Monday, May 1, 2017

Added dimension to Tamil Hartal in north and east

By Jehan Perera-May 1, 2017, 8:16 pm

Sri Lanka secured a timely victory in the European Parliament when a motion to deny the country of the benefit of the GSP Plus tariff concession was defeated by a large majority of 436 to 119. There were doubts about the outcome of the vote as a visiting EU delegation last month issued a critical report on the country situation. The delegation had focused on economic and labour issues and found there were many deficiencies in the law and in its implementation on the ground. They reported that they had found a number of workers who have been objects of labour rights violations, including harassment of trade unions, illegal dismissal of trade union leaders, sexual harassment and labour rights violations within the free trade zones. The report has also touched on shortcomings on the enforcement on other human rights issues, in particular the use of torture and the rights of ethnic, religious and sexual minorities.

Due to its victory in the international arena, the government will be able to go into its May Day event with a greater confidence and ability to show its strength. It will be able to argue that the economic situation is improving even if the visible signs of development are yet to manifest themselves. The loss of the GSP Plus concession in 2011, due to the previous government’s inability and refusal to meet the EU’s human rights requirements struck a significant blow to the economy. Many smaller factories, especially in the apparel manufacturing sector, had to close down leading to economic dislocation for small and middle level entrepreneurs and their workers. During discussions with the EU the government has assured that 50 percent of the money received through the GSP Plus would be spent on the 2.4 million strong labour force.

It is reported that the EU will impose conditions on the grant of GSP Plus even as it awards the tariff concession once again to Sri Lanka. The conditions imposed by the EU reportedly include reducing the number of deviations from the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); repealing those sections of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, the Public Security Ordinance which are incompatible with it or amending them so that they become compatible with the international covenant; and amending the Code of Criminal Procedure providing for the right of a suspect to see a lawyer immediately following arrest; publishing or making available to family members of a list of former LTTE combatants currently held in detention as well as all other persons detained under Emergency Regulations; and granting of access to all places of detention for monitoring purposes to an independent humanitarian organisation, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross.

INCREASING PRESSURE

As in the case of the resolution of the UN Human Rights Council for which the government got an additional two years of implementation time, the implementation of the government’s pledges to regain the GSP Plus concession has been slow. Even changing laws has become difficult for the government. One of the key requirements for regaining the EU tariff concession is to replace or amend the Prevention of Terrorism Act with an alternative national security law which gives improved protection for human rights. The proposed Counter Terrorism Act which is the alternative to the PTA has been on the drawing board for about a year but is still far from being finalized for ratification by Parliament. An early version of the draft law was widely criticized by human rights organizations for being even more restrictive of civil liberties and human rights in some aspects than the PTA.

At the root of the problem of implementation and weakness of political will to engage in reforms that involve questions of human rights and national security is the reality of a government that is a coalition of two parties which are headed by two leaders. It is nothing to be surprised that these two leaders have visions that are different and cater differently to the prejudices and sympathies of the larger population. On the positive side, both President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe believe in non violent conflict resolution. On the other hand, they both need to find ways to deal with ethnic fears and prejudices without giving in to them, while making every effort to reassure the communities that they themselves are not hopelessly biased one way or the other.

Unless the government engages in course correction it is likely that it will come under increasing pressure from the ethnic and religious ethnic and religious communities who constitute 30 percent of the country’s population. The recent hartal in the North and East that was led by civil society groups and the Tamil People’s Council (TPC) was no longer a fringe manifestation organized on the margin. In the past the TNA distanced itself from the activities of the TPC and even criticized them. On this occasion, however, the TNA has given support to the protest. The one day hartal in which shops closed all day and transport services did not operate followed weeks of protests by families of the missing and also by unemployed graduates in the North which had not yielded any positive result.

MUSLIM DIMENSION

Apart from the support from mainstream Tamil political parties for the hartal, the other new element on this occasion was the support given to the hartal by Muslim political parties. Muslim public opinion is increasingly questioning the government for supporting Buddhist nationalists in their campaigns against the Muslims. They point out that leading members of the SLFP component of the government are now accommodating the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) which has attacked Muslim mosques and properties in the past, and which carries out a strident campaign against Muslim expansion. Last month a total of 38 mostly Muslim organizations and 2680 individuals endorsed a statement that called on President Maithripala Sirisena to review and revoke the gazette notification no. 2011/34 declaring vast tracts of lands owned by the people of Musali division in the Mannar District as a forest reserve.

The petition also stated that as a result of the gazette notification a number of villages in Musali inhabited by Muslims would be seriously affected. The mounting grievances of the ethnic and religious minorities who were strongly in support of the government and helped to bring it to power by their votes at the elections in 2015, induced them to join the protest in defence of their rights. Apart from the problem of missing persons which mainly affects the Tamil community, both Tamils and Muslims in the North and East have felt under siege as land that they inhabit is being claimed by Sinhalese nationalists. Buddhist temples and statues are now sought to be put up on these lands even though they are currently owned by Tamils and Muslims.

