Newsletter Spring 2017

Annual General Meeting 5.30 pm on Wednesday 28 June By very kind permission of Her Excellency Ms. Amari Wijewardene, we shall be holding our Annual General Meeting at the High Commission of Sri Lanka, 13 Hyde Park Gardens, London W2 2LU. Papers will be sent by surface mail to all members in early June.

Westminster Hall debate On 28 February, James Berry MP (Con, Kingston & Surbiton) called a 30 minute debate in Westminster Hall to discuss Human Rights in Sri Lanka prior to the matter being taken up at the 34th Sessions of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Mr Berry was keen to ensure that British FCO Ministers would be made aware of the views of MPs from the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPG-T) of which he is the current Chair. He was joined by Siobhain McDonagh MP (Lab, Mitcham & Morden), Joan Ryan MP (Lab, Enfield North) and Wes Streeting MP (Lab, Ilford North). Their concerns centred on urging the UK to press for Sri Lanka to be set a clear timetable for implementing their own UNHRC resolution. Berry's concerns centred on the lack of progress in setting up a framework for establishing a judicial mechanism and that the Sri Lanka Government appears to have reneged on any possibility of having foreign judges, prosecutors or defence counsel in any accountability process.

Two MPs who also joined the debate, but did not have any affiliation to the APPG-T were Ian Paisley MP (DUP, South Antrim) and Sir Hugo Swire MP (Con, East Devon). Paisley (a member of the APPG-Sri Lanka) has been a strong advocate of Sri Lanka. He spoke about the need for patience as, from his own Northern Ireland experience, peace building was an inherently slow process. Paisley asserted that Britain should avoid accusations of hypocrisy especially when “the UK government rightly resisted all calls to make the Bloody Sunday and Iraq enquiries international in any way, because they were domestic enquiries into events that had an international impact. We need to be careful not to tell another country that it must now have an international enquiry into a domestic issue”.

Swire, who spoke with some authority, having been the recent FCO Minister that handled Sri Lanka until six months ago, explained that UK MPs should have a greater understanding of the domestic political situation in Sri Lanka when considering the pace of progress. He highlighted the delicate balance that Sri Lanka's coalition government needs to maintain and the difficulties this presents, especially as the alternatives to the Wickremesinghe/Sirisena administration may well be the return of the Rajapaksa regime. Swire also emphasised that Sri Lanka's current priority was economic prosperity that could benefit all communities, and noted that the UK should be pleased that the island was tilting away from Chinese assistance. Swire concluded by referencing the need for the UK to have a more holistic approach to Sri Lanka. He suggested that having two parallel APPGs for Sri Lanka and Tamils was not helpful in supporting the re-

57 Maltravers Street, Arundel, West Sussex BN18 9BQ Tel: 01903 882755 Email: [email protected] Website : www.fosla.org.uk integration of communities, and that a combined group would cause less division and confrontation.

With the FCO Minister for Asia & the Pacific (Alok Sharma MP) responsible for Sri Lanka already away in Geneva, it fell upon Under Secretary of State, Tobias Ellwood MP (Con, Bournemouth East) to respond on behalf of the UK Government. He reiterated that UK's current relationship with Sri Lanka was strong, and that Britain's guiding principle was that Sri Lanka should honour its existing resolution commitments in full. He also alluded to high-level engagement and programme funding from the UK. The areas which Britain would like to see further progress is constitutional reform, the release of private land that is being held by SL security forces in the north, news of Transitional Justice mechanisms that could deal with allegations of Human Rights violations, setting up the Office of Missing Persons and a new Prevention of Terrorism Act. He looked forward to hearing about continuing developments following Alok Sharma MP's discussions with Sri Lanka Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera at the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Tamils for Labour (TFL) meeting Many of the Labour MPs who are members of the APPG-Tamils were later joined by several other Opposition MPs and attended a meeting convened by Tamils for Labour in a committee room of the Westminster Parliamentary complex. Chaired by Joan Ryan MP, who had previously acted as Chief Executive & Policy Advisor to Global Tamil Forum, the meeting was expected to have been attended by the Leader of The Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn MP, however, due to last-minute difficulties, he apologised for his absence and a short message of support was read on his behalf by Shadow Cabinet colleague Barry Gardiner MP (Brent North). The other Labour leaders who spoke included Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell MP and Shadow Foreign Secretary, Emily Thornberry MP. Whilst there were many significant and valid points raised by those who participated, it would be difficult to describe the meeting as being impartial and objective. With a packed room of Sri Lankan Tamils gathered, it was hardly surprising that the tone of the meeting was heavily slanted towards describing the Tamils as victims in the conflict with no counterbalancing voices raised to indicate the long history of acts of alleged Human Rights violations committed by the LTTE. No mention was even hinted about the role that some elements of the Tamil diaspora community play in supporting, and even financing, militia groups such as the LTTE, which many argue could make them complicit in alleged War Crimes during the conflict. In many respects the gathering was an exercise in ensuring that the Labour Party continues to maintain a visible presence in the minds of BME (Black & Minority Ethnic) communities, in this case Tamil voters, especially at a time when the Party's performance in recent by-elections and national opinion polls is slipping. The Labour MPs who attended, many of whom had significant Tamil constituents, included Mike Gapes (Ilford S), Wes Streeting (Ilford N), Stephen Timms (E Ham), Liz Mcinnes (Heywood & Middleton), Thangam Debbonaire (Bristol West; whose father is a Tamil) and Dawn Butler (Brent Central). Following the meeting, Emily Thornberry wrote to her opposite number, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, highlighting the need to press the Sri Lankan government for a firm timetable to deliver the outcomes of UNHRC Resolution 30/1 and to also petition the EU Commission not restore the GSP+ Trade Preference Concessions for Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva 34th Sessions (HRC34) Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera addressed HRC34 in Geneva on February 28th at the High Level Ministerial Segment outlining some of Sri Lanka's progress since the last Council meeting on June 29, 2016 This largely amounted to addressing legislative changes in connection with the UNHRC Resolution 30/1. Chief amongst them was the passing of a

2 Parliamentary Bill for the establishment of a Permanent Office on Missing Persons together with approval for a budget for its implementation. Progress in other areas were reported as still being in various stages of work-in-progress, ie:

Legislation to tackle Enforced Disappearances, adoption of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons, the National Policies on Durable Solutions for Conflict-affected Displacement and the Human Rights Action Plan (2017-2021) have all been approved by Cabinet, yet still await being tabled in Parliament.

In contrast to the previous administration, Sri Lanka now engages positively with UN bodies and has recently provided periodic reports to Committees on Migrant Workers, the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee Against Torture. Sri Lanka was also visited in 2016 by the UN Secretary General (Ban Ki- Moon at the time) and the Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues.

Despite expectations that certain key elements of Resolution 30/1 would be ready for HRC34, the legislation for the Truth-Seeking Commission and new Counter Terrorism Act (to replace the 1979 Prevention of Terrorism Act) both appear to be still only at draft stages and have yet to be submitted to Cabinet.

