Seed giant Monsanto meets its match as Hindu nationalists assert power in Modi's India

FARM POWER: A farmer protests against Monsanto in New Delhi in August 2013. The dispute in India with the cotton seed multinational has disrupted the country's $1.8 billion-a-year seed industry. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

A little-known cotton seed company has taken on Monsanto, with the aid of a right-wing Hindu group that helped propel the Indian prime minister to power. The dispute threatens to upend the world's largest cotton-producing market.

By Mayank Bhardwaj, Rupam Jain and Tom Lasseter-Filed March 28, 2017

NEW DELHI – Tens of millions of dollars were within reach for M. Prabhakara Rao as he prepared in April 2015 to take his Indian cotton seed company public.

The Indian businessman already had $54 million in initial funding from an American private equity investor. Rao had also locked in a long-term licensing agreement with Monsanto Co, the world’s largest seed company, for the technology used in genetically modified cotton seeds that made up the majority of his annual sales.

Seed giant Monsanto meets its match as Hindu nationalists assert power in Modi.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

Measles outbreak across Europe

28 March 2017

Measles is spreading across Europe wherever immunisation coverage has dropped, the World Health Organization is warning.

The largest outbreaks are being seen in Italy and Romania.

In the first month of this year, Italy reported more than 200 cases. Romania has reported more than 3,400 cases and 17 deaths since January 2016.

Measles is highly contagious. Travel patterns mean no person or country is beyond its reach, says the WHO.

For good protection, it's recommended that at least 95% of the population is vaccinated against the disease.

But many countries are struggling to achieve that.

Most of the measles cases have been found in countries where immunisation has dipped below this threshold and the infection is endemic - France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Switzerland and Ukraine.

Preliminary information for February suggests that the number of new infections is rising sharply, says the WHO.

WHO regional director for Europe Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab said: "I urge all endemic countries to take urgent measures to stop transmission of measles within their borders, and all countries that have already achieved this to keep up their guard and sustain high immunisation coverage."

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control says that between 1 February 2016 and 31 January 2017 the UK reported 575 cases of measles.

The MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine is available on the NHS for babies and pre-school children.

Lagging immunisation

Robb Butler, of the WHO Regional Office for Europe, says there are a number of reasons why vaccination coverage has waned in some regions.

"In some countries, like the Ukraine, there have been supply and procurement issues."

Then there's vaccine hesitancy. Some people are fearful of vaccination, while others are complacent or find it an inconvenience, he says.

In France, for example, people need to make an appointment with their doctor to get a prescription, go to the pharmacy to collect the vaccine and then rebook with their doctor to have the jab administered.

"We need to get to the point where we appreciate that people have busy lives and competing priorities."

Dr Mary Ramsay, Head of Immunisation at Public Health England, said: "England's uptake of MMR vaccine by five years of age has reached the WHO's target of 95%.

"In the last year, the measles cases confirmed in England have mainly been in older adolescents and young adults with many linked to music festivals and other large public events. Individuals of any age who have not received two doses of the MMR vaccine, or those who are unsure, should speak to their GP - it's never too late to have the vaccine and measles can still be serious in adults. We are continuing to invest in programmes which encourage uptake of the vaccine to ultimately consign measles to the history books."

Measles

• Unvaccinated young children are at highest risk of measles and its complications, including death
• Measles is spread by direct contact and through the air by coughs and sneezes
• The virus remains active and contagious on infected surfaces for up to two hours
• The first signs of infection are usually a high fever and cold-like symptoms, such as a runny nose
• You may notice small white spots on the inside of the cheeks as well
• After several days, a rash develops, usually on the face and neck first and then spreading to the body and limbs
• An infected person can pass on the virus to others from four days prior to developing the skin rash to four days after the rash erupts
• There is no treatment, but two doses of vaccine can prevent infection in the first place

