LITERARY festivals around the world have long attracted scores of visitors – inquisitive, worldly, and waiting to meet their favorite authors.
For instance, the Edinburgh International Book Festival – the biggest literary festival in the world – sees the historic Charlotte Square Gardens transformed into a tented village that welcomes upwards of 200,000 visitors each year. And it’s not just the locals who flock to the grounds; the festival has proven its global reach and manages to attract both readers and writers from the world over.
In Asia, the appeal of literary festivals is sometimes limited to avid readers or to those in the arts, and doesn’t yet draw mainstream interest. This could be attributed to many factors: a fragmented reading culture, restricted freedoms of speech, or a lack of funding and marketing.
Whatever the reasons may be, literary festivals in Asia should get more attention than they currently do, especially considering the region’s rich literature history and diverse make-up.
There are a few players in the region already helping the cause. The annual Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (UWRF) in Bali has grown to be one of Southeast Asia’s biggest events in the literary world owing to appearances by high-profile writers and the mainstream appeal of Bali.
This year’s edition of the UWRF – set to take place from Oct 25 to 29 – will feature celebrated crime novelist Ian Rankin, Canada’s breakthrough star Madeleine Thien, revered Indonesian journalists and novelists Seno Gumira Ajidarma and Leila S. Chudori, as well as
Indonesian novelist Eka Kurniawan signs a book for a fan at Ubud Writers and Readers Festival in 2016. Source: UWRF
Festival director Janet DeNeefe told Travel Wire Asia that Australia makes up the biggest market of international attendees at the festival. “Given the proximity to Australia and the nation’s love of reading and enthusiasm for writers’ festivals, that they make up almost half the foreign audience is entirely unsurprising,” she said.
“In the past few years we’ve seen a steady increase in attendees from Asean nations.
UWRF has put Ubud on the map not only for literature lovers – many of whom continue to make the pilgrimage year after year – but also for those eager to discover more about Indonesian and Balinese culture.”
On top of that, the festival has helped put Ubud put “on the map” given that 65 percent of attendees are international, and 83 percent of last year’s audience visited Ubud specifically for the event.
“The annual injection into the local economy – both in Ubud and throughout Bali – is something hundreds of hoteliers, restaurateurs and drivers anticipate every year,” DeNeefe said.
Ubud, approximately two hours from south Bali, is home to some of the best luxury hotels in the region, many of which capitalise on the area’s lush foliage.
Moving up north in the region, the George Town Literary Festival (GLTF) in Penang, Malaysia is the country’s pioneer literary festival and is supported and funded by the state government of Penang.
In this case, the festival attracts mostly locals, or what made up 90 percent of last year’s total attendees. Festival director Bernice Chauly told Travel Wire Asia: “The majority of our audiences are local and comprising of young people – students of literature especially, and people who are involved in the arts. I would say that less that 10 percent of our audiences are expats and tourists.”
Street art in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. Source: Joey Santini / Shutterstock
The festival was inaugurated in 2011 with only five writers, but this year’s events on Nov 24 to 26 will see 40 writers and poets from around the world. “This year is our biggest and most ambitious yet – we will have a Translators’ Rountable, panel discussions, book launches, readings, and at night, we will have a Festival Fringe for the first time. More than 50 events in three days,” Chauly said. Most events are free to the public.
The Penang government’s enthusiasm to fund the event is also a boon for the festival and Malaysia’s reading culture at large. Chauly said: “Not all state governments believe in this and are committed to investing in the arts. It takes an enlightened bureaucrat to understand that culture is a basic need in every society, and that literature and poetry is important to the quality of human life.”
In the vein of Chauly’s words, literary festivals are less about business and tourism than they are about encouraging discussions on politics, social issues, culture, and the arts.
Young people write messages at the Asean Literary Festival in Kota Tua in Jakarta, Indonesia, 6 August 2017. Source: Max Walden
The recent Asean Literary Festival (ALF) in Jakarta saw artists from across Southeast Asia converge in the tourist-heavy district of Kota Tua for four days to discuss everything from beat poetry and feminism to Wikileaks and the Iranian Revolution.
