Tilak Speaks Out: ‘Petroleum – A Den Of Rogues And Thieve’, ‘Share Market Mafia – I Thought MR Would Support Me To Clean Up’

By Colombo Telegraph -

Tilak Karunaratne, the former Chairman for the Securities and Exchange Commission says that President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Minister of Finance brought pressure on him to resign from his post as chairman SEC..  Tilak Karunaratne is interviewed bt  the Sunday Leader editor Frederica Jansz  and below we published the Sunday Leader interview;

FJ: Your predecessor Indrani Sugathadasa was forced out despite being a senior highly regarded public servant and wife of President’s Secretary Lalith Weeratunga. In those circumstances why did you accept the appointment as Chairman of the SEC?

TK: Good question. There were two things. I knew what was happening. I had also been a long term investor in the bourse. And I have also been a keen student of what was happening in the SEC. Indrani, in my view, was at a disadvantage because her husband is Secretary to the President so whatever moves she would probably have also made would embarrass her husband. Therefore she obviously would not want to do certain things which would embarrass Lalith. So she was at a disadvantage. I did not have those disadvantages.

I also got clearances from the president that I would have a free hand. Prior to this he offered me three other posts. One was as Ambassador in Japan which I politely turned down saying I am not a diplomat. I call a spade a spade and I am not suited to be a diplomat. He then asked me to take over as Chairman of the Petroleum Corporation. I said that is a den of rogues and thieves and I don’t want to get involved in that. Again thereafter Lalith called and told me, “HE thinks you’re the best man to go as ambassador to London.” But I told Lalith I have previously also turned down his offer as a diplomat so I don’t want to go anywhere. So I had been turning down all these offers the president had been making to me. Then when he came to Ananda College on my invitation to celebrate its 125th anniversary of the College, that was in November last year, he said “Tilak you have been saying no to everything but now there is a job that is suited for you. I know that you have been an investor in the stock market and you know what is happening there. Don’t say no this time, accept it.” I wanted 48 hours to think about it I consulted my wife and my family and friends. They all advised me against it saying this is a real hot seat. You should just relax and go play your bridge and go to the jungles and spend quality time with your grandchildren. But I said no, I must take up something this is a challenge… and then I said yes to the President.

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‘How I was made the scapegoat,’ Thilak K. tells it all
Sunday 26 August 2012

By Namini Wijedasa

Thilak Karunaratne who resigned under pressure as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said he would keep talking publicly about issues in the Colombo bourse till the government is forced to act against members of the ‘stock market mafia.’ Excerpts from the interview:

Have members of the so-called ‘stock market mafia’ reached out to you since your resignation?
No.

What really happened?
This pressure had been there for some time. It did not come overnight. And when we started investigating into these matters there were calls. The famous thing was that Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) employees were UNPers and they were trying to harass these poor investors, so don’t go by what they are saying! There are no UNPers as far as I’m aware at the SEC. The staff is very committed.

Are you going to give up and go away?
No, I will keep the pressure on, through the media mainly, so that the government will be forced to take some action against these guys.

Do you think the investors who are alleged to have manipulated the stock market are feeling the pressure?
Well, that is what I understand. A lot of people have shown interest in this. COPE has taken it up and in parliament, there has been a motion to summon me again before COPE. And according to what I understand, the speaker has been enthusiastic. Almost all people are aware of the issues now and the main thing is the Sinhala media covered it extensively.

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Tilak to reveal all if probe is stifled

SATURDAY, 25 AUGUST 2012 

Former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Thilak Karunaratne whose resignation caused a storm said he was willing to come forward one day and reveal facts and figures of the alleged malpractices in the Colombo Stock Exchange.

“Yes I’m willing to come out with the facts and figures, I have nothing to hide and I have no skeletons in my closet like many others,” he told the Daily Mirror.
Mr. Karunaratne made these comments when he was asked if he would be willing to come forward and disclose the names of those who are alleged to have committed “white collar crimes” if the investigations were swept under the carpet.

He said what happened in the CSE between June and December 2010 was “day light robbery.”

