Reconstruction

DESHAN TENNEKOON on 12/13/2016

Pictures photographed for Rebuilding Lives: The Cathal Ryan Trust, 2010-2013. The book is a visual documentation of this four-year undertaking by the Trust, in partnership with UNICEF. The Trust’s activities centred around education, health and child protection as well as water, sanitation and hygiene. This short selection looks at the lives of students after the end of the war.

Click on the embed below for full screen.

The Consolidated Sri Lankan Mind

by Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

‘I consider my self foremost a Srilankan Sinhalese like you are a Srilankan Tamil. Unlike you I don’t analyse or consolidate or whatever your terminology is to describe the difference in us. They are just labels to fill in forms to monitor ethnicity or for other official purposes. We are different in our beliefs in religion only.’

( December 12, 2016, Sydney, Sri Lanka Guardian) The above is from a professional colleague/friend. To my mind, religious labels are also for the purposes of filling in forms or when stated the other way around – one could say that a profession/discipline is also a religion. I felt more connected to God by upholding the Truth I discovered about the University of NSW, through my Professional pathway. The confirmation that God comes in the form we believe in, happened/came to me through my University experience. The Accountants who were above me in position failed to identify with my conclusions and at one point it was my ‘dignity’ as an Accountant. The degree of dignity pictured by me is relative to the investment I made in my Accounting Profession which gives higher level order to the brain, relative to a Business arrangement. To the extent my seniors in position copied those who ‘gave’ them the ‘jobs’ they would have failed to identify with my true position – earned from scratch in Australia. By agreeing with my seniors – I would have demoted my real status. This happens to many professionals and is most apparent when they retire from paid work. To the extent they demote a true professional despite knowing that s/he is ‘right’ as per the fundamentals, they contribute to unjust discrimination. The ‘system’ may have so demoted a person but the fellow of the Common Profession needs to make up ‘internally’ through ‘internal’ sharing as we share Love with family.

Laws and Standards help us regulate our thinking, discard the irrelevant and give structure to our Commonness. In the above relationship – our commonness through professional structures and institutions is stronger than our diversity and hence we are Sri Lankans. This colleague made a strange connection to my Professional Ownership and how I felt about a relative of hers. I had a very brief meeting with that relative and all he said was ‘thank you aunty’. I was very happy with his ‘attitude’ and I knew no details about him except that he lived in a high class suburb and that he was a relative of my colleague. When I communicated that happiness to my Accounting colleague – she promptly said words to the effect ‘He is a Chartered Accountant, who trained at KPMG’. I had no knowledge of that but intuitively recognized that he was an heir of my investment in our Common Profession.

I believe that our genuine investments in Common pathways connect us intuitively – so that we share in each other’s achievements. When we contribute more than others above us in position and even internally we are denied that position – our contribution matures as ‘ownership’ Energy that is part of every manifestation in environment that we are part of. It’s a still force that includes Itself.

Similarly – neglected duties become liabilities accumulated through unjust discrimination where one feels ‘free’. Tamil Tigers in Northern Sri Lanka and JVP in Southern Sri Lanka were empowered by these forces and they gave form to it through the power of the gun. They are the heirs of Politicians who used spent in politics at emotional level and labeled it ‘policy’ – religious policy in South and language in North and South. As my professional colleague has stated about what they meant to her – they are primary forms of policy and when combined with governing positions – they generate instability. One who opposes or rejects such formations contributes to stability.

Rebel groups ‘takeover’ the minds of politicians to promote their own minds. They confirm the weak connection between elected politicians and the idle voter who depends on handouts in one form or the other. Ultimately the idle voter becomes so dependent that s/he / they become Asuras (humans with animal qualities) lacking in discriminative thinking at policy level. Dr. N.M.Perera stated this in Parliament as follows:

‘You are fanning the worst of sentimental flames. We can fight on political ideologies, on economic principles, but when it comes to rousing people to a state of mass hysteria on issues like language, religion and race, there is no knowing where it will end’

Tamils & Muslims of Sri Lanka, have continuously opposed ‘takeovers’ by majority race because they practice their religions more strongly without any ‘handouts’ from the Government for doing so. To the extent they cash the investment to collect numbers – Tamils with Tamil Nadu and other Tamils for the purposes of ‘showing’ majority force – and Muslims with the Islamic world – they dilute their entitlement to Equal status. Some who ‘gossiped’ about the LTTE – accumulated fear of such groups which surfaces in places where they are in the minority and/or where such rebels violate common laws of a particular place – as ISIS does in Christian countries. Tamils who lived with the LTTE including those in opposition of their one sided actions – to protect their own higher mind order – do not fear such groups. In their minds they merge or takeover. LTTE supporters who suppressed professionals in the name of self-governance – would fear and avoid not only groups that seem larger than theirs but also those who demonstrate higher commitment to law and order.

My Professional colleague of Buddhist origin stated .

‘In the process I killed hundreds of ants which made me very guilty because I breached one of the five precepts. My only consolation is that since ant is a very primitive insect there was no pain as their nervous system is not developed. I don’t know why I am telling you these may be it is to share my guilty feelings. ( now don’t tell me it is our professional bonding).’