Due to the slow implementation of its commitments to the international community, and inaction in resolving the problems of the ethnic and religious minorities who voted for it, the government is going to face increased pressure from both international and domestic actors. The government would do well not to repeat the mistake of the previous government, headed by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, which held to the theory that resolving economic problems and assuaging ethnic majority nationalism was the way to remain in power. The joint Tamil-Muslim hartal in the North and East is an incipient sign that the grievances of the ethnic and religious minorities are getting merged together. Economic and ethnic problems need to be resolved together, in tandem, and not one after the other, so that all communities feel that they are being treated fairly as equal citizens of one country.

Introductory Review For A. P. Mathan’s Beyond Censorship

By M. C. Rasmin –May 2, 2017

M. C. Rasmin

Tamil print Media is widely polarized in line with minority politics, ethnicity and religion. With very few exceptions, it has certainly failed to evolve as a successful enterprise too. No doubt it has an extensive history and potential in shaping perspectives and informing its readers. However, compared to its lengthy history, the contribution of Tamil media to the broader development of Sri Lankan Media as a whole, can be considered insufficient. The industry has produced extremely capable journalists and editors. However, there is great poverty for media scholars who could actively support the ongoing media reform movement, in Sri Lanka.

It is in such a context, I am trying to introduce A. P. Mathan’s Tamil publication – Tanikkai Thaharkum Thanikkai – Beyond censorship – my translation may not best fit, a collection of 100 editorials that he wrote between 1st of January 2016 to 20th of February 2017 for Tamil Mirror. Each one of the hundred editorials begin with an introductory paragraph, specifying the need and drive for the editor to choose a theme for his writing. All the editorials are supported with cartoons and accompanied by a brief news item.

Initially, I wanted to write a critic on this publication. However, after carefully reading the 100 editorials, I convinced myself not to do that, for a worthy cause. There is no fixed formula to measure the effectiveness of an editorial. However, it is often expected to be unique in its vibrancy and structure. An editorial is simply an opinion maker that leads to action. Not just opinion alone, but an analysis built on perspectives, supported by evidences, logically constructed arguments with a balanced and fair view on a timely concern. Editorial would reflect the wisdom of an editor on broader issues. Media scholars consider it as a great yardstick to measure investigative and research skills of an editor and his/her commitment to raise voice on anything that matters for readers. Essentially, it is the heart of a new paper, and there has been several evidences where effective editorials are often referred by various people to make judgment of socio-political and economical context of a country. Having firmly articulated my understanding of an editorial, I acknowledge that I purposely avoided writing a critic but an introductory review. Purpose of this short introductory review is to recognize the efforts of Mathan not only to add value to his professional journey, but also to Tamil Media scholarship.

It should be noted that Mathan has been instrumental in making notable changes in layouts of traditional Tamil Media during his time at various newspapers. The graphical nature that he brought to Tamil Mirror made him comfortably accommodate more numbers of small news items. Keeping it short and strong has been his passion. Mathan’s editorials reflect his passion to keep content shorter, but also reader-friendly and easy to understand. The publication comprises 286 pages with an introductory remarks written by Vithyatharan, Chief Editor – Kalaikadir, which is published daily from Jaffna.

Having read all the 100 editorials, it is observed that Mathan has given prominence to selected number of themes such as Tamil politics and political parties, transitional issues, reintegration of war affected community and post war life of Northern people – specifically northern Tamils, national security, status of good governance, Rajapaksha’s hypocrisy politics, influence of international diplomacy on local politics, instability of upcountry political parties in meetings people need, etc., in his editorials.

Majority of the editorials are addressing issues around Northern politics – struggle of TNA in fulfilling people’s aspirations and its promises, emerging interparty conflicts within TNA, upraising of alternative political leadership in the North, Tamil political leaders and problems in their move and collective challenges of Tamil politics. (Editorials 2, 3, 7, 8, 18, 20, 21, 23, 25, 40, 51, 56, 59,60, 83, 84, 87, 97, 98, 100). It is very explicit that Mathan is advocating for political cohesion and a responsible political system that is accountable and beneficial for people and not for political parties or politicians.

JVP in touch with TNA, SLMC to mount struggle for abolition of Executive Presidency

2017-05-02 00:01:37

JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva in an interview with Daily Mirror says his party will make a new political formation with the aim of gaining power. He speaks of geopolitical connotations involved in the Hambantota Port project and the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm project. Excerpts of the interview:

No difference between the present and former rule
Trinco Oil Tank, Hambantota Port, Economic Nerve Centres not to be alienated
Both regimes riddled with rampant corruption, frauds

Q In the context of current political developments, how does the JVP plan for
its activities?

