Standardisation – A Different Perspective From Dr. M.Y.M. Siddeek’s

By S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole –December 26, 2016

Prof. S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole

Dividing Histories

There was a Faculty Board Meeting once in Sri Lanka in the late 1990s. A brilliant Sinhalese scientist was praised for all the G.C.E. A. Level (AL) A-grades he got with admission to read engineering and for choosing instead to read science. A Tamil academic from the same batch as his openly disagreed, “All standardized A’s.” The allusion was to Sinhalese being given the grade of A with much lower than the customary 75 marks while Tamils were required to get much more; while Sinhalese passed with much lower than 40 marks while Tamils needed to score a lot more than 40 to pass. Another Sinhalese from the same batch vehemently denied that grades were meddled with. As tempers rose, Professor B.A. Abeywickrama (who headed the inquiry into allegations that Tamil examiners favoured Tamil students, and after inquiry dismissed those allegations) was fortunately present as the External Member of the Faculty Board. He said with his economic use of words, “Yes it happened.” The Board then moved on to other things.

That is human psychology. When a parent steals or commits some other wrong, the children have a way of believing otherwise. A father is always a loved hero. Likewise it is with communities. When a community advances at the expense of others, it always creates a false history to believe it acted honourably. That is the story of standardisation. That is why I find Dr. Siddeek’s narrative disturbing. The Faculty Board episode shows how divided we are on this subject with our own wishful histories.

My Personal Experience – Not Feeling Ceylonese

I sat the AL Exam in Dec. 1969 (with practical examinations in April 1970). Those were good days when education was a pleasant enterprise. I went for cricket and football in the neighbourhood during the first and third terms respectively. I borrowed a novel a day from the well-stocked Jaffna Public Library, especially during the second term when I had little interest in athletics. I did not go for a single tuition class because I knew some who had entered for engineering with IC 3S the previous year. I thought with upward standards, I could get 2C 2S and still make it. That seemed no problem. So I continued in my laidback lifestyle. I enjoyed life as any schoolboy should.

By June or so I got my admission with about 150 others to read engineering at Peradeniya. There were 103 Tamil medium students, 20 English medium students and 27 Sinhalese medium students. (My numbers may be slightly off since there were about 145 students at the cutoff mark, I recall, of 239, with 9 more at 238 taking whom would have broken the 150 limit for our only Engineering Faculty at Peradeniya then. So there was one list with 145 admissions and another with 154. The English medium would have contained all three communities, adding to the lack of exactness – Muslims, and third-shy Tamils and Sinhalese. Ours had the last batch of English medium students who were at their third and last shy for university admission. For the 1967 and previous ALs, since all science students sat in English, the question as to whether one was Tamil or Sinhalese never arose over admissions).

Previously Peradeniya’s engineering was split 50-50 between Sinhalese and Tamils. How can one community suddenly fare so much better, it was asked? There was a cry of foul. Tamil graders over-marked they alleged.

Mrs. Bandaranaike had just come in as Prime Minister in May 1970. She suspended our admissions and appointed a Royal Commission to go through the papers of us 154 who had been admitted. There was a nail biting wait. I feared the worst, thinking perhaps that Tamil examiners had indeed over-marked us! It was finally announced in the Daily News to my relief that there was no difference and if there was, Tamil examiners had been a little stricter.

That did not stop the allegations. The majority could not accept that they had not worked hard enough. If the examiners were fair, then Tamil lecturers at Peradeniya who routinely go home to Jaffna during the December vacation were alleged to have distributed questions to us. How else could Tamils fare better? Ratwatte, the PM’s brother, went on a protest march to Colombo. Posters appeared at Peradeniya saying that if we came there, the Mahaweli River would flow with our blood.

We were called cheats. It did not feel nice. I knew I did not get any questions before the exams. We did not feel Ceylonese with all these accusations. It rendered the nation into two.

There was silence from the government. September when we would have been asked to report at the university, came and went. The lists for the other faculties were not released. Then in December or so the bottom 44 of the 103 Tamils students – including myself – got a dirty-looking recycled piece of paper with a cyclostyled letter on which our names were written in ugly handwriting, asking us to report at the Ceylon College of Technology (CCT) in Katubedde to read for the “B.Sc. Eng. degree.”

The admission list had been redone adding 28 marks to the 4-subject aggregate of all Sinhalese students. Our places were taken by Sinhalese students allegedly because Sinhalese were disadvantaged vis-à-vis Tamils . A Sinhalese Permanent Secretary’s son from Colombo moved into Peradeniya because he was allegedly disadvantaged. A Tamil street sweeper’s son from Jaffna was moved out because he was allegedly advantaged!

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From ‘Api wenuwen api’ to ‘Aba Saranai’: Snapshots of ten years

Photograph courtesy Sri Lanka Guardian

RANDHULA DE SILVA on 12/28/2016

When Sanjana came up with an offer too tempting to pass, I accepted with the knowledge that rolling out the significant junctures of the past decade and reflecting them upon the future was going to be a daunting task because in my short life span lived so far; it definitely was the most significant decade in too many diverse ways.

From.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

Preparatory stage must end in 2016 with implementation in 2017

By Jehan Perera-December 26, 2016, 12:00 pm 

The more positive way to view the year 2016 that comes to a close this week is that it was about the government preparing for the changes to come in 2017. This period of preparation must necessarily change into one of materializing of plans if the support of those who voted to bring the government to power is to be sustained. Apart from the lifting of the thrall of fear, everything else appears to be in a preparatory stage instead of being susceptible to speedy implementation. This is leading to erosion in public confidence in the government although there is no indication as yet that the political opposition is getting substantially stronger. In the coming period there will be three areas of governance in which the government will need to show evidence of results that are tangible. These would be in the areas of corruption, economic development and political reforms that address the ethnic conflict.

