Sexual harassment and assault rife at United Nations, staff claim

Exclusive: Guardian investigation points to culture of impunity as UN employees allege offences including rape

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Rebecca Ratcliffe-Thu 18 Jan 2018 

The United Nations has allowed sexual harassment and assault to flourish in its offices around the world, with accusers ignored and perpetrators free to act with impunity, the Guardian has been told.
Dozens of current and former UN employees described a culture of silence across the organisation and a flawed grievance system that is stacked against victims.

Of the employees interviewed, 15 said they had experienced or reported sexual harassment or assault within the past five years. The alleged offences ranged from verbal harassment to rape.

Seven of the women had formally reported what happened, a route that campaigners say is rarely pursued by victims for fear of losing their job, or in the belief that no action will be taken.

“If you report it, your career is pretty much over, especially if you’re a consultant,” said one consultant, who alleged she was harassed by her supervisor while working for the World Food Programme. “It’s like an unsaid thing.”

The UN conceded that under-reporting is a concern but said the organisation’s secretary general, António Guterres, has “prioritised addressing sexual harassment and upholding the zero tolerance policy”.

Employees working in more than 10 countries spoke to the Guardian on condition of anonymity, partly because they are precluded from talking publicly by UN rules governing staff, partly for fear of retaliation.

Three women who reported sexual harassment or sexual assault, all from different offices, said they had since been forced out of their jobs or threatened with the termination of their contract in the past year. The alleged perpetrators, who include a senior UN official, remain in their posts. 



UN and World Food Programme staff sit beside a box of fruits in eastern Ghouta, in the Syrian capital Damascus. Photograph: Bassam Khabieh/Reuters

One of the women, who alleges she was raped by a more senior UN staff member while working in a remote location, said: “There are no other options to get justice, and I have lost my job too.”

She said that despite medical evidence and witness testimonies, an internal investigation by the UN found insufficient evidence to support her allegation. Along with her job, she says she has lost her visa and has spent months in hospital due to stress and trauma. She fears she will face persecution if she returns to her home country.

In internal documents seen by the Guardian, two of the women cite concerns with the investigations. They claim that the UN’s investigation’s team, the office of internal oversight services (OIOS), failed to interview key witnesses. They also say that transcripts contain errors and information from inquiries has been leaked.

Alleged perpetrators have been allowed to remain in senior positions – with the power to influence proceedings – throughout investigations.

The UN general assembly in New York. Photograph: Lohr-J/Sipa USA/REX/Shutterstock

The UN general assembly in New York. Photograph: Lohr-J/Sipa USA/REX/Shutterstock

One woman allegedly assaulted while working for the UN says she was told by her agency’s ombudsman that there was nothing more he could do to help her pursue a complaint, because he was being threatened by senior UN staff. Seven other alleged victims who spoke to the Guardian were told by an ombudsman or colleague that they should not try to pursue a complaint.

Four current or recent UN employees, including some who did not pursue formal complaints, said they were not given adequate medical care or counselling. One woman who lost her job said she saw three separate gynaecologists in the 24 hours following an assault, because the first medical team provided by the UN lacked the expertise to deal with such cases. She said she did not receive crisis rape counselling until six weeks later. 

How to Stand Up For Human Rights in the Age of Trump

Western democracies that were once reliable defenders of human rights have been consumed by a nativist backlash, leaving an open field for dictators and demagogues.

(Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images) 

BY KENNETH ROTH

 | JANUARY 18, 2018, 4:00 AM

One year ago, there seemed to be no stopping politicians around the globe who claimed to speak for “the people” but built followings by demonizing unpopular minorities, attacking human rights principles, and fueling distrust of democratic institutions. Today, a popular reaction in a broad range of countries, bolstered in some cases by political leaders with the courage to stand up for human rights, has left the fate of many of these populist agendas less certain. Where the pushback has been strong, populist advances have been limited. But where centrists have capitulated in the face of hatred and intolerance, the populists have flourished.

As this struggle has played out, many Western powers have become more inwardly oriented, leaving an increasingly fragmented world. With the United States led by a president who displays a disturbing fondness for rights-trampling strongmen, and the United Kingdom preoccupied by Brexit, two traditional if flawed defenders of human rights globally are often missing in action. Meanwhile, Germany, France, and their European Union partners have been buffeted by racist and xenophobic political forces at home and have not always been willing to pick up the slack. And democracies such as Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, Japan, and South Africa have been heard actively defending human rights only rarely.

The retreat of many governments that once championed human rights has left an open field for murderous leaders and their enablers.Mass atrocities have proliferated with near impunity in countries including Syria, Myanmar, and South Sudan. Authoritarian leaders have profited from the vacuum as well. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping embarked on the most severe crackdowns on dissent in a generation with little Western pushback. And Saudi Arabia’s new crown prince, playing on Western fears of Iranian influence, led an Arab coalition that bombed civilians and blockaded aid in Yemen, creating an enormous humanitarian disaster.

Real issues lie behind the surge of populism in many parts of the world. Globalization, automation, and technological change have caused economic dislocation and inequality. Fear of cultural change has swept segments of the population in Western nations as the ease of transportation and communication fuels migration from war, repression, poverty, and climate change. Societal divisions have emerged between cosmopolitan elites who welcome and benefit from many of these changes and those who feel their lives have become more precarious. Demagogues have exploited the traumatic drumbeat of terrorist attacks to fuel nativism and Islamophobia. Addressing these issues is not simple, but populists tend to respond less by proposing genuine solutions than by scapegoating vulnerable minorities and disfavored segments of society.

The result has been a frontal assault on the values of inclusivity, tolerance, and respect that lie at the heart of the human rights movement. Indeed, certain populists, such as Trump with his repeated racist comments, seem to relish breaking the taboos that embody these values. Invoking their self-serving interpretation of the majority’s desires, populists seek to replace democratic rule — elected government limited by rights and the rule of law — with unfettered majoritarianism.

Responding to this challenge will mean addressing the legitimate grievances that populists exploit but also reaffirming the human rights principles that they reject. It requires trumpeting the advantages of governments that are accountable to their people rather than to their officials’ empowerment and enrichment. It requires demonstrating that all of our rights are at risk if we allow governments to select which people deserve rights and which do not. It requires reminding ordinary people that they need human rights as much as dissidents and vulnerable groups do.

The willingness of democratic leaders to take on this challenge and champion human rights has fluctuated. A year ago, as the populists seemed to have the wind at their backs, few dared. But in the past year, that has begun to change.

France provided the most prominent turning point. In other European countries — Austria and the Netherlands, for example — centrist and center-right politicians competed with populists by adopting many of their nativist positions. They hoped to preempt the populists’ appeal but ended up reinforcing the populists’ message.

Emmanuel Macron took a different approach during his presidential campaign. He openly embraced democratic principles, firmly rejecting the National Front’s efforts to foment hatred against Muslims and immigrants. His resulting victory and his party’s success in parliamentary elections showed that French voters could be persuaded to overwhelmingly reject the National Front’s divisive policies. The challenge for Macron now is to govern according to the principles he campaigned on, especially when commercial opportunities and the fight against terrorism are involved.

In the United States, Trump won the presidency with a campaign of hatred against Mexican immigrants, Muslim refugees, and other racial and ethnic minorities and an evident disdain for women. In reaction to his victory, the United States saw a broad reaffirmation of human rights from many quarters. A powerful response came from civic groups, journalists, lawyers, judges, many members of the public, and sometimes even elected members of Trump’s own party. Trump still took regressive steps, but the reaction limited the harm done, notably his efforts to discriminate against Muslims seeking to enter the United States, undermine Americans’ right to health care, and expel transgender people from the military.

