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Since the 1974 agreement was reached between Sri Lanka and India on demarcating each country’s territorial waters and international maritime borders, there was burning resentment from Tamil Nadu that the islet of Kachchativu was handed over to Sri Lanka without the consent of the state government led by late Dravida Munnetra Kazhaham (DMK) leader Muthuvel Karunanidhi.

His son M.K. Stalin is the current Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and continues with the party’s principle of retrieving the islet from Sri Lanka to resolve the conflict between the two fisherfolk communities of the countries.

Devotees from Sri Lanka and India participating in the annual St. Anthony's Festival at Kachchativu (file pic)

With Sri Lanka going through a severe socio-economic and political crisis, many in Tamil Nadu and some in New Delhi are pursuing a political narrative that this is the right time to retrieve the islet.

Another arguement they put forward these days is on India’s national security concerns citing increasing Chinese influence in Sri Lanka. Not so long ago, India intervened to prevent tenders for renewable energy projects in the Northern islands being handed to a Chinese firm and later agreed to develop them under an Indian credit line.

When Indian Premier Narendra Modi visited Chennai this week, TN Chief Minister Stalin noted retrieving Kachchathivu was among the matters he took up with him along with the fisherfolk issue.

A Northern fisherfolk leader compared the recent developments to a popular local colloquial saying that goes “robbing the kidney of an individual who is hungry after feeding him with some food.” He said it was unfortunate that these behind the scene developments were disappointing to the extent that “even if India did not do any good for us, it should not betray us with our livelihood.”

Following the CM’s speech, the matter had become a hot political topic in Tamil Nadu’s mainstream media and most political parties jumped into the fray under the ‘reclaiming the islet’ slogan. Some went to the extent of proposing to obtain the island on a 99-year lease to protect India’s interests.

When asked what strategy the ruling Bharathiya Janatha Party (BJP) would follow over the matter, Tamil Nadu’s BJP leader K. Annamalai said: “We know how to get the islet back. Those who handed it to Sri Lanka, should not lecture us on this,” he shot back at the DMK.

In Sri Lanka, the main Tamil political party–the Tamil National Alliance (TNA)–made no comment on the issue for reasons best known to it.

“As per the 1974 agreement between the two countries where sea borders were demarked, certain clauses stressed specific reference with regard to the Kachathivu islet. A case was also filed in an Indian Court. This is a bilateral issue between two countries. As a political party, we do not want to comment on this issue,” party spokesman M. A. Sumanthiran told reporters in Jaffna.

Long negotiations were held between the two governments prior to the signing of the agreement between Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and was approved by the two Parliaments. A recent attempt in Tamil Nadu to revisit the agreement and claim the islet for India was rejected by the Indian Supreme Court.

SLA flight attendants in campaign to oust ‘management mafia’

SriLankan Airline’s Flight Attendants’ Union has decided to initiate trade union action, claiming that its attempts to resolve outstanding issues amicably have been ignored by the management.

The union says it will endeavor to steer the company in the right direction by eliminating what it calls the ‘management mafia’.

The union claims that it has not been given an opportunity to address allegations levelled against it.

The FAU has vowed that it will act with responsibility in declaring industrial action.

The union has written to the airlines’ Acting CEO Richard Nuttall, requesting for a meeting on an urgent basis, but it has not drawn a response.

The union has pointed out that cabin crew fatigue and illegal roster practices can lead to building a negative effect on the ability to execute emergency and safety procedures in an unfortunate event of an emergency.

In its letter to the management, it has listed out a string of issues. They included issues at the crew scheduling department and roster violation among others.

Sri Lanka on the front page of international media for wrong reasons

Again Sri Lanka is on the front pages of international dailies for the wrong reasons. In some instances, it is being portrayed as a perfect example of how not to run a country’s economy and crash it within a few months.

The UK based Daily Mail ran a piece this week titled: “How the world’s first all- organic farming nation has led to hunger, riots and economic ruin,” while Bloomberg ran a story titled “Bankrupt Sri Lanka takes Russia oil as fuel shortage persists.”

Amid all this negative publicity in recent weeks due to the Government’s mismanagement of the economy and poor policies, attracting foreign tourists would be a difficult task for what was once “The Wonder of Asia” lament those in the hospitality business. Even the backpackers who were looking for cheap holidays had stopped coming as they found it difficult to get a bus or train ride or petrol for the motor bikes they hire to travel around the island.

Peliyagoda UC and Kotte MC run into trouble in recovering money

Given the current socio-economic and political crisis, local government institutions have resorted to cutting back on their costs and are trying to reclaim money for payments made for projects that have already started.

The moves come as the government has decided to reduce excessive expenditure and use the money saved to provide essential items for the people.

