Glyphosate -- Crushed it!!

(06 June, 2016)

Europe just took an extraordinary vote, refusing to grant Monsanto a license for its main product and cornerstone of its empire - the cancer-linked weed killer glyphosate.

Monsanto thought renewal of glyphosate was a done deal. But now, after over 2 million of us joined the biggest global petition against glyphosate ever and massive targeted public pressure, the future of the Monsanto model is more in question than ever before.

Together we forced this from a formality for a new 15-year license into a heated political debate that ended up as a vote on an 18-month emergency extension. This week, European nations rejected even that.

Leading EU parliamentarian Pavel Poc just said: “Avaaz is indisputably the driving force of the fight for glyphosate discontinuance." Here’s what we have done together to make what seemed impossible, possible: 

Creating the Opportunity

• Avaaz staff met with the office of the Commissioner for Health and Food Safety last year and secured a crucial promise that the UN study, that found glyphosate probably causes cancer, would be included in Europe’s decision-making. Last week the Commissioner's top advisor said our push had played an important part in the debate.
• Over a hundred thousand European Avaazers sent messages or made calls to their governments. We showed up every time it’s been debated in Brussels, ensuring that support collapsed, and the vote was suspended twice!
• Throughout the last year we’ve been all over European media showing massive public rejection of glyphosate. Check out the media hits inThe Guardian and Reuters!

Going National - Winning Champions One by One

• Avaazers bolstered the champion, France, with massive public support. Avaaz staff delivered our petition and positive voices to the Environment Minister's staff and restored their hope that a different future is possible.
• Avaazers flooded German Ministries with calls and messages for months. Staff in the German Chancellery said that there were so many that Chancellor Merkel was being kept in the loop.
• After a huge push by Avaazers and 44 other major Italian NGOs, Italy flipped from supporting the plan to voting for precaution. The Agriculture Minister’s Head of Cabinet even called Avaaz staff at night to say they’ve never been under this kind of pressure before, and were hearing our calls.
• Avaazers from Austria, Greece, Portugal, and Sweden rallied in massive numbers to influence decision-makers, forcing them to stand strong. And in the last week messages from across the planet have shown them this is of global concern.

Winning the Vote

• Avaaz staff addressed members of the European Parliament delivering our voices before they voted to end non-professional glyphosate use and to cut the licensing period from 15 to 7 years.
• Then Avaazers came together for a public action before the May vote in Brussels and our action was covered in key media. Afterwards, the proposal was reduced to 18 months.
• Avaaz staff spoke with government ministers and top advisors to deliver all of our messages to key European countries. Six of the seven key countries we lobbied abstained in the final vote!

Avaaz action in Brussels on the day of the Standing Committee meeting.

When it came down to the final vote, all our work paid off - leaders representing half the EU population refused to authorise glyphosate, even for the trimmed down 18-month proposal we had helped reduce the license to!

All of this effort was funded by over 86,000 Avaazers worldwide who donated generously to make this campaign mega.

Throughout this fight, Avaaz was joined by great allies and partners who played invaluable roles. Our view is only partial, but here’s our top list to express gratitude to: 

• The Socialists and Democrats, and Green parties in the EU Parliament were crucial in this fight. Particularly Bart Staes and Pavel Poc who were instrumental.
• French Environment Minister Ségolène Royal, who was a central leader in this fight.
• Pesticide Action Network, a great coalition of national action networks that has long campaigned on glyphosate and provided great advice and insight to Avaaz.
• Greenpeace, always a wonderful force on these issues, which did a lot of lobbying and media work on glyphosate.
• Campact ran a brilliant campaign in Germany, and matched massive open letters, polling and bird-dogging to play a key role in flipping the German government on glyphosate.
• And many others! Like HEAL, WeMove.eu, Global 2000, and a great coalition of Italian NGOs on this.

Avaaz petition delivered at EU Parliament

When we launched this campaign a year ago we were told there was no way we could win. This week’s vote is a key victory for our community’s tenacity, for the people of Europe, for independent science, and it is a crucial step towards our whole world's food future!

Without the support of EU governments, the Commission should act with precaution. Even if it renews glyphosate's license for 18 months pending further science, we will keep fighting to ensure the review is independent.

While the battle to get glyphosate out of our parks, playgrounds and fields is far from over, this powerful step takes us closer, and our movement has played a key role in it. For the sake of our health and our planet, let’s keep up the fight until we win.

Study says a major blood cancer is 11 distinct diseases

SCIENCE PHOTO-LIBRARYImage captionBlood cells from bone marrow in a case of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML)

By Adam Brimelow-8 June 2016

One of the main types of blood cancer is not one but 11 distinct diseases, detailed genetic analysis suggests.

A study in the New England Journal of Medicine found genetic differences explain why some patients respond much better to treatment than others.

The researchers say their findings should help with the development of clinical trials.

Cancer Research UK says this type of study offers new insights into cancer.

