Saturday, July 23, 2016

UK comes under pressure to spell out Brexit plans at G20

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond (C) walks to a meeting during the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors conference held in Chengdu in Southwestern China's Sichuan province, July 23, 2016. REUTERS/Ng Han Guan/Pool

BY WILLIAM SCHOMBERG-Sat Jul 23, 2016

Britain faced calls on Saturday from some European and Asian countries to move more quickly towards leaving the European Union, but the United States said the process was too sensitive to be rushed.

At the first meeting of leading economies since British voters shocked global markets in June by deciding to quit the EU, finance ministers and central bankers said Brexit had the potential to weigh on the world's already slow economic growth.

In a draft statement, the Group of 20 nations said the referendum result added to uncertainty in the world economy and they hoped "to see the UK as a close partner of the EU".

British Prime Minister Theresa May, who has been in the job less than two weeks, has left many countries guessing what her negotiating position will be after she said she would not trigger the formal start of EU exit talks during 2016.

Ministers from France and Italy said they wanted more clarity now on how quickly Britain would start the process of ending its 43-year membership of the bloc.

"We have to have certainty now around the timetable," French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said. "We say that not to put undue pressure on the British authorities but because I believe that is what everyone - all observers and the markets - need."

"I hope that there is going to be clarification about the timing and process of the divorce," Italy's Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said. "The sooner the better so this generates a new equilibrium."

Britain's new finance minister Philip Hammond was attending the G20 meeting in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu but did not comment to media.

The International Monetary Fund said last week that it had been planning to raise its forecasts for global growth until Brexit threw "a spanner in the works," prompting it to trim its forecasts instead. It said the outlook could prove to be a lot worse if Britain failed to strike a friendly deal with the EU.

Britain itself may be facing a recession. A business survey published on Friday suggested its economy was shrinking as a result of the referendum.

An official from an Asian G20 country said foreign investors in Britain needed to get a sense of how much access the country might lose to the EU's single market if it drops the bloc's core principle of open borders for EU workers.

"If it doesn't act quickly, negative effects on corporate investment would be prolonged," the Asian official said. "We want UK-EU negotiations to settle quickly in a way that won't affect business strategies in our country."

But the United States called for patience, saying it was more important to get the tone of the Brexit talks right than to have a timetable.

"My own view is that there is undue weight being given to a calendar which is going to take a while to resolve, regardless of when you actually begin the Article 50," a senior U.S. Treasury official said,

referring to part of the bloc's treaty on the two-year process for a country to end its membership.

"The thing that would be very disruptive is a highly confrontational process."

(Additional reporting by David Lawder and Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

AHRC TV: Inter-caste marriage ends in murder and other stories in JUST ASIA Episode 132

July 22, 2016

This week’s episode begins with the murder in Nepal of 18-year-old Ajit Mijar. Ajit married his non Dalit girlfriend Kalpana Parajuli on July 9, and the couple were forcibly separated by police and Kalpana’s family on July 11. On July 14, Ajit was found hanging near Phurke Khola, Dhading district. To learn more, Just Asia spoke to a relative of Ajit, as well as to Member Secretary of the National Dalit Commission (NDC), Sitaram Ghale.

Next, young Chinese activist Zhao Wei remains missing despite police claims she had been freed from detention. Zhao was taken into secret detention in July 2015. Speaking to Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, Zhao claimed she had returned to her family home in Henan province. Her husband found her family home deserted however, while neighbours claimed no one had been home for quite some time.

In Indonesia, police officers surrounded and forcibly closed the Papuan student dormitory in Kamasan I, Jalan Kusumanegara, Yogyakarta province since July 15, with some 100 students trapped inside. The Papuan students had planned to hold a peaceful public protest, but were instead confronted by members of a few mass organizations, shouting racist slogans such as “monkeys and separatists must leave Yogyakarta province”. They also assaulted the students, while the police looked on indifferently. To learn more, Just Asia speaks to rights defender Bernard Agapa.

A Dalit gang rape survivor in India has allegedly been raped again by the same five men accused of raping her earlier. The assault took place in Rohtak, Haryana, where the family was forced to move after the first attack. The young woman was reportedly waylaid by the accused when she stepped out of her college, raped, and left to die in the bushes. She is current recuperating at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Rohtak.

In Thailand, following the National Council for Peace and Order’s announcement of a Constitutional Referendum on August 7, both pro-and anti- draft constitution groups have been focused on conveying their messages to the public. The NCPO however, is using Order no.3/2015 to restrict anti-draft groups from expressing their views. As of July 2015, 113 people have been prosecuted for publicly opposing the draft constitution. Just Asia caught up with xx to learn more.

On June 21, the Asian Legal Resource Centre held a side event at the UN Human Rights Council building in Geneva, on enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Pakistan. The speakers at the event were experts and prominent activists working on the issue of enforced disappearances.

Finally, the Urgent Appeals Weekly features three stories from India, Pakistan and Indonesia.

The bulletin can be watched online at www.alrc.asia/justasia and AHRC TV YouTube. We welcome both human rights feeds to be considered for weekly news bulletin, and your suggestions to improve our news channel. Please write tonews@ahrc.asia. You can also watch our Weekly Roundup on Facebook.