The government’s greatest accomplishment came within weeks of taking office in January 2015. The release from fear of a state that gave priority to impunity above the rule of law was immediate. The sense of relief was greatest in the North and East which had been the primary theatre of the three decade long war. But even in the rest of the country the relaxation in the level of tension came as a relief to those who felt that they were not part of the majority, in whatever way it was defined. The main other accomplishment has been to stay on in power as a national government in which the two main parties are in alliance. It is not that nothing has happened in the three areas of corruption, economic development and political reforms. The problem is that what is happening is slow and is not benefiting the people directly.

The area in which the government’s credibility has suffered the most would be in terms of its failure to deal with the issue of corruption. Only in the North and East of the country would the priorities be different. The government’s credibility is suffering there mostly on account of its failure to address problems that are specific to the ethnic and religious minorities. They have a sense of injustice in which the focus is on the government’s failure to correct the wrongs of the past. A group of youth from the North who recently visited Colombo expressed as their priority concern the use of Buddhist symbols, and the building of Buddhist religious sites in the North and East. They saw this as symbolic of the government’s neglect of the interests of the ethnic and religious minorities. They said that this problem had arisen during the period of the previous government but even the present government had failed to act convincingly on it even though its leaders speak words against invasive actions.

DEVELOPMENT DIFFICULTIES

During the run up to the elections of 2015 and in the months that followed the change of government there were many allegations of corruption on a vast scale that was leveled against members of the previous government. However, the legal action that has taken place after the allegations were leveled has been far from satisfactory. There have been investigations, but no legal or punitive actions that have a long term consequence. Instead the legal actions that have been taken are about short term and temporary punishments. Those taken in for questioning have been put into remand custody until they are bailed out. Thereafter they are seen to be behaving as if their arrests are part of a political drama rather than having real life consequences for them. Making matters worse, and casting doubt on the possibilities of further legal action, is the corruption that is widely believed to have taken place and which is continuing unpunished under the present government.

From the perspective of the general population, the situation with regard to economic development has been to focus on the negative. The only large scale investments that the general public appears to know about, and be interested in, are the Chinese investments. In Hambantota they have yielded poor results so far, as neither the international airport nor port are even semi operational. The previous government put the country into huge debt to create these presently unproductive assets. The present government has been forced to find answers to problems that were created by the former government. The government’s proposal to bring in Chinese investments by granting 99 year leases on these assets and offering some 15,000 acres of land, are said to have the potential to bring in several hundreds of thousands of jobs. This is not the experience worldwide where Chinese labour has been utilized rather than local labour.

Therefore the situation with regard to economic development of the country that benefits the majority of people continues to remain bleak. Unless the new projects are started and bring improvement to the lives of the masses of people, there will be dissatisfaction. This accounts for the reluctance of the government to hold local government elections, which have been postponed for about two years now.

There are many projects that are reported to be in the pipeline and about to he started. There are also many plans being announced that give an impression of being game changers. There appears to be a visionary understanding of Sri Lanka’s strategic geographical location that feeds into the interests of countries with giant economies such as China, India and Japan and the European Union. But at this time these visions only remain visions, as they will need to more time to be materialized into the realm of visible reality. The challenge will be to make them happen in 2017.

NORTH-EAST CONCERNS

In the North and East of the country the people’s concerns would extend beyond the domain of corruption and economic development issues on which the rest of the country is focusing upon. Their concerns would be related to the failure of the government to adequately address the issue of human rights violations that occurred during the past three decades of war. These include the return of land taken over by the security forces during the war, the tens of thousands who went missing during the war, the release of more than one hundred persons accused of having had links with the LTTE and the demilitarization of the North and East. In all these areas there has been some progress, but it is still too slow to be convincing to the people of the North and East that justice will be done by them. The passage of the law setting up an Office of Missing Persons over three months ago, but with no follow up action adds to these doubts.

It is likely that the coming year will be decisive in respect of dealing with the past. The report on public consultations on mechanisms for accountability, truth, reparations and non-recurrence in Sri Lanka conducted by the Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms is to be submitted to the government on 3 January 2017. The voluminous 639-page report with an executive summary and recommendation to the Government would be seriously considered for implementation. Backed by the 11-member task force, the task force conducted a survey in addition to 15 public sittings in 15 zones at which 7,000 people spoke. It is likely that the government will proceed to implement its reconciliation programme on the strength of this report with the result that the Office of Missing Persons, as well as other envisaged institutions, such as the Truth Seeking Commission and Office of Reparations will be set in motion soon on the ground.

The other major issue that the government will need to face up to is with regard to constitutional reform. The preparatory process for these reforms is now nearly over. A draft of a new constitution is reported to be near completion. The question is whether the government will choose to make the constitutional reforms far reaching enough to require a referendum. This is a challenge that the government may not be willing to take up, with implications for the depth of constitutional reforms. The recent international experience of referendums has not been positive for governments. Defeat at a referendum will erode the political credibility of the government. Those who lead the government may take the position that it is better to be safe than sorry. While there is a need for the year 2017 to be a year of implementation, a hitherto unwitnessed bold and decisive political leadership will be necessary.

Why We Should Oppose Criminally Prosecuting Sri Lankan War Criminals

By Pitasanna Shanmugathas –December 27, 2016

Pitasanna Shanmugathas

It is without question that there should be an independent investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Sri Lanka by both the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE. However, to criminally prosecute those who committed war crimes in Sri Lanka, based on the evidence from an independent investigation, would absolutely destroy the fabric of the society.

