Neither Crowds Nor Votes: Re-Booting The Opposition
Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka
Karl
Marx once remarked that the incredible flatness of present day
bourgeois society was best evidenced by the height of its greatest
intellects. He was referring to Jeremy Bentham. In a similar vein one
may well observe that the incredible diminution of the strength and
status of the present day United National Party is best evidenced by the
only person to write under his or her name in defence of the party’s
present leadership and performance, namely the tattered if truculent
Trotskyist, Dr Vickremabahu Karunaratne (‘August
14 “Force for Unity” Opposition Protest which Mobilised Thousands of
People Against a Fascist Type Govt was a Great Success’).
He makes three points in defence of Mr Wickremesinghe and the UNP’s performance at the recent rally in Fort.
Firstly, the JVP and FSP didn’t decline to join because the optics of
demonstrating under Mr Wickremesinghe’s leadership or even alongside him
were wrong but because the JVP and FSP were opposed to the LLRC report and the 13th amendment, the defence of which was part of the platform of the joint Opposition.
Secondly, if the Fort rally were indeed unsuccessful, then Sajith Premadasa and Karu Jayasuriya were as responsible as Ranil Wickremesinghe since they were present, active and vocal on the occasion.
Thirdly, the numbers were adequate and
the rally was in fact a success in the face of repression and impossible
odds. Read More
Sri Lankan Housemaids: Law of Kafala – Modern-Day Slavery System
Housemaids at Airport
By Shamen Kalansuriya -August 22, 2013
Shamen Kalansuriya
When we look in to the TV, radio and news paper advertisements published
by the housemaid recruiting agencies they are offering precious
opportunities to housemaids. They are even providing the visa and air
tickets. But unfortunately we are not aware about the poisons snake call
Kafala, wrapped in that gift pack. Poor people think this as a great
chance to go abroad and earn but what they don’t know is the price for
this gift.
Kafala
(Sponsorship system) : “Under the kafala (literally, ‘guaranteeing and
taking care of’ in Arabic) programme in the Arab States, an employer is
required to sponsor a migrant worker’s visa and assume full economic
and legal responsibility for him/her during the contracted period.
Legally, the sponsored migrant worker can work only for his/her sponsor.
In the case of a domestic worker, the programme makes it mandatory for
her to remain in her employer/sponsors’ home. While the kafala system
was created to provide the government with a way to regulate foreign
labour flows, critics charge that the system can lead to the
exploitation of migrant workers in general, and women domestic workers
in particular.”[1]