How not to be a social entrepreneur

Wednesday, 26 April 2017

These days everybody wants to be a social entrepreneur. That’s awesome, but as long as you don’t pretend to be one. Every business is not a social enterprise… because if it was then we don’t need to have a separate name called ‘Social Enterprise’ in the first place now would we?

At a recent conference on social entrepreneurship, a popular Lankan businessman said, “I don’t know what social entrepreneurship is, and I don’t care about the definitions, but I believe I’m a social entrepreneur.”

Well, if you don’t know about something, the first thing you should do is study about it. (Read more about the Theory of Social Enterprise by Eranda Ginige).Sometimes it helps to understand the opposite of something in order to get a better understanding of the subject. So here are three entrepreneurs who are not social:

1.I give employment to people, so I’m a social entrepreneur 

Just because you give employment to a few people or a lot of people that doesn’t make you a social entrepreneur. If so,then weapons manufacturers, oil companies, tobacco companies, Bangladeshi sweatshops, Foxconn, the Lankan Parliament are all social enterprises. Most companies employ people not because they want to create employment, but because they need labour. It’s hilarious how CEOs say things like “we put our people first, we value our people, our people are our biggest asset” when in fact HR is accounted as a liability on the balance sheets.

Isn’t it fascinating how some companies win HR awards when the first thing they do is laying-off their staff as the first response to a financial loss or a business restructuring; or are constantly looking for ways to automate their business processes to reduce labour costs; or are holding their workers’ educational certificates in custody to prevent them from leaving for better prospects!Don’t kid yourself by saying you want what’s best for your people.

And then you have social enterprises that are essentially created to give employment to certain groups of people. Single-mothers, elderly people, disabled people, ex-prisoners, marginalised communities, former combatants, refugees, people of extreme poverty etc. It’s beyond a simple employer-employee contract. The purpose of the business is to create a sustainable, equitable, income source for a specific group of people in need.

A social business often has built-in systems to educate its people, skill and up-skill them, improve their living standards andbuild confidenceto gain financial independence. They are often paid higher salaries than the market rates or a living-wage because the purpose is not profit-maximisation for its shareholders, but to create better lives for the target group.

I know what you’re thinking “but what will happen to the employees if a company cease to employ them?” That’s an insinuating argument I usually get as the last cry. My response is “Wouldn’t you replace your staff if there was a cheaper alternative?” It usually drives the message straight to the cerebrum.

Firstly, a successful company will not do such a thing because it’s suicide. They need the labour to function and they need more labour for business growth.You need to stop thinking that you are doing a special favour to your people by employing them; unless the whole purpose of your business’ existence is to create prosperity for your people. There’s a big difference between the two.

2.I give microfinance to the poor, so I’m a social entrepreneur

Professor MuhammedYunus the pioneer of microcredit started the “Grameen Bank” (Bank of the Villagers) with the single purpose of lifting the poorest-of-the-poor Bangladeshis out of poverty. Grameen Bank is one of the world’s largest Social Enterprises both in terms of impact and income.Its business model was designed based on real needs of the people at the bottom-most level of the society, especially women.

Initially scorned as an unviable idea, Grameen Bank’s unprecedented success led to an entirely new global industry. And then came the loan sharks. Seeing the high interest rates, high repayment rates and the large market base, all the profit-hungry finance companies and private banks started their own microcredit products and subsidiaries. But they lacked the one essential thing which made Grameen Bank a social enterprise, the socialpurpose!

Microfinance is has become asocial menace in Sri Lanka. While Grameen Bank wants to take people out of poverty, most Lankan microfinance companies want to mint money out of the poor. It’s reasonable to doubt whether the top management of most of these companies understand the social-economic principles of microfinance. Their sales staff are given impractical targets to lend. Having no proper training, experience or empathy on working with poor rural women, they somehow force credit on the poor, and then force them to pay the unbearable interest every month. They don’t build the values, they don’t build trust, they don’t build the support system, and worst of all they don’t serve the real needs of the Lankan poor.

As a result of this menacemany people have stopped their microenterprises altogether and are doing hard labour work for a daily wage just to pay back the interest. Some women commit suicide after falling deep into this debt trap. There is nothing social about most Lankan microfinancecompanies.

(Yes, I know about the allegations against Prof.Yunus, but he has been proven innocent on all accounts thus far. It is obvious that the Bangladeshi Government’s actions against ProfYunus are politically motivated.)

3.I have won social enterprise awards, so I’m a social entrepreneur 

True social entrepreneurs become so after having a profound understanding (Insight) about social and environmental problems around them. They are not some naïve do-gooders nor are they the traditional opportunity-grabbing entrepreneurs. Instead they are well aware of the social-environmental problem they want to address. They are driven by a relentless desire to prove a sustainable business solution (Impact) to those problems. They design a business model which not only assures their business sustainability but also their own personal wellbeing (Income). (Read more about Insight-Impact-Income: Personal Triple Bottom Line by ErandaGinige.)

Social entrepreneurs are well aware of the modern concepts of sustainability and they are open to quickly learn from others from around the world. Having a serious understanding about social and environmental problems often make them change their lifestyle and purchase habits to be ethical, responsible and environmental-friendly. And they strive to make each and every aspect of their enterprise “good”. Just because they do good, they don’t waste water, energy and other resources, mistreat employees, con their customers, make vulgar advertisements, sell products in plastic, bribe government officials, or dodge taxes.