Samaraweera's address was aimed not only at the international delegates present at the Council, but also at detractors of the current government back at home:

"The Sri Lanka that we seek to build here onwards, should be one where justice reigns; where Human Rights are valued; where every individual’s dignity is upheld; and where civil society and the media play their due role; a society that believes in the importance of the independence of the judiciary, and the rule of law; and where everyone has equal rights.....As we move forward in this journey, the forces of extremism and regression on both sides of the divide are creating road blocks for narrow, short-term political gain."

Samaraweera described work on the new Constitution as being central, imperative and essential for ensuring non-recurrence of conflict, yet he acknowledged that attempts at reform faced "roadblocks and other obstacles in the day to day world of realpolitik". Perhaps the area he spoke least about, but on which many at the Council expected to hear more, were details of any accountability mechanism to address alleged Human Rights violations. Its only mention was "our resolve to see the Transitional Justice process through, has not diminished". With the issue of foreign participation in any Transitional Justice Mechanism being hotly contested back home, it would appear that the policy framework for its establishment is still being kept heavily under wraps.

Speaking on behalf of the UK Govt, Under-Secretary of State, Minister for Asia & the Pacific, Alok Sharma MP read a statement covering a wide-range of Human Rights initiative, which made only a brief mention on Sri Lanka:

"I welcome the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister’s constructive engagement here. We must give Sri Lanka time to fully implement the October 2015 resolution and post-conflict measures required to embed stability, reconciliation and justice."

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It was anticipated that Sharma’s maiden visit to Sri Lanka since his ministerial appointment would happen prior to HRC34, yet this did not happen. The continuing long delay in arranging Mr. Sharma’s visit, coupled with the sparse mention of Sri Lanka in his HRC34 address, may provide a hint of the changing priorities of Britain’s foreign policy vis-a-vis Sri Lanka. Since the signing of Article 50 and the triggering of Britain’s Brexit negotiations, the South Asia Department’s focus of interest and resources may now be diverting towards more commercially critical areas, such as gaining greater trading access into India’s large economy, rather than on the sustained monitoring of the Human Rights progress in a relatively small nation. The close attention David Cameron paid to Sri Lanka may now be evolving into a more pragmatic approach under Theresa May, particularly since the Foreign Secretary is a committed “Brexiteer”. Ultimately, Britain’s short and long term fortunes will undoubtedly be dictated by how successfully the FCO leads overall on Britain’s Brexit negotiations. Another factor is that America’s engagement in pursuing foreign policy objectives via UN mechanisms such as the UNHRC are known to be weakening under Trump. This was vividly demonstrated at the HRC34 sessions in Geneva where there was no one appointed to represent the USA at ambassador level.

Sri Lanka's own manoeuvrings at HRC34 thus centred on gaining the Council's acceptance to a 2 year extension for its existing commitments to implement her 2015 UNHRC Resolution 30/1. Since the demise of the Rajapakse regime and the rapprochement that has been achieved by the Sirisena/Wickremesinghe administration with Western powers who exert influence at the Human Rights Council, it soon became apparent that Sri Lanka's request for an extension would be acceded to. On March 13, the USA, UK, Montenegro & Macedonia in partnership with Sri Lanka co-sponsored a draft resolution to that effect.

Reaction to this was unanimously accepted by all participants at HRC34 and even accepted by the official opposition TNA, however there was widespread disappointment from the overseas Tamil activist groups. A side-event at HRC34 highlighted some of these different reactions. SL's UN Ambassador, Ravinatha Ariyasinha, organised for several Government speakers led by Constitutional expert Dr Jayantha Wickremaratne MP, Sec Gen of the Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms Mano Tittawella and FM Samaraweera to address an audience of NGOs, civil society Human Rights activists and hard-line Tamil campaigners. It was reported that there was a charged atmosphere throughout the 2 hour meeting. This was most apparent when an ‘MP’ of the Transitional Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) directed several questions at the Foreign Minister. P Manivannan prefaced his questions with an anecdote from his own past, when his grandfather had been killed during the 1983 anti-Tamil riots. In his response, Samaraweera tackled the heart of the issue. “After a protracted war that went on for 20 odd years, there’s a lot of hurt on all sides”, the Foreign Minister told Manivannan and added, “I agree, you have suffered a lot; likewise we know so many people in the south who have lost loved ones in bomb blasts and suicide bombings. But the time has come for us to come to terms with the past – but move on. I think it’s time that we move on as a nation.”

Presenting his report to the 34th session, UN Human Rights Commissioner, Zeid Ra'ad al- Hussein reiterated the need for the involvement of foreign judges and prosecutors in the accountability process in Sri Lanka whilst also welcoming the report by the Consultative Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanism (CTFRM) and requested the Sri Lankan government to make use of it. That report, over which the SL President and Prime Minister have maintained a distant and diplomatic silence, contains a recommendation to establish a hybrid court with the involvement of foreign judges. Inevitably, such a possibility has come under considerable

4 criticism from many circles in the local political domain, especially from Sri Lanka's military loyalists.

On March 23rd the Sri Lanka Resolution was duly adopted by HRC34. Julian Galbraith, the UK's Permanent Representative at the UN in Geneva, welcomed progress by Sri Lanka and stated that continued political determination will be needed to address several outstanding issues. The wording of the new Resolution mentioned that the Office of UN Human Rights High Commissioner would "continue to assess progress on the implementation of its recommendations and other relevant processes", however with the lack of any actual timetable or a framework for the assessment, it remains unclear to what extent the international community can meaningfully intervene during the next two years.

Harsha De Silva MP, Sri Lanka's Deputy Foreign Minister, attended HRC34 at its conclusion and addressed the interactive dialogue sessions. He reiterated that, although no country's Human Rights record was perfect, the current Sri Lankan Govt was determined to stay the course.

Apart from Sri Lanka and the other four afore-mentioned co-sponsors, 41 other countries also adopted the new Resolution and became its co-sponsors; namely, Canada, Israel, Australia, Japan, Norway, Germany, the Republic of Korea, Lichtenstein, Slovakia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Albania, Ireland, Indonesia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Iceland, France, Lithuania, Slovenia, Poland, Ivory Coast, Bulgaria, Greece, Latvia, Sweden, Romania, Finland, Malta, Georgia, the Netherlands, Spain, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Austria, Denmark, Italy, Estonia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina .

However, it was clear that there was a gap between the expectations of the international community and the objectives of the Sri Lankan government over the “hybrid court”. Against this backdrop De Silva went on to explain the Sri Lankan Govt’s position on foreign judges, a day after the adoption of the resolution.

"What the 2015 resolution 30/1 says in terms of foreign and Commonwealth involvement is that there should be ‘participation’ of, inter alia, foreign and Commonwealth judges within a Sri Lankan judicial mechanism. Participation has multiple definitions. What certain sections are trying to say is that ‘participation’ means a ‘hybrid court’ that consists of foreign judges sitting on the bench hearing cases."

He went on to say unequivocally: "What the President and the Prime Minister and also the Foreign Minister have said is that is NOT the case. There won’t be any hybrid court for several reasons, but, from a legal and technical perspective, because the Sri Lanka Constitution does not allow foreign judges to sit in judgment; in other words ‘participation’ cannot mean ‘hybrid’ ”. De Silva explained that the definition that the Sri Lankan Govt hopes to apply to the Resolution will limit the role of foreign involvement in any accountability mechanism to an agreed level of technical "expertise" or "observation".

