Impact of constitutional reforms on territorial integrity

By Neville Ladduwahetty-September 18, 2017, 9:06 pm 

The "(Draft) Interim Report of the Steering Committee of the Constitutional Assembly dated 6th September 2017" describes the territory of Sri Lanka as consisting of provinces where powers of government are divided between the centre and the provinces. Therefore, the comments below are limited to Articles 1, 2, 3 and 4 that address the structure of the State, and to "Principles of Devolution" to provinces. Threats to territorial integrity when extensive devolved powers are granted to units such as Provinces that are territorially large, are also addressed.

Impact of constitutional reforms on territorial integrity.docx by Thavam on Scribd

Gnanassara flees country on fake passport aided and abetted by advisor to ‘President father’ (photo)

Shashi Weerawansa Court Case: Passport and NIC misplaced?

(Lanka-e-News - 17.Sep.2017, 11.45PM)    The most  wanted deranged rowdy  monk Galagoda Aththe Gnanassara Thera who has all along been  a scourge of the country and a disgrace to Buddhism  , and is an accused against whom a  number of investigations are on going at the CID , had fled the country on a fake passport  , and has now found abode in a temple in Ibaraki , Japan. Shockingly ,  he has been aided and abetted  to bolt by no less a person than an  advisor of ‘president father’  according to reports reaching Lanka e news  .  Because he was evading  courts , a warrant too has been issued on him.  

Lanka e news always first with the news and best with the views was the first to reveal on the 6 th that Gnanassara fled the country.Gnanassara did not appear on the 11 thin connection with   the case being heard in the appeal court against him  based on charges of contempt of court . In any case , there is already a  warrant against him issued by the Homagama court for not attending court.

Based on our probe ,Gnanassara who had been a worst disgrace to his own religion and a symbol of shame to true Buddhists despite being a robed monk has left the country on the 1 st on a bogus passport under another name clearly illustrating his criminal nature . It is a robed monk Ulapone Sumangala an advisor, of all people ,to the president Maithripala Sirisena(now dubbed ‘President father’) who has helped the most wanted criminal  to flee the country.

On the day Gnanassara surrendered to court , it was Ulapone SumangalaThera who  accompanied him. After Gnanassara was released on bail in three cases on the same day , it was Ulapone the presidential advisor  who went out along with him.

It is a shame despite Ulapone being an advisor to the president and should therefore abide  by laws most  punctiliously , has instead aided and abetted a notorious violent absconding criminal Gnanassara, as well as smuggled him out of the country. Much worse ! Ulapone had even accompanied him on the sly when Gnanassara fled to Japan.

Galagoda Aththe Gnanassara and  Sumangala are currently staying in a pro  Rajapakse  Temple by the name of Sri Sambuddhaloka Vihara at No. 1000, Tegomaru, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 300-2647, Japan. The duo  being most clever when it comes to cunning and stealthy activities as though their own brand of Buddhism has taught them that way of life ,  are now enjoying themselves in Japan while engaging in their favorite avocation  –duping and deceiving those Buddhists too  in Japan.

In the photograph is the criminal monk Gnanassara hiding in Ibaraki Temple on  the day (11 th September) he must have appeared before the appeal court in SL  as an accused. Close to him on the right is the monk Ambanpitiye DhammanandaThera and on the left at the extreme end of the photograph is the monk Medagama Amarananda Thera.

Under the sacrosanct laws of the country , harboring a criminal on whom a warrant has been issued is a serious offence. In the circumstances , even the president’s advisor and president’s secretary who commit  wrong can be put behind bars.  

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by     (2017-09-18 21:51:36)

Venerable villainy of mercenary monks

Tuesday, 19 September 2017

The use of adolescent monks (samaneras) to enhance their numbers was nauseating; it is time the State brings these young ordained monks under the National Child Protection Authority
The picture says it all. The ‘Silredi Sirakaruwan Mudaganime Aramudala’ was not demonstration of piety. It was a bold repudiation of the rule of law by a cabal of venerable villains, brazenly insisting that we Sinhala Buddhists submit to a rule by the robed fraternity whose declared allegiance is to the former President and the Rajapaksa clan.

The smug satisfaction of the receiver holding the bowl, the mock display of a cheque for Rs. 50,000 by the giver and the approving glance of the rotund onlookers demonstrate the abysmal depth these spiritual stooges are ready to stoop to in their determination to restore the Rajapaksa kleptocracy.

The ‘Silredi Sirakaruwan Mudaganime Aramudala’ was not demonstration of piety. It is the embryonic form of Sinhala Buddhist clerical fascism on which the former Defence czar hopes to ride to power. This the first display of ‘pandam’ for Gota’s ‘Eliya’.

This writer nearly puked when Professor Tissa Vitharana, nephew of NM and Leader of the official LSSP, also put his contribution to the bowl after the soulless fellow of All Souls Professor G.L. Pieris. They are both immune to the reasoning of Karl Marx. “It is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but their social existence that determines their consciousness.”

A few Buddhist monks paraded the streets of Colombo in a vain attempt to exploit people’s faith to persuade ordinary people into believing that the recent High Court judgement that convicted former Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga and Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) ex-DG Anusha Palpita was wrong and or was an erosion of Buddhist values and practices. What was more nauseating being their use of adolescent monks (samaneras) to enhance their numbers. It is time the State brings these young ordained monks under the National Child Protection Authority.