My colleague was thanking me for invoking her higher mind through our Common Profession. Until the information passes through our brain – any pain is strictly at the physical level – as loss. Fear of Terrorism is eliminated when we merge those with weapons with our mind through most Common form. This is Land in Democracy and Time in Autocracy. Where there is Equal Opposition available – the democratic pathway leads to Global Commonness. Where there aren’t enough bodies to manifest Equal Opposition – we become relatives within a separated group. LTTE and JVP took-over idle minds and to the extent they remained local – their actions would qualify as rebellion. To qualify as such every attack on another needs to be through a natural common belief. When Buddhist JVP attacked Christians or Muslims they accumulated negative karma which would be in ‘waiting’ for the right time through an appropriate group strongly bonded by common belief – for example Professional Accountants or the TNA. When professionals ‘sell’ their status for money and become so idle that they allow their minds to be taken-over by those carrying guns Nature has no way of manifesting Itself in a place where others before us have invested positively in higher governance. Jesus was born because there was no other body through which Truth could manifest Itself at that place at that time – the collective Energy of true Sovereignty. Jesus showed this connection by attributing to Father. Whether it is Buddhists or Muslims; 

Tamils of Sinhalese, in our current generation Sri Lanka, if they fail to so attribute – and attack and/or demote one of another culture – they are Terrorists who kill diversity. Unless this generation Sri Lankans of Professional Mind Order confirm in action their higher status – we lose the root support for diversity and become one or more communist state/s. As Professionals we would merge and as those living off the past without attributing to Father – Buddha, Jesus, Krishna or Mohamed – we convert our heritage to negative value and carry that in our horoscopes when we cross borders of time and/or place. SWRD Bandaranaike attributed to Vijaya’s heirs and abused the Buddhist heritage towards this. No Sri Lankan leader of my generation attributed to Jesus or Krishna or Mohamed. The force of those who did not react but continued to uphold their Belief as Sri Lankans in diverse looking bodies – brought UN’s Navi Pillai followed by other members in the UN to manifest Sri Lanka’s true Multiculturalism. The Diaspora contributed strongly towards this. To be an Equal Opposition with stronger ‘internal’ power than the Male dominated Buddhist Government – minorities have to invest more strongly in not only other cultures – but also other gender. That is the message from the Consolidated Sri Lankan mind.

Are Hate Speech Laws In Lanka Adequate To Make Arrest

By Faizer Shaheid –December 12, 2016 

Faizer Shaheid

Sri Lanka has had a long history of De Facto and De Jure racism, but having come off a three decade long war and struggling to find assistance internationally for the attainment of transitional justice, one ought to wonder why extremists still lurk in our midst.

At present we have had racism and extremism brewing from every part of the country, and from every community. Only recently, Dan Priyasad, was arrested for inciting religious hatred. In actuality, it is evident in his virulent videos that he was actually committing ‘Incitement to genocide’ in accordance with the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the crime of Genocide (Commonly referred to as the ‘Genocide Convention’).

Following his arrest, pressure was mounted to have the Secretary of the Sri Lanka Thowheed Jamath (SLTJ), Abdul Razik, who is known to be equally notorious for his racist remarks, to be arrested. Indeed he was too.

Despite these arrests, racism was continually spawned among others. While minority communities began propagating peace and harmony, certain renowned extremists from the majority community, donning the orange robes, took pleasure in organizing protest marches that could almost certainly be foreseen to have ended like the Aluthgama Pogrom not too long ago. The top two names that have constantly come up are Ampitiye Sumanarathana Thera and Galagoda Atte Gnanasara Thera.

Being robed members of the clergy, they have thrived on the prevailing impunity and a general exemption to the rule of law in relation to robed members of the Clergy. Even whilst these extremists are known for their street urchin like attitude, questions have been raised as to when the duo would be arrested.

One argument that has been raised is that the laws are inadequate to make arrests for hate speech. Another argument is that such speeches would violate the freedom of expression. While numerous calls have been made to the Police to arrest the duo, nobody has quite come forward to name the laws which would incriminate the duo or any other that comes across as being racist.

The freedom of expression argument

The first point of studying this issue would be to address the case of human rights. Do they have adequate cover in the freedom of expression to state anything with no ramifications? Absolutely not.

Human Rights possesses four distinct features. It is that they are Universal, equal, indivisible and interrelated. While the freedom of expression cannot be undermined as it is given strong emphasis in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which Sri Lanka has ratified, the very covenant also specifies a limitation in relation to hate speech. Article 20 (2) of the ICCPR reads:

“Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law.”

The very provision in the ICCPR is re-iterated in Section 3 of the ICCPR Act of Sri Lanka which reads:

“No person shall propagate war or advocate national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence.”

Therefore, the prohibition of hate speech is equally imperative as is the freedom of expression. It is the right of everyone to be protected from those who preach hatred.

An Indictable crime?

Since it is now established that hate speech and hate crimes are prohibited by international law and Sri Lankan law, it may still be contentious whether extremists who commit such crimes can be arrested.

The Penal Code makes mention of such crimes and makes it indictable. If one wished to look for the specific provision, you only need look at Section 291A of the Penal Code which reads:

“Whoever, with the deliberate intention of wounding the religious feelings of any person, utters any word or makes any sound in the hearing of that person, or makes any gesture in the sight of the person, or places any object in the sight of that person, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.”
Other provisions in the Penal Code under Chapter XV tend to address the offences relating to religion. They prohibit the acts of defiling a place of worship or insulting a religion in a place of worship and even causing a disturbance to a religious assembly.

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Anti-Corruption Day : Journalists on front line of fight against corruption

December 9, 2016

On International Anti-Corruption Day (9 December), Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is highlighting the important role that journalists play in exposing scandals, sometimes at the highest government level, and the grave dangers to which this exposes them.

In countries where it is endemic, corruption is often one of the biggest taboos for journalists and the most dangerous story to cover. Nonetheless, in both rich and poor countries, journalists are usually on the front line of anti-corruption efforts, paying a high price for investigative reporting that helps to prevent corruption from undermining democracy and fuelling human rights violations.

“Wars, political and economic crises and authoritarian excesses are the main factors that favour corruption,” RSF editor-in-chief Virginie Dangles said. “In countries such as Turkey, Eritrea, Somalia, Mexico, Russia, Malaysia and Iran, this curse often choses its victims in the ranks of journalists and citizen journalists. We call for more protection for media and journalists who, by combatting corruption, defend the very foundations of democracy and the rule of law.”

Dangers of covering corruption

Marcos Hernández Bautista, a 38-year-old Mexican journalist working for the Noticias Voz e Imágen newspaper, was gunned down near San Andrés Huaxpaltepec in the state of Oaxaca on 21 January after writing articles that had touched on the “interests of bosses in the region.”