The study focused on Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) - there are around 3,000 new cases every year in the UK.

The disease is often aggressive, particularly in older patients - overall survival after five years is about 20%.

Treatment is predominantly chemotherapy and stem-cell transplantation but for many patients it can be difficult to tell how they will respond.

Clinicians currently rely on checks for chromosomal abnormalities and analysis under a microscope. In this study - involving more than 1,500 patients - researchers carried out a far more detailed genetic analysis of the cancer.

They looked at more than 100 genes known to cause leukaemia, and investigated how they interacted.

'Meaningful predictions'

They found the patients divided into at least 11 major groups, each with their own set of genetic changes and clinical features.

Dr Peter Campbell from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, who co-led the research, said the findings would help doctors to make "very meaningful predictions" about what will happen to patients.

"I could have two patients who had what looked like the same leukaemia under the microscope and I could treat them with exactly the same therapy.

When you have the full genetic information about the patient's leukaemia you can make very meaningful statements about whether that patient is likely to be cured or or likely to die

Dr Peter Campbell, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute

"One of those patients would be cured and one would relapse and die very quickly. What we can see in this data-set is that that clinical variability is strongly predicted by the underlying genetics."

Dr Campbell said he hoped this technique would "filter into clinics" over the next few years as more centres develop their diagnostic resources.

He said a range of exciting new targeted treatments was coming online for some of these genetic changes. 

Understanding the structure of the leukaemia, he said, would help scientists to develop trials which would bring those drugs to the right subsets of patients.

Disease "untangled"

Dr Elli Papaemmananuil, who co-authored the study, said the findings shed new light on the fundamental causes of AML.

"For the first time we untangled the genetic complexity seen in most AML cancer genomes into distinct evolutionary paths that lead to AML.

"By understanding these paths we can help develop more appropriate treatments for individual patients with AML."

Dr Áine McCarthy from Cancer Research UK welcomed the findings.

She said: "Science such as this continues to offer new insights into cancer which can help us achieve our goal of beating the disease.

"We need to learn more from clinical trials to find out whether tailoring treatment based on these subgroups boosts the number of people surviving the disease."

TNA to brief UN on Sri Lanka

07 June 2016

A delegation from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is to brief the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights ahead of the upcoming Human Rights Council session, on progress made in Sri Lanka on the implementation of the resolution passed last year, TNA spokesperson MA Sumanthiran told Tamil journalists this week. 

Recalling that the Sri Lankan government was also a party to the resolution passed in UN session last year and assured implementation of the contents of the resolution, Mr Sumanthiran said the Sri Lankan government had initiated action on some aspects mentioned in the resolution, such as the constitutional amendment, however, had not given enough attention to matters that can be easily implemented such as returning seized lands to the rightful owners and  resettlement. 

Whatever actions have been initiated in this regard have not been satisfactory, he said. 

It is disturbing to note more additional lands are being grabbed in some other places and similarly, many political prisoners continue to languish in prisons, Mr Sumanthiran added.

SRILANKA: Proposed Office of Missing persons is no substitute for immediate investigations into murders

A Written Submission to the 32nd Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre

 07/06/16.
It seems no progress can be made in Sri Lanka on the attitude to murder. Murder is now regarded as normal and therefore not something to worry much about. And, this is exactly what should worry everyone. But hardly anyone seems to worry about it.

We see the same thing in the proposed Office of Missing Persons (OMP). The simple fact about a missing person in Sri Lanka is that he or she is dead. Very rarely, does a missing person re-appear. As in the case of the dead, missing persons normally never appear again. At least that is case in Sri Lanka, whatever the case may be elsewhere off the Island.

When a person is dead, he or she, of course, goes missing. There is no paradox involved in this. However, it is quite a different case if we were to be told to assume that the dead person is merely a missing person. This means that we are expected to assume that the dead man or woman is not dead at all but only missing.

Why should the dead be assumed to be merely missing? The answer would be that there is no proof of death, as the dead body has not been found. The argument is that in the absence of a corpse, there is no proof of death. So this whole exercise is about proof.

If the corpse is available, then we know person is dead. If the person is, in fact, dead but his body cannot be found, we are expected assume that the person is missing. However, what is really missing is not the person, but the corpse.

If an office were to be established to look for missing dead bodies, the task of the office would be different than of an office looking for missing persons.

The situation would differ even more, if one knows or has reasonable grounds to suspect that the person is not only dead, but, in fact, killed, and the corpse has been disposed of. Obviously in such a situation, there is no need to be looking for the missing body, as the body itself has been disposed, in order to hide the fact of a murder.

In this situation, the starting point is that murderers have disposed the body in order to destroy evidence of the killing. If anything has to be sought and discovered, it is who the murderers are.

Looking for murders is not the work of a fact-finding office. Investigation into murder is the task of the criminal investigation department. A murder where the corpse has been disposed is a more gruesome form of murder, requiring greater attention of the criminal investigation department.