Germany made headlines when the Alternative for Germany (AfD) became the first far-right party to enter its parliament in decades. That ascent cut into support for the ruling coalition, including Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, and complicated her task of forming a new government. Yet beyond the economically depressed eastern parts of the country, where widespread racism and xenophobia have not been tackled since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the AfD gained the most votes in wealthy Bavaria, where Merkel’s governing partner, the Christian Social Union (CSU), had adopted far more of the AfD’s nativist positions. Merkel’s principled confrontation rather than the CSU’s calculated emulation turned out to be the more politically effective response.

Central Europe has become especially fertile ground for nativists and authoritarians, as certain leaders use fear of migration elsewhere in Europe to undermine checks and balances on their power at home. But there has been resistance, too. Large public protests and the threat of legal action by the European Union challenged Poland’s efforts to undermine judicial independence and the rule of law and impeded Hungary’s plans to close Central European University, a bastion of independent thought that stood in opposition to the model of “illiberal democracy” championed by Prime Minister Viktor Orban. There is growing recognition among EU institutions and some member states that such assaults on democratic rule pose a threat to the EU itself. And given Poland and Hungary’s position as major beneficiaries of EU funding, a debate is beginning on whether that aid should be linked to upholding basic EU values.

In Latin America, the authoritarian populist President Nicolás Maduro continued to eviscerate Venezuela’s democracy and economy under the guise of standing up for the poor against those whom he brands imperialists. But as his rule became more brutal and autocratic, his corrupt and incompetent management of the economy became painfully apparent. This potentially wealthy nation was left destitute despite its vast oil reserves, with many people desperately searching for food and medicine amid raging hyperinflation. People took to the streets in large numbers to protest, and an unprecedented number of Latin American countries shed their traditional reluctance to criticize a neighbor’s repression. Maduro has managed to stay in office, largely due to the violent repression he was willing to deploy. Taking advantage of a subservient supreme court and the Constituent Assembly that he created to take over legislative powers from the opposition-controlled National Assembly, he carried out a brutal crackdown on dissent. But as the Venezuelan people continue their descent into poverty and misery, it is unclear how long they will let Maduro cling to power.

In Africa, in a variation on this theme, several abusive leaders, some with blood on their hands and fearing prosecution, invoked pan-Africanism to encourage a mass exodus of their countries from the International Criminal Court. But that effort fizzled when an outpouring of popular support for the ICC by civic groups across Africa helped persuade most African governments to continue standing behind the court. Only Burundi, whose leadership the ICC is investigating, left.

Sometimes, when more powerful nations were obstructive or unhelpful, smaller countries led the global defense of human rights. The U.N. Human Rights Council opened an investigation of abuses by all sides in Yemen thanks to the leadership of the Netherlands. The U.N. General Assembly circumvented Russia’s Security Council veto and named a prosecutor for war crimes in Syria because of leadership from Liechtenstein. Iceland led a public challenge at the U.N. Human Rights Council to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign of summary executions for drug suspects.

None of these models of resistance to populist or autocratic rule guarantees success. Anyone in office has the considerable advantage of being able to harness the power of the state. But the resistance shows that there is a struggle underway, that many people will not sit quietly as autocrats attack their basic rights and freedoms.

By contrast, where domestic resistance was suppressed and international concern lacking, populist leaders and other anti-human rights forces have prospered. In Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan decimated the country’s democratic system with impunity as the EU focused on enlisting his help to halt the flight of refugees to Europe. In Egypt, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi crushed public dissent with little interference from the United States or the EU. They bought into his narrative of combating terrorism and ensuring regional stability, even though his ruthless suppression of any Islamic voices in the country’s political process was exactly what militant Islamists wanted.

The cost of not standing up to majoritarian attacks on human rights was perhaps starkest in Myanmar. Vitriolic nationalist rhetoric increasingly propagated by Buddhist extremists, senior members of the military, and some members of the civilian-led government helped to precipitate an ethnic cleansing campaign against Rohingya Muslims, following a Rohingya militant group’s attack on security outposts. An army-led campaign of massacres, widespread rape, and mass arson in at least 354 villages sent more than 650,000 Rohingya refugees fleeing for their lives to neighboring Bangladesh. These are the very crimes that the international community had pledged never again to tolerate.

Yet the Western nations that had long taken an active interest in Myanmar were reluctant to act, even by imposing targeted financial and travel sanctions on the army generals behind these crimes against humanity. In part, that reticence was because of geopolitical competition with China for the Myanmar government’s favor. Also playing a part was the undue deference given to Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s de facto civilian leader, even though she has no real control over the military and has shown no inclination to pay the political price of defending an unpopular minority. The result was the fastest forced mass exodus of people since the Rwandan genocide, with little immediate hope of the Rohingyas’ safe and voluntary return or of bringing to justice the people behind the atrocities that sent them fleeing.

The Philippines presented an especially brazen and deadly example of an authoritarian populist’s challenge to human rights. President Rodrigo Duterte took office encouraging the police to kill drug suspects, as he had done previously as mayor of Davao City. The resulting epidemic of police shootings — often portrayed as “shootouts” but repeatedly shown to be summary executions — has left more than 12,000 people dead in the roughly year and a half since Duterte took office. The vast majority of victims were young men from the slums of major cities — people who elicited little sympathy among many Filipinos. The ongoing territorial dispute among China, the United States, and the Philippines over the South China Sea left little room for concern about executions. Trump, as he has elsewhere, seemed mainly to admire Duterte’s “strongman” qualities.

Instead, a major source of pressure to stop the slaughter came from a collection of states led by Iceland that spoke out at the U.N. Human Rights Council. Duterte tried to disparage these “bleeding hearts” but ended up, under pressure, transferring authority to combat drugs, at least for a while, from the murderous police to a more law-abiding anti-narcotics agency. When the police were withdrawn from anti-drug operations, executions dropped precipitously.

The central lesson of the past year is that despite considerable headwinds, a vigorous defense of human rights can succeed.Populist politicians tend to offer superficial answers to complex problems, but broad swaths of the public, when reminded of the human rights principles at stake, can be convinced to reject the scapegoating of unpopular minorities and leaders’ efforts to undermine basic democratic checks and balances. What’s needed is principled resistance rather than surrender — a call to action rather than a cry of despair.

Exclusive: India plans to raise health spending by 11 percent in budget; less than requested

FILE PHOTO: Patients and their attendants wait outside the Out Patient Department (OPD) at a government-run hospital in New Delhi, India, November 22, 2017. REUTERS/Saumya Khandelwal/File photo

Aditya Kalra-JANUARY 18, 2018

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India is poised to raise its public health spending by 11 percent in the annual budget next month, after rejecting Health Minister J.P. Nadda’s demand for a much bigger increase to ramp up disease control, according to government sources and documents.

Nadda sought a “bare minimum” budget of nearly $10 billion for 2018-19 - 33 percent higher than last year - in a letter to the finance minister on Nov. 26, which Reuters has reviewed.

Nadda argued the funds were needed for expanding vaccination coverage and free drugs distribution, and also to ward off a growing threat of non-communicable diseases, such as cancer and diabetes, which killed 6 million people in India in 2016.

