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Anti-terrorism Bill will be changedThe highly controversial Antiterrorism Bill is subject to amendments and changes in Parliament and as such no one should have any fear or feeling of threat from the proposed Bill, Justice Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said. The government is aware of concerns raised by the global and local community on certain provisions contained in the draft of the Anti-terrorism Bill and the Government is ready to alleviate them by discussion, compromise and flexibility, he added. Addressing a news conference at the Information Department auditorium, Minister Rajapakshe said the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) passed in 1979 under President J.R. Jayewardene’s rule as a temporary measure to counter the emerging separatist insurgency. The PTA has been misused and exploited by successive Governments since then for their personal and political...Read More...
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WhatsApp adds option to use the same account on multiple phonesWhatsApp users are no longer restricted to using their account on just a single phone. Today, the Meta-owned messaging service is announcing that its multi-device feature — which previously allowed you to access and send messages from additional Android tablets, browsers, or computers alongside your primary phone — is expanding to support additional smartphones. “One WhatsApp account, now across multiple phones” is how the service describes the feature, which it says is rolling out to everyone in the coming weeks.Read More...
Setting up a secondary phone to use with your WhatsApp account happens after doing a fresh install of the app. Except, rather than entering your phone number during setup and logging in as usual, you instead tap a new “link to existing account” option. This will generate a QR... -
CBK commends Dr. Shafi’s noble gesture of donating past salary to buy essential medicineFalsely accused by racist elements for alleged illegal sterilisation, Kurunegala Teaching Hospital doctor says racism will not take country or organisation forward except make poor people suffer more; calls on all to make Sri Lanka racism-free Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has commended Dr. Mohamed Shafi Shihabdeen over his gesture of donating the past salaries amounting to Rs. 2.6 million during his suspension and imprisonment on false charges to buy essential medicines. Chandrika Bandaranaike KumaratungaRead More...
Dr. Mohamed Shafi Shihabdeen
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Dr. Shafi donates arrears of his salary to purchase medicines for hospitalsDr. Shihabdeen Mohamed Shafi, the doctor at the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital has decided to donate arrears of his salary amounting over Rs. 2.67 million for the purchase of essential medicines for hospitals.
Dr. Shafi who was on compulsory leave on charges of performing infertility surgery, has received a cheque of over Rs. 2.67 million salary arrears from the Health Ministry last week.
The salary arrears include the basic salary, interim allowance, cost of living, and allowance in lieu of pension for the period of compulsory leave imposed on Dr. Sihabdeen.
Dr. Shafi who was employed at the Kurunegala teaching hospital was arrested on May 25th, 2019, on charges of performing infertility surgery.
On July 25, 2019, the Kurunegala Magistrate’s Court ordered that the doctor be released on bail.Govt. used Sinhala-Buddhist shield to its maximum benefit Ven. Galkande Dhammananda TheraThis Govt. nurtured thug-like monks promoted them and deployed them in various places Certain monks have severe psychological wounds If society isn’t healed cases of domestic violence, harassment and child abuse will be on the rise Reconciliation was about having workshops, providing a report and earning dollars Accountability has not been included in the Constitution or the Judicial system Terrorism sprouts in a country that has no justice Ven. Galkande Dhammananda Thera who currently heads the Walpola Rahula Institute for Buddhist Studies has been addressing issues related to social justice and harmony while promoting an inclusive and plural society. Having gathered a wealth of experience during the height of war for instance and having encountered various incidents during his lifetime, Ven. Dhammananda Thera has...Read More...Health ministry to pay back-wages for Dr. Shafi before July 10The Ministry of Health today gave an undertaking before the Court of Appeal that the salary and allowances payable to Dr. Shafi Shihabdeen will be paid before July 10 this year. The Ministry of Health gave this undertaking pursuant to a writ petition filed by Dr. Shafi Shihabdeen, who was at the centre of the controversy surrounding the alleged sterilisation of female patients. The Director General of Establishment at the Ministry of Public Services had earlier informed the Court that the basic salary, interim allowance, cost of living and allowance in lieu of pension could be paid to Dr. Shafi Shihabdeen, for the compulsory leave period. Meanwhile, the petitioner expressed willingness to attend the preliminary inquiry before Director of Kurunegala Teaching Hospital Dr. Chandana Kendangamuwa. Taking into consideration the facts,...Read More...Sri Lanka court orders release of lawyer held for two yearsA Sri Lankan court has ordered the release on bail of a lawyer arrested over his alleged links to the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings and held for nearly two years on charges rights groups say lacked credible evidence. Hejaaz Hizbullah was arrested in April 2020 and accused of being linked to the attacks on churches and hotels that left 279 people dead. But after prosecutors failed to provide evidence of his involvement in the attacks, blamed on a local group, he was instead Read More...Hejaaz Hizbullah leaves from remand custodyAttorney-at-law Hejaaz Hizbullah today left from remand custody after fulfilling his bail conditions before Puttlalam High Court.Read More...