War crimes being pivot of transitional justice stalls progress

By Jehan Perera-March 27, 2017, 8:39 pm 

The government achieved its main goal at the UN Human Rights Council at the session just completed in March. It was able to obtain a two year extension to deliver on the promise it made at a previous session of the UNHRC in October 2015. There is a consensus that the government’s performance has been inadequate. The government itself has not denied this. Not one of the four reconciliation mechanisms that the government promised to establish are yet operational. Only one of them, the Office of Missing Persons, has received parliamentary assent, but it is still only on paper. The OMP has yet to be operationalized. In the meantime, the fate of missing persons continues to remain as unknown as it was 18 months ago when the government promised to set up an Office of Missing Persons which would be tasked with the mission of ascertaining the whereabouts of those still missing or what actually happened to them.

Equally deplorably most of the land taken from people by the military during the time of war, and even afterwards, remains under military occupation. Some of this land appears to have no visible military use being used for sports and agricultural purposes.This is noted even by Sinhalese who work at the community level in the North. At a recent meeting of an inter-religious committee in Vavuniya, a Buddhist monk said, "This is a good opportunity for us because all ethnic groups and religions are represented. In the Vavuniya District there are many unresolved issues. People are suffering because there is no way of earning a livelihood and no infrastructure programs. People did not respect the leaders of previous government because of human rights violations. However, this government is also unable to find solutions to the people’s suffering. Although people’s attitudes have been changed because of the conduct of new political leaders, land occupied by the military has not been returned to the owners. The government should immediately respond to these issues."

These are only some of the issues that continue to oppress the people who lost so much during the war and are presently left to fend for themselves without adequate resources to sustain themselves. The gulf in communication between those who became victims of the war and the rest of society has meant that most people are not fully aware of the problems of those affected by the war. So they are concerned about issues of economic development, jobs and prosperity even while another section of society continues to languish in their losses. A good society is not one that permits the burden of catastrophic loss to remain on those upon whom it falls.

CONTINUING PROBLEMS

Nonetheless the world being what it is Sri Lanka is relatively advanced in terms of its post-war normalization when compared to other countries that have recently experienced conflict. This was the main reason why the international community was prepared to give the Sri Lankan government another two years in which to implement its promises made in October 2015 to the UNHRC. From the time the war ended in 2009, governments have tried to improve the situation of the war affected people even if not to the satisfaction of the people concerned or meeting their priorities. The former government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa sought to build up the economic infrastructure and left a network of good quality roads that stands the people of the North and East in good stead today. The international community is willing to give the present government the benefit of the doubt. They know they cannot take on to themselves what the Sri Lankan government has to do.

But though the government got the extra time it asked for this does not mean that its problems are over. It still has to deliver on the promises it made in October 2015. The issues of missing persons, land returns, demilitarization, amending of the Prevention of Terrorism Act to reflect human rights standards and vetting of public officials to ensure that those who commit human rights violations do not continue to hold places of public responsibility are all difficult to address and to resolve. The opposition gives attention to matter of national sovereignty and national security. The government will be hard pressed to cope with this challenge when it comes to the realm of public debate. In the minds of most people national security will tend to receive more deference and priority than any other issue. The United States under President Donald Trump is the latest example of this reality.

In this unfavorable political context, a key to moving forward is to unhinge the concept of transitional justice from its present pivot of accountability for war crimes.The problem today is that the entire transitional justice process is being held hostage to the pursuit of accountability for war crimes. Transitional justice is not only about accountability, it includes truth seeking, reparations and institutional reforms. The experience of other countries shows that ensuring accountability is a lengthy process often taking several decades. Those who are accused of war crimes are still powerful both in the political opposition and in the military. They also have the support of large segments of the population on account of saving the country from violent division.

