Plight of The Farmers Facing Drought Conditions In India

Tamilnadu lacks cold storage, food packaging as well as safe and efficient rural transport system. This causes high food spoilage rates, particularly during monsoons and during adverse weather conditions. Agri produce travel to the Indian consumer through a slow and inefficient chain of traders.

by N.S.Venkataraman-Mar 25, 2017

( March 25, 2017, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Tamil Nadu province in South India is presently facing severe drought conditions with the failure of south west monsoon and north east monsoon to the extent of around 60%. It is reported that the distress conditions faced by the agricultural farmers in the province due to the erratic monsoon and lack of water for irrigation are so severe , that a number of them have been driven to commit suicide.

Nandini Voice for The Deprived (nandinivoice.com) a not for profit organisation invited the views and suggestions of the citizens living in Tamil Nadu to provide short term and long term relief to the farming community.

Large number of people responded and the highlights of their views and suggestions given in this article are revealing.

The extent to which the drought conditions affect the agricultural farmers in India calls for urgent national attention from all concerned.

Drought is not new and Government lacks care

Drought in Tamil Nadu is not a new affair. Tamil Literature also indicates that famine like conditions prevailed during the Pandian Kingdom for nearly 12 years.

Once a fertile land, the delta region has encouraged the growth of forests and agriculture. Dense forest cover once helped reduce the likelihood of flash flooding, retaining water on hill slopes to enable slow percolation and recharge of the tributaries. Deforestation across the basin over the years has contributed to reduction in rainfall. Government has failed to prevent deforestation, which has proved costly.

It is estimated that nearly 50% of the districts in the Tamil Nadu are now drought prone.
Irrigation tanks, ponds, canals and other channels have not been desilted and debris have not been cleared for many years.

For instance, Cuddalore district alone has more than 3,500 irrigation tanks and many of them have dried.

With so much experience in drought conditions in the past, Tamil Nadu government should have been ready to deal with the present conditions. But, unfortunately, we are still searching, discussing and looking for strategies to prevent or mitigate drought impact, even as monsoon keeps fluctuating from year to year.

Reasons for farmer suicides

Many farmers are caught in debt traps with private money lenders. The interest rate are from 25% to as high as 60%.

Most farmer suicides are for the reasons of monsoon failure and consequent high debt burdens, personal issues and family problems. They are forced to approach private money lenders, as the farm income is inadequate to meet their family needs such as education for children, hospitalisation or marriage.

When crop failures happen, the mode of crop loss and damage assessment, compensation arrived at and also the time taken for disbursal are often seen to be arbitrary and do not meet the timely need.

Crop insurance now is considered as a mirage by the farmers.

Excessive dependence on bore wells

Water scarcity affect productivity.During drought conditions, ground water depletion causes huge problems in irrigation.

Tamil Nadu is located in rain shadow area where the mean annual rainfall is 1100 to 1200 mm, while mean annual evaporation is 2190 to 2930 mm in different seasons depending on sunlight/radiation hours.

Even when there is high annual rainfall in the delta region, only 30% occurs during the months in which the major crops are produced, making irrigation often necessary to meet crop water needs and to avoid risk of low yield and profitability loss. Approximately, 65% of the farmland in this region is only irrigated.

In such scenario, there is excessive dependence on ground water sources and operation of bore wells.
The state has around 3.1 lakh bore wells and around 15.66 lakh open wells, which are used for extracting ground water. Pumps sets are increasingly being used.

Wherever there are bore wells or pumps, there are good harvest. But small farmers in areas dependent on rain and dams who can not afford to invest in bore wells often suffer.

Instead of digging bore wells, open wells should be encouraged, as the width of the latter is more and hence water percolation will be higher, leading to increase in groundwater levels.

Farmers do not cultivate throughout the year

There is a misconception that the farmers in the delta region reaps three crops in a year and farmers are asking for more. That is definitely not the case.

The predominantly clayey nature of the delta soil allows raising of only paddy during anytime of the year. If assured water for irrigation is available, farmers raise kuruvai and thalady paddy crops with the help of sub surface water in restricted areas.