Not all investigative journalists risk their lives, but many of them are exposed to judicial reprisals designed to gag them. Hundreds of Turkish media representatives continued to be prosecuted in 2016 for exposing or referring to alleged corruption by those close to former Prime Minister and now President Erdogan.

Alexander Sokolov, a reporter for the RBC news agency who specialized in investigating large-scale corruption, is now a symbol of the persecution of those who dare to shed light on such abuses in Russia.

After being held for 15 months, he was finally brought before a Moscow court on 9 November on a charge of “organizing a terrorist group” (which is punishable by up to eight years in jail) because he carried out a detailed investigation into the embezzlement of 93 billion roubles (1.27 billion euros) in public funds in the construction of the Vostochny Cosmodrome in eastern Siberia.

The Russian authorities often target overly curious journalists such as Sergei Reznik, who repeatedly exposed corruption by the local elite in the southwestern city of Rostov-on-Don until his arrest in 2014.

Defamation suits rain on journalists who draw attention to conflicts of interest and collusion between the state and private sector. David Natera Febres, the editor of the Correo del Caroni newspaper in Bolívar state, in southeastern Venezuela, was sentenced to four years in prison on a criminal defamation charge on 11 March 2016 for his coverage in 2013 of a case of alleged corruption and extortion involving army officers and the state-owned Ferrominera Orinoco company.

In Angola, journalist Rafael Marques de Morais was given a suspended six-month jail sentence on 28 May 2015 on a criminal libel charge for exposing grave human rights violations and corruption in the diamond mining industry in the northeastern Lundas region.

Just days before the Global Anti-Corruption Conference held in Panama City from 1 to 4 December, Dutch journalist Okke Ornsteinwas arrested at the city’s Tocumen international airport to begin serving the jail sentence he had been given in 2012 in connection with some of his frequent blog posts about corruption in Panama.

Ornstein was sentenced to a total of 20 months in prison (eight months for insult and 12 months for libel) in response to a complaint by Canadian businessman Monte Friesner over a series of posts on one of Ornstein’s blogs, Bananama Republic, about allegedly illegal practices (fraud and money laundering) by Pronto Cash, a company created by Friesner in Panama.

Zulkiflee Anwar Haque, a Malaysian cartoonist better known as Zunar, is facing up to 43 years in prison on nine counts under Malaysia’s Sedition Act for posting nine cartoons on Twitter about alleged corruption within Prime Minister Najib Razak’s government and the high-profile judicial proceedings against opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Like Zunar, Singaporean blogger Roy Ngerng was subjected to judicial persecution by his country’s prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, over a May 2014 blog post accusing the government of mismanaging Singapore’s Central Provident Fund (CPF) for retirees. In many countries in the bottom third of RSF’s World Press Freedom Index, the lack of judicial independence and collusion between government officials, businessmen and judges pose an additional obstacle to investigative reporting.

As Kazakh journalist Lukpan Akhmedyarov put it in an interview in October 2012, when he received the Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism, “The judicial system has become a way of hounding independent news media.”

Whistleblowers who shed light on murky and sometimes illegal practices by leading private-sector corporations are also exposed to judicial reprisals, sometimes more so than journalists.

Such is the case with Antoine Deltour and Raphaël Halet, two former employees of international accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), who received suspended sentences of 12 and 9 months in prison respectively from a Luxembourg court on 29 June for leaking documents revealing how Luxembourg helps multinationals to avoid tax. The court acquitted their co-defendant, journalist Edouard Perrin. All three have appealed.

“The latest Corruption Perceptions Index published by Transparency International and RSF’s 2016 World Press Freedom Index show a degree of correlation between countries with little freedom of information and those with the most corruption,” Dangles added.

“It is not by chance that countries such as Denmark, Finland and Sweden top both indexes while countries such as Eritrea, North Korea and Sudan get the worst rankings from both Transparency International and RSF. Combatting corruption and protecting journalists should be a priority for these countries.”

In Iran, the persecution of journalists is often aimed at concealing governmental powerlessness or equivocation in the fight against corruption. Since the start of the year, at least four journalists have been jailed and four media outlets have been closed and prosecuted for revealing the involvement of senior officials in various cases of bribery and lavish salaries.

Sadra Mohaqeq, who is responsible for coverage of social issues at the daily newspaper Shargh, and Yashar Soltani, the editor of the Memarinews.com online newspaper, were arrested in September in connection with their coverage of Tehran city hall corruption and were then released pending trial. At the same time, access to the Puyesh and 9sobh news websites and the sites of the Mojnews and Bornanews news agencies was temporarily blocked because they had reported corruption allegations or had criticized the inconsistencies of the judicial system’s attempts to combat corruption.

With an estimated one thousand billion dollars spent on bribes every year, corruption is regarded by the United Nations* as one of the leading obstacles to political, economic and social development. All of the world’s countries are affected by corruption.

* The United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 58/4 on 31 October 2003, adopting the Convention against Corruption and designating 9 December as International Anti-Corruption Day in order to raise awareness of corruption and the Convention’s role in combating and preventing it.

Legal action should be taken after investigation against Navy Commander– FMM

 Dec 12, 2016

The Free Media Movement, condemning the attack on journalists by the Navy,including the Navy Commander on the International Human Rights Day (10th December), urges the President to commence a special investigation and take legal actions. The Navy had launched a mission to rescue two foreign ships that were held by the protesting employees of Hambantota, Magampura port and the Navy Commander has attacked the journalists who were reporting the incident, rebuking them using obscene language.

This cannot be considered as a mere incident. The attack was led by the Navy Commander, who is one of the three Commanders of the country. He has chased away the journalists who revealed their identity, beating and scolding them using obscene language. Especially the Navy has targeted a few television reporters including Hiru (Roshan Dilip Kumara), Sirasa (Granvil Ratnayake) who had video cameras. This is a very serious incident. At this moment when the right to information is guaranteed by an Act, it is tragic that these reporters from Hambantoda who were reporting an incident have been treated as terrorists. Even though affirmed to establish a better media culture, such media suppression is a blemish to the whole country.It was revealed not only to the country, but also to the whole world that the Navy Commander’s attempts to suppress media, whose behaviour was even worse than a person with primary knowledge  only. In order to rescue the country from such denounce, the Free Media Movement urges the President Maithreepala Sirisena to hold a special investigation on this incident and implement the law, to do the justice for journalists.