BLOCKING HEALING

It is in this context that important commitments of the government are being blocked at every level. It should be clear by now that a war crimes-centered process of transitional justice will not move forward. The demand for international tribunals and hybrid courts to ensure accountability strengthens the hands of those who oppose the transitional justice process.They claim that ascertaining the fate of missing persons and providing reparations for loss of life and property are part of a package aimed at providing hard evidence that will be used in war crimes prosecutions and for punishing of war heroes. Therefore, instead of emphasizing retributive justice in which the primary remedy is punishment, there could be an alternative in the form of restorative justice. There is a need to look for examples from other parts of the world.

The government also needs to move swiftly to regain the trust and confidence of the Tamil people who voted overwhelmingly for the government at the last elections that saw the government change. They are feeling particularly let down. During the past weeks as the UNHRC sessions were being held in Geneva, members of the Tamil Diaspora and civil society visited European capitals to lobby for international direct intervention with regard to the truth-seeking commission and the special courts to try war criminals. But they did not succeed in their missions. In this context, the Tamil polity is feeling very much abandoned and left out by the government that they helped to bring to power by voting for them at the last national elections.

At the present time, Sri Lanka is fortunate in that it has a government that is sincere about making life better for all people, including Tamils. This government headed by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is not anti-Tamil or anti any section of the general population. But they are also politicians who assess the pulse of the people. Any government that wishes to win the next election needs to be mindful of the Sinhalese ethnic majority for whom economic development matters more than transitional justice. The government needs to be supported and strengthened to shift the emphasis on transitional justice away from war crimes trials. When prosecuting war crimes is made the centre piece of transitional justice, as demanded by sections of the international community and Tamil polity, it is even harder to get popular support for transitional justice.

The Political Hypocrisy Of President Maithripala Sirisena – Muslim IDPs Tossed Out

By Hilmy Ahamed –March 26, 2017

Hilmy Ahamed

A Tamil saying goes thus “Stealing the neighbour’s chicken for the mother’s almsgiving“.

President Sirisena in his total betrayal of the Muslims did just that with one stroke of his pen from Moscow on 24th March, 2017, when he signed the gazette notification declaring Mavillu, Weppal, Karadikkuli, Marichchikadi and Vilaththikulam forests as Mawillu Forest Reserve under 3A of the Forest Conservation Ordinance. He satisfies his ego and is pampering to extremist Buddhists by taking over Muslim agricultural lands, which have belonged to them for generations.

Rishard Bathiudeen, the current Minster of Industry and Commerce and leader of the All Ceylon Makkal Congress crossed over with his party members in November 2014 to the Opposition and supported Maithripala Sirisena as the common candidate of the Opposition at the Presidential Elections in January 2015. His crossover was with two Parliamentarians, 4 Provincial Council Members, 63 Pradeshiya Sabha members, totaling 69 elected representatives. No other member crossing over brought in so many elected representatives to the common opposition against Mahinda Rajapaksa. Its time for Rishard Bathiudeen and other Muslim political leaders to rethink their support for Yahapalanaya, without sticking to their selfish motives of perks and privileges. They should reconsider their support for Yahapalanaya, not because the IDPs who are being discriminated against are Muslim, but the injustice meted out to a group of innocent Sri Lankan citizens. I also remind here that these people were ousted from their homes as they refused to join the LTTE in their cause, and stood for one Sri Lanka. No other community who was not part of the warring factions had to pay such a heavy price.

1901 Old-deed

Rishard had one simple request- that a Government elected under Maithripala Sirisena would ensure the right of his people to return to their former lands and to treat the Northern Muslims as equal citizens in the Northern resettlement process.

The brutal terrorist force of Velupillai Prabhaharan, the fascist leader of the Liberation Tigers of Thamil Eelam (LTTE), forcibly evicted the entire Muslim population of the North in 1990 in the biggest ethnic cleansing exercise in Sri Lanka. Some were given 24 hours to leave while the others had just two hours. They left minus all their assets, cash, and wealth as they were allowed to take with them just Rs. 500.