As it turned out the people were not impressed. It was not the traditional ‘pindapatha’ footslog. Instead, it was a loud affair with party apparatchiks preceding them, screaming hoarse ‘Aney, me hamuduru warunta keeyak hari denta.’ In this age of image engineering, one particular electronic media outlet did manage to show a clip of an irate upasaka condemning Ranjan Ramanayake for his anti-clerical remarks. Yet, the exercise failed to arouse any Buddhist indignation that the organisers were desperately hoping to create.


Two fronts of this menace

It is time we take note of this menace. It has two fronts. One is the authoritative voice that claims tradition and historical prerogatives. The other is the polemical protests of a maverick few.

What we witnessed last Friday was the maverick few. We do not have a vibrant democracy. What we have today is what we got on 8 January 2015. It is only a procedural democracy. Our institutions are yet in the making. The Prime Minister is in no hurry to enact the legislation relating to the Auditor General’s powers. That needs coaxing.

The greater threat to our present procedural democracy slowly taking root after the ouster of the Mahinda monolith is from the dogmatic Buddhist monks who prefer the status quo of chaos and uncertainty. The pronouncements of the Asgiriya chapter seems to claim that they alone are the repositories of all wisdom on constitutional reforms.

Let us be pragmatic. Mahinda Rajapaksa knew how to pander to the priestly class in the Sinhala Buddhist Gemeinschaft. He understood the importance of fostering an organic relationship between a Buddhist priestly class committed to his agenda and a devoted following among the Sinhala Buddhist majority.

The Sinhala Sangha order that has emerged in the post-independence era has two potent weapons – faith of their following and the grace attached to the saffron robe.

The Field Marshall recently described the Buddhist monk Ven. Elle Gunawanse as a ‘cheevara dhariya’ which means ‘a wearer of a robe’. The remark provoked a huge protest from the Sangha community. The perceived grace and sanctity attached to the saffron robe today made it a derisive substitute.

In post-war Sri Lanka, the Rajapaksa regime embarked on a myth-building exercise that created a new institutional structure with a servile Sangha forming a privileged rent seeking class that served as intermediaries bridging piety, privilege and patrimony.

In the eighties Bhikku Elle Gunwansa was embroiled in a controversy over a visit to Maldives in the company of a dainty trendsetter of those times. The brilliant Sinhala satirist Chinthana Jayasena published a column under the catchy title ‘Elle pota dekama giyath, himiyani apa oba samagai’. They were times when Sinhala journalism was far less orthodox and irreverent wit commanded a discerning readership. Today he would be pilloried.

The digression aside, contrary to the dictates of the Buddha, our contemporary Sangha relies on blind belief, perceived ignorance of what the Buddha taught and rigidity of established tradition.

Of post-independence leaders only two managed to exercise a degree of authority on the Sinhala Sangha. Sirimavo with her ingrained piety and feudal world view was no pushover. JR with his own definition of ‘nirvana’ had little patience with their priestly mumbo jumbo. When Ven. Muruththetuwe Ananda led a delegation of the Nurses Union, President Jayewardene with feigned innocence quietly inquired ‘Ko obawahansege uniform eka?’

Prime Minister Bandaranaike and President Jayewardene studiedly avoided the gimmickry of ‘apey hamuduruwaney’ in their encounters with the Sinhala Sangha community.


Sinhala Sangha institutional survival 

The Sinhala Sangha order has its own world view on their institutional survival. To them, truth and tradition are interchangeable. Ultimate reality is not nirvana but their hold on customs, habits and their own self-serving systems.

The judgement of the High Court is in Sinhala. There is no doubt that both Bhikku Medagoda Abhayatissa and Bhikku Muruththettuwe Ananda are adequately equipped to comprehend the verdict. Then, why have they taken out their begging bowls in defence of the ousted tyrant? Because they reject reason. They want their lost world back. Its conveniences, its gratifications and pleasures. Mahinda Rajapaksa knew how to access the dark corrupt chambers in the hearts of the Sinhala Sangha.

Lalith Weeratunga knew what he was doing. He did not expect Mahinda to lose the election. The present dispensation cannot match the ingenuity of Mahinda. Mahinda presided over a patrimonial State apparatus which had defined compartments for an oligarchy, a coercive military and a parasitic priestly class largely composite of Sinhala Buddhist Sangha.

The present dispensation attempts to follow him with little success. Instead of reforming the clerical order, they have opted to offer incentives for cooperation. They have offered diplomatic passports to Maha Nayake Theros. They have set up a think tank consisting of Buddhist monks. One Mahanayake of a subsidiary chapter has been gifted with a Mercedes Benz limousine. Minister Kiriella deflects public criticisms of his handling of the Central Expressway by accusing critics of disrespect to the Dalada Maligawa!

Yet Mahinda’s stranglehold remains largely intact. There is no shortage of the Sangha ready willing and able to hold ‘pandam’ for Gota’s ‘Eliya’.

In the case of Mahinda, he was the hound and the Sangha made up the hare. With the present dual centres of power, neither knows who runs and who hounds. The bond business has given the pseudo Lichchevi rule the licking it deserves.

 Pix by Shehan Gunasekara

Govt attempting to delay provincial elections again - CaFFE

September 18, 2017

The government is attempting to postpone the Provincial Council Elections through a proposal during the committee stage on September 20th, the Executive Director of the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon claims. 

