How Bangladesh has managed to contain the impact of natural disasters 

Saturday, 3 June 2017

Bangladesh has been one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, ravaged year after year by cyclones and floods. Since 1980, natural disasters have claimed over 200,000 lives and caused economic damage to the tune of over $ 17 billion. It is estimated that 14% of Bangladesh’s GDP is exposed to natural disasters, and 1.8 % of it is lost because of nature’s fury.

Bangladesh is especially vulnerable to cyclones because of its location at the triangular-shaped head of the Bay of Bengal, the sea-level geography of its coastal area, its high population density, and the lack of coastal protection systems.

During the pre-monsoon (April-May) or post-monsoon (October-November) seasons, cyclones frequently hit the coastal regions. About 40% of the total global storm surges are recorded in Bangladesh, and the deadliest cyclones in the past 50 years, in terms of deaths and casualties, are those that have struck Bangladesh.

The number and severity of cyclones in Bangladesh and the associated mortalities have varied greatly in the past 50 years. The 1970 Bhola cyclone caused 500,000 deaths and the 1991 cyclone caused 140 000 deaths.

But since the creation of disaster mitigating systems in 1991, deaths and damages have come down drastically. For example, the severe cyclone of 2007 caused 4234 deaths, which was a 100-fold reduction compared to the devastating 1970 cyclone. Subsequently, the toll in cyclones came down to 3000. The most recent cyclone Mora caused only six deaths, though it hit the coast at 120 kilometres per hour.

A well-prepared Bangladesh government had appealed to people in the affected districts of Cox’s Bazar and Chittagong to move to 538 pre-built cyclone shelters. And a day before the cyclone made landfall, the government evacuated about 300,000 people.

Change in perspective 

All this is because the concept of disaster management had undergone a radical change in Bangladesh since 1991. It is no longer “disaster response” or acting after the occurrence of a disaster, but anticipating and being prepared for it in order to mitigate its impact.

Bangladesh’s disaster management system combines response (after the event), recovery, rehabilitation and prevention, mitigation and preparedness.

After the 1998 floods, “risk reduction” became the keynote of the disaster management program. Bangladesh is a pioneer in disaster risk reduction.

Successive governments have consciously worked out institutional, legal and policy frameworks for disaster anticipation, preparation, mitigation and response. It realised early enough that disaster management has to be “mainstreamed” and that there should be participation and coordinated action by a variety of departments and institutions from the cabinet to the village level. Disaster management can never be the job of one department or ministry.

Bangladesh also realised that government alone cannot meet or prepare for disasters – the private sector and civil society should also be made to pitch in both in risk preparedness and disaster relief. And people at the lowest levels, including the women, will have to be empowered to contribute to the decision making at the appropriate levels. It is the depressed social and economic groups, and also women, who suffer the most when natural disasters strike because their interests are ignored by the elite decision makers. The Bangladeshi disaster management scheme is a success because “empowerment” of marginalised groups is a key ingredient.

The Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief is the apex body for disaster management in Bangladesh and its main concern is “risk reduction” through a variety of pre-emptive activities. The government has restructured and established the Disaster Management Department so that it becomes the main instrument for implementing and coordinating the multifarious disaster management activities.

Prime Minister at the apex

At the national level, there is the National Disaster Management Council (NDMC) headed by the Prime Minister to formulate and review disaster management policies and issue directives to all concerned. There is the Inter-Ministerial Disaster Management Co-ordination Committee (IMDMCC) headed by the Minister in Charge of the Disaster Management and Relief Division (DM&RD) to implement disaster management policies and decisions of the NDMC. In addition there is the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR) headed by an experienced person nominated by the Prime Minister.

The Earthquake Preparedness and Awareness Committee (EPAC) headed by a minister; a Cyclone Preparedness Program Implementation Board (CPPIB) headed by the Secretary, Disaster Management and Relief Division; a Disaster Management Training and Public Awareness Building Task Force (DMTATF) headed by the Director General of Disaster Management Bureau (DMB) to coordinate disaster-related training and public awareness activities of the government, NGOs and other organisations; and a Focal Point Operation Coordination Group of Disaster Management (FPOCG) are other national institutions.

For the dissemination of early warning signals about cyclones to the communities in the coastal areas, the Cyclone Preparedness Program (CPP), a globally renowned volunteer organisation of Bangladesh, which combines volunteerism and communication technology, was established in 1972, after the devastating 1970 Bhola cyclone. The CPP has undergone significant technology upgrades and covers a wider area now than ever before.

In addition, there is the Bangladesh Metrological Department; the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre; the Water Development Board; and the Fire Service and Civil Defence forces, all of which have been strengthened substantially.  Since climate change is a major trigger of disasters, the Environment Ministry has evolved a national plan to tackle issues stemming from climate change. The government has roped in national research institutions also.

Legal framework

The legal framework for disaster management is provided by the Disaster Management Act of 2012. It incorporates existing orders, reformation of institutions, envisages creation of new institutions, puts necessary mechanisms in place and makes the disaster management system accountable with mandatory legal provisions.