They trekked through jungle, took risks with tiny boats in the mighty ocean, and walked hundreds of kilometers to reach safety in Puttlam and other parts of Southern Sri Lanka. They have been languishing in refugee camps for over 25 years with dreams of returning to their former homes and lands. To this day, the Government has treated them as a “FORGOTTEN PEOPLE”.

The Muslims were forced to abandon their lands with their eviction in 1990 and there was obvious jungle growth in the 25 years of their displacement. The LTTE and the Army which occupied thousands of acres of farm land did not allow the Muslims to go to their lands until the end of the war in 2009. With the resettlement of the entire 300,000 Tamil Internally Displaced Population by 2013, the Government under Basil Rajapaksa’s Presidential Task force for Northern Development started allocating 1/2 acre of land to the Muslim IDPs. The local government officials in the districts undertook this task, fulfilling all necessary Government criteria for resettlement, but no infrastructure or other support was provided to them. Some benevolent Sri Lankan Muslims and a foundation from Qatar build some houses, but there were no schools, health facilities, or transport provided by the State.

Extremist Buddhists, with the jubilation of winning the war in 2009 started targeting the Muslims. They started with Halal food, attacking their businesses and the resettlement of the Muslim IDPs. They found a willing ally in Mahinda Rajapaksa with his deep-rooted racism and hatred of the Muslims when he lost the Presidential elections.

The Buddhist extremists led by some monks started a campaign along with some Environmentalists to halt the resettlement or allocating the former Muslim lands back to them. Now, they have found a new ally in Maithripala Sirisena.

The forest reserve controversy started with the prospect of a humiliating defeat at the 2012 Provincial Council Elections, upsetting the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his fascist regime. They foresaw the damning defeat of the Sinhala backed politics in the North to the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) led Tamil National Alliance (TNA). Due to this, with a single stroke of Anura Priyadhashana Yapa’s pen, thousands of acres of Northern arable lands were declared as forest reserves or watershed areas. This included thousands of Muslim lands in the Mannar District in the Musali South. This was mainly done to prevent the Northern Provincial council having jurisdiction over vast tracks of arable land.

While the President has declared Muslim lands as a forest reserve with the stroke of his pen, there has been organized colonization along the Wilpattu Reserve on the Welioya road by Sinhalese from Hambantota and families of armed forces personnel. The following are the available statistics for the Sinhala settlements:

1 Veratenna – 520 families

2. Bogaswewa 1- 500 families

3. Bogaswewa 2 -560 families

4. Namalgama – 470 families

5. Senaleenigama – 450 families

6. Nandamitragama -360 families

Read More

Kilinochchi march against military occupation of public lands

27 Mar  2017

Kilinochchi locals marched calling for the withdrawal of the Sri Lankan army from public lands, in particular from the Vaddakkachchi Agricultural Farm, which is currently being used as a military camp.

Protestors called for the release of all public Kilinochchi lands from army occupation, including the lands belonging to: Kilinochchi Mahavidyalayam (school); the District Secretariat; the National Youth Service Centre; the Irrigation Department.

Organised by the Kilinochchi District Agricultural Federation, the protest march saw participation from various civil society organisations as well as several politicians including the Northern Provincial Council’s Agriculture Minister Aingaranesan, NPC Councillor S. Pasupathipillai and MP S. Sritharan.

UPDATED: Flip-flopping on Accountability – A Timeline

Featured image courtesy Colombo Gazette

GROUNDVIEWS on 03/27/2017

Sri Lanka recently co-sponsored a resolution at the 34th session of the UN Human Rights Council, allowing Sri Lanka two more years to implement the recommendations made in Resolution 30/1 of 2015.

One of the most controversial topics has been the level of international participation in a judicial mechanism.

Several bodies have called for Sri Lanka to include foreign judges in its accountability process. UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein flagged Sri Lanka’s slow progress on transitional justice when presenting a report on Sri Lanka and added, “Continuing unwillingness or inability to address impunity reinforced the need for international participation in a judicial mechanism. That mechanism should include a special counsel, foreign judges and defence lawyers, and authorised prosecutors and investigators.”