More recently, the Deputy Foreign Minister claimed that the International Community, too, had not been pushing for the establishment of a Hybrid. De Silva maintained that it was Mahinda Rajapakse's followers who, for their domestic political advantage, were insinuating that the current Sirisena/Wickremesinghe Govt was happy to accept a Hybrid Court. The Deputy Foreign Minister now expects that the Truth Seeking Commission will present its recommendations within 3 months, whilst the Accountability Mechanism should be ready by the year end.

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In the immediate aftermath of the Geneva session, De Silva tried to explain some further aspects on the shape of a future Transitional Justice mechanism. He was quoted in the media as saying: "A Compassionate Council on a truth mechanism might be something that can deal with all these issues, instead of courts." This was a possible nod towards SL's proposed Truth- Seeking Commission, perhaps mimicking the role of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) which used restorative justice and amnesties to deal with Human Rights violations during the Apartheid era. It remains to be seen whether the members of Sri Lanka's Compassionate Council can match the international standing and credibility of those associated with South Africa's TRC, ie: the 1984 Nobel Peace Prizewinner Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Ultimately, the success of Sri Lanka's post-conflict reconciliation processes will hinge on how victims of alleged violations will see the mechanism as being fair and equitable. Whichever justice mechanism model is finally selected will no doubt come under considerable scrutiny both at home and abroad.

President Sirisena has also occasionally intimated his displeasure at the thought of any judicial mechanism that may incriminate the SL military, especially during its campaign against the LTTE. However, Sirisena has explained that security services personnel who committed alleged activities unconnected to the defeating of the LTTE, such as attacks on journalists, can expect to be dealt with through the courts. Given the breadth of conflicting comments emanating from the SL Govt, some analysts are already beginning to suggest that the political will necessary to implement a domestic judicial process that satisfies the needs of the international community may prove internally insurmountable in the current election cycle.

The mood of HRC34 was perhaps best captured by Alan Keenan, Senior Sri Lanka Analyst for the International Crisis Group (ICG): “The world was desperate for a success story and when Sri Lankan voters overthrew Rajapaksa, the country appeared to offer them one. They grabbed it with both hands and haven’t let go, even as reality hasn’t lived up to the hype and the risk of a return to bad times grows." Ultimately even the die-hard Human Rights activists realise that the UN Human Rights Council has reached the limits of its usefulness for reforms in Sri Lanka. Keenan concedes that “The Council has no enforcement powers, so its primary impact comes from effects its actions have on Sri Lanka’s international reputation and the willingness of individual member states of the Council to follow up on UNHRC resolutions bilaterally,”

The Time for Constitutional Reform ? In Geneva, Samaraweera alluded to the fact that, despite several factors that continue to prove problematic and conflicting, the lasting legacy of SL's current administration will be how it addresses Constitutional Reform to provide future generations with a lasting peace, blessed with reconciliation and prosperity for all.

Little has officially surfaced on the progress of the new constitution, given that the 6 Parliamentary Sub Committees mandated to consider Constitutional Reform in such areas as fundamental rights, judiciary, law and order, public finance, public service and centre- periphery relations have already submitted their reports to the Constitutional Assembly earlier this year. Some political advisors continue to insist that the government is firmly committed to moving ahead on the constitutional reform processes. They believe that senior members of the government are confident of being able to formulate a new Constitution to meet the needs of most stakeholders, especially amongst the TNA, who see this as fundamental to dealing with the 'national issue' that is the crux to solving the ethnic conflict that has bedevilled the country since independence. It is widely conceded that to achieve fundamental reform of the Constitution, two clear steps will be required:

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1. Passing of the New Constitution through Parliament/Constitutional Assembly with at least a two-thirds majority 2. Acceptance of the new Constitution via a nationwide public Referendum.

Although there is little in the public domain about how the Government proposes to deal with this matter, there are now distinct indications that a consensus of opinion has mobilised amongst parliamentarians on all sides of the National Unity Coalition Government to the effect that a Constitutional change that avoids the need for a Referendum may be the preferred option. Reformists who had hoped that this Government would live up to its 2015 manifesto pledges have privately expressed their disappointment that greater political leadership has not been forthcoming in trying to sell the benefits of a new constitution to the public at large, especially in the island's Sinhala-dominated south. The TNA has been transparent in its aspirations for an equitable settlement that upholds the supremacy of the single unitary nation- state, but which also provides for some level of regional devolution that would apply to all SL Provincial states. The TNA's leader, Sampanthan, has made it clear that finding a solution that is reinforced by the will of all citizens through a referendum would be the TNA's ideal solution.

As ever, however, the forces of realpolitik in Sri Lanka are proving to be difficult to overcome. Fundamentally, the coalition alliance between the UNP and SLFP under Sirisena's presidency is proving to be too fragile. Up until the end of 2016 it could be said that the majority of UNP MPs were confident of being able to push ahead with the Constitutional changes through Parliament and then through a Referendum. However, a different dynamic has always existed amongst the SLFP MPs, whose loyalties are split between those who support Sirisena and followers of the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR). There has been growing fear within the SLFP that the inevitably divisive impact of a Referendum, which would be ideally suited to MR's Sinhala-nationalistic strategies during the course of any Referendum campaign, could overcome any hopes for a new Constitution becoming a reality. Such an outcome would prove fatal for the future unity of the SLFP as well as the ability of the National Unity Government to continue in power in its present form. Currently the opinion of backbench MPs in both of the ruling UNP and SLFP parties, now believe that a Referendum needs to be avoided at all costs in order not to disturb the current political stability, as well as ensuring that this present Parliament is at least able to complete its full term to 2020. With this backdrop, the choices on Constitutional change seem to devolve either on whether this Government can make suitable Constitutional Amendments that can solely be agreed upon by Parliament without the need for a Referendum, or, alternatively, abandoning altogether any prospect of changes to the Constitution during this current Parliamentary term. It is believed that the TNA are now also cognisant of these political realities and private negotiations are believed to be taking place that could result in another Amendment to the Constitution being possibly tabled in Parliament during 2017. All concerned regard this strategy as being far from ideal, not least because previous attempts at parliamentary amendments to the constitution have been challenged by the Supreme Court. Such a development this time around could weaken the National Unity Government, although this risk is seen as a better option than planning for a Referendum.

The other choice is to concede that Constitution Amendment should be abandoned at least for this election cycle. This could have serious repercussions for the TNA's standing as the majority voice of the constituencies in the north represent the Tamil-dominated areas. The southern political leaders in Government are keen to ensure that the current 'moderate' Tamil leaders such as Sampanthan and Sumanthiran do not become sidelined by more militant elements. This is particularly important considering that the TNA Leader of the Opposition, R

7 Sampanthan, is now 84 and several politicians, on all sides, concede that there is a need to sort out a settlement on the 'national issue' during the veteran politician's lifetime. Sri Lanka's contemporary history has shown that whenever agreements between southern and northern political leaders have broken down (eg the abrogation of the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam Pact in 1958 and the abandonment of the proposed Senanayake-Chelvanayakm Pact in 1965) this has resulted in the simultaneous rise of Tamil and Sinhala nationalist extremists in both the north and south of the island. Some argue that the creation and rise of the LTTE was hastened when successive previous Sri Lankan administrations failed to meet the aspirations of moderate Tamil political leaders. This time around, it is in the interests of the survival of both the National Unity Government and the TNA Opposition that a suitable solution is agreed upon which allows some degree of constitutional change to be accommodated as may be deemed acceptable to all sides.

