Occasional Stories: Why Did Things Fall Apart? Story of a Story

They had some sort of a democracy. Most of the decisions concerning the village were taken by the elders or the kindred meeting. All other family decisions were taken by the head of the family or the man.

by Laksiri Fernando-Jun 20, 2017

( June 20, 2017, Sydney, Sri Lanka Guardian) One of the penetrating novels that I have ever read was Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. When I read it for the first time, sometime back, Okonkwo’s character reminded me of Silidu in Leonard Wolf’s Village in the Jungle. Both Okonkwo and Silidu indulged in violence, of course in different ways, but ended up in a similar tragedy.

I read the novel for the second time in late 2014 by purpose, impending Mahinda Rajapaksa’s fall or even predicting it. Okonkwo reminded me of Mahinda this time. Ironically, he also came from Hambantota like Silidu. But Silidu didn’t indulge in violence against innocents like Okonkwo or Rajapaksas.’ Those were the differences. This occasional story was in fact written after Rajapaksas’ fall in early 2015, to draw some lessons for myself, but now published with few changes. It is more fitting to publish it now given the efforts on the part of some to repeat the cycle again.

Okonkwo’s Story

The background to Okonkwo’s story is the conflict between the ‘white man’ and his Christian mission, on the one hand, and the traditional tribal society in Nigeria and its beliefs and customs, on the other. Part one of the story portrays the traditional tribal society of the Ibo community with nuanced variations from one village to the other. From the prism of the twenty first century, it is a society of strengths and weaknesses; admirable and abominable customs.

The story centres around Okonkwo, who is the main character. Unoka was his father. “In his day, he was lazy and improvident and was quite incapable of thinking about tomorrow.” I am quoting from Achebe with double quotation marks for you to identify. Okonkwo was different. “Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little children. Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness.”

He was reacting to his father. Authority was also the ethos of the tribal society. “That was many years ago, twenty years or more, and during this time Okonkwo’s fame had grown like a bush fire.” Tribal societies are closely knit societies. The ‘centre holds.’ Authority, tradition and brutal punishments against violations of tradition are the things that hold the society together. It is full of myths and mysticism. They believed in the Oracle pronounced by a witch type woman called Agbala. She is a priestess. Everyone had a Chi and that is a personal god. If Chi is favourable, you are well off or otherwise you are doomed.

They had some sort of a democracy. Most of the decisions concerning the village were taken by the elders or the kindred meeting. All other family decisions were taken by the head of the family or the man. Okonkwo had three wives. They lived in separate huts with respective children in Okonkwo’s compound. Okonkwo had his Obi. That was a large living quarter. The set up was very much similar to what the Vedda’s had in Sri Lanka until recently. I have seen them during Thisa Harmy’s time in early 1970s.

Once, “Okonkwo was provoked to justifiable anger by his youngest wife, who went to plait her hair at her friend’s house and did not return early enough to cook the afternoon meal.” This was like a modern-day quarrel in an old fashion marriage in the Sri Lankan or Indian society. The tradition was each wife to cook a plate for the husband and bring one by one to his Obi.

“Where is Ojiugo?” he asked the second wife.

“She has gone to plait her hair.”

“Where are her children? Did she taken them?” he asked them with unusual coolness and restraint. It was the Week of Peace.

“They are here,” answered his first wife.

“Did she ask you to feed them before she went?”

“Yes,” lied the first wife trying to minimize Ojiugo’s thoughtlessness.

Okonkwo knew she was not speaking the truth. “And when she returned he beat her very heavily. In his anger, he had forgotten that it was the Week of Peace.” This was like indulging in violence during peace time or breaking humanitarian law during war time.

This was not appreciated in the community. “Okonkwo’s neighbours heard his wife crying and sent their voices over the compound walls to ask what was the matter. Some of them came over to see for themselves. It was unheard-of to beat somebody during the sacred week.” Okonkwo committed a great evil in the eyes of the tradition. The priest of the earth goddess, Ani, called on Okonkwo’s Obi. He declared:

“Your wife was at fault, but even if you came into your Obi and found her lover on top of her, you would still have committed a great evil to beat her.” Because it was the Week of Peace. Okonkwo was punished.

That was not the downfall of Okonkwo. That was the beginning. Okonkwo was too authoritarian. That was not warranted or permitted by the tradition. Okonkwo had a sort of an adopted son, Ikemefuna. He was brought to the village as a payment from another village in settlement of a dispute. That was some time ago. Now he was part of the family and Okonkwo liked him.

However, after the appearance of Locusts on the village, which was considered a bad omen, the elders decided to kill the boy. It was permitted as he was an outsider or a son of another village. The Oracle of the Hills and Caves had pronounced it. When Ogbuefi Ezeudu, the oldest man in the village came to know about it he came to Okonkwo and said “That boy calls you father. Do not bear hand in his death.” Okonkwo didn’t listen. He said the elders have decided to kill the boy.

“Yes, Umuofia has decided to kill him. They will take him outside Umuofia as is the custom, and kill him there. But I want you to have nothing to do with it. He calls you his father.”

Okonkwo did not heed the advice. He wanted to avoid the feeling of weakness or failure. That was the moral degeneration of Okonkwo. When his own son, Nwoye, came to realize that his father had killed his ‘brother,’ he was disdainful of him. Okonkwo was not the only one who was responsible for the ‘things falling apart.’ But according to Achebe’s story he was symbolic.