Once an area of millet cultivation, the delta region has transformed into a location for the cultivation of high yield paddy and sugarcane, both water-intensive crops.

Present cropping pattern mostly denotes mono cropping of rice, which encourages rapid nutrient loss and increases the possibility of pest attack and disease and cause decline in soil fertility.

It is necessary to initiate effective policy to keep the farmers occupied throughout the year by encouraging cultivation of alternate crop such as millet, which mean much less water need than paddy or sugarcane.

Millets are climate resilient, drought tolerant and are somewhat resistant to pest and diseases. They are short to medium duration crop and requires minimum input.

Possibility of returning to millet forming (which is more nutritious as well as water efficient) or to multi cropping of vegetables should be explored.

Need to improve agricultural productivity

Another reason for the agricultural problem in delta region is due to low productivity.

This would be clearly evident when crop yield in delta region is compared to other countries like USA and China.

Lower productivity results in lesser income for farmers. This, in turn, affect the investment in the farms. It creates a vicious cycle. This issue has not been given the attention that it deserves.

Smallhold farming in delta region may not because of poor productivity, since the productivity is higher in China and many developing economies, even though small holder farmers in China constitute over 90% of its farming population.

Need for effective marketing structure

The Indian farmer receives just 10% to 20% of the price the Indian consumer pays, the difference going to transportation cost, middlemen etc.

Farmers in developed economies of Europe and the United State receive 64% to 81% of the price paid by the consumers.

Establishment of effective marketing structures with produce for ready sale to meet the consumer need is a great necessity for the farmers.

Tamilnadu lacks cold storage, food packaging as well as safe and efficient rural transport system. This causes high food spoilage rates, particularly during monsoons and during adverse weather conditions. Agri produce travel to the Indian consumer through a slow and inefficient chain of traders.

Consumers buy agricultural produce largely in suburban markets known as ‘sabzi mandi’ or from roadside vendors.

This enables the middleman to mint money at the cost of farmer.

“Dedicated farmers market” where farmers are given facilities for direct sale of the produce, is a good concept and it has not been given a fair trial. Tamil Nadu government should act as a catalyst to promote this farmer friendly marketing mechanism.

The sweep of perpetual famine?

2017-03-25

Once again the media are presenting us with the images of the mother of all famines -- stretching from Yemen to Somalia, to Sudan and South Sudan, to the Central African Republic and to northern Nigeria. It’s a bad famine but there have been bad famines in the not so distant past -- the great Ethiopian one in 1985 which triggered the rock star, Bob Geldorf, to organise a massive world-wide popular response. (I remember running with tens of thousands of other campaigners in London’s Hyde Park.) Before that in 1974 at the World Food Conference, there was a real feeling that the world was running out of food and dramatic new policies must be put in place by the richer countries. They were and much progress was made. 

Between 1990 and 2015 the proportion of children under five who were malnourished fell from 25% to 14% of the world’s children. People who are still underfed are less severely so. Their average shortfall in calories fell from 170 a day in 1990 to 88 a day last year.   

Increased food production is happening all over the place. In Rwanda, in 2015, peasant farmers produced 792,000 tons of grain which was more than three times as much as in 2000. In Ethiopia cereal production tripled between 2000 and 2014. Cameroon, Ghana, Zambia, Nigeria and Kenya have all over the past decade increased their harvests by 50%.  

If one deducts from the African statistics the famine in parts of the east and northern Nigeria then African progress looks especially good. West Africa in particular has shown rapid improvement in food production. In Nigeria, for all its economic woes and its almost zero growth rate, agriculture is doing well, growing far faster than population. It is more important than the oil sector in terms of value but oil remains the biggest filler of government coffers so gets all the attention from politicians and the media.  

Growth in national income in sub-Saharan Africa is slowly but surely accelerating. Africa, like most parts of the world, has been hit by the Great Recession but most countries have dealt with falling agricultural commodity prices and smaller foreign markets with some success. It is in a strong position to take advantage of the present world recovery. Some African countries continued to grow all along at around 5% a year -- some at 7%, including Tanzania, Rwanda and Ivory Coast. They didn’t miss a beat.  