Government circles are noticeably tight-lipped about the strategy for the new constitution, however with little positive action being taken to promote publicly the benefits of a new Constitution, especially amongst voters in the southern provinces, the prospects of a Referendum happening are probably receding. Some commentators have even suggested that recent Referenda in other countries which have produced unexpected results (such as Brexit) means that Sri Lanka should adopt a "safety first" or "path of least resistance" approach by seeking to avoid a decision which involves a new Constitution being decided upon by a nationwide public vote. Given that the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration is in its mid- term, 2017 is probably the last year that any Constitutional change may be considered in this current election cycle. The issue of whether this government considers changes to its Constitution may well be a pivotal moment in the nation's history, and one that will affect its citizens for many generations to come.

Resolving China’s investment in Hambantota Despite some opposition, and although the firm details of the deal remain sketchy, China hopes to establish an 80% stake in the Hambantota Port as well as 15,000-acres of Economic Zones in various strategic locations in Sri Lanka's south. There were doubts whether this would proceed after violent local protests in January and China’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Yi Xianliang, has warned Sri Lanka that Chinese investors wanting to set up manufacturing and commercial units in the proposed Economic Zones are running out of patience because of the continuing agitation against the China-funded project over the issue of land acquisition. He told reporters that these big projects, in which CEOs from ten Chinese corporations are expected to invest around 3 to 5 billion dollars in the next 2 to 3 years, will be most important for Sri Lanka's future (not to mention China’s Maritime Silk Road ambitions). "We either go ahead or we stop here", warned the Chinese Ambassador in mid-February.

The opposition for this project is thought to arise from MR loyalists, as Hambantota is the hometown region and stronghold of the Rajapaksa family. The SL Government, which also has strong local support in this region, principally through UNP Minister Sajith Premadasa MP, believes that the large scale and scope of not only the rejuvenation of the Port but also the new business ventures to be established in the region, will generate considerable local employment opportunities and transform the lives of everyone locally. It is possible that the considerable size and extent of the Economic Zone projects could alter the local dynamics of the political patronage of constituents, which could be cause for concern to local Rajapaksa loyalists. For this reason, the SL Government is keen to see that the Economic Zone projects are spread out across several areas in addition to Hambantota; such as Monaragala, Embilipitiya and Matara. By all accounts the Sri Lankan Government is determined to conclude the Hambantota project with China shortly. The immediate gain is that the $1.1 bn. investment will at least partially

8 offset SL's existing heavy debt burden to China. More importantly, the project fits into the Government's ambition of SL being a major maritime hub, and, with the expected future revenues from the various business activities arising from the Economic Zones, this overall project could potentially contribute significantly towards SL's ability to service and repay its remaining debts. China is willing to include an option for SL to raise its stake from 20% to 40% after 10 years and any land acquired will be on a 99 year lease basis. Reports indicate that several Chinese companies have earmarked an investment aggregate of US$ 3-5 billion in the Hambantota Industrial Zones, with some already committed to invest in the Phase One Zone.

However an added geopolitical concern is India's attitude to this increased Chinese involvement in a close neighbour. Dr Shashi Tharoor, Congress MP, ex-UN envoy and former Minister of State in India's External Affairs Ministry, articulated these anxieties at the recent book launch of a new biography of Ranil Wickremesinghe in Colombo. Tharoor highlighted how, even in the 15th Century, China's then Maritime Silk Road had to use military force to install compliant administrations in several critical Asian states, including ancient Sri Lanka. With India naturally concerned about security issues on its southern flank and, although China appears to have no current global military ambitions, the fact that her nuclear submarines have been allowed to dock in Sri Lankan ports, especially during the last days of the Rajapaksa regime, alarm bells are ringing in Delhi. Tharoor implied that China's economic interest in Sri Lanka may end up influencing the island's internal politics. Sri Lanka has tried to play down this unease by stressing that both India and China should not be concerned about the island's need to attract investment from both of these regional superpowers. Wickremesinghe has been emphasising that SL will be seeking investment assistance from various countries in a balanced manner so that it is not perceived as a threat to any country, especially not to its nearest neighbour.

It will be interesting to see India's historic connections and continuing interest in fostering closer future co-operation with SL, especially as trade and economic fronts develop. Indian investments in SL are currently valued at $1 billion, with another $1 billion in the pipeline. Yet many Indian private sector firms have encountered hurdles in increasing their investments, claiming that they don't enjoy a level playing field in negotiations as Chinese companies, who often avoid facing the same levels of stringency on local regulatory issues as their Indian counterparts. India has expressed interest in developing Trincomalee, however SL is also keen to expand its reach by increasing its FDI Revenues from other countries, such as Japan and Singapore.

Hambantota would appear to be a key component of China's overall One Belt, One Road, however it remains to be seen whether the Sirisena/Wickremesinghe administration will be able to conclude this investment against the various oppositional forces without precipitating any damage to its relationships with other regional powers.

Enhancing Trade via the Commonwealth and bilaterally with the United Kingdom London hosted the inaugural Commonwealth Trade Ministers Meeting (CTMM) which gathered together 35 Trade Ministers for a two-day conference on March 9-10th. It was a high profile meeting hosted by the Commonwealth Secretary General, Baroness Patricia Scotland. UK delegates included Dr Liam Fox (Secretary of State for International Trade), Lord Mark Price (Minister of State for International Trade) and Baroness Joyce Anelay (FCO Minister of State). Sri Lanka was represented by two ministers - Malik Samarawickrama (Minister of Development Strategies & International Trade) and Rishad Bathiudeen (Industry & Commerce Minister). The Commonwealth Enterprise & Investment Council (CWEIC), led by Lord Peter

9 Marland (former UK Under Secretary of State in the Dept of Business, Innovation & Skills) played a pivotal role in facilitating the structure and scope of the conference.

With heightened interest in international trade, particularly as the impending complex trade negotiations that will be part of UK's Brexit discussions are about to commence, the purpose of the CTMM was to focus on opportunities for the Commonwealth to strengthen collaboration by promoting intra-Commonwealth trade and investment flows. Ministers identified key challenges hindering trade competitiveness, such as increasing protectionism, and discussed how to overcome them through mutual support. The CTMM underscored the importance of building a global economy that benefits all of the Commonwealth’s 2.4 billion citizens, noting that developing countries need an enabling global trading environment to achieve their Sustainable Development Goals. The Secretary-General stressed that “no country should be left behind” in the post-Brexit trade landscape. Ministers acknowledged that Brexit provides opportunities for broader cooperation on trade and investment between Commonwealth countries and committed to examining specific recommendations for practical initiatives that could be recommended to the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2018, due to be held in London.