There were several other similar events that led to Okonkwo’s downfall. It was not only his down fall, but the downfall of the whole clan. One day a white man appeared.  “He was not an albino. He was quite different. He was riding an iron horse. The first people who saw him ran away, but he stood beckoning to them. In the end, the fearless ones went near and even touched him. The elders consulted their Oracle and it told them that the strange man would break their clan and spread destruction among them.” So, they killed him.”

“What did the white man say before they killed him?” asked Uchendu.

“He said nothing,” answered one of Obierika’s companions.

There was a long silence. Uchendu ground his teeth together audibly. Then he burst out: “Never kill a man who says nothing. Those men of Abame were fools. What did they know about the man?”

He ground his teeth again and told a story to illustrate his point. This story is also telling.

“Mother Kite once sent her daughter to bring food. She went, and brought back a duckling. ‘You have done very well,’ said Mother Kite to her daughter, ‘but tell me, what did the mother of this duckling say when you swooped and carried its child away.’ ‘It said nothing’ replied the young kite. ‘It just walked away.’ ‘You must return the duckling,’ said Mother Kite. ‘There is something ominous behind the silence.’

And so, Daughter Kite returned the duckling and took a chick instead. ‘What did the mother of this chick do?’ asked the Old Kite.’ It cried and raved and cursed me,’ said the young kite. ‘Then we can eat the chick,’ said her mother. ‘There is nothing to fear from someone who shouts.”

Achebe’s story went on, and on, and on. Finally, Okonkwo also killed a white man with his Machete and hanged himself.

Let me finish the story here and highlight its lessons briefly as I see it. Anyway, Achebe’s story ends with Okonkwo’s tragedy.

Lessons of the Story

‘Things fell apart’ because of internal and external reasons. All societies have certain ethics, ethos or customs in both ‘war and peace.’ These moral principles may be akin by and large to all societies and maybe there are universal elements. Okonkwo was one who did not follow some of these sacred principles, for greed of power, wealth or simple pleasure of authority.

He bet his wife during the ‘Week of Peace.’ He killed Ikemefuna who called him father, for fear of feeling weak or failure. Not only he was responsible, but the whole society. The people in Abame killed a ‘white man’ when he was silent. It was against the sacred principles of the tribe. Finally, Okonkwo could not control his rage and killed the head messenger of the ‘white administration’ and hanged himself thereafter in desperation.

Of course, the ‘white man’ also or primarily was responsible for the whole calamity, whatever the pronounced pretexts again for greed of power, wealth or simple lust for authority. But they perhaps followed certain principles although pronounced by themselves for ulterior motives. As Okonkwo’s wise friend, Obierika, said: “Now he [the white man] has won our brothers, our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.”

Achebe took the title of the novel from a verse by W. B. Yeats in The Second Coming which says the following:

Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.      

Why newspaper ads won’t end students’ protests: Teach them English instead

2017-06-20

A little anecdote about one of America’s most left leaning liberal arts schools brought back memories of my undergraduate days in our university system. First, here is the story about the American school. Evergreen State College, a progressive liberal arts school in Olympia, Washington has been known for its left-leaning student activism, in part nurtured by the school curriculum itself (which reportedly shuns grades). The school has been holding an annual day of absence during which Black students and faculty would voluntarily leave the campus to evoke the spirit of a Douglas Turner Ward play to highlight the under-appreciated role of the coloured people in America. This year, the student-activists have asked that all the White people leave the university, instead. A biology professor, not a right-wing hack, rather a supporter of Berny Sanders has objected, arguing that there is a huge difference between a group voluntarily absenting to highlight their grievances, and a group asking another to go away. The latter is an act of oppression in itself, he contended.   
In response, students confronted the professor in profane language, demanding his resignation; he went into hiding, fearing for his safety and the school was convulsed in race clashes. Property was damaged and additional police were called in.  
This should sound very familiar to us since this is what happens in our universities every other month, though they do not necessarily involve teachers, since they rarely confront students’ ideological demagoguery. But, students who represent an alternative thought get the beating every so often.   

"The education and social-cultural life in universities should be structured in a way to help them acquire those missing properties"

There is a near consensus that our student politics is rubbish. However, it takes a bit of circumspection to find out why it has been not just backward, but also intolerant.   
Marxism infused hard left is inherently exclusivist and monopolistic and in the process of securing its domination, it forces out other competing ideologies from the shared space. To that end, Stalin and Mao reigned over mass murder and Gulags while Castro and his peers in Eastern Europe locked up dissidents in thousands. Our own socialists like Rohana Wijeweera chose to slaughter his ideological rivals both of the soft left and the capitalist right. Our university politics draw inspiration from that political ideology and it is no wonder that there had been no alternative political thought there ever since the JVP established its monopoly in universities.   
This is not a problem unique to Sri Lanka. India’s flagship universities like JNU suffers from the same ills where the political left has refused to share free space with the other competing voices and now cries foul when a resurgent Hindutva Right fights back helped by the BJP’s political dominance.  
In Sri Lanka, this insular and arcane ideology has turned our universities into rotten places. It has deprived students a genuine exposure to the real world and either cut short or distort their rite of passage to be part of the future elites.   
Our students are admitted to universities either through merit or as a result of affirmative policies. Due to unequal social cultural milieu they come from, they suffer from distinct shortfalls in certain basic skills -- some of which are taken for granted by those coming from well-to-do socio economic backgrounds, but have to be inculcated in students of less privileged background, if the latter are  to compete in a level playing field with their better off peers. The education and social-cultural life in universities should be structured in a way to help them acquire those missing properties. Proficiency in English is one such, though not the only one. However, it cannot be overlooked because the English language opens doors to a world of opportunities and knowledge. However, our university education has failed to fill in those gaps, nor does it offer a cosmopolitan conditioning effect. This failure lies at the heart of the mess which defines our universities today.  