As for the current situation, we find several issues. The economy has virtually collapsed. The govt is embroiled in a serious financial crisis. It is now opting to auction off the national assets of the country as a way out of this crisis. The Hambantota Port and the adjacent lands, the East Terminal of the Colombo Port, the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm are earmarked for selling off. Apart from the Economic and Technology Co-operation Agreement (ETCA) to be signed, the govt has inked yet another Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with India outlining projects to be assigned to India. We are not opposed to mutually beneficial bilateral agreements.

JVP in touch with TNA, SLMC to mount struggle for abolition of Executive Presidency.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

PM: Draft Constitutional Proposal ready soon

‘International support needed to resolve domestic problem’

By Shamindra Ferdinando-May 1, 2017, 12:00 pm

UNP leader Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday said that Draft Constitutional Proposal for Sri Lanka could be taken up in the Constitutional Assembly within the next two or three months.

Premier Wickremesinghe said that a Steering Committee appointed by the Constitutional Assembly was in the process of preparing the Draft Constitutional Proposal.

The 20 member Steering Committee comprises members of all political parties represented in parliament.

The UNP leader was addressing an event held by the side of the statue of the late leader at Mihindu Mawatha near Hulftsdorp court complex with the participation of President Maithripala Sirisena to commemorate slain President Ranasinghe Premadasa.

The LTTE assassinated President Premadasa near Armour Street police station on May Day, 1993.

Premier Wickremesinghe said that the government would discuss the Draft Constitutional Proposal with the Buddhist clergy and other religious leaders as well as civil society organizations parallel to deliberations in the Constitutional Assembly.

The Draft Constitutional Proposal is based on the reports prepared by six Sub Committees also appointed by the Constitutional Assembly in respect of specified subject areas relevant to the making of a Constitution.

The UNP leader said that their intention was to reach a consensus after having discussed the Draft Constitutional Proposal with all stakeholders.

Commenting on the progress so far made in the constitutional making process, Premier Wickremesinghe said that discussions had been held with many stakeholders. The UNP leader said that ways and means of devolving power without dividing the country and safeguarding Sri Lanka’s unitary status had been discussed with Chief Ministers of Provincial Councils. In addition to that, human rights, electoral reforms, religious and foremost place for Buddhism had been discussed, Premier Wickremesinghe said.

Calling for public support to achieve genuine post-war national reconciliation, Premier Wickremesinghe said that creation of a national government under President Maithripala Sirisena’s leadership was meant for the above mentioned purpose.

Premier Wickremesinghe expressed confidence that the government could achieve national unity as President Premadasa once wanted during the current term of parliament.

President Premadasa’s unfortunate death occurred as he was participating in May Day procession, the PM said.

Referring to Sri Lanka co-sponsoring a US led resolution at the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council in March, 2017, Premier Wickremesinghe said that the international community had given Sri Lanka two years to achieve unity and national solution. Premier Wickremesinghe said the support of the international community was essential to resolve the national issue.

The Premier said they could move forward under the leadership of President Maithripala Sirisena though they faced daunting task at the onset of the new administration.

Commenting on President Premadasa’s style of governance, Wickremesinghe said the then UNP leader pursued a two-pronged strategy to address major issues confronting the country. President Premadasa had sought to provide equal opportunities to the poor and uplift their living standards. However, having realised that approach was insufficient, President Premadasa took measures to solve the ethnic issue. Recalling President Premadasa, too, had resorted to military operations to eradicate terrorism, Premier Wickremesinghe said, while underscoring the late leader’s efforts to reach consensus on political settlement against the backdrop of terrorism in the North as well as the South, simultaneously.

Premier Wickremesinghe recollected President Premadasa having talks with all stakeholders, including armed groups.

The LTTE quit direct negotiations with President Premadasa in June 1990 following 14 month long truce in the wake of the Indian Army pulling out of Sri Lanka.

Wickremesinghe pointed out that President Premadasa had been killed before the then Opposition lawmaker Mangala Moonesinghe presented his report on a political settlement. Premier Wickremesinghe dealt with Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga abortive bid to provide a political solution after her victory in August 1994, the UNP-led UNF regaining power in Dec 2001 leading to fresh round of talks with terrorists. When terrorists rejected that offer there was consensus that national unity should be achieved after eradicating terrorism.

Premier Wickremesinghe said the country couldn’t achieve peace though the war ended. Blaming the then leadership for failing to achieve post-war national reconciliation, Premier Wickremesinghe said that instead there was instability.

The Rajapaksa administration brought the war to a successful conclusion in May 2009.

Wickremesinghe alleged that the failure on the part of the then government to fulfill promises given to the international community isolated Sri Lanka.