Previously, the framework was provided by the Standing Order on Disasters (SOD) of 1997. It was rightly called the “Bible of Disaster Management”. It provided for duties and responsibilities for the ministries and departments, and established committees at all levels, considering the inter-relatedness of disaster management activities. The 2012 Act incorporates the provisions of SOD.

Bangladesh has a clearly defined Disaster Management Policy and a Disaster Management Plan, with guidelines addressing specific disasters situations. 

Economic development 

From the Sixth Five Year Plan onwards, Bangladesh has been including economic development as part of its disaster mitigation efforts. Economic development facilitates the growth of mass awareness and willingness to participate in disaster management efforts, both before and after the disaster.

Bangladesh has marched forward on the economic front, with poverty coming down from 40% in 2005 to 24.7% in 2014.Bangladesh is currently registering a GDP growth rate of 6%. A country previously dismissed as a “basket case” has today met five out of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The literacy rate has gone up; sanitation coverage has widened and women›s participation in all activities outside the home has gone up tremendously

But unplanned urbanisation is a disease Bangladesh is still suffering from, like all South Asian countries. Urban congestion, fires, building collapses, pollution, and urban flooding are ever-present threats, which have to be met.

However, Bangladesh is well ahead of many countries in tackling disasters and is a role model. Community resilience, volunteerism, an effective Early Warning System, a community-based decision making process, government commitment, a vibrant NGO sector and a good legal and institutional framework have given Bangladesh an exalted status in the comity of disaster-prone nations.

How a short letter in a prestigious journal contributed to the opioid crisis

A pharmacy tech separates hydrocodone bitartrate and acetaminophen tablets in August 2010. (AP/Sue Ogrocki)

By Derek Hawkins June 2 at 5:36 AM

Long before opioid abuse exploded into a public health crisis, before drugs such as OxyContin and Vicodin claimed hundreds of thousands of American lives and ruined countless others, one respected Boston University doctor had a question he wanted answered.

How often, Dr. Hershel Jick wondered, do hospital patients grow addicted to their narcotic pain treatments?

To find out, Hershel and his assistant, a graduate student named Jane Porter, reviewed troves of hospital records. Their conclusions were optimistic: Out of nearly 12,000 hospital patients treated with such painkillers, just four had become addicted. Only one case was considered severe. They wrote up the good news in a one-paragraph, five-sentence letter to the New England Journal of Medicine.

“We conclude,” read the letter, “that despite widespread use of narcotic drugs in hospitals, the development of addiction is rare in medical patients with no history of addiction.”

That was in January 1980. Over the following decades, the letter was invoked by doctors, academics, pharmaceutical companies and others as evidence that few users would develop addictions and that liberal prescription was justified. Of course, the analysis proved nothing of the sort, nor did it set out to. But the widely misread letter — now so well known it’s been nicknamed “Porter and Jick” — has been blamed for fueling the country’s opioid epidemic.

On Wednesday, the New England Journal of Medicine published a note from four Canadian researchers that shows the true scope of the letter’s influence, in what may be a first for the academic journal. The authors, led by Pamela T.M. Leung of the University of Toronto, found that “Porter and Jick” had been cited 608 times by other scholars — often inaccurately and uncritically.

Nearly 500 articles neglected to note that the letter concerned only hospitalized patients whose treatments were overseen by medical staff, rather than people prescribed take-home painkillers for, say, arthritis or minor injuries, the researchers found. A majority of the articles also cited the letter as evidence that addiction was rare in patients who took opioids. Other articles “grossly misrepresented” the letter’s findings, Leung and her team wrote.

“We believe that this citation pattern contributed to the North American opioid crisis by helping to shape a narrative that allayed prescribers’ concerns about the risk of addiction associated with long-term opioid therapy,” read the note which, like “Porter and Jick,” appeared in the journal’s letter to the editor section.

“The crisis arose in part because physicians were told that the risk of addiction was low when opioids were prescribed for chronic pain,” it read. “Our findings highlight the potential consequences of inaccurate citation and underscore the need for diligence when citing previously published studies.”

Respondents who took part in The Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation survey on long-term, opioid painkiller use share their experiences of living with pain. (Monica Akhtar,Erin Patrick O'Connor/The Washington Post)

Some of the articles that cited “Porter and Jick” wildly inflated its conclusions, according to Leung and her team. “This pain population with no abuse history is literally at no risk for addiction,” read one article from 1998. “Medical opioid addiction is very rare,” read another from 2002.

If those claims sound ridiculous now, in 2017, it’s because they are. More than 183,000 people have died in the United States from prescription opioid overdoses since 1999, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Millions of other Americans struggle with painkiller addiction.

For Jick, who is still a drug specialist at Boston University School of Medicine, the letter was never intended to have any bearing on painkiller use outside short-term hospital visits.

“I’m essentially mortified that that letter to the editor was used as an excuse to do what these drug companies did,” he told the Associated Press on Wednesday. “They used this letter to spread the word that these drugs were not very addictive.”

An editor’s note on the New England Journal of Medicine now reads: “For reasons of public health, readers should be aware that this letter has been ‘heavily and uncritically cited’ as evidence that addiction is rare with opioid therapy.” It links to the review by the Canadian researchers.