Now the government has published advertisements in newspapers urging students not to become pawns of vested interest groups. However, the problem is that in the insular subculture of university politics being a pawn itself is fashionable. Students, whose insecurities have not been addressed by an antiquated education, tend to find a sense of belonging and self-importance by being part of such a group. Newspaper advertisement cannot address this problem.   
One should break the thread of insularity and ignorance that keep reinforcing students’ perceived grievances and insecurities. A closer look would reveal a correlation between the rising student discontent in universities and a growing number of vernacular language student intakes and admitted courtesy of compulsory Swabasha education policies. The problem with Swabasha education is that it gives very limited reference points, and much of it is often arcane. Even that limited knowledge is of little utility since outside the halls of academia, the rest of the world works in English. Thus, in the little insular cocoon of universities, an equally insular ideology of student politics has consolidated itself. A more cosmopolitan education should have been able to confront that, however such an education was not possible without the English language. Now the optimists believe that the proliferation of knowledge thanks to information revolution would address that vacuum. However, much of that knowledge or at least the useful ones, is in English, and if the current status quo persists, the future would be much more polarizing than today. The increasingly self-evident truth is that, other than a few major languages, speakers of vernacular languages such as ours would either have to learn English or risk losing benefits of globalization.   

"In Sri Lanka, this insular and arcane ideology has turned our universities into rotten places"

Newspaper advertisements would not solve the current problem in universities. Instead, the government should proactively involve or co-opt the private sector in remaking the university curriculum and set a minimum English proficiency level as a requirement for graduation. Universities do, of course, have English requirements, but they are a sham. Instead, universities should be asked to adopt an internationally recognized test such as IELTS and set a minimum threshold of marks as a requisite for graduation. In the ideal conditions, such requirements ought to be fulfilled within the first year, before the students pick their Majors, which should enable them to pursue degrees in the English medium. That would also make students work and therefore less tempting to take to the streets. The government which invests billions on free university education should be able to provide vouchers for students to obtain their English test results, if the universities are not equipped to provide that education. Soft skills imparted on students through such an endeavour would drastically improve the return on investment on higher education. Equally, involvement in the private sector would have a major spin off effect and over time multiply the human capital in education and promote infrastructure in English education which could cater to all our youth who desire such opportunities.   
Newspaper advertisements can hardly achieve any of the above.  

Follow RangaJayasuriya @RangaJayasuriya on Twitter.

Human Rights Watch slams Sri Lanka's Justice Minister threating a defender of minority rights 

Tue, Jun 20, 2017, 12:59 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

June 20, Colombo: The global rights organization, Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Sri Lanka's justice minister of threatening to disbar a prominent lawyer for speaking out against attacks on religious minorities and called on the government to immediately reject the Minister's statement.

Issuing a statement the HRW said the Minister's action highlights the government's failure to fully investigate and prosecute recent attacks on Muslims and Christians in the Buddhist-majority country.

On June 17, 2017, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe has threatened to "take necessary steps to remove Mr. Lakshan Dias from the legal profession" unless Dias apologized for remarks on a television program three days earlier about attacks on the Christian community.

Dias had cited a report by church groups that there were nearly 200 attacks and other harassment against Christians and their places of worship since 2015.

The government of President Maithripala Sirisena, which took office in January 2015, has failed to meet its pledge to protect the rights of religious minorities, Human Rights Watch said.
"The government needs to put a quick end to Justice Minister Rajapakshe's attempts to bully Lakshan Dias, a leading human rights lawyer who stands up for Sri Lankans at greatest risk," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

"By threatening Dias's license, the government is threatening all marginalized groups that depend on him and other rights defenders for protection."

According to the HRW, Sri Lanka has witnessed a spate of attacks against Muslims and Christians in recent years, with the government doing little to stop the violence. On May 18, in Devinuwara in Matara district, for example, some 2,000 people, including about 30 Buddhist monks, protested against a Christian place of worship, according to the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka.

Recalling the violence against Muslims in Aluthgama by extremist Buddhist organizations in 2014, that had left four deaths and over 80 injured, the Human Rights Watch said the authorities have yet to arrest those responsible, although the leaders behind the attack are well known to the authorities.
HRW noted that the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka on May 31 expressed concern over "acts of violence and aggression" against Muslims, and urged law enforcement agencies to "take all necessary action" against the instigators and perpetrators of violence against religious minorities.
"The Sri Lankan constitution grants everyone the right to freedom of religion or belief in worship, observance, practice, or teaching. The right is also protected in international human rights treaties to which Sri Lanka is a party, notably the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights," Human Rights Watch said.

HRW pointed out that lawyers like Dias are protected by the right to freedom of expression. According to the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, lawyers "have the right to take part in public discussion of matters concerning the law, the administration of justice, and the promotion and protection of human rights without suffering professional restrictions by reason of their lawful action."