“Yes of course, this was most certainly day light robbery. During the conflict the market was dull and there was quite rightly euphoria after the war ended. Then the market gradually rose up. Then suddenly we find that between June and December 2010 it shot up suddenly. And this was due to manipulation. What they did was they found certain stocks which are not liquid. These stocks have no intrinsic value and they started manipulating and arbitrarily increasing the price by having trades among themselves and their crony brokers. Then what happened is that others — the innocent, ignorant investors who were also directed by these crony brokers bought stocks wanting to make a killing and in the end were duped.”

He said that many people with a high level of integrity involved in the state sector had left their jobs due to pressure.

“Many respected professionals have left and told me that they too had to face the same fate. But I was the only one who was able to create a stir,” Mr. Karunaratne said.

He said many people accused of wrong doings still survive in top positions due to patronage by the powers that be.

“Take the Central Bank for example. It is run by an accountant when it should be an economist running it and now everything seems to have fallen apart. I shudder to think what would have happened if we won the Commonwealth games bid so vehemently supported by the CB Governor. A lot of guys accused of wrongdoing still survive and many with integrity have left in disgust,” he said.

Mr. Karunarathne said today was a disappointed man.

“When I accepted this post in December last year, I had a lot of hope and expectations that I will be able to do something constructive to put the Colombo Stock Market on the right track in reaching greater heights. Today I’m a disappointed man. I tried my best but I didn’t get the support from the people who appointed me to this position and under the circumstances I had no choice but to resign” he said. ( By Hafeel Farisz)

‘All pervasive: Politicization in our universities,’ says former UGC chairman
By Namini Wijedasa

Sunday 26 August 2012

The Friday Forum, a group of concerned citizens comprising some of Sri Lanka's most distinguished professionals, recently issued a strong statement decrying the deterioration of the education sector. One of its most active members, Prof. Arjuna Aluwihare last week warned that the politicization of universities had reached unacceptable levels. A former chairman of the University Grants Commission, Aluwihare also supported the demand of the Federation of University Teachers' Associations for increased government spending on education. Excerpts from the interview:

When do you think the deterioration of the university system started, and how?
Some faculties show less decline; for instance the medical, dental, veterinary and engineering faculties. Elsewhere, the decline is related to numbers of students going up, less resources being put in, salaries being relatively less and also, maybe, increasing politicization. The decline started to happen in the mid 1990s. The number of universities also increased without a corresponding increase in resources. Meanwhile, the importance of English, of independent reading and information technology has not been emphasized in keeping with the changing situation in the world at large. There is increasing isolation of especially the arts and maybe and management and general science faculties from related activity in the country and the world. It is very important to have industrial or equivalent placement in all disciplines, even in related, relatively menial tasks, to inculcate work discipline and ethic, and an understanding of how what is taught relates to the outside world

How would you describe the quality of our university education before the decline?
It was fairly good in the ‘practical faculties’– medical, dental, veterinary, engineering, law, special science and some arts.

So how would you summarize the main problems facing our university system of education?
University education is seen and felt to be politicized more than ever before. Resources are short. When you take the quality of teaching, too much of it is ‘rote’ with not enough world-at-large input. There is insufficient industry placement. The output is not enough, given the A/Level pass numbers. Employability is poor of science, arts and management students. This could be related to not having enough English language or IT skills, of being isolated from the world, and of not having the right work ethic. 

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UNHRC: India votes in favour of resolution against Sri Lanka

New Delhi, Aug 24 (IBNS) India has votes in favour of the resolution against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), said Preneet Kaur, Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs on Friday.

In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Kaur said: "India voted in favour of the resolution ‘Promotion, Reconciliation and Accountability in Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Geneva on 22 March 2012. The vote was in line with the Government’s consistent stand to advance the objective, namely, the achievement of a future for the Tamil community in Sri Lanka that is marked by equality, dignity, justice and self-respect."

She said India enjoys close, cordial and friendly relations with neighbouring Sri Lanka with whom it shares historic, civilisational and cultural links.

"Today, India is Sri Lanka’s largest trade partner overall and Sri Lanka is India’s largest trade partner in South Asia. India has emerged as the largest foreign direct investor in Sri Lanka. India also contributes to the largest number of tourists arrivals in Sri Lanka," Kaur said.

"The close relationship has been further strengthened by high level visits, including those of the Minister of External Affairs in January 2012; Joint Parliamentary Delegation in April 2012; Minister of Rural Development and Drinking Water and Sanitation in July 2012; Minister of Commerce, Industry and Textiles in August 2012; and Minister of Culture in August 2012," she said. 

WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:

pay close attention to upcoming UPR of SriLanka at UNHRC, and lawlessness and impunity prevailing currently there

Since the end of civil war on May 19, 2009, Sri Lankan Government has been increasingly manifesting its racist, militaristic, despotic tendencies. The life of Tamils in North and East of Sri Lanka has already reached a nadir there.

We believe that only a timely intervention by the US President in the UPR-2012 of Sri Lanka in UNHRC, Geneva in Oct.-Nov.2012, can eliminate Sri Lanka's chance of twisting this session into another congratulatory meeting for its genocidal activities

Sri Lanka needs to be admonished for impunity, lawlessness and systemic genocide in regard to

Illegal detentions, enforced disappearances,

Nazi style Lebensraum" and Anschluss happening in ancestral Tamil lands, destruction or conversion of heritage, religious & archeological sites and Suppression of press freedom

Created: Aug 02, 2012-You've already signed this petition

Thank you for participating. Find other petitions you're interested in or start your own.

Student arrive from London detained at BIA

[ Saturday, 25 August 2012, 04:08.49 PM GMT +05:30 ]

On day before yesterday CID officials hold investigations against Lankan students arrive from United Kingdom.

Student is identified has Thuwaragan Nagendraraja resident of Trincomalee area in currently following his higher studies at a university in London. During the summer vacation Thuwaragan has visited to his motherland by the flight owned by the Qatar airways. During the time of investigation CID questioned are you member of the LTTE organization? And also warned did you take part in the protest held by the LTTE ? CID officials also hold further investigations against him and detained him for several hours. Youth stated he did not engage in such activities. Officials also take over the photo copies of his documents. They also urge him to present at the investigations hold by the senior CID officials.

Misguided Buddhist Zealots

Updated UK Travel Warning: No Photographs In Front Of Buddha Statues

French Tourists Guilty In Sri Lanka Over Buddha Photos

By Charles Haviland - A Sri Lankan court has given suspended jail terms to three French tourists for wounding the religious feelings of Buddhists by taking pictures deemed insulting. Two women and one man were detained in the southern town…

Misguided Buddhist Zealots

By Imaad Majeed

Keeramalai, a few kilometres to Dambakola Patuna, Kanagarayan kulam Buddhist stupa, Buddhist Statue built on a site, supposedly, visited by the Buddha, Buddha Statue IN Killinochchi and Buddhist Temple in Kanakarayan Kulam area on the site of a destroyed Hindu temple.

Since the end of the conflict in 2009, a new phenomena has emerged. That of Buddha statues being erected along the A9 route that leads to Jaffna.
Over 28 Buddha statues have been counted along this route since the war concluded in May 2009. The comedy of this charade (what else can one call it?) is that these statues are placed in areas where little or no Buddhists reside.
This has caused a stir amongst the local Tamil communities who whisper (yes they can still only whisper or speak of it in hushed tones too afraid to make public their protests) that this is just one more example of Sinhala chauvinism stamping on the cultural and religious sensitivities of the Tamil community. Sinhala-Buddhist Nationalists will argue that as a country that aims to preserve Buddhist culture, it is only appropriate that statues of the Buddha are spread across the island. However, this is an issue of cultural sensitivity, and not that of preserving Buddhism.
Alongside statues there has also been a Dagoba built in the Mankulam town. What is striking is that the majority of these statues have been erected towards the North end of the roads beyond Vavuniya, an area that is strictly Tamil, having a 30 year history of conflict with Sinhala parties (i.e. the Sri Lankan Army). A Buddhist statue was erected in Kanakarayankulam, near a tank, causing the Tamil community of the area to voice resentment.
According to TNA member M. A. Sumanthiran, the presence of Buddha statues in these areas is a “message that the character of the area has been changed. It is a cultural intrusion”. He also mentioned an ancient Hindu temple that was demolished in Kanniya, Trincomalee, and a Buddha statue built in its place. The foundation of the kovil now holds a Buddhist flag, adding insult to injury. Sumanthiran added that, “the issue at hand is a question of trust. Will this type of behaviour help build trust among the communities?”
Yet, the other question that arises is that of who is responsible for this blatant disregard for Tamil culture? Champika Ranawaka, a member of the JHU and a government minister is spearheading moves to construct Buddhist temples in Tamil and Muslim areas. By using his former post as Minister of Environment to secure land for some of these statues to be erected, his actions are only one example of government officials abusing their power.
“There are no ethno-religious constraints in Sri Lanka,” said member of the JHU, Udaya Gammanpila, defending the statues. “We have never objected to the building of Hindu shrines in any part of the island, so why should Buddhist statues be treated any differently?” he asked. When the accusations of cultural intrusion were brought up, he claimed “harmony among communities is disturbed by making an issue of this”.
According to Gammanpila there are three reasons for Buddhist statues existing in these areas. “Firstly, there are tens of thousands of Buddhist soldiers stationed in the area, for whom these statues are a place of worship. Also, during the war many sites of archaeological value were destroyed. Buddhist stupas and statues have been built in these areas due to this. There are also many Buddhists who make pilgrimage to the North, and on their way stop by at the many Buddha statues. So there is a clear purpose, it should not become an issue,” he said.
An official speaking on condition of anonymity employed at the Department of Buddhist Affairs had this to say:
“There is no specific law governing the construction of monuments with regard to Buddhism. But there is a practice, if one is to put up a monument, it can be done without harming anyone else’s right to have his own faith, or religious beliefs. In doing so, they must not disgrace Buddhism or any other religion. This is the consensus. In the case of roadside construction, it is only necessary to acquire permission from the relevant local authorities,” the official said.