  The “Porter and Jick” letter as it appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1980. (Screen grab)

The story behind the letter was documented extensively by journalist Sam Quinones in his 2015 book “Dreamland,” an account of the opioid crisis in the United States.

According to Quinones, the letter seemed to go largely unnoticed until 1986, when it was cited in a paper in Pain, the journal of the American Pain Society. From there, other scholars began to repeat its findings — often, as Quinones notes, without the important context that the patients analyzed were administered small doses of opioids by doctors, not sent home with bottles of prescription pills.

Eventually, the paragraph of findings became known simply as “Porter and Jick.” The nickname only made things worse.

“That shorthand, in turn, lent prestige to the tiny thing and the claim attributed to it: that less than 1 percent of patients treated with narcotics developed addictions to them,” Quinones writes.

By the 1990s, the letter had become a “foundation for a revolution in U.S. medical practice,” according to Dreamland. Researchers were urged to “consider the work” of Porter and Jick. A Scientific American article mentioned the pair’s “extensive study.” A registered nurse referred to it as “gospel.” And in 2001, Time magazine called it a “landmark study” showing that fears of addiction were “basically unwarranted.”

A key reason the letter was misinterpreted had to do with the New England Journal of Medicine’s archives, according to “Dreamland.” None of the journal’s material before 1993 was available online until 2010. So when the letter was cited, it had the appearance of being a peer-reviewed study, not a terse letter to the editor meant only to stimulate conversation among fellow researchers.

Jick went on to do a broad range of other scholarly work. And, as he told the Associated Press, he once testified as a witness for the government in a lawsuit involving the marketing of painkillers. He was apparently unaware for some time of what his short letter had triggered.

“It’s an amazing thing,” Jick said, according to “Dreamland.” “That particular letter, for me, is very near the bottom of a long lit of studies that I’ve done. It’s useful as it stands because there’s nothing else like it on hospitalized patients. But if you read it carefully, it does not speak to the level of addiction in outpatients who take these drugs for chronic pain.”

OFFICE OF THE MISSING PERSONS (OMP): “PRESIDENT SIRISENA ACT NOW!” – CPA

Image:  Relatives of the disappeared marched in support of OMP and calling for its early establishment on on 30.08.2016 in Colombo.   (c) s.deshapriya.

02/06/2017

“More than eight years after the end of the war and two years into the “Yahapalanaya government”, time is of the essence for the Government to deliver on some of its most crucial promises. President Sirisena must act now!” says Colombo based think tank the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) issuing a statement.

CPA further says that enforced disappearances and missing persons are issues that have plagued Sri Lanka for several decades, with successive governments appointing numerous commissions and committees with little or no follow up action. The OMP Amendment Bill (Office on Missing Persons (Establishment, Administration and Discharge of Functions) (Amendment) Bill) is presently listed for debate in Parliament on 7th June 2017. In such a context, President Maithripala Sirisena  must fulfill his  constitutional duty and take steps to establish the OMP, appoint independent and experienced individuals to the OMP and provide for the necessary resources and assistance for its effective functioning.

The full text of the statement follows:

A CALL TO PRESIDENT MAITHRIPALA SIRISENA: ESTABLISH THE OFFICE OF MISSING PERSONS IMMEDIATELY

1st June 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) is deeply concerned with the inaction of the Government of Sri Lanka in realising key promises made to a significant number of its citizens about the search for their disappeared and missing loved ones. Despite the numerous calls for action including persistent protests by victims, their pleas have gone unheeded. The ambitious promises made in 2015, including the establishment of the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) and the criminalising of enforced disappearances, are yet to be fulfilled.

Legislation to establish the first permanent and independent mechanism to investigate enforced disappearances and missing persons was enacted by Parliament in August 2016. Despite shortcomings in the drafting process, CPA welcomed the legislation as a genuine opportunity to break from the past and provide answers to victims. More than nine months after the legislation was enacted, CPA is disappointed that the OMP remains yet another elusive mechanism. Moreover, CPA is concerned that rather than establish the OMP, the Government has introduced draft legislation to diminish the OMPs ability to enter into agreements necessary to achieve its mandate. This amendment could potentially impede the functioning of the OMP as an independent and effective institution. CPA is informed that the OMP Amendment Bill (Office on Missing Persons (Establishment, Administration and Discharge of Functions) (Amendment) Bill) is presently listed for debate in Parliament on 7th June 2017. In such a context, CPA reiterates its previous calls and urges President Maithripala Sirisena to fulfil his constitutional duty and take steps to establish the OMP, appoint independent and experienced individuals to the OMP and provide for the necessary resources and assistance for its effective functioning. Any new amendments to the legislation should be done in good faith and should not vitiate the purpose of the OMP.

Enforced disappearances and missing persons are issues that have plagued Sri Lanka for several decades, with successive governments appointing numerous commissions and committees with little or no follow up action. CPA has in commented on the numerous flawed state initiatives that failed to deliver on truth and justice to victims, with many initiatives re-traumatising victims and giving false hopes. In effect, such initiatives made a mockery of the dignity of victims, with the delays and inaction further exacerbating the culture of impunity. These are reminders as to why another committee, as indicated in recent statements by President Sirisena, will be a mistake. It will further compound the notion that the Executive President, by design or omission, is more inclined to perpetuate the silence and impunity that fosters deep divisions and mistrust than assist thousands of his fellow citizens in find answers about the disappearance of their loved ones.