If we genuinely wanted to prosecute those who committed war crimes in Sri Lanka, both Tamils and Sinhalese would vehemently oppose it. Why? An underlying reason is because we are hypocrites. We only want to fully acknowledge the crimes committed by the other side—never our own crimes. In order to prosecute those who committed war crimes in Sri Lanka, we must prosecute members who were part of the LTTE and also key individuals who served the Sri Lankan state.

In the case of the LTTE, although a good portion of the leadership is dead, individuals like Kumaran Pathmanathan (former arms procurer to the LTTE), Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan (former commander of the LTTE in the Eastern Province), Adele Balasingham (former commander of the LTTE’s women wing), Perinpanayagam “Nediyawan” Sivaparan (former deputy and successor to “Castro” Manivannan—the LTTE’s international secretariat who directed and coordinated LTTE activity overseas until early 2009), various rehabilitated former LTTE soldiers living in the North and East, would all have to be prosecuted. The Tamil diaspora would vocally oppose the prosecution of these egregious human rights abusers. In addition, Tamil civilians in the North and the East would also oppose the prosecution of their sons and daughters who were members of the LTTE. Many former LTTE cadres, according to aid worker Thulasi Muttulingam who is stationed in the North, have been stigmatized and ostracized by the larger Tamil society in Sri Lanka. A lot of Tamil civilians in the North and East are upset at the former LTTE cadres for some of their egregious actions against their own people during the war, such as using civilians as human shields. Nevertheless, Muttulingam adds that Tamils would be opposed to prosecuting former LTTE cadres as Tamil elders in Sri Lanka are extremely protective of their own children. “Although [the former LTTE cadres] committed horrible crimes, [Tamil elders feel that] these are our children” and we will deal with whatever crimes our children have committed.

In the case of the Sri Lankan government, any attempt to criminally prosecute former or current members of the Sri Lankan government would meet with immediate opposition from Sinhalese civilians. In the case of the Sri Lankan government, an international court would have to prosecute Mahinda Rajapaksa (President of Sri Lanka during the final years of the war), Gotabhaya Rajapaksa (former defense secretary) , Sarath Fonseka (former commander of the Sri Lankan army during the final years of the war), Maithripala Sirisena (current President and acting defense minister during the last two weeks of the war), various upper level members of the Sri Lankan military during the final stage of the war, and various political and military leaders from previous government administrations. By prosecuting all these key individuals, not only would the Sinhalese civilians not submit to it, but it would destroy the fabric of the society by eliminating the members who compose the governing structure in Sri Lanka. Although the current governing structure in Sri Lanka is nowhere near perfect, and does not fully accommodate for the ethnic, religious, cultural, and linguistic plurality of those living in Sri Lanka, nevertheless, by prosecuting these war criminals it would create a nearly irreparable vacuum in Sri Lanka’s governing body. Furthermore, criminally prosecuting these individuals would significantly setback current efforts to collectively work with various political groups in Sri Lanka to make progress on ethnic reconciliation and constitutional reforms. Similarly, after the end of apartheid in South Africa, the perpetrators would not be criminally prosecuted. By criminally prosecuting the perpetrators, it would have destroyed the fabric of South African society and significant potential for ethnic reconciliation in South Africa. Instead, in order to gain accountability for those who committed egregious crimes, a truth and reconciliation commission took place in South Africa.

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Sri Lanka: We deserve our rulers

The voters have failed the country in electing some dregs of society to represent them in Parliament. So who can contest the saying that people get the rulers they deserve?

by Manik de Silva-Dec 25, 2016

( December 25, 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) It does not take rocket science to gauge public opinion on heaping goodies on the plates of MPs. Both government and opposition, as this yahapalana government has been doing during its tenure. Both President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe cannot be unaware of what the vast majority of the people of this country feel about what can only be called the “purchasing” of the goodwill of the MPs by conferring a plethora of benefits on both the elected and unelected representatives of the people (aka National List MPs) in an obvious attempt to keep them in line. The late President Ranasinghe Premadasa, who was able to withstand an impeachment effort led by Messrs. Gamini Dissanayake and Lalith Athulathmudali whom he sacked from the UNP, learned to his cost that antagonizing MPs can be expensive business. Many signatures on the impeachment resolution were those of disgruntled parliamentarians furious about the then president’s methods of checking whether they had sold their duty free vehicles under the ‘open’ papers system common then. Those who had were obviously not happy about a special unit set up by Premadasa stopping these vehicles on the road and checking their chassis numbers and what not.

Yesterday’s news that the government has put its announced plan of providing 58 MPs an additional perk of high-end vehicles procured on an operational lease costing the exchequer a whopping Rs. 2.4 billion on hold is an indication that the heat of public opinion is being felt where it matters. But it must be noted that the proposal has not been scuttled – it is only being held over perhaps for more propitious times. Parliamentarian Bandula Gunawardene, a vociferous Joint Opposition spokesman, spoke for all his fellow MPs both in the government and opposition when he said a few days ago that the duty free vehicles for MPs that had been a long standing practice going back 25 years must not be interfered with. Given that dozens of MPs have sold their vehicles no sooner they took possession, Gunawardene’s eloquence on the subject is unsurprising. Gadfly Nagananada Kodituwakku, a former customs official who is an attorney at law and a public interest activist, has been eliciting useful information under provisions of the new Right to Information law and has moved the courts on massive revenue losses to government as a result of its vehicle permit benevolence. We shall have to wait and see what results his labors will bring forth.