Contemporary issues battling the region including radicalism, blasphemy and persecution of minorities were hot topics as well. “Since the beginning, the festival aimed to promote a free and just society in Southeast Asia,” Indonesian novelist Okky Madasari told Asian Correspondent during the festival in August.
On top of tourism dollars and building a fundamental love of reading and writing, literary festivals prove to have a larger cause in the region – that is to contribute in shaping national paradigms and cultural intellect in an Asia that’s still grappling with its identity.
**This article was originally published on our sister website Travel Wire Asia.
Authorities say they will move Rohingya from 23 camps into new refugee zone near Cox’s Bazar close to Myanmar border
Rohingya carry belongings through muddy water in the refugee camp at Cox’s Bazar. Over 500,000 Rohingya have fled into Bangladesh since August. Photograph: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images
Friday 6 October 2017 Bangladesh on Thursday announced it would build one of the world’s biggest refugee camps to house all the 800,000-plus Rohingya Muslims who have sought asylum from violence in Myanmar.
A Bangladesh minister gave details of the mega camp as Myanmar’s army
blamed Rohingya militants for setting fire to houses in troubled Rakhine state in recent days to intensify the exodus of the Muslim minority across the border.
Bangladesh authorities plan to expand a refugee camp at Kutupalong near the border town of Cox’s Bazar to accommodate the Rohingya.
Seven-hundred-and-ninety hectares of land (2,000 acres) next to the existing Kutupalong camp were set aside last month for the new Rohingya arrivals. But as the number of newcomers has exceeded 500,000 – adding to 300,000 already in Bangladesh – another 400 hectares (1,000 acres) has been set aside for the new camp.
Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, minister for disaster management and relief, said all the Rohingya would eventually be moved from 23 camps along the border and other makeshift camps around Cox’s Bazar to the new zone.
“All of those who are living in scattered places ... would be brought into one place. That’s why more land is needed. Slowly all of them will come,” the minister said, adding families were already moving to the new site known as the Kutupalong extension.
The minister said two of the existing settlements have already been shut down.
This week Bangladesh reported 4,000-5,000 Rohingya were crossing the border eachday after a brief lull in arrivals, with 10,000 more waiting at the frontier.
The United Nations has praised Bangladesh’s “extraordinary spirit of generosity” in opening up its borders.
But UNICEF chief Anthony Lake and UN emergency relief coordinator Mark Lowcock said in an appeal for $430 million to provide aid that “the needs [of the Rohingya] are growing at a faster pace than our ability to meet them”.
“The human tragedy unfolding in southern Bangladesh is staggering in its scale, complexity and rapidity,” he said in a statement calling the Rohingya crisis “the world’s fastest developing refugee emergency”.
Rohingya who have made it to Bangladesh allege the spurt in arrivals follows a new campaign of intimidation by Myanmar’s army in parts of Rakhine which were still home to Muslim communities.
But the office of Myanmar army chief Min Aung Hlaing said blazes at seven houses in a Rohingya village in Buthidaung township early on Wednesday were started by “Einu”, an alleged militant from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA).
The refugee crisis erupted after ARSA raids on Myanmar police posts on 25 August prompted a brutal military backlash. The UN has said the Myanmar army campaign could be “ethnic cleansing” while military leaders have blamed the unrest on Rohingya.
Anxiety and depression caused by childhood bullying decreases over time, showing that children are able to recover, a study suggests.
The University College London study of 11,000 twins found anxiety problems were still present two years on, but had disappeared after five years.
It said minimising the effects of bullying in schools was very important.
Psychiatrists said bullying could have serious effects on young people's mental health for a long time.
The researchers, writing in JAMA Psychiatry, said the results showed the potential for resilience in children exposed to bullying.
Lessening effects
By surveying more than 11,000 twins at the age of 11, 14 and 16, researchers were able to look at the associations between bullying and mental health.
They said bullying was only partly to blame for the mental health problems experienced by bullied children but could cause:
anxiety
depression
hyperactivity
behavioural problems
Although, these effects lessened over time, 16-year-olds who had been bullied at the age of 11 were still more likely than those who had not to have paranoid thoughts and a tendency for their thoughts to become derailed, the study said.