Decades of wrongs by the State and non-state actors have had a profound impact on citizens across Sri Lanka and contributed to a legacy of violence. Inaction and apathy now will strengthen the hands of the critics waiting for the Government to squander this unique opportunity to usher in reforms for truth, justice and reconciliation. More than eight years after the end of the war and two years into the “Yahapalanaya government”, time is of the essence for the Government to deliver on some of its most crucial promises. President Sirisena must act now!

Human rights commission urges President to tackle hate crimes

June 2, 2017 

An independent human rights watchdog has urged President Maithripala Sirisena to tackle the alleged hate crime attacks from Buddhist extremist groups targeting the country’s minority Muslim community. 

In a letter to Sirisena, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka asked the government to fully implement the rule of law to bring the perpetrators of racial hatred to book.

The commission has urged the president “to take all the necessary actions against the instigators and perpetrators of violence and hate speech targeting the Muslim community”. 

Envoys of many countries, including Australia and Canada, have visited a prominent mosque here to express their solidarity with the country’s Muslims who allege that their religious places have come under hate crime attacks from Buddhist extremist groups.

The Muslim community has been disturbed by an escalation of attacks against them since mid April. Several places of religious practice and Muslim-owned businesses have been attacked, the commission said as it also complained of police inaction in tackling the situation. The commission said that it has been alarmed by the racial hatred and hate speech targeting Muslims.

The letter further states: “The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka is gravely concerned about the acts of violence and aggression targeting the Muslim community, which have aggravated in recent days. 

The Commission notes that previously similar conduct led to the violence at Aluthgama in June 2014, resulting in the loss of lives and destruction of property. We also do note that to date no meaningful action has been taken to make those responsible for instigating and perpetrating the Aluthgama violence accountable. 

The Commission is alarmed at the hate speech conveyed over social media as well as some mainstream media targeting the Muslim community and Islam, which seek to instigate people to commit violence against the Muslim people, their religious institutions and businesses. 

The Commission also wishes to bring to the attention of Your Excellency the spate of attacks on places of Christian religious worship in the recent past, which adds to an alarming trend of religious bigotry and intolerance which has gone unchecked. 

There is no doubt that such expressions of hate and violence targeting a specific community amount to crimes under the ICCPR Act, No 56 of 2007 and the Penal Code of Sri Lanka. It is necessary that the perpetrators of such acts are apprehended and dealt with according to law. Laws existing on the statute books without implementation have a corrosive impact on the Rule of Law. As such it is essential that these laws are implemented in the best interests of the country. 

Both national law and international human rights obligations of Sri Lanka obligate the government to prevent such acts of violence and to take timely action to stop the spread of hate speech, which foster and promote violent conduct. Failure to do so will be a black mark on the human rights record of the country and will be another serious obstacle to the reconciliation process in our country, on which Your Excellency has placed much emphasis. 

In these circumstances the HRCSL requests Your Excellency to give urgent directions to Ministry of Law and Order and the Inspector General of Police to take all necessary action against the instigators and perpetrators of violence and hate speech targeting the Muslim community as well as other religious minorities.”

-With inputs from agencies

Father Elil Rajan summoned to Police for 3rd in a week

Jun 02, 2017

Father Elil Rajan summoned for the third time in one week over commemorative event for civil war victims

On 20 May 2017, Father Elil Rajan was summoned by the police in Mullaitivu, in the Northern Province, with regard to a commemorative event held in Mullivaaikkal, where the names of Tamils who were killed at the end of the Sri Lankan civil war were carved on rocks. Although the authorities later withdrew the summons, they are investigating the event and asked Father Elil to provide a list of the names that were engraved on the rocks. Father Elil Rajan had already been summoned and questioned on 16 May by the Mullaitivu Police and on 19 May by the Vavuniya Police over the event he organised for Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day on 18 May, a remembrance day observed by Tamil people to commemorate those who died in the final stages of the civil war.

Father Elil Rajan is a human rights defender and Programme Director for the Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research, a non-profit think tank working on accountability and non-exclusionary justice and reconciliation initiatives. He is an advocate for the rights of Tamil war survivors and families of victims, and is known for his engagement and collaboration with Sinhalese activists from other parts of Sri Lanka, the international community and the Sri Lankan government. In 2016, he served as the Vavuniya district Chairperson of the Zonal Task Force of the Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms, an initiative of the Sri Lankan government. Father Elil Rajan organises commemorative events in the North-East regions, considered to be Tamil land, and is also the co-spokesperson of the Tamil Civil Society Forum.

On 20 May 2017, Father Elil Rajan was summoned in relation to a commemorative event he organised near St. Paul’s Church in East Mullivaaikkal, a village on the north-east coast of Sri Lanka which was the scene of the final battle of the civil war. The event consisted of placing rocks carved with the names of Tamil victims of this final battle. While the police summons was  withdrawn, the human rights defender was asked to provide the list of names that was engraved on the rocks. Father Elil Rajan had previously been summoned and questioned on 16 May by the Mullaitivu Police and on 19 May by the Vavuniya Police over the event he organised for Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day on 18 May, a commemorative day observed by Tamil people to remember those who died in the final stages of the civil war.

