From Jayalalithaa to Trump:Sri Lanka’s missed opportunities and new distractions

 

by Rajan Philips-December 17, 2016, 7:14 pm

Jayalalithaa and Trump in one article title might seem farfetched. Ordinarily so, but we are not living in ordinary times; even though our times are not extraordinary for any particularly heroic reason. The Jayalalithaa-Trump nexus is appropriate to discussing Sri Lanka’s missed opportunities and new distractions. My purpose in discussing Sri Lanka’s missed opportunities vis-a-vis Tamil Nadu is to explore if things could and would be different in the future. As for new distractions, President Sirisena’s reported overtures to American President-elect Trump may create a foreign policy conundrum for Sri Lanka, given Prime Minister Wickremesinghe’s surprising enthusiasm for forging even stronger dependence on infrastructure investments from China than it was under Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Donald Trump’s international forays as president-elect have created waves of amusement and apprehension in global capitals, but Beijing dropped its diplomatic gloves in response to Trump’s tweet (un)diplomacy over Taiwan. On Friday, the Chinese Navy even seized an underwater exploratory drone belonging to the US in the South China seas just to send a signal to Trump. Perhaps it needs a Chinese mandarin to teach the new presidential version of the old Ugly American that there is more to international relations than the business transactions of billionaires and multinationals.

Where will Sri Lanka stand if China and the Trump-led US get into a nasty stand-off in world affairs? Not that either of the two superpowers or going to take too much notice of little Lanka, nor will they have any reason to have the islet get squeezed in their global muscle-flexing. But the question for the Sri Lankan government is whether it is worth investing in opportunistic external relationships to overcome domestic difficulties. Sri Lanka has been down that road before under Mahinda Rajapaksa, whose ill-advised attempts to lobby the US government and establish ties with Israel produced no dividends to the Rajapaksa government or the country, but only a drain on the country’s external finances and the defeat of the Rajapaksas in national elections.

The Rajapaksas lost the battle in Geneva and lost also the presidential war in Sri Lanka, four years after winning the war with the LTTE. The west was happy to see Sri Lankan voters defeat Rajapaksa, just as it was happy to see the LTTE defeated by the Rajapaksa government. In their own ways, the Rajapaksas and the LTTE were overcome by a common egotistical defect. The LTTE misread western support for minority and human rights as a blank cheque for terrorizing political violence. The Rajapaksas took their version of fighting terrorism as licence for overriding minority and human rights and extending their presidential tenure.

Mahinda Rajapaksa was not the first Sri Lankan to miscalculate west’s support in addressing Sri Lanka’s domestic crises. The credit for that must go to, of all people, JR Jayewardene, who early on in his career was given the nick name "Yankee Dick" by Pieter Keuneman. JRJ began his presidency beckoning: "let the robber barons come" - to come and turn Sri Lanka into a den of riches, but not for all the people. The ethnic nuisance became an all-consuming detractor and ten years after trying every manoeuvre imaginable, President Jayewardene gave up on the west and publicly acknowledged that he should have turned to India far sooner, and eventually made the turn to Delhi to negotiate, draft, accept and controversially sign the now infamous Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement of 1987. The Agreement and its offspring, the 13th Amendment, have stood the test of time surviving four, now going five, Sri Lankan presidents after JRJ, and as many prime ministers and governments over thirty years. 13A is still part of the constitution unlike 18A that got overturned within five years of its making, but only in partial fulfillment of the yahapalanaya promises made to the people by the present government in January 2015.

Delhi, Chennai and Colombo

As the chronological table on this page shows, there have been quite a few changes in governments and heads of governments in New Delhi, Chennai and Colombo over the last forty years, more so in Delhi than in the other two. India went through ten prime ministers in the twenty years between 1977 and 1997. But the flurry of changes at the top had no impact on the flexible continuity of India’s constitutional and political system that was put in place soon after independence. The changes were the result of the unravelling of the Indian National Congress which, at the time of independence and until the death of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964 after 17 years as Prime Minister, was virtually synonymous with India. By 1977, Chennai and Tamil Nadu had experienced ten years of DMK government after DMK’s victory and the defeat of the Congress Party in 1967. For half a century since, Tamil Nadu has been the most stable and successful state in India to be governed continuously by a regional party, first the DMK and then alternating with its offshoot, the AIADMK.

The Sri Lankan chronology after 1977 shows stability, but only in appearance, and belying the underlying constitutional chicanery and political turmoil. But to the point of this article, President Jayewardene and the UNP government, for the first few of their 17 years in office, not only courted the west but also made it a point to exult over the defeat of Indira Gandhi and the Congress government in India and celebrate the 1977 victory of the BJP government with Morarji Desai as Prime Minister. The motivation for this intemperance towards a neighbouring country was entirely domestic – to mock at the SLFP that had been claiming exclusive relationship on behalf of Sri Lanka with Indira Gandhi and her Congress government. President Jayewardene had to pay a high price for this unwarranted indiscretion when Indira Gandhi returned as Prime Minister within three years. Although the Agreement that he signed seven years later with Rajiv Gandhi as Prime Minister was more by necessity than by choice, it helped restore some normality in the strained relationship between the two countries. But within a year of the Agreement, Rajiv Gandhi was out of power in Delhi and President Jayewardene went into retirement in Colombo. Their successors in both countries were indifferent at best and hostile at worst to making the Agreement work.