Study author Jean-Baptiste Pingault, from the division of psychology and language sciences at UCL, said the findings offered a message of hope.
"Bullying certainly causes suffering, but the impact on mental health decreases over time, so children are able to recover in the medium term," he said.
And more needed to be done to help children who were bullied.
'In distress'
"In addition to interventions aimed at stopping bullying from happening, we should also support children who have been bullied by supporting resilience processes on their path to recovery, "Dr Pingault said.
"Our findings highlight the importance of continuous support to mental health care for children and adolescents."
Bernadka Dubicka, from the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said there were many reasons why young people developed mental health difficulties, and schools had a role to play.
"The good news is that some young people will recover from their difficulties," she said.
"However, it is vital that schools have whole-school bullying approaches to help tackle this problem, and also that we can provide adequate mental health services to support young people when they are in distress."
Children and young people needed access to specialist mental health professions who could provide the right services to meet their needs, Dr Dubicka added.
File photo: Sri Lankan troops in Mullaitivu in August 2017.
04Oct 2017
There is at least one Sri Lankan soldier for every two civilians living in the Mullaitivu, finds a new report by the Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research (ACPR) and People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL), detailing the intense militarisation in the northern district.
The report, entitled ‘Normalising the Abnormal: The Militarisation of Mullaitivu District’, accompanies an interactive online map illustrating the extent of militarisation in the district by documenting military structures and Buddhist viharas.
It found that there was a Sri Lankan military presence of at least 60,000 personnel among just over 130,322 civilians.
The figures indicate that 25% of the Sri Lankan Army is currently occupying a district with only 0.6% of the population of Sri Lanka, said a joint press release.
An interactive online map illustrating the extent of militarisation in Mullaitivu District.
In addition to the massive military presence in the region, the military is occupying approximately 30,000 acres of land it added.
“The military’s intrusion into all aspects of civilian life, including running pre-schools and farms and becoming one of the area’s biggest employers, ensures continued fear, harassment and repression of civic activism,” continued the press release.
“The shadow cast by the military in Mullaitivu District has become so engrained in the Tamil conscience that it has normalised this abnormal occupation and caused Tamil communities to internalise oppression from the security forces.”
“Only a serious and genuine effort at security sector reform and demilitarisation will lead to sustainable peace and stability,” the report concludes.
G Olivannan| TNN | Updated: Oct 4, 2017
As reputed indologist David Shulman, puts, "Tamil is one of the world's major languages, and the only South Asian language to have evolved continuously from a very ancient past while remaining a living contemporary language spoken by tens of millions of people. Its literary tradition is among the nest in human civilisation, encompassing marvellous love poetry, epic, philosophical texts, reflexive sciences of grammar, logic, and poetics, historiography, and an enormous religious literature."
The antiquity of the language whose richness still awes scholars is just one of the many reasons that have encouraged Tamils in the US to pitch for a permanent chair (professorship) for the language at the Harvard University. "Besides livelihood, the purpose of education is also to create an intelligent and civilised society, teach cultural values and develop scholars," says S T Sambandam, one of the initiators of the campaign, explaining the significance of such a chair to Tamils.
With institution of the chair estimated to cost around 6 million USD (`40 crore), the fundraising committee so far has just crossed the halfway mark, collecting close to 3 million USD.
"Being one of the classical languages, Tamil draws the interest of foreigners. The interest for the study of Sangam and other literary works has also grown in recent times. The demand for the study of Tamil would also facilitate translation of Tamil books into other world languages," says Soma Illangovan, who has been living in the US for the past 40 years.
With around 10,000 schools students currently studying Tamil as a second language in the US, Vijay Janakiraman, co-initiator of the Harvard Tamil chair campaign says the chair will encourage more students to take up Tamil, leading to a cascading effect on Tamil communities living across the world.
While raising funds for the chair is no joke, what keeps fund raising committee members going is the success story of the Tamil chair at the University of California in Berkeley. The chair was instituted in 1996 after Tamil communities in North America successfully raised 425,000 USD. Some of the major activities of the chair has been starting Tamil font encoding schemes and partly funding digitalisation of ancient literary works including those from the Sangam era. The chair also invites Tamil scholars from different parts of the world for lectures.