Agriculture for the foreseeable future will employ a majority of workers. It is mainly peasant agriculture working poor soils in difficult and uncertain weather conditions. Africa does not have the great fertile river basins of Asia whose fertility comes from the silt washed down through the ages from areas where tectonic activity produced mountains rich in nutrients. Nor does it have a water table near the surface, making bore holes more difficult. Much of the interior of Africa is barely worth farming. Only about 4% of arable land is irrigated. The Green Revolution has made inroads but much more slowly than it did in Asia which only has two main crops, rice and wheat. Africa has a dozen food crops and each has needed its own specialist development, along with the fight against plant and animal diseases which are much more prevalent there than elsewhere. Nevertheless, one sees these days a fairly rapid dissemination of improved seeds.  

Other aspects of technology are also making an impact. The mobile phone is number one. Already some African countries have as many phones per head as the US. It is estimated that within three years smart phone penetration will rise from 20% today to 50%. In Kenya, which has pioneered applications that the rich countries have followed belatedly, has for a long time now used phones to enable peasants to purchase credit for fertiliser and other inputs, to receive information on market prices thus cutting down the influence of middlemen, for migrants in the cities to send money home for investment, for nurses to reach remote patients and for consumers to pay with electronic money. Not least, as in India, for subsidies to the poor to be distributed directly without the graft of middlemen.  

Perhaps the greatest single aid to improving agriculture and increasing national incomes is to diminish war. Between 1970 and the end of the century war was all-consuming in many countries. These days there are remnants of war in eastern Congo, there is terrorist war in Somalia and civil war in South Sudan. Overall, there is little war today.  

More peaceful land is more productive. That is why the upcoming elections in Kenya are being watched nervously. The violence in earlier elections threw the rural economy off course. Now few want to see the rapid progress made in recent years being thrown to the wind by new electoral violence. The poor are not running to stay still they are running to make progress.  

For 17 years, Jonathan Power was a foreign affairs columnist for the International Herald Tribune.  

Rotavirus vaccine could save lives of almost 500,000 children a year

Positive outcome of trials in Niger fuels hope that vaccine can protect children in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond from infection that causes often fatal diarrhoea

A nurse administers a rotavirus vaccine to a baby in Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, as part of a 2014 public health initiative. Photograph: Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images

Kate Hodal-Wednesday 22 March 2017

A vaccine capable of enduring scorching temperatures for months at a time could strike a decisive blow in the fight against rotavirus, preventing nearly half a million children around the world from dying of diarrhoea each year.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has hailed successful trials of the BRV-PV vaccine in Niger as a “game changer” in tackling rotavirus infection, which is the leading cause of severe diarrhoea globally and claims the lives of an estimated 1,300 children daily, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa.

According to results published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the vaccine has proven as effective as those currently used to treat severe gastroenteritis. Trials in Niger’s Maradi region successfully treated 4,000 children under the age of two.

Unlike existing vaccines, the BRV-PV vaccine does not require refrigeration and can remain stable for up to one year at 37C or six months at 40C. It is particularly effective against the strains of rotavirus found in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as affordable: at only $2.50 (£2), the vaccine could potentially be rolled out quickly in routine immunisation programmes.

“This is a game-changer,” said Dr Micaela Serafini, MSF’s medical director. “We believe that the new vaccine can bring protection against rotavirus to the children who need it most.”

Diarrhoea is the second largest cause of death in infants and children worldwide, primarily in low-income countries where access to clean water and sanitation is limited. Rotavirus is highly contagious, particularly among babies and young children, and can be spread by contaminated hands, objects such as toys and surfaces, and water and food.

Children in the world’s poorest countries account for 82% of rotavirus deaths, but vaccines make a significant difference. In Mexico, diarrhoeal deaths among children under five declined by as much as 50% after rotavirus vaccines were introduced.

The trials in Niger – the first of their kind to be approved in an African country – were conducted by MSF’s research and epidemiology branch Epicentre, in collaboration with Niger’s ministry of health, the Cincinnati children’s hospital and the makers of the vaccine, the Serum Institute of India. According to MSF, the results demonstrated no safety concerns and as a result the vaccine is hoped to fill the current supply gaps of the existing rotavirus vaccines, RotaTeq and Rotarix, both of which require refrigeration.

