemicals found in Lankan waters are well below the thresholds set by even the most strict environmental authorities in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Agrochemicals contain micro-quantities of toxic materials like Cd, As, and also large (macro) quantities of phosphates and nitrates that nourish plants. What HAS been found in Sri Lankan waters is the presence of runoff phosphates and nitrates from excessive use of fertilizers, a problem caused by deregulation introduced since 1977 under the \u201copen economy Mudalali\u201d politics.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">The market dismantled the scientific control on fertilizers and transferred it to the merchant. If a government cannot even impose controls on the USE of fertilizers, how can it successfully impose a ban? The country will be awash with smuggled substandard fertilizers, at a higher price, as we know not only from the ill-fated ban on glyphosate, but even from turmeric or cigarettes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">So, although excess phosphates in the water can cause algal bloom and environmental damage, they should not be confused with \u201cheavy-metal toxins\u201d that the self-styled \u201cenvironmental warriors\u201d talk about. They should instead note that organic manure contains significant amounts of heavy metal toxins because plants accumulate them from the soil during growth. Straw may contain 200 times more cadmium than the soil it is grown on. It transfers to manure when composted. An ostrich policy of not analyzing the organic manure before use is followed by most \u201corganic&#8217; farmers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">But then, the \u201cParisara\u201d NGOs and politically active monks, the &#8220;Jathika chintahnaya&#8217; people, the Ven.-Ratana-Nalin-de-Silva-HelaSuvaya-Natha-Deviyo-Arsenic click&#8221;, all<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>hold views diametrically opposite to most Scientists. They, like the anti-vaccine movements in the West, have infused the public with fear and won the publicity battle against evidence-based science condemned as \u201cPatta-Pal-Boru\u201d. Government scientists (e.g., of the agriculture Dept) have been side-lined and<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>muzzled, as only a ministry spokesman can speak on behalf of them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Recently, stocks of fertilizer were held back on the grounds that the fertilizer exceeded the \u201csafe\u201d threshold for cadmium set by Lankan standards. This standard incredibly requires the fertilizer to have less than 5 parts per million of Cadmium. So, due to the dire need of fertilizers, the President approved it on a \u201cone-time basis\u201d. This may have prompted the President to vow to ban any future import of fertilizers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Amazingly, the scientists at the Sri Lankan Standards Institute, or its Director did even not ask how such absurdly impossible low thresholds for Cadmium had been instituted in Lanka when most countries, e.g., Canada, allows up to 900 mg\/kg of cadmium in its fertilizers as being perfectly safe? (<span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/are-fertilizers-released-in-sri-lanka-laced-with-unsafe-levels-of-lead-cadmium-a-vehement-no\/\">See 8 April<\/a><\/span>). The lentils grown in Canada with such fertilizers is exported to the whole world including India and Lanka.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>The \u201cMansoor Parippu\u201d is mostly re-labeled Canadian Lentils from Saskatchewan!<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Unless saner counsel prevails, Lanka&#8217;s cash crops and its food supply will collapse under the ban. By then, the present rulers would have retired with their pensions and perks, and a new set of would be saviors may still \u201cvow\u201d to implement organic agriculture, even if they have to get the organic fertilizer from the moon!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":155,"featured_media":218742,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-218740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Political Rhetoric Or Sounding The Death Knell Of Lanka&#039;s Agriculture? - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/political-rhetoric-or-sounding-the-death-knell-of-lankas-agriculture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Political Rhetoric Or Sounding The Death Knell Of Lanka&#039;s Agriculture? - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/political-rhetoric-or-sounding-the-death-knell-of-lankas-agriculture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-04T05:26:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-05-08T08:09:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Gotabaya-Rajapaksa.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"758\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"479\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chandre Dharmawardana\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chandre Dharmawardana\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/political-rhetoric-or-sounding-the-death-knell-of-lankas-agriculture\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/political-rhetoric-or-sounding-the-death-knell-of-lankas-agriculture\/\",\"name\":\"Political Rhetoric Or Sounding The Death Knell Of Lanka's Agriculture? - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/political-rhetoric-or-sounding-the-death-knell-of-lankas-agriculture\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/political-rhetoric-or-sounding-the-death-knell-of-lankas-agriculture\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Gotabaya-Rajapaksa.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-04T05:26:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-08T08:09:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7a6891384d777e17c45780d9a25aa5c0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/political-rhetoric-or-sounding-the-death-knell-of-lankas-agriculture\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/political-rhetoric-or-sounding-the-death-knell-of-lankas-agriculture\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/political-rhetoric-or-sounding-the-death-knell-of-lankas-agriculture\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Gotabaya-Rajapaksa.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Gotabaya-Rajapaksa.jpeg\",\"width\":758,\"height\":479},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/political-rhetoric-or-sounding-the-death-knell-of-lankas-agriculture\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Political Rhetoric Or Sounding The Death Knell Of Lanka&#8217;s Agriculture?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7a6891384d777e17c45780d9a25aa5c0\",\"name\":\"Chandre Dharmawardana\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bb2f5afd652b124abe1284383e6a98ad050a6412f31c081f800333669d1bb1c2?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bb2f5afd652b124abe1284383e6a98ad050a6412f31c081f800333669d1bb1c2?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Chandre Dharmawardana\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/chandred\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Political Rhetoric Or Sounding The Death Knell Of Lanka's Agriculture? - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/political-rhetoric-or-sounding-the-death-knell-of-lankas-agriculture\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Political Rhetoric Or Sounding The Death Knell Of Lanka's Agriculture? - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/political-rhetoric-or-sounding-the-death-knell-of-lankas-agriculture\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2021-05-04T05:26:12+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-05-08T08:09:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":758,"height":479,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Gotabaya-Rajapaksa.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Chandre Dharmawardana","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Chandre Dharmawardana","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/political-rhetoric-or-sounding-the-death-knell-of-lankas-agriculture\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/political-rhetoric-or-sounding-the-death-knell-of-lankas-agriculture\/","name":"Political Rhetoric Or Sounding The Death Knell Of Lanka's Agriculture? - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/political-rhetoric-or-sounding-the-death-knell-of-lankas-agriculture\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/political-rhetoric-or-sounding-the-death-knell-of-lankas-agriculture\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Gotabaya-Rajapaksa.jpeg","datePublished":"2021-05-04T05:26:12+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-08T08:09:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7a6891384d777e17c45780d9a25aa5c0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/political-rhetoric-or-sounding-the-death-knell-of-lankas-agriculture\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/political-rhetoric-or-sounding-the-death-knell-of-lankas-agriculture\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/political-rhetoric-or-sounding-the-death-knell-of-lankas-agriculture\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Gotabaya-Rajapaksa.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Gotabaya-Rajapaksa.jpeg","width":758,"height":479},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/political-rhetoric-or-sounding-the-death-knell-of-lankas-agriculture\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Political Rhetoric Or Sounding The Death Knell Of Lanka&#8217;s Agriculture?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7a6891384d777e17c45780d9a25aa5c0","name":"Chandre Dharmawardana","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bb2f5afd652b124abe1284383e6a98ad050a6412f31c081f800333669d1bb1c2?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bb2f5afd652b124abe1284383e6a98ad050a6412f31c081f800333669d1bb1c2?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Chandre Dharmawardana"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/chandred\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Gotabaya-Rajapaksa.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/155"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218740"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":218744,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218740\/revisions\/218744"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}