He emphasized that the international support was required to resolve the domestic problem by way of a political solution acceptable to all.

The election of Maithripala Sirisena as the president at January 2015 presidential poll had paved the way for a fresh bid achieve genuine reconciliation, the PM said.

At the onset of his speech, Premier Wickremesinghe briefly discussed Premadasa’s role in the run up to 1977 general election and as the Prime Minister during JRJ presidency.

POLICE, LOCAL OFFICIALS ENCOURAGING PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS IN SRI LANKA, EVANGELICAL GROUP SAYS

Image;A nun reads the Bible at the Church of Virgin Mary in Madhu, northern Sri Lanka.

01/05/2017

Police and local officials in Sri Lanka are not only turning a blind eye on the persecution of Christians by Buddhist radicals but even encouraging attacks on churches as well, according to a report recently filed by an evangelical group.

In its report, the National Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NEASL) said the police and local official in the predominantly Buddhist South Asian island nation are evidently condoning attacks by radical Buddhist monks on churches and pastors, according to the Morning Star News.

It cited an instance when police refused to register a case against a mob led by Buddhist monks who attacked the pastor of Kings Revival Church and three other church members on March 26 after a Sunday worship service in Ingiriya, Kalutara District.

A day earlier, a member of the Christian Fellowship International Ministry called for police assistance when a Buddhist mob disrupted their worship service. But instead of giving assistance, the police told the Christian group to stop holding worship services.

The police even summoned the pastor to the police station and threatened to file a case against him for “breaching the peace,” the report said.

When the pastor returned home, he found that a mob had pelted his house with stones, causing damage to property.

Earlier in January, Christians in a small community in northwestern Sri Lanka vowed they would not seek revenge against a group of radical Buddhists who destroyed their local church, CP reported.

They said they would continue to worship and pray — even if only under a tree.

“We have not cursed them, and shall not attack them in retaliation. Judgment belongs only to God. We do our part: prayers shall continue under a tree,” said Kamal Wasantha, a local farmer who is a member of the Christian community.

On the day of the attack, Wasantha said they begged the attackers not to damage their church. The Buddhist radicals, however, just ignored their pleas and “came with wooden sticks, iron bars and knives and destroyed everything.”

The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) Canada noted that the persecution of Christians in Sri Lanka has escalated in recent years with the rise of militant Buddhist nationalist groups in the country. More than 250 churches have been destroyed or damaged in sectarian violence, it said.

Sri Lanka ranks 45th on Open Doors‘ 2017 World Watch list of the top 50 Christian-persecuting countries in the world.

The group says there are only 1.9 million Christians in Sri Lanka, which has a population of 20.9 million people.

Although Sri Lanka is a secular state, its new Constitution underscores that Buddhism as the nation’s state religion, the Christian persecution watchdog says.

christianpost

Years after war, trials of resettlement in Sri Lanka

”Edward Selyn was displaced in 1996 with her family. Eight years after the war ended and months after her return, she still feels displaced.” Ms. Selyn with her grandchildren at the protest site. | Photo Credit: Meera Srinivasan

It is time for the Sri Lankan government to get its act together on the ground

Meera Srinivasan-MAY 01, 2017

After 20 years in India, wearing a “refugee” tag that led her from one camp to another, it was only in December 2016 that Edward Selyn, 55, returned home. Until a few days ago, she was among a group of people seated under a tent in Mullikulam village in Mannar, in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province, protesting in the scorching heat for a month, demanding that the Sri Lankan Navy release her land.

She was displaced in 1996 with her entire family, after the civil war broke out. Now, eight years after the war ended and months after her return, Ms. Selyn has not stopped feeling displaced. “I had all my documents and deeds, but still could not get back to the land where my home was. I did not think we would come back to such a situation,” she says.

Several thousand acres of formerly civilian-owned or occupied land across the conflict-affected Northern and Eastern Provinces remained with the Sri Lankan armed forces after the war ended in 2009, severely hampering post-war resettlement in Sri Lanka.

Right to return

After waiting for decades, frustrated northern Tamils and Muslims organised a wave of protests in the past few months, asking for their lands. Pressured by their relentless agitations, the military began returning land in different areas, and on Saturday (April 29) released Ms. Selyn’s land. The Resettlement Ministry claims that the armed forces have so far released 70,000 acres of land they held, but no one knows exactly how much yet remains under their control, or when exactly those lands might be released. Neither the national unity government nor the Ministry was proactive in communicating with the affected people, leaving them in the dark about their future.

A couple of hundred metres away from Ms. Selyn’s protest were nearly 100 Muslim men seated in a large semicircle, outside a pale green mosque in Marichchukaddi village of Musali. Their protest, too, is about the right to return. After the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam expelled them from the north in the early 1990s, thousands of Tamil-speaking Muslim families were displaced to other parts of the island for nearly three decades. And just as some of them had begun resettling in their areas of origin, amid the hazy optimism after some land was released, a heavy blow struck them by way of a recent gazette notification. The hastily drafted notification suddenly expanded the limits of the Wilpattu National Park, in Sri Lanka’s North Western and North Central Provinces, declaring their adjoining villages “forest reserve”, out of bounds to them.