Issuing a press release today, he said that the gazette of the draft bill allocating 30% of seats in provincial councils for female representatives has been issued and that this is to be included in the agenda of the parliament this week and to be debated. 

“However the government has brought forth proposals which were not discussed in earlier discussions with political parties. These include the replacement of the proportional representation with a mix of first past the post and proportional representation system.” 

He said that the President and PM have issued two short statements on this matter and that state minister Dilan Perera has questioned the independence of the Elections Commission. “These are early moves to postpone these elections by bringing into the table peripheral matters”.

The CaFFE Executive Director charged that the government had earlier attempted to postpone election using the 20th amendment to the constitution as a pretext but it seems that the Supreme Court has put a halt to that initiative. 

“Thus it is preparing a draft on amending provincial council election system which is to be presented as a committee stage proposal,” Tennakoon said.  

He stated that the government in 2015 was willing to sacrifice electoral reforms to save itself from the consequences of the Treasury bond scam. “Now it’s trying to postpone elections by underhand methods.”

He stated that if the government postpones elections through a gazette notification, it allows political parties and civil society organizations to seek redress through the judicial system. 

“However by attempting to postpone elections through an amendment at the committee stage, this government has shown that it operates in much more subtle and sinister ways,” he alleged.

CaFFE stressed that the sovereignty of the people has been conferred to Parliament in the expectation that MPs will do their best to ensure the welfare of the public and that the people of this country do not expect it be used as a tool to take away their franchise. 

“By attempting to postpone elections by putting forward proposals which come out of the blue this government is making a mockery of the democratic principles.”

What can Suu Kyi learn from Sri Lanka’s mistakes

2017-09-19

Narratives of horror in Myanmar’s restive Rakhine State and the squalid refugee camps in Bangladesh where nearly 400,000 Rohingya refugees live in subhuman condition after being chased out by the Burmese Army’s scorched earth campaign are distressing. Ethnic violence in Rakhine first erupted soon after Myanmar’s military junta relaxed its grip on political power in 2012. A social media post by rubble-rousing monk Ashin Wirathu about an alleged rape of a Buddhist woman by two Muslim youth precipitated an orgy of ethnic violence that engulfed the Rohingyas. Since then the community has been confined in military guarded internment camps, with no right of movement.  

 Myanmar’s military dictator Ne Win disenfranchised Rohingyas in 1982 under the new citizenship laws, effectively turning them into the world’s largest community of stateless people, with no recourse to jobs, education, healthcare and even to birth certificates. The latest military crackdown was launched after a series of simultaneous attacks by Rohingya militants who have recently been waging a low level insurgency. Now media reports indicate a heavy dose of radicalization in the refugee camps, with a disturbing potential of a local grievance being exploited by the global jihad.   

On the surface, the problem has always been that most these states failed to accommodate the full scope of their demographic diversity

What is equally distressing is a pattern of events that have been witnessed in many parts of the world whenever a new country or one that had been under jackboots of an autocrat finally tried to define its own identity. Few new states emerged unscathed in their nation-building process; many were cannibalized by their own domestic forces. South Sudan, the world’s newest state was engulfed in a power struggle that pitted two main tribes (Dinka and Nuer) against each other and produced the first famine in the 21st century. Earlier, the Balkans fragmented into an ethnic inferno along the ethnic lines of former Yugoslavia’s many communities. Africa’s story of building inclusive nation states is abyssmal. Even where it managed to avoid the mass slaughter of Rwanda, Burundi, and Democratic Republic Congo, primary loyalties of the people were firmly placed with their tribe and the clan. At the British departure from the Subcontinent, India was born in the butchery of partition. Bangladesh followed suit two decades later.   
On the surface, the problem has always been that most of these states failed to accommodate the full scope of their demographic diversity. While that is true to some, it is still only a partial explanation. The dynamics of competing interests and the national imperatives sometimes make the two irreconcilable. America’s founding fathers were willing to grant slave owning Southern states an effective veto through the electoral college, but India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru viewed extensive devolution demanded by Pakistan’s founder Ali Jinnah for Muslim provinces were inimical to India’s national interest -- in terms of both national security and the central planned economy that India adopted.  

Those prejudices were perhaps in great deal inherent in the Burmese Buddhist discourse and also helped by an earlier Rohingya insurgency to secede from Myanmar to join Pakistan at its independence

Though there are plenty of leaders who have bungled the affairs of their nations, there are many others who were overpowered by virulent domestic factors, some of which they themselves helped unleash while others predated their political existence. Ms Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate is a hostage of those competing ethnic interests that were unleashed long before she got her own freedom (and by any account, real power of the state is still with the generals). Those prejudices were perhaps in great deal inherent in the Burmese Buddhist discourse and also helped by an earlier Rohingya insurgency to secede from Myanmar to join Pakistan at its independence.   

It is naive to assume that the leaders do not care for the cost of mismanagement of competing ethnic interests. If Jinnah did not anticipate the mass mayhem, he helped unleash, Ms Suu Kyi had first hand witnessed this regular pattern of slaughter happening elsewhere. However, virulence of those domestic forces is such that few leaders manage to rise above them.   

In the 1960’s, Samuel Huntington, writing about the failure in democratization in newly independent former colonies, observed a gap between the slow pace of building political institutions and the accelerated rate of enhanced political participation and social mobilization. “The primary problem of politics is the lag in the development of political institutions behind social and economic change,” he wrote. That political gap left the nascent political institutions and politics in general at the mercy of ‘ethnic bidding’, militant trade unionists, insurgents and coup d’etat.  