How Slavery Changed the DNA of African Americans

Widespread sexual exploitation before the Civil War strongly influenced the genetic make-up of essentially all African Americans alive today.

By Michael White- July 19 , 2016

Our genetic make-up is the result of history. Historical events that influenced the patterns of migration and mating among our ancestors are reflected in our DNA — in our genetic relationships with each other and in our genetic risks for disease. This means that, to understand how genes affect our biology, geneticists often find it important to tease out how historical drivers of demographic change shaped present-day genetics.

Understanding the connection between history and DNA is especially important for African Americans, because slavery and discrimination caused profound and relatively rapid demographic change. A new study now offers a very broad look at African-American genetic history and shows how the DNA of present-day African Americans reflects their troubled history.

Slavery and its aftermath had a direct impact on two critical demographic factors that are especially important in genetics: migration and sex. The trans-Atlantic slave trade was a forced migration that carried nearly 400,000 Africans over to the colonies and, later, the United States. Once in North America, African slaves and their descendants mixed with whites of European ancestry, usually because enslaved black women were raped and exploited by white men. And, more recently, what’s known as the Great Migration dramatically re-shaped African-American demographics in the 20th century.Between 1915 and 1970, six million blacks left the South and settled in the Northern, Midwestern, and Western states, in hope of finding opportunities for a better life.

How this turbulent history shaped the genes of African Americans has been unclear because, until recently, most genetic studies have focused either on populations from different geographical regions around the world, or on Americans with European ancestry. Fortunately, African Americans are now being included in these studies on a larger scale, and several long-term studies have collected genetic data on thousands of African Americans, representing all areas of the country. In a recently published study, a team of researchers at McGill University in Montreal turned to this data to take a broad look at the genetic history of African Americans.

African Americans with a higher fraction of European ancestry, who often have lighter skin, had better social opportunities and were thus in a better position to migrate to northern and western states.

The researchers focused on nearly 4,000 African Americans who participated in two important studies, both sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. The Health and Retirement Study consists of older volunteers sampled from urban and rural areas across the U.S., while the Southern Community Cohort Study focuses on African Americans in the South, particularly areas that have a disproportionately high burden of disease. Together, these two studies are among the largest sources of genetic data on African Americans. Importantly, they represent a geographically broad sampling of the African-American population, which is critical for outlining the patterns of genetic history.

The researchers first looked at what fraction of African Americans’ genetic ancestry could be traced back to Africa. Not surprisingly, the data shows that, for most African Americans, the majority of their DNA comes from African ancestors. The results also show that essentially all African Americans have some European ancestry ancestry as well. The genetic mix of African and European DNA, however, follows a striking geographical trend: African Americans living in Southern states have more African DNA (83 percent) than those living in other areas of the country (80 percent). Conversely, African Americans outside the South have a larger fraction of European DNA. Even within the South, this trend holds: Blacks in Florida and South Carolina have more African DNA than those living in Kentucky and Virginia.

One explanation for this geographical bias could be that interracial marriages have been less frequent in Southern states. But this explanation appears to be wrong. The McGill researchers found that most of the European DNA among blacks today probably entered the African-American gene pool long before the Civil War, when the vast majority of blacks in the U.S. were slaves living in the South. The genetic patterns observed by the researchers suggest that, for at least a century before the Civil War, there was ongoing admixture between blacks and whites. After slavery ended, this interracial mixing dropped off steeply.

The implication of these findings won’t be surprising to anyone: Widespread sexual exploitation of slaves before the Civil War strongly influenced the genetic make-up of essentially all African Americans alive today.

But this poses a puzzle: If African Americans can trace most of their European ancestry to an era when America’s black population was overwhelmingly confined to the South, why is it that African Americans now living outside the South have more European DNA?

The researchers propose an interesting answer. They argue that the Great Migration of African Americans out of the South was genetically biased: African Americans with a higher fraction of European ancestry, who often have lighter skin, had better social opportunities and were thus in a better position to migrate to northern and Western states. Though it will take further evidence to show this definitively, the McGill researchers’ results imply that, even after the end of slavery, discrimination that varied with shades of skin color continued to influence the genetic history of African Americans.

Do these genetic findings matter to anyone other than historians and genealogists? The answers is yes — studies of genetic history like this one are important because they help explain why blacks and whites often havedifferent genetic risk factors for the same diseases. African Americans are disproportionately affected by many common diseases, and while much of this is due to poverty and limited access to good health care, genetics plays a role as well. If African Americans are to fully benefit from modern health care, where diagnoses and treatments are increasingly tailored to a patient’s DNA, it is critical that we understand African Americans’ genetic history, and how it contributes to their health today. In other words, we need to understand not just the cultural and economic legacies of slavery and discrimination, but the genetic legacy as well.