The current level of intra-commonwealth trade is only 17% and there is expected to be a huge capacity to increase this. The aims of this greater engagement would be to foster Commonwealth best practice in such areas as trade engagement, establishing common anti- corruption standards, building better regulatory and legislative frameworks for trade agreements. These will all help to promote greater transparency and good governance standards that will be the foundation for encouraging increased business growth activities. Samaraweera, who has a wealth of personal experience in SL's export trade via the private sector, chaired one of the CTMM sessions and commented to the media afterwards that the CTMM was an opportunity to create a new Commonwealth trading bloc that would counter protectionism with multilateralism. It was also decided that the Commonwealth Secretariat will in due course appoint a Trade Ambassador to act as the principal focal point to champion the organisation's global trading aspirations.

A few days before, on Feb 28, Conservative Peer, Lord Mohamed Sheikh initiated a question in the House of Lords specifically referencing how bilateral trade between UK and Sri Lanka could be enhanced. Other peers who pressed for greater strengthening of trading activity between the two nations included Lords Rogan (UUP) and Lord Naseby (Con). Their rationale was to explain that Sri Lanka now demanded to be seen afresh, especially in light of her increased economic stability now that the conflict years were long gone, and as the current SL Govt was experiencing relatively strong GDP growth levels and had recently been actively positioning itself as a regional trading hub. It was proposed that UK companies should consider exploiting the island as a base to reach into the Asian markets from India to China, which are probably the largest and fastest growing in the world. SL has either already negotiated, or is in the process of negotiating, Free Trade Agreements with most of the major Asian markets such as India, Pakistan, Singapore, Bangladesh and, soon, China. Lord Price provided HMG's response on behalf of the Dept of International Trade remarking that with Brexit looming, the UK will be looking forward to establishing a deeper and more expansive trading relationship with Sri Lanka. Lord Sheikh asked whether consideration had been given to the possibility of appointing a Prime Minister's Trade Envoy for Sri Lanka and also of sending a ministerial-led trade delegation to the country? Lord Price responded by stating that increasing trade consolidates SL's peace and prosperity, would help to improve living standards generally and lift people out of poverty. With SL's economic growth expected to be about 5.5%, Lord Price mentioned that exports from the UK to SL increased by 46% in 2015 and exports from SL to

10 the UK stood at £1.1 billion. More than 100 UK companies have an affiliation in SL and the UK is keen to support restoration of the EU's GSP Plus scheme for the island nation which will remove tariffs on 66% of goods. At present there were no plans to appoint a Trade Envoy for SL, although the UK would continue to work on enhancing its bilateral trade relationship and strengthening its bonds via the Commonwealth. Whilst no response was given to the suggestion that a Ministerial Trade Delegation could be sent to SL, subsequent to the debate Lord Sheikh received a request to have a private meeting with Lord Price to see how a range of strategies could be adopted so as to strengthen the Anglo-Sri Lankan bilateral trading relationship.

Lord Sheikh was also able to meet with SL's Industry & Commerce Minister, Rishad Bathiudeen, in London at the end of the CTMM. They explored the opportunities of joint collaboration in order to facilitate greater trading engagement between the two countries.

Geoffrey Bawa Award for Lifetime Contribution to Architecture in Sri Lanka. No member who, over the last fifteen years, has had the delicious pleasure of hearing talks on the architecture of Geoffrey Bawa will be surprised to learn that it is our fellow member – and speaker – Professor David Robson who has been honoured by the Geoffrey Bawa Trust. The citation lists his pre-eminent contribution to architectural education in Sri Lanka as a lecturer in the University of Ceylon (1969 – 72), his contribution to Sri Lanka’s social and built fabric through his work on the Sri Lankan government’s 100,000 Houses Programme (1979 – 82) and his research and dissemination around the world of the work of Geoffrey Bawa, as well as the exceptional insight he continues to provide into the modern and contemporary architectural history of Sri Lanka. The phrase “around the world” is well chosen since this year David’s magisterial biography of Geoffrey Bawa, Geoffrey Bawa: the complete works (Thames & Hudson 2002), has been translated into Mandarin Chinese!

As well as curating the marvellous Bawa exhibition, Geoffrey Bawa – an architect of Sri Lanka, at the German Architectural Museum in Frankfurt (2004), David has published two more books with Thames & Hudson: Beyond Bawa – Modern Masterworks of Monsoon Asia (2007) and BAWA the Sri Lanka gardens with photographs by Dominic Sansoni (2008), and three further books on Sri Lankan architecture with Laurence King Publishing: Anjalendran Architect of Sri Lanka (2009), The Architectural Heritage of Sri Lanka: measured drawings from the Anjalendran studio (2016), and In Search of Bawa (2016).

We congratulate David and we thank him both for inspiring us and for teaching us a very great deal about the country we all love.

Cricket When the last newsletter went to press, there were still a number of matches (ODI & T20) to be played against South Africa. We said that these would be reported upon in the next newsletter.

First, there were three T20 matches, the results of which were as follows: 1st T20. South Africa scored 126 in a match reduced to 10 overs each, Sri Lanka only managing to achieve 107. 2nd T20. South Africa scored 113 all out, with Sri Lanka making 119 for 7 and so winning the second match. It was therefore all square going into the 3rd Match and decider. This was a most exciting and was an extremely close match. South Africa scored 169 for 5 and Sri Lanka 170 for 5. Although the official result was that Sri Lanka won by 5 wickets, but the reality was that they won by one run with only one ball remaining and so taking the series 2

11 matches to 1.

In the 5 ODI Matches, South Africa won convincing all 5 matches making it a clean sweep. Results as follows: 1st Match: Sri Lanka 181, South Africa 182 for 2, winning by 8 wickets. 2nd Match: South Africa 307, Sri Lanka 186 all out. Winning margin 186 runs. 3rd Match: Sri Lanka 163, South Africa 164 for 3. Winning margin 7 wickets. 4th Match: South Africa 367 for 5, Sri Lanka 327 all out. Winning margin 40 runs. 5th Match: South Africa 384 for 6, Sri Lanka 296 for 8. South Africa winning by 88 runs, and taking the series 5 matches to nil.

There then followed a series at home against Bangladesh of 2 Test Matches, 3 ODI Internationals and 1 T20. In the 1st Test, Sri Lanka scored 494 and 274, with Bangladesh 312 and 197 giving Sri Lanka a winning margin of 259. The 2nd Test saw a different result with Sri Lanka making 338 and 319 and Bangladesh 467 and 191, giving a winning margin of 1 run.

Moving on to the ODIs. The First saw Bangladesh make 324 but Sri Lanka only 234. The Second match was a disappointment with Sri Lanka making 311 before the match was abandoned due to rain.. In the Third match Sri Lanka made 280 against 210 by Bangladesh, giving Sri Lanka a win by 70 runs and levelling the series at one all.

In the first T20 Bangladesh made 155 and Sri Lanka 158 for 4, winning by 6 wickets. However in the second match the tables were turned with Bangladesh scoring 176, but sadly Sri Lanka could only manage 131 all out. The 2 match series being drawn one match each.

Wildlife Notes: Introducing migrant Gulls to Sri Lanka The Heuglin’s Gull makes an epic 13,000km plus return journey each year to visit Mannar from the far north of Russia Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne

Heuglin’s Gull photographed at Urumalai Beach in Mannar Island.