"Government inaction in the face of the justice minister's threat to revoke the license of a prominent rights lawyer for speaking out on behalf of an embattled community will have reverberations beyond Sri Lanka," Adams said. "Sri Lanka's friends should be clear they are watching the government's response closely."

SRI LANKA: MINISTER THREATENS DEFENDER OF MINORITY RIGHTS

Image: A Muslim boy prays on the first Friday prayers of the holy month of Ramadan at a mosque in Colombo, Sri Lanka June 2, 2017. © 2017 Reuters/Dinuka Liyanawatte.

Lakshan Dias presenting at a Human Rights Movement event at the Sri Lanka Law College in Colombo. © 2017 Lakshan Dias

20/06/2017

Investigate, Prosecute Attacks on Muslims, Christians.

(New York) – The Sri Lankan government should immediately repudiate statements by the country’s justice minister threatening to disbar a prominent lawyer for speaking out against attacks on religious minorities, Human Rights Watch said today. The incident highlights the government’s failure to fully investigate and prosecute recent attacks on Muslims and Christians in the Buddhist-majority country.
On June 17, 2017, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe threatened to “take necessary steps to remove Mr. Lakshan Dias from the legal profession” unless Dias apologized for remarks on a television program three days earlier about attacks on the Christian community. Dias had cited a report by church groups that there were nearly 200 attacks and other harassment against Christians and their places of worship since 2015. The government of President Maithripala Sirisena, which took office in January 2015, has failed to meet its pledge to protect the rights of religious minorities, Human Rights Watch said.

“The government needs to put a quick end to Justice Minister Rajapakshe’s attempts to bully Lakshan Dias, a leading human rights lawyer who stands up for Sri Lankans at greatest risk,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “By threatening Dias’s license, the government is threatening all marginalized groups that depend on him and other rights defenders for protection.”
By threatening Dias’s license, the government is threatening all marginalized groups that depend on him and other rights defenders for protection.  – Brad Adams, Asia Director.

Sri Lanka has witnessed a spate of attacks against Muslims and Christians in recent years, with the government doing little to stop the violence. On May 18, in Devinuwara in Matara district, for example, some 2,000 people, including about 30 Buddhist monks, protested against a Christian place of worship, according to the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka.

In June 2014, Buddhist militants attacked the Muslim community in Aluthgama, leaving four dead and nearly 80 injured, and many homes and businesses destroyed. The authorities have yet to arrest those responsible, although the leaders behind the attack are well known to the authorities.

The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka on May 31 expressed concern over “acts of violence and aggression” against Muslims, and urged law enforcement agencies to “take all necessary action” against the instigators and perpetrators of violence against religious minorities.

The Sri Lankan constitution grants everyone the right to freedom of religion or belief in worship, observance, practice, or teaching. The right is also protected in international human rights treaties to which Sri Lanka is a party, notably the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Human Rights Watch said.

Lawyers like Dias are protected by the right to freedom of expression. According to the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, lawyers “have the right to take part in public discussion of matters concerning the law, the administration of justice, and the promotion and protection of human rights without suffering professional restrictions by reason of their lawful action.”

“Government inaction in the face of the justice minister’s threat to revoke the license of a prominent rights lawyer for speaking out on behalf of an embattled community will have reverberations beyond Sri Lanka,” Adams said. “Sri Lanka’s friends should be clear they are watching the government’s response closely.”

‘Those who cause religious tension will be prosecuted’

Monday, June 19, 2017

“No individual or organisation causing religious tensions should be allowed to escape prosecution. Sri Lanka cannot be pulled back to the dark days of war when tens of thousands of lives were lost. The economic stagnation and international isolation are things of the past,” a statement issued by United National Party (UNP) Chairman Malik Samarawickrama says. “The UNP notes with deep concern the recent attempts by subversive elements to sabotage the reconciliation efforts of the national unity government led by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe,” the statement says

“Since its founding, the UNP has remained a secular political party fostering unity while building a truly Sri Lankan identity, the statement continues.

“The UNP welcomes the statement of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Prime Minister and the President to use the full force of the law against those causing religious tensions, racial hatred and undermining the efforts at reconciliation since the new government came to power. “At the January 2015 presidential election as well as the August 2015 general election, the UNP and its allies received a mandate for their reconciliation efforts. The UNP will not waver in ensuring that ethnic peace, religious harmony and rule of law are maintained, the statement says.

“A corner stone of every religion is non-violence and the respect for others. Those who spread hate and instigate violence are only undermining the faiths they claim to protect.

“The UNP joins the President and the Prime Minister in urging the law enforcement authorities to bring to justice those responsible for hate crimes.

There is no place for religious intolerance and racial hatred in the 21st century Sri Lanka as it emerges a peaceful, stable and a strong economy and a beacon of hope for democracy.

“Political forces relegated to the dustbin of history are attempting to exploit extremism and extremists in the hope of returning to power.

The UNP, with its strong commitment to national unity and harmony, will resist such bankrupt political opportunists and urge the authorities to swiftly bring them to justice. They will not prevail.

“The UNP has faith in the vast majority of Sri Lankans to protect the freedoms they enjoy under the new unity government of President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe,” the statement stressed. 