Seetha Ranjanee  - Convener         

Take legal action against Navy Commander

December 12, 2016 by 

Legal action should be taken immediately against the Navy commander who assaulted the employees of Hambanthota Harbour who were engaged in a trade union action demanding they should be made permanent employees of Port Authority and against the move of the government to privatize Hambanthota Harbour and assaulting and using foul language against journalists who were there to cover the event states the JVP.

This was stated at a press conference held by the Member of the Political Bureau of the JVP and its Parliamentarian Sunil Handunneththi and the Member of the Central Committee and Member of North – Central Provincial Council Wasantha Samarasinghe at the JVP head office at Pelawatta yesterday (11th).
Mr. Handunneththi said, “The government deployed Navy personnel to attack employees of Hambanthota Magampura Harbour who were engaged in a just trade union action. The journalists who were at the scene to cover the event too were assaulted ignominiously despite displaying their identity cards. As the JVP, we condemn with disgust this attack on employees and journalists and demand the government to take legal action against the officials and personnel who were involved in the perverse act.

The grievance of the employees was to make their employment permanent; to absorb them to the service of the Port Authority. Employees of all other ports are attached to the Port Authority. However, employees of Hambanthota Harbour have been kept away from this service. These employees have been deceived from the day they have been recruited. It is the previous government that deceived them initially. These employees have been recruited to a private company. As such, they are not considered as employees of the Harbour. In such circumstances we have our doubts whether the plan to sell the harbour existed from the time it was constructed. Even the Harbour Master is not an employee of the harbour. The previous government has deceived 483 employees this way.

We have to consider why these employees had to engage in trade union action. The agitation started with the decision of the economic committee of the government to sell the harbour to a Chinese company. The employees had the doubt about the permanency of their employment. As they were not employees of the harbour they had the doubt whether the company or the country that buys the harbour would consider them as employees of the harbour. It is indeed a very humanist issue.

They engaged in a trade union action so that the Porta Authority would be aware of it. When employees of the SLTB, railways and also university students agitate they do so in a manner to make their institutions aware of their action. The employees of this harbour too carried out such an agitation. However, the government responded with a disgraceful attack.

We say with responsibility that Sri Lanka Ports Authority has prepared a MoU to sign with a Chinese company. According to this MoU first the handing over would be for 100 years and then it would be extended for another 100 years. There is nothing mentioned about what happens to employees of the Harbour. Isn’t it justifiable when these employees take to the streets?

The cabinet paper the Deputy Minister of Ports Nishantha Muthuhettigama presented as the acting Minister, also with the approval of Minister Arjuna Ranatunga, includes many facts about the MoU. It is to be signed depriving the country of all operations, regulations, land ownership and many more of the harbour. According to MoU the Chinese company gets the most of the shares of the Harbour. Sri Lanka Ports authority gets only the rent for the lighthouse. The Port authority will have to be called the ‘Lighthouse Authority’ after signing the agreement. Also, the MoU would be a threat to national security. Also, it is mentioned that there could be industrial agitations. The MoU has not received the approval of the subject minister. According to the MoU the company gets the ownership of lands, containers, gas, livestock, oil tanks, dockyard, ware houses and everything. However, there is nothing mentioned regarding employees. That’s why employees question as to why they have not been mentioned in the MoU. Their grievance is justifiable. These employees do not have any other employment. Do they have to go home after the MoU is signed? The government deployed Navy personnel to attack these employees who put forward their just demands.


Who is the officer who was involved in the deplorable attack? We saw a person with a pair of shorts and a blue t-shirt attacking journalists. He is none other than the Navy Commander Ravindra Wijegunarathna. He is the person who was involved in Rajapaksa son’s recruitment to the Navy, training and promotions. His issue is about his position. Just as he displayed his partiality to Rajapaksas then, now he wants to show his partiality to ‘yahapalana’ regime. What is the right he has to assault journalists even when they show their press identity card? What was the obstruction journalists committed there? The Navy was deployed to eliminate, to attack the employees on strike and to chase them away with force. As journalists showed this act to the country they were attacked. Did they expect to get the ships released by attacking journalists? No, the government showed that it is prepared to attack all those who oppose their selling spree which is their economic plan. The government is preparing to carry out its economic plan by hook or by crook. The attack was not only on the employees and journalists but to warn all those who oppose government’s move to sell resources of the country. They plan to sell harbours, lands, Pulmoddai mineral sands, Phosphate deposit and other resources. This is the first signal that those who oppose moves to such selling would be dealt with. As such, we tell the people in this country to rise up against Ranil – Maithri ‘yahapalana’ administration. We demand the government not to take revenge from the employees but to grant their rights.”

Mr. Wasantha Samarasinghe said, “The government has fallen to the level of passing the ball to others. The employees have been engaging in the trade union action for five days. They agitated at their place of work. According to their appointment letters their probationary period ends on 16.11.2016 and they should be made permanent since then. They were attacked when they asked to be made permanent. Five employees have been hospitalized due to injuries received when they were attacked. We, as a trade union movement, would take the maximum action against this attack. What should be done now is to make the employees permanent.

They are occupying the site even after they were attacked. All affairs of the harbour have been hindered. The Navy has damaged equipment in the harbour. We would like to ask the government and the President whether this is what they mean by ‘good governance’. Previous government deployed the Army and the police to attack workers. The present government deploys the Navy to attack. This government was elected after driving away the previous regime not to carry out such acts. The President should explain this to the people. We demand that the workers in this Harbour should be made permanent. They cannot seek employment in other companies. We demand that they should be absorbed into the Ports authority. Mahinda Rajapaksa’s regime with a 2/3rd majority that suppressed workers using state power was defeated on the road. We demand the government to stop violence and mediate to solve issues of the working masses.”