SRI LANKA: Former President’s statement against the Office of the Missing Persons is a blatant attack on rule of law

July 22, 2016

The statement made by Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa the former head of state in Sri Lanka, that ‘establishing the office of the Missing Persons is a betrayal of the armed forces’ is a statement unbecoming of a former head of the state and a prominent political leader in Sri Lanka. What it directly says is that enforced disappearances which is an internationally recognised heinous crime should not be investigated in Sri Lanka because the culprits may involve some members of the armed forces. It is one of the basic norms of a civilised society that crimes must be investigated, irrespective of whoever the suspects are. A civilised legal system could exist only on the acceptance of this fundamental norm that all crimes should be prosecuted. Prosecution of a crime is an imperative duty of the state. No state can make any exception to this rule except at the cost of undermining its own authority.

The period of rule by Mr Rajapaksa was known for relativizing the norms relating to prosecution of crimes. The cases of assassinations like that of the former Sunday Leader Editor, Lasantha Wickramatunga, the disappearance of Prageeth Ekneligoda, and others as well as attacks on journalists including the brutal attack on Poddala Jayantha, are but a few instances that demonstrate the willingness on the part of the head of the state to approve a selective approach to the prosecutions relating to crimes. A dual policy of - on the one hand encouragement of the commission of crimes and on the other, preventing investigations and prosecutions of crime - became a glaring feature of those dark times.

It may be the intention of Mr. Rajapaksa in making this statement to appear as the saviour of the armed forces. However, the public impression that is created by this statement is seriously damaging to the image of the armed forces. It quite implies that the armed forces having being involved in the commission of enforced disappearances, and that these crimes should not be investigated. The armed forces could be involved in the commission of enforced disappearances only in one of two ways. One is, either some officers have violated the military law and discipline and on their own committed some heinous crimes such as commission of enforced disappearances. If this be the case, there is no reason at all for such officers to be protected. Those who commit crimes against the law and military orders do not deserve protection and in fact the military would be better off for prosecuting such offenders. However, the second and much worse scenario is, if the head of the state has in fact authorised the commission of such crimes. In which case, there is a much more serious problem of commission of crime against humanity - which is one of the gravest crimes under international law. If, Mr Rajapaksa is perhaps thinking of such a situation, then he should come out clean about his own involvement in a crime, rather than try to implicate the armed forces. However, our concern at the moment is that nobody in Sri Lanka should be allowed to say that any crime - whatever the crime may be, should not be investigated and prosecuted. If as a country we do not take that position, then we cannot survive as an organised society. The prime strategy for the protection of an organised society is the prosecution of crimes. And this fundamental position should be reasserted if we are to get back to reconstructing a society on the basis of rule of law and to ensure good governance. The statement made by Mr Rajapaksa is a blatant attack on the principles of rule of law and of good governance. As such, this statement should be condemned and the implications of such statements should be explained to the people so that their own security as an organised nation based on the capacity to protect law could be preserved against all assaults.

Accountability, Reconciliation & Seeking A Political Solution

By Surendra Ajit Rupasinghe –July 22, 2016

Surendra Ajit Rupasinghe

Accountability, Reconciliation and Seeking a Political Solution: Volcanic Time-Bombs along the Tectonic Fault-Lines of the Lankan State

Center of the Storm

The triple issues of accountability, reconciliation and seeking a political solution to the National Question are at the epicenter of a gathering political storm. It could be a storm that would be even more embracing, volatile and destructive than any and all the storms of war, destruction and terror that we have been put through. This time around, the stakes are that much more decisive, on an international, regional and internal scale. This is a gathering storm of irreconcilable ideological polarization and violent political contention. Redrawing the map of the world, including that of countries and nations through genocidal war is the dominant trend in world politics. Such destructive violence can lay to rest what the Land of Lanka had once been, along with its current political map.

Context

The National Question has itself evolved following the end of the war. It is now enjoined with the issues of accountability, reconciliation and implementing a just political solution, These issues of accountability, reconciliation and seeking a just political solution to the National Question stand as three banners tied together, the contest over which shall decide our fate and our future.

Each of these issues, separately and collectively, has been hi-jacked by international powers, and all local players are being played according to its tune– on all sides of the divide. The US and its allies, through the UN, has hijacked these issues as a means to get a strategic grip on the politics of Lanka. This had become an urgent necessity to confront a rising strategic threat issuing from China over the control of the vital Indian Ocean sea-lanes and to address the shifting balance of power in the Asia /Pacific region. China has its own fangs into the lifelines of the political economy of Lanka, as does India. These international players shall play ball with all three issues, appearing to be the deliverers of universal justice. The International Tamil Diaspora – sections of it – shall also play ball. The US-led ‘Western Bloc’ will support a government and leadership that could be relied upon as trusted strategic allies and friends against its rivals. It shall either stabilize or destabilize the Lankan state and the regime by using any and all these three issues depending on how the game is played. Either the Land of Lanka shall be divided or unified, according to these interests. The Sinhala-Buddhist nation, the Tamil nation, the Moslem and Hill Country Malayaga Tamil nationality and other ethnic/religious communities all shall be played according to the needs of marauding vultures of Capital and their local agents.