“The linking of the wildlife forest and our former homes is new and very unfair,” Ali Khan, one of the protesters, complains. “We lived in those villages for generations, no one encroached on the forest area.”
The situation Ms. Selyn faced or Mr. Khan is in is symptomatic of the grossly woeful resettlement project that the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration, formerly in power, flagged off. A militarised state apparatus hung over on its war “victory”, attempts by the state to settle Sinhala villagers in the North and East, and recurring bureaucratic lethargy have effectively stalled resettlement for scores of families.

Almost everywhere across the Northern Province, protesters are quick to credit President Maithripala Sirisena, who they helped come to power in 2015, for enabling a democratic environment in which they can protest without fear. All the same, they are now disillusioned with his government’s piecemeal approach to resettlement, at best ad hoc and half-hearted and at worst blatantly insensitive. It has failed to factor in the varied needs of communities trying to restart their lives after years of strife. The rare hope that people felt initially is vanishing, making way for familiar disappointment.

Recent instances of the military returning some of the occupied land brings much-needed relief to communities, but getting back to their land only means facing new challenges. G. Jayalakshmi is among the few to have recovered her land in Pilakkudiyiruppu village in Mullaitivu. While the return itself came after a month-long protest by residents, what followed was a classic case of thoughtlessness and neglect on the part of the state. Under a makeshift tent on barren land, families like hers live without drinking water, sanitation or electricity. “We have to go a little far there for our needs,” she says, pointing at the silhouettes of a few surviving trees a few yards away, in the dim light of hurricane lamps hanging from their branches. “What else can we do?” she asks, raising her voice over the shrill bark of a lone dog.

Meanwhile, local government officials are asking them to give up the house they lived in — that displaced families got some years ago — in return for new homes here. “There is nothing on this land, our [old] homes were fully razed down. How can we give up our homes elsewhere already? What if nothing comes up here?” Ms. Jayalakshmi asks.

For those who kept asking when they might get back to their land, the prospect also brings with it the promise of a livelihood. Speaking of their land, the protesters foreground concerns over livelihood in the same breath. For hundreds of years before the war, the people of the north were predominantly farmers or fisherfolk. Whether cultivation for trade or subsistence, it was their land and waters that gave them a sense of place and importantly, economic security. The civil war and the multiple displacements it caused denied them access to both.

Recalling a time when Tamils and Muslims of Mannar owned neighbouring plots of land and had more cordial relations, Mr. Khan says the communities cultivated land or collected honey for a living. “There were fertile plots and ponds in our village. While many of us struggle without jobs now, we can’t use any of that. They say it is conservation.”

Mr. Khan also points to outdated numbers in government records that don’t account for successive generations. “Our village limits should be redrawn keeping in mind the increase in population,” he says, highlighting the plight of the landless.

Lives, lands and livelihoods

Resettlement was never going to be easy and the government knows that. Headline housing schemes and vocational training centres alone cannot provide solutions to people who have been subjected to brutal violence and displacement. It takes a far more comprehensive approach and a thoughtful strategy to rebuild a war-battered community. It must be one that appreciates the intimate link between the lives of a people to their land and livelihoods, and in keeping with their current realities. For eight years, the northern people have put up with a rather messy resettlement process, counting only on their resilience. Their protests are nothing but a reflection of their waning patience.

After much grandstanding at the UN Human Rights Council and international forums about its commitment to reconciliation, it is time for the Sri Lankan government to get its act together on the ground. Communities cannot reconcile as long as some citizens do not feel secure. It is not the state’s benevolence or patronage that the people want. As citizens, they simply want the state to do its duty. And that is to make everyone on this island

Making Recommendations based on Revelation and Reason: The Challenge before Justice Saleem Marsoof’s Muslim Personal Law Reforms Committee

Featured image courtesy Maatram

CHULANI KODIKARA on 05/01/2017

In the current debate about reform of the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act of 1956 (MMDA), those opposed to reform are arguing that all reform must be consistent with the Shariah – or to be more precise their own interpretation of the Shariah. Moreover, that all reform must be in accordance with the Shafi school of law. I argue that the making of Muslim law in any given context is very much a human act of interpretation, and therefore subjective, selective and creative, albeit based on knowledge of the sources of law as well as hermeneutics (theory and methods of interpretation) of law. As Coulson, one of the foremost scholars of Muslim law, points out:

Making Recommendations based on Revelation and Reason.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

Commemoration day of workers May Day belongs to workers, not to lotus eaters

2017-05-01

In the words of Ernest Barker “individualism so conceived starts, indeed, from individual personality and from the inherent title of each individual person to enjoy the conditions necessary to the development of his capacities. However, just because the development of individual capacities starts on that basis one cannot develop his capacities fully without the assistance and the cooperation of others. He must be surrounded with service, a collective service which in union with others, he himself helps to provide for others as well as for himself, a service which becomes all the greater, the more fully the conditions necessary for his development is recognized and the more his rights are thereby extended.”