The ongoing harassment of Father Elil Rajan is part of a broader crackdown on Tamil civil society, which has been subjected to other forms of harassment, intimidation and surveillance which  hinder non-exclusionary truth and reconciliation efforts by restricting the recognition and remembrance of human rights violations suffered by Tamil people during the civil war. Human rights defenders such as Father Elil Rajan who work on Tamil issues and for the inclusion of the Tamil perspective in truth and reconciliation efforts, are particularly targeted through surveillance, and freedom of expression and assembly is restricted in Tamil regions, especially in military-occupied territories affected by the civil war. Police occasionally use excessive force to disperse protesters, and the army has imposed some restrictions on assembly in the North and East, particularly for planned memorial events concerning the end of the war, which impact human rights defenders working on violations perpetrated in the region both during and after the civil war. These restrictions have disproportionately affected Tamil people.

Front Line Defenders is concerned by the repeated summons of human rights defender Father Elil Rajan, which it believes to be directly linked to his peaceful and legitimate work in defence of human rights and non-exclusionary truth and reconciliation efforts in Sri Lanka.

Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in Sri Lanka to:

1. Immediately cease all further harassment of Elil Rajan, as Front Line believes that his  summonses are solely as a result of his legitimate work in defence of human rights;

2. Cease targeting all human rights defenders in Sri Lanka and guarantee in all circumstances that they are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.

URGENT ACTION: PRIEST HARASSED OVER MEMORIAL TO DEAD WAR VICTIMS (SRI LANKA: UA 116.17)

May 25, 2017

Sri Lankan priest, Father Elil Rajendram, is being harassed by the police over his efforts to help families memorialize their loved ones lost during the armed conflict.

1) TAKE ACTION

Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet:

• Stop the harassment of Father Elil and other activists and victims involved in efforts to remember those who died during Sri Lanka’s armed conflict;
• Ensure families and human rights defenders are free to exercise their rights to freedom of expression and association, without fear of reprisal and in accordance to the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders;
• Reminding them that the Sri Lankan government has an obligation to deliver truth, justice, reparation to victims and to ensure non-recurrence of violations and calling on the government to permit and support memorialization as an integral part of any reparation mechanism.

Contact these two officials by 6 July, 2017:

Prime Minister
Ranil Wickremesinghe
Fax : +94 (112) 575310
Fax : +94 (112) 57414
Email: info@pmoffice.gov.lk 
Salutation: Dear Prime Minister

Ambassador H.E. Mr. Prasad Kariyawasam, Embassy of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
3025 Whitehaven Street NW, Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 232 7181
Phone: 202 483 4025 OR 202 483 4026 OR 202 483 4027 OR 202 483 4028
Email: slembassy@slembassyusa.org
Salutation: Dear Ambassador

2) LET US KNOW YOU TOOK ACTION 
Click here to let us know if you took action on this case! This is Urgent Action 116.17
Here’s why it is so important to report your actions: we record the actions taken on each case—letters, emails, calls and tweets—and use that information in our advocacy.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS CASE: Read and download the full Urgent Action below
• GET INSPIRED: Read about the people you have helped
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• CONTACT US: uan@aiusa.org

URGENT ACTION: PRIEST HARASSED OVER MEMORIAL TO DEAD WAR VICTIMS (SRI LANKA: UA 116.17) by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

'Stories of Mullivaikkaal' documentation project launched by Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research

02 Jun  2017

The Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research (ACPR) launched “Stories of Mullivaikaal,” the first series in ACPR’s “Stories of Resilience” project at www.storiesofresilience.com.

The project will document stories of resilience and agency, highlighting narratives other than victimhood within Tamil community, who have exhibited diverse forms of resilience through various stages of Sri Lanka’s unresolved ethnic conflict.

See full press release below:

Today the Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research (ACPR) launched “Stories of Mullivaikkaal”, the first series in ACPR’s “Stories of Resilience” project at www.storiesofresilience.com.

‘Stories of Mullivaikkaal’ is launched in commemoration of all those who lost their lives in the last phase of the armed conflict. The stories featured present alternative narratives from survivors of Mullivaikkaal which does not narrow their lived experiences to helpless victimhood but rather promotes and accepts their agency.

“We feel that in trying to come to terms with the horrific atrocities committed during the armed conflict and re-shape the collective Tamil identity, it is important for the focus to not be narrowed just to victimhood,” said Senior Researcher for ACPR, Dharsha Jegatheeswaran.

 “Memorialisation must also include documenting narratives of the conflict that give credit to survivors’ agency and resilience, and the incredible strength exhibited by countless Tamil civilians during the last phase of the war.”

Stories will continue to be added to the ‘Stories of Mullivaikkaal’ series over the next three months, and then a short print volume with the stories will be published at the end of August in English and Tamil.

‘Stories of Mullivaikkaal’ is part of a bigger project ACPR is embarking on entitled ‘Stories of Resilience’ which aims to document and share stories of strength, courage and resilience of Tamil civilians before, during and after the armed conflict.