Can the Navy justify the Hambantota assault? - EDITORIAL

2016-12-13

avy Commander Vice Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne was caught on camera assaulting a journalist assisted by an armed group of Navy personnel on Saturday while they were attempting to disperse a group of demonstrating port workers. The demonstrators are said to have taken control of two foreign ships during their agitation, demanding permanency in their jobs. Since everything that happened including what was said by the people concerned had been electronically-recorded and were seen and heard by the entire country, it would be very difficult for the authorities to justify the attack on the journalist.   

The Navy was seen in action, in TV news bulletins on Saturday, dispersing the demonstrating harbour workers. They were seen encountering a person who did not run away and identified himself as a journalist, that’s it, a fat person in shorts pounces on him followed by a group of Navy personnel. Some apparent filthy words uttered by somebody were suppressed by the television channels with a beep. The entire country was able to see the journalist who did not provoke the Navy personnel or obstruct them from performing their duties being manhandled. What went wrong and where?   

It is true that journalists should be concerned about their safety while attempting to capture the total picture of an incident or an event they are supposed to cover. During a dispersal of a demonstration by the armed forces or the police, they have to expect teargasing or even shooting. But, why should they expect intentional attacks by any party who thus far during the event had showed a friendly attitude?   

The Navy can justify the attack at least within themselves, if they had something to hide. But here they were said to have been deployed to release two foreign ships from the captivity of the demonstrators which was their legitimate duty. Also, they might have compelled even to use force to release the ships, had the demonstrators stood in their way. Had everything been done by them within the perimeters of the law, what aspect of the journalists’ coverage provoked the navy commander? On the other hand, the scene was not prohibited to the journalists. Nor had they disguised themselves as demonstrators. The entire country heard them identifying themselves.   
We are living under a government which boasts of pursuing good governance which includes media freedom as well. In fact, the current government had included people’s right to information in the country’s basic law through the 19th Amendment to the Constitution that was adopted in April last year. Also, the government recently passed the Right to Information Act in order to streamline the implementation of the people’s right to information. The government seems to take a great effort to educate the officials and the general public on the right to information, spending a lot of money from the public coffers. If the authorities are serious and genuine in their efforts to promote the right to information, they cannot justify any attack on the journalists who are implementing what they attempt to promote, the right to information.   

The government is striving to regain the GSP+ concessions from the European Union (EU), giving assurances to the world that it upheld the democratic values. It has to be recalled that the concessions were annulled by the EU in 2010, imposing fifteen conditions including “taking steps to ensure journalists can exercise their professional duties without harassment” to be fulfilled by the government. The attack on the journalists at the Hambantota harbour runs counter to these assurances.   

The government would not be able to absolve itself from taking moral responsibility for the ugly scene staged at the Hambantota Magampura harbour on Saturday. It must be recalled that the gradual accumulation of attacks on the media during the past regime took a horrendous toll on that regime.   

‘Mr. president, give me my extension at least now’

Dec 12, 2016

During the previous regime, many persons became yes-men of its top authority, especially the Rajapaksas, in order to achieve various gains and privileges. That had become common among most top level state officials too. Even after the collapse of that government and the appointment of a new one in its place, nothing much seems to have changed.

The Navy commander intervened in the incident at Hambantota port to prove to what extent he has become a yes-man of the government. Almost at the end of his service and nearing retirement after completing 55 years of age, Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne is trying to prove his loyalty to the government in order to obtain an extension. On July 24, he applied for an extension, but the president is yet to agree to the request.

Meanwhile, various government officials are claiming that the Navy commander’s intervention was required in the port incident, as per international maritime movement regulations and port facilities laws. The director of government information too, tried in a statement to justify the Navy chief’s conduct. It may be true that the Navy commander should have mediated as per international maritime movement regulations, but he should have done so while in uniform, but not in an appearance of a thug in a T-shirt and a short. Also, what he did there was not controlling the protesters or protecting the ships, but showing his muscle power to the journalists.

By showing that he should have made the intervention as the Navy chief, what he is indirectly telling is that, ‘Mr. president, give me my extension at least now.’

Sri Lanka: Caste prejudice & inequalities

We note the reference to caste. The three fundamental common components of race and caste are heredity, hierarchy and endogamy. In a racist society your race is determined by your ancestry and so too your place in the social hierarchy. These are also features of a casteist society.

by Dr. Devanesan Nesiah

The following essay based on a presentation by the author At the Conference on “Caste, Social Justice and Democracy in Sri Lanka” last month

( December 12, 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) There is a wealth of anecdotal evidence of the wide prevalence of caste prejudice and occasional oppression spread across our island, particularly concentrated in some localities, notably in Jaffna, but focused research on the subject is hard to come by.

By and large the subject seems to be taboo in public discussions. Although there are public demonstrations on many other subjects, there seem to be none on caste. Many would hold that it is no longer a problem except possibly in respect of one or two aspects of untouchability such as temple entry and land ownership, and that, too, only in Jaffna. The reality is different. A glance through published matrimonial advertisements would reveal that caste endogamy is required or at least preferred, not only among Hindus but also among Buddhists and even Christians.

Sri Lanka-Caste prejudice & inequalities.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

Left must coalesce into one party!

 Musings on the occasion of the LSSP’s 81st birthday

by Kumar David-December 10, 2016, 6:39 pm 

Next Sunday, 18 December is the eighty-first anniversary of the formation of the LSSP. Wikipedia says five were present at the meeting (NM, Colvin, Leslie, Philip and his brother Robert) but I think there must have been others, perhaps in the shadows, names lost in the mists of time. Nor have I been able to ascertain where they met – must find out. The LSSP has had its golden moments (freedom struggle, Bracegirdle, Hartal) and at times has fallen on rocky roads. Crucially, international conditions were not conducive for a Marxist-inclined or a left social-democratic government to emerge in any democracy of ex British Imperial origin. Arguably the nearest was the post-war Atlee government in the UK itself whose fame rests on the son of a Welsh coal miner and leader of the Labour-left, Aneurin Bevan, who founded the National Health Service and was crafted the post-war welfare state.