I see many people who do something good and then use it for personal benefit. Worst of all, I now see some narcissists abusing social entrepreneurship and promoting themselves as social entrepreneurs. They do it for awards, fellowships, foreign trips, TV interviews and especially for the money. It’s repulsive to see some commercial businesses and pretending to be social enterprises just to tap into impact investment.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying people should not seek and be given due credit. But I’ve seen those award winners simply retract from continuing and scaling their social impact after getting the award.Social Entrepreneurship is fundamentally about solving social-environmental problems through sustainable business approach. You do it because you want to make a serious impact.

Social enterprises are most certainly the future of business. It’s the only practical solution we have on the table to make a better world through business. We don’t have time for games. If you want to be a social entrepreneur please do so for the right reasons.

Links: Personal Triple Bottom Line:http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/leadership/eranda_ginige/personal_triple_bottom_line_insight_impact_income

Theory of Social Enterprise: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/theory-social-enterprise-eranda-ginige

(The author is the Founder of Social Enterprise Lanka. You can reach him atEranda.Ginige@socialenterprise.lk.)

Rajitha calls for strong action against sabotaging public services

Apr 25, 2017

Strong action needs to be taken against sabotaging services to the public, says health minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, adding that he has proposed to the president that fuel supply should continue with the deployment of the three armed forces.

Trade union action should not inconvenience the 21 million Sri Lankans, he told journalists at his ministry yesterday (24).

 

He said, “Ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa was the first to agree to handover the Trincomalee oil tanks to India. Then, trade unions kept silent. Trincomalee oil tanks should be used. If they love the CPC, they should generate income from the oil tanks. Certain trade unions use this to criticize and topple the government. It is important if the Indian government develops the oil tanks and generates income. So is if China’s government develops and generates income from Hambantota port. They are investments.”

 

“Good governance should be there for the oppressed people. Trade unions dancing to the tune of parties that cannot win elections should not be allowed to run the country,” he added.

Murder At Jayewardenepura University 

By Arjuna Seneviratne –April 25, 2017

Arjuna Seneviratne

If a dog lives its life in a specific area, had been doing so for years, is properly cared for, neutered when necessary, fed, watered and sheltered, is at least content if not downright happy, provides contentment and happiness to its primary caregivers, that dog is not footloose or set astray. It is a factor, a component, a definite entity of a larger social order, habitat if you may, where it has its place, has its role.  If that habitat is a small apartment, annexure or home, then the alpha-dog of that space, in most cases a human will be responsible for the dog and will look after it and take responsibility for it. If it is a much larger space such as the premises of J’Pura University, occupied by a large number of human beings hailing from various places for various reasons, then  alpha-dog is not a person sitting in some high chair but rather, a collection of those that look out for that dog. If decisions have to be made about that dog, then it is those caregivers who should make those decisions not someone far removed from any idea of such matters as habitats, definition of strays or ideas of social-anthropology, animal domestication or institutional culture. Those decisions cannot be made by an unqualified, 

intellectually vacant, socially bereft apology for a human being. Such decisions cannot be made by people like the Vice Chancellor of J’Pura university. He has no clue, therefore, he has no say. He cannot understand and will never understand that the dog population of all of our universities form an integral part of the portal, has been so for decades and are pets to a large number of students and teachers and by no means strays.

Yet, this man has taken it upon himself to give strange definitions for what constitutes strays, vermin and pests.  He has decided, contrary to every definition of canines, that they are pests akin to cockroaches and termites. Things that need to be crushed underfoot or gassed out. Therefore, he decides in his maladjusted mind, to hire a terminator, a pest controller to exterminate the dog population of the J’Pura campus. Just as much as he doesn’t know how many termites are eating away at his books, he has no clue how many dogs there are. He only knows that they need to be sprayed with sarin or worse. There were 83 dogs a month ago. 30 of them have been murdered by a pest controller. If he wanted the dog population of the university wiped out he didn’t succeed. Instead he only succeeded in performing illegal, extra-judicial action that brought out a storm of grief and protest from all parts of the country. The outpouring of shock and horror was akin to sentiments expressed across the world at the extermination of human beings in Syria recently. This madman doesn’t understand that what he caused to be done to the dogs at J’Pura was no different to what was caused to be done to human beings in Syria. According to eyewitness reports, the dogs started vomiting, foaming at the mouth, losing consciousness in the same way, with the same suffering, over the same period of time as the human beings in Syria.

The students fought back, hard, on behalf of their beloved pets and they did it right. Even as they sobbed their hearts out that a pregnant bitch they had been caring for had been poisoned to death, they asked the careless, vicious, heartless, soulless, lawless VC for a meeting. He ignored them. They went to the police. They wrote to the papers. They campaigned on social media. They invoked every relevant law, directive and circular to protect the canines that were still left. Their voice could not be stilled and it was taken up by the larger populace of this country full of the followers of the Buddha and Lord Shiva to whom such action constitutes nothing less than murder.