The commonly adduced justification for giving MPs, including those entering Parliament through the National Lists of various parties who do not incur election expenditure – unless they are defeated candidates appointed under the National List as has been done by the present administration – and such expenses must be recouped. The duty free vehicle permit is one way of recovering such expenditure. As we have said in this space before, the taxpayers do not owe their MPs a living. But the MPs are very well looked after on the people’s tax money and improving their lot appears to be a continuing project judging by the recent benefits conferred including an additional monthly ‘office’ allowance of Rs. 100,000 and the proposal to increase the daily sitting allowance from Rs. 500 to Rs. 2,500. Older readers will remember the oft-quoted remark of Sir. John Kotelawela “henda athey thiyanakam bedaganilla” (as long as the spoon is in your hand, serve yourself) – an art which Members of succeeding Parliaments have perfected. It is true that those with private means of an earlier era spent their personal wealth to get elected to Parliament, sometimes pauperizing themselves in that endeavor, and did not push for benefits from the national exchequer. But even so, there were people of modest means who were elected as must be the case in any democracy. We, after all, are along past the means tested method of franchise.

Undoubtedly MPs must be adequately remunerated so that they can do a proper job of representing their electors in the legislature. But such remuneration must reflect conditions prevailing in the country. We must not lose sight of why the duty free car permits were issued to MPs in the first instance. That was because their duties involved a lot of official traveling. But once the perk was conferred the process of improving it began to gather momentum, first slowly and then more rapidly until it began to gallop in recent years. We have reached the stage where the benefits have progressed way beyond all reasonable proportions. We have got a Parliament of ministers with the jumbo cabinets growing in succeeding Parliaments. The promise or restricting the cabinet ministries to 30 promised before the regime change on Jan. 8, 2015, has been circumvented on the basis that we now have a unity government of the UNP and the SLFP. Ven. Maduluwawe Sobhitha who played the leading role in harnessing the forces that was able to do the unthinkable must be turning in his grave (in we are permitted to borrow the common metaphor although the thero was cremated) at how the ideals that powered that campaign have been corrupted.

Satirical writers have in recent days excelled in proclaiming the Christmas came early for Members of Parliament. It seems to us that every day is Christmas for these worthies. The tragedy is perquisites heaped on parliamentarians do not succeed in attracting enough better quality people to the legislature. The reverse unfortunately seems true. The voters have failed the country in electing some dregs of society to represent them in Parliament. So who can contest the saying that people get the rulers they deserve?

Manik de Silva, is the Editor in Chief of Sunday Island, a Colombo based weekly where this piece originally was appeared

Emotional People and Emotional Nations

Photo by REUTERS/ Mariana Bazo, via Time magazine

LALITH GUNARATNE on 12/26/2016

There is no getting around it, we humans are emotional beings. Thereby, nations made up of humans will possess an emotional psyche which is reflected on how it is governed.  The issue is whether this psyche is aligned among most citizens or not.

Emotional People and Emotional Nations.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

Mr. President, Protect The Honour Of War Heroes, Not The Fraudsters In Uniform

By Arun Kumaresan –December 27, 2016

Arun Kumaresan – Air Vice Marshal (Ret’d)

Lessons from the arrest of former Indian Air Chief

Recent utterances by President Maithripala Sirisena challenging the criminal inquiries raised many eye brows. Being the symbolic representation of the Yahapalana movement spearheaded by political and civil organizations, the said utterances appeared him back tracking on the positions once forcefully taken that led to the change of regime. Whilst respecting his concerns for war heroes (‘Ranaviru’)- who did a yeoman service in defeating terrorism, which Mr President has the absolute right and duty to protect – the question arises whether such right extends to protect the wrong doer.

Men and women in Sri Lanka join the profession of arms as it is considered a noble profession transcending history when even the Royalty thought it mandatory to be proficient in art of war and lead men in battle. The fighting elements have a special place in any society. Once these men and women join the respective arms they are proud and committed to uphold sovereignty of the nation. They are well aware that it also may be at the cost of their own lives or limbs. They are professionals they do not expect the sympathy or empathy of any one especially the politicians who attempt to make use of them to create emotions for the sake of votes. But one thing they expect from their leadership element in uniform is absolute honesty and integrity at all times.

Mr President, as this note being drafted, a former Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal (ACM) Tyagi, who was arrested two weeks ago, is now languishing in a remand prison, subsequent to an investigation into a VVIP chopper purchasing scam. It is reiterated ACM Tyagi is presumed innocent and only after a due trial we will be able to see his culpability. ACM Tyagi has had an illustrious career culminating in as Air Chief, had actively participated in the 1965 and 71 Indo-Pak wars. But he could not take cover under the ‘war hero’ (Ranaviru) tag. Indian political leadership is strong to ensure the moral of the soldier is not affected by few fraudsters in uniform. Political leadership understands the importance of national security and the maintenance of the morale of rank and file that is closely linked to the honorable conduct of its military leadership.

Like you Mr President, your two predecessors (CBK & MR) too came into power crying slogans in election platforms to eradicate fraud and corruption (Dushanaya haa wanchava!) in military procumbent and gave this solemn promise to the rank and file who were taking the brunt on the battlefield. However, both these leaders stumbled to some crook military leaders who convincingly placed an argument before the political leadership that any such investigation will demoralize the rank and file. No better word to surmise this argument – absolute Bull Shit!!! It was only a cunning cover to continue the corrupt practices partnered with some elements in the political hierarchy. The wheeler dealers acted as excellent match makers. These match makers had the unique ability to inter mingle with blue or greens and they know who to tap when either of them in power (Now it is much easier as both are together!).