July 22, 2016

கிளிநொச்சி முழங்காவில் பிரதேசத்தில் விடுமுறையில் வந்த இராணுவ சிப்பாய் ஒருவரின் தாக்குதலுக்குள்ளான நிலையில் அதே இடத்தைச்சோ்ந்த தந்தையும், மகனும் கிளிநொச்சி மாவட்ட வைத்தியசாலையில் அனுமதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளனர்.

இது தொடா்பில் மேலும் தொியவருவதாவது,

கடந்த 20-07-2016 அன்று இரவு எட்டு மணியளவில் முழங்காவில் விஜி வீதியைச்சோ்ந்த செல்லத்துரை துரைசிங்கம் என்பவரும், அவரின் மகன் கௌதமன் (வயது 23) என்பவருமே தாக்கப்பட்டு முழங்காவில் வைத்தியசாலையில் அனுமதிக்கப்பட்டு மேலதிக சிகிசைக்காக கிளிநொச்சி மாவட்ட வைத்தியசாலையில் அனுமதிக்கப்பட்டு சிகிச்சைப் பெற்று வருகின்றனர்.

குறித்த இராணுவச் சிப்பாய் தமிழ் இளைஞன் எனவும் அண்மையில் இராணுவத்தில் இணைந்துக்கொண்டவர் தற்போது விடுமுறையில் வீடு சென்ற போதே அயல் வீட்டாரான மேற்படி தந்தையையும், மகனையும் கடந்த கால கொடுக்கல் வாங்கல் பிணக்கு ஒன்று காரணமாக தான் யார் என்று தெரியுமோ என்ற கடும் தொனியில் கேள்வி எழுப்பியவாறு தாக்கியுள்ளதாக பாதிக்கப்பட்டு கிசிசைப்பெற்று வருகின்றவா்கள் குறிப்பிடுகின்றனர்.

சம்பவம் தொடா்பில் குறித்த இராணுவ சிப்பாய் முழங்காவில் பொலீஸாரினால் கைது செய்யப்பட்டு தாக்கப்பட்டவா்கள் வைத்தியசாலையில் சிகிச்சைப்பெற்று வரும் நிலையில் விடுதலை செய்துள்ளனர்.

Jaffna University Sinhala-Tamil Student Conflict was Insane!

by Laksiri Fernando

( July 23, 2016, Sydney, Sri Lanka Guardian) When you come to think of it, the Sinhala-Tamil student conflict at the University of Jaffna last weekend was insane. This was all pretentiously about welcoming new students to a faculty of undergraduate studies. This said faculty is not about ‘performing arts,’ let alone physical prowess, but about Science. But the conflict was ostensibly about ‘drum and music’ (Thavil and Nathasvaram) and ‘cultural dancing’ (the Kandyan type!). As the Vice Chancellor declared last year in the Faculty’s Handbook,

“I consider that the new entrants of the Faculty of Science are very fortunate to pursue their undergraduate programme in such a well reputed faculty. Thousands of science graduates passed out through the portal of the Faculty of Science during the last forty years and serving the community and the country as eminent scholars, scientists, administrators, teachers and software engineers.”

It was not obviously the Freshers who were involved in the brawl or violence, but their ‘esteemed’ seniors. These are the people, according to the Vice Chancellor, who are supposed to be the future “eminent scholars, scientists, administrators, teachers and software engineers.” Most amusingly, when you look at the pictures of the brawl, one cannot identify a Sinhalese from a Tamil. I am not condemning the violence in that faculty or that university alone. This is the situation unfortunately in many universities and the country at large for a long-long period. This insanity of violent conflict is also not peculiar to Sri Lanka alone, but common in many countries involved in perceived and actual conflicts of many varieties.

Look at what Mohamed Bouhlel did on the Bastille Day in Nice, two days before the Jaffna incident, on the 14th. He took his delivery truck and rammed into innocent bystanders, killing 84 persons including 10 children. ‘Frustration-aggression theory’ should not justify insane violence. There are democratic ways and means available particularly to the educated youth to resolve their disputes, whatever the existing defects. It is our own duty to improve them, if they are defective.

The Danger

Most alarming and dangerous in this particular incident in Jaffna is that it transpires not only juvenile insanity like in many episodes of university ragging or group violence, but much more with possible future repercussions. This conflict was waged with stones and sticks (like in the stone-age!) pretentiously on behalf of millions of ‘innocent and peace loving people’ belonging to the two main human communities in the country, the Sinhalese and the Tamils.

I was particularly impressed by Prof. S. Srisatkunarajah’s message to the new students last year, as the Dean of the Faculty, addressing them as ‘My Dear Students’ and emphasizing this humanness. He didn’t talk about Tamils or Sinhalese. As he said, “We are human beings and our thirst for knowledge is innate. In this respect, cultivation of knowledge in basic and applied sciences is fundamental. The Faculty of Science is committed to fulfill your desire and ready to mould you as a competent graduate, excelling in learning and research, and capable of making useful contributions to the development of the nation.”

I am not condemning one group against the other. Both groups should be condemned equally, for being responsible for the unwarranted confrontation and consequent violence. Both groups, on the other hand, may be excused, if they genuinely repent, apologize and reconcile, given fortunately the minor character of the incident. It is not the dispute per se that should be condemned, but its modus operandi or the resort to violence which has not at all resolved the dispute. Disputes are normal part of life although when you come to think about most, they are generated by created issues than real ones. Politicians of all sides are the culprits behind these creations who thrive or try to thrive on these conflicts, but most often fail themselves at the end.

