Lasantha’s murder; SC holds Army officer’s rights violated

2017-02-16

The Supreme Court yesterday held that the fundamental rights of an Army Officer attached to the Intelligence Unit, who had been arrested and detained under the pretension of being a suspect regarding the murder of Journalist Lasantha Wickramathunga, have been infringed and awarded Rs.100,000 as compensation. 

The Bench comprised Justices Sisira J. De Abrew, Upaly Abeyrathne and Anil Gooneratne. 

Petitioner K. Priyawans, who was the 7th Military Intelligence Unit of the army as a Lance Corporal challenged the legality of his arrest, decisions to detain him and his long and continuing detention.

 He cited former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, DIG C.N. Wakishta of TID, OIC of the Welikada Remand Prisons, former Additional Defence Secretary S. Hettiarachchi, Inspector Bogammuwa of the TID and the Attorney General as Respondents.

 J.C. Weliamuna with Pasindu Silva instructed by Gowry Shangary Thavarasha appeared for the Petitioner. Senior State Counsel Nayomi Wickramasekera appeared for the Respondents. 

The Compensation is to be paid by Inspector Bogamuwa who arrested him. 

Petitioner stated that he was brought to the TID on 27.02.2010 and questioned inter alia as to whether he had any involvement with the murder of Lasantha Wickramathunga and whether he had associated General Sarath Fonseka. Petitioner answered the said questions in the negative. 

He stated that he was produced in the Colombo Magistrate’s Court on 26.05.2010 and was discharged from the proceedings on the basis that no further legal action would be pursued against him. 

Though he was discharged from the proceedings, he was not released from detention and instead added as a suspect to the proceedings pending the murder of Lasantha Wickramathunga, he alleged.

He lamented that as a result, he had been in detention for more than one-year and claimed that such long and continuing deprivation of his liberty is in violation of his fundamental right to equality and to the freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention. (S.S. Selvanayagam)

Why do our legislators and lawyers not consider costs of compliance? 

Wednesday, 15 February 2017

Compliance with the Right to Information (RTI) Act causes costs.Defending one’s organisation in a fundamental-rights application before the Court of Appeals causes costs.But the experts who drafted the RTI Law paid no heed to costs of compliance and denied requests for small changes that would have allowed the Right to Information Commission to make rules to reduce burdens of compliance for small organisations.The legislators approved what the experts proposed.

Why do our legislators and lawyers not consider costs of compliance.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

Forecast for 2017: Gomin Dayasri

GROUNDVIEWS on 02/15/2017

This is the eighth in a series of video interviews forecasting what 2017 will have in store across different sectors. Attorney-at-law, Gomin Dayasri speaks about developments in the legal sector over the coming year. At 0:34 he comments on the judiciary, at 1:02 he speaks about the Bar Association and at 1:44 he speaks about the importance of the 19th amendment.

For the earlier videos in our series, click here for discussion on developments in human rights, LGBTIQ rights, economics, politics, women’s rights, security and international relations for the year ahead.

Wigneswaran Is Not Helping The Tamil Cause

By Vishwamithra1984 –February 15, 2017

“So far as the government is concerned, there is only one holy book, which is the constitution of India. My government will not tolerate or accept any discrimination based on caste, creed and religion.” ~Narendra Modi

Indian Express on February 10, 2017 reported thus: ‘The Chief Minister of the Tamil-majority Northern Province of Sri Lanka, C.V. Wigneswaran, has admitted that “some unfortunate incidents” of the past had inflicted wounds on the Muslims which are yet to heal. He said this while addressing the Ezhuga Tamil (Arise Tamil) rally at Batticaloa in the Eastern Province on Friday’.

The same report says that ‘Batticaloa town and district have a substantial Muslim population. One may remember that it was in a mosque in Kattankudy in Batticaloa district on August 3, 1990, that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) butchered 143 Muslims while they were set in prayer. Later the same year, the LTTE banished nearly one hundred thousand Muslims from the Northern Province with merely one day’s notification’.

These two incidents had the same effect that was created in the minds and hearts of Sinhalese Buddhists when nearly forty Buddhist monks, most of whom were Saamaneras (novice monks), were slaughtered on June 2, 1987 in Arantalawa in the Ampara District of Eastern Province.

Wigneswaran has not deviated from the fundamental premise of all Tamil leaders since the demise of the Ponnambalam brothers, Ramanathan and Arunachalam. Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan and Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam were clearly and most prominently identified with the national agenda of the country. Although the Ponnambalam brothers were very much involved in the Tamil politics at the time, their national recognition and overall stature was no second to any leading Sinhalese leader of the time. Their pedigree was impeccable; their education was matchless and their social standing immaculate. Hobnobbing with both the Colonial rulers and the Sinhalese, Muslim and Burger elites at the time, the opinion of the Ponnambalam brothers were frequently sought and regularly rendered.

The Sinhalese leadership had to depend on Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan for an eloquent and forceful advocacy of the innocence of the then Sinhalese leaders, D S Senanayake and F R Senanayake and others who were accused of involvement in the Muslim riots in 1915. The speech Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan made in the Legislative Council remains one of the best ever made in the well of the House of our Legislative Bodies.