Read More

SWRD myth and reality…

2017-04-26

•     In the Bandaranaike assassination, what is most astonishing was the lack of planning and plotting to shelter the conspirators
•     The gratitude owed by Bandaranaike to Buddharakkhitha for the former’s electoral landslide was too great to be disregarded
•     J R in 1977 changed the course of the country’s economy for good.

“Mark this well, you proud men of action! You are, after all, nothing but unconscious instruments of the men of thought.” 

 ~Georg Wilhelm 
Friedrich Hegel   

S W R D Bandaranaike, the fourth Prime Minister of Ceylon, was assassinated by a Buddhist monk. A cruel conspiracy was hatched and executed to almost perfect precision. But that was only as far as the assassination was done and completed. But behind every murder there is a conspiracy. History tells us that in most assassinations, rarely had a lone gunman executed the job without any accomplices supporting him or her. In the Bandaranaike assassination, what is most astonishing was the lack of planning and plotting to shelter the conspirators so that they could remain at large after the assassination. Therein lay the fatal flaw of those who killed S W R D Bandaranaike, the man who ushered in an era of the common man in Ceylon.  

At the top of this conspiracy-pyramid stood another Buddhist monk, a young megalomaniac by the name of Mapitigama Buddharakkhitha, who was primarily responsible for garnering the support of the Sinhalese-Buddhist vote for Bandaranaike in the election victory in 1956. However, there was nothing venerable, as all Buddhist monks are held in, in Mapitigama Buddharakkhitha, the chief conspirator of the assassination plot. At the time he was the Chief Monk at the  Kelaniya Temple. He was no more venerable than a village-bandit-killer, consumed by his own self-importance. Bandaranaike was very much aware of the dishonorable lifestyle of the infamous head of the Kelaniya Temple.

Buddharakkhitha’s depraved association with a member of the fairer sex in his own Cabinet was public knowledge and Bandaranaike, instead of taking any action against the Cabinet Minister, chose to ignore it, probably at his own peril.There was no room for a sense of accountability in the exalted mind of Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike. The gratitude owed by Bandaranaike to Buddharakkhitha for the former’s electoral landslide was too great to be disregarded. Ironically, both the killer and the chief conspirator were men of the saffron robe.   

An exquisite product of the decadent Ceylonese low country-aristocracy (Govigama, Radala) at the time, Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranaike, SWRD’s father, was the Gate Mudaliyar of the Governor. As per James Manor’s, Expedient Utopian, Bandaranaike’s biography, SWRD was not sent to school for his elementary education. He was tutored at home by an Oxonian. When he reached the age for secondary education, he was sent to St. Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia and was boarded, not at the hostel where all non-day-scholars stayed during the school sessions, but at the Warden’s residence. Rev. William Arthur Stone was the Warden at the time. Such was the aura of power that enveloped the Ceylonese aristocracy at the time. Adolescent SWRD was sheltered from the ordinary realities of the commoners for whom he later ushered in a new era as Prime Minister of Ceylon.
Later, after a distinguished phase at Oxford, England, SWRD arrived back in Ceylon and found his expected place among the elite of her political life. The formation of the Sinhala Maha Sabha (Greater Sinhalese Forum), being among the public speakers much sought after, joining Ceylon National Congress, entering the State Council and later becoming a powerful Minister in the first Cabinet in Ceylon, holding the prestigious post of Leader of the House, leaving D S Senanayake’s government in 1951 and forming the SLFP are among major occurrences in Bandaranaike’s life, well chronicled by history.   

Bandaranaike showed his craftiness in politics by identifying, much earlier than almost all politicians at the time, the crying need of the time- a ‘place in the sun’ for the common man. To launch his campaign for power in 1956 he invented the five-pillar platform- Sanga (Buddhist clergy), Veda (indigenous physician), Guru (school teacher), Govi (farmer/peasant) and Kamkaru (labourer). His powerful and emotive appeal was aimed at the heart of the Sinhalese Buddhist. In a most ironical twist of fate, it was the first of the five-pillar-platform that chose to kill the master they deified; for a flimsy excuse like non-granting of approval for a shipping contract to a company sponsored by Buddharakkhitha, the chief conspirator.  

In so far as leadership is concerned, there are two kinds of them: consequential leaders and non-consequential leaders. Consequential leaders are those whose leadership has caused certain events which produced consequences 1. That couldn’t be reversed and 2. Without that particular leader in place at that time, the same event could not have occurred. In terms of being consequential, post-Independence Ceylon has produced only two leaders. One is S W R D Bandaranaike and the other is J R Jayewardene.   

J R in 1977 changed the course of the country’s economy for good. Opening and unshackling of the economy is one single event that J R alone was responsible for conceptualizing and execution. What flowed subsequent to the opening of the economy cannot be reversed and with it the country’s economic and cultural dynamic took another journey. Secondly, had there been another leader at the time in 1977, given the same context and circumstances, that journey would not have even been attempted.
What SWRD did in 1956 was even more momentous. He was responsible for two significant and epoch-making changes in Ceylon’s society. On the one hand, unleashing of the vernacular-educated forces in the country and pledging a place in the sun for them, transformed this country which was being ruled by English-educated, big city elite, into a one that is ruled and dominated by the Sinhala-speaking commoners. The transformation from the elite to the commoner is irreversible and its effects are historic. On the other hand, SWRD was also singularly responsible for the Sinhala-only policy that engendered a chain of events whose good and ill-effects are being felt even today. Both these measures could and would not have been executed if not for Bandaranaike’s leadership. Nor could the resultant cascade of history have been reversed.  