This is the actual danger of the last weekend’s event. After the event, the extremist politicians and the extremist media outlets/channels on both sides seem to work overtime not to appease but to exacerbate the conflict. They should be condemned more than the students.

Issues of Dispute

The immediate dispute seems to be trivial compared to many issues underpinning various challenges confronting the country or the university students on reconciliation. A ‘main’ challenge seems to be the language, and thus the communication and the cultural barrier. Even that cannot be a major one because they all study in the English medium. Sinhala and Tamil (also Muslim) students have been studying ‘together’ in this faculty now for over five years. I wonder whether there had been any ‘love affairs’ (I mean between men and women) leading to inter-marriages!

As reported by some, if the request to include Kandyan dancing in the welcome procession was made at the last minute, then the Sinhalese students should have understood the reluctance or the refusal, and satisfied with its inclusion on the stage after the arrival of the new students at the auditorium. If the introduction of ‘Thavil and Nathasvaram’ were a new item of the welcome ceremony this year, then it is also natural for the Sinhala students to be weary that their ‘Dance’ was not included. Perhaps this new inclusion was part of a ‘cultural assertion’ of the Tamil students, having seen the ‘cultural intrusion’ of the Sinhalese at Wesak and Poson ceremonies, let alone the ‘Sinhala-Tamil New Year’ in the Sinhala style.

There seems to have been some interesting cultural competition going on between the two groups in recent times. This is where the ‘science’ students have gone ‘unscientific.’ But three years back, in 2013, they even had a ‘Couple-Dance’ welcome party for the new students (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugSG43KPYww), nothing to do with the traditional Tamil or the Sinhala culture! But who started the ‘aggression’ first is a typical chicken and egg question. It is unfortunate, because, culture particularly in the Sri Lankan context is considered a uniting factor compared to the language.

Perhaps the Sinhala students or others are not fully aware of the Mission of the University of Jaffna. The Statement says the Mission is:

“To produce intellectual, professionally competent and capable graduates to meet the emerging needs of the national and international community, with a special emphasis on the social, economic and cultural needs of Northern Sri Lanka”. (My emphasis).

Broader Context

The evolution of the University of Jaffna is clearly discernible in two or three stages. The first one was during (our senior friend) late Professor K. Kailasapathy’s time, as the Vice Chancellor, and the origin as a Campus of the (one) University of Sri Lanka in 1974. He was a great scholar with ideals, values and humanism. During this period, the university was a multicultural center with immense respect for the Jaffna culture from the Sinhalese and the Muslims alike.

Then came the second stage in 1979, where independent universities were reinstated back in the country and the University of Jaffna was formed under the Universities Act (1978) with relative autonomy. This was the aftermath of violence against the Tamil community in 1977, not to speak of the Vaddukodai resolution, and as a result the reconstitution of the university had a clear imprint of Tamil nationalism. Apart from the mission statement quoted above, even the crest of the university had ‘Nanthi’ (the bull), the symbol in the flag of the Jaffna Kingdom at its center. This is not unusual as many other universities in the South having the ‘lion’ (i.e. Peradeniya) or Buddhist symbols in their crests.

Perhaps it was a third stage that was intended after the end of the war in 2009, by sending Sinhala students back to the University of Jaffna, rather haphazardly and without much planning or creating necessary conducive conditions. On the other hand, there has been much goodwill, as far as I know, from the academic staff, particularly in the Faculty of Science to invite Sinhala students. However, this is apparently not the case in other faculties or among the non-academic staff. In this context, having 60 percent of Sinhala students in the faculty is undoubtedly overbearing and an invitation for trouble.

There are Tamil students in other universities in the South, but as far as I am aware, there has been no much resentment when Tamil cultural events are held. The main reason being that the holding of these events perhaps have not been raised as a matter of pure right. In major ceremonies, however, Tamil or Muslim cultural events are also not accommodated. As Ven. Galkande Dhammananda Thero has rightly explained “in any university, due prominence is always given to the respective university’s cultural background” (Sri Lanka Guardian, 21 July). This also shows that even the ‘rights’ should be claimed or raised in a responsible manner or otherwise those can lead to unnecessary conflicts. Cultural rights by nature are sensitive issues. This should not mean that ‘multiculturalism’ should not prevail at the University of Jaffna or any other university. But ensuring multiculturalism, particularly after a long drawn out war, is a process and all sectors should act with utmost responsibility in this process. What should be condemned forthright of the Jaffna University incident is not the dispute (however humorous!), but the violence and the confrontation.

Will The Development (Special Provisions) Bill Sink The Coalition Government In A Bog?

By Chandra Jayaratne –July 22, 2016

Chandra Jayaratne

The proposal made by Hon. Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his capacity as the Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs, to publish the Sri Lanka Sustainable Development Bill in a gazette and present the same in parliament for approval, which was prepared with the view of promoting and implementing the Sri Lanka’s national policy and strategy on sustainable development, establishment of the Sustainable Development Council and making other provisions on other matters, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers” stated the government announcement regards decisions taken by the Cabinet on 12th July 2016.