President angered by Sobitha’s comment

Saturday, 25 August 2012 

The President is angered by the statement made by JHU Leader, Ven. Omalpe Sobitha Thero that the police after conducting an investigation for five months following theft at the National Museum located in a high security area had only managed to arrest a group of drug addicts, sources from temple Trees said.

The President has told several ministers that the JHU has for some time been making comments and issuing statements that have placed the government in difficulty and has ordered the IGP to immediately respond to Ven. Sobitha Theros’ comment. The Police Spokesperson said that the Thero’s comment was very insulting.

The President’s Media Unit has asked the state and private media institutions to give wide publicity to the Police Spokesperson’s response to Ven. Sobitha Thero’s comment.

There were several minor clashes between the President and the JHU leaders in the past few months.

JHU parliamentary group leader, Ven. Athuraliye Ratana Thero had made several comments against the government and the President has decided to boycott events organized by the JHU.

The President was invited as the chief guest for ECO Revolution 2012 organized by Ven Ratana Thero and India’s ECO needs on August 18^th and 19^th at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute. However the President managed to avoid it saying he had to attend the event held to mark the arrival of the sacred Kapilavasthu relics from India.

Over 175 representatives from India, Korea, Nepal and Bangladesh attended ECO Revolution 2012 and External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris participated in the event in place of the President.

CPA Commentary On The National Plan Of Action To Implement The Recommendations Of The LLRC

By CPA -August 25, 2012

The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) has produced a commentary on the National Plan of Action to Implement the Recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) that welcomes the initiative by the Government to move forward on the LLRC, while pointing out gaps and problems which need to be rectified.

Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, Executive Director - CPA

With the formulation of the National Plan of Action to Implement the Recommendations of the LLRC (Action Plan), the Government has set out its plans for implementing some of the findings of the LLRC. The commentary examines the issues covered and the activities and processes identified in the Action Plan, and raises questions and concerns that need to be addressed if there is to be meaningful implementation of the LLRC recommendations. The commentary is accompanied by a detailed table looking at each of the recommendations that are meant to be acted upon under the Action Plan.

CPA has followed the LLRC process, made statements on the process and the Final Report, and proposed ways forward for implementing key recommendations of the LLRC. CPA continues in its endeavour to increase public debate and understanding of the LLRC findings and implications and to provide constructive criticism and suggestions, while continuing to engage in research and advocacy on wider processes relevant to justice, accountability, peace and reconciliation in post-war Sri Lanka.

Read and download the commentary from here.

CPA has also produced a detailed table that examines each of the issues covered in the National Plan of Action to Implement the Recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (Action Plan) providing a summary of the proposed actions, responsible agencies, indicators, timeframes as well as our own comments, concerns and questions.

Read and download the complete table from here.