SWRD’s leadership was unique in the sense, despite him being personally a hands-off leader, unlike J R Jayewardene the quintessential hands-on forerunner, the subsequent propaganda carried out by the Bandaranaike family and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) made him out to be a god-like figure whose influence on the basic needs of the country was pre-ordained. Bandaranaike’s politics was essentially based on his own rhetoric. He was a speaker par-excellence and was not matched in his day, especially in the House of Parliament and in English language. When one assesses his real contribution to the country’s socio-political-economic character and movement, one inarguably finds a combination of good and some exceedingly bad. After sixty one years, scholars as well as ordinary men and women argue that the Sinhala - only policy generated more malevolent results than good ones. Sri Lankan society began its forbidding journey of polarization along ethnic lineage. While Sinhalese Buddhists were engaged in their infamous argument of reverse discrimination and historical injustice done unto them by the colonial powers, Tamils clung on to their demands for a separate homeland-state within the borders of Sri Lanka.  

Bandaranaike did not create these battle-lines, yet his policy of Sinhala-only gave rise to a series of consequential episodes that caused these battle-lines. His defenses fell when Tamil-Sinhalese riots scarred the streets in Colombo, Jaffna, Ampara and other urban centres in 1958. Sir Oliver Goonatilleke, Governor General of the time had to intervene, while Bandaranaike, the hero of the common man was playing billiards at the elite Orient Club, some historians say. Bandaranaike’s actions did not match his rhetoric. While the rhetoric created the myth, his actions condemned him to the brutal reality of sedentary, hands-off-Prime Minister.

 
He governed the country only for three short years. No more trade union sabotage was heaped upon the country than when Bandaranaike’s government was in place. In fact, it is recorded history that Sirimavo, Bandaranaike’s widow openly uttered on political platforms that it was N. M. Perera who ‘killed Bandaranaike without killing him in deed’. The expedient utopian, which S W R D Bandaranaike was in every sense of the word, as described by his biographer, James Manor, would ultimately be judged by history. In another two years, 2019, it will be sixty years since his tragic demise. A man, whose liberal principles in the early part of the twentieth century embraced the idea of Federalism for the resolution of the Tamil Question, turned one hundred and eighty degrees and caved into a path of narrow nationalism propagated by the very forces he unleashed. Instead of leading his men and women from the front, Bandaranaike chose to be led by his followers, the very opposite of J. R. Jayewardene.  

S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and J. R. Jayewardene were two quintessential politicians who hailed from the elite that dominated the last years of the British Rule. Their decorum and courtesies extended beyond the confining walls of power; their education and scholarship was not limited to formal education and degrees they obtained from educational institutions; their commitment to the country they were born in was no second to any other leader’s. Both were men of deep thought. Yet, I am afraid; history will judge their respective political careers very harshly.

 
The writer can be contacted at vishwamithra1984@gmail.com  

Sri Lanka trapped between wrong priorities and disaster relief 

Wednesday, 26 April 2017

Over the years Sri Lanka has experienced so many natural and man-made disasters, one could sarcastically say, people are already used to it. Usually the main steps are, something tragic happens, everybody is shocked and surprised, relief efforts start more or less coordinated, blaming and shaming starts, the entire country gets somewhat involved and then, nothing really changes.

Sri Lanka trapped between wrong priorities and disaster relief.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

SRI LANKA: Meethotamulla tragedy to be duplicated at Muthurajawela?

by Basil Fernando-April 24, 2017

Dealing with the Meethotamulla waste dump has now become a major national problem for Sri Lanka. At least 30 persons have lost their lives due to the collapse of the waste dump. Many others might have died or suffered serious diseases due to the existence of this waste dump polluting the entire environment over a long period of time.

The problem now, is where to dump this mountain of waste. It was not long ago that people in the Ja-Ela Negombo area organised protests to prevent a waste dump being created in their area. Realising early on what could be brought into their midst, the people had sufficient sense to come together and prevent a disaster in their vicinity.

The next location suggested for the waste appears to be the unfortunate Muthurajawela area, which was once one of Sri Lanka’s greatest paddy fields, yielding the best of rice to feed the population. The area is now a waste land, due to the Hamilton Canal, which while built to provide water for the paddy fields, did not take into account the tides bringing in salt water from the sea at times. Over a long period of time, the salt water destroyed one of the best paddy fields in the country.

Subsequently, there was a discussion of creating gas from whatever has become of this paddy field, but nothing ever materialised towards this end. Since then, there have been many misadventures attempted in this area, the latest being a waste dump.

Muthurajawela villagers and community leaders, including Catholic priests in the area, have come forward to protest so the creation of a waste mountain within their vicinity. What is alarming however, is the attempt to use national security laws against those trying to protest against the waste dump in the area. The use of national security laws means suspension of ordinary laws that prevail in the country, particularly regarding arrest and detention. This means that persons protesting against their environment being polluted will be punished by arrest and long detention under special laws in order to quell the protests.