As a matter of fact, caste dimensions were more protruding than those of race and faith. It was most unambiguously illustrated when the election of educated Ceylonese came about in 1911. According to the biography of J R Jayewardene of Sri Lanka, written by Professor K M de Silva, most of the prominent Sinhalese leaders at the time, such as D S Senanayake and Justice E W Jayewardene KC (J R Jayewardene’s father) persuaded Sir Ponnambalam who had retired from all public life to stand for election. The prime concern of the Ceylonese national leaders was caste and these so-called leaders of the Sinhalese masses were pressed to do this when Dr. Marcus Fernando, an eminent medical doctor who happened to be married to the daughter of Sir Charles de Soysa, the wealthiest Ceylonese of the second half of the nineteenth century, tendered his nomination. The disqualification in terms of the then Sinhalese leaders was caste. Sir Marcus belonged to Karava caste, considered to be lower than Govigama caste from which most of the Sinhalese leaders claimed to have hailed. Ponnambalam Ramanathan (later Sir) was elected with 1,645 votes with Dr. H Marcus Fernando, receiving 981 votes. The Sinhalese leaders at the time chose caste over race and a great number of Sinhalese voters too opted to vote for a Tamil rather than an established personality from amongst the Sinhalese elite.

One must realize one dominant element when negotiating with political, ethnic or whatever opponent. A personal relationship between the parties that negotiate would go a long way, a very long way indeed. The relationships between the Sinhalese and Tamil leaderships were not ideal or optimal at that time in the early years of the twentieth century, yet much stronger than now. Defection of Arunachalam, Ramanathan’s brother, scattered the seeds of disharmony and distrust, seeds of lack of genuine and sincere trust between the two ethnic groups at the highest level of respective leaderships. The Tamil leadership that assumed national recognition and power thereafter belonged to the other Ponnambalam, G G and the Chelvanayagams and Amirthalingams, now Sampanthan and Sumanthiran and Wignesvaran.

What Prabhakaran and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) did was to undo all the ‘good’ work done by his ‘predecessors’. Though at no given time Prabhakaran was the acknowledged leader of the Tamil community in Sri Lanka, by sheer force of his guns, suicide bombers and intimidation he was, for more than two decades, the virtual leader and those moderate leaders too accepted his leadership, dreaming of a never-achievable Elam.

Recently this writer had the rare privilege of visiting the Bank maintained by the LTTE and also the reception hall that was almost adjacent to the Bank where Prabhakaran entertained the would-be suicide bombers for their last meal of rice, vegetables and chicken curry. This complex is located in Kilinochchi, Prabhakaran’s ‘capital city’ of the dreamland Elam. It was an impressive piece of architecture whose primary feature was simplicity and functionality. But the final defeat of his dreaded murderous army, Prabhakaran brought upon himself and his cause a terrible setback ending with his shameful end.

With the end of the war, the Tamil community suffered a psychological defeat and it was not limited to the LTTE and its leader. The Rajapaksas and their cohorts made a futile attempt to own the victory despite the fact that it belonged to the exemplary leadership provided to the security forces by General Sarath Fonseka. And after Fonseka decided to contest the Rajapaksa clan at the Presidential Election in 2009, the war hero became a ‘traitor’ overnight. The unleashing of ‘thugs and hooligans in saffron’ as patriotic forces achieved its desired results for a short time but the personal lifestyles and utterly disgusting manner in which these ‘hooligans in saffron’, invalidly pretending to be Buddhist Monks, behaved in public totally destroyed them. And the untold damage and mutilation they brought upon the pious members of the Maha Sanga is enormous and might take a long time to erase.

Read More

An Indian Viewpoint: Managing Colombo in A Changed Situation

If Sri Lanka’s strategic thinking, that the Lankan Navy will handle security at the Colombo port city, holds, and the sell-out to China during Rajapaksa’s tenure is pushed back, one of New Delhi’s worries can end

by Ashok K Mehta- Feb 15, 2017

( February 15, 2017, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) Sri Lankan foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera recently suggested that the new Constitution was designed to provide devolution for Tamils and hence, reconciliation with them will have priority over accountability. India should have no problem with this formulation. It has advocated maximum devolution within a united Sri Lanka and opposed the use of military force to resolve the ethnic conflict. India got involved after the 1983 pogrom against Tamils (Black July), politically and militarily training the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the non-LTTE groups.

In 1987, Sri Lankan Army launched Operation Liberation to snuff out the LTTE from Jaffna. Just as they were close to nabbing LTTE leader V Prabhakaran, India intervened in an early version of R2P to prevent a military solution. The rest is history, which ended surprisingly in the rout of the LTTE in 2009, and in 2015 the fall of the key architect of that victory, Mahinda Rajapaksa.

India had pegged its hopes on substantial power-sharing with as much if not more devolution for the Tamils than was envisaged in the 13th Amendment which was never implemented in full despite India sacrificing 1,200 of its soldiers in maintaining the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. India has been in it for the long haul but now, New Delhi is not hassled by the proverbial Tamil Nadu factor as the BJP-led Government enjoys a commanding majority in Parliament.

India-Sri Lanka relations are about the best that can be, given the grave indebtedness of Colombo towards Beijing inflicted during the profligacy of the Rajapaksa era. Two military commanders have given outstanding assurances to India on its security concerns. Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, the real victor of the war and the Minister for Regional Development, who was in New Delhi for the Raisina Dialogue, acknowledged that Sri Lanka is located within India’s sphere of influence, is part of its security strategy and will not jeopardise New Delhi’s security.