His request was not approved: the health budget is expected to rise by 11 percent to $8.2 billion, three government officials told Reuters. They declined to be named or be identified further as the discussions were confidential.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government last year set a target of raising annual health spending to 2.5 percent of India’s GDP by 2025, from 1.15 percent now - one of the lowest proportions in the world.

The health budget this year will put that pledge at risk.

“What’s the point of having a (2025) GDP target? With this funding, it still looks like a herculean task,” said one of the officials interviewed.

The finance ministry declined comment, while the health ministry did not respond to requests seeking comment. The budget for the financial year ending March 2019 will be presented on Feb. 1.
Shamika Ravi, a member of Modi’s economic advisory council, said she wasn’t privy to the final budget numbers, but described a $8.2 billion annual health budget as “not sufficient”.

“If we underspend on health, it will impact India’s overall GDP by lowering productivity in the long term,” said Ravi, who is also a research director at Brookings India.

 FILE PHOTO: A government health worker collects blood sample from a patient at a dengue detention centre in Kolkata, India November 4, 2017. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri/File Photo

Ravi however said she would continue to advise the government to allocate more funds for healthcare to achieve its 2025 GDP target.

ECONOMY VS HEALTH

Last year, the government intensified efforts to overhaul the public healthcare system. It capped prices of several medical devices to help the poor, ramped up screening of non-communicable diseases and, on top of that, also raised the federal health budget by more than a quarter.

But the health budget increase for 2018-19 will be lower as the government’s finances are stretched by slowing economic growth and tax collections that have lagged under a new sales tax regime, the officials said.

It was difficult to get the 11 percent hike approved, according to one of the officials, who said that it took many rounds of discussions between the health ministry and the finance ministry. Initially, the finance ministry had earmarked only a five percent increase in the budget, but that was increased after fresh representations by the health ministry, the official said.

Collections under the new national goods and services tax system stood at $12.6 billion in November, the lowest since its launch in July, which finance officials say have upset the goverment’s overall revenues and their budget calculations.

In recent months, the finance ministry has said it wants to boost spending on sectors such as infrastructure, including ports and roads, to boost economic growth. That, along with the need to stick to fiscal targets, means that the budget for other sectors will be squeezed.

In his letter, Nadda made a case for a significant increase in his ministry’s allocation, saying investments in public health would eventually result in a “tenfold return for the economy”.

Low public health spending leads to “catastrophic” medical expenses for people, he wrote.

India’s overburdened health system remains plagued with an acute shortage of government hospitals in rural areas. In 2016, more than 1 million children died before turning five, the highest number for any nation in the world, a United Nations report said last year.

Chemistry 'Van Gogh' could help with cancer

17 January 2018

RNA polymerase III surrounding DNA

"Incredible" images of DNA in action have been captured by scientists who will use them to design cancer drugs.

Researcher Dr Alessandro Vannini said the pictures were "beautiful" and in artistic comparisons were "definitely a Van Gogh".

They capture a fundamental part of all plant and animal life, called RNA polymerase III, reading the genetic instructions contained in DNA.

It is a process that gets hijacked by cancer.

Human DNA contains the genetic instructions for building and running the human body.

It is RNA polymerase III's job to come along and read the genetic instruction manual.

The team at the Institute of Cancer Research used a technique called cryo-electron microscopy, which won the 2017 Nobel Prize for chemistry for revolutionising biochemistry.

They purified RNA polymerase III, immersed it in water and then rapidly froze it.

This preserves the microscopic structure of objects and even captures them mid-movement.

A beam of electrons is then used to take images from lots of angles, which are then built up into a detailed 3D image.

Dr Alessandro Vannini, who published the findings in the journal Nature, told the BBC: "You don't get the structure all at once, you just see individual strokes and it takes a while to see the big picture.

"It was definitely a Van Gogh."

The researchers caught the molecular machinery binding to DNA, unzipping it and reading the information in the genetic code.

RNA polymerase III is involved in the supply of building materials needed to make proteins.

A cancerous cell that is dividing rapidly and out of control needs more, and different, building materials than a normal healthy cell.

Changes to RNA polymerase III have often been implicated in cancer.

Dr Vannini told the BBC: "It's very highly regulated, but it is very often hijacked in cancer and there is a complete shift in the building blocks."

But now the structure of RNA polymerase III and the way it interacts with DNA has been worked out, the team plan to design drugs to alter the way it works.

Dr Vannini said: "It's a new way of thinking and targeting very central machinery. If we block it completely then all cells will die, but if we can block it partially we can see if we can stop cancers."

Prof Paul Workman, the chief executive of the Institute of Cancer Research, London, said: "This beautiful study has unveiled a fundamental cog in the inner workings of cells and one that is often exploited by cancers.

"It's a hugely important finding in cell biology, and I hope that in future it will lead to new treatments for cancer patients."

Dr Amanda Collis, from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, said: "This exciting discovery demonstrates how fundamental understanding of biological systems can open the door to the development of potential new cancer therapies."

Follow James on Twitter.

5 மாண­வர்கள் உள்­ளிட்ட 11 பேர் கடத்தல் வழக்கு : சட்­டத்­த­ர­ணிக்கு உயிர் அச்­சு­றுத்தல்.!

by RasmilaD on 2018-01-17

ஐந்து மாண­வர்கள் உள்­ளிட்ட 11 பேர் கடத்தி காணாமல் ஆக்­கப்­பட்­டமை தொடர்­பி­லான விசா­ரணை நட­வ­டிக்­கை­க­ளுடன் தொடர்­பு­பட்ட  நால்­வ­ருக்கு உயிர் அச்­சு­றுத்தல் விடுக்­கப்­பட்­டுள்­ள­தாக நேற்று கோட்டை நீதிவான் லங்கா ஜய­ரத்­னவின் கவ­னத்­துக்கு கொண்­டு­வ­ரப்­பட்­டது. 

இந்த விவ­கா­ரத்தில் பிர­தான சாட்­சி­யா­ளர்­க­ளான லெப்­டினன் கொமாண்டர் வெல்­கெ­தர, கடற்­படை முன்னாள் சிப்பாய் அளுத்­கெ­தர உபுல் பண்­டார, பிர­தான விசா­ரணை அதி­காரி பொலிஸ் பரி­சோ­தகர் நிசாந்த சில்வா மற்றும் பாதிக்­கப்­பட்­டோ­ருக்கு நீதியைப் பெற்­றுக்­கொ­டுக்க அவர்கள் சார்பில் ஆஜ­ராகி வந்த சட்­டத்­த­ரணி அச்­சலா சென­வி­ரத்ன ஆகி­யோ­ருக்கே இந்த உயிர் அச்­சு­றுத்தல் விடுக்­கப்­பட்­டுள்­ள­தாக நீதி­வானின் கவ­னத்­துக்கு கொண்­டு­வ­ரப்­பட்­டது.

இதில் பிர­தான விசா­ரணை அதி­காரி நிசாந்த சில்­வாவை கொலை  செய்ய சதித் திட்டம் தீட்­டி­யமை தொடர்பில் குற்றப் புல­னாய்வுப் பிரிவின் பிர­தான பொலிஸ் பரி­சோ­தகர் திஸா­ந­யக்க தலை­மை­யி­லான பொலிஸ் குழுவும், சட்­டத்­த­ரணி அச்­சலா சென­வி­ரத்­ன­வுக்கு தொலை­பே­சியில் அச்­சு­றுத்தல் விடுத்த சம்­பவம் தொடர்பில் வாழைத் தோட்டம் பொலி­ஸாரும் விசா­ர­ணை­களை முன்­னெ­டுக்கும் நிலையில் அது தொடர்பில் இரு வேறு வழக்­குகள் புதுக்­கடை நீதிவான் நீதி­மன்றில் தாக்கல் செய்­யப்­பட்­டுள்­ள­தா­கவும் இதன் போது நீதி­வா­னுக்கு அறி­விக்­கப்­பட்­டது. 