NM’s guru was Harold Laski of LSE whose other star pupils were Krishna Menon and Pierre Treadu and who deeply influenced Nehru. Laski’s influence in India is far greater, in line with the deeper intellectual traditions of that country, than in Lanka. Nehru promoted the Harold Laski Institute of Political Science in Ahmadabad in 1954 though he never was a student of Laski – Nehru graduated with honours in science from Trinity College, Cambridge, and then read law in London. Laski is reported to have said of his protégée "NM is the best person to be prime minister of Ceylon", so Ajith Samaranayake entitled his piece when NM passed away "The best prime minister Sri Lanka never had". Of one thing we can be certain, had the LSSP formed a government with NM at its head, this country would not have been drenched in blood the way it has been for thirty years. Laski was a Marxist, Bevan a left social-democrat; both suffered at Atlee’s rightist hand. In practical matters the LSSP leaders were Bevanite and Laskite, intellectually they oriented to Marx and Trotsky; a fitting dichotomy for their times.

Back to the future

In August this year the LSSP Majority Group (MG) which I support, together with like minded tendencies in the CP and Bahu’s wing of the NSSP, held an all day symposium to take stock of prevailing trends and plan how to work together. I had the privilege of making a presentation and was concerned about sectarianism, weakness in left unity and the absurdity of parties that agree 101% on analysis, the current situation, and what needs to be done, but are paralysed by an inability to get together.

MG will commemorate the LSSP 81-st on 15 December; so a brief introduction to MG. It was the outcome of a revolt because Tissa Vitarana so abjectly capitulated to Mahinda Rajapaksa’s shenanigans. Tissa like Vasu wished to hang on to a cabinet post and damn political sense. The lowest point was when Vitarana, Vasu and DEW voted in favour of the 18th Amendment when MR read them the riot act: "I will throw you out of Cabinet". MG was a mutiny against capitulation by the "official" Vitarana minority wing which still remains in control the party machinery. MG’s leaders are: Lal Wijenayake, Secretary, Jayampathy Wickramaratne, MP and constitution drafter and Prof Vijaya Kumar, intellectual and theoretician who I dissuaded from a watery finale some 40 years ago. The MG people are a cut above Vitararna and his retinue in integrity, motivation and intellect. The Dead Left, in every way, is but a dull residue beside the MG, the CP dissidents and the NSSP’s Bahu wing.

Sectarianism or left unity?

Trotsky famously remarked "The world political situation as a whole is chiefly characterized by a historical crisis of the leadership of the proletariat". Had he been living in Lanka at this time and seen the divisions and squabbles among the left parties he would have held his head in horror. The plain fact is that the crisis of the left in Lanka is its division into dozens of fragmented sects each with a General Secretary, a PB, CC, OB, AB, BC, and CD! Some sects don’t have enough members to fill a minibus!

The antidote, let me be perfectly explicit, is not united fronts, common platforms etc but ONE SINGLE PARTY! I most certainly include the JVP, Siritunga’s USP and other left currents in this call. The JVP must be especially blamed as it has the clout to take the lead in left unification but lacks the theoretical confidence to do so. The programme of the single party must emphasise social democratic tasks not early twentieth century "building the revolutionary party" or heroic role of "professional revolutionaries" illusions. This was Marx’s way of moving with real material forces as they change; this is Trotsky’s theory of combined and uneven development. The core principle of the left in Lanka, in the context of the global economic and socio-political reality, must begin by eschewing sectarianism, dissolving irrelevancies and forming one left party, a trend that is emerging in some European countries.

The obstacles are mainly subjective; the chief obstacle is NOT long outdated ideological and theoretical historical baggage BUT personal ambitions. Theoretically, how relevant today is the division between Stalinism and Trotskyism, or this or that international that gives a little pocket money or the occasional air-ticket? No, the problem is this: If say five parties unite there cannot be five General Sectaries, a Politbureau of 45 and a Central Committee big enough to fill Town Hall? This is the main obstacle. These personal ambitions, not outdated ideologies are the true obstacle. In truth there are no theoretical divisions sufficient to justify different left political entities. The other big obstacle is property – headquarters buildings and bank accounts. What irony! What Marxists!

Unification of the European left was delayed till the second generation of leaders died and a third with fresher minds took over – Syriza’s Alexix Tsipras and Pablo Iglesias of Spain’s Podemos are only 42 and 38, respectively. It is true that Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn are in their 70s but they are only symbols of a new political scene; the reality is the youthful profile of the activists. In Lanka, after the current second generation leadership passes away, a third less sectarian crop may, ne hopes emerge. The longevity of Bala Tampoe suggests however that we may have a long wait.

This is not only tongue in cheek humour about my erstwhile comrades; there is a serious side. Another ten years without a generational overturn in the leadership of the "new" left parties will be a calamity. The JVP had a generational overturn a few years ago which has improved its image but its sectarianism, its refusal to candidly discuss it errors of 1971 and 1989-90, and its refusal to rectify a wrong headed attitude to Tamil demands for devolution will always stunt it.

Need for a Programme

In the immediate context unity is necessary to collectively push for completion of constitutional reform, arrive at a solution to the national question and oppose moves to privatise non-loss making enterprises. We must oppose the imposition of an IMF sponsored neo-liberal agenda - neo-liberalism is still not 100% dead. Above all we have to ensure that the aims of the Jan.8th movement of enhancing democracy, opposing fresh attempts to restrict media freedom and fight corruption (corruption is continuing albeit on a reduced scale to raise its head under the new regime). The left, logically, should provided leadership to the Jan. 8th movement but the Dead Left’s total subordination to MR paved the way for civil society to assume leadership. While the CP has been able to largely unite both its groups and appears to be gradually distancing itself from MR, there is no such initiative in the LSSP’s Tissa Group, which has officially aligned itself with GL's Sri Lanka Podujana Pakshaya. The need for the left to take a strong stand on the issues of the day based on the political positions they held in the past is crucial.