Sri Lanka masks tyranny with selective democracy

Sri Lanka masks tyranny with selective democracy-25 Aug 2012-Suren Surendiran

Global Tamil Forum condemns Sri Lankan Government’s indefinite closure of 13 of the 15 state-run universities on the island, in response to strikes over privatisation of the higher education system, politicisation of key appointments in the sector and military training of all university entrants. This latest act to undermine academic freedom and institutional autonomy is a continuation of heavy militarisation of the island to maintain social control and curb any democratic opposition. Denial of university places for qualified Tamil entrants through a discriminatory education policy in the 1970s was a major trigger of the Tamil youth rebellion.

The Rajapaksa regime’s use of force and intimidation to rule the population threatens all forms of freedom for expression – the very foundation of democracy. Attacks on journalists, media establishments and human rights activists continue with widespread impunity to censor any criticism of the Government. Centralising powers to the President has already severely compromised the independence of the judicial system on the island and consequently there is breakdown in the rule of law. The UK foreign Office has last week issued a travel advisory warning British citizens of an upsurge in nationalism, sexual offense and anti-Western (particularly anti-British) rhetoric in Sri Lanka.

Tamil people have demonstrated to the world in many ways that there needs to be significant changes to the current constitution to resolve their genuine political grievances. Tamils do not consider the 13th Amendment to the constitution as grounds to satisfying their political aspirations or forming a lasting political settlement. It has become common practice by the Sri Lankan regime to avoid addressing the genuine political grievances of the Tamil people by silencing voice of dissent and hoodwinking the international community with delay tactics and reconciliation facade.

The Government has chosen to adopt a selective approach to democracy. President Rajapaksa has announced that the Northern provincial Council elections need to be delayed until September 2013, to allow time for the completion of the rehabilitation and resettlement process in the Province and for electoral rolls to be updated. It is therefore ironic that three other elections have been held following the end of the war — presidential elections, parliamentary elections and elections to local bodies, in which the voters from the Northern Province have participated. Despite the heavy military presence and intimidation efforts, the Tamil people exercised their democratic right and voted to show support for the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), as evident in the local and parliamentary polls in the North.

The onus is once again on our kith and kin to stand in solidarity against these apparatuses of oppression in the upcoming Eastern Provincial elections and show support for the TNA. Global Tamil Forum will always play its part, working with democratically elected representatives of the Tamil people and other democratic forces in the island to achieve permanent and just peace and a lasting political settlement for the ethnic conflict in the island.

 - END -

Chinese firm says Sri Lanka plant failed after overuse

Thu Aug 23, 2012

Aug 23 (Reuters) - A Chinese firm which designed Sri Lanka's only coal power plant said recent repeated failures were due to over-utilisation of the plant without annual maintenance, after an extended drought reduced 85 percent of the country's hydro power generation.

Sri Lanka's state-run Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) on Aug. 13 extended nation-wide daily power cuts by two weeks, due to repeated problems at the plant in Norochcholai which knocked out almost a fifth of the island's generating capacity.

"The Norochcholai coal power plant was forced to work beyond its required limits and keep supplying electricity to the whole country," Zhao Wenxue, deputy chief engineer of Northwest Electric Power Design Institute, designer of the plant, said in a statement.

Sri Lanka imposed power cuts in July for the first time since 2001 after the plant failed for a fifth time since it was commissioned in March last year.

The 300 megawatt (MW) plant was repaired but another technical failure forced the utility to again turn off electricity for two hours and 15 minutes daily. The CEB has criticised the plant's record and said it had not been performing up to the expected level.

China loaned $450 million for the first phase of the plant and another $891 million for the second phase, which is due to be completed by July 2014 when the plant is expected to generate 900 MW.

Sri Lanka has long maintained uninterrupted power supplies, one of its main pledges to voters and investors, except in 1996 and 2001/2 when it endured power cuts due to severe droughts.

The country has total electricity generating capacity of 3.1 GW, but hydro power's normal output of 1.2 GW has been cut by more than 1 GW due to drought. (Reporting by Shihar Aneez; Editing by David Holmes)

Judging War Crimes

by GajalakshmiParamasivam

( August 25, 2012, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) I write in response to the Sri Lanka Guardian article‘Canada can find the war crimes that Australia can't’byStephen Keim and Jordan Sosnowski.