The most recent incident reported was from the Peliyagoda Urban Council where the UC had decided to hold back payments for a Rs 130 million construction project and reclaim money already paid.

However, the contracting company had refused to pay back the initial payment of Rs 24.9 million despite not having begun the project.

Despite the reported requests from the council to return the money, the contractor had requested another Rs 80 million over and above the initial estimate taking the expenditure of the full project up to Rs 210 million.

Meanwhile, the Kotte Municipal Council was having issues in collecting taxes. The Mayor had said that they were short of Rs 1.4 billion in tax collections.

Kotte’s Mayor said they were planning to recover at least half of the tax money with the approval of the Local Government Commissioner.

Four SDIGs transferred, but Tennakoon stays on

Three Senior Deputy Inspector Generals of Police (SDIGs) were transferred yesterday due to service requirements. They include Crimes and Traffic SDIG Ajith Rohana, who has been transferred as the SDIG in charge of the Southern Province. M.D.R.S Daminda was transferred as the SDIG in charge of the Eastern Province from Southern Province.

L.K.W.K Silva was transferred from the post of SDIG in charge of the Eastern Province to the post of SDIG in charge of the Crimes and Traffic Division.

The transfers were made by the IGP subject to the covering approval of the Public Security Ministry Secretary and the Public Service Commission, on service requirements, the Police Media Unit said.

However, one notable name missing from the list is SDIG in charge of the Western Province–Deshabandu Tennakoon. This was despite the Attorney General instructing the IGP earlier this week to transfer the SDIG to prevent any undue interference in the investigations into the violent incidents that occurred on May 9.

Ranil defuses momentum at Galle Face Green protest site

If there is one thing that has been achieved following the appointment of Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister, let alone the much needed political stability, it would be a sudden stark loss of enthusiasm at ‘GotaGoGama’ a.k.a the ‘Aragalaya’ at Colombo’s popular public promenade–Galle Face Green.

As yesterday marked the 50th day of continuous protest by the youth, it was visible that the protest has lost some of its momentum as many of those who camped at this leisure park by the side of the Presidential Secretariat packed up their stuff and supplies. Those arriving at the site are also thinning out.

PM Wickremesinghe maintained even before he was sworn-in that he will never try or allow disruption of the protest. However, his office came up with a new plan–”Prime Minister’s Delegation to ‘GotaGoGama’.”

The delegation also has a separate web page on the official website of the Prime Minister’s Office where the homepage reads a caption credited to PM Wickremesinghe as saying: “I support the cause of Sri Lankan youth-driven change. ‘GotaGoGama’ is not a place but people who have stepped forward to see a change in the system. As a Sri Lankan, I am proud to see the strength and creativity demonstrated by all of you. As the Prime Minister, I will work to the best of my ability to make your requests a reality and to incorporate you into the nation-building process.”

The message from the PM further reads: “Be patient, I will gradually turn the ailing economy around. I will do my part. I will act to restore the economy. I will help preserve the rights of the people.”

“Today the voice of the youth has emerged because of the issues they face. ‘GotaGoGama’ is a symbol of that. These youth should administer that site, not the government. They have sent me eight proposals and I would like to discuss these with them. We have to transform things by listening to them.”

The web page which details recent steps taken by the Government to restore the economy allows youth protesters to lodge their concerns and proposals or even present a solution to a problem to the  Prime Minister’s delegation directly.

For youth who are travelling to Colombo from other parts of the country, the place has become a must-visit place next to a beach and an emerging new Port City on the horizon.

A youth who happened to be in Colombo from Vavuniya said he felt the losing momentum of the protest contrary to what he had seen on social media in recent weeks.

“Not sure how long this protest survives given the current situation but it all depends on us–the youth,” he tweeted.

Mismanagement of economy: Mahela tells Gotabaya to quit

Like what many Sri Lankans are doing these days, one of the modern era’s great cricketers, Mahela Jayawardene, also took to Twitter to express his frustration and anger towards the mismanagement of the economy and its effect on the country’s healthcare.

Reacting to an incident where a two-day old baby died because her father could not reach hospital due to the petrol shortage and instances where people found it difficult to buy essential drugs, Mahela tweeted:

“As a father I can only imagine what they must be going through If

@GotabayaR reads this and has any guilt he should resign immediately as he was directly responsible for this situation and everyone else who was part of this administration…”

The tweet went viral with hundreds of retweets and likes. Among those who liked the tweet was none other than former Sports, Youth and Digital Infrastructure Minister Namal Rajapaksa–the wanna-be scion of the Rajapaksa family. Unfortunately, for the former cricketer who was in India during the last several weeks watching cricket, while his compatriots were suffering it out, his management of the Mumbai Indians franchise was not effective. The team fared poorly and ended up at the bottom of the table in an ongoing mega-bucks tournament.