Unfortunately, President CBK only realized the scale of the fraud when her uncle and the then State Minister of Defense’s safe containing cash were raided. This is only an example how the military leadership hand in glove with the political elite enriched whilst rank and file perished in the battlefield. President MR too, as promised appointed Presidential Commissions of Inquiry to look into the corruption in previous era. It shed deep insights into corrupt deals including the infamous order of three C130 aircraft placed with Marshall Aerospace UK and only two were delivered for the price of three. The outcome of this inquiry with other host of findings was handed over to President MR and it was shelved with no further action only to benefit the spiders to spin a cobweb. Interestingly, Marshall Aerospace had the audacity to come in with another unsolicited proposal to sell more C130 aircrafts even under your ‘Yahapalana’ regime.

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Dilan who ‘Sirred’ Namal , saluted lackeys of MR and was a frightened kitten is now able to ‘talk big’ because of this govt.- MP Mujibur Rahman issues warning

(Lanka-e-News -26.Dec.2016, 11.30PM) Dilan Perera who was earlier on addressing Namal Rajapakse M.P. as ‘Sir,’ saluting the henchmen and lackeys of Mahinda Rajapakse , and was like a kitten hiding himself and his tail had afforded  the opportunity now to speak like a ‘chandiya’ because of the UNP  . If not Dilan would be still  hiding like a kitten behind dark corridors,  said Mujibur Rahman M.P. It is therefore impossible to bear the insults he is directing against the UNP and its leader ,the M.P. pointed out.

Whether Dilan is in this government or not has to be decided , Mujibur Rahman declared. 

The M.P. made these comments at a function when he  inaugurated a community hall at Hultsdorf recently. It was Colombo district UNP M.P. Mujibur Rahman who was the chief guest at the ceremony held by the Colombo Municipal council  to hand over the Nazeer community hall at Hultsdorf  after  its refurbishment to the public.

The M.P addressing the gathering went on to say , over 50 % of the youths  of Colombo are linked to heroin business.

The situation now is , some ministers are daily criticizing the UNP . We do not under any circumstance approve this. The time has come to take a decision whether they are in the government or not.
 
Minister Dilan Perera , and Western province chief minister Isura Devapriya are forever castigating the UNP , and this cannot any longer be tolerated . It is very evident they are indulging in such criticisms because they have forgotten their beginning. 

During the tenure of office of Mahinda Rajapakse , these blokes who are raising the voices and are most vociferous were like meek kittens .Let us remind these blokes if  Mahinda had won , these blokes would still be remaining  as frightened kittens. 

It is because we made Miathripala Sirisena the president then , and he became the SLFP leader they have secured the opportunity to wax eloquent . They are able to brag and boast, since  democracy within  the SLFP has been revived . 

The SLFP secured a Democratic character because Maithripala became the president of the country. It is most unfortunate individuals like Dilan Perera had forgotten that they are now able to boast this much because of us of the UNP who risked even our lives to install Maithripala as the president.

We have not forgotten how Dilan Perera devoted his time to safeguard Mahinda’s family rule. He must pay homage and floral tributes to Ranil Wickremesinghe and his team for creating the environment which has now enabled Dilan to brag freely .

Earlier on even though Dilan was a minister , he had to kowtow  to  Namal Rajapakse addressing him as ‘Sir’ ;  saluting Mahinda’s  lackeys and henchmen , and behaving like a meek kitten hiding  the tail . They have now transformed into toughies .

 I wish to remind Dilan , at least this amount of freedom to act like chandiyas was made possible to him by the UNP . 

Hence I wish to warn him to stop vilifying the UNP or its leadership. 

---------------------------
by     (2016-12-27 01:02:59)

On committing (political) errors

Uditha Devapriya-2016-12-27

For an entire decade after 1994, we were led by a government that caved into minoritarianism, all in the name of reconciliation and multiculturalism of course, and a bunch of self-serving politicos who have caused more harm to this country's polity than anyone or anything else (barring the LTTE) could. I am talking here about those MPs and civil society representatives (isn't it funny that the latter, without as much as one per cent of the people's vote, were allowed to script state policy?) who went fiddling around the streets, entrancing us with promises of a better future with devolution, federalism and a
distorted variant of that misread and overstated 13th Amendment.

There was a time when being a nationalist, or aligning yourself with that misconstrued abstraction called nationalism, meant attracting abuse. You couldn't walk on the streets even if the majority of the country were with you: on TV, on radio, and in print, you were called out, abused, and in other ways ridiculed for opposing the myths and lies of Prabhakaran and his mouthpiece, Anton Balasingham. The government was being distorted by a civil society that remained cut off from the people while thinking that the people could be substituted for by the polity (when the two were actually one and the same).

Times have changed but leopards, as I mentioned in my last column, do not change their spots. After the fall of the UNP government (which was hanging on a slender thread anyway) in 2004, we saw the emergence of the biggest wave of nationalism and anti-federalism this country has ever seen, at least since 1977. It is not that the leaders had until then been unable to call a spade a spade and deal with pernicious myths being paraded as history, but that these same leaders, because they were more concerned with pleasing "policymakers" from within and outside the country, just didn't seem to bother.

Despite the afterword that the period from 2005 to 2015 compelled, therefore, these leopards (the "policymakers") continued to slink. They are still slinking.

Right to self-determination

These people were comfortable fighting for the right to self-determination of one collective while denying that same right to another (usually the majority). They thought they were superior to the rest of the country. They thought they could play with democracy and get away with it. They thought they could get the blind to see. They could not. The voice of the people prevailed, at least in the period from 17 November 2005 to 18 May 2009.

Fast-forward to 2014, though, and what did we get? A government led by a populist who tended to rationalise his authoritarian streak in terms of his popularity. This populist knew how to talk and what to say and he knew when to open his mouth. He spoke his mind (something many of his predecessors couldn't do, at least not with sincerity) and won over half the country. He thought, however, that he could hold on to his power forever, and to this end committed arguably the biggest error he could. He took in people he shouldn't have, the most damaging of whom had held important posts in his predecessor's government.