This demonstrates the abnormal mentality of Sri Lankan administrators, who easily decide that what cannot be done under normal laws should be done under special laws. Thus, environmental pollution, considered a crime against the community by civilised society, is seen in Sri Lanka as a normal matter. Furthermore, the extraordinary powers of national security laws are to be used to ensure that this routine matter is settled as per government wishes. It is clear that Sri Lanka’s very reasoning process is being perverted. Perverted laws are only inevitable then.

Why is reason being treated so lightly in this country now? Has the political system gone so wrong that it cannot do anything in a rational manner?

An enormous disaster looms ahead of Sri Lanka if this process of abandoning the law and reason continues, and if the butt of a gun is used for everything. Placing the power of the gun in place of reason can only bring about disaster, from which the people may not be able to walk out.

In these tragic times, some force must arise to defend the reason and wisdom of the people against the irresponsibility of administrators and politicians.

When garbage is a gold mine for politicos

2017-04-26

President Maithripala Sirisena has told the newspaper editors and the heads of the electronic media institutions last week that he would appoint a retired judge to investigate the causes that led to the Meethotamulla garbage tragedy, which left 32 people killed, eight missing and hundreds homeless.
However, the President did not say whether the retired judge would act as a one-man Presidential Commission or Court-of-Inquiry or as to the nature of the investigation.

According to the statements made by various politicians and officials, the Meethotamulla garbage crisis had been shrouded in highhandedness, lethargy and corruption, which has to be investigated.
Interestingly enough, reports say that corruption was rampant even in the supply of, what had now been revealed as substandard coffins for the burial of the victims.
Politicians, including Megapolis and Western Development Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka, have said the garbage dump was a goldmine for many people.

The statement implies corruption.The JVP Parliamentarians were more specific in pinpointing the corruption surrounding the garbage dump. JVP Parliamentarians Sunil Handunnetti, who is also the Chairman of the Committee on Public Enterprise (COPE) and Vijitha Herath have said 108 companies had during the past several years, submitted proposals recycling the garbage, providing openings for the Government to earn revenue out of garbage, but nothing came out of these proposals because of corrupt politicians.

Mr. Handunnetti said a Sri Lankan by the name of Sudesh, who is operating a successful garbage recycling project in Canada had even obtained a license from the BOI during Mahinda Rajapaksa regime to recycle the plastic in this dump, but had abandoned the project after a politician in that Government had demanded 50 per cent of the shares as a bribe if the factory were to be allowed to operate without a hitch.

This is a specific allegation worth investigating by the retired judge. Apart from the allegation that about 108 companies that had abandoned projects aimed at clearing of Meethotamulla garbage dump all other allegations too have to be taken seriously because they are being levelled by none other than the Chairman of COPE, which is mandated to monitor the financial and institutional discipline of government institutions.

The question also remains as to why the JVP did not complain these matters to the FCID or the Bribery Commission (Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption) until the disaster occurred. There had also been statements made by so many people after the disaster that politicians had obstructed the moves to clear the dump from Meethotamulla as they thrived on various garbage contracts.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, whose Government ignored even a court ruling to create this death trap in Meethotamulla, had said that his Government had planned to transport the garbage in this dump to Puttalam District to fill the craters created because of limestone excavations after obtaining a report from the World Bank, following which funds had also been allocated for the purpose, through the 2015 Budget, the last Budget his Government passed.
In spite of his Government’s highhandedness and shortsightedness in creating this mess, the allegation that the funds he had allocated for the clearance of the garbage dump had not been utilised for the purpose also worth investigating into.

If this allegation were to be proved, the culprits should be charged for the disaster. The JVP’s suggestion that those who ignored the threats posed by the garbage dump to the lives of the people must be charged with manslaughter is too worth consideration, since the UDA, according to Minister Champika Ranawaka, had pointed out several times during the last two years the danger in having such a huge garbage mountain near human habitats.

These are a few issues that have to be investigated if a mechanism is instituted for the purpose, as suggested by the President.

Despite the poor record of the present Government in keeping its promises on eradicating corruption, we hope that all those responsible for the deaths of more than thirty persons in Meethotamulla would be punished, after a thorough investigation through a proper mechanism. 

The Global March for Science

By Dr. D. Chandraratna-April 25, 2017, 8:11 pm 

The global March for Science was held last Saturday. Organisers said more than 600 ‘satellite’ marches had taken place place globally, besides the one in Washinton, in a protest timed to coincide with Earth Day. It is the first step of a global movement to defend the vital role science plays in our health, safety, economies, and politics. The Meethotamulla tragedy is proof that our lawmakers have, over the last so many years, deliberately ignored and actively suppressed science and the role of the policy scientist. Today, we have many lawmakers who do not comprehend the value of science education in the secondary and tertiary sectors. This is a misguided vision and in no one’s best interest as our lives are in every way linked to science and science education.

Thousands of demonstrators gathered at the Washington's National Mall to hear speaker after speaker laud science as the force moving humanity forward and rail against lawmakers who were ignoring fact and research in areas including clean water, energy and climate change. We still refuse to see the rootcauses of many of the problems. Lawmakers try but fail to silence scientists in the developed countries.