To read the stories and find out more about the project visit: www.storiesofresilience.com

For any further information please contact the Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research at info@adayaalam.org.

Rising from the ashes, Jaffna library writes new chapters

The library has 30,000 titles, low in comparison to the nearly 1,00,000 books it housed until 1981

NOVEMBER 01, 2016

Vasantha Sriskantharajah is dreading next summer. It’s not the Jaffna heat that is worrying her, she is used to it. What she is not used to is being away from the collection of books she has seen grow at the Jaffna Public Library through decades of war and recovery.

In April 2017, Ms. Sriskantharajah, the library’s longest serving employee, will retire after completing 33 years of service. “I cannot imagine how that is going to be, these books have been my home for so song,” the librarian tells The Hinduon a Sunday morning when readers, mostly students, trickle in.

It is hard to miss the library’s imposing, white building in Jaffna town, on the road to Kankesanthurai. The library has 30,000 titles — the number pales in comparison to the nearly 1,00,000 books it housed until 1981. One of South Asia’s finest libraries at that time, the Jaffna Public Library was known for its precious archival material and manuscripts.

In June 1981, an organised mob, reportedly of Sinhalese persons, set fire to the building, destroying all that was thoughtfully collected for generations of Tamil youth. The incident delivered a major blow not just to the library, but to the dreams and aspirations it had nurtured. Some consider it a major provocation in the lead up to Sri Lanka’s civil war.

Started by a group of Jaffna youth as an intellectual hub for Tamils, the library initially functioned out of small reading rooms, before its Indo-Saracenic-styled building was inaugurated in 1959 by the then Jaffna Mayor, Alfred Duraiappah.

“There were many rare publications and exclusive copies... everything was destroyed in the 1981 fire,” says Ms. Sriskantharajah, who joined the library as a junior staff member in 1983, after completing a one-year course in library science.

She used to work in its smaller branches that were started to preserve what remained from the fire and vividly remembers organising rows and rows of books that came as donations. With the conflict intensifying, the Sri Lankan Army camped at the nearby Dutch fort in Jaffna. Caught in the midst of cross-firing and shelling between the armed forces and the LTTE, the library remained closed for years. It was reopened in 1984, after being partly restored, only to be closed again during the protracted war. It was reopened again in 2004, after the building was restored by the Sri Lankan government.

“Things are better [now], but there is still a lot more to be done,” she observes.

Over the years, 30,000 titles have made their way into the library’s bookshelves. Its administration is keen on strengthening the Braille section. “That’s the challenge, sourcing important publications in Braille. We are trying our best,” she says.

Reference section

The reference section is vast, and has many groups of students seated at the tables, amidst piles of mostly academic books. “We have 25,226 readers [they can’t borrow books] and 2,302 members,” says Ms. Sriskantharajah, eyes lighting up, as she speaks of the growing membership.

After years of being situated at the heart of a conflict, the library has now become a venue for high-level meetings. During their visits to the north, UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-Moon, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former British PM David Cameron met Tamil leaders here.

But it is the regular patronage of readers and students that the library is counting on. “There is just so much to read. Books are the real windows to the world outside,” Ms. Sriskantharajah says. That is what she plans to do post retirement. “I will keep coming back here as a reader.”

Land mark judgment: Torture victim awarded LKR one million

 May 31, 2017

In the Land mark judgment delivered on 30.05.2017, Supreme Court state that the 1st to 5th Respondents, namely 1. Sub Inspector Salwatura, 2. Sergeant Manoj, 3. Constable Ashoka, 4. Seargeant Kithsiri , 5. Security Assistant Dissanayake, all of Police Station, Bandaragama, have violated the Petitioner’s fundamental rights guaranteed to him by Article 11 of the Constitution. And  1st to 6th namely 1. Sub Inspector Salwatura, 2. Sergeant Manoj, 3. Constable Ashoka, 4. Seargeant Kithsiri 5. Security Assistant Dissanayake, 6. Charles Wickremasinghe, Officer in Charge, Police Station, Bandaragama, have violated the Petitioner’s fundamental rights guaranteed to him by Article 13(1) and 13(2) of the Constitution.

Land mark judgment Torture victim awarded LKR one million.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

Nor any drop to drink

Friday, 2 June 2017

I’LL DO MY CRYING IN THE RAIN: While the heavens weep, and people go to watery graves, politicians and planners whose principal duty is the welfare of their electorates drown in hypocrisy and cupidity. Then, as the flood waters recede, struggle vainly to defend their ignorance and apathy or salvage their sorry soggy reputations. Now, we the people are asking harder than ever questions of cabinet and committee. Still it may not suffice until the political culture – and not just the countenance of patina of governance and state agency/instrumentality – undergo a sea-change – Pic by Shehan Gunasekara

Have you heard the one about the two idiot meteorologists who were leaving the Met Dept after work? 

Said one to the other, “Shall we take our umbrellas?” And the other replied, “Yes, because you never know when it is going to rain…” – well, just substitute ‘idiosyncratic disaster managers’ for ‘idiot meteorologists’ and you’d be in the same boat… as an entire demographic of sad, angry, tried, Sri Lankans on social-media.