The World Health Organization recommends that rotavirus vaccines should be included in all national immunisation programmes, and considered a priority in south and south-east Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. The BRV-PV vaccine is awaiting pre-qualification from the WHO before it can be rolled out.

Licensing the product could take up to 18 months, said Anna-Lea Kahn, a WHO technical officer looking at innovations for facilitating vaccine supply and delivery. During that period, WHO scientists evaluate data supporting the vaccine’s quality and safety, drawing on independent specialist help when needed.

Most difficulties with vaccine delivery tend to arise during the “last mile” of the vaccine supply chain, said Kahn. “That’s where it goes wrong the most: where being able to maintain the cold chain is hardest; where constraints are most pronounced, be it due to lack of electricity or lack of resources, or inability to maintain a cold fridge. There may be geographical barriers, too, presenting a logistical challenge.

“In these scenarios, not having to depend on the cold chain … can make a valuable difference in getting vaccines to those who otherwise might not receive it.”

Serafini said: “The success of this trial shows that research and development into vaccines that are specifically adapted for use in low-income countries yields results.”

A spokesperson for Gavi, the international vaccine alliance, said BRV-PV’s results were encouraging.

“Adding more flexibility to the cold chain could allow more vaccines to reach the hardest-to-reach locations, boosting coverage and giving many more children access to lifesaving vaccines,” the spokesperson said. “However, it is anticipated that an important consideration for the countries will be the final recommendations on temperature control conditions of the vaccine, which could be different than the conditions used during the clinical trial.”

UN condemns Sri Lanka over war probe

UN rights chief suggests Colombo's persistent failure to investigate atrocities stems from fear of punishing soldiers.

According to the UN, as many as 40,000 Tamil civilians may have died in the last few months of the fighting [AP: File]

22 Mar 2017

The United Nations has condemned Sri Lanka's government for failing to investigate civil war-era atrocities, suggesting the government was afraid of punishing soldiers who committed abuses during the conflict.

The world body had previously accused the Sri Lankan military of killing thousands of civilians, mostly ethnic Tamils, in the last weeks of a 26-year civil war that ended in 2009.

Government troops were accused of deliberately shelling civilians, hospitals, and blocking food and medical aid to hundreds of thousands of people boxed inside a tiny strip of land as the now-defeated Tamil Tigerrebels mounted their last stand.

"The consistent failure to effectively investigate, prosecute and punish serious crimes appears to reflect a broader reluctance or fear to take action against members of the security forces," Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the UN rights council on Wednesday.

"At the centre of all this are the victims," he said. "There can never be sustainable peace without justice for them."

Zeid and the council have repeatedly called for international judges to help investigate possible war crimes in efforts to guarantee impartiality.

But earlier this month, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena rejected the appeal, saying he would not "allow non-governmental organisations to dictate how to run my government", nor heed calls to "to prosecute my troops".

And although Sirisena's government agreed to the terms of an October 2015 UN resolution calling for an inquiry to be formed within 18 months, Sri Lanka has so far failed to begin an inquiry. 

Zeid said any justice mechanism set up by Colombo would need foreign judges in order to be "credible".

Sirisena, a member of the majority Sinhalese community, received the support of the Tamil minority after promising accountability for abuses carried out by the largely Sinhalese military.

But Sri Lanka's main opposition Tamil party has accused Sirisena of failing to deliver on accountability.

According to the UN and independent watchdogs, as many as 40,000 Tamil civilians died in the last few months of the fighting.

In all, some 80,000 to 100,000 are believed to have died during civil war.

UK wants resolution calling for foreign judges fully implemented

March 24, 2017, 10:12 pm 

The UK has urged Sri Lanka to take tangible measures to ensure meaningful devolution through constitutional reforms, establish credible transitional justice mechanisms, return all remaining military-held private land and replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act with human rights compliant legislation during ongoing Geneva sessions.