Where was the Tamil Nadu government in all of this? It is fair to say until 1983, the two DMKs and their governments were not overtly supportive of Sri Lankan Tamil separatism. MGR, as Chief Minister, was quite hostile to the TULF whose leadership was closer to the DMK and its leader Karunanidhi. After 1983 and after the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984, MGR became a benefactor to the LTTE, which while it had political consequences was not motivated by any grand political design on MGR’s part. His motivations were mostly idiosyncratic and he found easy camaraderie with the LTTE leader than he would have had with the more professional TULF leaders. Everything changed after MGR’s death in 1987, the IPKF intervention in Sri Lanka, and the LTTE’s assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in during the 1991 election campaign. The shock of the assassination ensured a congress victory in the general election with the veteran Narasimha Rao stepping in to form a stable Congress government that would serve out its full term. That same year in Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa became Chief Minister for the first time, leading the AIADMK to the first of its four electoral victories under her leadership. The 1991-96 years became the years of economic liberalization in India at the national and state levels, led by Manmohan Singh then serving as the Union Finance Minister. Tamil Nadu became one of the three most successful Indian states in economic liberalization and expansion, establishing itself as a regional powerhouse in the auto sector. By and large India and Tamil Nadu significantly reduced their preoccupation with Sri Lanka and its Tamil question during these years.

New Actors on the Scene

Those same years in Sri Lanka present a different story. The economic liberalization that was started more than decade earlier in 1977 was by now plateauing, if not stalling. There was brutal infighting within the UNP government over political succession, and the LTTE kept assassinating both Sinhalese and Tamil political leaders in deadly symmetry. Corruption, cronyism and political thuggery became the norm and after seventeen years the people were ready to throw the UNP out of power lock, stock and barrel. The victory of Chandrika Kumaratunga and the People’s Alliance were as much a watershed event in the 1990s as the 1956 MEP alliance’s victory was a watershed in the 1950s. On the Tamil question, President Kumaratunga began new peace and constitutional initiatives, but in a major difference with the past, these initiatives had a more internal emphasis to them than external inspirations or pressures. New external facilitators, primarily Norway, got involved, but nothing could succeed without LTTE’s sincere commitment. Even the more elaborate peace process launched by Ranil Wickremesinghe with Norway’s full involvement, in 2002-2004, while in an uneasy cohabitation with President Kumaratunga, ended in failure for the same reason.

India became a key player but without direct involvement in these exercises. Establishing contacts and direct connections with the Tamil Nadu government was not in anybody’s radar in Sri Lanka. As I speculated last week there was an opportunity to establish these connections with Jayalalithaa when she was Chief Minister – first during the first two years of the Kumaratunga’s first term (1994-1996), and later more fully when Jayalalithaa’s second term (2001-2006) coincided with Kumaratunga’s second term (2000-2005) and the entire duration of the Wickremesinghe peace process (2002-2004). Even if these connections had been made, they would not have mattered much after 2005 when the efforts and initiatives of both Kumaratunga and Wickremesinghe were nullified by the results (and their aftermaths) of the 2005 presidential election with the LTTE leader playing a direct hand in it.

A majority of the leaders in the chronological table, with the exception of Prime Minister Modi, President Sirisena, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and the new Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Panneerselvam, are now dead and the others are out of power. The vexed Sri Lankan national question and its Indian implications have not disappeared, although they are manifesting themselves differently from what they were at any time after 1977. It is possible to be optimistic that the old problems are more amenable to a solution than they had ever been before. A necessary, but not sufficient, condition for success is for the current actors to think and act differently than any and all of their predecessors. Reaching out to the new American president to bail out Sri Lanka in Geneva without making any changes at home is not going to produce any worthwhile outcome. Equally, rather than countenancing the breaking of coconuts to divine a desired outcome in a US election, Sri Lankan Tamil political leaders must deal with their southern counterparts to find a just and fair solution to the Tamil problem.

Eelam Tamil journalists honoured by IATAJ

17 Dec  2016

Seven Tamil journalists were honoured by the International Association of Tamil Journalists at an event held in memory of Eelam Tamil journalists that were assassinated or killed by Sri Lankan state forces.

The seven journalists were given awards for their services to journalism in the Tamil homeland and their courage and commitment despite threats and militarisation.

The honoured journalists were:

Srignaneswaran Ramanathan, editor of the Trincomalee-based Malaimurasu;

Selvaraja Rajasegar, editor of Maattram;

Kamalanathan Hamsanan;

Jeyarajah Thurairaja (Jeraa);

Uthayarasa Shalin;

Arumugarasa Sabeswaran, assistant editor of Thinakkural Jaffna;

Vigneswaran Kajeepan.

The awards were collected by family members of the journalists or UK-based media colleagues on their behalf.

10 dead, several injured in bus and van collision in Jaffna

December 17, 2016 

At least 10 persons were killed and several others wounded following an accident involving a van and a bus in Chavakachcheri, Jaffna.