He added that Sri Lanka was considering offering the Trincomalee port to India — after Hambantota and Colombo ports were given to China for development, upgrade and commercial use during the Rajapaksa period. Recently, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Beijing, Karuna Kodituwakku, said: “Sri Lanka will not allow China to set up military facilities at any port in the country.” Sri Lanka is the key anchor for China’s Belt and Road initiative cum string of pearls.

On a visit to India this month, Sri Lanka’s cerebral Navy chief, Vice Admiral Ravi Wijeguneratne, who has been Defence Advisor and also attended the National Defence College in New Delhi, put it plainly: “We assure the Indian Government that nothing against India will happen on Sri Lanka land and waters around it.” He clarified that security at the Colombo port city will be handled by the Sri Lanka Navy and not the Chinese. If this strategic thinking stays, and the sell-out to China is pushed back, one of New Delhi’s worries would be allayed. The other is the Tamil national question that Samaraweera has spoken about, on which Rajapaksa has reservations.

Rajapaksa has been dodgy on devolution. Before and during the war he was consistently promising the implementation of 13A, even going beyond to 13A plus plus. In his interviews to The Hindu, he would define his policy with five Ds: Demobilisation, Demilitarisation, Democracy, Development and Devolution. After vanquishing the Tamil Tigers, the last D (for Devolution) went missing. This was replaced with ‘no outside solution’.

His brother, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, would explain the President’s denial of devolution saying: “As there is no LTTE, there is no Tamil problem.” In the post-war period, the Army’s new mission was portrayed with five Rs: Reconstruction, Resettlement, Rehabilitation Reintegration and Reconciliation. The first four Rs were accomplished successfully. Reconciliation is contingent upon devolution and the Government embarking on the process of accountability through the use of established Truth and Justice seeking mechanisms.

So how have we reached where we have in a journey which Sri Lanka and India begin together in 1987, with the signing of the India-Sri Lanka Accord? Like in dealing with its domestic insurgencies, India has always rejected the use of force for resolving a political problem. It included no eelam for the LTTE. After the ignominy of the Indian Peace Keeping Force’s (IPKF) virtual eviction from Sri Lanka, following the double jeopardy of friend LTTE turning foe, President Premadasa reneging on ISLA and the two locking in a fatal embrace, New Delhi’s Lanka policy swung from one of a Monroe Doctrine to hands off. After Sri Lanka’s biggest military debacle, the loss of Elephant Pass in April 2000 and threat posed by LTTE to Jaffna peninsula, India refused to consider any military bailout. “Heavens will not fall if Jaffna falls”, ruled then External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, a former military officer who was convinced Jaffna would not fall. India refused to provide Multi Barrel Rocket Launchers to the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) which Pakistan did and saved the day for the mauled SLA.

A Defence Cooperation Agreement sought by Colombo never saw the light of day despite persistent requests and its redrafting, avoiding reference to military assistance of the IPKF kind. Only supply of non-lethal weaponry and training was on the cards.

Within days of Rajapaksa becoming President, he dashed to New Delhi and handed over a wish list of weapons to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and his emissaries knocked on Delhi’s doors but failed to break its maun vrat on arms supply till National Security Advisor MK Narayanan famously said: “Why does Sri Lanka go to Pakistan and China for arms when we are there?”

It was India’s most laughable comment during Eelam War IV, but only next to the charade of fasting on Marina Beach by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi in support of Tamils trapped in the war, which was called off within hours of Charade 2.0: Non-use of heavy weapons days before the LTTE’s capitulation. The hypocrisy of Chennai and New Delhi was stark. New Delhi, tacitly joining the war facilitating a military solution against the LTTE, is a mystery wrapped in a riddle?

A Minister in Rajapaksa’s Cabinet said: “We were very surprised that India did not ask us to stop the war after the fall of Kilinochchi on January 1, 2009.” Later, another Minister, Siripala DeSilva, said in Parliament: “Without India’s help, we could never have won the war.” Gotabhaya Rajapakse would refer to this as the art of ‘our managing India’. Devolution in fact was the quid pro quo for New Delhi allowing itself to be managed by Colombo.

(The writer is a retired Major General of the Indian Army and strategic affairs expert)

The prevailing mind-set of certain groups against private education seems to be irrational. The UMTA does not oppose the private institutions -University of Moratuwa Teachers' Association (UMTA)

(Lanka-e-News -15.Feb.2017, 01.45PM) Awarding of degrees by private higher education institutions with the patronage of the Government is currently a subject undergoing intense discussion among the members of the society, especially with the recent public outcry pertaining to the Private Medical College and other private higher education  institutions. While acknowledging that the prevailing situation is politically motivated, the University of Moratuwa Teachers' Association (UMTA) hereby would like to inform the public about its stance on private higher education in Sri Lanka.

The existing setup in the education system does not permit all the students that qualify for university entrance at the G.C.E. (Advanced Level) examination to enter state-funded universities. Hence, the students who fail to enter state-funded universities tend to seek higher education opportunities in fee-levying foreign universities or local private institutions that award degree-level qualifications to realise their dreams. This has become inevitable given the fact that the opportunities at the state-funded universities are limited.