In essence, the article is based on the judgment by the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board which was upheld by the Federal Court of Canada to reject the application of Mr. NadarajahKuruparan to migrate to Canada. The article compares that with the status of the Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Australia – Mr. TisaraSamarasinghe who was not rejected by the Australian Government. The two bases are different – the former has given up in his mind, his Sri Lankan citizenship after benefiting from the war activities whereas the latter continues to hold and demonstrate value as a Sri Lankan Public Officer. It’s as if Mr. Kuruparan is trying to ‘retire’ in Canada whereas Mr. Samarasinghe is continuing to work and support the government anyway he can. Hence an ‘independent’ assessment would rank Mr. TisaraSamarasinghe above Mr. NadarajahKuruparan in terms of citizenship value.

Surface readers often tend to bring out the net value of hearsay. Sometimes judges are also surface readers of migrants and those not of their class. Not so the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board, in this instance.We as community leaders also get misled by refugee applicants who take the place of more deserving refugees. We recommend them to our governments and remain silent even when we know they cheated us. Unless we take action at the levels where we have authority to rectify the mistake – we are guilty of recruiting war criminals. Those who falsely claim refugee status due to alleged war related damages – are as guilty as those who have committed direct war crimes. It’s the ‘profit’ element that makes it a crime. One who kills in the line of duty – believing that he is doing his duty – is not a criminal. This is the essence of the message from Lord Krishna through Prince Arjuna to all of us. Arjuna fought against his own family elders to uphold Dharma / Righteousness. It was his duty. How many Tamil leaders have done that within their community – especially against the LTTE who are on the Sri Lankan Government’s opposition in this? This message through the Geetha is that we need to first fight against our inner enemy and would do so if we are true governors. That is when we would be global enough to judge on the level field.

In instances where we have ‘objective evidence’ that stands on its own merit – one could calculate and prove the crime. In others – there is subjective influence and hence one judgment cannot be compared with another at the surface level. This is why nations have the entitlement to claim sovereign rights. If they abuse that privilege – they hurt their own people because they are judged by Natural Justice – through their own conscience.

The authors state ‘Australia is a party to the United Nations Refugee Convention and is obliged to ensure that people who fall within the UN definition of "refugee" are provided with asylum.’ The UN definition of “refugee” is interpreted differently by different persons/groups/countries. Facts likewise are interpreted differently by different groups. Hence unless facts are truly public and independently produced – they would not be objective. Transparency in everyday processes gives credence to the independence of facts through those processes. In the case of Sri Lankans – both sides to the war kept their activities close to themselves and hence the value of facts are limited to what happened and not why they happened? We are therefore left with subjective judgments in these matters. These could be used for ‘internal management purposes’ only. Once we are global there is no distinction between internal and external.The credibility of the interpreter is the key to successful subjective judgments. The deeper the investment in the issue and/or the persons involved – the stronger the faith of the judge. The stronger the faith – the greater the contribution of the judgment to our social values.

Canadians judged for their internal purpose and we Australians judged for ours.

Tamil Refugees who support separation often come to Western countries and do not go to Tamil Nadu. Likewise Sinhalese who seek refuge need to go to countries that have supported the Sri Lankan government subjectively – and therefore supported the majority race that elects government. This gives them ‘collective power’. Otherwise they need to be ready to use the Equal Opportunity systems of the West.

Genuine suffering due to war (even if it is not apparent and therefore could not be objectively verified) ‘frees’ us of our debt to our country of origin. That is when we are eligible to use UN conventions. Others are guilty of abusing these global systems. Free refugees would show quiet ‘dignity’ in what they do. Likewise, one who does his/her duty as per his/her belief. If Mr. Kuruparan performed his duties with faith in the government, he would carry himself with that dignity. To claim that Mr. Kuruparan rose to high administrative level in the Sri Lankan Navy purely through merit – would state that Sri Lanka does not have an ethnic problem. Not many would swallow this. Mr. Kuruparan rose to the high level due to assimilation – something many migrants of Sri Lankan origin do here in Australia – and thus lose their opportunities to realize the value of Racial Equality.

Between Mr. Kuruparan and Mr. Samarasinghe – the latter carries the dignityof his faith to his employers more than the former. One needs to go deeper than the surface and read through one’s own faith in work and workplace. That’s when one qualifies to judge subjectively. I do not identify with the judgment of these authors. As outsiders – they need to seek, find and show through independent work, objective evidence to compare the two. Australian Government has demonstrated wisdom and has negated for us Australians any bad karma from hasty judgments by those of Sri Lankan origin, immigration issues.