 Police said that a SLTB bus traveling from Jaffna to Vavuniya had collided head-on with a van traveling from Colombo to Jaffna at around 1.00pm today (17). 

  The deceased persons include four women and six males.

 Several passengers were admitted to the Chavakachcheri Hospital following the incident while 6 of them were transferred to the Jaffna Hospital. 

 UPDATE: The death toll from the accident climbed to 11 after one of the three patients in critical condition succumbed to injuries. 

No need hydro power from exploited water-Environmental organizations

Dec 17, 2016

The representatives of all environmental organizations scattered island wide  as an entity had urged the related governmental authorities to shield all rain forests and lakes in the Wilpattu,Sinharaja forest regions by having a  peaceful protest walk in the vicinity of the Vihara Maha Devi park Colombo on the 17th instant.

The  representatives of all  environmental organizations have also urged the government  to prevent the extermination and annihilation that is caused to areas around the Wilpattu forest by constructing small power projects.

 

Environmentalist Pubudu Weeraratne added these views at the media briefing.held .

 

 

photos - nishantha priyadarshana

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Government to enhance its good governance : Cabinet re shuffle in the offing !

(Lanka-e-News -17.Dec.2016, 11.30PM)  It  is becoming increasingly clear that the expectations of the masses which campaigned  with commitment to  overthrow the Rajapakse regime , and to appoint a president and a  government of good governance are not being fulfilled  , and the popularity of the  two chiefs of the consensual government are on the decline day by day. Hence the  government has decided to   take measures to enhance the image of the good governance , based on reports reaching Lanka e news inside information division. 

Accordingly , to bring about the welcome change,  the government has organized a massive propaganda program along with   a celebration  to mark the  completion of  its  two years in power on 8th January  2017 , alongside  the commencement of the proposed ‘ investment zone’ jointly with the Chinese government in Hambantota . Simultaneously , the government ‘s attention has been drawn to a  Cabinet re shuffle with a view to somehow win back  the pro government  forces that are currently alienating themselves from good governance government .

Four ministers who have come in for heavy flak of the pro  good governance forces are to be replaced via  the re shuffle , and the government through that is hoping  to please  and fulfill the aspirations of the people’s forces that installed good governance in power.

Among the four ministers who would be affected by the re shuffle is a minister against whom the civil organization leaders have written five times to the president and the prime minister . These four ministers have incurred the displeasure of the  president and P.M. , and now what remains is  their joint decision only.

If the portfolios of  four  ministers are to be withdrawn or changed , the new ministers replacing them or  four other ministers taking over their portfolios  have  to be done promptly . In that case about ten changes are likely to  take place in the cabinet reshuffle.

It is the view of the neutral non partisan  advisors that if the president does not accept the responsibility for the ministers ( henchmen of the president) who are  engaging in scathing criticisms against the UNP which is the more powerful constituent of the consensual government , and does not silence them, it  will be an index that those ministers  have indulged in those denunciations with the blessings and on the advice of the president . Besides , if this cabinet re shuffle is obstructed by this group  ,and it is postponed , it is the good governance government that will lose its popularity further among the pro good governance masses.

Meanwhile , a new  propaganda machinery  that is supportive of   the  UNP leader is  to be launched by Arjun Aloysius early next year. That powerful media chain will comprise six newspapers, three television stations and three broadcasting stations . To begin with , there will be a Sinhala newspaper publication   followed by the English newspaper ,and finally the Tamil newspaper.  

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by     (2016-12-17 22:37:32)

From kakistocracy to yahapalanaya

by Sanjana Hattotuwa-December 17, 2016, 6:42 pm 

 

A conversation with a close friend visiting Sri Lanka last week was an opportunity to reflect on the relative merits of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration, nearly two years after gaining power. We met in the wake of the incident in Hambantota where the Navy Commander, on Human Rights Day, verbally abused a journalist and then proceeded to assault him. Unlike incidents in the North and East, where equal if not far more brutal methods of quelling dissent and bearing witness continue unabated even post-war, this episode went viral over social media and was well covered in the mainstream electronic and print media. Responses to it are revealing.

The PM’s initial response was that the journalist went to the wrong Police Station to complain about the incident. An investigation into the behaviour of the Navy Commander was initiated and a report handed over the PM. Nothing by way of reprimand or disciplinary action resulted out of it. Instead, the Navy Commander was praised by the government and feted by the PM for ending blockade of the Hambantota Port. The Director General of Information said that the central issue was around the violation of media ethics. In a strangely worded press release, though condemning the brutish Navy Commander, the Director General strongly suggested that the journalist was somehow more to blame. The Deputy Minister of Media condemned the attack on the journalist and the foul language used by the Navy Commander, noting that it ran counter to the mandate given by the people to the government. Erstwhile Army Commander and now Government MP Sarath Fonseka was reported in the media stating that "everything had happened in an acceptable manner" and that the Navy Commander had merely "pushed [the journalist] away from the security circle". There is no comment from the President on the incident to date.