 
This problem is understandable though. It took Britain 400 years since the Magna Carta to implement the universal suffrage. In the subcontinent, those were implemented barely fifty years ago before any form of serious political reforms were tried. And our part of the world was (and is) unparalleled not only in demographic diversity but also in inequality of social conditions. ‘Equality of conditions’ had to be built. It is a far more complicated and often conflictual process than giving every man a vote.  

Our politics thus quite predictably became hostage of a myriad ethnic forces. Sri Lanka’s gradual political decay since independence has much to do with that political gap, which became increasingly wide as the UNP itself split with S.W.R.D Bandaranaike’s parting of ways to form the SLFP. With two main political parties vying for the majority Sinhalese vote, ethnic bidding became the political strategy. The upsurge of Sinhala Buddhist nationalism which was kicked into action by political calculations could not be abated once unleashed. 

Notorious Dr. Nirmali prescribes ‘Deck Shoes’ and Chinese food to pampered prisoners : Ministry duly transfers her but GMOA halts it !

(Lanka-e-News - 17.Sep.2017, 11.45PM)   The infamously famous doctor Nirmali Thenuwara who facilitated the enjoyment to the hilt within prison to the two notorious convicts namely , LalithWeeratunge and Anusha Pelpita who misappropriated colossal public funds , was the same rascally doctor who showed extraordinary concern for the testicles of another ace rogue Gammanpila when he was incarcerated. That is , she advised that his testicles (moth eaten ?) should be rested on a pillow, based on revelations made by Hirunika.

Though she was transferred to the Colombo General hospital in January 2017 ,because her  paramour is a secretary of the GMOA and Health Ministry , with his influence and pressures  she is still continuing  at the prison hospital in an acting capacity , it has come to light. 

By now  a  number of mischievous and illicit activities of hers have surfaced. ..

Deck Shoes treatment !

It was this same Nirmali who ought to be in a massage clinic and not in a hospital as a doctor , who showed  inordinate  concern for testicles of prisoners  and prescribed  massages /exercises  to them . She  had given  most bizarre instructions: She prescribed ‘Deck Shoes’ to be used during  the massages and  exercises of  Ravindu Gunawardena (prisoner No. T 22005 ) , the son of ex DIG Vaas Gunawardena when both of them were in the prison Chapel ward . Ravindu and Vaas are in the death row  over the ruthless  murder of a wealthy businessman Mohomed Shyam from Bambalapitiya who was abducted and killed in May 2013.

Nirmali the frustrated doctor without a permanent husband is best noted for her  perverted lifestyle and issuing most queer medical prescriptions. Except the doctor in charge of the Chapel ward who examines those prisoners sentenced to death , none else examines them medically. Yet frustrated Nirmali  on 2017-03-15 went and met Ravindu in the Chapel ward  . Thereafter she had admitted the two ‘super prisoners’   to a ‘super ward ‘  and later she had entered in the medical journal on 2017-05-15 that  Ravindu shall use ‘Deck shoes’ when he is  performing physical exercises. Currently the only prisoner who runs after wearing   deck shoes in Welikade prison is Ravindu Gunawardena.

Evidence of a witness in prison  to attempted murder suppressed  by her…

Even now investigation is under way against Nirmali for seeking to suppress the evidence of a witness to the attempted murder of a prisoner Srimali  Kasthuri Arachchi (P17733) , as well as refraining from providing medical treatment to the patient. The true bestial and brutal nature of this scoundrel of a doctor became most manifest thus :

The murder of Srimali when he was being transferred from Bogambara prison to Welikade prison on 2017-08-07 was part of a  plan. He was attacked within the prison  vehicle and he sustained serious injuries. Because  the victim was screaming in pain within the Welikade prison , a  duty officer who saw the grave injuries admitted him to prison hospital .

The diagnosis of Dr. Nirmali who examined this  victim was : Owing to the ailments Diabetes and high blood pressure , he had received treatment at Dumbara prison.      The same medicines shall be continued .Near the wrist there is a swelling but no external injuries are noticeable . An X ray examination shall be preformed.

Cruelly  , a prisoner who was assaulted brutally before the eyes of the jailors has been treated  in the prison hospital only for diabetes.

 Prisons reform minister Swaminathan who heard about this made inquiries. The probe revealed that this  attack was complained to Borella police on 9 th August ( CIB   11 99/90   by J.W.  V.P Botejue . That complaint was recorded by P.C. 69083   as  ‘  regarding attack on prison inmate.’  (The images of the complaints lodged with HRC-Human Rights Commission and Police are herein ) .

On the instructions of minister  Swaminathan , an investigation into this is on going while another investigation by the HRC is also under way. It has now come to light that Nirmali Thenuwara who shows greater concern for special  testicles of special prisoners and prescribes bizarre  ‘Deck Shoes’ exercises like a masseuse in a massage clinic to her  favorite prisoners , however ,in the case of prisoner Srimali had prescribed medicines only for Diabetes , despite  the prisoner having six fractures following the assault. The medical report on these fractures on his body have already been forwarded

Far superior than Hippocrates the father of medicine 

Meanwhile , following a protest staged by the Organization for protection of rights of  prisoners on September 12 th ,  minister Swaminathan summoned Dr. Nirmali and held a special discussion  when she uttered a profusion of lies.She told the minister she had been serving as doctor in the prison hospital only for  just six months , whereas she had been there for 4 years 6 months.