இந் நிலையில் தனி­யாக இடம்­பெறும் விசா­ர­ணை­களை அவ்­வாறே தொடர ஆலோ­சனை வழங்­கிய நீதிவான் சாட்­சி­யா­ளர்­க­ளுக்கு அச்­சு­றுத்தல் விடுக்­கப்­பட்ட சம்­ப­வங்கள் தொடர்பில், பதி­வா­கி­யுள்ள பொலிஸ் நிலை­யங்கள் ஊடாக 2015 ஆம் ஆண்டின் 4 ஆம் இலக்க  பாதிக்­கப்­பட்டோர், சாட்­சி­யா­ளர்கள் பாது­காப்பு கட்­டளைச் சட்­டத்தின் பிர­காரம் விசா­ரணை செய்து சந்­தேக நபர்­களை வெளிப்­ப­டுத்தி அவர்­க­ளுக்கு எதி­ராக   நட­வ­டிக்கை எடுக்­கு­மாறு ஆலோ­சனை வழங்­கினார்.

கொழும்பு மற்றும் அதனை அண்­டிய பகு­தி­களில் வைத்து 2008 ஆம் ஆண்டு  5 மாண­வர்கள் உள்­ளிட்ட 11 பேர் கடத்­தப்ப்ட்டு காணாமல் போகச் செய்­யப்ப்ட்ட சம்­பவம் தொடர்­பி­லான வழக்கு நேற்று கோட்டை நீதிவான் லங்க ஜய­ரத்ன முன்­னி­லையில் மீளவும் விசா­ர­ணைக்கு வந்­தது.

இதன்­போதே பாதிக்­கப்­பட்ட தரப்பு சார்பில் நேற்று மன்றில் ஆஜ­ரான ஜனா­தி­பதி சட்­டத்­த­ரணி ஜே.சி. வெலி அமு­னவின் கருத்­து­ரையை செவி­ம­டுத்து நீதிவான் இந்த ஆலோ­ச­னையை வழங்­கினார். அத்­துடன்  இந்த விவ­கா­ரத்தில் தற்­போது கைது செய்­யப்­ப­டு­வ­தற்­காக தேடப்­பட்டு வரும் கடற்­ப­டையின் லெப்­டினன் கொமாண்டர் சந்­தன பிரசாத் ஹெட்டி ஆரச்­சியைக் கைது செய்ய சர்­வ­தேச பொலிஸார் ஊடாக சிங்­களம், ஆங்­கில மொழி­களில் பகி­ரங்க பிடி­யா­ணையும் நீதிவான்  பிறப்­பித்தார்.

முன்னாள் கடற்­படை தள­பதி, வசந்த கரண்­ணா­கொட தனது பாது­காப்பு உத்­தி­யோ­கத்­த­ராக இருந்த லெப்­டினன்ட் கொமாண்டர் சம்பத் முன­சிங்­க­வுக்கு எதி­ராக கொழும்பு குற்றத் தடுப்புப் பிரிவில் செய்த முறைப்­பாட்­டுக்கு அமை­வாக குற்றப் புல­னாய்வுப் பிரிவு முன்­னெ­டுத்த மேல­திக விசா­ர­ணை­க­ளி­லேயே இந்த கடத்தல் விவ­காரம் அம்­ப­லத்­துக்கு வந்­த­தி­ருந்­தது.

சிரேஷ்ட பொலிஸ் அத்­தி­யட்சர் சானி அபே­சே­க­ரவின் நேரடி  கட்­டுப்­பாட்டில் உதவி பொலிஸ் அத்­தி­யட்சர் திசேரா, புல­னாய்வு பிரிவின் கூட்டுக் கொள்ளை தொடர்­பி­லான விசா­ரணைப் பிரிவின் பொறுப்­ப­தி­காரி பொலிஸ் பரி­சோ­தகர் நிஸாந்த டீ சில்வா தலை­மையில் முன்­னெ­டுக்­கப்­படும் இரு­வேறு விசா­ர­ணை­களில் இந்த பிர­தான கடத்­தல்கள் தொடர்பில் தக­வல்கள் வெளிப்­ப­டுத்­தப்­பட்­டி­ருந்­தன.

கொழும்பு, கொட்­டாஞ்­சேனை, தெஹி­வளை, வத்­தளை மற்றும் கட்­டு­நா­யக்க உள்­ளிட்ட பல பிர­தே­சங்­களில் பல்­வேறு உத்­தி­களை கையாண்டு இந்த கடத்­தல்கள் அரங்­கேற்­றப்­பட்­டுள்­ளன. குறிப்­பாக தெஹி­வ­ளையில் 2008.09.17 அன்று பெர்­னாண்டோ மாவத்­தையில் உள்ள அலி ஹாஜியார் அன்வர் என்­ப­வ­ரது வீட்டில் வைத்து அவரும் ரஜீவ நாக­நாதன், பிரதீப் விஸ்­வ­நாதன், தில­கேஸ்­வரன் ராம­லிங்கம், மொஹம்மட் திலான், மொஹம்மட் சாஜித் ஆகிய ஐந்து மாண­வர்­களும் கடத்­தப்­பட்­டி­ருந்­தனர். இத­னை­விட கொட்­டாஞ்­சே­னையைச் சேர்ந்த கஸ்­தூரி ஆரச்­சி­லாகே ஜோன் ரீட், அரிப்பு பிர­தே­சத்தைச் சேர்ந்த அமலன் லியோன் மற்றும் ரொஷான் லியோன், கொட்­டாஞ்­சே­னையை சேர்ந்த அன்­டனி கஸ்­தூரி ஆராச்சி, திரு­கோ­ண­ம­லையை சேர்ந்த தியா­க­ராஜா கஜன் உள்­ளிட்­டோரும் கடத்­தப்­பட்­டி­ருந்­தனர். 

இவ்­வாறு கடத்­தப்­பட்ட அனை­வரும் திரு­கோ­ண­மலை கடற்­படை தளத்தில் உள்ள இர­க­சிய வதை முகா­மான கன்சைட் எனும்  தடுப்பு முகாமில் தடுத்து வைக்­கப்ப்ட்­டி­ருந்­த­மையை குற்றப் புல­ன­ய­வா­ளர்கள் கண்­டு­பி­டித்­தனர். 