While Sambandam and Jayasankar have jointly contributed 1 million for the chair, major contributions have come from Tamils in Toronto and Canada and from NRIs in other communities. Tamil cinema personalities like Suriya, R Madhavan, Mysskin and GV Prakash Kumar too have done their bit.
Committee members, however, rue that no support has come from the Tamil Nadu government yet, although former chief minister J Jayalalitha had promised to contribute 50% of the required funds for the proposed chair.
They feel help should come without much delay. Lest the Harvard Tamil chair committee fails to raise the required funds before June 2018, the Harvard University would cancel the proposal for the chair.
The million dollar question is would the Tamil Nadu government pitch-in in time to fulfill Jayalalitha's commitment and the dreams of the Tamil diaspora.
I consider it a great privilege that I as the Leader of the Opposition have with the Hon .Prime Minister been able to move this Motion commemorating today’s sitting of Parliament as the 70th Anniversary of it’s first meeting.
The first meeting of Sri Lanka’s independent Parliament, was on the 14th October 1947 at Independence Square in Colombo, when the Duke of Gloucester acting on behalf of the Kingdom and the Government of the United Kingdom, the last of our Colonial Rulers, granted Sri Lanka then known as Ceylon, our independence, thus liberating us from foreign rule. We had been under foreign rule far more than 400 years, 443 years to be exact. You will permit me, Mr. Speaker to recall that as a young boy-I was personally present at Independence Square when Sri Lanka was granted her independence and that I watched that event with great pride .Our first Prime Minister Hon D S Senanayake received that instrument of independence on behalf of the People of Sri Lanka.
We were then a united people .All the people of Sri Lanka irrespective of ethnic or religious differences wanted independence from foreign rule. In fact the Jaffna Youth League voicing the sentiments of the Tamil people were not happy with Dominion status they wanted “Poorana Swaraj”, absolute independence.
We have in the past (70) years preserved democratic governance, through electoral processes though one must admit not completely without blemish. The truth must be acknowledged that electoral process alone cannot ensure democratic governance .Electoral process by themselves quite often serve to retain majoritariansm. Recognition and respect for pluralism are fundamental to the achievement of genuine democracy .Incipient steps towards respect and recognition of Pluralism by agreement between much respected Leaders of this country were unfortunately not implemented .Constitutions that were claimed to be autochthonous were no more than self-serving and did not in any way serve the needs of a pluralist society ,on the contrary they entrenched majoritariansm. We have had insurrections and long periods of armed conflict from which the whole Country and all it’s people have suffered greately.The worst victims have been the Tamil people who have long struggled for the preservation of their identity and dignity .Issues that were the cause of the armed conflict remain and need to be resolved .
We have all learnt many lessons, from the most, harmful situations that have prevailed in our Country .It would be a tragedy if in the name of Patriotism more exactly Pseudo Patriotism any one seeks to prolong these harmful situations.
It must be conceded that despite shortcomings the Country is more normal and peaceful now than it has been.
The Country is now engaged in several processes to create for the country a future devoid of conflict and violence, where issues are resolved through discussion and debate ,and on the basis of a substantial national consensus .This would mean that all the Sri Lankan people irrespective of their ethnic or religious differences in a united ,undivided indivisible Sri Lanka look upon Sri Lanka as their own Country ,and willingly become an integral part of the Sri Lankan nation, with a Sri Lankan identity.
It is that Mr. Speaker which will fulfill our wish for the prosperity development and further strengthening of democratic traditions, principles and the rule of Law in Sri Lanka as stated in our Motion. Today we are attempting to move towards being a united people in a united undivided and indivisible Country, I do not think that there can be any disagreement on that. If we want our Wish for Sri Lanka to succeed we need to unitedly work towards the achievement of that Goal.
– Speech made by Hon. Sampanthan in Parliament today to remark the occasion of the 70 year anniversary of the first independent Parliament of Sri Lanka.