Though much can be taken from this inchoate spectrum of responses, there is a simpler question to ask. If a former Army Commander, now an MP in Government, is wilfully blind to violence of word and deed, in the full glare of media in the South, can he and by extension, this government led by a President who so openly sides with the military, be expected to deliver on promises around accountability? The incident became, unsurprisingly, a platform for the Rajapaksa’s to pontificate and the JO to agitate. Many flagged how the military was used in Rathupaswala against citizens agitating for clean water. Few if any, however, openly drew parallels between behaviour now rewarded by Prime Ministerial commendation and the impunity with which the military conducted operations in the North and East, out of sight, out of mind. It is a sobering reflection of the power the military machinery continues to wield, and how before what will be a historic year for political reform, the government will be entirely unconvinced of openly disciplining bullies and brutes in uniform.

In early 2015, Sri Lanka emerged from ten years of kakistocracy, or rule by the worst possible people, to what was hoped would be a government that restored the faith in and practice of democracy. That heady optimism was entirely misplaced, and we knew it then. What continues to surprise is the degree to which that early promise keeps being reneged. A pragmatic assessment would be to accept that negotiating the military, the various nefarious deals that glue a coalition government, the sundry interests of those in the coalition including around political aspirations to higher office, the inherited secrets of the former regime including around the end of war, the monumental debt and its repayment, a West full of obsequious praise yet short on funding and China, close to the old regime and with a heavy footprint around the country, requires government to stay the course and ignore any higher ideals. The plaintive cries of civil society are a headache for those in power, but nothing yet another visiting American diplomat full of praise, another military exercise with Navy SEALs, another tender with China, another international bi-lateral trade agreement, news of a new concessionary loan by the World Bank, some non-committal reference to the Volkswagen factory, the imminent launch of Google Loon with free Wi-Fi for all or a good innings by the Sri Lankan cricket team can’t fix. Sri Lankans dwell deeply on daily matters, but over the longer term, are perfectly happy to accept what sporadically, they rave and rant against. This is well-known, and abused by government. Systemic reform won’t be the result of yahapalanaya as entrenched in government writ large, but the spirit of yahapalanaya appropriated by singular individuals in the State machinery, civil society and a demographic whose votes placed this government in power. This will take time.

Meanwhile, appreciating what is overall a progressive bent in politics, despite what appears to be overwhelming evidence to the contrary, requires the assessment of what we endure today with what we fought against just two years ago at around the same time. The tension at the time of the stakes around the Presidential election, and how much of effort was put into entirely organic, non-hierarchical, social media powered structures that creatively adapted to attacks, challenges and opportunities is now already faded from memory. The Rajapaksa’s were a cancer, and the rot of their nepotism, corruption and violence, from Temple Trees to everything we touched, saw, read or experienced, had reached a point where even those within the regime and yet biologically removed from the first family saw an uncertain political future, where constant veneration only ever resulted in a limited theatre for parochial gain and corruption. We are right to constantly hold this government up to a higher standard, set not by us, but by yahapalanaya’s founding principles as noted in Sirisena’s Presidential election manifesto. It is not necessary to always remind readers of what we suffered from in the recent past, and how different a country it is today, warts and all. It is vital though that in our criticism, we also steer well away from efforts at appropriating our intent, words and action by those from the old regime, who through utterly false equivalence deviously delivered, suggest what is wrong today is no different to what they were blamed for doing.

The Director General of Information, as wrong as I believe he was in his assertion that the journalist was himself to blame for the assault by the Navy Commander, organised a public meeting to discuss the incident. Anyone with an opinion on the matter was invited to attend, and the meeting was held at the Media Ministry premises. He was openly taken to task. Journalists openly expressed their disgust, disappointment and anger, including through personally identifiable social media accounts. Protests were held across the country. The incident and the various responses to it became a front-page news story. None of this could have been even remotely dreamt of just over two years ago.

The challenge today is not just to vehemently oppose, decry and condemn excesses of power. It is to constantly engage with government, and for those in power the realisation, tough as it is, that some of the most vocal critics outside Parliament may in fact be those most interested in protecting yahapalanaya’s democratic legacy. Negotiating the complex, constantly morphing terrain that frames this tension between being inside and outside government will define the year ahead. Success, seen as the establishment of a political culture that is more democratic than what we enjoy even today, will rely on the imagination of those who will engage with this tension, in turn requiring humility, courage, imagination and wit in far more measure than we see today, from everyone concerned.

The rat, the hole and Sri Lankan politics

Featured image courtesy Daily Nation

FARWEEZ IMAMUDEEN on 12/17/2016

6.15 pm. Oozing dark orange and purplish hues into the far horizon, the sun had begun to recede behind the hills of Kandy, like a tired giant. It’s this time I look forward to on a working day.

After a cold shower I settled down on the couch with my hot cup of ginger coffee to read the new book I purchased – Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence. Hardly had I reached the end of the first paragraph, when I heard a piercing shriek. I’ve heard it before. It was my wife. Flinging the book aside, I sprang from the couch and dashed towards the pantry. She was already sprinting towards me, shaking the ends of her dress, as though some vicious creature was clinging on to it.

Before I could say anything, she yelled,

“The rat, THE RAT! It jumped on me!”

“What?! Where?”

“It was in the cupboard… Ugh!”