In matters of citizenship, the value of faith based work needs to be measured at the higher level than the objective value of paid work – to reward or to discipline / punish.

Def Min examining Jaya's demand for sending back Lankan defence personnel

Saturday, Aug 25, 2012

The Defence Ministry is considering the demand made by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha to send back two Sri Lankan officers training in the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington in the state.

Accusing the Centre of showing "excessive enthusiasm" in training Sri Lankan defence personnel, the Tamil Nadu chief minister has written a letter to the Prime Minister putting forth her demand in this regard.

"As far as we are concerned, this is a Defence Ministry matter and we are in touch with them," Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai told reporters in Delhi when asked about the issue.

In July, nine Sri Lankan defence personnel were removed from a training institution in Tambaram to Bangalore after opposition from political parties in the state.

In her letter, Jayalalitha said such "reprehensible attitude" on the part of the Centre was reflected in permitting two Sri Lankan defence personnel – Major Dissanayaka Mohottalalage Vengra and Captain Hewawasam Kadaudage – to undergo 11 months training at Defence Services Staff College at Wellington from May 19.

"It is very clear that this fact of ongoing training since May 2012 has been mischievously concealed from my government, showing scant regard for the views of my government as well as for the sentiments of the people of Tamil Nadu," she said.

The Tamil Nadu chief minister has requested the Prime Minister to instruct the Defence Ministry to immediately halt the training being given to the two Sri Lankan defence personnel and send them back to their country immediately.

Sri Lankan pilot flew with two women in cockpit?

Aug 25, 2012 - Shrinivasa. M | 

• DC
 

| 

• Bengaluru

In a blatant disregard for aviation rules and ignoring passenger safety, the pilot of a Sri Lankan Airlines flight (No. UL 172) bound for Colombo from Bengaluru International Airport, allegedly allowed two women to accompany him in the cockpit for the entire length of the journey.
Passengers on the flight, which took off from BIA around 9.15 pm on Friday, claimed that the two women travelled in the cockpit all through. The passengers, who were worried about their safety, protested.
According to Gowtham Udayashankar, a Bengaluru resident, who travelled by business class on the flight, the two women got into the cockpit immediately after the flight took off from BIA.
“The women were in seat nos. 6C and 9E. They spent whole travel time inside the cockpit. Even though passengers repeatedly requested them to come out, they did not,” he said.
According to Udayashankar, the women, who were carrying bottles of beer in their hand, claimed that the pilot was their cousin.
“The flight landed around 11.25 pm and passengers are still at the airport protesting. We will lodge a complaint with the airline authorities on Saturday,” he told Deccan Chronicle from Colombo.