The signing of the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord in 1987
By G. H. Peiris-October 4, 2017
Several articles by Dr. Dayan Jayatilleke published in The Island during the past few days indicate that he is very definitely the most articulate and, arguably, the most "intermestic" exponent of the notion of the '13th Amendment' (implemented more comprehensively than at present with all powers and functions referred to in its Ninth Schedule vested on Provincial Councils– PCs) being the constitutional via media that would ensure stability, good governance and interethnic harmony. Dr DJ is no doubt aware that, following the misguided curtailment of Presidential powers through the 19th Amendment of the Constitution in 2015, alongside the practice of foreign agents including diplomatic personnel bypassing the Colombo government in their transactions with the 'Northern PC' emerging an unofficial 'convention' in Sri Lanka's external relations, his prescription would actually entail the creation of a more autonomous network of PCs than envisioned at the promulgation of the 13th Amendment thirty years ago.
The third instalment of Dr. DJ's recent discourse on this subject (The Island, 21 September) is adorned with the maxim "Fugget aboutit" –borrowed from a display of machismo by a character in the Hollywood crime serial 'Miami Vice'. Contextually the maxim is an initial thematic thrust intended to persuade the readership that the 'Province verses District' dispute should be forgotten about because "…it is no longer a legitimate subject for debate". But thereafter he proceeds to argue passionately on the side of province-based devolution, implicitly equating all other viewpoints as representing the cardinal sin of 'unilateralism'. In an attempt replete with oracular assertions (woefully deficient in hard evidence)intended to reinforce his own submissions to this "illegitimate" debate, he makes a passing reference to the wisdom of Gautama the Buddha and Aristotle the Hellenic sage, and then broadcasts a haphazard scatter of mundane pronouncements and prescriptions by others such as SWRD Bandaranaike's "federal proposal" which was no more than a fledgling test-flight by a highly pedigreed young man in the late 1920s towards nationalist leadership; Joseph Stalin's demented pronouncement on the existence of a "common culture" among the innumerable nationalities enslaved in the gigantic Russian Empire of his time; Fidel Castro's supposedly profound thoughts on "healing the wounds" of unresolved' National Questions' in Sri Lanka and, believe it or not, in the 'African Horn'; JR Jayewardene's disclosure to the Editor of 'Lanka Guardian' which the veteran journalist did not consider worthy of mention anywhere in that journal; and Vijaya Kumaratunga's call (figuratively, no doubt) for "inter-communal marriage". Quite hilarious – please re-read it and enjoy, unless you wish to "Fugget about it".
Following a brief interval thereafter The Island of 25 September carried what could well be Dr DJ's first salvo at two of his critics in which there is an elaboration of his earlier reference to the well-known "Middle Path" enunciated in Buddha Dhamma, and a solemn exposition of the "Mervin Doctrine" (no toothless grins please, you old 'College House 'fogies). Both these are intended to lead us along his "Middle Path", and to terrorise us with an apocalyptic spectre which any deviation from that path would ensue, specifically: "… ceaseless satyagrahas in the North and East …triggering a global media tsunami of denunciation, resulting in an Indo-US response against which China is too far away to defend us, should it be so inclined". In responding to this exhibition of both multicultural erudition – a breath-taking range from Anguttara Nikaya to Peloponnesian Wars – as well as poignant filial devotion, should we, with all the gentility at our disposal, tiptoe away in respectful silence or, alternatively, shouldn't we point out that the wisdom of remaining in the 'Middle Path', especially in political affairs, depends vitally on the destination to which the path leads and the nature of what lies beyond its lateral peripheries – i.e. the options? Shouldn't we also whisper that even those with an elementary awareness of the history of our country do not need a sanctified "Mervyn Doctrine" to appreciate, from contemporary geopolitical perspectives, the island's locational hazards?
The late Mervyn de Silva, we are aware, was a highly gifted journalists who (among other things) seldom lost his inimitable sense of humour, and an author of several erudite scholarly works on international affairs, especially of Southeast Asia. Yet attempting, as Dr DJ has done, to underscore Sri Lanka's geopolitical "helplessness"on the basis of what de Silva had written several decades ago, and highlight it as a criterion of decisive relevance to the current desultory but potentially disastrous exercises in constitutional reform is tantamount to a gross misrepresentation of the geopolitical transformations that have occurred in the Indo-Pacific Region since that time ̶in particular, the emergence of China as a global superpower, and China's increasingly formidable presence in the Indian Ocean maritime fringe and the Himalayan periphery of South Asia in the face of intense resentment especially on the part of the ephemeral Indo-US confluence of interests, and the salience of that transformation to the options available to Sri Lanka in the exercise of its rights of national self-determination.