Regrettably however, the public at large have no knowledge at this stage of the scope, contents and any consequential socio-political and economic impact of the Bill on the country and its citizens. This is despite, Right to Information being a fundamental right as per the Constitution and a specific Right to Information enactments having recently been legislated.

A few months ago, a discussion draft of a bill titled “Development (Special Provisions) Bill” was available in public hands. This draft bill had several provisions which gave rise to significant concern in the mind of Yahapalana activists. They were concerned that this bill could easily result in the Coalition Government, constantly at play at the edge of the marshy land and tossing Bond Scams, Imported High Cost Metal Housing for Displaced persons, Coal tenders, Highway contracts to entities owned by Ministers and controversial VAT impositions, in danger of a fall in to the bog and risk beginning to sink! Let us hope not; as what the Nation needs is a government committed to real Yahapalanaya, rule of law, justice, effective public communications, economic resurgence positively touching all segments in society and reconciliation amongst all citizens.

The aforesaid draft bill had a provision to appoint a panel of eminent persons to be consulted by the President and Prime Minister on formulation of National Policies. A Policy Development Office is established (there is such an office already in the Prime Minister’s Office?). The Minister (the Prime Minister as the Minister in Charge of National Policy and Economic Affairs) may make regulations in respect of all matters relating to policy development office, including the appointment of staff and Committees and the functioning under the Office.

The Policy Development Office (PDO) is to assist the Minister to plan, formulate and develop National Policies on all subjects having regard to the provisions of the Act; prepare the macro-economic Policy framework for economic development; set goals and targets to be achieved by every sector of the economy and by every government institution; co-ordinate the implementation of government policies approved.

The Minister is empowered to appoint Committees for PDO on

(Press statement)

23/07/2016

The student clash between Tamil and Sinhalese at the University of Jaffna has received wide attention within the country. There have been concerns expressed about a return to extremism. Social media comments show ethnic polarization. However, the proximate reason for the clash was demand by the Sinhalese students that their cultural markers be included in a student cultural event to welcome an incoming batch of students and the unscheduled inclusion of a Kandyan dance troupe in welcoming the students. We note that Jaffna University academics and the Tamil National Alliance have condemned the incident and pledged their commitment to keeping the universities as multi-cultural spaces and urged the Sinhalese students to return.

We also note that the Northern Provincial Council has issued a bipartisan statement signed by the Chief Minister and Opposition Leader welcoming the appointment of a Committee of Inquiry in this regard by the university authorities with a request that such incidents should not be viewed from a purely criminal law standpoint but must be aimed at identifying the underlying causes that led to their violent behavior. They have identified as background factors the demographic pattern of the North and East after the war as being consciously changed and students from other provinces being admitted in large numbers into Jaffna University.

The clash in Jaffna was preceded in March this year by a clash between Tamil and Sinhalese university students in the Trincomalee campus over an incident of ragging. The high proportion of Sinhalese amounting to between 60 to 80 percent of the student body in some of the university faculties in the North and East has caused a feeling of being under pressure by the influx of Sinhalese students in traditionally Tamil (and Muslim) areas. The changed ethnic composition of the student body is invariably accompanied by a change in the administrative composition of the university system. Both these factors may be viewed with anxiety by the Tamil and Muslim communities in the North and East who are seeking to protect their identity not least in the areas in which they are a majority.

The National Peace Council is of the view that the reasons for the frustration of the students need to be understood and the causes dealt with. While the government, Tamil parties and liberal academics are having a positive rapport at the highest levels, this relationship of trust and cooperation has yet to permeate the student consciousness. This problem is likely to exist at the larger community level also. There is a need for a more concerted effort to be made for people-to-people engagement to develop greater understanding and sensitivity to the concerns of each ethnic and religious community. It is also necessary for the government and university administration to keep reasonable ethnic ratios in mind when allocating places for students to universities in different parts of the country.

Mediocrity and ethnic rivalry: A toxic combination in University of Jaffna?

If we care about higher education in Sri Lanka, we need to maintain or reduce the State-funded opportunities, put more money into existing institutions and enforce accountability of faculty to educate themselves before they

call themselves educators

Wednesday, 20 July 2016

‘Patriotism is the last resort of the scoundrel’ is a quote attributed to Samuel Johnson. When university students clash over ‘my parochial dance form’ over ‘your parochial dance form’, I think it is time for a new version of the quote – Preservation of culture is the last resort of a mediocre intelligentsia.

The clash between Sinhalese and Tamil students in the University of Jaffna about a Kandyan dance routine in their welcome ceremony for freshers is not a conspiracy as extremists would claim, but only a symptom of mediocrity of faculty and student body across our campuses, I would surmise.