Providing ample higher education opportunities to those who qualify for university entrance and ensuring adequate government funding for the state-funded universities to deliver quality programmes is vital for effective capacity building of the young inquiring minds. Thus, the UMTA would like to urge the government to take every possible step to safeguard the state-funded educational institutions. 

The UMTA believes that paid or unpaid, education in a hassle-free environment is a basic human right, and the prevailing mind-set of certain groups of people against private education seems to be irrational. The UMTA therefore does not oppose the establishment and existence of private institutions that award degrees. However, ensuring the quality of the student intake and degree programmes in such entities is identified as quintessential in order to maintain the high standard of higher education in Sri Lanka. A quality input with a quality programme and evaluation scheme, would categorically result in a quality graduate who could effectively contribute towards the development of the country. Thus, the UMTA is of the view that stringent standards in offering admission to private higher education institutions, especially for degree awarding bodies, need to be enforced. Furthermore, standardisation of degree programmes offered by the private higher education institutions, through a regulatory body, is identified as an absolute necessity.

The UMTA strongly believes that the provision of education should not be profit-oriented. Further, students and parents should not be deceived by private higher education institutions in the interest of making a profit and  UMTA opposes the undue recognition given to private higher education institutions by the government and other political authorities. 

Dr. R U Halwatura
President / UMTA                                                                                                                    
Dr. T S S Jayawardane
Secretary/ UMTA

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by     (2017-02-15 17:24:40)

CAA enrolls person already employed elsewhere…

Feb 15, 2017

For the first time, 26 officers recruited to the Civil Aviation Authority are being given training at Mattala at a wasteful expenditure of nearly six million. Its course director is the safety manager of Fly Southern airline (letter attached). Fly Southern has only recently been approved by the CAA to operate internal flights.

Traditionally, a safety manager is a fulltime occupation as the safety of aircraft is of utmost importance. However, violating all regulations, the CAA director general has enrolled Fly Southern’s safety manager Duncan Jayawardena and given him a one year contract with a monthly salary of Rs. 120,000 (letter attached).

Three days a week, Jayawardena holds training sessions at Mattala and does his safety manager job only two days a week. He is misleading state officials while endangering Samith Abeygunawardena’s Fly Southern airline. CAA employees wonder as to whether Jayawardena has invisible powers to do two jobs at the same time. They accuse their DG of committing an abuse of state money through his bosom friend. It was Jayawardena who had got the flight dispatcher license for the DG, who draws a monthly allowance of Rs. 300,000 for that, when he was at Air Lanka in 1989. The DG has received the license without undergoing the course, but as one given him in recognition of his service as an official of the then Aviation Department who had supervised the course. In return, the nearly 70 year old Jayawardena has now received a job at the CAA.

It is clear that the DG has enrolled a person already employed elsewhere to the CAA to fulfill his personal objectives, while at the same time endangering the country’s civil aviation sector as well as airplane and passenger safety. CAA employees urge the transport and civil aviation ministry secretary to take proper action against their DG immediately for this serious wrongdoing.

End of the life cycle

Thursday, 16 February 2017

Most companies we see who have achieved great heights in the corporate world have started small. With either a lucky investor, by their own grit or by one good decision maker, companies thrive. But many die young before they reach the middle scale level. Many survive for a short Product Life Cycle (PLC) for various reasons. The vast majority would enter into a business at its maturity stage, when they see the initiators milking. Unfortunately then the share of market may have become too fragmented for anyone to make a substantial profit for too long. 

So what makes the smallies fall through?

Reputation: For instance Events, Weddings and Training are industries of people. If you and I trust his work, we’d not bat so much of an eyelid to pass on a recommendation. But unlike product driven industries, if one group of people is reduced to disappointment the reverse effect will be time and cost consuming.

Financial literacy: According to ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’ by Robert T. Kiyosaki, investments are productive only if they can be milked. The poor dad kept on investing in new businesses and expansions which had a return. In other words, his income was reinvested in profit generating assets instead of consumable assets, he was the first to get money from debtors and last to pay his creditors. Thus his working capital was always liquid. The book goes on to say that an asset is a burden (liability) if it does not generate money.

In Fawcett’s Loosing my Virginity, Richard Branson was known to constantly borrow and reinvest profits in expansions and revenue generators. For instance, while he was expanding on in his highly themed Virgin Megasotres (an expansion to his mail order record business) he simultaneously invested an arm and a leg on a recording studio where he helped dozens of artists record their most successful numbers. So if you are a small or medium scale business driving a luxury car and living in a brand new condo while struggling to make ends meet, maybe it’s time to restructure your priorities.

Decisions: Sometimes Smallies are too large to handle their egos. We all are salesmen no matter where we sit. From an IT professional to a weatherman, we got to sell our talent and this shouldn’t be done only when the occasion suits you most, it’s when the occasion is most unsuitable/dirty and ugly will you really achieve the goal.

Bureaucracy: Sure enough bureaucracy can take a company places. To have a rich influential investor, or a good contact in the ‘higher ups’ is always convenient to showcase talent. Most tenders are won as such apart from a few won by pure talent. Unless its benefits are distributed fair and square in all fairness to the client, the company will be remembered for the flaws or will not be forgotten for how it got there.