Un-served and unattended individual

Thus he should not be un-served or unattended. It should be a whole system of collective service which the individuality needs for development. During the period of feudalism individuals were unaided, disregarded and ill advised and individual workers were not cooperative. Hence, they often failed to get their needs and wants satisfied. Individuals realized that fact. They joined hands and worked together and achieved better results.

Collectivity and collective bargain

Therefore for the perfection of individual personality and capacity individuals need the assistance and co-operation of others. Individuals with similar interests get together and form into unions for mutual assistance and cooperation. This consolidation provides them strength, strength for the achievement of their wants and needs. All of them are benefited by power and strength exchanged among them. A number of sticks bound together are stronger than a single one. Likewise, individuals who get together and work together, help one another and share the available resources to gain momentum to face the challenges successfully. Workers who could not get their needs and wants satisfied as they wished by remaining as individuals realized the virtues of collectivity, cooperation and solidarity extended their friendly hands to the others who were in the same boat. They realized that their talents differed. This gave rise to the theories off division of labour and specialization. They expected recognition, better remuneration, better working conditions and other comforts. To achieve them they used collectivity as a weapon. They used the bargaining power and agitated collectively for the perfection of needs and wants individually as well as wholly. They formed trade unions. They were functioning well until politics interfered to divert the workers to a wrong direction.

How May Day came into being

On May 1, 1886, trade unions throughout the USA went on a strike demonstrating that the standard work day be shortened to eight hours. While socialists believed that all the people were equal anarchists believed that the government and the law should over rule the workers. There was a clash between the stand of the workers and that of the rulers and the workers went on strike in organized labour movements. The climax was the incident in Chicago Hay market where in the course of the riot on May 4th an anarchist threw a bomb causing the death of a number of persons, including police officers and injuring more than 100 people.

Eight-hour working days

These protests did not bring immediate results but the working class went on with their protests demanding eight hour working days and eventually it has become a norm. The men who were arrested after the Hay Market riot of 1886 in Chicago Illinois, on May 4 were executed. In communication of this execution, May Day is called the International Workers’ Day or the Labour Day. Consequently this May Day became established as an anarchists’ holiday and in this form May Day has become an International celebration of social and economic achievements of the working class and a labour movement.

Loyalty Day

Although May Day observances began in the USA it was not officially or popularly recognized as a holiday there. May 1 was officially designated by the UN Congress as a Loyalty Day in 1958 because of the association of May Day with Communism.
The Paris Workers’ Congress held in Paris on 14-20 July 1889, the most notable decision was to call on all workers to celebrate May 1st each year as the International Festival of the working class.
Labour leaders, socialists and archaists around the world have taken the American strikes and their fall out as a rallying point choosing May Day as a day for demonstrations, parades, meetings and speeches. It was a major state holiday in the Soviet Union (USSR) and other Communist countries consequent to the incident in Chicago.

May Day Celebrations in various countries and attempts to undermine

May Day is celebrated in most of the countries world over as the day of the working class. Meanwhile various authorities have tried to ban or undermine May Day, particularly the Communist observances during the cold war or hostilities among nations without actual fighting. In 1958 President Eisenhower designated May 1st as both Law Day and the Loyalty Day. In many countries including Sri Lanka, May day is celebrated not solely for the benefit of the working class but for other purposes such as gaining political ends.

Flora festival

Flora festivals are also held during this period to mark the beginning of summer. Flora is the Roman goddess of fruits and flowers. Summer is the period when fruits and flowers are available in abundance. Hence May Day is celebrated in the name of goddess Flora from April 28 to May 3.

May poles and trees of liberty at May Day festival

In the past, trees were the symbols of vitality and fertility of nature and were used at the spring festival. The May Tree has since become the “Tree of Liberty”. This was the symbol of the French Revolution. As a part of the May Day celebrations the youth in old Europe cut down trees lopped off the branches, leaving a few at the top of each tree. They wrapped the trees round with violets like figure of Attics, the Ancient Roman God. At Sunrise they took the trees to their villages blowing horns and flutes. This was done to symbolize the processing god Attics to the temple Cybil on Rome Palestine Hill during the spring festival of March 22. By the middle ages, every English village had its own May Pole. It was a competition among villagers to produce the largest May Pole

May Poles constructed for May Day

In small towns and villages, May Poles were constructed only for the May Day. However, in large cities including London permanent May poles were erected. When Puritans came into power in 1644 the tradition of erecting May poles came to an end. However, the Stuarts captured power within a couple of decades and the reintroduced the tradition.