In an interactive dialogue after the presentation of UN High Commissioner Zeid’s report on Sri Lanka, the United States said, “Government statements against international participation in any future Sri Lankan judicial mechanism raise understandable concerns among victims and families about the integrity of any judicial process.” Human Rights Watch said Sri Lanka’s increased unwillingness to consider international involvement “directly contravenes the call by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for a “hybrid” justice mechanism given the shortcomings of domestic institutions to ensure impartial investigations and witness protection… It is a core component of the resolution, which the Sri Lankan government embraced through its co-sponsorship, and an important recommendation of the CTF.” Amnesty International in a statement to the Human Rights Council said Sri Lanka “must not back away from the commitment [to include international investigators, prosecutors and judges]. “International support will…help encourage trust and a perception of fairness on the part of victims, many of whom express deep disillusionment regarding the implementation of Sri Lanka’s commitments.”

A common thread running through these statements was the need for credibility in any accountability mechanism. Executive Director to the Centre for Policy Alternatives and Secretary to the Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu pointed out that the reason the call for foreign involvement was so strong was because a section of the population, including victims had felt an exclusively domestic mechanism would not be credible. “If Sri Lanka is definitely not going ahead with foreign judges, it is up to the Government to negotiate and convince stakeholders regarding its position on internationals in an entirely domestic probe,” Dr Saravanamuttu said.

More recently, the Government has issued statements to the effect that a hybrid court is not feasible as it is not in line with Sri Lanka’s constitution. This position has been contested by Attorney-at-Law and Co-Founder of South Asian Centre for Legal Studies Niran Anketell in a recent interview.

“There is nothing in the Sri Lankan constitution that talks about the nationality of Judges. It only requires an Oath to be taken. In my view that Oath can be taken by any person [who aims] to protect and defend the constitution.”

Perhaps the reason that credibility has become such a central issue stems from the Government itself. Over the past two years, the Government has issued many confusing (and often directly contradictory) statements on accountability.

In light of the newly adopted resolution, and the debate around the need for a hybrid court, Groundviews has updated its timeline recording the Government’s own statements on accountability. View the timeline directly here, or below.

Sri Lanka: Deepening Economic Crisis

Sri Lankan government moves to privatise major state corporations

By Saman Gunadasa -27 March 2017

The Sri Lankan government is rapidly implementing demands made by an International Monetary Fund (IMF) team in Colombo early this month. During the visit the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government said it would sell the state-owned Hyatt, Grand Oriental, Waters Edge and Hilton hotels and Lanka Hospitals, and listed them on the stock exchange in an attempt to raise $US1 billion.

On March 15, the government declared that key state-owned enterprises—the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB), Airport and Aviation Services (AASL) and Sri Lanka Ports Authority (PA)—would operate on a commercial basis. The decision, a first step toward privatisation, will see job cuts and major attacks on working conditions. Workers at the state-owned enterprises have consistently opposed privatisation.

Last week, Central Bank of Sri Lanka governor Indrajith Coomaraswamy announced that monetary policy was being tightened with 25-basis point increases in lending and deposit rates, climbing to 8.75 percent and 7.25 percent respectively. The decision is in line with IMF recommendations.

The IMF team also called on Colombo to speed up “economic reforms” in order to reduce the fiscal deficit and avert a debt repayment crisis. The government has publicly acknowledged that it needs $US3.4 billion this year to pay foreign debt instalments and interest. The IMF is notorious for its privatisation demands, recently imposing its dictates on governments in Greece, Romania, Egypt, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

An IMF team press release on March 7 said “finalising and publishing Statements of Corporate Intents for large SOEs (state owned enterprises)” was the “first necessary step for enhancing transparency and accountability in the reform program.”

A week later, on March 15, CEB, CPC, NWSDB, AASL managers and the government ministries under which they operate signed a “Statement of Corporate Intent” with the finance ministry. This involves “improving productivity,” “enhancing the efficiency of employees,” “institutional structural changes” and “improving operational efficiency.” In other words, increasing workloads, slashing jobs and limiting all wage demands.