So unless you are a smarty smallie selling lime, chillie and coconuts, sweat and grit only will not take you places. Notice the first warnings of the end of the PLC and adopt accordingly. A few micro and macro factors of adopting could be listed as:

Stay away from grey markets: The PC industry we all know of is massively flooded by a large grey market no one can measure nor control. The PC and phone industry is probably the worst to be in or get into today due to its saturation and fragmentation. Even the international representative companies of these industries locally are struggling to push dealers to sell products while restructuring internally. Ironically, we all own a laptop and a phone!

Move with the trend: If your equipment business failed (irrespective of the reason it failed, the solution is to look for an answer with a strong level of feasibility that would solve the reasons for failure instead of dwelling in it while still remaining stagnant), would you rather go for another equipment investment? Or would you provide services/ repairs relevant for the goods you already sold? Or would you simply liquidate? The sensible looking path will retain your existing customers to whom you can hang on to till market conditions turn tables again.

Train up: Polishing up for the new Java assignment, take up a Google Ad words test, take up a finance exam if your business is changing and you need to save on overheads, because education will always act as a buffer for your rainy day.

Location: are you paying for a location you could do without? Or are you located in that corner while your rival scoops up the wallet shares which would have rather been yours?

Human resources: The make or break factor of any organisation. We have the ‘Flat Spoon’: The over enthusiastic accountant who lacks reporting skills so cant show you a graph of ailing cost to revenue ratios if his life depended on it, the ‘Blocked Rake’: Who cannot close a deal for the company on his own grit so blames the market the client and the full moon! or the ‘Cracked Mirror’: The rude planner/communications executive with broken confidence levels so ends up abusing your customers/suppliers and you end up wondering what went wrong. Hint: Mentoring and inbound/ outbound training helps.

Bad Debts: The final yet vicious self destruct switch. While it is important to maintain balance between creditors paid after debtors received, it is more important to watch out for your CAPEX and OPEX. If your acquisitions involve sources of credit that cannot be matched by revenue, or if your overheads exceed the income for a period, or if you are paying for a luxury car or a luxury house that generates absolutely no income but is a burden where you cannot put an edge of bread on the table, maybe a change in the direction of the wind is required.

Over the years countless companies have evolved through toughest of times including Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino! Although the same steps may not work for all, shedding extra fat may be essential for that first step of evolution.

The writer is a Director at Forte Corporate Solutions Ltd, and holds a 1st Class degree in Business Management and  MCIM /Chartered Marketer of CIM-UK. Forte Corporate Solutions  Ltd provides BPO and PR solutions.

Padeniyas - Soysas and their terror outfit deflated : Withdraw their anti SAITM slogan.! GMOA’s unpublicized proposals to president hereunder

(Lanka-e-News-14.Feb.2017, 11.30PM) Following the unerring and most just Appeal court verdict that the graduates passing out from SAITM shall be registered by the medical council , coupled with  the mounting opposition  across the country on behalf of ‘ education freedom ’ against the self centered extremists and villainous Padeniyas and Soysas the kidney trade specialists  representing the  GMOA ,by now  it is a well and widely known fact that the latter were only  raising a false  alarm . The selfish self centered villains raised a bogus hue and cry that SAITM medical College is a rogue medical stall issuing bogus medical degrees , and therefore shall be closed down and acquired by the government . 

These despicable villains who are now subdued,  after poking their  tails between their legs like beaten stray dogs on the pavements ,have  realized their egregious wrongs and unreasonable demands - they have  now presented a set of proposals to the president . 

The proposals presented to the president by Padeniyas and Soysas the self centered  villains have not been made public . Anyway , Lanka e news is able to publish the gist of the proposals which are as follows :

GMOA proposals to resolve the SAITM issue ….

1.Solution to the students who have already acquired the medical degree..

a. Provide opportunities to sit the ERPM exam after the necessary amendments to the medical enactment
b. Like the foreign medical graduates are enrolled , provide opportunities to the students who are successful in the ERPM exam to enter the medical service , and they be given  internship  training for two years in four subjects , each covering a period of six months. (If there is any clinical practice training inadequacies , opportunities shall  be made available to remedy those ).
c) As regards students who fail to pass the ERPM exam within the specified period , the Institution shall re pay the fees collected from those students as  compensation .

 2. Solution to the students who are following the course at SAITM….

A committee shall be appointed comprising the minister of health , the Dean of the medical faculty and representatives of SAITM to take action based on the committee report of professor Sheriff and the answers provided by SAITM. Based on those  recommendations , steps shall be taken to formulate a clinical  training course for the students. A reasonable time shall be granted to SAITM to augment  their facilities. 

3.The future of Dr. Neville Fernando hospital

The hospital shall be one which is promoted with the patronage of both  government and private sectors. The government shall own 49 % of the shares while the present owners shall own 51 % of the shares 

4. Enrollment of new students 

A specific number of students shall be admitted to SAITM  once a year only, and they should have minimum ‘Z’ score in Biology stream. That minimum score shall be that accepted by the government medical College for admission to medical faculties for the relevant year applicable to all districts .
 b.The number of students admitted to government Universities  based on their skills shall be increased by 10 % 

5. The future of medical Colleges 

a.The government shall intervene immediately to remedy the shortcomings in government medical faculties.
b. The SAITM administration shall introduce a salary structure for its dons , and  those shall  not exceed the salaries of the Dons of government medical Colleges. 