May Day celebrations in honour of St. Walberg

Another objective in celebrating May Day is to honour the Abbess of the monastery of Heedenhelm, St. Walberg who had helped St. Boniface bring Christianity to Germany during the 8th century.

May Day and Pagan Festival

May Day also had a coincidence with a Pagan festival which included rites to protect one against witchcraft. It was believed that witches met with the devil in the evening of May 1. It was believed that May Day celebrations had been conducted to avoid the ill effects of witchcraft.

Celebrations to mark May Day

In the past, in some countries, May Day celebrations began at the Sun set of April 30th. Celebrations included floral decorations in the houses at night on the April 30th followed by processions in towns and villages on the May Day. Celebrations included floral decorations in the houses at night on April 30 followed by processions in towns and villages on May Day.

May Day celebrations at sunrise

In some Western countries, children including those in the primary school participate in May Day festivals. Children start with a special May Day song followed by a procession to the church. All the children wear white garments and carry garlands of flowers. All girls wear straw hats and ribbons in their hair.

House decorations on May Day

In some parts of the globe, people get up early in the morning on May Day and go out to collect flowers and greenery and decorate their houses. They believe that the spirit of vegetation will bring good fortune. Girls wash their faces in the dew of the early morning. They believe that this would make them beautiful and remain same during the whole year. They attend to various festivities during the rest of the day. They dance in the village green. They also engage in archery contests and exhibit their strength.

May Day queen

The main item of the day is the crowning the May Day Queen. The model of the May Day Queen is made of flowers or a beautiful girl is selected for the crown. In the past it did not take part in games or dancing but sat on a chair decked with flowers and watched the performances of others. The tradition is followed even at present.

Labors still fight for the Rights

May 01, 2017

‘May Day’ is celebrated on May 1 as a result of these struggles and people take to the streets on this day signifying the fight for the rights of the workers or labourers.

However, I this current era although labour issues are widely discussed and debated, it has become an issue without a viable solution in sight. However, today our focus is not on such issues affecting the labour force, instead we decided to focus this article on a group of people who although they are labourers, they never talk of their rights and they feed themselves if they earn and if not bear their hunger. Yes, there are many like this living in this country amidst the greatest of hardships, yet we at Lanka News Web decided to pay a visit to a group of labourers at 4th cross street in Fort. This set of labourers have no proper times of work, no time to eat and be it night or day, they are eternally busy.

Today we focus on the ‘Natami’ labourers of Colombo Fort. These Natami’s carry heavy sacks on their backs and the only thing protecting their back is either a folded sack or their t shirt folded a

nd placed on their back for padding. Their lives are certainly not the most comfortable of lives and for most of them and they carry these heavy loads on their backs through their sheer determination and the strength of their mind rather than their physical strength. Through rain or sun these Natamis’ engage in carrying these heavy loads on their bare backs just to feed those who depend on them. For them if they don’t work and earn their daily wage their families have no way to survive. Hence no matter what, they must work to feed their loved ones.

Most of these labourers are in the habit of chewing beetle and after a hard days work, many of them indulge in consumption of alcohol as well. However, most of these labourers engage in this profession to feed their various addictions. Some are addicted to drugs while others are addicted to alcohol but justify their addictions by claiming that they only take these to get rid of their bodily aches and pains. Around 35 percent of these labourers are addicted to drugs while around 85 percent of them are addicted to alcohol. Due to the background they hail from these labourers are looked down upon by society. There are no organisations to look into their grievances, no NGO’s concerned for their wellbeing or no one to fight for their rights. In fact they have no rights other than to cart these heavy loads and depend on the shop owners to pay them for their services.

With May Day coming up we asked if they had plans to join the parade. “I went for these rallys when I was a young man. Yet now with my family responsibilities how can I go? If I don’t work a single day I don’t get paid and then I wont be able to feed my family. Hence for most of us labourers who work for a daily wage we do not skip work as then we have to starve on that day. “To us it makes no difference if it’s a holiday, new year, or any other celebration. We must work to earn our daily wage and put food on the table for our families. If not our whole family will be in hunger,” he said.

We may differ in the forms of work we engage in, but as a whole we all engage in some form of work to provide for our families and make a living. We are all interconnected in some manner and all cannot be doctors or lawyers and even the labourer is a vital link in our society and they play a vital role in our economy. Hence lets appreciate them all and their contribution to society and make this labour day a day that we truly appreciate the services of every worker in this country irrespective of their social status.