British High Commission in Colombo on Thursday night issued the following statement made in Geneva on the previous day by UK representative: "We welcome the co-sponsorship of the new UN Human Rights Council resolution by the Government of Sri Lanka, which reaffirms commitments made in resolution 30/1 in October 2015, for the next two years. By co-sponsoring a new resolution the Government of Sri Lanka has demonstrated its commitment to human rights, accountability and reconciliation, as important elements of a lasting political settlement for all Sri Lanka’s communities. 

As the report of the Office of the High Commissioner notes, there have been some improvements made to the human rights situation in Sri Lanka since January 2015.  We recognise that further progress is needed and believe that continued support and encouragement from the international community, including through the UN Human Rights Council, will be an important factor in delivering this.

We join the High Commissioner in recognising the steps taken by the Government of Sri Lanka since January 2015 to improve the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, in particular the restoration of important democratic checks and balances, improvements in respect for freedoms of expression and movement, the return of some military-held land, the passing of legislation to establish an Office for Missing Persons, the ratification of the Convention on Enforced Disappearances and the initiation of a process of constitutional reform.

However, as the High Commissioner’s report clearly states, much remains to be done.  We encourage the government to take the steps necessary to deliver fully on the commitments it made when co-sponsoring resolution 30/01 and to develop and communicate a comprehensive and time bound implementation strategy.  In particular, we encourage the Government to deliver meaningful devolution through constitutional reform, establish credible transitional justice mechanisms, return all remaining military-held private land and replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act with human rights compliant legislation.

We also welcome the work of the Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms and encourage the Sri Lankan government to give due consideration to its recommendations.

In November 2015, the UK committed £6.6 million over three years to support Sri Lanka’s ambitious reform agenda.  This includes work on police reform and training, defence engagement, support to the UN’s work on reconciliation and peace building, inter-religious dialogue and mediation, capacity building on anti-bribery and the fight against corruption, and demining in the north of the country.

The UK and the wider international community are helping support Sri Lankan government efforts to implement its commitments on reconciliation, accountability, human rights and a political settlement that delivers equitable and just governance for all Sri Lankans."

Jaffna Awaits The Silent Killer: Chronic Kidney Disease

By Annahl Anbini Hoole –March 24, 2017 

Annahl Anbini Hoole, MD

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is a non-communicable disease that affects 10% of the global population to some degree, but goes undiagnosed till the later, more dangerous stages when symptoms appear. Numbers are rising disproportionately in Sri Lanka, especially of CKD of unknown etiology (CKDu – meaning no one knows the cause).

The Sri Lankan Government therefore set up a Presidential Task Force on CKDu in 2014. Although it was thought to affect mostly older, male agricultural workers who are chronically exposed to pesticides and other chemicals, there is now an increase in cases among children and females. With more than 15% of the population in the North Central and Uva Provinces affected, CKDu is now spreading to the Northern, Eastern, North Western, Central, and Southern Provinces.

To prepare the people in the Northern Province, the Lions’ Club has come forward to raise awareness and has begun a fund to help people. They also organized this public health awareness seminar on CKD at the District Secretariat Auditorium in Nallur on March 15, 2017.

Lion R. Rakini, Lions’ Club Nallur President delivered the welcome address and Lion Dr. V. Thiyagarajah, the 306 B1 Centennial District Governor, gave the keynote address and distributed informational leaflets.

The Kidneys:

We all have two kidneys that are about the size of your fist and lie in the middle of your back on either side of your spine. The kidneys’ main jobs are to filter our blood by removing waste products and extra water through urine. They help control blood pressure, make red blood cells, and maintain healthy bones.  They also filter out waste products from our food, drink, medicines, and breakdowns from muscular activity. 

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD):

In CKD, the kidneys are damaged and cannot complete their job. It happens over the course of 5 stages, with symptoms not showing until later stages. As the stages progress your blood pressure might increase, you might have low red blood cells (anemia), weak bones, a change in urine and its output, swelling feet, fatigue, and back pain. These can eventually lead to kidney failure and death. There has been a 134% increase in deaths resulting from CKD worldwide, with incidence of end stage renal disease more than doubled at the Teaching Hospital, Jaffna in 2012-2015. Dr. V.G. Rajeev (Regional Epidemiologist), standing in for Dr. Nanthakumar, Regional Director of Health Services, pointed out that deaths caused by non-communicable diseases (like heart disease, diabetes, and kidney disease) now surpass those by other non-communicable diseases (like dengue and malaria).