The Masseuse cum doctor Nirmali who was provoked by the questions posed by the minister had rushed to the hospital and berated deputy minister Ranjan Ramanayake  and lawyer Senaka Perera . She had yelled out they do not yet know about her ways while threatening , she will do the same thing what she did  to ‘Srimal’,  to Senaka too.( Senaka  the lawyer is the president of  the organization for the protection of rights of prisoners)

It is the terrorizing GMOA including doctor joker Padeniya who have forcibly  seen to it that this Doctor masseuse  Nirmali is not transferred , against the ministry’s wishes. It is such a criminal doctor  who parades as greater than  Hippocrates, whose baser instincts and  interests are being pandered to by the GMOA and Padeniya the medical hypocrites who are supposed to have  taken the sacred oath of Hippocrates.

It is worthy of  note , the prison hospital is on par with a district hospital. Nirmali however is not eligible to hold a chief post in a district hospital . Then why such an incompetent, ineligible and unsuitable doctor is still being allowed to be in charge of the prison hospital ? She is one who therefore merits interdiction , and an investigation shall be immediately initiated against her rackets , treacheries and villainies while performing duties as a  doctor. 

It is the consensus such a scoundrel of a doctor who is best suited for  a massage clinic and least for a hospital should not be permitted to disgrace the noble medical profession any longer.
 

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by     (2017-09-18 21:43:51)

We had to go to prison because of Basil – Anusha Pelpita

Sep 18, 2017

“It was Basil Rajapaksa who ordered us to distribute Sil clothing. When I tried to explain to him that it was against the law, he used the filthiest language I have ever heard on me. Then, I told the then TRC chairman Lalith Weeratunga about it. Mr. Weeratunga asked Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa about it. Without thinking much, he told Lalith Weeratunga to distribute if Basil said so. But, we took the maximum precautions when we distributed Sil clothing. In every minute, we wrote that at the request of economic development minister Basil Rajapaksa and on approval by president Mahinda Rajapaksa. But, in the end, the two of us had to go to prison,” Anusha Pelpita told a group of friends who visited him at Welikada prison hospital.

“Both of us clearly said in our defence that what we did was to implement the orders received from the top. But, the court did not accept it. What the court did was to save Basil and Mahinda by sacrificing Mr. Weeratunga and I. Is this justice? Now, Mahinda Rajapaksa comes to see us and tells bailas that the two of us will be freed with a big compensation after he forms a government within six months. Leaving alone forming a government, it is certain that Basil and Mahinda will come to Welikada within six months. At least, Mahinda comes to see us and tell us bailas. We are waiting for Basil to come. Then, we will teach him filth even he does not know,” a crying Anusha Pelpita said further to his friends.

Engaging employees in a disruptive environment

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18 September 2017 

I had yet another memorable visit to Tamilnadu. For the second time, I was invited to be one of the speakers at the Annual Conference of the National Institute of Personnel Management (NIPM), India. I received much warmth of Chennai people. Representing the Institute of Personnel Management (IPM) Sri Lanka, a rare opportunity of being a Sri Lankan speaker at an NIPM event held in the heart of Tamilnadu was indeed significant, in keeping the Sri Lankan flag high. Today’s column is all about the essence of what I have experienced.

Overview

IPM Sri Lanka and NIPM India have an exchange program in sending delegates to the annual conferences of each other. Accordingly, eight Sri Lankans joined me as participants for NATCON 2017 held in Chennai. Headquartered in Kolkata, the National Institute of Personnel Management (NIPM) is a pan-India, think tank of Human Resource Managers drawn from diverse fields and industries. As one of the oldest professional bodies operating in this space for the past six decades, NIPM has been hugely successful in driving major policy changes and pushing reforms in Labour Welfare and Industrial Relations both in public and private.

The theme they have selected this year was ‘HR Positioning in the Current Disruptive Environment’. As the conference chair described, “In today’s disruptive business and social environment, organisations need to respond and manage, and it is here that HR leadership can strategise and harness the innate potential that dwells in the human nature.”

As one of the sub- themes associated with the conference, employee engagement in a disruptive environment received much attention. It gave me the opportunity to share the global and local aspects of the fascinating concept of employee engagement.

Essence of employee engagement

Employee engagement has become a buzz word in management circles, mainly due to its attractiveness as a tool in getting work done. What do we mean by employee engagement? Interestingly, it means different things to different people. According to research by Macey and Schneider, the meaning of employee engagement is ambiguous among both academic researchers and among practitioners. It captures the essence of employees’ head, hands and heart involvement in work. It refers to employee’s psychological state (e.g. one’s identification with the organisation), his/her disposition (e.g. one’s positive feeling towards the organisation) and performance (e.g. one’s level of discretionary effort). In brief, it captures affective (feeling), cognitive (thinking) and behavioural (acting) dimensions of an employee.

There are overlapping aspects captured in the concept of employee engagement such as psychological contract (unwritten expectations concerning the relationship between an employee and an employer) and commitment (identification and involvement with an organisation). Hence, it can be more treated as an umbrella term encompassing many related concepts. It deals with specific human behaviours that were in existence for a long period of time, with a renewed focus. In essence, as some critiques call it, employee engagement can also be perceived as “old wine in new bottle”. If it is the case, one may ask why we should focus on it. The global tends reveal the timely need of it and vital deeds associated with it.