While these state-owned enterprises currently employ more than 50,000 workers, management has increasingly employed low-paid contract workers to cut costs. Management also plans to “improve operational efficiency” by raising the cost of services, which will further impact on workers and the poor.

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake told a press conference that “the loss-making public companies accumulate a total loss of 167 billion rupees a year.” The government expected these companies to increase “operational and financial efficiency through improved corporate practices” and become “profit-making ventures.”

Karunanayake declared the government would fulfil all IMF targets by June, apart from those for the country’s net international reserves, which are declining due to a flight of funds triggered by US interest rate increases.

There is some uncertainty about whether the $120 million third instalment of the already-approved $1.5 billion IMF loan will be disbursed by its scheduled date of April 20. While this amount is small compared to Sri Lanka’s commitments, the cash-strapped government hopes to use it as a guarantee to woo other lenders and foreign investors. Colombo has pledged to reduce the budget deficit to 3.5 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020.

The IMF urged last week’s interest rate increases. Its March 7 press release stated: “The mission encourages the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to remain vigilant in monitoring inflation pressures and stand ready to tighten monetary policy if inflation or credit growth does not abate.” It urged the Central Bank to take stronger actions toward “rebuilding international reserves.”

While the IMF claims its measures will improve the economy, the higher credit rates will have the opposite effect. The Reuters news agency commented last week: “Policymakers face a tricky balancing act as the rupee has come under renewed pressure, hurt by capital outflows, but a rate hike is likely to further slow down an already fragile economy.”

Late last week, the Central Bank government further reduced its economic growth predictions. It previously calculated that growth in 2017 would be between 5.5 and 6 percent of GDP. This has been revised down to 5-5.5 percent. Last year’s growth was predicted to be 4.8 percent but fell to 4.4 percent.

Economic growth could further decline in response to higher credit rates. Year-on-year credit growth was 22 percent and 21 percent last December and January, respectively. Credit growth is expected to decline to 15 percent by the end of this year due to the higher interest rates.

The global economic downturn is seriously impacting on Sri Lankan exports. In 2015, annual exports declined by 5.6 percent and in the first 11 months of 2016 exports dropped by another 2.8 percent. 

Adding to this crisis, foreign investors in Sri Lankan treasury bonds have withdrawn $420 million (63 billion rupees) so far this year, after withdrawing $324.3 million in 2016.

The Tragedy Of The Common Class

By Uditha Devapriya –March 27, 2017 

Uditha Devapriya

Last week I sketched out the political content of the Professional Nationalist class (or “ProNats”). I can’t vouch for their sincerity, but I think I can vouch for the disjuncture between their aims and their social conditioning, a disjuncture that has historically felled other similar political cliques in the past, both here and abroad. This week’s column is a sweep (or rather an attempt at a sweep) of a more common class, also political in nature but more discernible in the context of our country, society, and time. To come up with a definitive name for this, unfortunately, is beyond my ability, so I will introduce it to you as the class that forms, pushes, and accentuates the ProNats.

Before I get to that, though, a brief perusal of our political history is in order. I remember reading an article by Colvin R. de Silva, where he faulted the bourgeoisie of the country for having felled various industries and sectors to accommodate their short-termism. Colvin wrote that article (the name of which I don’t remember, unfortunately) after J.R. Jayewardene began building the various Free Trade Zones and Economic Commissions which, at one level, were responsible for the backlash against the Left in the eighties. In essence, he was answering a curious question: was the then UNP’s fixation and prejudice against the Left (in economic terms) justified by the history of the bourgeoisie that formed that party in 1947? Colvin answered in the negative.