இந்த விடயம் சர்­வ­தேச அளவில் அவ­தா­னிப்­புக்கு உள்­ளா­கி­யுள்ள நிலையில், சிறப்பு புல­னாய்வு பிரிவின் பொறுப்­பா­ள­ராக கட­மை­யாற்­றி­யி­ருந்த லெப்­டினன் கொமாண்டர் சம்பத் முன­சிங்க, கன்சைட் நிலத்­தடி இர­க­சி­ய­வதை முகாமின் பொறுப்­பா­ள­ராக அப்­போது இருந்த லெப்­டினன் கொமாண்டர் தரத்­தினை உடைய தற்­போது கொமாண்­ட­ராக பதவி உயர்த்­தப்­பட்­டுள்ள சுமித் ரண­சிங்க, கடற்­படை சிப்பாய் லக்ஷ்மன் உத­ய­கு­மார,  நலின் பிர­சன்ன விக்­ர­ம­சூ­ரிய, தம்­மிக தர்­ம­தாஸ , கித்­சிரி மற்றும் சிறப்பு புல­னாய்வு பிரிவின் பணிப்­பா­ள­ரா­கவும் கடற்­படை ஊடகப் பேச்­சா­ள­ரா­கவும் அப்­போது பதவி வகித்த கொமாண்டர் டி.கெ.பி. தஸ­நா­யக்க ஆகியோர் கைது பிணையில் உள்ள நிலையில் நேற்று அவர்கள் மன்றில் பிர­சன்­ன­மா­கி­யி­ருந்­தனர்.

 நேற்று முன் தினம் கைது செய்­யப்­பட்ட கடற்­படை புல­னாய்வுப் பிரிவின் முன்னாள் வீர­ரான கஸ்­தூ­ரிகே காமினி குற்றப் புல­ன­யவுப் பிரிவின் பொலிஸ் பரி­சோ­த­கர்­க­ளான நிசாந்த சில்வா, இலங்­க­சிங்க ஆகி­யோரால் மன்றில் ஆஜர் செய்­யப்­பட்­டனர்.

இதன்­போது மன்றில் கருத்து முன்­வைத்த பொலிஸ் பரி­சோ­தகர் நிசாந்த சில்வா, 

காணாமல் போன­வர்­களில் அடங்கும் அலி அன்வர் ஹாஜியார் என்­ப­வரை இந்த காமினி என்ற சந்­தேக நபரே, கட்­டு­நா­யக்­கவில் இருந்து தெஹி­வ­ளைக்கு முச்­சக்­கர வண்­டியில் வரும் போது கடத்திச் சென்­றுள்ளார்.

 அத்­துடன் பிர­தான சாட்­சி­யான வெல­கெ­த­ரவின் சாட்­சிக்கு அமை­வாக, 2009 ஜூன் முற்­ப­கு­தியில் கன்சைட் வளா­கத்தில் கறுப்பு பொலித்­தீ­னினால் சுற்­றப்­பட்ட  சட­லங்­களை  என சந்­தே­கிக்­கப்­ப­டு­வன்­வற்றை இவரே கெப் வாக­னத்தில் ஏற்­றி­யுள்ளார். இது தொடர்பில் கிடைக்கப் பெற்­றுள்ள சாட்­சி­யங்­களின் அடிப்­ப­டை­யி­லேயே  நியா­ய­மான சந்­தே­கத்தின் பேரில் அவரைக் கைது செய்தோம்.  என்றார்.

 இத­னை­ய­டுத்து பாதிக்­கப்­பட்ட தரப்பு சார்பில் வழை­மை­யாக ஆஜ­ராகும் சட்­டத்­த­ரணி அச்­சலா சென­வி­ரத்­ன­வுடன் மன்றில் ஆஜ­ரான ஜனா­தி­பதி சட்­டத்­த­ரணி ஜே.சி. வெலி அமுன, குறிப்­பி­டு­கையில் 

 ,  இந்த வழக்கின் விசா­ர­ணை­க­ளுக்கு பாரிய இடை­யூ­றுகள் ஏற்­ப­டுத்­தப்­பட்டு வரு­கின்­றன. இதனை இப்­ப­டியே தொடர விட முடி­யாது. இவ்­வ­ழக்கில் பாதிக்­கப்­பட்ட தரப்பு சார்பில் ஆஜ­ரான எனது கனிஷ்ட சட்­டத்­த­ரணி அச்­சலா சென­வி­ரத்­ன­வுக்கு தொலை­பே­சியில் அச்­சு­றுத்தல் விடுக்­கப்­பட்­டுள்­ளது. இது தொடர்பில் தற்­போது தனி­யாக புதுக் கடை நீதிவான் நீதி­மன்றில் வழக்கு பதிவு செய்­யப்­பட்­டுள்­ளது. அதே போல் பிர­தான விசா­ரணை அதி­காரி நிஷாந்த சில்­வாவை கொலைச் செய்ய சதித் திட்டம் தீட்­டப்ப்ட்­டுள்­ளது. இது தொடர்­பிலும் விசா­ரணை தனி­யாக நடக்­கி­றது.

வழக்கின் பிர­தான சாட்­சி­க­ளான, வெல்­கெ­தர, உபுல் பண்­டார அகை­யோ­ருக்கும் அச்­சு­றுத்தல் விடுக்­கப்ப்ட்­டுள்­ளது. அது தொடர்பில் அவர்கள் குற்றப் புல­னாய்வுப் பிரி­வுக்கு அவர்கள் தெரி­யப்­ப­டுத்­தி­யுள்­ளனர்.

உபுல் பண்­டா­ர­வுக்கு அவர் ஏற்­க­னவே வழங்­கிய வாக்கு மூலத்தில் குறிப்­பி­டப்ப்ட்ட விட­யங்­களை வாபஸ் வாங்க  அழுத்தம் கொடுக்­கப்­பட்­டுள்­ளது.

 சந்­தேக நபர்கள் சார்பில் ஆஜ­ராகும் சட்­டத்­த­ரணி அஜித் பிர­சன்ன, மன்­ருக்கு வெளியே இவ்­வ­ழக்கின் விசா­ர­ணைகள் பாதிக்­கப்­படும் வண்ணம்  ஊட­கங்­க­ளுக்கு கருத்து கூறு­கின்றார். இது ஒரு நாடகம் என்­கிறார். புலிகள் டயஸ் போரா­வுக்கு ஏற்­ற­வ­கையில் விசா­ரிக்­கப்­ப­டு­கி­றது என்­கிறார். விசா­ரணை அதி­கா­ரி­க­ளான நிசாந்த, ஷானி ஆகி­யோரை மிக கேவ­ல­மாக பேசு­கின்றார்.' என்றார்.

 இதன்­போது சட்­டத்­த­ரணி மேஜர் அஜித் பிர­சன்ன மன்­றுக்குள் நுழைந்த நிலையில், இது தொடர்பில் கருத்து கூற அவ­காசம் வழங்­கப்­பட்­டது.

  விசா­ர­ணை­களை பாதிக்கும் வண்ணம் நான் எத­னையும் கூற­வில்லை. அந்த குர்­ரச்­ச­டடை நான் மறுக்­கின்றேன். குற்றப் புல­ன­யவுப் பிரிவு பக்­கச்­சார்­பாக செயல்­ப­டு­கி­றது என்று நான் இம்­மன்றில் கூறு­வ­தையே வெளியில் கூறினேன். நான் கூறிய அனைத்தும் உண்­மை­க­ளே­யாகும்,  அதனை உறுதி செய்ய என்­னிடம் ஆதாரம் உள்­ளது.' என அவர் இதன்­போது தெரி­வித்தார்.