Today, just about everybody (who have blood in their veins instead of blessed ichor or embalming fluid) is bleeding all over the show with rage… and outrage – because of the idiosyncratic idiots who begin to shut the stable door only after the horse has bolted, or after benighted hundreds have drowned, or died from the entirely avoidable disaster ravaging the nation – again.

By now, the flood waters may have begun to recede together with a stress- and sorrow-drowned nation’s pique or ire. Good. Not so ‘good’ that we’ll forget, and forgive the criminals who can or must be held culpable for their failure to alert and then inform the potential victims. And ‘bad’ that after years of the same or similar disasters – tsunamis, landslides, annual floods come which May – the relevant authorities have yet to appropriate and appreciate and act on the aphorism that “a hazard is a potential disaster that can be prevented with the proper information and helps”.

There is also the ‘ugly’ element in all of this… that while helpless people flounder and many go to watery graves, and while sundry seemingly uncoordinated under-resourced ill-prepared disaster-related agencies founder in hapless panic at best or apathy at worst, the water-hating fat-cats in state and government sit pretty – safe and dry, silent as the watery graves to which so many members of their respective electorates go, subversively muttering about considerately deferred supplementary estimates that will delay the delivery of their super-luxury cars, designed to enable smoother visits to the very electorates where the same watery graves have swallowed the babies and grandmothers they consider it their bounden duty to kiss and coddle!

So there! I’ve worked off some steam on behalf of a soggy, sodden, national conscience. Now – keeping in mind that average citizens who mindlessly practise poor environmental control are as much to blame as heartless corporate entities fixated on the bottom line or state agencies unfocussed on any line – let us turn to the res. Seems that there are a few thoughtless eventualities that can or must be set right in the future interests of the weeping seeping sense of national welfare.

The past

The tsunami showed lacunae. Scared animals sensed it coming;state agencies were slow to deploy contingency planning and crisis management measures. Lamentable preparedness by line ministries as much as sundry departments resulted in the unnecessary loss of lives and preventable damage to property. Even specialist-driven initiatives such as P-TOMS in the aftermath of the unprecedented disaster of 2005 only showed that amidst the outpouring of international goodwill and the extraordinary largesse of a broad swath of Sri Lankans to their fellow citizens in dire need, divisive politics held sway and squandered an opportunity for true national reconciliation at a deep water level – to say nothing of scuppering relief and rehabilitation efforts on behalf of the distressed.

The torrential rains of the past three years in quick succession have highlighted the lapses in the state of the state’s preparedness and proactive response to predictable hazards. Then as now, the largesse of local populations have drowned out the damnable lassitude of government departments mandated with a vital service, save elements of the military and a few surprising heroes in the shape and form of previously suspect thug-politicos (maybe it’s just propaganda). There was then as now a regrettable concern among the senior echelon of so-called statesmen for their own sorry reputations and the widespread philosophy that the demigods of weather were displeased with the present dispensation.

The present

Today, nothing much has changed. While concerned citizens step up to the plate to spearhead relief efforts or partner the military in rescue operations, ‘responsible’ politicians (they must be held responsible) remain overseas at their leisure – or fly out for personal reasons after superficial enquiries after the electorate’s well-being. True, stout hearts bleed behind the scenes – this writer among others being witness to the spontaneous breakdown of people-oriented leaders at the plight of their wards and charges. But, emotion to be recollected and praised in tranquillity is cold comfort to the half a million who got more than their eyes damp… and it won’t raise the ten-score dead so far, leave alone restore house and property or recoup livelihoods. It is with mixed feelings of admiration commingled with anxiety at what it portends that spectators observe media houses among other private enterprises take on the mantle of national agencies.

Today, something has changed in the limit, however. This is that after a rain-lashed battering of a trio of bad years, certain state agencies are beginning to capitalise on technology and the not-so trivial reality of ‘a phone in every hand’ to issue early warnings and alert affected populations of developments through text updates and even tweets. Still, the messages sometimes come at the eleventh hour… or too late… But it is heartening progress in a milieu where even available technology was not availed of to pre-empt preventable disaster, and ensuing tragedies of death and destruction. 

The future

Trusting in the clemency of the weather-gods to spare our blessed isle because our rulers are potential bodhisattvas or pretend bhikkus is about as perilous as trusting ‘good governance’ to deliver the goods of governance – and about as efficacious. There are charts and graphs of past weather patterns for what they’re worth, which is not much, as mundane meteorology as much as good governance is subject to chaos and entropy. The usual suspects – National Disaster Management Centre, National Building Research Organization, Department of Irrigation and Waterways – seem to be working better together than ever before, and perhaps ‘the farmer in the field’ could begin to trust their agency and the instrumentality of available technology to avail themselves more efficaciously of hazard warnings before disaster ensues.

Trusting in the conscientiousness of the demi-gods who rule our daily lives to spare our benighted island because our people are frail and their plight is frightful is about as foolish as expecting ‘good governance’ to be any different from authoritarian antidemocratic regimes – except that the regime actively took lives while coalitions let them pass into oblivion by default. The rest of the overall design of the way government interacts with state and agencies are instrumental in saving the lives of imperilled citizens remains the same.

