By Namini WijedasaOn a personal assurance from President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Prof. Ratnajeevan Hoole, a former vice chancellor of the University of Jaffna, returned to Sri Lanka with his family to serve the country he so loved. His experience since coming back has been “horrible” and has left him sorely disappointed.
I think President Rajapaksa meant well by me and intended to keep his promise. But as president he cannot afford to allow his directive on our appointments to be ignored nor can he simply ignore a promise he made just because of
Douglas Devananda’s objections.
Devananda is running Jaffna exactly the way the Tigers ran Jaffna. The UGC has obligingly appointed 13 of Douglas’ nominees to the University’s Council of 25. He holds monthly “pre-Council meetings” before the real Council where university decisions are taken, including whom to vote in as VC.
A contractor appointed to the Council does university hostels for some Rs. 300 million against the law. Devananda’s minions get into many university jobs which are never advertised and cannot be disciplined once hired. People fear to complain after General Mahinda Hathurusinghe said that EPDP cadres are responsible for the recent robberies and murders.
Controlling the VC is important to him as you can see from the ongoing student union election playing out: a compliant VC with a three-year Indian degree and Jaffna PhD, obligated to Douglas for her appointment, took an old complaint against a TNA-leaning student about to be elected president and within a few hours found him guilty and declared the university out of bounds for him. Devananda saw me as independent. So he raised anti-Christian phobia telling the president that Hindus will be angered if I am appointed. I was then asked to get statements from prominent Hindus in support of me. Most Hindus wanted me and what he told the president is insulting to them.
Obviously the president lacks independent sources of information in Jaffna. To connect to the Tamils the president must dump Devananda and talk to real leaders who can be identified only by holding elections.
Disaster that befell Hoole who heeded President’s call for diaspora to come back Full Story>>>
Devananda is running Jaffna exactly the way the Tigers ran Jaffna. The UGC has obligingly appointed 13 of Douglas’ nominees to the University’s Council of 25. He holds monthly “pre-Council meetings” before the real Council where university decisions are taken, including whom to vote in as VC.
A contractor appointed to the Council does university hostels for some Rs. 300 million against the law. Devananda’s minions get into many university jobs which are never advertised and cannot be disciplined once hired. People fear to complain after General Mahinda Hathurusinghe said that EPDP cadres are responsible for the recent robberies and murders.
Controlling the VC is important to him as you can see from the ongoing student union election playing out: a compliant VC with a three-year Indian degree and Jaffna PhD, obligated to Douglas for her appointment, took an old complaint against a TNA-leaning student about to be elected president and within a few hours found him guilty and declared the university out of bounds for him. Devananda saw me as independent. So he raised anti-Christian phobia telling the president that Hindus will be angered if I am appointed. I was then asked to get statements from prominent Hindus in support of me. Most Hindus wanted me and what he told the president is insulting to them.
Obviously the president lacks independent sources of information in Jaffna. To connect to the Tamils the president must dump Devananda and talk to real leaders who can be identified only by holding elections.
Disaster that befell Hoole who heeded President’s call for diaspora to come back Full Story>>>