12 In this issue, I switch back to a feature that is centred on wildlife: the gulls. Although associated with the seaside in art and literature, not all gulls are ‘sea gulls’. FoSLA members resident in the UK will be familiar with gulls as ubiquitous denizens of city parks and inland water bodies. What may be a surprise is to know that in general, tropical Asian countries at equatorial latitudes do not have resident species of gulls. All of the gulls found in Sri Lanka are migrants from higher latitudes. In South-east Asia, in the Indonesian islands, even migrant gulls are such a rarity that if seen, they will merit a short account in an ornithological journal.

In the Indian Subcontinent, because of its long latitudinal extent, two species of gulls can be found breeding in its northern half. The Brown-headed Gull breeds in Ladakh and the Slender- billed Gull breeds in Pakistan. Both species can be found wintering elsewhere across India and, in the case of the Slender-billed Gull, very rarely in Sri Lanka. In addition to these two breeding gulls, 7 other species of gulls have been recorded in the Indian Subcontinent: Caspian, Heuglin’s, Steppe, Pallas’s, Sooty, Common and Black-headed Gulls. This is likely to increase as more and more people in the Subcontinent become better birders armed with digital photographic equipment and better access to identification skills and fora. The taxonomy of the large white-headed gulls is complex and some authors treat the Yellow-legged Gull as also having been recorded in the Indian Subcontinent. This bird has at times been treated as a subspecies of what is now the Caspian Gull. In this article for non-birders, I have deliberately avoided the use of Latin names but I have provided references for anyone wanting to look up details.

The commonest of the migrant gulls to Sri Lanka is the Brown-headed Gull which in breeding plumage sports a chocolate-brown head. In winter the head turns white with a black spot behind the ear. It is similar to the Black-headed Gull, a bird that is easily seen in Central London on the River Thames or in St James’s Park. In some years there is a large influx of these gulls into Sri Lanka and they spread further south. As a schoolboy at St Joseph’s College, Colombo, I have watched them on the Beira Lake in Colombo with my classmate Lester Perera. With a classroom adjoining the lake, we spent most of our time in class honing our birding skills rather than paying attention to what was being taught. This has turned out well for Lester who is now a full time professional wildlife tour leader. The Brown-headed Gull is regularly seen at the Chilaw Sand Spit and the Kalpitiya Peninsula. A more reliable location is the Urumalai Beach in Mannar Island. Although the Brown-headed Gull breeds in Ladakh, the majority of the world’s population breeds between the Aral Sea (shared between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan) and Central China; especially in the Tibetan plateau. It would be interesting to study their migrations using satellite tags to understand where the birds in Sri Lanka are coming from.

Brown-headed Gull photographed in Mannar. This bird is in winter plumage with a white head.

13 Urumalai Beach is also the best location for another star gull attraction, the Heuglin’s Gull, which, in small numbers, is a regular winter migrant. It rarely ventures to the southern half of Sri Lanka and thus a visit to Mannar or the Northern Peninsula between November and March may be required to see it. This enigmatic bird breeds on open tundra and marine islands between the White Sea and Kola Peninsula (in Eastern Russia close to the border with Finland) to the Yamal Peninsula and West Tamyr in Russia.

To the east of this is another subspecies of Heuglin’s Gull, the race taimyrensis, which winters in East Asia. The wintering range of Heuglin’s Gull is from the west coast of the Arabian Peninsula to the west coast of India and the northern parts of Sri Lanka. Every time I see these birds in Mannar I think of their epic journey across the entire Asian land mass to reach Sri Lanka. Using a ruler and an atlas, I work this out to be a journey of around six and a half thousand kilometres in a straight line. Which means that, in a year, the birds are flying over 13,000 kilometres just to and from their breeding and wintering grounds. In a future issue of the FoSLA newsletter, I will discuss another gull, the Pallas’s or Great Black-headed Gull, whose haunting calls resonate over the salt marshes of the Northern Peninsula.

References de Silva Wijeyeratne, G. (In Prep). A Photographic Field Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka. John Beaufoy Publishing. 296 pages. Due August 2017.

Olsen, K. M. & Larsson, H. (2004). Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America. Helm Identification Guides. Christopher Helm Publishers Ltd. 608 pages.

Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C., and Inskipp, T. (2011). Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. Helm Field Guides. Christopher Helm, an Imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. London. 528 pages.

Harrison, J. (2011). A Field Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka. 49 colour plates by Tim Worfolk. Oxford University Press: Oxford. 224 pages.

Acknowledgements I would like to thank Ajith Ratnayaka, the management team and staff of Palmyrah House (www.palmyrahouse.com) for hosting A Photographic Field Guide to the Birds me and my family on multiple occasions. Their support to my of Sri Lanka written by FoSLA member field work in Mannar and elsewhere is hugely appreciated. My Gehan will be out around August 2017. It thanks also to Tara Wikramanayake for comments and editing will have over 850 images, with nearly 400 this draft. images contributed by 57 participating photographers. It will be the first comprehensive photographic guide to Sri Lankan birds, covering the 462 species recorded to date.

14 H C P Bell Archaeologist of Ceylon and the Maldives In 1993 our fellow member Heather Bell, together with her late sister Bethia Bell, published a Life of their grandfather, H C P Bell, the first Archaeological Commissioner of Ceylon and a most marvellous account this is. Not only is it thoroughly researched, it is deeply atmospheric and, sitting in the garden on a surprisingly hot April day, it transported me straight back to my earliest days in Sri Lanka. The dry heat of Anuradhapura, the dust and the delicious strangeness and excitement of it all was once again brought to life. Bell’s forebears were long involved with India, his great-grandfather served as a soldier in the Madras Artillery in the days of the East India Company and fought in the last battle against “Tippoo Sahib”, as he respectfully describes him, at Seringapatan. Born in India, as his grandfather and father had been, H C P Bell was sent home to school – and here the Misses Bell describe the new public schools of the day – and first went to Ceylon in 1873 as a Writer to the Ceylon Civil Service. He was never to leave. Sir William Gregory was serving as Governor and it was a time of growing interest in the rich history and archaeology of the island. In 1877 the Colombo Museum, a particular creation of the Governor, was opened as a safe haven for inscriptions from the ancient cities. In 1899 an Archaeological Survey was established, in which Bell, who by this time was a District Judge in Kegalle, was appointed “Special Commissioner detached for achaeological research”, eventually being created the first Archaeological Commissioner in 1897. In June 1890 he started work at Anuradhapura and his life’s work began in earnest. There is a photograph of his climbing Sigiriya, his youngest child on his back! And another showing him and two of his children (looking for all the world as if they were sitting calmly on the ground) precariously balanced on a woven structure suspended from the top of the rock while he shows off the paintings of the court ladies – and what of his assistant, D A L Perera, who was, as Bell himself describes, “swung in the air 150 feet above the ground and 50 feet clear of the cliff” so that he could copy the paintings – in oils! - for scholarly research. And scholarly research there was, and in plenty. Bell insists on absolute accuracy in the work, but is never unaware of beauty. He writes of the Sigiriya paintings, “so skilfully in truth has the portrait painter worked that it appears possible not merely to gauge approximately each lady’s age, but even, in great degree, ‘ to find the mind’s construction in the face’ “. He writes too, with great respect, of the great Kings who had ruled from these elegant cities and, his special interest, of the work of the engineers who planned and built the tanks. H C P Bell died in Kandy in 1937 and Senarat Paranavitana, Archaeological Commissioner from 1940 – 56, confirming one (of many) of Bell’s findings, would write later of the “sagacity of one of his predecessors in office – the pioneer of Ceylon archaeology”. This is a book of absorbing interest: the research is not only impeccable, it is clearly written with love and the passages describing the making of the ola-leaf manuscripts are as beautiful as those describing the great dagobas of Anuradhapura. I felt I was walking in the company of an educated, humane man – a man full of anecdotes and stories of his friends and colleagues – and I learnt more about these ancient cities than I have ever done before. (Sue Marsh) A paperback is now published and is available from the publishers, Archetype Publications, Imeche Building, 1 Birdcage Walk, London SW1H 9JJ telephone 020 7380 0800