His reason, though debatable, has been borne out by history. The colonial bourgeoisie in Sri Lanka were never engaged in productive employment. Even after independence, they preferred the primary (extracting) to the secondary (manufacturing) sector. Decades before the Land Reform Acts and the various redistribution policies implemented by Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s government, the likes of N. M. Perera and Colvin wrote on how the colonialists had spawned a class which were (paradoxically speaking) more interested in perpetuating a quasi-feudal class by spending years and years in elite schools and institutions, studying at Oxford and Cambridge, only to come back to Sri Lanka to serve as second fiddles to the Governor-General and his coterie.

When J. R. Jayewardene, as Finance Minister, remarked that if the entire national income were divided among the country it would make beggars of us all, he was sidelining the main issue the Left took with his government’s right-wing economic policies. The government instituted in 1948 was essentially housed by the landed elite gentry, no different to the landed gentry of Jane Austen’s novels and certainly a class that had been or was being outmoded in Western economies.

As time went by, the political Right began propagating the myth that the Left was trying to “Russify” or “Sinofy” the country (remember the propaganda disseminated in the run-up to the 1965 Elections, which culminated in the crossover of C. P. de Silva?), when in fact what the LSSP and Communist Party did was to resuscitate the manufacturing sector of the country, a sector neglected by an elite which was only bothered about perpetuating its progeny and monopolising and profiting from the primary sector. In itself, this was not an economic sin (after all most East Asian and Southeast Asian countries began with the agricultural sector), but the issue was that Sri Lanka was in danger of depending on the extraction of raw materials, since the bourgeoisie were not making use of the profits they got to graduate to the industrial sector.

Malinda Seneviratne, writing on the second Sirimavo Bandaranaike regime, argues that what Perera did damaged the Sinhalese businessman, initiating a process of destruction completed by J.R. Jayewardene and his Open Economy. This argument (echoed by other middle-class Sinhalese nationalists, myself included) interests me for reasons I will get to shortly, but for now, suffice it to say that such an indictment on the Left can’t be sustained on account of how negligent the Sinhalese businessman was in using his/her profits for the upliftment of the economy. In other words, the leftist economic policies authored by Bandaranaike’s government were crafted with the purpose of breathing life to a dormant sector. Without these policies, the Sinhalese entrepreneurial spirit was being sapped by the very people who were supposed to be channelling it for their survival.

Taking issue with my comment that the SLFP and the UNP were the same and unified in electoral terms in last week’s column, Vinod Moonesinghe contended that inasmuch as the Land Reform Act and the housing ceiling are considered today by economic pundits as leftist excesses, they were in fact liberal and enlightened compared to the policies which were being enforced in more capitalist societies in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, which imposed land ceilings up to one or two hectares in contrast to the 10 Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s government instituted.

Vinod then pointed out the reason for the setting up of a ceiling in the first place: “It was necessary simply because Sri Lankans were investing in housing at the expense of productive investment. During the Second World War, the British gave concessions to Sri Lankans to start industries. Instead, they invested in housing. This is why a state industrial sector became crucial, simply because local bourgeois investors wouldn’t put their money into manufacturing.”

In other words, the State was intervening in a neglected sector because the bourgeoisie were idle. This was a guiding principle even in Leninist and Stalinist Russia, though in Cuba and China nationalist concerns took over economic policy. At the end of the day, when the history of the Global Left is assessed, historians will no doubt point at the transition it brought about in backward countries from a primitive, pseudo-feudal to an industrial, technocratic State. For its time, however, such a task was derided by the Right as being too interventionist, very much against orthodox economics. What the Right forgets here is that it was Karl Marx who helped make the transition from microeconomics (based on perfect markets and competition) to macroeconomics (based on inflation, employment, and sectoral growth). I am digressing here, however.