விசா­ரணை அதி­கா­ரி­க­ளுக்கு எதி­ரான கருத்­துக்கள் முன்­வைக்­கப்­பட்ட நிலையில் அரசின் சார்பில் ஆஜ­ரான சிரேஷ்ட அரச சட்­ட­வாதி ஜனக பண்­டார அந்த கருத்­துக்­க­ளுக்கு எஹிர்ப்பு வெளி­யிட்டார். விசா­ரணை அதி­கா­ரி­களில் குறை­பா­டுகள் இருப்பின் அவற்றை நீதி­மன்றில் கூற வேண்டும். அல்­லது குறிப்­பிட்ட நிறு­வ­னங்­க­ளுக்கு கூற வேண்டும். அதனை விட்­டு­விட்டு அவர்­களின் உயி­ருக்கு அச்­சு­றுத்தல் ஏற்­ப­டுத்தும் வண்னம் பிர­சித்­த­மாக கருத்து வெளி­யி­டு­வது அவர்­களை அச்­சு­ருத்­து­வ­தற்கும் அவர்­க­ளது விசா­ர­ணை­களை மழுங்­க­டிக்கச் செய்­வ­தற்­கு­மான செய­லாகும்.

 விசா­ரணை அதி­காரி ஷானி அபே­சே­க­ரவின் பிள்­ளைகள் வெளி­நாட்டில் இருப்­ப­தா­கவும், அவர்கள் பாதிக்­கப்­பட்ட தரப்­பிடம் பெற்ற பணம் மூலம் கல்வி கர்­ப­தா­கவும் ஒரு இடத்தில் கருத்து வெளி­யிட்­டுள்­ளனர். ஷானி அபே­சே­க­ரவை நான் சந்­தித்தேன். அவ­ரது பிள்­ளைகள் விமான நிலைய மண்னை ஒரு முறை கூட மிதித்­தது இல்லை என அவர் என்­னிடம் கூறினார். யேன் அதி­கா­ரி­களின் குடும்­பத்­தாரை இழுத்து இவ்­வாறு அடிப்­ப­டை­யற்ற கருத்­துக்­களை கூற வேண்டும்.

இது தொடர்ந்தால் தண்­டனை சட்டக் கோவையின் 189 மற்றும் பாதிக்­கப்­பட்டோர், சாட்­சிகள் பாது­காப்பு கட்­டளை சட்­டத்தின் 8,9 ஆவது அத்­தி­யா­யத்­துக்கு அமை­வாக நட­வ­டிக்கை எடுக்க வேண்டி வரும். இக்­க­ருத்­துக்­களை கூறி­யவர் சட்­டத்­த­ரணி என்­பதால் இதனை நான் கூறு­கின்றேன். அந்த நிலை­மைக்கு செல்ல அவ­சியம் ஏற்­ப­டாது என நம்­பு­கின்றேன்.' என்றார்.

இத­னை­ய­டுத்து சந்­தேக நபர்கள் சார்பில் ஆஜ­ரான சிரேஷ்ட சட்­டத்­த­ரணி அசித் சிறி­வர்­தன வாதிட்டார்.

'  ஆரம்­பத்தில் இருந்து நாம் இந்த விசா­ர­ணைகள் பக்­க­சார்­பா­னது என்­கிறோம். இதில் கப்பம் பெற்­ற­வர்கள் இன்னும் கைது ண்டிஸ் என்­ப­வரும்  சட­லங்­களை ஏற்­றி­ய­தாக வெல­கெ­தர நாம் இந்த விசாரணைகள் பக்கசார்பானது என்கிறோம். இதில் கப்பம் பெற்றவர்கள் இன்னும் கைது ண்டிஸ் என்பவரும்  சடலங்களை ஏற்றியதாக வெலகெதர கூறிய நிலையில் மெண்டிஸ் இன்னும் கைதாகவில்லை. 

இவ்வாறு பல முன்னுக்கு பின் முரணான நிலைமைகள் காணப்படுகின்றன.  எனவே உடன் இந்த விசாரணைகளை குற்றப் புலனயவுப் பிரிவிடம் இருந்து அகற்றி பொலிஸின் வேறு எந்தவொரு பிரிவிடமேனும் ஒப்படைக்க உத்தர்விடவும் என கோரினார்.

 இது தொப்டர்பில் விரிவாக எழுத்து மூல வாதங்களை முன்வைக்க இதன்போது நீதிவான் அவருக்கு ஆலோசனை வழ்னக்கினார்.

 இந் நிலையில் 8 ஆவது சந்தேக நபருக்கு தண்டனை சட்டக் கோவையின் 296 ஆம் அத்தியாயத்துக்கு அமைவாக குற்றம் சுமத்தப்ப்ட்டுள்ள நிலையில், பிணை   வழங்கும் அதிகாரம் நீதிவான் நீதிமன்றுக்கு இல்லை என கூரிய நீதிவான் அவரை எதிர்வரும் 25 ஆம் திக்திவரை விளக்கமறியலில் வைக்க உத்தரவிட்டார். அன்றைய தினம் எழுத்து மூல வாதங்களை முன்வைக்க  ஆலோசனை வழ்னக்கிய நீதிவான், பிணையில் உள்ள சந்தேக நபர்கள் எதிர்வரும் பெப்ர்வரி 8 ஆம் திகதி மன்றில் ஆஜராகுமாறு உத்தரவிட்டார்.

The joy of books! Cuddling up with a wish to explore

Thursday, 18 January 2018


I walked into a small communication shop to discover that you can buy almost anything from rubber seeds and tree leaves to bird feathers to support a student attending a school. I noted that all leaves are properly and accurately (hopefully!) identified and named and it was the same with feathers.

Moving through our system of education 

A little child has no problem in moving through our system of education – the teacher will give homework and a parent will purchase and the child gets an A grade. If all grades come up As, maybe the school will even spend some money and put up a poster at the entrance and Mark Zuckerberg will beam with envy to see his Facebook buzzing with hot news of the day and with all the great friends and relatives cooing with envy of the prowess of the child wonder! I do not know whether it is the parents or the child who wakes up each morning to see the counts under likes!

What we are seeing, from parents to children and teachers to executives, is dropping the habit of reading and opening up their vistas. The quest for discovery and learning through exploration is fast disappearing. Why spend time on learning and growth, the quest is for a ‘position’ and that is what is supposed to take you to better places. Of course then year on year the same things are repeated and regurgitated to no avail.

In our cities and town centres, the public library has given way to the services of communication shops where copiers and laminating machines reigns supreme. Exploratory education is replaced by off the shelf educational ways and means!


The space for books is under siege

I remember at one time it was quite a pleasant task to walk into a famous department store near Town Hall. It was always pleasant to sit on a comfy char and dive into few books and of course a fantastic collection was present and the ambience near perfect for a good read. Today the situation is completely different.

The shoreline which demarcates the area for books are fast receding and only the glacier ice in the arctic may be disappearing faster due to climate change. Comfy chairs are long gone and today one solitary chair remains and that reminds me of a chair that usually a lawyer provides to a client and you know why!

The space for books is under siege from the more profitable fast-moving goods and who will extend valuable shelf space to store stuff that has no demand? I am sure there is no need for a MBA to figure out lost opportunity cost with such space allocations and the best way is to ensure the disappearance of the tomes. Soon many more footfalls will happen as the shelf will have beachwear and multi-coloured slippers and they are in demand!


Malaise of ignorance donning the mantle of governance

I entered a Government office and was happy to see the ‘Library’ sign on the wall. However, closer observation was quite disappointing – a notice on the room that had been earmarked as the library and the notice indeed makes for sober reading as you can see from the picture.

It indicates that the library is open for one hour per week. I can imagine the whole office staff waiting with bated breath to exchange books on the particular day and the hour. Well today we know that they are not and quite unlikely too. Again if we do not read but only deals with directives and meetings, we are destined only to move backwards and that is what is slowly happening. The malaise of ignorance is donning the mantle of governance.