When 2014 was nearing its end therefore, we knew where we were heading: with a political family which was doing next to nothing against the closest this country came to a July 1983 in the recent past (I am talking about the Aluthgama riots), these political bigwigs began disagreeing with the government on principle without losing their footing in it. Being the astute strategists they were, they planned their exit and planned it so well that, no matter how strong Mahinda Rajapaksa would have seemed, his days in office got numbered at once.

Tainted with devolutionists

And all in all, I think the history of his party had a say in his downfall. The SLFP was, from its inception, tainted with devolutionists and those who distorted history. The Marxists had a ball with it after S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike's murder and they deftly created much of the political ideology that Bandaranaike's daughter institutionalised after 1994. When an alternative politico was put out in 2004, these bigwigs initially backed down and then, after thinking it over, supported him. They thought they could contort him. When they realised that they could not, they backed down again, and did either of two things: remain with his government while championing communal myths, or join an Opposition more amenable to their worldview.

Given this, it is no wonder that 2014 ended or rather had to end with a bang. The moment people we thought would never leave Rajapaksa left him, we knew he was doomed. The man's family didn't help one bit, of course, and Maithripala Sirisena, who contrary to popular opinion had the upper hand in the race (even factoring in the advantage the incumbent has in an election), took everything easily. He had a name and he had a reputation. He appeared simple and well, to a considerable extent he was. He knew words but didn't need to speak. His opponent did all the talking for him. How could he not win?

The fact is, even those who'd supported Rajapaksa, including the various columnists and intellectuals who shaped his ideology (such as Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekera), expressed qualms over how his government was being run, which pushed the undecided nationalist (predominantly from the urban, young, and professional class) to Sirisena. January 8, 2015 was sealed long before the date was (unwisely) decided on, even as it marked the sixth anniversary of Lasantha Wickrematunge's assassination and even as, only a few hours before election results began to flow in, we heard the news of S. L. Gunasekara's death.

Political error

Mahinda Rajapaksa's most distinct political error (putting aside all those allegations of theft and abuse which are yet to be verified beyond a shadow of a doubt against him) was to take in people who were determined to be hooked on to whoever was in power. I needn't mention names here simply because there are too many.

As expected, the SLFP broke into two. The UNP, led by a man who (never mind what people will say of him) knows how to calculate and take risks, let his opponents be led by Rajapaksa at that year's parliamentary elections so as to solidify his victory upon the former's defeat. That election, which was less a race to get the SLFP back to power than it was a race to strengthen the grip of the Mahinda faction, had it both ways: it kept the Mahinda loyalists happy and it kept those who like to "bleed green" happy. The devolutionists, federalists, and minoritarians, who couldn't shout because the Rajapaksa factor had done what earlier leaders couldn't (institutionalise nationalism in the state), had a field day. They too were happy.

That's all history, though. What's pertinent is what we can learn from it, starting with this: whatever the government here, and however nationalistic it seems, key representatives from it tend to be led by those who weren't elected to govern the people. I am talking about the women and men in the Civil Society Club, who think they know better than the 20 million people of this country. They won't talk about federalism and self-determination now (because if they do, the nationalists will be ready), but they will fudge the truth anyway. They are as enamoured of the present government as they were of its predecessor: as long as it caves into their demands, they will be content. If not, they will clamour for regime change. That's the truth. We must deal with it.

Need for balance

Consequently, there is a need for balance. Readjustment. While I cannot condone a Rajapaksa restoration (since to do so would be to invite the threat of another decade of indifference and, I daresay, intolerance), I do believe that what he purported to stand for, at least until 2012 when he enacted the 18th Amendment, should be continued: a nationalist project that stands for the rights of the majority without trampling on the rights of others. In a context where there's a mismatch between nationalism and individual rights, the best alternative would be an all-encompassing national identity that does not, cannot, and will not confuse multiculturalism with rootless cosmopolitanism.

I am thinking of some names here, though I do not endorse them unconditionally. Names like Gevindu Cumaratunga. He has a way with words and he knows how to undress. He continues to be there, on TV and elsewhere, shredding away the intellectual fallacies of Eelamists and separatists and (less discernibly but as significantly) of those who continue to support the present regime solely by virtue of their opposition to Mahinda Rajapaksa (among them, Upul Shantha Sannasgala and Asoka Abeygunawardana, both of whose claims he debunked live and/or in front of them). Gevindu is no chauvinist. Few, if at all, can or will begrudge him politically. He is no chest-thumping demagogue. He has promise. He should therefore move ahead.

The point I am trying to get at here is that the likes of him should be promoted. In the political field, after all, you can commit an error only twice. The error that Rajapaksa committed, which I pointed out above, cannot be repeated. If it is, what we'll see isn't the unfolding of a nationalist project. Only an aberration. An aberration so huge that another 10 years, even with as strict, ramrod, and nationalist a figure as Gotabaya Rajapaksa, will be wasted building up a political ideology that gets contorted and then destroyed from within. Happened once, will happen again. For that reason, as we near the second anniversary of Maithripala Sirisena's election, we should be mindful. If we are not, we've already lost the race.

UDAKDEV1@GMAIL.COM

SRI LANKA ASKED TO ENTER MINES BAN TREATY

Image:file photo of clearing land mines in Sri Lanka courtesy of Reuters.

27/12/2016

It will take 15 more years to de-mine Sri Lanka’s war-battered North and East regions, a group campaigning to ban anti-personal mines in the country said today while criticising the government for not acceding to the Ottawa Convention.