The recent tragedy at Meethotamulla has received wide publicity, but the non-recognition of science and policy advice has not figured prominently in the opinion columns. We are not a developed country to keep pace with the advanced nations, but we can beneift from thier knowledge. We have to popularise sicence education among the youth. This is a subject which should be discussed among the educationists in the fields of both hard and the soft sciences. While conceding that our mass education has been the great leveller and the surest way out of the cycle of poverty, it must be told that it has failed vis-a-vis the challenges of a traditional society. Most of our university graduates are not attractive in the job market mainly due to some serious problems associated with secondary and tertiary education.

Our tertiary system was designed for a small minority of students who were prepared to undertake tertiary study but for the vast majority of students who were not keen on tertiary study the system did not offer alternatives. Back then higher levels of education were not necessary for the thousands of jobs. Those who opted out were labelled failures in the prized system and had little recognition by way of salaries and taxation in the vocational system. Failing to attend to the wide variety of their needs the system ignored the huge pool of potential skills available to the nation. We were products of an age when academic learning was prized above vocational learning and theoretical learning was superior to practical learning and any training without university education was not for the best and brightest. Those days are over!

Needs of a modern economy are very different now. There is a high demand for problem solvers. Our supply of goods and services need workers who can manage routinely, among other competencies, the global interconnected networks for the supply of goods and services. Technological competence is not more important than mere literacy and numeracy. There is little one can say about the tertiary system without incurring the wrath of many academics in the country. The biggest of the faculties have become the weakest link in the chain. The willingness of governments to absorb the unemployable graduates to the public service as a welfare measure has worsened the problem. Increasing the number of girls in science education and effecting curricular changes is a policy issue that must engage the serious attention of education experts.

We need to consider very seriously that in the 21st Century employability, adaptability and use value in the economy are a mix of academic, practical, creative and emotional forms of education in equal proportions. Dependence on academic excellence is a thing of the past. In the West parents know that a bachelor of arts is of little use as a qualification for a professionally and financially successful career. We still have a culture based on the false assumption that university education is a prerequisite for financial and professional success.

We also have a false sense of value; practical work carries a stigma and a scientific vocational diploma is considered inferior to a worthless university degree. We must plan for a system where science based vocational training and other forms of higher education converge by way of salaries, perks and privileges. Students ought to be encouraged to strive for tertiary education in all sectors. It may take years to change our mindset but a start must be made somewhere.

The True Story Behind The Abduction Of Dogs At The University Of J’pura

By Hasini Silva –April 25, 2017 

Hasini Silva

The true story behind the abduction and probable killing of missing dogs at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura

As the representatives of animal loving community of University of Sri Jayewardenepura we thought to address a few false claims that were made by the Vice chancellor in the media regarding the abductions and probable murders of the dogs inside the university premises.

1. The Vice Chancellor’s count of dogs is  from a five years old project proposal I myself as a student at the time submitted, asking the help of the university authorities to control the dog population, vaccinate and sterilize them for the safety of both the dogs and the students. This proposal was completely ignored and seeing how futile asking for help from the university authorities the students at the time sought outside help from Animal welfare organizations such as Adopt A Dog in Sri Lanka, Embark, Ray of Hope Sri Lanka, Blue Paw Trust to vaccinate and sterilize the dogs living inside. 132 surgeries were conducted  by embark in one camp and the ones who could not be vaccinated due to being pregnant or lactating were later vaccinated and sterilized with help of other organizations.

Currently there is only 83 dogs inside the university. This count was taken weeks before this tragic incident took place, in order to conduct a sterilization camp, again solely on the interest of students and outside organizations. After the abductions, now there are closer to fifty dogs left in the premises.

2. The dogs are not a nuisance to the students, academic, non- academic staff, the cleaning or security staff. Apart from a few exceptions most of them love the dogs and treat them as companions. The first few days after this inhumane act, students and staff were seen to be openly weeping for the loss of their beloved companions.

3. According to unofficial records (we are in the process of getting the official records ) there is less than five bites for the whole last year recorded in the Colombo South Teaching  Hospital ( where all the students typically go for treatment.)

4. The vice chancellor had stated “parties with vested interests had spread rumors that the animals were being killed”. If so, we kindly request him to show us where the missing dogs are,  since the sole purpose of the media campaign that was started by animal lovers worldwide was to find out what happened to them.

5. University authorities claim that this inhumane act was carried out by a private company , which now we have uncovered as Ultrakill, a pest management company, who had no authority to do so in their business scope, being paid by the Vice chancellor through a contract of Rs. 350,000/- to “get rid of the dogs.”

It needs to be noted that even if there had been such dog bites as the VC claims the university authorities have gone completely against the health ministry protocol for rabies eradication by  (if they did )dumping the dogs somewhere else and creating a public health hazard,  and also not waiting for the mandatory period of observation to see if the dog dies from rabies they have put these allegedly bitten people at risk for rabies as well since the last stages of the rabies vaccination will only be administered based on the observation of the dog who bit.

6. It was also mentioned in the newspaper articles by Acting Registrar of the University Wasantha Perera that “Some organized groups had spread rumours through social media that dogs were being killed at the university. He said those groups had done nothing for the dogs.”

