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A big draw on the East coast is the coastal village bearing the name
Navalady, where was fought one of the biggest naval battles, a few miles
off the Batticaloa town in the Second World War. Today this site has a
big influx of foreign tourists, deep sea diving to see first hand the
wrecks of many naval vessels which sank in the clash between the naval
powers of Japan and Britain.
In the deep sea resort here are a group of very experienced divers
from Negombo. The prime interest of foreign tourists is to dive, watched
by expert local divers, deep into the ocean to see the wreck of the
aircraft carrier HMS Hermes, the flag ship of the British Far Eastern
Fleet, commanded by Sir James Somerville. I spoke directly to a group
from London and they vividly described what they saw of the wreck of
Hermes.
It was the Canadian pilot Richard Birchall flying in a Catalina type
plane, who first saw a whiff of smoke on the far horizon during
reconnaissance at dawn, and tracing it further detected it to be a
Japanese naval fleet scurrying to attack the island of Ceylon. This was
the very fleet that had attacked the Pearl Harbour under the command of
Japanese Admiral Nagumo decimating American military power. In
comparison, Pilot Officer Richard Birchall's timely coded radio message
sent to the Air Force base at Koggala, saved Ceylon from certain
disaster.
The Director of the deep sea resort Capt. Felician Fernando kept the
tourists and me regaled as to how the Japanese war planes dropped the
first bombs, while the Hermes tried to zig zag away from the Sand Bar
light house. But swarming like bees, the attacking planes had scored
direct hits and the ship sank. Among the few who managed to escape from
the ship was the Navigation Officer of the Hermes, who later on return
to the UK joined the Judicial Service at the Old Bailey, and who on
every anniversary of the sinking, published an ‘In Memoriam’ in the
London Times: 'In memory of my gallant Captain C.J. Onslow who in the
highest traditions of the British Navy stood at the flag mast in salute
and making no effort to escape, when in all about 200 sailors died'.
The divers described seeing quite a number of cannon on the deck and
beautiful coral in patches under water. Among the decomposed bodies of
the sailors recovered by the hospital ship later, three of them were
taken and buried at the Batticaloa general cemetery, in the presence of
some citizens. Three crosses had been planted naming two of the three,
A.S.K.A. Vatcher and C.S. Lewis but the third cross has no name as his
identity disc had been missing.
SIVAM PAAKYANATHAN – BATTICALOA
The sufferings we underwent during the nearly thirty years of war
need not be retold, because these have been descriptively told and
retold and written in volumes during the past four years. In the year
2000 our people were divided into fragmented factions misled by
unscrupulous ideologists and had lost confidence in the government.
Intolerance and impatience grew over the unending massacre of people and
destruction of property, with no savior to plead for help. The then
government called on the people to be patient until it negotiated with
the terrorists and resolved the vexed issue.
Two days later saw Mahinda Samarasinghe, born politically red but
then with the greens as the Minister of Forest Conservation addressing a
gathering at Habarana, express opinion that there is the urgent need for
all to unite shedding political and racial differences. At this time,
the government appeared to be tired and weakened by the unsuccessful
negotiations with the terrorists.
Killings and bombings could not be prevented. The entire country was
soaked in blood. We suffered in silence. The silence of the people
served the warning that patience would soon burst out to act furiously.
Eventually, amidst bloodshed of innocent citizens and the valiant
defenders, at the Presidential election held in November 2005 Mahinda
Rajapaksa was voted to power and a hopeful era dawned when sworn in as
the President of the country, ending the hereditary practice of
transferring powers to the heirs.
President Rajapaksa had nothing in his jotter about sitting with the
terrorists for negotiations or any intention to abide by their terms and
conditions to agree to ceasefires, creating intervals for them to rest
and restart, or to order the forces personnel to surrender to them.
Instead, he had in his Chinthana inscribed the plans to exterminate the
traitors and build the nation out of remnants and fragments collected
from debris. As he was getting set to embark on his agenda, the
terrorists who had gone berserk by the unanimous verdict of the people,
launched the Kabethigollawa massacre and closed the sluice gates of the
Marvil Aru tank disrupting irrigation supplies to lands.