“OK, where is it now?”

“How do I know? I didn’t even see where it went!”

The third one in two weeks. It was only a few days ago we got rid of the last one. Perhaps there were more than one. Whatever the case might be, my quiet evening was lost. Once again we had to go through the lengthy ritual of luring this destroyer of pleasures to its bait. But the wait, it ruins your life.

The dreadful knowledge that there is a rat sharing your living space puts you on high alert. You suddenly become paranoid, constantly checking that the doors are firmly shut; and as you enter the rat’s dominion, your reflexes instantly make you reach for the light switch; once inside, you tread cautiously, as though there are landmines hidden beneath the floor. You prowl watchfully, anticipating a guerilla attack any moment.

I got to work. Setting the trap carefully, I placed a piece of banana on it. It’s one of those traps that catches the rat alive – these traps save the neck jammed, eye popping out, blood spurting, disgusting scenes, that are caused by the snappy ones. My mother said they love roasted coconut, but it never worked for the last two. Banana did; especially koli kuttu with a pinch of rat poison.

After leaving the trap under the table, where they usually lurk, we waited. No sooner did I wake up the next morning, than I darted off to check on my catch. The feeling is similar to the one you have during the last ball of a nail biting cricket match, where a boundary is must for victory. First there is the expectation, then the anticipation, and finally the results, and that’s when you either leap to your feet, punching the air with a violent blow, or slump back on your couch utterly dejected. Fingers crossed I knelt down. It was truly an accomplished feeling. The protagonist was lying sideways inside the trap, mouth stiff and slightly opened, as though in a final desperate attempt it had used every single fiber of its body to clutch onto the leaving soul. Poor devil. It had devoured the whole poisoned banana. I took it out and gave it a proper burial. The least I could do to an antagonist.

A week later I was at work, and my phone started to ring. It was my wife.

“Yes, darling.”

“Farweez, there is another rat in the pantry!”

The fourth one in three weeks. This was becoming a routine affair now. On my way home I contemplated a permanent solution. “We can’t go on like this”, I kept repeating to myself, like a madman, “this has got to stop”, and it was then that it struck me.

“What’s the point of killing the rats without finding the cause?” I thought, “Where are these rats coming from?”

So this time I ransacked the whole house. The door that was leading to our back yard, the windows, the sinkholes, the walls; I found chocolate wrappers, banana peels, my daughter’s teether, two passport size photographs, but not the hole. Finally, as I climbed up the window pane, there it was; the chewed mesh. A few weeks ago one of the rats had chewed through the cloth mesh to get into the house, and the rest was history.

The next day I wrenched off the half eaten mesh, and in its place put up an impenetrable steel wire mesh. The hole was repaired. The cause successfully dispelled.

It has been 6 months now, and we are yet to see another rat inside our house.

Now, what has this got to do with Sri Lankan politics? Apparently everything.

Albert Einstein said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result”

I should admit that I was pretty close to it.

Never mind how many times we keep disposing the rats among our politicians, new ones continue to sneak in. Some of them donned in suits, some of them in white national kits, but rats remain rats. They destroy our livelihoods, squander our income and food, and run amok in the country, training their young to do the same. They leave us with no peace.

However we still seem to be oblivious to the fact that, no matter how many times we rid ourselves of the rats, new ones will keep slipping through, as long as the hole remains open; the hole of mass political ignorance.

To build a new, sustainable and better future this hole needs to be shut by the strong steel wire mesh of education; an education that will make an impenetrable shield over dogmatic thought, blind consumption of information, destructive passions, and narcissism. And then, when the rats are no more, we can begin to talk about better living.

Moral of the story: Don’t stop with kicking the rats out. Find the hole and fix it.

The SAARC Cultural Centre Takes A Long Break

By Darshanie Ratnawalli –December 18, 2016

Darshanie Ratnawalli

The SAARC Cultural Centre takes a long break: Some clues to inertia under Wasantha Kotuwella

In January 2016, just over a year since acceding to power, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe publicly disparaged the SAARC Cultural Centre (SCC), Colombo. “We talk about the SAARC Cultural Centre in Colombo. However, in comparison to what you have done for the promotion of literature, they have done nothing. I spoke to the SAARC officials there. They have hardly done anything for culture or literature. However the SAARC Cultural Centre should be for the people, not for the official,” the PM said comparing SCC unfavourably with the Galle Literary Festival organizers.

In the audience, listening with pleasant faced interest to the PM’s remarks was the SCC Director, the dashing and popular actor Wasantha Kotuwella. At that time, just seven months since his June 2015 appointment by the PM’s Office, Kotuwella could afford to be pleasant faced. The PM couldn’t possibly be including his seven month term in the ‘do nothing’ period. That could only belong to G.L.W. Samarasinghe, who had held the sinecure (salaried around Rs 150,000 according to sources) from 2010 to 2015 as the SCC founding Director.

