Over to you, Mr. President!

2018-01-23

In his first speech as Prime Minister of newly independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru addressed his nation saying "I speak to you today as your First Servant....."

Words that the current Chief Minister of the Uva Province, Chamara Sampath Dassanayake, may not have heard, or if he has done so, certainly would not understand and certainly does not follow.
The patrician Nehru, scion of one of India's finest families, educated in the greatest institutes in England, presented himself to his people as a servant.

Dassanayake, who was elected from the United People's Freedom Alliance headed by President Maithripala Sirisena, chose to summon a Principal of a school to his official residence and berate her about refusing admission to a student that he had ordered her to take against the rules.

In a video that has gone viral on the Internet the Principal, Bhavani Raghunath, says Dassanayake yelled at her and threatened to transfer her to a distant location.

"At that time I became very upset and I knelt down and begged for forgiveness. I felt ashamed that I had to do that," Raghunath said.

She said all this took place on 3 January and that she had gone to the CM's residence at 10:45 and returned at noon to the school.

The incident came to light when an Opposition Member of the Uva Provincial Council the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna's (JVP) Samantha Vidyaratna spoke about it during a Council meeting. A video of that exchange shows Dassanayake vehemently denying such an incident took place.

Later on Dassanayake told local reporters that a 'racial' incident was about to happen because Raghunath refused to admit a child and he had called her in to persuade her to find a solution.

The Principal has told reporters that the Chief Minister had sent a letter to her asking her to admit the child of one of his supporters to her school, the Badulla Tamil Girls' Maha Vidyalayam. She says that she had to refuse because it was too late and admissions were closed.

After the incident Raghunath claims that her bosses at the Education Department asked her to tell the Media that she had been asked to come to the CM's residence 'to discuss the development and improvement of the school' and not reveal she had been berated for not admitting a child.

The issue has become a political matter on the eve of the Local Government elections as Councillors and Members of Parliament from the United National Party and JVP attack the UPFA as saying the Chief Minister is disrespectful of a school Principal.

President Sirisena has now asked Dassanayake to temporarily give up the Provincial Education portfolio until investigations into the issue are over and the Uva Province Governor has taken over that file.

President Sirisena instructed police to launch an inquiry into this matter and the Principal gave a statement to the Badulla Police yesterday afternoon.

Chief Minister Dassanayake told this newspaper that all this was a fabrication and an attempt at character assassination in view of the upcoming Local Government election. Whether this is right we will know shortly we hope, but there are many wrongs already committed by Dassanayake even if he only 'advised' Raghunath.

First the CM has no right to send a letter to a Principal demanding that she admit a child to the school. Principals have to be guided by the Circulars and rules and regulations set by the Education Department to admit children and not be influenced unduly by politicians. This is a form of corruption.

Second, the CM has no business summoning a Principal to his residence even to 'advise' her. He should have met the senior officials of the Education Department and discussed the matter and asked them to find a solution.

Third if he berated the Principal that is a serious offence because he has been disrespectful of a Government Servant and if he indeed threatened to transfer the Principal out of the Provincial Capital he should be asked to step down from his position.

CM Dassanayake has not acted as a 'servant of the people' but as a boorish autocrat who has treated this woman as one of his minions. He is out of line and President Maithripala Sirisena who says he will root out corruption should make an example of this official and kick him out.