Then there is a greater riddle. It is that there is also reasonable ground to suspect that the killing and disposal of the body is likely to have been caused by persons connected with the security forces and conducted during operations; this is known or, at least, suspected by everyone.

In such circumstances, it is the duty of the criminal investigation department to act. If they have failed to act, it is duty of the Executive, to ensure that this most vital duty of the criminal investigation department is been complied with. If the Executive has failed to do so, it has virtually failed to govern; good governance implies that the government should enforce the law.

It is a good thing to have a database for “Missing Persons” (including those assumed to be killed and their bodies disposed). However, the obligation of a government is primarily to investigate and prosecute murder, through its criminal investigation and prosecution departments, which in Sri Lanka means the Attorney General’s Department. It is good to have, in addition, a database. But, criminal justice cannot be delegated to a database.

As for soldiers who are missing in action, it is for their relevant forces and units to account for what happened to each of them and to inform the families of such persons. If there is failure in this, it should be looked into under the relevant laws and regulations of the Armed Forces.

There is an already established record of murder done in large scale during security operations. In these murders, abduction has taken the place of arrest and this had been planned. When a person is abducted in order to hide the identity of the arresting officers and the authority, so as the make it difficult to identify those who did it, there is already premeditation. From this mode of “arrest”, there is reason to deduce that those who made such an arrest are likely to know the final outcome of the same, which would be to kill and dispose of the body. These are matters that only the country’s crime investigators can deal with under criminal procedure laws.

The next riddle is why the country’s investigators and prosecutors have failed to act? Again, everyone commonly assumes the reason: that the political authorities have stopped it from happening. This being the case, there is nothing that the proposed OMP can do, except to include their observations in the proposed database.

The argument that is not so openly stated, but mooted about, is that murders of this sort should not be investigated and prosecuted as common murders for two reasons: the first is that people by and large have approved such killings of “terrorists”, and the other is that such investigations are not good for the morale of the security forces. The latter simply means, they might not do it again, if such punitive action is taken.

Doesn’t such consideration relativise the very idea of murder, especially if for such reasons murder could be justified?

There is no argument being made about the establishment of an office of missing persons or not. The argument is against such an office been made a substitute for immediate investigations and prosecutions of enforced disappearances by the legitimate authorities of Sri Lanka. If the criminal investigation department needs to wait to start investigation into all complaints, of murder, till orders are given from above, then there is a serious flaw in the investigation system. No government has any power to stop a criminal investigation department from carrying out the very functions for which it exists.

If the government wants to strengthen the Criminal Investigation Department, it could promulgate the law it promised to criminalize enforced disappearances. Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister made such a promise to the United Nation’s Human Rights Council in June 2015. But, even a draft of such a law has not been presented to the Parliament or made available to the public.

Together with such a law, if a Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of CID is given the task of investigation into the alleged cases of enforced disappearances, and it is given adequate personnel and resources, many mysteries hidden for many years will be resolved within reasonable time frame.

Sri Lanka to recognise around 65,000 people missing since civil war as dead

In this handout photograph received from the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence on May 18, 2009, government soldiers inspect the area inside the war zone near Mullaittivu on May 17, 2009, when they helped evacuated the last of the Tamil civilians from the area. (AFP file photo)

Jun 07, 2016

Sri Lanka on Tuesday announced a landmark law to recognise as dead an estimated 65,000 people still missing seven years after the end of a bitter civil war, allowing relatives to claim inheritances.

Ministers approved a draft bill to issue “certificates of absence” to the families of those who went missing during a 37-year war with Tamil separatists and a Marxist uprising.

“This measure will help tens of thousands of Sri Lankans whose family members and loved ones are missing and who are unable to address practical issues relating to their disappearance,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Under the current law, families cannot access the property, bank accounts or inheritances left by missing relatives unless they can conclusively prove they are dead -- an often impossible task.

Huge numbers of minority Tamils went missing during almost four decades of war after being arrested by security services, while thousands more died in military bombardments.

Several mass graves containing skeletal remains have been found in the past two decades, but only a handful have ever been identified.

In this photograph taken on May 19, 2009, Sri Lankan soldiers carry the remains of Tamil Tiger rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in the district of Mullaittivu. (AFP file photo)

Thousands of people also went missing during a crackdown by security forces and pro-government vigilante groups on Marxist rebels between 1987 and 1990.

 

At that time Sri Lanka was notorious for burning dozens of unidentified corpses on piles of tyres by the roadside -- so-called “tyre-pyre” burnings designed to drive fear into the rebels.

“Sri Lanka has one of the largest caseloads of missing persons in the world,” the foreign ministry statement said.

“In fact, since 1994 alone the government commissions have received over 65,000 complaints of missing persons.”

Official sources said a “certificate of absence” could be used to make claims in place of a death certificate under the new law, which is likely to pass through parliament in a few months.

The government last month announced it was setting up an office to try to trace the war missing in a move to bring closure for families.