The tigers mistook the lion for a scarecrow planted in the paddy
fields in the vicinity of the tank. Tolerance and patience came to an
end. Instantaneously, the Commander-in-Chief ordered his troops to take
the bull by the horn. They were not ordered to withdraw or surrender but
to launch the final assault. As May 18, 2009 dawned, the remains of the
inflated generalissimo was placed before his feet.
On May 1, 2013 May Day more than a worker's day, was turned into a
day to demonstrate the unity of the people, by the millions who thronged
the meeting held, along with the weather god's blessing of downpour that
continued throughout the day answering Devo Vassatu Kalena indicative of
an auspicious start to head for a prosperous and peaceful future led by
a pious leader. On May 18, 2013 under his command, the armed forces
celebrated Victory Day. As a person who longed to see a united nation
celebrating it's achievement in union, I feel I am the happiest of all
because I have seen what I foresaw 13 years ago, 13 years after.
We should not cling to parties or persons, policies or principles
when the sovereignty and integrity of the country is at stake. As we
forget animosity, drop grudges and hurry to extricate one amongst us
from danger, we must give up all bonds and affiliations and rush to join
hands with others to standby the country at such an hour of need.
We are happy today with our kith and kin enjoying a new lease of life
because of the sacrifices made by our people in innumerable numbers. It
remains our bounden duty to stay alive to the happenings of the bitter
past, to be alert and vigilant to prevent a recurrence.
Today, we are united and call ourselves Sri Lankans with pride. We
are one nation. So, let us continue in this manner but never lose this
grip, never fall prey to opportunists and return to violence, preserve
peace, harmony and independence.
L.A.W. LIYANA ARACHCHI – KADAWATHA
Kidney stones are found to afflict millions of people around the
world. Anyone who has ever had a kidney stone will say that it can be so
severe that it could reduce one to tears. Kidney stones are not a
product of modern diets of lifestyle, as some people think. Evidence of
kidney stones have been found in 7000 year old human remains in Egypt.
Men tend to develop kidney stones more often than women. Kidney
stones are common nowadays in that about 5% of women and 10% of men will
have at least one episode by the age of seventy. It could be greater if
two or more episodes of kidney stones occur. Kidney stones are even
common in premature infants.
A kidney stone is a hard mass that accumulates in the urinary tract
when crystals separate from the urine and build up on the inner surface
of the kidney. In most people, urine contains chemicals that prevent
these crystals from forming kidney stones. People who suffer from kidney
stones, for reasons that are not always completely understood, do not
have inhibitors that prevent crystal formation. If the crystals remain
small enough, they travel down the urinary tract without forming into
kidney stones and pass out of the body in the urine painlessly.
However sometimes, kidney stones must be removed surgically.
The concept of the Unani system of medicine says that the main cause
for renal calculi is abnormal heat (Hararath) of the kidney.
Avoiding body fluids, thickness producing foods, doing mild exercise,
taking plenty of water, avoiding constipation have been recommended in
the Unani medical treatment system to avoid any formation of kidney
stones in the human body
HARSHI NADIE PERERA – PILIYANDALA
The Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunge recently explained
that the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was thrust upon Sri Lanka
and that with pressure exerted by India, Sri Lanka was compelled to add
the new chapter, paving the way to form Provincial Councils. Newspapers
reported that the government has decided to do away with the
preferential voting system.
This is a step in the right direction as the preferential voting
system is also a cause for political misdemeanours, as goons are
utilised to achieve the ends of certain politicians. It is no secret
that Provincial Council candidates spend colossal sums of money in their
election campaigns. They subsequently endeavour to earn the monies back
by hook or by crook.
The unwanted provincial council system and the preferential voting
system should be totally scrapped. Also, elections should be held on an
electoral basis and population basis. The local government sector should
be granted additional resources and power. After all, it is they who
deal directly with the people at village and urban level.
H. MALANIE FONSEKA - PILIYANDALA
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