Final report on ‘Policy and legal framework relating to the proposed CTA of Sri Lanka’

Jun 20, 2017

The Foundation for Human Rights (‘FHR’) and the University of Pretoria’s Institute for International and Comparative Law in Africa (‘ICLA’) have collaborated to produce this joint paper. The authors of the joint paper are Prof Christof Heyns, Director of ICLA and former UN Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions; and Toby Fisher, a London based human rights barrister. The review represents the authors’ independent opinion.

Counter-terrorism legislation in Sri Lanka has been used in the past to facilitate human rights abuses including arbitrary arrest and torture of detainees. In response to widespread domestic and international calls to repeal the much-criticised Prevention of Terrorism Act, the Government of President Sirisena committed to replace it with a human rights compliant framework for combatting terrorism. On 25 April 2017, Sri Lanka’s Cabinet approved the Policy and legal framework relating to the Proposed Counter Terrorism Act of Sri Lanka (‘PLFCTA’).

The PLFCTA does not provide for a human rights compliant framework for combatting terrorism.

In terms of the PLFCTA a range of powers will be conferred on the Government of Sri Lanka, including the ability to arrest; to subject suspects to lengthy pre-charge administrative detention; to seize and confiscate assets; to impose curfews and travel bans; and to proscribe organisations. All are potentially oppressive measures that interfere with fundamental rights. Accordingly, the trigger for the exercise of those powers should be tightly circumscribed.

A fundamental problem with the PLFCTA is that the offences to which the Act relates are defined in such vague and broad terms that the extraordinary powers conferred on the executive by the Act apply to conduct that does not, on any reasonable assessment, amount to terrorism. That failure tightly to define the offence of terrorism and other offences is not in line with the international law principle of legal certainty and gives rise to a real risk of abuse.

That risk of abuse is heightened by the powers conferred by the Act that lack effective judicial or other safeguards. First, the PLFCTA permits lengthy periods of administrative detention without charge and without effective judicial oversight. Secondly, it provides for the conferral of extraordinary powers on the police, without the need to show reasonable cause and without effective judicial oversight, to search and seize, to conduct a physical examination, and to require a bank, service provider, or government institution to provide confidential personal information. Without adequate safeguards these powers interfere with fundamental rights binding on the State and are likely to amount to a breach of, inter alia, Articles 9 and 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (‘ICCPR’) to which Sri Lanka has been a party since 1980.

Further, although the PLFCTA includes some measures to mitigate the risk of torture, it does not go far enough.

If Sri Lanka is to replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act with a human rights compliant framework for countering terrorism, Parliament must ensure that substantial revisions are made to the PLFCTA during the drafting process. To enact a law based on the current PLFCTA would perpetuate the discriminatory, abusive application of counter-terrorism laws, which in the past have often been used to target one part of the population.

READ FULL REPORT HERE

FHR_ICLA_-_Review_of_the_PLFCTA_13_June_2017_FINAL.pdf by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

A Tale of Incompetence – RTI Reveals CMC Inaction Leading Up To Meethotamulla Tragedy

RAISA WICKREMATUNGE on 06/20/2017

On April 14, 2017 the garbage dump in Meethotamulla collapsed, killing 32 people. These deaths could have been avoided. That they could not, points to a systematic failure of the State to address various issues raised by the dumping of garbage close to human settlements. Residents from Meethotamulla went to the Supreme Court in 2014 seeking the relocation of the dump. Their calls went unheeded.

A Tale of Incompetence – RTI Reveals CMC Inaction Leading Up To Meethotamulla Tragedy.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

Complaint against Harrison for misusing public funds

June 20, 2017

All Ceylon Farmers’ Federation has filed a complaint at Anti Corruption Committee Secretariat against the Minister of Rural Economic Affairs P Harrison stating that he is engaged in misusing public funds.

The complaint was filed yesterday (19th) with the participation of the National Organizer of All Ceylon Farmers’ Federation Namal Karunaratna, its General Secretary T.B. Sarath and several other leader s of farmer associations.
The complainants state Minister Harrison has misused a sum of Rs. 1,059,275.50 by obtaining more the quota of fuel than he is entitled to.

Sri Lanka: Dengue Kills 200; 63,987 patients detected in 2017

Dengue kills 200 while attempt made to bring Australian bacteria when Cuban bacteria has already shown success

( June 20, 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) According to sources in the Ministry of Health there is an attempt to get down a bacteria from Australia despite a B.T.I. bacteria from Cuba has been already tested and has been confirmed that it is suitable to eradicate dengue.

According to these sources bringing in bacteria from Australia at a time when a dengue epidemic exists in the country would be a disaster as it would take at least two years to test for its effectiveness and get it down and by that time there would be thousands of new dengue patients in the country.

They point out that the bacteria to be imported from Australia would only reduce the toxin and what is needed at this hour is to completely destroy dengue mosquitoes. They say the Cuban bacteria is the more suitable bacteria as it destroys the dengue mosquitoes.

The Australian bacteria was first found by Monash University in Australia recently but the Cuban bacteria was discovered in 1990 in Cuba and has been successfully used in China, Brazil, Vietnam, Argentina, Belgium and Columbia.

When Dengue Control Unit (NDCU) National Coordinator Dr. Hasitha Tissera was asked why getting down bacteria from Cuba has been delayed he said there was a plan to produce B.T.I. bacteria locally from next month.