From left to right: Dr. R. Surenthirakumaran, Dr. T. Saththiyamoorthy, Mr. Alvapillai Siri,  Dr. V. Thiyagarajah, Mr. V.Niranjan, Dr. V. Rajeev, Dr. Ranga Weerakkody

Prevention:

Dr. T. Peranantharajah, Consultant Physician for the Teaching Hospital gave a folksy, entertaining talk on prevention. Along with regular checkups with your doctor, a healthy lifestyle can prevent you from getting kidney diseases, manage your risk factors, and slow down the progression of kidney disease. He talked about the importance of managing what you put into your body. Poor eating habits, smoking, drinking alcohol, and obesity are all associated with kidney disease. Dr. Peranantharajah recommended a whole-grain (preferably vegetarian) diet, with lots of non-chemically treated fruits, nuts, legumes, and vegetables and less sodium, sugar, and red meats. He condemned white foods except milk. Another important lifestyle change is increasing our physical activity. As he says “Our society is plagued by an addiction to cereals: we start our day with cereals, then come home after work and plunk ourselves in front of our  TV set watching mega-serials.”

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TNA TO MONITOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UN RECOMMENDATIONS AND TJ PROCESS IN SRI LANKA

24/03/2017

TNA while welcoming the adoption of UNHRC resolution 34/L 1 which reaffirms the full implementation of resolution 30/1 of 2015, promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka, says that  as the elected representatives of the Tamil speaking people, it reiterates its commitment to closely engage with and monitor the implementation of the UN recommendations and other proposed processes related to reconciliation and transitional justice in Sri Lanka.

Full text of the statement:

Statement on the Adoption of Resolution 34/L 1, at the UN Human Rights Council

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) welcomes the adoption of UNHRC resolution 34/L 1 which reaffirms the full implementation of resolution 30/1 of 2015, promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka.

The TNA also welcomes the fact that resolution 34/L 1, gives specific time frames for the Government of Sri Lanka and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to report on the successful implementation of the 30/1 resolution at the 37^th and 40^th UNHRC sessions respectively in 2018 and 2019.

We urge the Government of Sri Lanka to honor its commitment with regard to these resolutions and implement the same in letter and spirit. In keeping with its commitments, we also urge the government to sincerely address the issues of land release, the detention of Tamil political prisoners, grievances of the families of missing persons, and the enactment of constitutional reforms.

The Tamil people have reached their limits of tolerance, and urge that their deprivation and suffering on these several issues be brought to an early end.

We welcome the continued engagement and assistance of the international community in achieving the aforesaid. The TNA, as the elected representatives of the Tamil speaking people, reiterates its commitment to closely engage with and monitor the implementation of the UN recommendations and other proposed processes related to reconciliation and transitional justice in Sri Lanka.

The UN and the Human Rights Council and the International Community, we submit, should also take all necessary actions to ensure that the benefits of the implementation of the UN resolution are derived by the people who have been victims.

(24 March, 2017)

Don’t turn justice into a fast-moving comedy

2017-03-25

At a national and international level, important factors such as the restoration of judicial independence, the independence of the police and the rule of law have been important factors in restoring Sri Lanka’s image and relationships for more trade and aid. However, certain parties or groups appear to be trying to undermine this or make it a political drama.   

One such case is the arrest and remand, since January,of National Freedom Front leader and parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa. The charge is that while he was a Minister in the Rajapaksa regime he had misused about 40 government vehicles and thereby caused a loss of about Rs.90 million. Mr. Weerawansa is alleging his arrest and remand are acts of political revenge. Based on this he and his joint opposition appear to be producing political drama after drama and at times  are getting far too much publicity for it.   