The cffice of missing persons has been tasked with recommending compensation and clearing the way for next of kin to take legal action against anyone responsible for the disappearance of loved ones.

Troops crushed separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in a no-holds-barred offensive in 2009, killing up to 40,000 Tamil civilians.

President Maithripala Sirisena, who came to power in January last year, has agreed to a domestic investigation into violations of international humanitarian law.

BRITISH GOVT SUPPORTS GOSL TO FULFILL GOALS ON RECONCILIATION, HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY

( Visiting diplomats met the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka)

07/06/2016

Press release by     British High Commission Colombo: Head of British Diplomatic Service Visits Sri Lanka.

Head of the British Diplomatic Service Sir Simon McDonald and Secretary at the UK DFID Mark Lowcock visited Sri Lanka yesterday.

Head of the British Diplomatic Service Sir Simon McDonald and Secretary at the UK Department for International Development Mark Lowcock visited Sri Lanka yesterday to meet with high-level government officials and discuss Sri Lanka’s progress on reconciliation. During their visit they also met with representatives of many of the organisations implementing UK funded projects in Sri Lanka in the areas of good governance, anti-corruption, de-mining and police reform.

During their meeting with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe Sir Simon and Mr. Lowcock welcomed the Sri Lankan government’s commitments to strengthen democracy and progress so far on reconciliation. Sir Simon reiterated the UK governments continuing support for Sri Lanka’s efforts to bring about reconciliation.

Sir Simon and Mr. Lowcock also met with Leader of the Opposition and the Tamil National Alliance Hon. R. Sampanthan and heard from him about a political settlement and challenges facing the people in the north and east.

The UK has supported police reform to encourage community oriented policing to improve local safety, security and post-conflict stability. Furthering the discussion on UK support Sir Simon and Mr. Lowcock met with Minister of Law and Order & Southern Development Hon. Sagala Ratnayake. At the meeting British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka H.E James Dauris signed a contract with The Asia Foundation to continue UK funded community policing initiatives in Sri Lanka. Mr. Lowcock also met with Minister of Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs Hon. M.A Swaminathan and heard from him on land-returns and the return of IDP’s and briefed him on UK government support for demining.

In a meeting with the Commission for the Investigation of Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) they discussed UK support towards anti-corruption work and the need for international cooperation to ensure that those who are responsible are held to account. UK support has included having officers from the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in the UK, working with Sri Lankan investigators and prosecutors in Colombo.

The UK will continue its programme of support for Sri Lanka to help the government fulfil its goals on reconciliation, human rights and strengthening democracy.

Refugees – Plea for a Humane Approach

Tolerance and good will has made India a haven for refugees from very early times. Since the dawn of independence India has successfully tackled the problems relating to the flow of refugees –from Pakistan, Tibet, East Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

by Prof. V. Suryanarayan

( June 7, 2016, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Seven years have passed since the Tigers were decimated. The hope that many entertained that the Sri Lankan refugees will return to their homeland has not materialized.

The organizations involved in the rehabilitation process – Government of Tamil Nadu, Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission in Chennai and UNHCR in Chennai – have simplified the procedures, but the return of the refugees moves at a snail’s pace. According to UNHCR sources only 7,353 refugees have so far gone back to Sri Lanka. There are still 64,800 refugees staying in 106 camps scattered throughout Tamil Nadu. In addition, there are approximately 35,000 to 40,000 non-camp refugees.

The repatriation of refugees is beset with several imponderables. One factor favourable to the refugees must be highlighted. No political group is demanding their return and, therefore, it has not got embroiled in the competitive politics of the State. It may be recalled that soon after Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, the Government of Tamil Nadu exerted pressure on the refugees to return to the island; the human rights organizations naturally sought judicial remedies complaining that India was violating non-refoulement, the basic principle of international humanitarian law. In order to counter their argument New Delhi permitted the UNHCR to open an office in Chennai to verify the voluntariness of repatriation.

The author’s interaction with NGOs working among the refugees highlights the point that most of the refugees who have returned to the island own cultivable land. For them there is no problem of settling down in their village. The rest are mainly landless labourers and there is no guarantee that they will get a permanent job once they return. Few others have availed themselves of the educational facilities in Tamil Nadu and, therefore, would like to take up jobs commensurate to their qualifications. What should be of concern to the two governments are the media reports that some refugees have fallen prey to human traffickers, who portray Australia as an El Dorado. On payment of huge sums of money these gullible refugees are transported in rickety boats, many perish on the way and the few who reach the shores of Australia face an uncertain future In addition, there are 29,500 Malaiha (hill country) Tamil refugees. The overwhelming majority among them are keen to acquire Indian citizenship.