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SRI LANKA/ INDIA: Annihilation of Caste is now available for the Sinhala readers

By Basil Fernando-April 24, 2017

A Sinhala Translation of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s book Annihilation of Caste is now available in Sinhala translation entitled “ Kulaya Mulin Uputa Demeema” The book has been translated into an easy, readable language by Osadhi Nayantara Gunasekera and published by the Asian Human Rights Commission. The book is now available in bookshops in Sri Lanka.

Annihilation of Caste is one of the finest political works produced in Indian political literature. This book was originally written as the text for a keynote address. It was for a gathering of a society called Enlightened Hindus and published as a book in 1936. Ever since, this book has been translated into almost all Indian languages and into many other international languages such as English, French and others.

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar is one of the greatest Indian leaders who was also in charge of the drafting committee on the Indian Constitution. He is now a legendary figure in India. His statues can be seen in all parts of India. They are particularly in areas where those once termed untouchables but now call themselves Dalits, live as the majority. One can see in almost all legislative buildings in various states of India, the figures and statues of Mahatma Gandhi on the one side and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar on the other. In a popularity survey held a few years back, Ambedkar received more votes than Mahatma Gandhi as one of the makers of modern India.

In 1936, after Ambedkar returned from his studies abroad, he began to be recognised as the best known leader of the Dalits in India. He became quite famous for his forthright expositions on the origins of the caste system in India and its influence on the political, social and cultural aspects of Indian life. As a result, his views on the subject were sought after. It was in that vein that he was invited to deliver a keynote address. It was to be given to a gathering of educated Hindus. They wanted to discuss the problem of the caste system in India and particularly to listen to the views of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar on that issue. Dr. Ambedkar realised that his views, if expressed in a forthright manner, could cause problems for the organisers of this meeting. They would be condemned by the conservative Hindu majority as being disloyal to their religion. He pointed this out to the organisers of the meeting stating that he would like to decline the invitation. However, the organisers insisted that he should deliver his speech and that they were willing to listen to his views however forthright his views may be. Even then, he realized the implications of his speech and the possible backlash on the organisers of the meeting. So, Dr. Ambedkar wrote the full text of his speech and sent it to the organisers. He requested them to go through the text and inform him whether they would still want him to make the speech at their gathering. The organisers, after having read the manuscript, wrote back saying that except for few paragraphs they had no objection to the text. But, would he kindly consider removing those paragraphs from his speech? Dr Ambedkar then pointed out to the organisers that those paragraphs contained the very core of the views that he held. The removal of those would not result in a proper explanation of his views. Basically, what the objectionable paragraphs said was that the caste system of India was a product of the very ideals of Hinduism, based on the Hindu books known as the Vedas. The Vedas declared that caste was a creation of God and society should be organised on the basis of caste. Dr Ambedkar pointed out that it is this that makes the reform of the ideas of Hinduism on caste impossible. And it is not merely the mistreatment of Dalits that is the issue. Mistreatment itself is a product of the concept of an ideal society held in Hinduism. It considers the organisation of a society on the basis of caste as the ideal form of a society.

In short, it was then agreed that the planned meeting would be postponed. Dr Ambedkar published the text of his speech which was soon sold in large numbers. The book began to be translated into many Indian languages.

When the text of the book was published, Mahatma Gandhi in the paper that he was publishing, wrote an article blaming the organisers of the Hindu Enlightened Society for inviting Dr. Ambedkar for this meeting. They well knew the views he held on Hindu society. Mahatma Gandhi accepted many of the criticisms that Dr Ambedkar made on the ill-treatment of the Dalits. But, he was of the view that these disgraceful forms of ill- treatment did not arise from the ideals of Hinduism. They arose from various types of aberrations that had entered into the Hindu Discourse. Dr. Ambedkar replied to this article from Mahatma Gandhi. He stated that caste is not a division of labour but a division of labourers. It amounts to a grading of human beings. No ideal society could be based on such gradings of human beings, some higher and some lower.

Ambedkar in his book explains the problem of the caste system from many points of view. He goes into the debates in the Indian Independence movement. There were, originally, two themes that emerged: the theme for social reforms in India and the struggle for independence from the British. Originally, priority was given to social reforms such as: reforms of the caste system, reforms relating to the treatment of women. An example would be the prevalence of such practices as Sathi. It required the widow of a deceased man to jump into the funeral pyre to be cremated together with her husband. Many forms of myths remained as great obstacles to the spread of rational and scientific thinking in India. The original leaders of the Indian renaissance thought of modernisation of India in terms of these reforms. A free condition for independence and self-rule. Ambedkar points out that it was in the early 20’s that the social movement aspects were abandoned. Then, the entire movement concentrated only on independence.

Ambedkar in his studies in the United States had written extensively on the implications of a society organised on the basis of caste. He pointed out that no moral order can be built on the basis of human beings being graded into a higher or lower status, on the basis of birth. Rejection of any such classification on the basis of birth is a pre-condition for a society to be based on the idea of equality.

This translation can provide the Sinhala reader with an extensive, in-depth study of the implications of a society organised on the basis of caste. Sri Lankan society, both Sinhala and Tamil communities had been organised on the basis of caste for over a thousand years. Implications of this social organisation still persist and remain a major obstacle for the modernisation of Sri Lankan society. This book could give rise to a rich discussion on the important aspect of the South Asians cultural heritage in general, and into the Sri Lankan cultural heritage - both Sinhalese and Tamil.