Earlier this month, Mr. Weerawansa walked into parliament proudly displaying his handcuffs and later there was a ceremony to mark his 47th birthday. The guests included former president Mahinda Rajapaksa. The same week a major controversy erupted over the appeal made by the NFF to function as an independent party in parliament. Speaker Karu Jayasuriya after consultations with party leaders including the Sri Lanka Freedom Party’s senior vice President Nimal Siripala de Silva, disallowed the appeal on the basis that the NFF had contested the August 2015 general election on the United People’s Freedom Alliance ticket. The Speaker’s ruling caused pandemonium and behaviour that bordered on hooliganism. Eventually the Speaker imposed a week’s suspension on joint opposition leader and veteran parliamentarian Dinesh Gunawardena.  

 This week we saw a new episode in the Weerawansa political drama. On Wednesday he announced he was launching a hunger strike to protest against what he saw as political revenge. On the sidelines Mr. Weerawansa’s teenage daughter who also joined in going on a hunger strike herself has now been admitted to hospital.   

Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapakshe referring to the issue in Parliament on Thursday made it clear that the President, the Prime Minister or the law and order Minister had nothing to do with  Mr. Weerawansa’s arrest and remand. That is how it should be because the police, its investigative units and the judiciary are independent and there is no need for them to even inform government leaders of their decision to arrest Mr. Weerawansa. It is also clear that the Magistrate Courts or the High Courts should not and do not act on any political guidance or influence though it is known to have happened even in the Supreme Court during the worst days of the former regime. The courts are now independent and take decisions on evidence placed before them by the police, prosecuting counsel and the defence counsel.   

 On Friday, Mr. Weerawansa’s lawyers made another move to get him out on bail. They went to the Fort Magistrate’s Court, this time citing Mr. Weerawansa’s daughter’s admission to hospital as the reason for bail. Some legal analysts are calling it a fast move.   

Whatever be the case, we urge government and opposition party politicians to respect the independence of the judiciary, the police and the rule of law. This is one of the pillars of democracy and provide the checks and balances for the democratic process to work well. Mr. Weerawansa and other politicians need to be made aware that if other remanded prisoners also decide to go on hunger strikes demanding bail, the law might become a fasting ass with little more than skin and bone.   

With media independence also restored to a large extent, media groups need to be aware that rights are linked to responsibilities and if we fail in our responsibilities we might have to forfeit our rights. Therefore, there is a need to ensure that there is no abuse of media freedom by giving far too much publicity to what happens outside a court of law or commission of inquiry while giving little publicity to more important matters that are taken up in these cases. If populism or any form of extremism is bad in politics so is it for the media and we need to maintain ethics and principles and be the voice of voiceless while campaigning for justice and equality.

New Unit under Ministry of Education to promote Social Cohesion and Reconciliation among School children

(Lanka-e-News -24.March.2017, 11.30PM) The Ministry of Education has established a new Peace Education and Reconciliation Unit (PERU) which will lead the Ministry's efforts to create awareness on reconciliation among hundreds of thousands of students in Sri Lanka.

 

Addressing a Press Conference held in Colombo today, Former President Madam Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Chairperson of Office for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR), Hon. Akila Viraj Kariyawasa, Minister of Education and Mr Sunil Hettiarachchi, Secretary of the Ministry of Education, briefed the media on the role of the new unit, efforts by the Ministry to foster reconciliation and the need of reconciliation in building a united Sri Lanka.

 

The Ministry of Education, Provincial Councils and ONUR are already working on several initiatives related to peace and reconciliation including Sahodara Paasal / Paadasalai student leadership programme, cultural and religious diversity celebrations, collaboration in educational reforms process and training of teacher resource pools on reconciliation.

 

The challenges and opportunities in this sphere was discussed at length during a planning workshop attended by Ministry Officials, Provincial Education Officials, UNICEF, ONUR and other stakeholders which was held prior to the press briefing. In addition to this an Action Plan on social cohesion activities in schools at provincial level was formulated at the workshop.