Tolerance and good will has made India a haven for refugees from very early times. Since the dawn of independence India has successfully tackled the problems relating to the flow of refugees –from Pakistan, Tibet, East Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. Approximately 27 million refugees have come to India, which is more than the population of Sri Lanka and Singapore put together. The treatment of refugees has received international acclaim. The US Committee for Refugees, few years ago, stated that “India has accorded a welcome to the Tamil asylum seekers that are as generous as any refugee groups in Asia”.

It is interesting to note that many South Asian leaders hail from refugee background. M.A. Jinnah, Z.A. Bhutto, Pervez Musharraf, I.K. Gujral, L.K. Advani and Man Mohan Singh were one time refugees. Even then, none of the South Asian countries are signatories to the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees nor have they ratified the 1967 Protocol. South Asian countries have also not enacted separate refugee legislation. As a result, the problems relating to the refugees are dealt with on an ad hoc basis. For example, Sri Lankan Tamil refugees are permitted to work outside the camps, whereas the Chakma refugees were denied that right. It is high time Government of India enacts a national refugee law, which combines the best humanitarian aspects, while, at the same time, protecting the security interests of the State. The security interests are as important as humanitarian concerns. It may be recalled that among the accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case six of them were registered as refugees.

The basic principle underlying India’s refugee policy is to view the problem strictly in a bilateral perspective. The refugees should return to their homeland once the situation improves there. Dealing specifically with the Tibetan refugees, Prime Minister Nehru declared in the Lok Sabha that India’s policy on the subject was governed by three factors: 1) India’s desire to maintain friendly relations with the Peoples Republic of China; 2) Protection of the security and territorial integrity of India; and 3) India’s deep sympathy for the people of Tibet.

The BJP led government has introduced a welcome change in this policy. According to media reports, New Delhi has decided to confer Indian citizenship on Bangladeshi Hindus who, unable to bear discrimination, have taken shelter in India. It is reliably learnt that Hindus who have come from Pakistan and Sikhs who have come from Afghanistan have also been conferred Indian citizenship. The decision has been hailed by all sections of Indian society who consider this timely gesture as an illustration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi stretching his hand of friendship to people of Indian origin, who are in dire need of Indian support.

There is one section of the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who deserve New Delhi’s sympathy and understanding. They are 29,500 Maliaha (hill country) Tamil refugees, who are listed in the Sri Lankan census as Indian Tamils. Unlike Sri Lankan Tamils, who do not consider themselves as of Indian origin, the Malaiha Tamils are proud of their Indian ancestry. The Sri Lankan Tamils do not participate in the annual Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Conference, whereas the Malaiha Tamils do. The Malaiha Tamils never subscribed to the demand for a separate state of Tamil Eelam, but, even then, they were subjected to savage and vicious attacks by lumpen sections of Sinhalese population in 1977, 1981 and 1983. The Malaiha Tamils who migrated to the north after the 1977 riots were the first to be caught in the senseless conflict between the Sinhalese Lions and the Tamil Tigers. Along with Sri Lankan Tamils they came to India in the first wave of refugees. Others from the southern part of the island soon followed. They sold all their belongings, came to India with the hope that Mother India will not force them to return.

The Malaiha Tamil refugees have successfully assimilated with local population. Their children have inter-married with local people. The author had the opportunity to inter-act with the Malaiha Tamil refugees in the Kottapattu camp in Tiruchi. They repeatedly declared that they have no stakes in Sri Lanka and they do not want to go back. When the refugee camps were closed down following the signing of India-Sri Lanka Accord, these people refused to move out and the Kottapattu camp, like Mandapam camp, continued to function. Their children have availed of the educational facilities available in the State. Many have become graduates, but they are unable to get jobs commensurate to their qualifications, because they are not Indian citizens. These refugees are unanimous, come what may, they will not return to Sri Lanka.

According to citizenship provisions of the Indian Constitution, these people of Indian origin are entitled for Indian citizenship. What stands in their way is the policy decision of the Government of India that Sri Lankan refugees are not entitled for Indian citizenship. In a letter to the Special Commissioner of Rehabilitation dated November 21, 2007 Thiru D. Jothi Jagarajan, Secretary to the Government of Tamil Nadu, wrote: “I am to state that in view of the categorical instructions issued by the Government of India, not to entertain the applications of Sri Lankan refugees for the grant of Indian citizenship, it is considered that it may not be appropriate to forward the cases of the petitioners to the Government of India”.

In the light of the recent decision of the Government of India to confer citizenship on those refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, who want to acquire Indian citizenship, the issue of citizenship to Malaiha Tamil refugees must be reconsidered. A broad hint of revised thinking on the subject was provided by Shri MK Narayanan, former National Security Advisor, while addressing a public meeting organized by the Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy few weeks ago. Narayanan stated that most of the refugees would go back to Sri Lanka provided they have security, but at the same time, it would be possible to think of across the border citizenship to those who want it. Earlier it is done the better.