If one reads the terms and conditions of Padeniyas and Soysas , one can clearly understand what a group of buffoons and buffaloes they are . This is very evident based on their following proposals :
1. 49 % shares of Neville Fernando hospital shall be owned by the government, putting aside SAITM.
2.The salary structure  of the Dons of SAITM medical College shall be such  that it  does  not exceed the salaries of the Dons of government medical Colleges.  

In much the same way as  a stupid irrelevant demand is  made  that  a hospital run out of private funds shall be acquired by the government , these buffoons and buffaloes who waste their time on buffoonery and tomfoolery despite  being doctors have included a demand in the proposal that the government should  restrict the salaries paid by a private institution to its  staff which is absolutely nonsensical . This clearly betrays the green eyed monstrous  trait in them and their inferiority complex, let alone their lack of basic  knowledge. 

Meanwhile, Dr. Jayantha Bandara of Samastha Lanka medical  officers union  affiliated to the JVP which is a rival of the GMOA terror organization had made a most cranky  revelation through the communiqué issued by  him. He had said , the appeal court verdict is a conspiracy , and that he is lodging a complaint with the human rights commission against it yesterday (13) .
 
It is a pity this country has also   doctors of the caliber of  Dr. Jayantha Bandara . He is cursed because he hasn’t a tail when in fact  it should be the other way around,   because if he had a tail he could be swinging with glee  from tree to tree in the jungles  without creating problems to the sane beings in the cities. This is a doctor who does not know that the Human rights commission is there to examine the complaints received by it and to file action in courts, and not vice versa. Therefore the decision of the appeal court cannot be examined by the HRC. In the circumstances ,how can doctors like Dr. Bandara be trusted  when it comes to treating patients since  he does not know even  what a primary class student knows? Only god must save the patients. 

It is no wonder  doctors like Bandara , Padeniyas and Soysas are behaving so insanely and insensibly, and the worst  part ? These are the ‘headless’ rascals who are supposed to be  heading the campaigns  ostensibly to rescue   medical education . 

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by     (2017-02-14 19:08:33)

Sri Lanka: What went wrong in SAITM?

This statement, issued by the Presidents of Faculty of Medical Teachers Associations (FMTAs -Trade unions) of the eight medical faculties under the UGC, to show our concern about South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) issue.

( February 15, 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian)  We, as trade unions of academic staff of State Medical faculties have been closely observing the developments regarding the SAITM issue since its inception up to its current crisis. As responsible trade unions and one of the stakeholder parties concerned about the standards of medical education, safety of the patients and the wellbeing of the undergraduates of the state medical faculties studying under us, we have discussed the SAITM issue in depth and have reached the following resolutions.

1. We are not in agreement with the verdict of the Court of Appeal ordering the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) to grant provisional registration to students of SAITM and fully endorse and support the decision by the SLMC to challenge this verdict in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.

2. FMTAs are disappointed about the lethargic approach shown by present and former governments to resolve this issue with a solution agreeable to all parties concerned.

3. If authorities do not intervene in an unbiased way to solve the current crisis we fear that it will lead to a serious threat to the training of medical students of the eight state medical faculties and in the end it may lead to more serious consequences as we have seen in the past.

4. We condemn the statements made by certain members of parliament who have no understanding of medical education, training or profession to facilitate and solicit the interests of SAITM.

5. We also condemn the document titled “Expansion of Medical Education in Sri Lanka with the Participation of the Private Sector: Adopting the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) as a Model” submitted to the Parliament by the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Education and Human Resources Development dated 23.11.2016. It is full of inaccuracies, absurdities and lack clarity and some members have conflict of interest too. Aninstitution such SAITM established in a fraudulent manner should NEVER be adopted as a model for private medical education.

6. SAITM has enrolled 40 students in 2009 which increased to 209 in 2014 according to report of the SLMC sent to Hon.Minister of Health dated 4^th September 2015. Colombo Medical Faculty with a staff of 140 is admitting only 200 students a year. In addition two batches of students have been admitted to SAITM every year while State Universities have only one intake annually. According to the University Grants Commission (UGC) institutional review report (2013), this is in the absence of permanent trained staff in the institution. So with a skeleton permanent staff we (all FMTAs) have serious doubts about how quality can be assured in this setting. This is prima facie evidence that SAITM is on a path of raking in large amounts of money at the expense of providing a quality education. The FMTA is against such admission of uncontrolled numbers of students.

7. Hence, we believe that, SAITM is currently not in a position to award a medical degree for reasons detailed by the SLMC and thus current students of SAITM should be given provisional registration by the SLMC to practice medicine only after obtaining the core competencies as prescribed by the SLMC. A qualifying examination conducted by the SLMC should be introduced and included in the medical ordinance to assess these core competencies.

8. We wish to point out that according to regulations published in 2013 under Section 137 of the Universities Act requires non-state degree awarding institutes offering study programmes leading to professional qualifications should obtain compliance certification from the relevant professional body (ie: SLMC). SAITM has not obtained this to date. Hence we urge the Hon.Minister of Higher Education to revoke degree awarding status of SAITM temporarily until SAITM acquires the compliance certificate.

9. Recruitment of new students to the medical degree program of SAITM should be ceased immediately until definitive solutions are reached. 

10. We urge the Hon.Minister of Health to inform the relevant legal authorities (including Supreme Court) his endorsement of SLMC report and insist on gazzetting prescribed minimum standards for medical education as required by the Medical Ordinance.