In the meantime dengue virus has claimed over 200 lives, with 63,987 patients detected, during the first half of the year. It is reported that government hospitals are full of dengue patients. According to sources more than 450 dengue patients are being treated at Jayawardenepura Hospital. Last week IDH had to stop admitting patients due to overcrowding. Patients coming to IDH are sent to Colombo National Hospital, Kalubowila Hospital, Colombo North (Ragama) Hospital and hospitals at Piliyandala, Wathara and Thalangama.

Corruption of power and power of corruption

2017-06-21

“Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power.” 
- John Steinbeck 

Political power is not just a tool in the hands of those who hold it. It is not a license that guarantees immunity for all crimes that are committed under the cover of that license. It is not a power vested in the holder to run amok with all what is inside the national coffers. It does not give any power whatsoever to those who wield it with unlimited and unchecked supremacy to decree what is right and what is wrong. Political power is an instrument of trust; it is a time-barred mechanism that is invested with a great deal of constraints and controls; it is a sacred oath taken by those who are elected by voters with infinite faith and belief that the power so invested would not be abused or used against justice and fair-play. That power cascades from the rule of law which is the core and soul of a civilized people. It flows from our constitution.   

Yet, when the Constitution is silent on any subject of socio-political dynamic, then come statutes, convention and precedent. If all that is absent, natural law takes over. What is reasonable to  reasonable people is conventionally described as follows:‘Natural law refers to the use of reason to analyse human nature to deduce binding rules of moral behaviour from the dawn of civilization’. However, it is not my intention to venture into a legal debate over an analysis of these nuanced theories of natural law. Political power as assumed by most of our politicians goes way beyond the constitutional and moral boundaries. Corruption of that power, corruption of that sublime faith and confidence people have reposed on that political power, has been the most visible and palpable occurrence before our very eyes. People’s faith and confidence so endowed on politicians has been desecrated and debased. That process of desecration and degradation did not begin yesterday or the day before. In fact, corruption of political power is as old as the concept of political power itself.   

Let us not go into the sordid history of corruption of political power through the ages. Let us confine ourselves to the Sri Lankan context. Corruption of power does not happen in a vacuum. It does not exist in a world devoid of all other related or unrelated socio-political forces at work. It is happening in the midst of varied and conflicting paradigms of social forces and human enterprise. Whenever and wherever money is involved, whenever spending of others’ cash and assets, the human being tends to be more elastic in his spending habits and that elasticity extends beyond an endurable limit when he or she realizes that whatever the venture they are engaged is under their control. A corrupt mind identifies the vulnerable limits or lack thereof; that mind sees a hidden commission in a road development project; that mind sees a concealed sub-contract that could be handled by his brother-in-law or his wife’s cousin. A corrupt mind sees what in corrupt minds don’t see. Corruption of power has been in play for the last six or seven decades. It has never evaporated. On the contrary, it has grown exponentially and those practitioners of corruption have multiplied, especially in the company of nepotism. Nepotism allows corruption to grow out of control. An avaricious mind that is already corrupt unilaterally decides that all collections of such ill-gotten wealth must be held within the realm of their kith and kin.   

In such a corrupt and crooked circumstance, the power of the politician grows and its growth is fearful and dangerously uncontrollable if it seems, at least in the eye of the holder of that power, long-lasting and permanent. That corruption of power now becomes subordinate to the power of corruption. The power of corruption now holds enormous weight and dangerous dimensions and the consequences of that power in turn produces a chain of socio-political anomalies which become regular to the eye of the victims of that power. That is what precisely happened during the reign of the Rajapaksas. They had the power. That power was conclusively corrupted, it was desecrated and defiled beyond all recognition and in the twenty first century, it was the siblings and the immediate family of Mahinda Rajapaksa that accelerated the pace of this dreadful cycle of corruption of power and power of corruption. Corruption of power was refined and an ugly thread of nepotism was woven into that dark fabric of corruption. What is in display in the various allegations and charges against the Rajapaksas is that fabric- a fabric that is framed in constitutional powers legitimately granted to President of the country - but depicting a grossly interlaced jumble of patterns with prominent threads of nepotism intervening the beauty and delicacy of political power.   

Not only our average voter, the so-called super-elites in Colombo too are seeking refuge under a leaky roof of binary choices

It is indeed a tragedy that this pattern was embraced by the so-called elite of the country. This elite is essentially a class of heavy-moneyed and unscrupulous businessmen and women whose idol was the then President of the country. The politicians were corrupt, the civil service was corrupt, lower levels of government service were corrupt and even minions such as drivers and peons were corrupt.   
It is extremely hard to rid oneself of these agents of corruption. Society in total was being eaten into by these worms. These are the worms that populate the cocktail circuit; they are the ones who travel to and from the airport when the President goes and comes back from abroad; they entertain the first family in a fashion that surpasses all royal banquets. Not that this did not happen during the times of other regimes. It did happen; the difference is the magnitude of the monies involved, frequency of events and nepotism that surrounded the orgy of corruption. Such a debauchery of political power, its corruption by its holders, the callousness with which the underlings were treated, sheer arrogance of the siblings and immediate cohorts, they all fashioned an illusion of ever-lasting power, a power which could do,more or less,anything and everything.   

The pugnacious and aggressive attitude of these cohorts was such they could close a section of a main road if and when they were dining inside a restaurant located along that road. When the ‘brother’ travelled on road, it was closed a way ahead of time, causing irritating traffic jams in Colombo and elsewhere. Such was the power of corruption. When one brother had to go outside Colombo, his Mercedes or the BMW was transported on a special long-bed truck while he flew by helicopter - all this at the expense of the local taxpayers’ money. Such was the power of corruption.   