(Dr. V. Suryanarayan is former Director and founding Director, Centre for South andSoutheast Asian Studies, University of Madras, Chennai. His e mail id: suryageeth@gmail.com)

Yahapālanaya, Its Enemies & Sympathizers

By Wishwamithra1984 –June 8, 2016

“How can one absolve intelligent men for engaging in arrogant and demented folly?” ~C.R. Strahan

Yahapalanaya or good governance is no new concept. Its origins could be found in our ancient scriptures; its inherent qualities are still shaking the modern concepts of governance to their core and questioning their validity; its singular appeal to fair-play and justice is casting aside all mundane excuses of attempts at alternatives and when suppressed, its wailing had been echoing down the primeval caves to modern day corridors of power, burning for inevitable awakening and eventual rebirth. Man and man alone has stood in between good governance and its unacceptable alternatives in whatever the manner, shape or form it may embark upon his governmental affairs. From the great Caesars to Lenin, Hitler, Stalin and Mao Tse Tung did suffer at the merciful hands of good governance, for they did not teach or practice it.

Modern social scientists analyze the various norms of governance and their evolution through the ages in terms of the measures of the various prisms (or prisons) of their education and learning. And in these analyses, they lose the obvious and get caught up in a conundrum of pros and cons, hypotheticals and theories. Instead of using their education as an elementary tool for analysis, they try to fit their answers and solutions to fit into their precast theories.

What is good governance? The writer’s answer is: it’s ‘dispensing greatest good for the greatest numbers within a reasonable amount of time and costs of resources’. In terms of that definition of good governance, every government, may be barring the first administration since Independence of D S Senanayake’s, has failed in this aspect. As I have written earlier, one cannot expect a perfect union between the people and government. That kind of utopian vistas are far too delusionary and would amount to loitering about in a fantasyland. But the opposition to a government that used good governance as a critical form of governance as against a regime that for all means and ends looked, acted and consummated the ugly craft of hoodwinking the masses at a phenomenal degree, deserves more clarity and forthrightness. Those who are opposed to the current government led by Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremesinghe are doing so in order to safeguard themselves from the very tools of good governance that are being aimed at them. Those tools, the judiciary, legitimate and legal commissions and other state-sponsored institutions have exposed the corruption, nepotism and plain ‘bad governance’ of the last regime.

                        Read More

Cainet of ministers approves draft legislation enabling the issuance of Certificates of Absence

Jun 07, 2016

Today ( 07), the Cabinet of Ministebrs approved draft legislation enabling the issuance of Certificates of Absence. The draft legislation which involves an amendment to the Registration of Deaths (Temporary Provisions) Act, No. 19 of 2010 will now be gazetted and the process of presentation to Parliament will commence.

This measure will help tens-of-thousands of Sri Lankans whose family-members and loved ones are missing and who are unable to address practical issues relating to their disappearance.

Sri Lanka has one of the largest case-loads of missing persons in the world. In fact, since 1994 alone, the Government Commissions have received over 65,000 complaints of missing persons. 

The suffering and distress of the families of those missing is exacerbated as, at this point in time, the government does not recognize the status of missing persons. This means that the families of missing persons face a range of practical issues including inability or difficulty in facilitation of property transfer and ownership, applying for compensation, qualifying for social welfare payments and pensions and accessing frozen assets. Although a number of ad hoc measures have been attempted in the recent past, they have failed to successfully address issues faced by the families of the missing.

Certificates of Absence have been used in a number of countries with high incidence of missing persons and has been considered as an effective interim measure that balances the psychological and practical needs of family members and loved ones without dismissing the need for active investigation into cases of missing persons. 

-Ministry of Foreign Affairs-

‘Drunken’ policymaking leaves Sri Lanka with economic hangover

Jun 07, 2016

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lankan professionals are becoming frustrated with the lack of scientific decision-making by successive governments, mockingly saying decisions are taken at cocktail parties instead of in a systematic manner. 

“Policy decisions in Sri Lanka are not taken at meetings or research forums,” declared Tilak Siyambalapitiya, Energy Consultant at Resource Management Associates (Pvt) Ltd.

“Policy decisions are largely taken at cocktail parties – they are proposed, discussed and decided upon at cocktails,” he told ‘R4TLI’ or Research for Transport & Logistics Industry, held by Sri Lanka Society of Transport and Logistics with Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Sri Lanka.

Professionals need to change this attitude and get into decision making structures and convince policy makers of the need for research in policy structures, Siyambalapitiya said.

Neither and state nor private sector was doing enough research, except in a few cases, with funds and people deployed for research being inadequate, he said.

“We need a new research culture.”

Siyambalapitiya noted how lessons could be learnt from the energy industry with recent successive islandwide power blackouts prevented with better research.

“More analysis and research could have prevented the collapse. Research could have brought the situation to light and remedial measures taken in advance.”

The availability of information to decision makers was very poor. “It is as if the operator is blindfolded and he was driving a car.”

Regulatory agencies also need to do research to examine how such regulated industries can improve their performance, he said.