11. The legislation governing professional bodies such as the SLMC should be amended in order to empower it to grant compliance certification to degree awarding institutes.

12. Attempts to establish new private medical education institutions in Sri Lanka should be halted immediately until all aspects of SAITM issue are resolved.

13. It is worthy to note that education is not a commodity even in the United Kingdom. India has failed in private medical education and in a complete chaosity even with a National policy document by Indian Medical council on ‘Establishment of Medical College Regulations’. Studies by United Nations (UN) have shown that “for-profit education and a commercialised educational sector can jeopardise the exercise of the right to education. In this context, privatized and commercialised education can have dreadful consequences on the social development of a country if it is not duly regulated, monitored and if private entities cannot be found accountable in case of violations of the right to education.”United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declares that “the state has the obligation to establish a regulatory framework for private education and to ensure that international minimum standards are met. As private entities invest in education and make profit from it, it becomes a market and a good. This expending ‘market-based education sector’ raises additional legal issues.”

Thus a National document is needed which provides a clear mechanism and a legal framework to monitor and regulate the whole process from eligibility of the person applying for the license to start a medical school and entry criteria of students up to graduation and provisional registration under SLMC to practice medicine in Sri Lanka.

14. In keeping with Article 26.1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, admission to higher education should be based on the merit and capacity but not on the economical wealth of parents.

Further, FMTA endorses the joint statement made and handed over to the Minister of Higher education by the Deans of the Medical Faculties in February, 2017(annexure 1). If the government fails to identity SAITM issue as a threat to free education and State medical education and provide a satisfactory solution we will not hesitate to join hands with other forces for serious trade union action.

See the original statement below;

joint-FMTA-statement-english.pdf by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

Multiculturalism will not harm Sinhala-Buddhist identity: Civil Society activist

2017-02-16 

In the backdrop of the ongoing Constitution-making process, civil society activist Sudarshana Gunawardane, who advocates pluralism and multiculturalism, says such concepts will not harm the entrenched traditions of the country. Mr. Gunawardane, who is also the executive director of Right Now Collective for Democracy, made these remarks in the context of fear over the attempts to dilute the Sinhala-Buddhist identity of the country. Excerpts of the interview: 

"When the Sinhala-Buddhists stress themselves, the minorities living among them feel threatened. That will have an impact in the North and East where the country’s minority is the majority"

"In my view, identity is very fluid. It is moving. It can apply to a person or a nation. The outer appearance can always be deceptive. It does not correspond with the inner substance"

"If the tradition is entrenched, we need not worry. I do not think multiculturalism can harm the uniqueness of our country. In a globalized society, we have to act positively"   

• Sinhala-Buddhist identity is unique
• It has evolved over the centuries
• Optimistic about Constitution-making process 

Q As a civil society leader, how do you describe the ‘Sri Lankan identity’ in efforts to Implement Constitutional changes? 

To me, the Sri Lankan identity is open to change. Some people refer to our history starting with Ravana. This epic says Ravana went to India and returned with Sita. Then came Rama. There is also a story about Vibhishana helping Rama. Later, Ravana was defeated. Sri  Lanka was not destroyed but subjected to change, and Vibhishana reigned the country. 

You talk about the arrival of King Vijaya, a prince from India. He encountered with the local culture. Finally, Vijaya reigned. We never called Vijaya and Vibhishana outsiders. We led the culture. Due to our geographical location, we were subjected to various forms of invasions. But we managed them.  The most important example is Buddhism that arrived from India. When the ruling king decided to embrace it in line with ancient geopolitical conditions, we transformed ourselves according to Buddhism. At that time, nobody argued that we had a strong traditional cultural identity to be compromised with the advent of Buddhism. Another example is how the Anuradhapura kingdom withstood invasions for thousands of years. The ruling nobles in Anuradhapura adapted themselves when the invaders arrived. They did not leave room for invaders to destroy the civilization. But then came Kalinga Magha, a lunatic. Any other invader could be dealt with and managed. 
It happened knowing that we were a small island nation vulnerable to invasions of geopolitical realities. Kalinga Magha came and destroyed key chieftains who were the guardians of our ancient irrigation system. Once they were ruined, there remained none to take care of irrigation activities. Then, the whole kingdom was rendered inoperable. 

Q You advocate pluralism and multiculturalism. Yet, there is the uniqueness about the Sinhala-Buddhist culture here. How do you respond? 

I think it is unique, but not in the sense most believe in. In my view, identity is very fluid. It is moving. It can apply to a person or a nation. The outer appearance can always be deceptive. It does not correspond with the inner substance. Likewise, there is uniqueness. My argument is that uniqueness remains with adaptability. Many people say it is unique and fixed. We have taken some aspects 2,500 years ago. If you examine, you can see the change. If you look at our clothing pattern, we know how it evolved. 

"If we take our national attire for example, it has been introduced very late from outside. The sarong is Indian. We have the Kandyan Mul Anduma. Although we consider it ours, it was worn by the kings who arrived from India. What we wear is not Sinhalese in the original context. But, they have become Sinhalised. To me, there is uniqueness in identity. Yet, it lies with adaptability. Identity is formed by outsiders. Now, we quote Robert Knox. He said a farmer was even fit for royalty once the mud on his body was washed off. That was what Robert Knox said in a bigger context. We say the same. He said it in a different context, and we have taken it out of the original context."