Pictures and text by AshWaru

Disasters & Democracy: Facing Up To Realities In Following New Year Tragedy

By Asanga Abeyagoonasekera –May 2, 2017

Asanga Abeygoonasekera

“The ultimate test of the value of a political system is whether it helps that society to establish conditions which improve the standard of living for the majority of its people.” ~ Lee Kuan Yew

Last year, an article title New Year Kokis To Luxury Permits was written for the Colombo Telegraph highlighting that the Kokis treats eaten on our traditional New Year didn’t have the time to digest among us before luxury permits was issued to Parliament members. The very public who suffered last year from the burden of permits now has to face a colossal disaster. This disaster has cost lives as the entire nation mourns rather than celebrates the New Year. The son who distributed kokis as a New year tradition returned to see his parents buried by the garbage landslide which was stacked up owing to a systemic failures of standards and systems . This mountain of garbage stacked at Meethotamulla in Colombo District crashed, killing 30 and destroying more than 90 houses. The last incident of a similar nature occurred in the East African nation of Ethiopia killing 113 in March of this year.

Several reports by experts and public intellectuals reports were ignored by policy makers in the past. It is a hope that from now onward policy makers will have more respect for policy inputs from academia. What I wish to highlight is why we have become a reactive society than proactive. The reason is clearly procrastination, rejection of solutions and blaming each other. A systematic method to streamline and implement top priority projects that improve quality of life and secure human security should be implemented by the Government without delay. The security of individual and the security of the State should be top priority. If the State takes the Hobbesian choice of of keeping chaos at bay, it would be fulfilling its duties toward its individuals.

It is either best practices or tragedy that shapes policy. The former remains the ideal to avoid the loss of human lives. Unfortunately, many proposed projects for waste management including waste to energy plants was rejected by policy makers for various reasons. In 2003, in Vijayawada India, I witnessed how generated waste was converted to usable energy and supplied to the national grid. Let us hope we could start some similar project of this nature in Sri Lanka in the aftermath of our New Year’s tragedy..

As reported by the World Economic Forum, Sri Lanka is a third world country transiting to a second world, moving from being factor driven to efficiency driven.. Although certain segments of our society live a first world life, the majority o still on the third world state with 27% poverty. Those who belong to the first world segment of predominantly urban society, educate their children majority overseas with even health care obtained internationally. The country is at a $3600 per capita while our target according to Central Bank is to achieve $7000 by year 2020. With the present economic climate this will be clearly unachievable . A nation like Singapore which most of our politicians quote as their example is at per capita above $50000 ,to achieve this state how long does Sri lanka take? How much of best practices we need to import and adapt?These remain among the larger questions we should be asking.

On the day of the disaster at Meethotamulla this author was in Singapore talking to one of the young geopoliticians Dr. Parag Kannan of Lee Kuan Yew School who has authored the recent book Technocracy in America. During the discussion we spoke about how important to have technical experts at policy level and how nations like Singapore has achieved as a technocracy and sometimes Democracy is not the best model. Technocracy may be understood as a philosophy to which similarities could be drawn with the teachings of Plato. The concept is about technical experts running the core institutions of a nation. Technocracy is evident in Singapore, South Korea, China and even Rwanda.

The health of a political system is determined by the quality of its institutions. For more than a generation, citizens of Western societies have been voicing steadily their increasing dissatisfaction with their system of government, even directly challenging whether or not democracy is right for them. 49% of Americans now believe that experts should decide what is best. Thus, the “end of history” is being turned on its head according to Parag Kanna. The case of Switzerland and Singapore are both verifiably democratic and rigorously technocratic at the same time. They both have a high percentage of foreign-born populations, national military and civil service, strong linkages between education and industry, diversified economies, and massive state investment in R&D and innovation. They are both relentless in seeking self-improvement. Their only ideology is pragmatism. With the world’s top-ranked civil service (as measured by merit and autonomy), detailed scenarios and forecasts are used to strategize the countries domestic priorities and international positioning. Crucially, both countries are also at the cutting edge of leveraging big data. Switzerland has pioneering finance and technology companies, while Singapore has become a living lab for those innovations.

Sri Lanka could adopt technocracy. First, to change our political culture we should bring in technocrats in order to have a dramatic change over a short period of time. What we have currently are technical problems and policy makers have failed to give solutions because they basically have no clue. So technocrats should take up this work for the betterment of our country. The question hinges on the ability of a technocrat to get elected in a democratic system. Society cannot afford to get carried away during the election, especially on massive political spending. The public needs to be vigilant and evaluate the election purely on meritocracy. The spending capacity of a candidate is not a qualification for their post and this must realized by the general public. The national list should be used only for technocrats and not to satisfy loosing candidates.

Given the current trajectory of our economy, with very small incremental changes year on year, it will take us a very long time to become a $22,000 per capita developed economy. My estimate is that at the present rate, it will take us till the year 2040.