What could be the status of employee engagement in the global arena? This has been one of the most surveyed managerial aspects in the recent past. According to a most recent study by Aon – Hewitt, “There had been a slight drop of overall employee engagement at global level compared to the previous year. According to their report, “populist movements like those seen in the United Kingdom, the United States, and those taking hold in parts of Continental Europe havemade discussions about erecting “the borders and walls more common”. As the report further observes, “these moves, if realised, will restrict the flow of labour between countries and change the economic rules of the game.”

Engagement and disruption

Disruptive technologies drive digital initiatives in diverse fields. As we discussed in my previous column, the people-centric function of Human Resource Management (HRM) cannot escape from this wave of disruption. On one side, HR professionals need strategies to “glue” their talent. On the other side, they have to face the realities of disruption when respective organisations go through massive change. How can we reconcile these two sides? It is in fact a rafting game.

We have moved from a “rowing” world to a “rafting” world. Why do I say so, unlike in rowing, rafting is much riskier. It invites you to wear a life jacket and to be vigilant in passing through sharp stones with abundance of turbulences”. Instead of following a uniform set of instructions, you need to take on-the-spot decisions based on the situational realties. In essence, one needs to be fast, focused and flexible in a “rafting” world.

We can meaningfully adapt what Seijts and Crim, two researchers of organisational behaviour termed as “ten Cs for employee engagement”, in the context of a disruptive environment. The key focus in each C can further be expanded into possible initiatives. Let’s discuss the details with local realities in mind.

1. Connect

Leaders must show that they value employees. This can be done by maintaining open channels so that employees can approach their superiors to discuss matters in a mutually beneficial manner. Disconnect leads to disengagement, with dire consequences.

2. Career

Leaders should provide challenging and meaningful work with opportunities for career advancement. They should show employees the way forward in terms of career advancements and options, in motivating them to perform in exceeding expectations. As one leading multinational claim, “we do not offer jobs, but careers, the careers that brand them for life”.

3. Clarity

Leaders must communicate a clear set of strategic priorities among the employees, in ensuring that they are clear about why they are doing what they do. It reminds me of the famous story of how President Kennedy went to NASA complex, during the peak of moon mission in late sixties. He saw a minor worker sweeping the floor, and had asked her as to what she was doing. Her response was stunning. “I am helping to send a man to the moon”. This is indeed a classic case of connecting to the organisation vision with clarity.

4. Convey

Leaders should clarify their expectations about employees and provide feedback on their functioning in the organisation.

This involves ensuring proper conduct of the performance appraisals by training the managers as to how to give constructive feedback objectively. As the communication gurus advocate, what matters more is how you say than what you say.

5. Congratulate

Leaders give recognition to others. Exceptional leaders do so a lot. Appreciating of good performance of employees by reward and recognition, in a timely fashion is something essential. Gone are the days of “employee of the year” or “employee of the quarter” or even “employee of the month”. What matters is giving due recognition to the “employee of the moment”.

6. Contribute

Leaders should make sure that employees know how their contribution matters. This can be done by introducing a transparent mechanism of objective setting and then connecting individual objectives to broad organisational objectives. Tested and proven mechanisms such as Balanced Scorecard can be handy in this respect.

7. Control

Leaders need to set the boundaries with the buy-in of the employees. This involves setting the boundaries of activities with proper systems in place with the involvement of employees, so that they are a part of the decision making process. Modern day control is more viewed as a way of ensuring consistency through conformance, as opposed to coercive courses of action.

8. Collaborate

Great leaders are team builders. They create an environment that fosters trust and collaboration. By doing so, they ensure that teamwork is given due prominence with associated mechanisms such as team-based rewards to strengthen it.

9. Credibility

Leaders should strive to maintain organisational reputation and demonstrate high ethical standards. They should demonstrate being ethical in decision making, so that employees will strengthen their admiration of the organisation. Credibility can be compared to a glass tumbler. Once it is cracked, it is irreparable.

10. Confidence

Good leaders help create confidence in a company by being exemplars of high performance standards. It involves practicing “walking the talk” at all levels so that employees have better trust and confidence on their superiors. That has far reaching consequences, including better relationships and higher results.

The ten Cs discussed above should be appropriately blended with organisational priorities, with sound HR practices in place. Once all Cs are taken seriously and put into place, the organisation is well geared to move forward in the path to progress.

Way forward

NATCON 2017 was a significant thought sharing event on disruption and its associated implications to HR. Employee engagement should by no means confine the employees to the workplace, depriving them of their family and social obligations. In research literature, higher job security, increased social support and the existence of family friendly policies have been shown to reduce the incidence of work-family conflict. Whilst striving for employee engagement, ensuring a proper balancing of other aspects needs careful consideration.

(The writer can be reached through director@pim.sjp.ac.lk, president@ipmlk.org or www.ajanthadharmasiri.info.)

Canadian teacher wins against Israel lobby effort to have her fired

Ali Abunimah-18 September 2017

Canadian elementary school teacher Nadia Shoufani has won a year-long struggle against efforts by Israel lobby groups to force her out of her job.

Shoufani, who teaches in Mississauga, west of Toronto, was the subject of complaints because of a July 2016 speech she gave at a rally in support of Palestinian rights.