Q The Sinhala culture was born here with the advent of Buddhism. Then, there is a special place for it. How do you respond? 

The Sinhala language is something very close to my heart. Among many civil society leaders, I am one hailing from a village in the South. I studied in the Sinhala medium up to secondary education. It is a language dear to my mind. I mostly communicate in Sinhala. I talk to the Sinhala audience. There is uniqueness because this is the only place the language is used. We have a duty to protect it. I can communicate clearly in Sinhala, my mother tongue. Therefore, it is unique for me. But, as a small island nation, our level of production has always been low compared with mainland, India. It has been very high outside the country. As for our ancient irrigation system, though we managed it well, it came from outside. A lot of words associated with the production process were introduced. 
That is how we got a lot of Prakrit words introduced. In our day-to-day usage, we find a lot of words borrowed from other languages. The beauty here is that we managed to get these words and make them ours. Our language has become very rich because of such words. 

We are getting increasingly adapted to English. We need to take concrete measures to foster the language as it is the basis of identity. The language is not discriminatory. The written language is something anyone could get adapted to. As for Ven. S. Mahinda Thera, we never think of him as an outsider. He wrote in Sinhala. The language is a unifying factor. 

Q You are a civil society leader working for Constitutional changes on the premise that they should reflect pluralist and multicultural identity of Sri  Lanka. How do you comment on it? 

Multiculturalism is something you embrace as it is. A good example is Barrack Hussein Obama who became the US President. He represented the Democratic Party, one of the traditional parties, which agreed to give him nomination. He comes from a multicultural background. His father is an immigrant and the mother a US citizen. He has some Muslim connection too. Still, he managed to become the Head of State. He even managed to get re-elected for a second term. I do not think multiculturalism will harm traditions.

If the tradition is entrenched, we need not worry. I do not think multiculturalism can harm the uniqueness of our country. In a globalized society, we have to act positively. In globalization, English, as a language, is becoming prominent more and more. We cannot disregard it. We have to get it and refine it to suit our system. We have been doing it all the time. My point is that we need not fear it. We have to take positive steps. For example, we have to consider our language as an endangered element. We must specifically put some efforts to uplift its status. A lot of research has to be undertaken. The Sinhala Language Department has limited funds though we claim about it. We must spend money to develop it.
 
We believe that if the State becomes Sinhala-Buddhist, things will be alright. We became an Independent nation in 1948. There was a big issue about Bamunu Kulaya (Elitist Strata). In 1956, we were able to defeat it. After 60 years, what has happened? The State is not efficient enough to handle it. There are people conscious and committed to uplift our culture or language. The State should support them in terms of funding and other resources. Being a small country, it is very difficult to do certain things. Being an island, one cannot breach our physical boundaries. Yet, we cannot resist the invasion of technology. With just a phone call, we get connected with the outside world. It is difficult even for the US to stop such invasions. In the US, Mr. Trump was elected the President.

Any leader is a reflection of a social phenomenon. People there felt they could not defend their Sovereignty, culture and so forth. As for China, it purchases Pine trees from the US to manufacture furniture. Again, furniture is exported to the US. US manufacturers are in a dilemma. Globalization was initiated by the West. And now, the originator himself is trying to stop it. China benefited from globalization more than any other country, despite it being a State founded on Communist ideals. Now, the US has to build walls against globalization. It shows changes in nations. Even President Trump finds it difficult to deliver on what he spoke about before. Mr. Obama also could not do it. 

Q There is a school of thought that multiculturalism will dilute the Sinhala-Buddhist identity. What are your thoughts? 

A majority 75 per cent of our population is Sinhalese and 70 per cent Sinhala-Buddhist. When the Sinhala-Buddhists stress themselves too much, the minorities living among them feel threatened. That will have an impact in the North and East where the country’s minority is the majority. They will start doing the same. That competition will damage the minorities living along with the Sinhalese in other parts. Ultimately, the Sinhalese and Muslims living in the North and the East will also enter the picture. Therefore, we have to come to a compromise. Human Rights are a right framework for that. We have to guarantee a system where everybody has equal protection. Then, the Sinhalese will also not have to feel intimidated as even in the North, the Tamils cannot get supremacy. 

Q Fundamental Rights are guaranteed for all despite their ethnicities even in the present Constitution. Aren’t they? 

That is true. That is a first step. Fundamental Rights are guaranteed. Equality is there. When enacting legislation, any Bill can be challenged in the Supreme Court. The court rules on its Constitutionality and says whether it should be passed by a two-thirds majority or even with a referendum. Though we pass laws, there are laws such as Thesavalamai, some provisions of the Penal Code and the Muslim laws contrary to the principles of equality. We have a dual situation. We have to bring all these laws into a uniform system. 

Q How optimistic are you of the Constitution-making process? 

I am very positive because the forces this time have a strong political support. First, the campaign by the then combined opposition for Constitutional reforms at the presidential election secured a mandate. It got the support of the wider cross section of society including Tamils, Muslims, upcountry Tamils and the majority Sinhalese. In the past, they were away from any Constitution-making process. This is a homegrown process. Parliament is deliberating. There is a greater chance. We will be able to come to a compromise.