TRADE UNIONISM IS NOT CONFINED TO HIGHER WAGE DEMANDS

TUESDAY, 21 AUGUST 2012 
policy

By Prof. Jayadeva Uyangoda
Member,  AFTA
University of Colombo

Some people have made an argument that the Federation of University Teachers’ Association (FUTA) has exceeded the mandate of a trade union when it demands the government to allocate 6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to education. This argument emanates from the position that trade unions have no business with the government’s fiscal policy.  According to the advocates of this position, deciding priorities and policies of allocating government expenditure is entirely the job of the government and its policy-making officials.
To begin with, the argument of FUTA exceeding its mandate emanates from a narrow, minimalist, and sorry to say, outdated, understanding of trade unionism.  Although trade unions have often focused their struggles on wage demands, trade unionism in general has not been confined to wage-related demands alone.  Those who have the slightest understanding of the history of trade unionism in Sri Lanka would know that even during the colonial times, Sri Lanka’s trade unions combined economic demands with social and political demands as well.  It is wrong to suggest that trade unionism by definition is concerned exclusively and only on wage demands.
What the critics of FUTA’s demand for increased allocation of government expenditure on public education want from the FUTA is to confine its concerns to a narrow and minimalist framework. But, neither the FUTA nor many of the trade unions in Sri Lanka or elsewhere are minimalist in their orientation, agendas and demands.
This wage-related minimalism in trade union agenda is a position advocated at present in Sri Lanka by two groups of FUTA critics. The first group represents the interests and policies of the government and the Ministry of Higher Education. The second group consists mostly of economists who appear to share the view that fiscal policy decisions are the exclusive prerogative of the economists at the Treasury, and not the lesser mortals, the proletariat, organised in trade unions. The latter position gives rise to the wrong notion that ‘economists and the Treasury know best.’
The demand by the FUTA as well as FUTA’s responses to its critics debunks this myth of the exclusive privilege of policy-making monopoly in allocating government expenditure that some economists seem to accord to the Treasury, without listening to what the society, the people, the citizens, and the so-called stakeholders have to say. In a way, it reflects a specific culture of policy-making that has been advanced in Sri Lanka and many developing countries under neo-liberal economic reforms. As many critical studies of policy making under globalisation, structural adjustment programmes and neo-liberal reforms show, economic policy making has now been reduced to a small group of an exclusive elite whose members are the country’s President or the Prime Minister, Finance or Economic Affairs Minister, the Treasury Secretary, the resident representatives of the World Bank and the IMF, and a few highly-paid expatriate or self-exiled policy consultants. The majority of this group are unelected people, who are not accountable to the people. Actually, one of the most undemocratic consequences of this development for governance is that neither the parliament elected by the people, nor the Cabinet of Ministers consisting of people’s representatives has any serious say in public policy-making.  They can only shout in anger when they do not get enough money for their Ministries! That is why our parliament and the Cabinet have been reduced to what they are today. In fact, one major indirect implication of the FUTA demand is for the Cabinet and Parliament to retrieve their right to decide priorities of public expenditure allocations in a manner that serves the people of the country, their electors, not the agenda of a small group of economists converted to the neo-liberal ideology.
It is also necessary for our critics and for us also to recognise that wage and economic demands of trade unions are integrally linked to public policy, especially in a context where our country is in a period of rapid policy change. That is precisely why workers in the Katunayake Free Trade Zone opposed the pension reform bill and organised demonstrations to show that opposition. It was an open challenge to government policy, and it reflected the fact that economic welfare of the labourer cannot be detached from the policy decisions of the government. When public sector unions opposed privatisation, they were challenging government policy. When the FUTA is asking to allocate 6% of the GDP to education, it is demanding policy reforms that directly affect their wage demands as well. In Sri Lanka, many trade unions have now realised that their wage and service conditions and government policies are so intertwined that improvement in the first calls for re-orientation of the second.
Those who know about trade union politics also know that advancing wage demands alone by trade unions creates a paradoxical challenge in which the wage demands benefit only its members, not the society at large. This is a problem that has been debated in the trade union movement in the world extensively, even in the late 19th and early 20th century. In Sri Lanka, employers and governments have always resorted to the tactic of branding wage demands of trade unions as having been motivated by the selfish interests of the members. This in fact happened during the first phase of the FUTA struggle. When a union broadens its concerns and links itself with issues of public interest that transcend the so-called selfish interests of its members, that union is accused of going beyond its mandate!  
Moreover, the minimalist construction of the FUTA mandate by its critics is also a position that refuses to consider FUTA as a stakeholder in education in the country. It considers trade unions merely as organisations of wage-slaves that should not exceed their wage-labour mandate. This is actually a colonial as well as neo-liberal attitude to trade unions. It is colonial because, during colonialism, no trade union or a citizens’ organisation was expected to challenge the state, state policy or state officials. ‘Subjects’ did not have the right to challenge the rulers. They had to fight for that right. It is neo-liberal because the neo-liberal, as well as classical-liberal, ideology does not expect the citizens to be active participants in the political or policy process, except as passive individual citizens or minimally active consumers. It is social democracy that took trade unionism beyond these narrow confines and made trade unions active agents of social, political and policy change.  Most of the trade unions in Sri Lanka have been nurtured in this social democratic tradition.
And it is sad that this colonial, outdated and hierarchical attitude to trade unionism is now being propagated by some of our own colleagues in the universities, some of whom are members of our own unions. May be the FUTA should organise a short course on trade unionism – Trade Union Politics 1101 –for its members who still operate on the colonial understanding of trade unions. In that course, some readings on new trends in trade union politics globally, could be easily distributed for the benefit of all.
The role of trade unions as a stakeholder of public policy is a key principle that the FUTA highlights in the present phase of its struggle. This is a task that FUTA should continue to uphold as within its trade union mandate.