“The de-mining work has slowed down over the years. At its current pace it will take around 15 years to complete the de-mining in the remaining 44 square kilometers,” Vidya Abhayagunawardena, the national co-ordinator of Sri Lanka Campaign to Ban Landmines (SLCBL) said.

After seven years of end of war with the LTTE, Sri Lanka remains the only country in the world to maintain that it’s military installations should continue to be protected with landmines, he said.

He said that the government inaction on accession to the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) (known as Ottawa Convention) and Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) will seriously undermine ongoing reconciliation in the country.

“This will be particularly important when the government has declared a week of national reconciliation in January. Today there are over 160 state parties to the MBT and around 120 state parties to the CCM,” he said.

In March this year, the Cabinet had decided to accede to the MBT but no action was taken due to opposition within the government as it had been pointed out that the military bases should be protected by landmines.

“During the war and the last stage of the war in Sri Lanka, landmines never helped any party to win the war. Now we can see that post-war Sri Lanka’s mine causalities 99.9 per cent are civilians particularly children and women,” Abhayagunawardena said.

“There is no connection to reconciliation and our not becoming a party to the MBT,” Karunasena Hettiarachchi, a top official of defence ministry said.

Sri Lanka would enter it after alternate arrangements are put in place to secure the military camps, Hettiarachchi said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Wijedasa Rajapaksa: Unfit for the job of Justice and Buddha Sasana Minister

HILMY AHAMED-on 12/27/2016

Justice and Buddha Sasana Minister Wijedasa Rajapaksa is seen as a blatant liar by the Muslim community. He has become Yahapalanaya’s unofficial patron of Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) and its controversial leader Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero. He has elevated this thuggish prelate (who was once fined by the Court of law for drunk driving) to the levels of the respected and most Venerable Malwatte and Asgiriya Mahanayakes, to be accorded the privilege of sitting at meetings with the President and other highly respected religious leaders of the country. Wijedasa Rajapaksa’s fabrications include racist and malicious accusations targeted against the Muslim community, which he promotes through his Facebook page by paying for boosting his posts amongst the Buddhist community. This is clear evidence of his political hatred of the Muslim community and subscribing to extremist Buddhist racism. Wijedasa Rajapaksa’s lies include defending of the frequent racist accusations by Ven. Galagode Aththe Gnanasara Thero targeting the Muslim community of destroying the Buddhist archaeological sites and trespassing in archaeological reserves. Being the Justice and Buddha Sasana Minister, he shamelessly declared that a Muslim had forged the deeds of a temple in the Batticaloa District and sold it to a Tamil who had destroyed a Chaitiya. Why did he choose to make public statement to the media without taking recourse through his Attorney General and the Justice system? Being a President counsel and a lead lawyer, he is well aware of laws related to forgery.  If anyone had forged a deed, the law has to take its course, whether they are Muslim, Sinhala or Tamil. He is also sympathetic to the other extremist Buddhist monk in Batticaloa, Ampitiye Sumana Thero (who has been charged for pirating electricity) who is on a rampage against the Tamils in the area, publicly threatening government officials with death. Another clear evidence of his racist agenda in support of his masters in the anti-minority camp to drive the minorities away from continuing their support for the Yahapalanaya administration.

Earlier, he courted controversy by claiming under parliamentary privileges that there were 32 Sri Lankan Muslims who had joined the Islamic State, formerly known as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant  or ISIS, (also know as Daesh, ISIL or simply Islamic State). IS is an extremist violent militant group in Iraq and Syria influenced by radical movements with ulterior political agendas.  It claims as its objective- to establish a caliphate, or Islamic state in Sunni majority regions of Iraq and Syria. There has been widespread suspicion that the Western governments, Israel and USA, finance the Islamic State. Wijedasa Rajapaksa’s claim of Muslim IS participation caused a huge uproar within and outside the Parliament. Muslim Parliamentarians from the Government benches (where Wijedasa Rajapaksa sits) tore his accusations to pieces implying that he was lying in support of a political agenda against the Yahapalanaya. Many of the Parliamentarians and Civil Society have called on the President and Prime Minister to remove him from the post of Justice Minister.

Former Rajapaksa strong man and Defense Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa is on record saying there is no evidence of IS activity in Sri Lanka. Four overseas Sri Lankans (Muslims) have gone to Syria on humanitarian work with their families. Two are suspected to have joined the fighting forces and one was killed in June 2015. The defense intelligence units have confirmed this and Wijedasa Rajapaksa had access to this information, yet he chose to cause controversy and mislead the nation. Many Sri Lankans suspect Wijedasa Rajapaksa of playing to the dictates of Mahinda Rajapaksa to destabilize the government and bring him back to power by forcing the minorities away from Yahapalanaya.

Social Media reports have highlighted his connection to Avant Garde and Gotabaya Rajapaksa with photographic evidence of his family trip with the family of Avant Garde Boss Nissanka Senadhipathi to Disney world in California, United States of America, supposedly sponsored by Avant Garde Maritime Services. Wijedasa Rajapaksa on numerous occasions has vowed that he will not allow the arrest of former Defense Secretary,  Gotabaya Rajapaksa for any excesses during his term as Defense Secretary during the decade long Rajapaksa rule.

The Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), which had gone underground with the election of President Maithripala Sirisena in January 2015 resurfaced with their racist agenda by coming forward to contest the parliamentary elections. The majority of the peace loving Buddhists rejected them and a mere 20,337 voted for them island wide. It was clear evidence of the rejection of the hate campaign targeted towards Muslim and other religious minorities by the vast majority of Sinhala Buddhists. It has been rumoured that Wijedasa Rajapaksa has teamed up with extremist Buddhist groups to support the Rajapaksa camp to drive away the Muslim votes from the current administration by his actions as a government minister, implying that the Government of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe is sympathetic to Buddhist extremism. The Attorney General’s Department (AG) and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) have not taken any action on the 5 complaints made at Police headquarters and 44 cases in the Aluthgama Magistrate’s Courts against Ven. Galagoada Aththe Gnanasara Thero on the Aluthgama violence.