In short, there is no need whatever to regard our country's proximity to India as a karmic determinant that impels us to remain subservient to the constitutional demands made by (or backed by) the very forces – domestic and international – that had overtly or covertly nurtured the thirty-year Eelam War, and have persisted with their efforts to destabilize Sri Lanka after the battlefield defeat of the LTTE in 2009.
The last item in the list of extracts from the 'Mervyn Doctrine' cited by Dr DJ states: "Through effective de-centralisation of power and resources devolved to Provincial Councils it may be possible to head off the next threat … the devolution of power should be matched by new economic growth areas". In my view the relevance to this extract to the present debate stems mainly from the fact that even in Mervyn de Silva's capricious mind there was a distinct reservation regarding the capacity of province-based devolution to counteract the "next threat" (which presumably he perceived as a Delhi-led territorial dismemberment of Sri Lanka). Remember, this segment of his foresight was offered in 1993 by which time the 'North-East Province'̶ a territorial entity of 'regional', rather than 'provincial' devolution based on the myth of an "exclusive, traditional, Tamil homeland" in Sri Lanka, epitomised in the LTTE banner and/or a component of a future state in the Indian federation no doubt as desired by Delhi. Further, despite the fiasco of unilateral declaration of independence by the elected Chief Minister, Vardaraja Perumal, of its short-lived PC,(no joke if a similar stunt is performed now – US, UK and India will probably rush to recognise Eelam as a 'sovereign nation') it had become more or less a permanent fixture, and remained as such for almost twenty years until a group of eminent lawyers persuaded the Supreme Court that its continued existence was unconstitutional. Mervyn De Silva's reservation appears to indicate that he was conscious of the risk which the devolutionary arrangement of the '13th A' entailed.
There was another doyen of comparable eminence in his profession, the late H. L. de Silva, whose perception of that risk is succinctly presented in the following passage (Sri Lanka: A Nation in Conflict – Threat to sovereignty, territorial integrity, democratic governance and peace, 2008): p. 122.)
"While being cognizant of the dangers of federalism in a political soil conducive to separatism it must not be assumed that there are no dangers in the grant of over generous measure of autonomy to peripheral units under a system of devolution, because devolution can in the long run contribute to the upsurge of centrifugal forces that eventually lead to secession and the breakup of the State. The introduction of devolution in the context of a political ethos that is prone to separatism must not be embarked upon recklessly without due care and caution.
That these nuggets of wisdom from the two De Silva’s do not represent either 'unilateralism 'from an 'intermestic' perspective or a rejection of devolution as a modality of power-sharing from 'domestic' perspectives is made evident by another fragment of the 'Mervyn Doctrine' which Dr DJ has not cited verbatim but has glossed over with a hazy comment. That reads as follows: "Does this (the aforementioned locational adjacency to India) mean that a small nation must necessarily be subservient to its big neighbour, that it cannot pursue a policy independent of its big neighbour, or even hostile to its neighbour? Not at all. It can. But it must recognize and be ready to face the consequences of such a hostile relationship. We have a perfect example in Cuba, with whom we can draw parallels" (see, Colombo Telegraph of 23 June 2013). In my own chinthanaya, the much maligned Pakistan has also accomplished that against all odds for seven decades vis-à-vis its Kashmir policy (despite losing its absurd "Eastern Wing" in 1971),abandoning the US-led SEATObefore it became defunct since 1977, and consolidating its strategic linksbeyond the mighty Karakorum Range. That Mahinda Rajapaksa achieved for Sri Lanka the "impossible" of liberating the 'Northeast' must also be placed at a similar plane.
If somebody wants to speak on the left, it is not sufficient, politically speaking, to go through merely Marxist philosophy, its ideology and its method of economy. It is an attitude and a belief in all that is best in humanity; as given in Russian literature it makes a woman or man give the best to the society, but expect the minimum from the society.