Sounding Defensive

Stung to the quick, Samarasinghe, a retired senior officer of the SL Administrative Service wrote an article to Colombo Telegraph, detailing all he had done to justify SCC’s raison d’être of promoting South Asian culture and literature. However, it was not an entirely satisfactory article. To some it may have sounded defensive and weak. Samarasinghe’s list did not contain anything that matched up even remotely to the hotness of the GLF. While one knew that the latter owed a great deal to lucrative commercial sponsorships and partnerships, whereas the SCC had to manage with funding from the SAARC States, some of whom hadn’t even paid their membership fees in years- one nevertheless couldn’t help hoping for some hot stuff from Wasantha Kotuwella viz-a-viz G.L.W. Samarasinghe.

Now at the end of 2016, the hot stuff hasn’t been delivered. Compared to Samarasinghe’s annual lists of programmes, Kotuwella’s list for 2016, the first full year he has spent in office, looks unusually lean.

A lean time

Sounding quite proud, G.L.W. Samarasinghe had written in his article, “An annual research programme under a designated theme has been conducted by the SAARC Cultural Centre since 2011 and eight research proposals were selected every year from among SAARC Member States and research grants awarded to South Asian researchers and scholars to carry out a project. By the end of 2015, 21 research projects and their reports have been completed and received by the SAARC Cultural Centre. Steps have been taken to publish these research reports and eight research reports are currently in print”.

Kotuwella hasn’t been able to continue this. Under his watch, 2016 stands out as .the only year to be bereft since 2011 of some gravitas producing topic of South Asian relevance such as ‘Diminishing cultures in South Asia’ (SCC Research Project-2011), ‘Diasporic Cultures of South Asia’ (SCC Research Project-2012), ‘Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Cultural Expressions in South Asia’ (SCC Research Project-2013/14), ‘Cultural Heritage Tourism and Sustainable Development’ (SCC Research Project 2014/15).

Nor has Kotuwella been able to organize a single research conference or seminar in 2016 or during his half of 2015. During his watch, 2016 remains the only year since inception that SCC has failed to become a player in the vibrant scholastic dialogues of South Asia. The last display of such academic dynamism – SAARC Seminar on Cultural Dynamics in National Harmony – was given by the SCC in May 2015, just before Kotuwella’s appointment. It seems a pity to break SCC’s habit of acting as a SAARC think tank by bringing scholarly minds of the region to bear on topical cultural issues of South Asia. Even in their inaugural year-2010, the infant SCC had organized ‘Seminar on Rituals, Ethics and Social Stability in the SAARC Region’. In 2011 there had been two symposia, ‘Shared Heritage of Sculpture and Decorative Arts in South Asia’ and ‘Folk Dances in South Asia’ held in Colombo and Bangladesh respectively. 2012 had featured the SAARC International Conference on ‘Archaeology of Buddhism: Recent Discoveries in South Asia’. In August 2013 they had held the SAARC Workshop on World Heritage Sites, followed by the SAARC International Conference on Development of Archives in South Asia in December. In 2014, the SCC had organized SAARC Capacity Building Workshop on preparation of proposals of new sites for inclusion in the UNESCO’s World Heritage list as well as the Conference on Development of South Asian Museums.

Under Kotuwella, SCC’s publication output for 2016 is a lone newsletter. This presents an odd contrast to the SCC output during the Samarasinghe years. According to the SCC website, 2014- Samarasinghe’s last full year in office – produced two books of abstracts, one book of contemporary poems from the SAARC region, one book of contemporary short stories from the SAARC region, one research paper, Volume 5 of the SCC annual academic journal and three newsletters.

In 2013, the SCC output comprised two books of abstracts, one book of contemporary short stories from the SAARC region, one book of contemporary poems from the region, Volume 4 of the SCC annual journal and four newsletters. In 2012, SCC has produced one book of abstracts, one book of contemporary short stories, one book of poems, one research conference report, Volume 3 of the annual academic journal and four newsletters. In 2011 one symposium report, one conference report, Volume 2 of the annual journal and four newsletters represented the publication output, while during 2010, the new SCC had produced one seminar report and the maiden volume of the annual academic journal. During his last half year in office, 2015, the Samarasinghe contribution to the SCC publications toll has been one book of abstracts and one research paper.

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MP Ranjan officially denied Parliament Meeting Allowance

Sat Dec 17, 

It is reported that Gampaha district United National Party Parliament member Ranjan Ramanayaka has officially denied the increased Parliament Meeting Allowance which is Rs. 2500.00 given to all the members of the parliament.

This allowance which was earlier Rs. 500.00 was increased up to Rs. 2,500.00 recently with the approval of the parliament.

Forwarding a letter to the Speaker of the parliament Mr. Ramanayaka said that he has refused to obtain the increment accordingly.

Meanwhile he has further denied to receive the Office Allowance which is Rs. 100,000.00 approved by the parliament recently with affect from next year.  It is reported that both letters were sent to the Speaker of the Parliament last week.

‘Major General Kamal Gunaratne seized me by the neck and assaulted me while threatening to break all my bones’

-16 years old D.S. student lodges complaint with Cinnamon gardens police

(Lanka-e-News -17.Dec.2016, 11.30PM) The student who was assaulted and threatened with death by retired major general Kamal Gunaratne last Wednesday in front of D.S Senanayake College ,Colombo, immediately after answering the final question paper of the GCE O/L exam which he was sitting , had lodged a complaint with the Cinnamon Gardens police.