Don’t get me wrong. I am as emotional as another Sinhalese when it comes Kandyan dancing. The recent Sinhala movie ‘Sakkaran’ by Dharmasena Pathiraja, or the book by the same name, documents the caste issues and the exploitation that were part of the Kandyan dance tradition. Notwithstanding that historical baggage, I am moved every time I see a Kandyan dance performance. I have grown up with those drum beats and dances and it is a part of my cultural DNA.

I don’t know much about the traditional Thavil and Nathasvaram performance that Tamil students would swear by. If I was a Sinhalese student in in Jaffna, I would certainly make it an opportunity to learn more about and enjoy the Thavil and Nathasvaram ensemble and eat lots of fiery crab curry.

Jaffna peninsula has always been a unique environment and I cannot envision a Kandyan dance routine in the palmyrah-dotted landscape there, unless natives wanted it. In fact, I see a problem with any parochial processions inside the university unless the intention is to assert academic values and/or to reinvent traditional forms.

The first guiding principle in the European ‘Magna Charta Universitatum’ of recent times is “The university is an autonomous institution at the heart of societies differently organised because of geography and historical heritage; it produces, examines, appraises and hands down culture by research and teaching”.

Jaffna is indeed a differently organised society because of geography and historical heritage. Yet, are the University of Jaffna academics and students capable of examining, appraising and reproducing the peninsula’s culture through research and teaching? From what we have seen so far, they are not.

Is the leadership in Colombo any more enlightened? Did they do their part to sensitise the Sinhalese students moving into a uniquely Tamilian culture? Do the rest of the academics in the country have the openness of mind that we expect of academics? Walk into any other public university campus and you see efforts to recreate the village inside and hide behind a façade of cultural correctness.

Our academics and students talk the big talk that they should be funded and maintained at taxpayer expense to educate future generation of leaders, but are they equipped to do that? Are they able to stay above the fray or do they even have a clue that they should?

We need to continually question whether our universities are qualified to call themselves universities, and if they are not, we need a plan of action to bring them up to standard. With so many needs competing for public funds, we cannot afford to fund and expand funding to a bunch of parochial institutions that are universities in name only.

Magna Charta Universitatum

The Magna Charta Universitatum is a document that was signed by heads of universities from all over Europe and beyond on 18 September 1988, the 900th anniversary of the University of Bologna. There are three guiding principle of which the first was mentioned earlier.

This charter was the basis for the alternative white paper produced by the Convention for Higher Education as a response to what they call a managerial values driven white paper by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) of UK. Unfortunately, John Holmwood (University of Nottingham), Tom Hickey (University of Brighton), Rachel Cohen (City University London) and Sean Wallis (University College London) who wrote the paper do not once talk about the massification of higher education that is a reality now across the world and its implications for ideals of higher education.

In fact the institutions these authors represent are part of the massification issue when they were converted in 1992 from polytechnics to ‘Red-bricks,’ a reference to more egalitarian universities established in UK in the late nineteenth century and later.

Reality of mass higher education

As I pointed out earlier (http://www.ft.lk/article/552940/Education-and-social-mobility--A-broken-link?), the education gospel or the notion that more schooling for more people is the remedy for all our social and economic problems has taken root in society, but the falsity of the gospel is beginning to be exposed.

More people may gain the qualifications previously required for professional or managerial jobs, but, if the number of these jobs do not expand to meet the supply of qualified people, the exchange value of the credential weakens, leading to credential inflation. This causes what one might call the opportunity trap for them middle classes where they find they have to keep running to stay abreast. Some even find themselves falling behind. The angry masses in USA behind the rise of Trump and in the Brexit campaign in UK are cases in point.

The truth of the matter is that higher education is not just any tertiary education. Higher education is an elite form of tertiary education for those with the inclination to pore over books, engage in intellectual debates and question and re-question assumptions, never tiring of it, I believe. It is like any other creative endeavour.

We think nothing of artist or authors starving themselves while creating masterpieces while many fall by the wayside. However, with governments’ funding and institutionalisation as universities, intellectual work has come with job security and pensions. Due to demand from parents and students institutions calling themselves universities have mushroomed, with many mediocre ones in the midst.

In our little in world in Sri Lanka, faculty and students in public universities are demanding that state takes over the private institutions and make more replicas of public institutions. These students and faculty clamouring for broad-basing of public higher education clearly do not care about quality or have a notion of quality.

Free one-year tertiary education opportunity for all

Compulsory basic education age has been increasing over the years for 14 to 16 and now with UNP’s policy of keeping students in school until 18 years of age, the State’s commitment has increased to 18 years of age. This is alright because it is in the interest of society to have youth entering adulthood at 18 better equipped.

The problem is what happens beyond 18. We have 320,000 youth turning 18 every year. We know that 4% are likely to be in a public university and 3% in technical education or vocational training (TVET) funded by the State. Those who gain access to public higher education have no further obligations. You can receive a medical or an engineering degree free of charge and leave the country next day or pursue private interest without owning a cent to the taxpayers.

This is an untenable situation in the context of 93% of their peers not receiving any support from the State. One solution is to give an assurance of one year of further education to all who turn 18, for a recognised course of study or an apprenticeship. Many young people, complete one year of education and support themselves for further education. Why not make it the norm?

Highly-selective higher education for a few?