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True picture of Sirisena’s “Yahapalanya” in Sri Lanka

Millions of people are currently undergoing immense suffering due to a severe drought. But, the government has sought and obtained parliamentary approval for super luxury vehicles for its ministers and their deputies to the tune of about two billion rupees during the last nine months alone! It presented the latest supplementary estimate to Parliament for that purpose a few days ago.

by Prabath Sahabandu- Mar 27, 2017

( March 27, 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The yahapalana government has drawn heavy flak from its detractors, who say it is inefficient. But, this, we believe, is a claim reeking of prejudice and jealousy. What some frustrated politicians, suffering from political cold turkey, say about their rivals who are enjoying power and living off the fat of the land, are to be taken with a pinch of salt—cum grano salis! The incumbent administration has proved, beyond doubt, that it is as efficient as its predecessor in some respects. See how efficiently it is feathering the nests of its politicians and lackeys!

The Salawa inferno happened last year, causing a rain of exploding ordnance, which destroyed a township. Deluges occurred subsequently turning many parts of the country into billabongs of sorts. Millions of people are currently undergoing immense suffering due to a severe drought. But, the government has sought and obtained parliamentary approval for super luxury vehicles for its ministers and their deputies to the tune of about two billion rupees during the last nine months alone! It presented the latest supplementary estimate to Parliament for that purpose a few days ago.

The holier-than-thou Joint Opposition (JO) worthies have taken the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government to task for wasting money on new vehicles without using the not-so-old ones they used. If only, while in power, they had been so considerate as to prevail on their boss to refrain from taking planeloads of hangers-on to faraway countries and plunging the loss-incurring national carrier deeper into debt! The Rajapaksa government was characterised by the criminal waste of public funds. One of the JO heavyweights has been charged with abusing as many as 40 vehicles. Others who are responsible for the alleged offence have got away with it by joining the yahapalana administration, but that’s another story.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has recently been questioned by a special commission once again on a staggering loss a state media institution suffered due to the nonpayment of bills for his 2010 presidential election advertising. Political leaders must be held accountable for what they do while ensconced in power. The present government has paid millions of rupees for a building for months without using it. This is an instance of abuse of public funds and the question is what the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) has been doing. The loss must be recovered from those responsible for the questionable building deal. They deserve to be in the exalted company of former Minister Wimal Weerawansa in Welikada at least for a few weeks. We look forward to the day when the yahapalana big guns are hauled up before courts and presidential commissions for the abuse of power and public property besides their corrupt deals, which are legion.

The late Anura Bandaranaike once told Parliament that a minister, who, before taking to politics, had been wearing flip-flops and pedalling a rickety bicycle, pretended, after becoming a minister, that he could not move about without luxury vehicles. The same is true of most of the present-day politicians who were in penury before entering politics, which is the Sri Lankan version of El Dorado.

People’s suffrage has never been trifled with in this manner. Elections are being postponed as the government is scared of facing them. Candidates, rejected by people, at the last general election, have not only been brought into parliament through the backdoor but also rewarded with ministerial portfolios and perks. When the government appointed a jumbo Cabinet in breach of one of its main election promises, it assured that the increase in the number of ministers wouldn’t cost the public anything extra. But, today, the rapacious ministers including political rejects are being given super luxury vehicles at the expense of the public and the modern buildings that house their ministries cost the hapless taxpayer an arm and a leg, as we reported the other day. With the money spent on each of the ministerial vehicles purchased by the yahapalana government a multi-storeyed school building can be built or the much-needed sanitary facilities provided to dozens of schools.

It was only the other day that Megapolis Minister Champika Ranawaka said priority on public roads had to be given to buses and not cars. The best way to develop public transport is to make ministers travel in buses and trains so that they will realise the suffering of the commuting public and feel the need for improving mass transit. Let Ranawaka urge his ministerial colleagues to take public transport and set an example to others in a bid to reduce the number of cars and SUVs on roads.

President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe have recently promised to accelerate their development programmes. Maybe, they think their ministers need fast moving, comfy vehicles, to give a turbo boost to their development drive! Speed is of the essence, isn’t it?

( Prabhath is the Editor in Chief of The Island, a Colombo based daily newspaper where this piece first appeared as an editorial)