However recent developments do not seem to augur well for the future. The present government is under intense pressure from business leaders, bourgeois economists and international bodies to adopt a certain type of economic strategy. There is no counter strategy being put forward by the left; we are giving the bourgeois strategists a walk over. Here is an example of what they are saying; this is a quotation from "renowned economist" and Institute of Policy Studies Chairman Professor Razeen Sally – Daily Mirror Business section 26 July 2016. "So far the government hasn’t come up with a credible plan for reforming the economy whether it be on taxation and expenditure as well as other important issues like freeing up the business climate domestically and liberalising Sri Lanka’s trade and foreign investments". He goes on to complain about "public spending increases, salary increases and more expenditure increases on the way". This is not partisan propaganda but serious bourgeois political-economy; if the left does not like it, it must propose an alternative which it has not formally done.

To be pragmatic one has to be real, that is take the facts on the ground seriously. The private sector, that is domestic capitalism, is not investing. Money is available; banks are not squeezing big and medium size firms; a more capitalist friendly administration than Ranil’s UNP is naïve for Sally and Lanka’s capitalists to dream about. Still political and business uncertainty holds them back. This is fact number 1 and fact number 2 is that foreign investment is not pouring in – not only here but global investment flows have frozen. Trump has damned US investors seeking foreign pasture. Let’s face it domestic and foreign private capital is not powering ahead with investment, job creation and business activity overseas. That is the nature of the times even if Ranil rushes headlong to fulfil Sally’s wish-list.

Consequently the government is faced with the stark option that the state must assume an active and interventionist role. This goes against the mother’s milk of ‘Leave it to the private sector; the private sector is the true engine of growth’ mantras on which Ranil-Malik-Eran-Harsha have been natured. Now they have no option but to concede that things are not going that way. The State, the Administration, leaders (our Lee Kwan Yews and Deng Xio Pings) have no choice but to be pulled by the ear, taken by the scruff, and kicked on the bum into adopting an interventionist economic stance. Then the question is can this government jettison its mother’s milk and turn interventionist? Difficult but not impossible; when their backs are to the wall, as we say in Tamil, "kuthiraiku kundi kanjal vaikalum thinum" (when the going gets tough a horse will even eat straw). Capitalisms crisis is global and an alternative programme is being evolved by a united left.

Local elections: New mixed-member method or old PR method?

Friday, 9 December 2016

I was looking forward to voting in local elections under a new mixed member system. Wearing my ratepayer hat, I was attracted to the idea of electing somebody who would be accountable to my ‘ward’ or my neighbourhood in the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) area where I live. If we apply the provisions in the new election law “Local Authorities Elections (Amendment) Act No. 22 of 2012” to the CMC, about 70% of its Members will be directly elected from 47 designated wards. In the current PR system all Members or Councillors in the CMC are elected at-large to represent the local authority area as whole.

According to news reports, some of the Parties in the Parliament are considering a repeal of the 2012 law so that local elections can be conducted under the old PR system. As a ratepayer I would not be happy with a repeal, particularly because of the accountability part of the new law. However, as a policy analyst, who has had the opportunity to keep track of electoral issues since 2010 or before, I can only see too well the problems with the new law.

The pros and cons of the PR system are well known. What are the pros and cons of the new mixed-member system as applied to local elections? On balance should the government stay with the new law or repeal it to go back to the old PR system? In my opinion, we have been talking for so long about mixed methods. If we finally have a law to implement, let us fix the problems though there are many, and go ahead.

My opinion is based on a review from two perspectives. First the perspective of you and I as rate-payers with our neighbourhood issues, and secondly as citizens of Sri Lanka who should be worried about the larger picture.

A ratepayer perspective

We have some issues regarding sidewalks in our neighbourhood and the administrators at the Colombo Municipal Council have not been helpful. I had little success in finding a Member of the elected body, the Council, who could speak on our behalf.

In the pre-1978 electoral system, a municipality was divided into a number of wards and members were returned in first-past-the –post (FPP) contests in individual wards. After the new constitution of 1978 where the Parliamentary elections were changed to a proportional representation system or a PR system, the PR method was applied for local councils as well and the wards were not relevant anymore.

The new Law gives us a mix of Members – i.e. those who are returned FPP from Constituencies or Wards and those who are returned from Party Lists. The party List Members are included in the Law to make the representation close to the proportion of votes received by each Party. Otherwise, a Party which wins most seats but by less than 50% of votes can get full control of the Council.

Take the case of the city of Colombo. Currently, there are 53 Members in the Council. In the 2011 election, we were presented with a ballot paper with a list of Parties and list of numbers. First you picked a Party. Then you picked three numbers out of the 53+ numbers listed on the ballot paper. Each number presented an individual nominated by the Party. Frankly I don’t even remember the names I selected at that time.

Under the new system, the city would have 47 wards, I learnt. In its nomination paper, a Party has to present one name for each ward. There also has to be a list of additional persons who will be selected to fill additional seat awarded on a PR basis. The campaigning by Constituency candidates would be limited to the Ward in which they are contesting. Typically a Ward will have no more than a few thousand votes. At the voting booth, I will be presented with ballot paper with the names of the candidates for my Ward along with names and symbols of the Parties to which they belong. All I have to do is to put a mark against one name and I am done.

The day after the election, Elections Commission will announce the first-past-the -post winners in each ward. I’d be happy if my candidate of choice had won. I would be curious to know which Party has a majority in the Council and who got elected as a mayor by the Councillors. The devil is in the details of the arithmetic used to determine such matters and implications of the results in the larger political sphere.