Will FIFA bow to Israeli pressure over settlement teams?

Calls mount for world football governing body FIFA to finally act on Israel’s settlement teams and violence against Palestinian atheletes.Shadi HatemAPA images

Ali Abunimah-25 April 2017

Calls are mounting on FIFA to require Israel’s national league to exclude teams from West Bank settlements or face suspension from world football’s governing body.

But there are also warning signs that FIFA may be succumbing to intense pressure to once again give Israel a pass to continue violating Palestinian rights with impunity.

Last week, more than one hundred sports associations, trade unions, human rights organizations and faith groups, from 28 countries, joined world footballers, scholars, cultural figures and politicians in urging FIFA to take decisive action when its governing council meets next month in Bahrain.

Their letter criticizes FIFA for failing to apply to Israel its rule prohibiting member states from playing games on another state’s territory without permission, and violating its pledges to put human rights before politics.

All of Israel’s settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law.

Many governments and international bodies, including the International Criminal Court, consider the West Bank and Gaza Strip to be part of the territory of an occupied state of Palestine.

“No normal sports”

Last year, Human Rights Watch detailed in a report how FIFA and the Israel Football Association jointly profit from Israel’s illegal colonization of the West Bank and the settlement teams that play there.

Among the signatories of the letter to the FIFA Council are UK film directors Ken Loach and Paul Laverty, former Brazilian human rights minister Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro and international law expert Richard Falk, who co-authored the recent landmark UN report on Israeli apartheid.

At a recent event in Johannesburg, another of the signatories, South Africa’s sports minister Thulas Nxesi, rejected Israel’s complaints about “the so-called politicization of sport.”

“We know from our own history as South Africans that there can be no normal sports in an abnormal society,” Nxesi said.

Nxesi recalled that FIFA was “one of the first international sports bodies to take action against apartheid South Africa.”

“We again look at FIFA to provide leadership, particularly in enforcing its own rules” over the settlement teams, Nxesi added, and to end Israel’s “persistent racist harassment” of Palestinian footballers.

Nxesi’s full comments can be seen in this video:

Israeli pressure

Meanwhile, Israel is mobilizing its diplomats in dozens of countries in an effort to stop the matter from coming to a vote.

“Our growing assessment is that the FIFA Congress is liable to make a decision on suspending six Israeli teams that play over the Green Line [in the West Bank], or even on suspending Israel from FIFA,” a foreign ministry cable warned, according to the Tel Aviv newspaper Haaretz.

Israel’s messaging to other countries’ FIFA delegations is to “reject mixing politics with sports.”

Israel instead wants an “agreed solution” – meaning in effect the continuation of peace process-like talks without deadlines, accountability or action.

But there are indications that behind the scenes FIFA officials may be bending under Israeli pressure.

In late March, Tokyo Sexwale, the head of a special FIFA committee on the settlements issue, presented his repeatedly delayed draft report to the heads of the Israeli and Palestinian football associations.

According to the French news agency AFP, Israeli officials were enraged at the report’s recommendations. They included possible suspension of Israel from FIFA – and consequently from international competitions – altogether.

One recommendation would give Israel six months “to rectify the situation” of the settlement clubs.

According to Haaretz, Israel Football Association head Ofer Eini “was furious and demanded that the report be amended.”

Last week, Haaretz reported that an amended version “dropped any mention of suspending Israel, but still said the settlement teams’ inclusion in Israeli leagues violated FIFA’s bylaws.”

On Sunday, Haaretz reported that it had seen a draft of the Sexwale committee report that retains the option to give Israel six months to act, but threatens no specific sanctions.

Under this option, the draft states, Israel “is given a warning by FIFA (yellow card) to rectify this issue by desisting to administer football in the territories in question within a minimum period of six months. Failure to find a resolution within this period, then the matter will revert to the FIFA Council for decision-making.”

The report does however warn that “What FIFA cannot avoid is taking a decision on this matter.”

Palestinian determination

Palestinian Football Association officials are insisting that this time they will not back down – as they have in the past – when confronting’s Israel’s abuses at FIFA.

The Palestinian association’s vice president Susan Shalabi told Al Jazeera last week that Israel’s mobilization of its diplomats as part of its intense lobbying efforts is a further violation of FIFA statutes.

“Our position on this matter is very clear: we can’t accept [the] Israeli football association running its activities on our territory,” Shalabi insisted. “If we accept a compromise, we will be part of the crime.”

In March, Palestinian and international organizations slammed FIFA president Gianni Infantino for failing to require the Israel Football Association to exclude settlement teams.

Palestinian activists are vowing that FIFA will not be allowed to continue to duck the matter.

“Israel is using ‘the beautiful game’ to whitewash its violations of international law and human rights, and FIFA is shamefully standing by allowing this to happen, damaging its own reputation,” Hind Awwad, of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, said last week.

Awwad added: “FIFA must realize that Palestinian and international human rights defenders will not abandon their legitimate demand for FIFA to ultimately suspend the Israel Football Association due to its inclusion of Israeli settlement clubs based on stolen Palestinian land, and due to Israel’s routine targeting of Palestinian sports, deliberate destruction of football stadiums and arrest, torture and restriction of movement of Palestinian athletes.”