All three examples that I am citing are recent personal experiences and I am sure many know more than me on this area. The question is, are we concerned or do not care? If one does not care, not much can be done about that. Yet if we collectively ignore, the greater the danger that is likely to be bestowed on us. There is collective apathy with regard to reading and there is no joy with books at present.


Championing books

Books are not the most recent format for reading. I purposely kept the noun with the title than the verb. It is books that I am referring to. We may have arrived there from clay tablets (3500 BC), papyrus scrolls in Egypt to ola leaves in Lanka. Then Gutenberg’s printing press took the world by storm and we were not the same again thereafter.

A food industry application – a wine press – paved the way to this machine design and the final result was books for all and renaissance, leaving the dark ages. The printed pages today are giving way to Kindles with books stored and read from the cloud. Definitely a smarter way to keep thousands of books if not more but I must confess the humble paperback along with the hardback evoke much more feelings still.

I am happy to see the tech giant and today even more of a philanthropist Bill Gates championing books. I think of all people perhaps next to Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates can be excused if he was seeing with a Kindle in hand.

As per Gates, reading is his favourite way to indulge in curiosity and his blog note is explicit – books are the best way to explain new topics that interest you. It is thus really a pity that we handled only the course book and get much more engaged on the Facebook!

No wonder a modern life skill coach cum writer Robin Sharma writes ‘Your phone is costing you your fortune’ – if your telcos are not owned by you, an additional foreign exchange drain too is a certainty. How true when we may be using multiple phones and cuddling Facebook with all of those. A few may be happy with organic growth in likes but the decision-makers feed rupees to generate likes and we have today have identified another means of ensuring that society moves into debt.

Success attributed to reading

Today one could expect recommendations from Bill Gates to get a glimpse of where his mind is roving and the clues come from his biannual recommendation via this blog. His 2017 holiday reading list had five books from urban poverty to the history of energy. He devours around 50 books a year and there is a common statement that CEOs should read 60 books a year.

As per Bill Gates, books are for holidays and holidays certainly do not mean shunning reading. In fact Bill Gates takes reading holidays and that is one week per year minimum. If one feels after all that Bill Gates is now old fashioned, this behaviour is true with Mark Zuckerberg as well. He gets his cash flow from the Facebook but reads books to keep his neurons active and for the diversity – check his personal Facebook page-based books recommendation on line. Mark too is quite clear in attributing his success to reading.

It is a pity indeed that we subscribe to the notion that being seen with a book is a cause for concern. I actually wonder whether we even read 60 newspapers a year! We are at times proud to say that we read only the death notices and sport news. Now as the distinction between sports and gambling is fast disappearing in the local scene and elsewhere may be we all are reduced only to read death notices if our age is above 60 years.

SMS and Whatsapp have taken over as the news service provider too. For the young, Facebook has become old fashioned and Snapchat is the way to go. There go even the few written words!

Parents should understand – I really am thankful for mine for doing just this – that one of the best ways to enlarge your child’s world is to ensure you inculcate a love for books. If you have done that, many other necessities may not happen as the child is on excellent autopilot.

I hope Colombo can learn from Barcelona where there is an official day of festivities without a holiday where gifting books is the norm – 23 April is the Day of the Patron Saint Sant Jordi and interestingly books and romance converge. In Barcelona they collectively love the reading culture and the streets have interesting bookshops. Well, Barcelona is one of the world’s top innovating cities and also a UNESCO Creative City; 23 April interestingly is also UNESCO-declared World Book Day.

It was left to Mark Twain to state that one who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read at all. So one should have the ability to be a discerning reader and not to take any printed material as a means for joy. That reminds one of the pieces of advice – always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it!

Committed to reform age of marriage for Muslim girls: SL

2018-01-17

Sri Lanka remained committed to reform the minimum age of marriage for girls under the Muslim law, with the active participation of the concerned community, the government told the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in Geneva yesterday.

The Sri Lankan delegation expressed these views as a response to the concerns raised by the experts of the Committee which concluded its consideration of the fifth to sixth periodic report of Sri Lanka under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

When questioned about reforming the minimum age of marriage under the Muslim law, Sri Lanka said a committee had been set up under the aegis of the Justice Ministry to carry out the necessary legal reform.  

“The Government is following a two-pronged approach to the issue, namely sensitization of the concerned community and discussions with community leaders, while respecting the Convention’s provisions,” the delegation said.

In a statement, the UN said experts also voiced concern that the amendment to remove exception for Muslim girls to the statutory rape provision in the Penal Code seemed to be planned only after the amendment to the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act was completed.  

They asked whether it would be possible for the Government to take a comprehensive approach to rectify all existing discriminatory laws against Muslim girls as a package.

Meanwhile, Committee Expert and Rapporteur for Sri Lanka Kirsten Sandberg commended the positive steps taken by Sri Lanka with respect to children’s rights

However, she inquired about general measures of implementation of the Convention, noting that children were not really understood as rights holders and fully prioritized in Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan delegation was led by Women and Child Affairs Secretary Chandrani Senaratne. (Lahiru Pothmulla)

Sri Lanka: People should foil opportunist governance

Changes of Government in Sri Lanka have taken place not with the objective of adopting better socio-economic and politico cultural policies presented to the people for their responsible choice after well-informed individual and group thinking, deliberation discussion.

by Fr. Augustine Fernando-Jan 17, 2018

( January 17, 2018, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The group of leaders who came together to get Independence from the colonial powers could not stay united for five years. The destinies of the nation were submerged due to the leaders not sitting together and formulating a vision of national priorities and a practical strategy for the planned and harmonious development of the country and the unification of the people. Their personal shortcomings impinged on the Nation. The majority in the newly formed UNP Cabinet was self-satisfied. The favourable conditions of trade and the balance of payments added to their self-satisfaction and confidence. But, clannish sentiments, the lack of open discussion of national policies and the leaders not having their ear to the ground and lack of a vision contributed to produce unhealthy currents of intrigue at the top-most level.

While the leaders were cocooned in their world, we, as young people, were dreaming of the new horizons opening before us. To us, students in school, thoughts of ethnic and religious tensions and disharmony never entered our minds. We Sinhala, Tamil, Muslims, Malays, Burghers (of the Portuguese and Dutch descent) were studying together, even exchanging superficial innocuous mischief. We separated only in the first period of 45 minutes in the morning when Catholic students had their Religious Knowledge classes and non-Catholics had Moral Science.

Archbishop of Colombo Dr. Bonjean, O.M.I., having fought with the colonial powers, had obtained state assistance for schools of all religious denominations in the 1880s.

Free education became a lively issue in the 1940s. A system of scholarships for students of families of low incomes was suggested. It was also argued why non-payment of school fees should be extended to the well to do who could afford to pay. Though it was not then adopted, subsequent welfare policies, under Janasaviya, Samurdhi and food stamps schemes, adopted the concept of helping those earning less than a certain income. Anyhow, Dr. Kannangara introduced ‘free education’ as well as a system of Central Schools which functioned well.

Though ‘Swabasha’ was very much in the air, abandoning the English language was by some considered a disaster. I, as a very young teacher, teaching Trade and Commerce, Accounting and Baking, Shorthand and Typewriting, etc., wrote to the Evening Observer, in 1952, asking whether P. H. William de Silva, M.P. for Ambalangoda-Balapitiya, or Very Rev. Fr. Peter Pillai, O.M.I., was the more far seeing and perceptive about the usefulness of the English Language. Decades later an ex-Marxist, at Badulla, told me that the M.P., with his Marxist comrades, were more interested in bringing down others of an ‘upper’ class even more than raising up the downtrodden. Ideologies embraced and followed with passion tend to distort reasoning. English came to be made an exclusive language of the privileged and of the top politicians and their children.