Sri Lankan transport experts have said better planning could have prevented the building of ‘white elephants’ as a port and airport in southern Hambantota are now being called since they have failed to attract business.

The government is struggling to repay loans taken from China to build the port and airport since they are not generating enough revenue.

Transport professionals also warn the new government is in danger of repeating the mistakes of the former regime by going for ‘supplier-driven’ transport solutions instead of heeding professional advice. 

A case in point is criticism of the government’s preference for a light rail transit system in the planned Western region megapolis project, a more expensive system than bus rapid transit, which they say is easier and cheaper to implement.
(COLOMBO, June 07 2016)

Democracy and the Critical Role of Civil Society: The Lankan Experience

Democracy needs mechanisms for the civil society to express their interests and preferences, to influence policy, and to scrutinise and check the exercise of state power continuously, in between elections as well as during them. ‘Democracy’ has been manipulated and restricted to protect the interests and the privileges of the ruling elite using the state machinery. Thus, the gun, rather than the ballot, became the tool for many in their struggle for socio-economic justice.

by Dr Lionel Bopage

Introduction

( June 7, 2016, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) Democracy and Civil society are usually dependent on the constitutional space governments have designed to protect the interests and privileges of a certain segment of society. As such, a constitution may be suspended or superseded when it is found unable to protect the interests it was originally intended to safeguard. Generally, constitutional change arises in a society that is plagued with political crises. Only on rare occasions has the majority of citizens taken part in the process of constitutional development. With or without consultations, the ruling elite usually imposes their will upon society with or without constitutions.

This paper will first discuss the conceptual frameworks of democracy and civil society, and their interdependence. Next it will discuss the manner in which civil society has played a positive or negative role in safeguarding or endangering democracy in Sri Lanka. Then it will deliberate on the critical and positive role civil society would need to continue to play in the future, for the purpose of safeguarding Lanka’s democracy.

Concepts: Democracy and Civil Society

Democracy and Civil Society are complex conceptual constructs. Although these are theoretically vague, and idealistic, they embrace certain concrete political connotations. Civil society provides an enabling framework for democracy to function. At the same time, it also includes an intrinsic tension in the form of a fragile balance between private and public interests. This allows a plethora of interest groups to selectively use these constructs for achieving their utilitarian self-serving objectives. For example, Adam Smith’s conception of civil society is associated with a free market economy. However, his conception does not separate state and civil society as Marxists have done.

Democracy

Democracy is a nuanced concept. Depending on the stage of development of a society, democracy can take different forms. It can be direct, representative, liberal, industrial, bourgeois, proletarian, social democratic etc. Democracy is supposed to be a political system. A system in which governments should be held accountable to the people, and mechanisms exist for making it responsive to the peoples’ passions, preferences, and interests. A liberal democracy that Sri Lanka purports to be needs to provide for the rule of law. Then, protection of the right of individuals and groups to speak, publish, assemble, demonstrate, lobby, and organize to pursue their interests become an essential requisite.

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Electing MS By Popular Will Is The Greatest Foreign Policy Coup

By Sanka Chandima Abayawardena –June 7, 2016

Sanka Chandima Abayawarden

The country seemed to be enthusiastic over the reception that PresidentSirisena received in Japan as media reports started to emerge. There is nothing more exciting for an International Relations person like myself than seeing Sri Lanka gain positive global spotlight. However, given the kind of strategic interests of different powers at play over Sri Lanka, it is important to provide a comprehensive yet easy to understand explanation to the public. Public situational awareness and judgment is an essential element in developing civic participation in our foreign policy exercise. My intention is to provide the public with a simplified understanding away from technical and key words.

There is no doubt that the reception that President Sirisena received in Japan is significant. It shows how much the Western powers (G8 minus Russia) value Sri Lanka in their camp. Sri Lanka as the doorway to any government with ambitions to dominate the Indian Ocean is a very attractive grapefruit. No matter who is in power in Sri Lanka (from Chandrika, Ranil, Mahinda to Sirisena), foreign governments that have strategic interests in maritime trade and naval affairs always had their say over our standing in the global structure. The public is well aware of the international power games played during the conflict with the Tamil Tigers. It is the responsibility of the government to use our geostrategic standing in a way that ensures our sovereignty through prosperity.

Therefore it is important to understand what kind of opportunities and risks come with the spotlight that we are getting since January 2015. Sri Lanka is among a group of countries that make up the essential elements of China’s Maritime Silk Road (the single most important initiative in recent history that can shift the balance of power in favour of the Global South). This is the best shot we have to become what we were some centuries ago – the trade and knowledge hub of the Indian Ocean.

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Higher education in Asia and the Public-Private distinction

Wednesday, 8 June 2016

There are burning issues in higher education in Sri Lanka, but the notion that “state universities are good - others are bad” has been allowed to dominate the discourse in the mainstream without adequate counter arguments. The result is an obliteration all other issues, except for perhaps the problem of ragging in universities. If the country is to go forward, some clarity in definitions is badly needed to resolve the public v. private or state v. non-state debate.