He was incarcerated for 22 months for allegedly committing offences come under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.Last Monday (07), the Court of Appeal ordered to release Hizbullah on bail pursuant to a revision application filed on behalf him.Hizbullah was ordered to be released on a cash bail of Rs.100,000 with two sureties of Rs.500,000 by Puttlalam High Court Judge Kumari Abeyratne. He was further ordered to report to the DIG office of Puttalam Police Division every second and fourth Sunday of every month.An indictment under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Act has now been served on Hejaaz Hizbullah. According to the indictment, Hizbullah...හිජාස් ගෙදර යයිRead More...
(නිමන්ති රණසිංහ සහ හිරාන් ප්රියංකර ජයසිංහ) ත්රස්තවාදය වැළැක්වීමේ පනත සහ සිවිල් හා දේශපාලන අයිතීන් පිළිබද ජාත්යන්තර සම්මුති පනත ප්රකාරව චෝදනා ලැබ වසර දෙකකට ආසන්න කාලයක් රක්ෂිත බන්ධනාගාර ගත කර සිටි නිතීඥ හිජාස් හිස්බුල්ලා මහතා අභියාචනාධිකරණ නියෝගය ප්රකාරව ඇප මත මුදාහැරීමට පුත්තලම මහාධිකරණය අද (09)...Court of Appeal grants bail on Hejaaz HizbullahThe Court of Appeal today ordered to release Attorney-at-law Hejaaz Hizbullah on bail after nearly two years in detention and remand custody. Accordingly, the Court of Appeal directed the Puttalam High Court to release Hejaaz Hizbullah on bail with suitable bail conditions. The Court of Appeal two-judge-bench comprising Justice Menaka Wijesundera and Justice Neil Iddawala made this order taking into consideration a revision application filed on behalf of Hejaaz Hizbullah. The Attorney General did not raise objections to release Hizbullah on bail. On January 28, an application made by the defence requesting to release Attorney-at-law Hejaaz Hizbullah on bail was rejected by Puttalam High Court. The High Court Judge Kumari Abeyrathne refused to grant bail citing that she has no jurisdiction to grant bail under the Prevention of Terrorism...Read More...- 1
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Wednesday, 27 August 2014 22:33
By Dhammika Herath
Dr. Dhammika Herath
Psychopathy and Sociopathy are often misunderstood and misquoted in contemporary psychiatry, as well as among the general public. However, the study of this fascinating aspect of human personality is important in order to understand certain individuals that we deal with. There is hardly ever an opportunity to analyse someone who so publicly demonstrates a range of behaviours, impulses and cognitions as well as interpersonal relations which are the cornerstone of one’s personality.
In recent months, I have had the opportunity to observe this man who has exposed himself so much in the media. An analysis of his psychological make up is warranted and timely.
Psychopathy is not a very well researched clinical entity, as most psychopaths are either incarcerated or in high public and business offices. It is not a mental condition that can be successfully treated. The problem of personality disorder is where the sufferer is neither aware of the condition, nor distressed by the symptom profile. For him the entire world is wrong but not himself.
His thought processes are egosyntonic and do not cause any distress in him. His behaviour, however much deviant, immoral and unethical, are normal to him, and he will justify them, even going to extreme lengths to justify them.
His interpersonal skills and relations are tattered, but he blames the others for his faults. He lies, deceives, manipulates, even becomes violent to reach his ends and goals. Those actions and behaviours leave no guilt or remorse, and he rather enjoys the suffering of others, and will not hesitate to inflict pain in others in order to derive pleasure or monetary or other material or sexual gains. Moreover, he will act predatorily, using others’ money and property for his own pleasure.Psychopaths usually live a parasitic life, they do not work, simply live at the expense of others and tend to be proud of it. With air of grandiosity, they tend to be charming, sweet talking and when necessary violently aggressive and will justify their most vicious actions.