The larger picture

One of major issues about the proposed mixed member systems is that the method for allocating the additional seats on a PR basis is opaque and the results unpredictable. The unpredictability is due to the complex arithmetic that goes into the calculation. For CMC, it is estimated that 47 Councillors will be elected FPP from 47 Wards, 14 on PR basis for the votes of the runner-up in FPP contest. For reasons which I will not go into detail here, the method in the 2012 law is best described as a “mixed member parallel with linkage”. It is as complicated as it sounds. In another complication introduced early this year, an additional set of List seats are created as a reservation for women and the allocation of those seats follow a different procedure. For CMC, this probably mean an additional six seats for total of 67 seats. The unnecessary complexity of this prescribed process is clearly a case of our Parliamentarians and the Parliamentary Research Services not doing their job.

In addition to the complexity and opaqueness, the mixed member method in question puts small Parties at a disadvantage. For example, in the 2011 election, the JVP got only one seat in the CMC, but, under the new system they will not win any of the 47 FPP seats leaving only 14 PR seats and another 6 for which they can aspire. Our calculations using 2011 election results to simulate shows that the JVP will not get any PR seats either in Colombo MC or in most other local authorities if the new mixed Member method is applied.

Some argue for the benefits of maintaining a two-party system for stability. Others would argue for increasing opportunities for various groups for representation. In Sri Lanka, the PR system has opened the door for representation of small Parties and independent groups. It will be difficult to close that door, but we have to smart about balancing representation and stability.

MMP alternative

A mixed-member proportional system which has been discussed elsewhere is more transparent and more conducive to representation by small Parties. In 2012, the mixed Member proportional system was not the agenda, because the ruling SLFP coalition probably felt that the complex ‘mixed member parallel but linked’ was better for them. With change of government in 2014, MMP method came to fore and the method under discussion for Parliamentary election today is an MMP method. It is possible to bring in new legislation to have the same MMP method for both Parliamentary and local authority elections.

Enough talk about mixed methods, time

to implement?

1. In the final analysis, for all its imperfections, I feel it is time to apply some form of a mixed member method for the next local government elections. I see at least two possibilities:

2. Simplify the formulas in the present ‘mixed-member parallel but linked’ method. Taking CMC as an example, The 47 FPP seats can be topped with 40% of that number returned proportional to the votes received by runners-up in each Party. Instead of a separate list for women, a zipped list can be used (A zipped list is one where every second or third in the list is to be a woman.) Using a simpler formula will give JVP and other Parties a larger pot of 20 seats from which to seek a PR allocation. Bring in new legislation to introduce a Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) method which would better results for small Parties

I think it is important to get started with mixed member methods at the local level because accountability of a representative is crucial at that level. Parliamentarians don’t need to be accountable at the level or the intensity with which they are operating – i.e. going around distributing goodies like plastic chairs to local ‘Maranadhaara Samitis’. They should spend more time reading the Bills presented to them before enacting them into law. The sorry state of the present “Local Authorities Elections (Amendment) Act No. 22 of 2012” and follow up amendments is testimony to the inadequacies of our legislators and their support systems. 

Civil Society Groups Gathered for a Culture of Peace

The following press communique issued by the Heavenly Culture World Peace Restoration of Light (HWPL)

( December 13, 2016, New Delhi, India, Sri Lanka Guardian)  “No child is born as terrorists.” Mr. Jagjeet Kaul in charge of executes test operations of peace education from Samsara World School emphasized importance of acquired education. He mentioned when students learn how to achieve peace with themselves, family, nature, society and nation, the fundamental causes of war will be eliminated and lead to world peace.

On 10 December voice on institutional expansion of peace education was arose at “Youth and Women’s Conference for Spreading a Culture of Peace”, which was held in New Delhi. Also 200 leaders from youth and women agreed to necessity of implementation of international law for peace and cessation of war to protect innocent sacrifice, and advocate for support of Indian society.

Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light, an international peace organization, hosted this peace conference with co-hosted organizations, Nelson Mandela Centre for peace and conflict resolution and Jamia Millia Islamia University. Participants gathered to present the achievement of HWPL peace education, and campaign supporting Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW) over last two years in New Delhi. Furthermore they discussed to establish future action plan regarding two peace projects.

In her congratulatory speech, Ms. Pratyush Vatsala a principal of Lakshmibai College suggested, people should not only depend on government or United Nation. However, civil society should be main agent to make society where students no more have to learn war or terrorist attacks in their social studies. She emphasized the role of women for peace with saying “There is no more powerful thing than 3.6 billion women shouting for peace with the heart of love as mothers willing to protect their children.”

Apoorva Maheshwari, student from Samsara World School inspired participants of the event with her speech, regarding how peace education changed her thoughts and profoundly helped to improve way of life. She said way to resolve conflict is not violence and loud voice with giving an example of small quarrel between friends. Furthermore, her speech showed hope for future world of peace with mentioning “Education compelled me to wonder that if such a little girl can understand such a big thing about peaceful way, why big countries can’t understand this little thing?”

HWPL designated 126 schools in 8 countries as HWPL Peace Academy and co-compose peace education for operating classes in India, Israel, the Philippines and Kosovo. In India, 15 schools in New Delhi, 18 in Hyderabad, and 16 in Mumbai, total 49 schools are together with HWPL as HWPL Peace Academy. HWPL peace education has differentiation compared to other education with teaching importance of peace, and specific way to achieve peace.

Member of HWPL Peace Advocate Committee, Agatha Susheela Dias in Mumbai presented result of Legislate Peace Campaign, which she continuously takes part lead of after proclamation of DPCW on 14 March. For the past 9 months, through active campaign 80000 signatures were collected from Mumbai education related organizations started centrally from Amcha Ghar School which she founded. She shared the future plan for establishment of Mumbai branch office to expand Legislate Peace Campaign as HWPL Peace Advocate Committee member and said “For peace, I will do whatever with attitude that I can with HWPL.”

DPCW is declared to utilize the function of international law to eliminate fundamental causes of war. 19 international law experts from 16 countries contributed their expertise to draft the declaration with HWPL which also expert from India is part of. More than 7 hundred thousand citizens have joined with signing to support enactment of international law inspired by DPCW after it is declared. DPCW gets attention with statement of nations should minimize any form of warfare even in the name of religion. Also it is spotlighted because of its Article 10 which guarantees public activities to spread culture of peace.