Earlier on the assailant had made a complaint to the Cinnamon Gardens police that the victim is a member of a group of extortionists , and that complaint was scheduled for inquiry today. Since four more students were implicated in the complaint , all those students also  appeared at the police station.

When the student who was attacked by Kamal Gunaratne and his mother visited the police station and were making  the complaint regarding the attack and the murder threat , because a group of the army intelligence division arrived and exerted pressure , the police had at first been reluctant to record the complaint.

When the police questioned from the mother and child why the complaint was not made when the incident happened  as far back as last Wednesday ? The complainant had explained , since the victim was sitting the GCE exam, and he had to focus on that  which is a priority ,  making the complaint was delayed  until the exam was over today. 

Finally , the complaint No. CIB 2 -345/154 of the student was recorded under ‘miscellaneous complaints’.

On the 14 th of December (Wednesday) , when the GCE O/L exam was in progress, during the recess , Kamal Gunaratne who arrived had seized the victim by the neck and yelled out  ‘You better know who I am. I shall break your bones.’ A School teacher who appeared on the scene had told Gunaratne , that the victim has to answer a question paper in a little while ,and has saved the child.  The victim thereafter could not answer the paper well because of the fear psychosis that gripped him , and the traumatic experience  , in the complaint it is mentioned. 

The victim had also mentioned that later on , he came to know a child who is a relative of Gunaratne has made a complaint , but the victim had nothing to do with that incident though he learnt that the  child who is Gunaratne’s relative had been involved in it.

Meanwhile the students who appeared at the police station stated , the complaint made by Gunaratne’s relative (student) against them are false , and that can be verified if there are CCTV cameras around the school, and if  those tapes are examined the true picture can be unraveled.  The students had also in their statement mentioned  , because they were asked by the police to come to the station today , they were in mortal fear , and they faced today’s exam in  that frightened  frame of mind. 

The victim and the other students told the police , there were a number of eye witnesses who would testify to the attack launched on the victim by the retired major general.  

Based on reports reaching Lanka e news , the other parents who witnessed the assault are ready to testify. They say , if they are to keep silent , the officers of the forces would fasten the ‘ war hero’ label , and attack the other children too with impunity , and even their young daughters will not be safe at home .

A high rung army officer asserts  Military court should try Major General over his hooliganism 

This ruffian Kamal Gunaratne retired on 5 th September 2016.  At the trial of retired General Sarath Fonseka it was revealed by the military court the disciplinary code  of the army is applicable to a retired officer until six months have elapsed after retirement . Hence, Kamal Gunaratne who behaved like a ruffian by attacking a 16 year old student and threatening him disrespecting the code of discipline and bringing disrepute on the army  shall be compulsorily hauled up before the military court , a high rung army officer disclosed to Lanka e news.

The same high rung officer went on to question ,  if an army commander who commanded the entire army and won the war can be hauled up before the military court , why should n’t an ordinary Brigadier who commanded a small group be hauled up before the military court ? If punitive action is not taken , more army officers would take the law into the hands while claiming  they took part in the war , and behave like mad dogs in the street , with the result the entire army can be disgraced beyond measure .

It is worthy of mention the father of the victim who was manhandled and attacked by this brute of an army officer , only  recently  died following kidney failure, and it is the poor victim’s mother who donated the kidney to his father . Consequently she is still under medical supervision 

Footnote :
Len Is informed that there are photographs and video tapes regarding this attack , but out of fear of consequences those are not being put out . However , if there is anybody  in possession of those , please send them to our e mail address info@lankaenews.com or Viber telephone No. 0044 7400 927 826. We shall treat them as confidential so that none would get to know the details of the sender. 

Connected report :
‘Nandikadal hero’ shows his ‘heroic’ colors : assaults 16 years old GCE student sitting the exam and threatens him with death..!

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by     (2016-12-17 22:31:02)

Two nabbed with heroin worth Rs 1.5 million



December 17, 2016

Two suspects have been arrested by Dummalasuriya Police for the possession of heroin worth nearly Rs 1.5 million, which was meant to be sent to Qatar. 

 A van used to transport the drugs from Jampata Street in Kotahena to Dummalasuriya has also been taken into police custody. 

The drugs were meant to be shipped to Qatar.

 Dummalasuriya Police is conducting further investigations.  

UNP MP doesn’t want tax files open for his associates

December 17, 2016 by

It is reported that a complaint has been received by the Department of Inland Revenue from its Ratnapura office stating that UNP Parliamentarian A.A. Wijethunga has threatened an official of that office stating not to open tax files for his associates.

These days officials in provincial offices of the Department of Inland Revenue are preparing new files to levy taxes. UNP Ratnapura Parliamentarian A.A. Wijethunga is obstructing the officials by threatening them stating certain businessmen are his associates and no tax files should be open regarding them.
When Parliamentarian A.A. Wijethunga was asked regarding this complaint he had said he advised an official in the office by phone not to levy unfair taxes form innocent businessmen.
Source: ‘Ravaya’

Govt. Looks To Reassure Shipping Lines

Hambantota Clash

by Ashanthi Warunasuiya -Saturday, December 17, 2016

• Protesters cause security concerns 
• FMM condemn attack on journalist
• Navy instructed to open camp near Hambantota port

Navy Commander assualting a journalist

The government last week looked to reassure shipping lines calling in at the Hambantota port after a protest by employees led to them virtually taking hostage of a foreign ship before the Navy moved in and set it free.