Today, even to ‘hew wood and draw water’ for others in foreign lands our expatriate men and women need to a have a smattering of English, besides perhaps learning the language of the country in which they work. Later, Badi-udin Mohammed, in 1959, headed the state take-over of denominational schools while ensuring a proportion greater than they had for Muslims! The schools take-over was an enviously done state plunder of Catholic schools. Opportunism abandons justice and fairness and destroys social stability. It warped education, created the tuition industry that cost the parents more than fee-levying schools. Uneducated and idiotic politicians are silent about these issues. Today, Catholics have to beg for places in the schools they established.

CIRCUMSPECTION AND CLARITY

A rational head of an average household thinks of a 101 things when he gets his monthly salary. He tries to lay aside something to be used in a yet unforeseen emergency. He avoids burdens and debts he cannot carry. A responsible government of reputed individuals and various experts are indeed expected to be wise in overseeing matters that are complex because it has to see, besides the provision of food, clothing and shelter, many undisrupted services to all the people of the country. But due to confusion at the topmost level of government, generations of people have been subject to untold suffering caused by irresponsible burrowing and fiscal policies and the inability to fraternally discuss, and manage the limited resources conserved over the years and carefully work out plans to produce and increase wealth through labour and distribute as fairly as possible what is available.

Now, due to the efficiency of the minister of agriculture we need to import coconuts!

Because respect for human dignity, genuine democratic principles, circumspection in outlook, clarity of thinking, and honest intellectual discussion, debate and honest dedicated work have always eluded our leaders, problems have accumulated and generations of people have suffered. Even after Independence leaders chose to discuss important national issues with a small coterie of clannish top men captivated by emotional sentiments of the moment devoid of dispassionate discussions. They were blind to the long term consequences not disconnected also with possible actual earnings and contingent expenditures. Today this is complicated by leaders surrounding themselves with hapless henchmen and persons capable only of political intrigue, incompetent and inefficient at seeing to the well-being and cohesion of a national community.

ENSLAVED TO PARTIES

Changes of Government in Sri Lanka have taken place not with the objective of adopting better socio-economic and politico cultural policies presented to the people for their responsible choice after well-informed individual and group thinking, deliberation discussion. Rather, leaders were far more interested in winning people to their partisan point of view rather than educating them on national issues and weighing the merits of different options before the people. Changes of government have taken place not on the issues of long-term national policy which even then were placed before the people in a partisan and confused manner. Due to the feeling of being cheated and defrauded and the breaking of promises made in their solemn public declarations by the government in power, people just voted for the opposition.

In their swollen headedness and pride, political leaders never admitted to having made bad forecasts, estimates and assessments of affairs; they never admitted to have made bad judgements, of having made mistakes. They presented themselves as all-knowing supermen, so very confident of their abilities and capabilities when they were only men with bloated egos, selfish in the extreme with a good dose of stupidity and blindness to reality, far too proud to accept the advice of experts subordinate to them but far more qualified than they. Yet with all their very apparent intellectual and psychological limitations and with the pretensions of know-alls, politicos resorted to posing as indispensable and even benevolent personalities while not hiding their desire to have untrammeled power to rule autocratically until death. Unfortunately far too many people in Sri Lanka do not think for themselves but enslave their soul to political parties. 8th January 2015 was fortunately a rare moment when sanity prevailed.

POLARIZING PEOPLE

Those who ushered the changes in 1956 impoverished Sri Lanka by making everyone monolingual and attempted to make everyone culturally monolinear and limited rather than universal and open. Short-sighted leaders who imposed their populist but shallow political policies were not only abysmally ignorant of the intellectual capacity and common sense of the people whatever their knowledge or lack of knowledge of the peoples’ other capacities. Subsequent return to the status quo ante on several policy matters showed how unwise their knee-jerk decisions were. They were incapable of in any way assessing or ascertaining the disastrous repercussions that came along. The sad repercussions were not unexpected nor unforeseen by the wise though the scale of violence and bloodshed may not have been. When half-truths and prejudices are taken advantage of by political opportunists, national disasters are inevitable.

In our land we are familiar with many ordinary people who are able to use two of the three languages, Sinhala, Tamil and English, at least in speaking if not in reading and writing. It looks as if there are proportionately more Tamil people who speak also Sinhala than Sinhala people who speak Tamil. Political leaders were mere opportunists who did not think of what the people are capable of because of their own depravity and the low esteem they had of the people.

In 1956 the population of Sri Lanka was just over 9 million, an easily manageable political unit in a small country malleable to a humane and reconciled political journey and experience. Though S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike’s family background and intellectual training prepared him for a genuinely civilized and urbane political culture, his ambition for leadership twisted his psychological make-up and clouded his understanding, knowledge and judgement and even bent his reasoning to some extent. He became a political opportunist taking advantage of the feelings, not the refined but base feelings at that, of the Sangha-Veda-Guru-Govi-Kamkaru collectivity to come to power.

This was indeed a contradiction inconsistent in a man steeped in the humanities and democratic ideals about which he spoke eloquently at Oxford. It deprived him the courage he needed to stand by his convictions and produce a national vision for Sri Lanka consistent with what he said at the opening of Parliament in February 1948. He polarized the people denying them even a portion of the opportunities he had the privilege to enjoy. He lacked the moral strength to withstand the pressure that he himself had contributed to let loose. If he had the courage of his convictions the history of Sri Lanka would have taken a more homogenously progressive and benevolent path and saved her from the disastrous traumas that she went through with so many miserable consequences.

SELF-ABSORBED, FOSSILIZED

Many of today’s uneducated political scum who cannot sit in parliament and discuss, not only lack the capacity, they are completely unsuited to envision a national programme of unity and reconciliation so very necessary for any meaningful and overall development and progress of all the people of this Country. One begins to wonder who the ones who are really suited to sit there are. Their sense of human dignity, equality and respect due to people leave much to be desired, as they themselves lack self-respect and are devoid of decent bearing. They have made themselves privileged as well as the laughing stock and the object of contempt of the people. Many of these already privileged people of Sri Lanka wish to preserve a bloated sense of a false superiority. The supposed to be educated like the GMOA – another unintended fall-out from 1956 – are so blinded by the privileges that have accrued to them over the years, they take them for granted. They place themselves so high above the people by whose taxes they have been educated and yet to keep their privileges dare to blatantly ignore the people when they resort to their trade union actions.

These self-absorbed people are fossilized and have no sense of democracy or new thinking let alone a sense of learning from history. They have no positive contribution to make to bring about a new and vibrant state of affairs and raise the lives of the people and renew Sri Lanka. They only have the capacity to be political opportunists who fish in troubled waters. These opportunist uncouth roguish elements, whether they wear the clean national dress with their brand of ‘satakaya’ – when cunning politicians wear it, it is called the kapati suit – or the lounge suit with the shiny tie should be totally discarded forthwith. Pioneering thinkers who are true patriots should come forward to redeem Sri Lanka from the grip of the corrupt totalitarian mindset which has sunk deep root into its politicians who undermine the freedom of the people and harm their fraternal relationships.