One Peiris Blames Another Pieris; Nothing Was Done About The LLRC Action Plan
Prof Rajiva Wijesinha
Reconciliation: Looking Forward xv – A Silver Lining?
I have discussed previously the different motivations of those criticize us internationally, and in particular at the Human Rights Council in Geneva. The first motive is devious, and involves claiming that we have committed War Crimes. The second is in essence laudable, since it is designed to push us towards greater pluralism and political equity. This is essential for Reconciliation, and is bound up with implementation of the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission. However, concentrating on that would I think yield better results, whereas the strategy now employed simply increases the influence of those who have no desire to move in such directions.
The third motive is the one expressed by the Americans, and others in recent times, namely worries caused by the impeachment of the Chief Justice. While I can understand such worries, they have little connection with either the issue of War Crimes or the need for greater pluralism. Though confusion has been caused by the irritation caused by the judgment delivered by Shirani Bandaranayaka with regard to the Divineguma Bill, it was not at all difficult for government to overcome the problems raised, by following the line the Supreme Court had in fact indicated.
Though I was sorry about the manner of the impeachment, I believe that there is a particularly welcome silver lining in this particular cloud, and it should help us to move forward on the most important issue that agitates our critics both here and abroad. I refer to progress on Reconciliation, which is painfully slow.
One reason for this is the lack of coherence with regard to implementation of the Action Plan based on the LLRC Recommendations. Designing such a plan was initially entrusted to the Ministry of External Affairs under the guidance of Mohan Peiris, but unfortunately nothing was done about this, contrary to the impression given to the President. As with implementation of the Interim Recommendations of the LLRC, he was assured that all was going well, whereas in fact progress was minimal, and the structures he thought had been put in place were not functioning. That is why, after the Geneva Resolution last year, preparation of an Action Plan was entrusted to Lalith Weeratunge, who turned up trumps, with the assistance of several efficient bureaucrats, including his Deputy.
I do not think it is fair to blame Mohan Pieris alone for all this. The man was simply overwhelmed with work, and it was foolish of government to thrust so much upon someone with little previous experience of government mechanisms, especially at a stage when he had difficulties with senior members of the Attorney General’s Department which he had been appointed to head from outside. I said as much to the Minister of External Affairs, who was critical of Mohan’s failure in New York to handle the impending Darusman Reportsatisfactorily, even though it was quite unfair to have expected him to achieve anything when our policy in that regard was incoherent.
When I told the Minister that Mohan should not have been asked to do so much, his response was that he should not have undertaken the task if he could not do it. That was the first occasion on which I was critical of the Minister, having previously assumed that he was the right man for the job. I told him that people were saying the same about him, which I do not think pleased him, but I fear that with every day that passes I am conscious that untold damage is being done to the country by the Minister taking on much more than he can chew. The latest confusion about whether Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe will lead the delegation to Geneva or not, combined with him not being kept informed about the High Commissioner’s communiqués, is symptomatic of the incapacity to build up a team that will probably destroy us.
For the moment though, with Mohan Pieris elevated to a position in which he cannot undertake other responsibilities, perhaps implementation of the Action Plan will be entrusted to a more dedicated team which is able to ensure cooperation, communication and productive team work. If that happens, perhaps Shirani Bandaranayake would not have been impeached in vain.
Gandhian Values In Participatory Management
Col. (retd) R.Hariharan
A retired army veteran from the Military Intelligence who participated in wars and dealt with traffickers, forgers, criminals etc for nearly three decades speaking about Gandhian values may sound like an oxymoron.
I make no claim to be an expert either on Gandhi or on Gandhian values in participatory management the subject of my speech today. But I come from a family whose values were conditioned by Gandhian thoughts from 1930 to 1947 when my father actively participated in Gandhiji’s freedom struggle. These family values imbibed in childhood have guided me most of the times in my personal and professional life. I used these values to successfully cruise through some of the acid tests I had to face in the army – the biggest practitioner of participatory management.
A superficial view of Gandhiji would only see a number of contradictions in his life. He spoke of grass root participation and freedom for Indians, yet he ensured the Congress party chose its leader by consensus and not free vote. He appealed to the conscience of the rich to part with their wealth to benefit the poor, yet he went on a hunger strike to force independent India to share the united India’s treasury on Pakistan’s terms. However, a deeper study of his life and actions would reveal how he introspected and tried to correct himself to overcome his weaknesses. That is what made Gandhiji a leader of different calibre.
Gandhiji’s contribution was much more than leading the non-violent struggle to achieve India’s freedom. He was a great visionary with a universal idiom who recognized syncretism of Indian society that transcends differences of religion, caste, language and ethnic differences as its strength. He used it with great success to rally the masses in the freedom struggle. Thus he reinforced India’s national identity and enabled the people to regain not only their freedom but their pride and dignity, eroded by two centuries of colonial rule.
Gandhiji’s greatest achievement was in motivating and mobilizing the masses of India across the states, regardless of their differences in language, religion, caste, creed and sex, to come together and fight for the cause of freedom under the banner of Indian National Congress. There cannot be a greater example of participatory management than this. Read More
Captain arrested in Hijaab
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WEDNESDAY, 06 FEBRUARY 2013
An Army Capatin dressed in a Hijaab and armed with a toy pistol and knife attempting to rob the Kandy branch of the National Savings Bank was arrested by the Kandy Police this morning.
The person had acted suspiciously pretending to be a woman after which the security officers of the bank had been activated.
Initial investigations revealed that the person was an Army officer working in Kothmale.
The person had acted suspiciously pretending to be a woman after which the security officers of the bank had been activated.
Initial investigations revealed that the person was an Army officer working in Kothmale.