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by     (2017-03-24 22:48:20)

The Wealthy Ignoring The Poor Are Not Worthy Of Their Wealth

By Lankamithra –March 24, 2017

“The aim of the High is to remain where they are. The aim of the Middle is to change places with the High. The aim of the Low, when they have an aim…is to abolish all distinctions and create a society in which all men shall be equal.”  ~ George Orwell, 1984

Arguments for social justice can never be foreclosed. From great economists to social scientists, our history shows, have argued the case for social justice from time immemorial. And great minds of ancient India, China, Greece and the Middle East up to the twenty first century, whether as part and parcel of their religious teachings or as a fundamental basis of the socio-economic dialogue, have accepted this notion of social justice as ‘justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society’. When justice as per its definition, ‘the quality of being fair and reasonable’, is juxtaposed in the broader definition of social justice, one unvaryingly finds other related notions such as equality, equal distribution, egalitarianism and so forth and so on.

One simply cannot ignore that social justice, is essentially intertwined with providing a social net for those who are at the bottom of the economic ladder in society. Unregulated capitalism or crony-capitalism as is practiced in developing countries such as Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia and India and Bangladesh will unquestionably lead to creating a wide gulf between the rich and the poor. That gulf is the fertile ground for trade union-protests, social indignation, student unrest and communal riots instigated by fringe groups robed in saffron. The poorest of the poor, when see no light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, are easy to be catapulted from social slumber to violent uprising. This social dynamic is the one single vibrancy that is threatening the stability in Sri Lanka and its unhindered economic development.

This widening gulf between the rich and the poor is a symptom that signifies a severe socio-economic malaise. Yet no long-lasting solution has been discovered nor has any serious attempt being made by politicians to secure a more acceptable socio-economic system. Man has to be content with the ever-ongoing attempts at solutions. That, in a context of a contemporary event, is extremely hard. Historians will analyze, dissect and discover a significant and compelling reason or reasons for an event to occur, yet in a contemporary setting that exercise is almost next to impossible.

Apart from the religious leaders such as Siddhartha Gautama, Jesus Christ, Mohamed, Moses and the unknown authors of the Upanishads, it was Chanakya, the chief advisor to Emperor Chandragupta of ancient India and the first social scientist in history, who gave articulated the notion of political-economic realities and their interaction with society.  He wrote ‘Arthashastra’ (political economics), explaining the predominant features of the State and its fundamental functions, the duties of the King and sub-Kings etc. Chanakya perhaps is the only personality who has been accepted and revered as a genius both by Indian and Western scholars. Nevertheless, neither Chanakya nor his successors from Machiavellian to Karl Marx, Engels and modern economists and social scientists have failed to offer a solution to humanity’s nagging problem of the widening gap between the richest and poorest classes of any society.

Against this historic backdrop, Sri Lanka’s present stagnant economy, its divergent political immobility and its fast-spreading social sickness with corruption and dishonesty at the forefront, the exercise of narrowing of this gap between the richest and the poorest looks a pipedream. After obtaining Independence, with each successive government, the country’s economy seemed to have gone backwards except in the period of 1977 to 1994. The economic boom that took place during that period is due to many reasons. Among them are:

1. Winning five sixths majority for the UNP in parliament and thereby ensuring overwhelming affirmation by the legislature for Prime Minister/President J R Jayewardene.
2. Unshackling of the economy that was held hostage to the vagaries of State-controls and creating a free-market economy
3. Presence of some heavy-hitting Cabinet Ministers in the caliber of R Premadasa, Gamini Dissanayake, Lalith Athulathmudali, Ronnie de Mel, Nissanka Wijeyratne and A C S Hammed
4. Cohesiveness of the government ranks with minimum of cracks within
5. Last but not least, strong and sturdy leadership at the helm – J R J

It is not fair by both parties to compare, one against the other. But the inescapable fact is Sri Lanka does not seem to have those giants of men and women anymore. Not at the official level, nor at the politico level. It is indeed a great tragedy. Despite a war going on in the North and East, the country’s trek towards economic development did not suffer a bit. The free market economy’s beneficial effects started manifesting themselves all over the country. Emergence of a vibrant middle class was visible. Advent of color television, introduction of the three wheeler culture- of course to the great detriment of smoother operation of traffic in the current context- availability of goods and services which existed only in the wildest dreams of Lankans prior to ’77,  they all changed dramatically the way of life of every Sri Lankan. With all these good-effects also came the plague of prostitution, karaoke bars, and massage parlors-inevitable harbingers of decadence.

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