They are un-empathic, insensitive and experience little or no sensitivity to the suffering of others, however much pain they experience at the hands of the psychopath.
Sounds scary or familiar?
If we look around the media these days you will be able to spot one or two individuals with those characteristics floating around the country, addressing gatherings, attending media interviews, those few people unmistakably wearing saffron robes!
Let me look at the person of interest very closely in order to analyse the personality structure and understand the evolution of this particular individual’s personality.
Obscure, deprived, violent and neglected childhood
In relation to this particular monk, or individual of interest, I do not have much information about his childhood or upbringing. However, let me indulge in some speculations, as there was no adequate information available to draw conclusions.
One of the strongest clues comes from his current predicament, that he is a monk. In contemporary Sri Lankan society, if child is given to the temple and monkhood, it indicates a few, inescapable reasons. Escape from poverty and hunger as well as hyperactivity and problematic behaviour are some of the most common reasons for parents to give their child to the temple. Almost all are consequences of dire poverty, neglect, and parents who were either poor, personality disordered themselves, underprivileged and perhaps violent and abusing substances in a struggle to escape from the realities of life.
In this background, children are often neglected, emotionally and physically abused leading to the formation of cognitive set where survival by any means becomes a way of life. Primitive, brainstem driven, they connive strategy where higher morals, values and beliefs all go out of the window (technically speaking, their identity runs riot where there is no formation of ego or superego). There is no apparent or clear conflict between ego and superego in order to cause anxiety and depression. These mechanisms are not necessary as there is no ego or superego formation.
I wonder whether this individual, who went on to become a monk, had a terrible upbringing, and was left at the mercy of older monks, neglected and abandoned by his parents.
Growing up in an environment of strict religious indoctrination, where there is limited empathy, limited opportunity to learn about world issues, develop peer relationships, interpersonal skills and emotional validation, young people either withdraw or revolt.
It appears this monk took the second path, fuelled by lack of development of ego and self, resulting in development of the personality structure we witness today; callous, aggressive, emotionally cold, an unempathetic alligator in robes.
Let’s examine some of the characteristics this particular monk demonstrates for appraisal in detail, particularly his adult personality structure or lack of it.
Lying and deceitfulness
He was caught driving a vehicle under influence of alcohol and punished by the court of law for dangerous driving and causing an injury. It is dangerous to drive under the influence and without a valid licence makes it particularly a criminal offence. However, even after the punishment meted out by the courts, he went on to justify the act, blatantly lying in the media and denying the incident. All of this against the Buddhist doctrines of honesty and truthfulness, virtues Buddhists greatly value and promise to keep every day (musavada = thou shall not deliberately lie/ deceive).
Later events clearly indicate that he was lying in many other instances to justify his actions and escape criticism and fallout from racially inciting speeches that he delivered which were publicly present in the visual and audio media. Interested readers can see YouTube for further evidence.
Callousness and parasitic life style
This particular monk does not have an employment, lives on the alms given by the local poor and is being paid by the government. Tax money belongs to the people of the country, yet he uses expensive electronic items, iPods and computers, contrary to the Buddhist virtues of a simple life and devoid of pleasure. He drives expensive vehicles, and travels the world in luxury, all the time preaching for a simple life as a Buddha putra.
Further, this parasitic lifestyle is filled with expensive trips to Europe, America in order to incite violence towards other religious minorities and communities, without any regard to their safety and emotions. Inciting religious and racial violence towards helpless groups is a clear indication of callous, unempathetic, impulsive actions that for a layman appear an act of defiance but for a keen observer, are a cardinal characteristic of deranged personality structure.
Deception, underhandedness and lack of empathy
This fellow is so cold and callous. He attempted to assault another monk and group of minority Muslims in broad daylight and went on to not just deny but also justify the aggressive behaviour. His actions not only endanger communal harmony but create a kind of communal paranoia.
Where are these traits arising from? A deranged, callous, psychotic thought process and personality? We can speculate that his early developmental vulnerabilities transacted with his genetic vulnerabilities resulting in the formation or lack of formation of personality structure where survival remains the core strategy. Since there was no ego formation, it has resulted in characterological abnormalities that define Galabodaaththe Gnanasara.
He is an extremely dangerous man. I will not speculate or comment or recommend a remedial strategy as it is not my focus. However, evidence suggests that he is extremely dangerous to humanity, Sri Lankan society and people in general.
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