At a recent symposium on higher education which LIRNEasia co-organised with the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, the Prime Minister made an appearance, and he indeed gave a very practical definition. He defined public universities as all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) that are not-for-profit in their mode of operation, and by implication private institutions as those that are for-profit. This is a useful distinction which breaks the current self-serving arguments by the state sector for a continuation of their monopoly, thwarting competition from other entities be they public or private.

In countries in the Western world where universities came to be nearly millennium ago, almost all universities are public institutions. They can be owned by either the state or a non-state entity, with varying levels of fees charged to students to cover some or most of costs. The practice of calling prominent non-state universities such as Harvard, Princeton, etc. and the smaller liberal arts colleges as private universities is established in the US, but this categorisation is proving to be problematic as private for-profit universities started emerging in earnest in the last few decades all across the world, with Asia and Latin America taking the lead. At times, the term ‘private non-profit’ is used to distinguish these traditional private universities from the emerging ‘private for-profit’ institutions, but the terminology can be long and clumsy.

Therefore, breaking form the US tradition and taking a leaf for our PM, I propose we should talk about only two kinds of universities, public and private. These public institutions can be state owned or owned by other non-state entity such as a religious establishment or a foundation. They offer higher education at varying level of student contributions, but strictly on a non-profit basis. Private institutions are non-state entities which are for-profit.

The PM rightfully avoided the issue of ‘private’ or ‘for-profit’ universities in his vision. He envisions a public university system where state-owned universities take more responsibility for their performance and behave more like public institutions in developed countries. They can charge fees, but they would give merit based or need-based scholarships. Government would provide loans on easy terms to all qualifying students. Other non-state owned institutions could exist, though he did not elaborate. This is true free education he said, though not in those exact words.

As I elaborate later in the article, for-profit institutions could be an essential component in the tertiary education landscape in developing countries, as they struggle to meet the demand for higher education of adequate quality. The co-presence of public and private entities may provide the environment for innovations by private institution, which in turn would force public institutions to innovate also. In fact, countries in Asia are allowing the emergence of different models. Sri Lanka is perhaps is the exception where vociferous elements in state institutions thwart competition. It is a politically astute decision by the government not to openly promote or deny right to private higher education, but it is a sad one.

However, as policy analysts we have the freedom to explore. What is the best way to balance public-private investments in higher education in Sri Lanka and the developing world? In this column I present an initial exploration carried out at LIRNEasia. 

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‘Let Her Cry’: Just Another Review

‘Let Her Cry’: Just Another Review

Fragments.-

Uditha Devapriya is a freelance writer who can be reached at udakdev1@gmail.com

Monday, June 6, 2016

I know a teacher who offers comments about our cinema from time to time. Just the other day we were talking about Asoka Handagama. He hadn’t seen Let Her Cry, which was previewed to the media a month back and given a limited release at Regal some weeks ago, but based on what I told him about the film (without any spoilers, of course), he gave his two cents on the man. It all amounted to this: Handagama can’t be forced to conform. If you watch a film of his, you watch it the way he wants you to. And if there are any complaints about the way he’s directed it, too bad.

He also observed that Handagama likes to dabble in ellipsis. Every film of his contains elliptical narratives, which is another way of saying that they aren’t easy to figure out in advance. His characters do not act in a preconceived way. They exist and persist, they cry, break apart, and express outrage so unpredictably that you don’t know what’s coming next. On one level this works beautifully – that is why I enjoyed Chanda Kinnari, particularly the exchanges between Swarna Mallawarachchi’s character and her neighbours – but sometimes he overdoes it. I’m not belittling him, of course, because after all that’s the “Handagama touch”. Without it, none of his films would actually work.

Vageesha Sumanasekara’s take on Let Her Cry (published in Groundviews) lambasts the film for basically not being political enough. He indulges in postmodernism to explain his reaction to the film. Liyanage Amarakeerthi, on the other hand, has (in an article published in “The Island”) taken the opposite position and praised it as a “masterly crafted work of art” (to his credit he discusses the film as a film, which Sumanasekara doesn’t do). I don’t pretend to know a fraction of what these two people do, so I won’t take sides yet. This isn’t an analysis, hence, but just another review.

To start things off, I admit Let Her Cry isn’t a masterpiece. I’m not saying this because it’s crap, but because to pretend otherwise won’t do Handagama himself any justice. Those I’ve talked with about the film (not critics, but ordinary filmgoers) seem to have thought that it betrayed the director’s lack of patience. They pointed at the last few sequences which culminate in that drive to the protagonist’s house (which was where the film opened as well, incidentally), and claimed that they were too quickly edited to offer reflection. Normally I’d disagree with them, but this time I can’t. For the truth of the matter is, Let Her Cry ends up making a personal statement that would have worked if the director hadn’t conceived of it as a socio-political dissertation in that final sequence. I’ll come back to this later.

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