The National Museum of Colombo Since its foundation in 1877 the Museum has been managed by the Sri Lankan Government, but recently Heather Bell has learnt that the Prime Minister has approved its being offered for sale into private hands. Heather is greatly concerned about this, fearing the scattering of objects of archaeological importance all over the globe. In 1910 her grandfather had persuaded the Government to enact An Ordinance for the Better Preservation of the Antiquities of the Island and we read

15 (page 105 H C P Bell) of the Director of the Munich Museum being “courteously, but with no hesitation” informed “that his application, like others of similar nature in previous years, could not be acceded to, but that he was at liberty to make drawings, or plaster-casts, if desired.” Heather is keen that these strict rules remain in place and fears that privatisation of the Colombo Museum will erode them. Whilst she admits that recent stewardship of the Museum could be improved, she does not believe that privatisation is the answer. She would welcome advice and help, perhaps in the form of a protest letter, from interested members of our Association. Heather’s address is 7 Egliston Road, Putney, London SW15 1AL and her telephone number 020 8788 3675

Clive Garden Hotel The beachside hotel that Thomas Lyttelton, together with Sri Lankan friends, has built on the west coast is now open. The swimming pool is large and sea, of course, divine. The website is www.clivegarden.com and Thomas can be reached on 020 8340 7205 or 0771 363 8161.

A TRIP OF A LIFETIME A very exciting friendship has sprung up between Sri Lankan Airlines and our Association! The airline would like to identify a member who has lost touch with Sri Lanka but is longing to return, to visit places they remember and reconnect with family members, friends or colleagues – and create new memories. Please see the attached flyer...... and have a wonderful time!

Wanted: a house near the Sri Lankan south coast for three months over the winter. Our fellow member, Hilary Costa Sanseverino who lived in Sri Lanka from 1990-94 when her late husband was the Italian Ambassador, would like to rent a secluded house with 2 to 3 bedrooms over the winter period. She would like it to be near the south coast, but not necessarily on the beach (and she does not want the train running across the end of the garden!). She does not need any household staff. If any member knows of such a place, please get in touch with Hilary direct on [email protected]

The History & Culture of Tea On the occasion of celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Ceylon Tea Industry an exhibition on The History & Culture of Tea was officially opened on 25 March by Her Excellency Ms.Amari Wijewardene, the High Commissioner for Sri Lanka. The exhibition is taking place at Priory House Heritage Centre, 33, High Street South, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, LU6 3RZ and will run to the end of 2017. Should you wish to obtain more details you can contact: Helen Walker-Sygrove. Email: [email protected] or telephone: 01582 891420. This is an impressive exhibition and well worth visiting. You can make a day of it by having a full afternoon tea (comprehensive tea menu) in the Priory House Tea Rooms on the ground floor. There is also the opportunity to visit what remains of the Old Priory, only a short walk away.

16 The Sri Lankan Women’s Association in the UK Celebration of Sri Lanka’s National New Year on Saturday 29 April 12 – 4 pm Minoli Weeraman invites us to celebrate National Day at Holy Apostles’ Church Hall, 47 Cumberland Street, London SW1V 4LY. As well as traditional Kiribath and a buffet style Asian meal, there will be live music and a cultural programme. Please see the attached flyer for further details.

The Chitrasena Dance Company at the Royal Festival Hall 7 pm Friday 26 May At 7 pm on 26 May 14 dancers and musicians from the Chitrasena Dance Company and the Nrityagram Dance Ensemble from Bangalore will perform Samhara as part of the Alchemy Festival at the Royal Festival Hall. This is how the website describes the event and it does sound breathtaking, not least because Tagi, the third (and, it is said, the best) generation of Chitrasena’s leading women will be part of the ensemble. The Nrityagram Dance Ensemble, the Odissi collective from Bangalore, India, have earned a reputation for exquisite physical precision and warmth of emotional communication. For Alchemy they present their first international collaboration which explores the meeting point between the sensuousness of Odissi and the masculine dynamism of Chitrasena’s Kandyan dance company, Sri Lanka’s oldest and most highly regarded dance company. Choreographed by Surupa Sen, Samhara is performed by a company of 14 dancers and musicians from India and Sri Lanka to an original live score composed by Presanna Singakkara (Sri Lanka) and Pandit Raghunath Panigrahi Dhaneswar Swain (India). Tickets are available via the RFH website www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on

Association events in the last quarter

A Magnificent Evening of Classical Music with Rohan de Saram and Johan de Silva in the Great Hall, City of London School 6 March

Rohan de Saram playing the cello close to the bridge so that a wind sound not used in western music is produced, while Suren plays the cymbal with a cello bow to create atmosphere.

Our member, Dr. Shihan Jayasuriya, was delighted and wrote about our evening:

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Ms Amari Wijewardene, Her Excellency the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka, members of FoSLA, their guests and musicians from the Royal Academy were treated to an evening of music which unleashed Sri Lanka’s talents in London.

Baritone, Johan de Silva, was at home in the Great Hall of his alma mater, City of London Boys School. After performances at the Royal Opera House and English National Opera, as the Third Boy (The Magic Flute, ENO – 2007 and 2009) and the Shepherd Boy (Tosca, ROH, 2009), Johan served as a Chorister at HM’s Chapels Royal (St. James’s Palace), singing on occasion to members of the Royal Family during both private and public events. In recent years as a baritone, he has taken on principal roles in amateur productions of Die Fledermaus and The Cunning Little Vixen. On 6 March, Johan’s recital moved from a selection of short songs and lieder, through to a series of operatic and oratorio arias composed by Brahms (Wiegenlied, Sommerabend, Feldeinsamkeit), Schubert (An Sylvia, Ave Maria), Schumann (Excerpts from Dichterliebe), Fauré (Apres un reve), Tchaikovsky (Net, tolko tot, kto znal ‘None but the lonely heart’), Mozart (Der vogelfanger bin ich ja – from The Magic Flute), Madamina, il catalogo e questo from Don Giovanni and Deh, vieni alla finestra from Don Giovanni, Mendelssohn (Lord God of Abraham – from Elijah), Handel (Why do the Nations so furiously rage together? from Messiah) and ended with a couple of songs from musicals - Carousel (If I Loved You – from Rodgers and Hammerstein) and Lost in the Stars (Stay Well by Kurt Weill). Johan displayed his versatility, singing a variety of styles and also in the range of lyrics, from German, French, Italian, Russian to English. He gripped the audience throughout the forty minute performance with his interpretations. Paul Harrison, Director of Music at the City of London School since September 2006, when Johan first started at the school, a highly accomplished pianist, organist and conductor, accompanied Johan throughout.