Last week I happened to be at a get-together of a school fraternity and while helping ourselves to scrumptious dinner we invariably sailed into a not-too-stormy discussion about politics. One fellow started criticizing the present government and in a most negative way stated that that nothing is moving, meaning that unlike during the previous regime, everything is at a standstill. I noted that the person who uttered such an ‘illuminating’ critique was a chairperson of a major state-owned institution during the last regime. Everyone around him was silently nodding, acknowledging the partial validity of the statement. Encouraged by the almost-unanimous nodding of his listeners, he went on attacking the various Ministers of the current government, until one of them looked into the eyes of the critic and stated thus: ‘I will accept everything you uttered, but getting rid of the Rajapaksas alone is good enough for me and for the betterment of the country. That alone could justify the existence of the present government’. No one dared to challenge the validity of that statement. The ex-chairperson’s silence was deafening.   

Corruption of power does not happen in a vacuum. It does not exist in a world devoid of all other related or unrelated socio-political forces at work. It is happening in the midst of varied and conflicting paradigms of social forces and human enterprise

Rajapaksas’ corruption of power and power of corruption were intertwined. In terms of the cause and effect theory, one gave effect to the other. The cycle of corruption of power and power of corruption will continue to generate ugly results for the country, devouring the best talents who are our civil servants and throwing them under the bus by the very politicians who happen to nurture them. Wesley Eugene Fesler was a famous American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach of football and basketball. He once said thus: ‘hypocrisy is the audacity to preach integrity from a den of corruption’. The Rajapaksas belong in that den.   

Walled within this catacomb of choices the average Sri Lankan is looking for one way or the other. What is before us is not a binary choice. The issue before us is multifaceted and multilayered. Not only our average voter, the so-called super-elites in Colombo too are seeking refuge under a leaky roof of binary choices. All of us seldom realize that the outside-shower is drenching us all without mercy and without discrimination. The showers of criticism are as good an equalizer as rainwater pouring from the skies.   

The writer can be contacted at vishwamithra1984@gmail.com 

Hindu extremism to the rescue of Buddhist extremism

 

12 Little Known Laws of Karma (That Will Change Your Life)

Jun 20, 2017

According to Buddhism, everyone in the world is equal and a particular group is not inferior to another due to their race, religion, language or caste. Actions only determine a person’s superiority or inferiority.

However, extremist groups that vow to commit their lives for Buddhism and their leaders say Sinhalese are superior, Buddhists are superior. All those who were born in the Sri Lankan land, but are not Sinhalese and Buddhists are the ones who do evil for the Sinhala nation and Buddhism.

The double-standards of these Buddhist extremist groups is that they show their muscle power to the average Hindus and Muslims and at the same time have links with extremist groups in those religions. 

The Hindu Maha Sabha Lokantric, a political party with Hindu extremists, has sent a letter to the Indian central government’s home affairs minister, asking for intervention to save Bodu Bala Sena general secretary Galagodaatte Gnanasara Thera, who is evading courts. The chairman of the party says warrants have been issued for Gnanasara Thera’s arrest at the insistence of Muslim ministers in the Sri Lankan government. Its letter says the Thera is in danger of getting arrested over his activities against Muslim extremists. 

Both these extremist groups have made friends with the enemies of their common enemy. Everybody knows well the history of Hindu extremist acts against Buddhists of India. Buddhist extremist actions against Lankan Hindus have not widespread yet because Buddhist extremist organizations have made Muslims their common enemy.

Anyway, Buddhist extremists will not hesitate to obtain the support of Muslim extremists to unleash violence against the Hindus, in accordance with the theory of making friends with the enemies of their common enemy. That is why extremism should be defeated despite in whatever form and from whatever side it comes from.

Let’s be more considerate, empathetic and humane to our people 

By paying attention to the findings of Child Activity Survey 2016 - Sri Lanka, the country’s authorities can ensure holistic education for Sri Lanka’s children 

Tuesday, 20 June 2017

I recently came across a report entitled ‘Child Activity Survey 2016 - Sri Lanka’ issued this year, complied by the Department of Census and Statistics that comes under the Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs, together with the ILO. (http://www.statistics.gov.lk/samplesurvey/Child%20Activity%20%20Survey%202016.pdf).

Coincidentally, on the same night, I saw a picture and a brief write-up posted by National Policies and Economic Affairs Deputy Minister Harsha De Silva on his Facebook page. It said that he had been working with UNICEF on that day to solicit a grant of $ 50 million for a four-year period from 2018 and expected approval in September. The money is meant to be used to deal with children’s education and help tackle several development-related issues.

The said survey was carried out between January and May 2016, encompassing 25,000 housing units covering the entire island. This is the most comprehensive and inclusive survey of its kind that has been undertaken; the two previous surveys conducted in 1999 and 2008/2009 excluded the Northern and Eastern provinces or parts of them. So we must congratulate the department on the job.  

As the previous surveys did not cover the country in its entirety, a comparison would not produce much meaningful information unless a more detailed district-wide analysis is carried out. However, my intention here is to only look at some critical indicators.

The target group for this survey is children between the ages of five and 17. Older teens are excluded.