This is not surprising, as the DNA of what passes for democracy in the national arena has not undergone that desired sea-change or been swept away by any tide forceful enough to cleanse the Augean stables of corruption and criminality and cupidity that grows like a cancer in cabinet and committee. There is something macabre in the sensitive ethosof our leadership’s decision to defer the purchase of super-

luxury vehicles for its government prop-ups, when the cords of life are fraying at the edges year after year for the people who still worship their local politico when they blithely visit flood-affected areas to kiss babies and coddle grannies.

As Sir Arthur C. Clarke once said, we can expect clemency from a human judge; but nature is a blind force. May it judge our politicos.

The ABCs of a Flood Water Mark

• Accuweather can predict rainfall
• But not even Doppler technology can control flooding
• Concerns must centre on harvesting heavy precipitation in the Central Massif
• Discontinue several conflicting existing agencies with no clear mandate, shoestring budgets, yesterday’s technology
• Empower a well-funded Central Agency embracing the remit of NBRO, NDMC, etc. to monitor weather, survey construction land, inform people in hazard zones, alert state agencies on time, mobilise relief efforts
• Fire the culpable ministers, secretaries, department heads, et al. – to show this government is serious that those commissioned and paid to ensure public safety and health are held responsible, shame culture notwithstanding whereby cabinets and coalitions play the realpolitik game

Why President Sirisena’s Position Should Be Buttressed?

By Lankamithra –JUNE 2, 2017

“Coalitions though successful have always found this, that their triumph has been brief.” ~Benjamin Disraeli

President Maithripala Sirisena was not elected President as a candidate representing one single party. He was the candidate of a combine. That combine consisted of the parties that represent the two major ethnic groups, Tamils and Muslims, and the United National Party (UNP), the leading single political party in Sri Lanka since Independence. No more than a marginal few of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) voted for him.

The entire Southern province was swept by Mahinda Rajapaksa. Bulk of the Sinhalese Buddhist majority, nearly 65%, voted for Mahinda Rajapaksa. Close to 85%, if not more, of the Tamils and Muslims voted for Maithripala Sirisena. Almost 100% of the UNP voted for him. In other words, if not for the Tamils, Muslims and the United National Party, Maithripala Sirisena would not have been our President today. All of the aforementioned are ‘facts’, not ‘opinions’. Yet the humility has gone the Maithripala way and arrogance belongs in Rajapaksa’s lap.

Then followed the parliamentary elections. Not only did the Rajapaksa-clan and his local (Sri Lankan) cohorts expect and boldly predict a sweeping victory for the SLFP. Even some foreign embassies, particularly those embassies that represent countries that were closely connected to the Rajapaksas’ alleged transactions came out of their usually muted diplomatic shells and privately talked about a parliamentary majority for the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and Mahinda Rajapaksa as the new Prime Minister. They were wishfully giddy about a Mahinda-comeback. The Champaign was ready; fire crackers waiting to be lit and parties prearranged. When the results were announced, the United National Party secured a majority of parliamentary seats. Yet it failed to secure an absolute majority. Hence a coalition government was formed. For the first time in the histories of the leading political parties in Sri Lanka, an uncommon and unprecedented decision was reached.

A coalition government came into being. The only stakeholders of the coalition are the UNP and SLFP. The voters in Sri Lanka, collectively decided that the best alternative to a Mahinda Rajapaksa’-led cabal-government was a coalition between the two leading political parties representing a nation, though a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious in real terms, that is increasingly becoming Sinhalese-Buddhist in nature and orientation. The results of the General Election in 2015 produced a UNP plurality, not an absolute majority. This was an error committed by the collective mind of the Sri Lankan electorate. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe campaigned for the UNP candidates while President Sirisena refrained from campaigning for the SLFP candidates. Maithripala Sirisena, as was elucidated at the very outset of this column, was elected to office by a combine of Tamils, Muslims and 100% of UNPers. He simply could not campaign against the UNP candidates. That would have greatly hurt those who elected him, not to forget his pristine conscience. However, President Sirisena’s absence from the campaign trail in the General Election did not help the UNP significantly. Consequently, chances of a UNP-only government evaporated. An agreement between the two leading political parties ensued and a ‘coalition’ government was formed, much to the distress of the UNP voters and ‘suspicious-delight’ of the SLFPers.

What then followed is what we are having now: a Cabinet, enormous in number and grievously disproportionate to the work at hand and an egregious renunciation of a campaign pledge. A natural consequence of a coalition government- trying to accommodate each and every plea, reasonable or unreasonable, of the coalition partners- is overshadowing the need for a manageable Cabinet and a bureaucracy supporting the government policies and principles. The ‘permanent government’, the official bureaucracy which is made up of Sri Lanka Administrative Service personnel in Sri Lanka, does not seem to be aligned with the political leadership of the current Administration in Sri Lanka. (The same is alleged to be in practice in the chaotic Trump Administration in America. In the United States they call it the Deep State). There are reasons for it. The entire bureaucracy, excluding one or two, was in place for the entire period of the Rajapaksa regime. They had become part of the web of corruption and nepotism. Some of them were cronies of the previous First Family. They are as sinful as the politicians who commanded them in that period.

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