“Earlier this year Ms. Shoufani’s case came before the Ontario College of Teachers and she was found not to be in breach of the professional conduct expected of a teacher,” Liz Stuart, president of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association, said in a statement to The Electronic Intifada on Monday.

“She is in her classroom and has not been disciplined.”

“Despite this, we remain incredibly disappointed that her professional integrity was publicly called into question without due process having occurred,” Stuart added. “This case should never have gone before the College of Teachers, and Ms. Shoufani should not have been put through the ordeal of the past months.”

Stuart’s union represented Shoufani at the Ontario College of Teachers, a licensing body, and at the school board.

Stuart said Shoufani “is a dedicated and compassionate educator, and we are pleased that she can finally put this behind her.”

“Malicious smear campaign”

In a Facebook post last week, Shoufani thanked friends and supporters who helped her achieve “a victory for myself, for the Palestine solidarity movement, for freedom of expression.”

The Facebook post was not publicly visible, but was quoted by the Palestine solidarity group Samidoun.

Shoufani did not provide a comment for The Electronic Intifada.

Independent Jewish Voices, one of the groups that had supported Shoufani, congratulated her for prevailing against a “highly coordinated and malicious smear campaign against her [that] was designed to ruin her career.”

“Shoufani’s victory over the well-resourced organizations that tried to make an example of her sends a strong message to Canadian civil society that those of us who support the human rights of Palestinians will never succumb to the bullying tactics of Israel lobby groups,” the Jewish activist group added.

Suspended for speaking out

Shoufani was suspended in July 2016, when the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board began to investigate her over a speech supporting Palestinian rights that she gave at a rally in Toronto.

The rally marked al-Quds Day, normally the last Friday of Ramadan, which many people observe as a day of solidarity with Palestinians.

During her address, Shoufani defended the Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation and colonization.

She quickly became the target of a campaign by anti-Palestinian activists seeking to have her dismissed for allegedly supporting “terrorism.”

Israel lobby groups B’nai Brith Canada, the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs and the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center Canada were actively involved in the effort to silence Shoufani.

The lobby groups honed in on her comments about Ghassan Kanafani, the celebrated Palestinian writer who spoke about Palestine as a cause for all revolutionaries.

Kanafani, who was assassinated by an Israeli death squad in 1972, is a “martyr,” Shoufani said.

Kanafani was also a prominent member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which Canada listed as a “terrorist” organization in 2003, more than 30 years after a car bomb planted by Israel’s Mossad spy agency blew him apart in Beirut, along with his teenage niece Lamis.

Right to free expression

“A teacher should never have to worry that their professional reputation will be attacked in an effort to prevent them from exercising their right to free expression,” Stuart, the president of Shoufani’s union, told The Electronic Intifada. “Ms. Shoufani was expressing herself as a private citizen.

Stuart added: “We have always maintained that teachers are entitled to our personal political views. We use our professional judgment to determine whether it is appropriate to voice these perspectives in the classroom. However, so long as we are acting within the law, there is no reason why we should be prohibited from participating in political activities outside of school.”

Shoufani also drew broad solidarity from hundreds of fellow educators across Canada and in other countries who signed petitions supporting her right to speak out.

Shoufani’s victory is all the more significant, as it comes amid persistent efforts by Israel lobby groups and Canadian leaders, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, to stigmatize and marginalize those who support Palestinian rights – especially the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.

But recent polls show that these efforts are out of step with the public: there is wide support among Canadians for Palestinian rights.

Duterte govt fiercely rejects criticism by UN human rights chief

Friends weep during the funeral of 19-year-old Carl Angelo Arnaiz, accused of robbery and shot dead by police, in Pateros, Metro Manila, Philippines, September 5, 2017. Source: Reuters/Erik De Castro

“DARKER and more dangerous.”

By Bong S. Sarmiento | 15th September 2017

That was how United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein labelled the human rights situation in the Philippines and 39 other countries before the 36th Session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, Switzerland early this week.

The UNHRC, an inter-governmental body that consists of 47 member-states, is responsible for the promotion and protection of all human rights worldwide.

In his opening statement, Zeid criticised the “appalling” human rights condition in the Philippines under President Rodrigo Duterte, a pronouncement that irked Foreign Affairs Secretary Allan Peter Cayetano, a key subordinate of the firebrand leader.

SEE ALSO: Philippines human rights commission gets only $20 from Duterte’s congress

“In the Philippines, I continue to be gravely concerned by the President’s open support for a shoot-to-kill policy regarding suspects,” said the UN human rights chief, referring to the deadly war on drugs ordered by Duterte since he assumed the presidency in June 2016.

Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights arrives at the 36th Sesssion of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland September 11, 2017. Source: Reuters/Denis Balibouse

Zeid told the council that there’s an “apparent absence of credible investigations into reports of thousands of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) and the failure to prosecute any perpetrator” in the government’s war on drugs.

He cited the killing of 17-year-old Kian Delos Santos, who was killed by policemen conducting an anti-drug raid in Caloocan City in Metro Manila on August 16. CCTV footage showed that Delos Santos was captured alive by two policemen in civilian clothes moments before he was found dead with gunshot wounds.

