Can a ‘Sinhala patriot’ explain pesticides, arsenic and fertiliser?

Photo courtesy Arsenic and toxins found in baby rice food – what you need to know

There is a new Sinhala nationalist political trend that now throws out a completely novel discourse, which ties up mythical gods as superior to “Jewish Christian Western Science” and claims, the entire Sri Lankan agriculture needs revamping. The Christian Jewish based MNCs have been providing us pesticides and fertiliser with “Arsenic”, these patriots claim. This has created many conflicts within this regime, that prompted the Agrarian Services Minister Chandrasena to publicly say and ask, “We were told to promote rice over bread and now they say rice has Arsenic. What do they want us to eat ? Grass?” And the same minister told the parliament on 06 July, the government has found the soil now has toxic contents in excess and would therefore control chemical fertiliser use by pruning its subsidy.

The argument against the use of pesticides and chemical fertiliser goes thus.

1. All chemical fertiliser and pesticides imported to SL have “Arsenic” which is deadly poisonous (Officially it was said only 02 out of 27 brands of chemical fertiliser had concerned levels of Arsenic presence and those have been stopped from importing)
2. This Arsenic issue, till most recently was never exposed although in the NCP there was an increased number of chronic renal failure patients. (They attribute renal failure to Arsenic, though without any clinical proof)
3. The exposure came with “God Naatha” enlightening Prof Nalin de Silva, Dean of the Faculty of Science, Kelaniya University and another Kelaniya University  Science faculty don.
4. Their research at the Kelaniya University laboratory, guided by “God Naatha” shows alarming levels of “Arsenic” in fertiliser and rice produced in the NCP.  (Prof Ms. Paranagama of Kelaniya Science faculty claimed that all medical and academic persons also go to Kataragama when they buy a new car and seek divine help when building a new house and therefore their research with divine             guidance should not be ridiculed)
5. They therefore claim renal failure in NCP villages is due to this rice   consumption, but do not explain why people in other provinces who eat the   same rice don’t have such renal failure.
6. This they say is a conspiracy by Multi National Companies (MNCs) who work     on Jewish Christian philosophy and is used by the LTTE against Sinhala people

These revelations reject accepted scientific methodologies in research and claims they have adopted a novel methodology in carrying out their research, but have never been peer reviewed for consent and acceptance, as scientifically correct. Nor have they been published as research papers.

Meanwhile, there are others who have joined this campaign and have put forward their own demands. Outcome is stupefying. Sinhala Buddhist nationalism now claims,

1. This is a new strategy that had been adopted by the LTTE as “bio-terrorism” to rid the NCP of Sinhala people. Their only proof is that almost all renal failure patients are from Sinhala villages close to “former border villages” and reject the findings that there is a “hard water” belt stretching from West of Anuradhapura to Padaviya area in the East coast, whilst stretching South towards Kekirawa and Dambulla.
2. Pesticides have to be banned and chemical fertiliser replaced with compost fertiliser in agriculture.

On the first claim, though theorised by a medical person, one Dr. Channa Jayasumana of the Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine of the Rajarata University, there is absolutely no evidence to say the LTTE had a hand in the manufacture of chemical fertiliser and pesticides that were imported to SL, or they had any share in the imports of pesticides and fertiliser. Thus there is no clue as to how the LTTE introduced arsenic to these villages in such organised manner, except in the fantasies of this medical tutor.

Any way, now there is hardly any reason to worry, as the Rajapaksa government is firm in their declaration that the war was concluded with the total annihilation of the LTTE leadership and their organisation. There will be no more arsenic from LTTE sources!

The second claim is a serious claim, as that involves many aspects of social and economic life of the people of this country. And playing with human life is no joke, though it is no serious issue for these myopic Sinhala nationalists. It would therefore serve all concerned citizens if a Sinhala patriot could answer the following questions, in a logical manner.

1. The annual average import of pesticides and chemical fertiliser are 6,000 MT and 50,000 MT that contain only 6 kg and 750 kg of Arsenic, respectively (check with ITI if necessary). How harmful can that be for human life ?
2. IF this total import is to be replaced with local compost fertiliser, how many Metric Tons of compost would be needed every year ?
3. How many Metric Tons of bio degradable waste and or “green manure” would Sri Lanka need every year, to compost the required quantity of organic fertiliser ?
4. What is the total throw of bio degradable waste in Sri Lanka that can be used for compost manufacture and how many acres of land would be needed for “green manure” ?
5. What extent of land would be required for a continuous supply of compost fertiliser or green manure ?

On the issue of modern Western medicine and science being Jewish Christian and thus anti “Sinhala nationalist”,

1. What are these Sinhala patriotic academics teaching to their undergrad students ? Do they still teach Western Science and medicine they claim is conspiratorial and extremely harmful to this Sinhala nation?
2. What type of medicine would they prescribe, if they reject Western Science and Technology as fatally harmful?
3. Would they advocate the closure of all medical faculties teaching Western medicine and closure of all science, dental and engineering faculties?

They still don’t advocate such closure and don’t even call for a change in sylabii to nullify what they claim is fatally harmful to a whole nation. They don’t even propose an alternative higher education programme to stop this “knowledge killing” by Jewish mindsets, they claim is undermining our nation. They don’t have a new and a comprehensive “Naatha Vidyawa” to talk of, leave alone propose an alternative.

Finally, how true are they to their conscience ? In short, how patriotic are they?