The government had reached an agreement with China Merchants Port Holdings on operating the Hambantota port.

However temporary employees at the port objected to the agreement, raising fears they will lose their jobs when the new management takes over.

The protesters refused to allow ships to enter or leave the port causing a security concern for the ships transporting vehicles to the port.

Ports Minister Arjuna Ranatunga said that over 90% of the protestors belonged to the infamous “Nil Balakaya” group which was linked to opposition Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa.

The Minister said that legal action will be taken against the protesters who had damaged property at the port during the protest.

He also said that the actions of the protesters had also led to several shipping companies refusing to do future business with the Hambantota port.

The Minister said operations at the harbour were now back to normal.

Meanwhile, opposition Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa said that the people of Hambantota were protesting for a fair reason.

Rajapaksa said that under their administration all 483 employees were to be given jobs.

The agreement between the government and the Chinese company was entered into as a Public Private Partnership to re-develop the Hambantota port. Accordingly, the Chinese firm would be investing USD 11.2 Million for the re-development of the port.

Out of the investment, USD 5 Million will be paid as security as per the contract. After the scheduled evaluation process, the agreement will be signed before January 08.

However, Minister Arjuna Ranatunga was not present when the agreement was reached between the Chinese company and the government.

According to sources he had refused to be present at the occasion due to a dispute between him and the administration regarding the Chinese firm, as he had preferred to hand the contract over to a different company.Deputy Minister Nishantha Muthuhettigama has also submitted a cabinet paper pointing out several issues in handing over the control of the port to a Chinese firm.

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Parliamentarian Bimal Ratnayake said that when talking about the history of the Hambantota port, it was the JVP who demanded that there should be a port in Hambantota.

In the end the Rajapaksas were also compelled to construct the port. But what they did was steal from the port.

“Under the new government, nothing much has been done to rebuild this port except selling it to China. We are strongly against this move. We have criticisms about the construction of an unnecessary Airport in Mattala and an unnecessary sports stadium in Suriyawewa. But the Hambantota port is essential to the country. What went wrong was the corrupt conduct of its management. Now it has been made worse by the current administration. This is a sale of a national resource. This contract is effective for 190 years. Even the British had acquired Hong Kong from the Chinese for 150 years. If China can develop this port, why can’t our government do the same? Ships do not come to a harbour by checking out the ownership. Apart from that, there are many conditions that have been imposed upon Sri Lanka by this contract. According to the Government this contract is worth USD One Billion. But the government is also prepared to spend 970 Million Dollars to construct a railroad in Habarana, Kurunegala. What country would sell a port to build a railroad? We will not let the government get away with this. We intend to protest as much as we can to stop this.”

However, UNP Parliamentarian Mujibar Rahman said that even though the government is compelled to run the port, in its current condition they are not able to obtain enough revenue even to cover the costs.

“There is no use of keeping it idle. We also have to pay back a huge sum as instalments of interest for the loans that had been taken for this port. At the end, the entire burden is placed upon the general public. It is because of these unnecessary expenses we have been forced to increase taxes. Instead we have decided to enter into an agreement with China to find a way to repay the debts and to get some use out of the port. The opposition is making baseless accusations. It was them who sold the Port City to China and sold the Army HQ land to Shangri-La Hotel. “

During the past week, workers at the Hambantota port took various actions to object to the government’s decision. But Minister Ranatunga said that the conduct of the workers in taking a merchant vessel hostage has made the international community to name Hambantota port as a ‘hazardous zone.’

Expressing his views further, the Minister said “The international community is viewing this as an act of piracy. This is harmful for the reputation of the country. However, we have decided to carry on with the work at the port as usual.”

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe meanwhile said the Navy was last week instructed to open a Navy camp near the Hambantota port.

The Prime Minister said this after meeting the Navy Commander last week. The Navy Commander submitted a report on the recent incident at the Hambantota port to the Prime Minister at Temple Trees.

Speaking to the media later, the Prime Minister said that the Chinese company, with which Sri Lanka is to sign an agreement on operating the port, had requested that a Navy camp be open near the port for security reasons.

The Prime Minister also said that the port was a high security zone and a journalist had entered the premises without proper clearance.

The Prime Minister said the journalist had filed a complaint over the alleged incident at the wrong police station.

He said the complaint was filed at the Tangalle police station when it should have been filed at the Hambantota police station.

Meanwhile several politicians have attempted to resolve the rift between Navy Commander Vice Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne and the journalist who was assaulted by him, by organising a friendly meeting between them.

The Free Media Movement, condemning the attack on journalists by the Navy, including the Navy Commander on the International Human Rights Day (10th December), urged the President to commence a special investigation and take legal action.

Issuing a statement, the FMM stated “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 Hambantota 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 Maithripala Sirisena to hold a special investigation on this incident and implement the law, to do justice to journalists.”