The National Bureau of Investigation has charged the policemen with murder for killing the teenager. The policemen maintain that Delos Santos fired a gun at the raiding team.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II described as “an isolated case” the killing of Delos Santos, which triggered a public outcry across the country including leaders of the Catholic Church. Thousands of people had joined protests seeking justice for his death as well as marched with the hearse to lay the victim to his final resting place.

According to non-profit Children’s Legal Rights and Development Centre, delos Santos was the 54th minor killed in Duterte’s war on drugs since last year.

“Kian’s case was not an isolated case; he was the 54th minor killed in the war on drugs,” the group said.

SEE ALSO: Philippines: Students, Catholic church protest over teenager’s drug war death

Protesters hold placards and lit candles at the wake of Kian Loyd delos Santos, a 17-year-old high school student, who was among the people shot dead last week in an escalation of President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, in Caloocan city, Metro Manila, Philippines August 21, 2017. Source: Reuters/Erik De Castro

Two days after delos Santos’ funeral, the President again told police they would not be punished for killing suspects who resist arrest, Zeid said.

The UN human rights chief also noted that EJKs in the Philippines have “become so widespread” as a result of the deadly campaign to eliminate drugs in the country.

Human Rights Watch has said that Duterte’s war on drugs so far claimed the lives of over 7,000 drug personalities, mostly from poor communities.

Zeid was not the only UN official who criticised the deadly war on drugs in the Philippines. Earlier, UN special rapporteur on EJKs Agnes Callamard also slammed Duterte for the bloody campaign to eliminate illegal drugs in the country.

“His (Duterte) order to police to shoot any human rights workers who ‘are part of’ the drug trade or who ‘obstruct justice’ is yet another blow to his country’s reputation and his people’s rights,” Zeid said.

During his speech early this week before UNHRC members, Zeid said he was also shocked by President Duterte’s threat to bomb schools for indigenous children in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.

SEE ALSO: Rohingya crisis a ‘textbook example’ of ethnic cleansing

A military helicopter flies government troops continue their assault on its 105th day of clearing operations against pro-IS militants who have seized control of large parts of Marawi city, southern Philippines September 4, 2017. Source: Reuters/Romeo Ranoco

Duterte said these schools were allegedly teaching children to rebel against the 

government. The President later clarified he will not harm the indigenous children and that only their schools will be destroyed for teaching subversive ideas.

The UN human rights chief also raised concern over the case of jailed Senator Leila de Lima, a fierce critic of Duterte. In March 2017, the European Parliament approved a resolution urging the release of the opposition senator, who was detained on drug-related charges.

Zeid also hit moves to restore the death penalty, particularly for drug offenses, as another “step back” for the Philippines.

The UN human rights boss’ criticisms on the human rights condition in the Philippines  have irked top Filipino government officials, including Foreign Affairs Secretary Cayetano.

Cayetano, who ran but lost as Duterte’s vice president in the 2016 elections, blasted Zeid for “having severely mischaracterised” the situation in the Philippines in his report to the human rights council.

“His (Zeid) report on the conduct of anti-drug operations was deliberate misinformation,” he said in a statement.

Philippine Senator Leila de Lima, who is detained on drug charges, gestures a “Laban” (Fight) sign inside a local court where she faces an obstruction of justice complaint in Quezon city, metro Manila, Philippines March 13, 2017. Source: Reuters/Romeo Ranoco

The official noted the Philippines has provided the UNHRC “with all the facts” regarding the campaign against illegal drugs during its report to the Third Cycle of the Universal Periodic Review [UPR] in May 2017.

“The commissioner’s report would have been balanced and accurate had he considered the information that we provided, instead of just relying on uncorroborated information,” the secretary said.

Cayetano issued the pronouncement even as he reiterated the commitment of the Philippines to continue constructively engaging the UN Human Rights Council.

“The Philippines has actively participated in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process, and was one of the first countries to undergo the review in 2008, having championed the establishment of the UPR process under the UN Human Rights Council Mechanism,” Cayetano stated.

According to Cayetano, the report he provided during the UPR Periodic Review emphasised Duterte’s directive “to fight the drug problem by all means that the law allows.”

SEE ALSO: Philippines police free to kill ‘idiots’ who resist arrest – Duterte

“The anti-illegal drug campaign should follow approved protocols to ensure the protection of human rights, and that any erring law enforcement agent would be investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law,.” said Cayetano, who led the Philippine delegation to the Third Cycle of the UPR in Geneva and presented the country report.

In Geneva, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations Maria Teresa Almojuela, responding to Zeid’s allegations, said “the practice of making highly-biased and sweeping generalisations, without due consideration of the facts on the ground, has no place in the Human Rights Council.”

“Like any country, the Philippines cannot and does not assert that it manages the challenges to human rights in a perfect manner, but the Philippine government, more than any party here, seeks justice and dignity for all Filipino people,” she said in a statement.

Room XX at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, where the UN Human Rights Council meets. Source: Flickr

Almojuela underscored that the Philippines “is a democratic country that strongly adheres to the rule of law, with well-established and institutionalised human rights, policies and programmes.”

“The Philippine Government investigates and prosecutes all credible allegations of human rights violations, including those perpetrated allegedly by state security forces,” Almojuela said in her statement at the 36th Human Rights Council General Debate.

“The UPR has shown our openness to constructive dialogue to continue to enhance and strengthen the protection and promotion of human rights in the country,” she added.

The UPR is a state-led process, which seeks to promote cooperation among UN member-states in further enhancing their respective national human rights policies and practices.