In an ideal scenario, students entering higher education and their teachers would be engaged in inquiry based learning from day one. There is much talk about use of technology in education, but nobody has come up with a system to replace a good teacher working with a few committed students.

How many students per teacher? The number of students that Plato or Aristotle or Gurus known Dispamok in India had at one time under their care would be a guide. Such an education would be expensive. Even now we select 4% of youth, but we don’t give them the facilities, curricula or teachers they deserve.

If we care about higher education in Sri Lanka, we need to maintain or reduce the State-funded opportunities, put more money into existing institutions and enforce accountability of faculty to educate themselves before they call themselves educators. Public higher education should be an exemplar for private efforts which other youth would pursue, taking the risk returns to investments into their own hands.

A commission to determine the frustrations of Jaffna Uni students must be appointed: NPC

Jul 22, 2016

Merely condemning such incidents or punishing certain students after an inquiry would not be able to bring about understanding and unity.

In the past when the legitimate demands of the Tamil People were disregarded and they in turn ventured to claim justice for their demands peacefully and by non-violent means, their actions were identified as criminal activities and such identification led to youngsters taking up to arms.

Therefore when University Students have decided to resort to violence it is our responsibility to determine the underlying causes that had led to their behavior. It is for that reason we demand a full-fledged Commission of Inquiry into all aspects of the incidents. Such a modus operandi would bring to light the frustrations of the University Students. Thereafter we could formulate ways and means of dealing with them.

Any attempt to deal with these incidents at a very shallow level would only precipitate matters and would not pave the way for real understanding and goodwill.

At a time when the demographic pattern of the North and East after the War is being consciously changed, when the independent 'War Crimes' Inquiry is being dragged on indefinitely, when students from other Provinces are being admitted in large numbers into the Jaffna University, when such entrants are bent on forcing their arts and cultural background on the Jaffna soil, when there is reluctance and delay on the part of the powers in delivering political solution that would allow the Tamils to look after their political affairs in their areas of historical habitation, when there is a tendency to retain in the Province the Military far in excess of its the needs (seven years after the War) all these activities must be considered by such a Commission in consonance with the recent violence to determine whether all such activities added fuel to the behavior of the students.

The appointment of such a Commission would prevent the racialists in the South trying to make political capital out of such incidents.

We both have come together to issue such a joint statement to show the world that the Northern Provincial Council views such incidents beyond the mundane political differences that usually engulf us.

Justice C.V. Wigneswaran
Chief Minister
Northern Provincial Council

S. Thavarasa
Leader of Opposition
Northern Provincial Council

- http://world.einnews.com -

Tax Reforms: Should The VAT Be Abolished?

By Hema Senanayake –July 22, 2016

Hema Senanayake

Sri Lanka needs complete and meaningful tax reforms. Where should we begin? I suggest that we should begin from economic fundamentals not from ad-hoc adjustments of VAT. If you need a quick solution, then, I would say again, you have to begin from fundamentals by correcting what you put wrong from the budget for the year 2016. Let me explain this matter very briefly.

What kind of money in the economic system should we tax basically? We should always tax part of the consumable income allocated in the system. This is the fundamental principle. For a moment if you ignore the consumable income allocated from stock market share trading transactions, in general, consumable income is allocated by revenue generating production based enterprises only. This means that producers of revenue generating enterprises pay all the taxes, no matter taxes are collected at various points and various names. For example if a government employee pays tax then his or her tax is truly paid by the producers of revenue generating enterprises. When you understand how the system works, you may easily understand this process.

When we tax, we deprive certain consumable income to individual producers (in revenue generating enterprises which produce goods and tangible services), but they are in turn benefited as members of the larger society, when we use that tax money to produce common interests such as education, judicial service, general administration, research and development, infrastructure development etc. Therefore, if a highly paid government employee pays tax he or she pays it from the money collected by depriving certain income to producers. So, you may understand now that taxes can truly paid only by producers. However, if this government employee does not produce anything that can be defined as common interest then producers are not get benefitted as members of society by paying taxes. In this regard, the best example is our Jumbo Cabinet.

However, when taxes are collected the economic efficiency of the system must be a concern. For an example, remove the VAT from all economic produce (goods and services). Then economic produce represent the true price of present day economic relations. These prices reflect the present day economic efficiency of production. Isn’t this important? It is important. VAT distorts these prices. It is bad. It is bad even if all countries in the world use VAT. However, the United States, one of the biggest economies in the world does not use VAT. I guess State Minister of Finance Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena might well understand this point now.

VAT is an anomaly in tax collection. As I mentioned above, it is a part of the consumable income that we need to tax. The consumable income is the income that goes to the households as salaries, wages, distributable profit, etc. There is another part too. It is the un-invested component of the capital reserve (profit reserve) accumulated in the balance sheets of businesses. These are the two main income components that should be taxed. Usually, these two kinds of entities (households and businesses) are reluctant to pay taxes, but we could change that phycology if any unperceived risk is absorbed in proportion to the taxes they pay. That is one area we need reforms. Instead of doing it what the new government did was that it ignored the fundamental principles of taxation from the approved budget for 2016.