The recital was followed with a performance by the internationally-renowned Cellist Deshamanya Rohan de Saram, honoured by the President of Sri Lanka. It was an experience to hear the master at play. Fauré’s Elegie (accompanied by Paul) was just the beginning of a truly amazing performance. Bach’s Prelude, Sarabande and Gigue from Suite no. 3 in C major for solo cello and Pietro Locatelli’s Labirinto armonico (transcribed for solo cello by Rohan de Saram from solo violin) followed. The music shifted towards home with ‘Improvisations based on Sri Lankan folk tunes and drum rhythms’ when Rohan’s son Suren, a drummer with the well-known British indie-rock band, the Bombay Bicycle Club and a timpanist/percussionist with the recently formed Oberon Symphony Orchestra, joined him. Suren used a cello bow and his hands to play a western drum kit, usually played with drumsticks. The combination of eastern and western sounds rang out the musical melanges. Dr Marilyn Herman, musician and composer, summed up the “Amazing & unique performances by Johan de Silva, Paul Harrison, Rohan & Suren de Saram: Johan de Silva – great voice! and amazing improvisations of Sri Lankan folk melodies by cellist Rohan de Saram and drummer Suren de Saram.”

Sir Peter Heap, the Chairman of FoSLA, in his vote of thanks, remarked on the stunning magnificent Walker organ in the Great Hall, a rare resource for school children. It was a suitable backdrop to such an exhilarating performance. As I stepped out of the school building overlooking the Thames, splendidly lit up in the night, and climbed up the stairs opposite St Paul’s Cathedral, the music lingered on in my ears.

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Her Excellency Ms. Amari Wijewardene, the High Commissioner for Sri Lanka greets Deshamanya Rohan de Saram

A day in St. James’s 28 March On a most beautiful morning 15 Friends gathered at the Travellers Club in Pall Mall where, at elegant leisure, we enjoyed coffee and were shown round the beautiful building, so redolent of travellers and explorers. The sun shone in the morning room window and, climbing the stairs, we were shown the extra handhold on the banister; attached to help a (was he short, or tall?) nineteenth century French ambassador to more easily reach the first floor. In the dining room we asked whether there had been any spies in the membership. “Perhaps”, we were told, but “certainly there is a ‘spies table’ in the far corner”! Our final destination was the iconic library – surely we have seen this in films? – where a table was packed with the very latest travel books and the floor to ceiling shelves with the very earliest. Amongst books on Sri Lanka, we noticed Robert Knox’s journal, and we settled down to leaf through other lovely books on yet another generously laden table - and enjoy an excellent fino. At noon we set off with our indefatigable guide, Stan Medland, to look at St. James’s. The widest of the streets designed by John Nash in the early nineteenth century, one of the great white buildings had been the home of the German ambassador when the first World War broke out – it was here that Sir Edward Grey’s letter announcing our declaration of war was delivered, while under a tree opposite the front door we saw the gravestone of a later ambassador’s favourite dog, “ein treuer begleiter”. Lunch was sandwiches at the Red Lion in Crown Passage, which Stan told us was known as“The Nunnery” in the time of the Prince Regent, the building being the home of many a “companion” of the Court of St. James’s! And then it was shopping – or looking at shops, and not any old shop. These had been in their current premises for up to 300 years. The wooden floor of the vintners, Berry Bros. & Rudd was deliciously uneven, the counters and high clerks’ desks (now carrying the latest Apple laptop) unchanged. As were the great coffee scales. The shop began life in 1698 as a

19 grocer’s supplying coffee to the newly fashionable coffee houses and it wasn’t long before their elegant clients delighted in weighing themselves with their coffee, the shop charging the the difference between the two commodities! Lord Byron, Beau Brummel, even Pitt the Younger, played the game – and apparently it is not unknown even today (except that the difference is measured in wine rather than coffee). Outside we walked down surely the most atmospheric little alleyway in this part of Town and into a yard where duels were fought and poor wretched bears baited. The doorcases were a wonder. We were enchanted by the hatters, Lock & Co. The head measurements of Wellington, Churchill and Princess Diana hung on the wall and some of us tried on the merchandise......

In the bootmakers, Lobb’s, craftspeople were sitting at high tables making shoes just as they had done for three centuries – and one of the names in the order book was that of “Sir H. Bandaranaike”. Sir Harry Dias Bandaranaike (1822 – 1901) was the first Ceylonese barrister to be called to the bar at Middle Temple in 1848. He represented Ceylon at the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria (whose shoes we also saw) and in 1885 he was appointed the first Sinhalese Judge of the Supreme Court, a post he held until 1892, during which time he served as acting Chief Justice in 1888. He was knighted in 1893 and our discovery made our day.

Association events in the next quarter

Post AGM Supper Wednesday 28 June Following our Annual General Meeting we shall be making our annual visit to The Sekara restaurant for a delicious Post AGM curry supper. Please see the flyer for all details – and be sure to book your place as soon as possible.

Walking from Wapping to lunch at the Prospect of Whitby Wednesday 5 July 11 am from Wapping Overground Station and 1 pm at the Prospect The Prospect of Whitby has been hosting mariners and those who frequent the docks for 500 years. Friends on our Docklands tour noticed the pub, melting in the sunshine, last summer and some of us have been longing to return ever since!

20 We shall not be the first friends of Sri Lanka to drink there – the great clippers loaded with tea and spices coming from the East would have waited their turn to enter the London docks at this spot...... and with Stan Medland to guide us, we shall learn much. For those who like a walk, we shall meet at Wapping Station at 11 am and take a circular walk to the pub. We shall walk along the streets where pirates gathered, see one of the churches built to celebrate Wellington’s success at Waterloo (a church here, a Club in Pall Mall!) and on and on, past Wilton’s Music Hall and the streets immortalised in T S Eliot’s Wasteland, until we reach the Prospect for lunch at 1 o’clock, where we have reserved space next to the window. The only walk after lunch will be to the railway station. Please see the flyer for how to order lunch and all further details.

Membership Dues Annual membership subscriptions fell due on 1st January 2017. If you have already paid by standing order, no further action is required. However, please ensure with your bank that your standing order mandate includes a clear reference to your name – a number of payments every year cannot be attributed to anybody because they either have no reference or the reference is meaningless!

If you pay by cheque and have not already done so, please forward your cheque without delay to the Honorary Treasurer, Ranil Perera, 51 Fitzjames Avenue, CROYDON, CR0 5DN – cheques to be payable to ‘The Friends of Sri Lanka Association’

Just to remind: the single subscription is £15.00 and the joint subscription is £22.50. Alternatively, if you prefer to change to payment by standing order, please contact the Hon Treasurer for the necessary form. This method of payment is much preferred by the Association.

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