This puzzles me somewhat. The focus of the report appears to be the connection between young people and their education, wellbeing included, as it starts with five-year-olds. But the young adults, who are 18 and 19, GCE A/L students included, have been excluded because they are no more children technically. Is there any other report that covers this segment? Perhaps in the future we will see this section as an extension of this report itself as the Government is now planning to ensure compulsory education up to the Advanced Level for all.  

However, the report provides important insights. The following are some highlights, but are not listed in any particular order.

• Composition of child population: Rural Sector - 3,553,550 (77.7 %), Urban Sector - 777,283 (17%) and Estate Sector - 240,608 (5.3 %). Are we allocating resources according to this distribution? We must ensure equality for better overall results. 
• Of the 4,571,442 children (estimated), 51,249 have never attended school in theory. The 5-11-year-old population of this segment has been 44,619 (87.1%). The chief reason for them not attending school was missing the last school intake. This was because they have been too young at the date of the cut-off. The authorities should consider the ways and means of reducing the waiting time for schooling, e.g. extending the cut-off date to 31 March or from 31 January, but this will demand more resources. 
• In the 12-14 age group, the main reasons for not attending school (14,072 children) was ‘Disability’ (30.9%) and ‘Not interested in education/education not considered valuable’ (30%). For the age group of 15-17 (377,744 children) the main reason was ‘awaiting G.C.E. (O/L) results’ (62.2%). Young people are unproductive owing to the weaknesses of the system. How can we rectify this situation?

Disability

‘Disability’ has been a real hurdle across the board to the provision of education, according to the survey. It is the responsibility of the State to pay attention and invest in these differently abled children.

• Work that can be categorised as ‘child labour’ is taken up only by 1% of the total population (4.57 million), according to this survey. Although arrangements should be made for the elimination of this, Sri Lanka is doing well as a developing country in my opinion.  
• Of the 4.57 million children, 90.1% have attended school. However, the school attendance of working children has been as low as 38.9%. This is a great concern thinking of their future and wellbeing.  
• It appears that a considerable number of children between 12 and 17 drop out of school due to various reasons. Primarily there should be a plan in place to bring them back to education where possible. Perhaps this could be an impractical task with some older children. They might prefer some opportunity for vocational training instead. The bottom line should be making them productive and content
• The survey revealed that 78% of the children lived with both their parents. This sounds reasonable. Of the working children, about 40% of parents allowed their children to help them in household enterprises 
• Children living on the streets, institutions, workplaces or those who have no identified shelter (no homes) have not been covered in the survey. They sound like they have been completely taken out from the equation!  We will need some scheme to minimise this segment and bring those less fortunate children into society. 

The Deputy Minister in charge further said in his Facebook post: “The UNICEF funds are expected to focus on 6 million children (up to 18) on a number of areas. They include; early childhood programs to get kids into preschool programs, middle childhood issues with respect to quality and relevance of education, adolescent issues on ensuring access to achieve full potential and to deal with violence against kids. You would be surprised at the incidence of both physical and sexual violations - too high at around 15%.”

The remit of the survey sounds quite ambitious and we see the need for a lot of resources to pay attention to the issues it presents us. Although the report highlighted that many five-year olds were waiting to go to school, it did not say what they had been doing, but I presume they were preschool kids at the time of the survey.  Also, many youngsters start preschool at the age of three or so (about half a million children 3-5 years of age). Hence, this is a vital sector we must adequately invest in.



Delayed development

Our children commence regular schooling at the age of 5 in Grade 1. If we made a comparison with England, those kids come to Grade 1 at 5+, having spent a year in the ‘reception’ class in regular school. But unfortunately by the time Sri Lankans sit for their A/L, they are 19 (in England they are 18). This is due to the unproductive time (for most) spent after the O/L, awaiting results and the commencement of A/L studies at school.

Our university entrants spend a year or more after A/L. Just to make a comparison, in England, children complete the A/L examinations by June, get results in August for university entrance in September/October of the same year (summer is usually the holiday period for schools and universities there). By the time our children commence their university educations (at government universities) at 21 or so, people of the same age have passed out as university graduates in the UK!

However, compared with the situation which existed a couple of decades ago we have made a noteworthy improvement but we still have a long way to go. We must minimise the potential unproductive time window in children’s lives for their benefit and for that of the State.

Strong State patronage for children to realise their full potential is commendable. This would be a multifaceted area which would make our people’s lives more content. In turn, hopefully, those people will make all of us proud on a global front in science, sports, music and other streams.

On a general note, stress is part and parcel of life for many families who have got kids who have grown old enough for Grade 1 admission in the future. I know someone who decided the area of residence immediately after marriage on the basis of good schools. The Government should revisit the current system that mounts a lot of undue anxiety, pressure and frenzied situations on parents and guardians. However, all these solutions will invariably dictate proper funding for seamless implementation and intended results.      

I hope our authorities will pay due attention to the findings of this survey and do their utmost to change the lives of our young people for the better. That being taken care of, our future generations will be more humane in dealing with their future responsibilities with vigour, courage, empathy and honesty. Not only that, holistic education should make them well-rounded individuals in order for them to be responsible citizens of tomorrow. This is the contribution we all can rightfully demand from the State, more than anything else in my view.

(The writer is the founder of the Skill Conference (www.skillconference.com). He is a borderless thinker and futurist. You can email him at ravindra@skillconference.com).