The radical extremist head of Bodu Bala Sena, Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero continues to create hate and blaspheme the Muslims, Islam, our holy Prophet and Almighty Allah. In a video released to social media on or about the 1st of December 2016, Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Himi as follows:

“Kuragala is a historically important place where over 12,000 monks resided.  Some consider this place the Diva Guhawa because there is a beautiful plane there.  But Sailani Muslims took over this place.  Now this is a bloody problem.  There is no God.  This God doesn’t even have a face.  So we ask what testicles are they showing?  If I put it simply, since we have to speak in ‘pure Sinhala’, which is understood by everyone.  What is this religion? This place has a name given by the Whites.  They’ve destroyed all the Buddhist countries like Afghanistan.  They’ve come here now to pray saying they’re praying to God.  They say that this is close to our culture.  They make us feel that their faith is like ours, that there is nothing wrong if they too pray there.  This is a trick they’re playing on us.  This is how they caught Kuragala.  During the season who comes there? Princes and princesses from the Middle East.  They take over this place.  Then they make a connection from Kuragala to Sri Pada (Adam’s Peak).  They will say this is Diva guhawa where God urinated.  Then they’ll say God kept His foot on Adam’s Peak.  Because, Allah is a big octopus.  Allah is a big octopus.  He urinates in one place.  He defecates in another place.  That’s what they say.  They say the whole world is Allah’s.  We cannot let this fairy tale continue.  We say this has to stop.  No matter which powerful person intervenes, we will go on.  We ask the Government not to test the patience of our youth.”

This again is clear evidence of extremists who are at the beck and call of political animals that are hell bent on destabilising the hard earned peace and reconciliation under the Yahapalanaya government.  The Muslim community who were under extremist attacks throughout the Rajapakasa regime breathed a sigh of relief on January 9^th with the election of President Maithripala Sirisena. Almost the entire minority community voted en-block to defeat the Rajapaksa regime mainly due to their support for Buddhist extremists, their racist campaigns and alleged corruption.

There has been widespread suspicion that the defence intelligence masterminded many controversies of racial hatred during the regime of Mahinda Rajapaksa. In addition to handling the Bodu Bala Sena, it is suspected that they also helped and were handling the Muslim group called the Sri Lanka Thowheed Jamaath (SLTJ), which follows the Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamath headed by its controversial leader P. Jainulabdeen.

In April 2013 SLTJ’s Abdul Razick raised ethnic tensions in Sri Lanka by his verbal abuse of the noble religion of Buddhism and Lord Buddha in particular. His charge of cannibalism by Lord Buddha and ridiculing the triple gem to mean just three stones landed him in court based on a complaint filed by Ven. Soranathota Chandrarathana Thero with the Colombo Crime Division (CCD). The allegation was that the SLTJ released video footage, which insulted Lord Buddha and the Sinhala Buddhist community.  A little known fact that did not attract any media attention was that the All Ceylon Jamiathul Ulema and Muslim Civil Society also intervened in Court and pleaded with the Magistrate to sentence Abdul Razick and six others with maximum punishment. Gotabaya Rajapaksa confidant and President’s Counsel Ali Sabry appeared on behalf of the Muslims against Razick. Azath Salley, the leader of the National Unity Alliance too intervened through his Attorney N M Shaheed and appealed to the Magistrate not to grant bail to Abdul Razick for inciting hate.  He was remanded and later released on bail with strict orders to apologize to the Mahanayake Theros. Again, Abdul Razick caused controversy by his abuse of Ven. Gnanasara Thero during a protest march in November 2016. He was arrested and remanded on charges of violations of his bail condition.

Islam forbids hate mongering and Abdul Razick’s hate mongering has no place in Islam or amongst the Muslim community in Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan Muslims have vehemently condemned his verbal attack towards the hate mongering extremist, Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero as unislamic. Razick certainly has no sympathizers amongst the Muslim community.

It has long been suspected that the national intelligence unit of the Ministry of Defence had sympathizers of the Sri Lanka Thowheed Jamath within who encouraged the SLTJ to incite the larger Buddhist community to hate Muslims to achieve the last government’s political objectives. Against the plea of the Muslims, the Magistrate granted Abdul Razick bail that led to even more suspicion that forces in the Government had sympathy towards the SLTJ.

The first wave of attacks against the Muslims in post war Sri Lanka started in September 2011 at Anuradhapura, a Unesco world heritage site. The Muslim shrine was over 400 years old. A group of Buddhist monks led a crowd that demolished the Muslim shrine in the presence of senior police personnel. No one was arrested and no action was taken against the monks. Since then, there has been over 600 incidents of hate, violence and intimidation of Muslims.

The Muslim Council of Sri Lanka (MCSL) initiated a petition to the President and the Prime Minister in November, which was signed by the 21 Muslim Members of Parliament calling on the administration to act on the blasphemous statements of Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero. The President who was elected on the considerable votes of the minorities has totally ignored the call by Muslim Religious, Political and Civil Society leaders to address the reemergence of the hate campaign by some Buddhist extremists. Instead, he has elevated racist elements like Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero to the level of the Ven. Malwatte and Asgiriya Maha Nayake Theros and invited him to sit in at meetings at the Presidential Secretariat. The Muslims are set to send a strong message to the Government at the forth-coming local government elections that their votes cannot be taken for granted. The likely beneficiary would be the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).