We are told, all that will enhance and ennoble the dignity and worth of each and every human being. We can go on; the left always stands for the equality of all, justice for all and universal (sisterhood/brotherhood) fraternity.
For the true leftist 'Common Good' is the primary concern, always taking priority over his personal privileges, perks or profits. However, in the recent past in Sri Lanka, leftists got divided on the question of minority rights. Many giants of the left could not stomach the right of self determination of Tamils and became slaves of fascistic rulers.
A true leftist is never satisfied with the 'status quo' as long as a single poverty ridden, oppressed person is found in the society in his surroundings. Oppression could be social or national; a leftist should be able to recognize national oppression before he is conscious of social repression. A sincere leftist is a woman/man full of Maithree and kindness, not only for her/his fellow human beings, but for all living beings, flora and fauna and even the inanimate planet earth, our common home.
Unfortunately the anti-SAITAM movement is full of leftists who cannot show any kindness to students struggling to study in the private sector simply because they have no space in the State-owned medical colleges. Rathana Sadu says a true and a sincere leftist, even though s/he may call herself/himself an atheist, is a hidden but an authentic Buddhist, a genuine Christian, a true Hindu or a true Muslim.
Father Peiris says a genuine leftist may not be perfect but s/he is a full human being. He is ready to sacrifice anything, even his life, for the good of the people, the common good. He is a humble man who is ready to set aside his personal views or ideas for the sake of serving the people better. He has no disgusting love for position, power or perks. All that may be true, but many leftists failed to recognize the tragedy faced by Tamils when Sinhala only started dominating the society. Father Peiris goes on to say: "If you accept as true the description given above of a good and a committed leftist, I'm sure what follows logically from that will also be acceptable to those who are genuinely concerned about our country and its future. I am addressing all people of goodwill, but especially the members of political parties and organizations that call themselves leftists. I certainly do not include the SLFP among them, though they pretend to be leftist, as the present day party leadership and its members are mere crooks, who have no interest at all in the welfare of the people or the country, and are in cahoots with the UNPers and their robber barons."
What's wrong with the left movement?
The left movement of our country has, as a whole, lost more than 80% of its credibility just by the fact that it is divided into so many political parties and organizations. It is pathetic to consider how small, weak and ineffective these many leftist entities are.
These divisions and enmities send a message of their small mindedness, their unconcern for the welfare of the people and the country. Yes, these great leftists today became small women and men because they joined with racists under the pretext of patriotism or anti-imperialism. Truth is they have become followers of Sinhala Buddhist chauvinists. In the course of that campaign they have become selfish sectarians or extremists. Only those who accepted the rights of the Tamil speaking people are capable of making a positive contribution in the present situation.
Families of Tamil political prisoners have called for the TNA to pressure the Sri Lankan government and secure the rapid release of the political prisoners.
Protesting outside the ITAK head office in Jaffna on Tuesday, the families said that since the TNA is so supportive of the Sri Lankan government they should be doing more to pressure them on the issue of Tamil political prisoners.
At the end of the protest a petition addressed to TNA and Opposition leader R. Sampanthan was handed to ITAK’s administrative secretary, S. X. Kulanayagam.
The families of political prisoners said that if the TNA leadership did not obtain a solution by October 7, they would then protest continuously outside the ITAK office.
With the cases of Tamil political prisoners ongoing at Vavuniya High Court, the Sri Lankan government has been attempting are attempt to move these cases to the Anuradhapuram court, which the detainees themselves have strongly opposed.
Three Tamils detained in Anuradhapuram prison have been hunger striking against the attempts, with the health of one detainee reported to be severely deteriorating.
SRI LANKA’s government since 2015 was elected on a promise of a new constitution that would find a solution to the country’s national problems.
On Sept 21, 2017, the Steering Committee of the Constitutional Assembly presented its report on the new constitution to Parliament proposing the devolution of power within a unitary state.
This proposal is far short of what the Tamils have asked for. The question is: will the proposals be a step towards resolving the national question, or simply be an enabler to repeat the grievances which led the country to 30 years of civil war?
At the election in 2015, the three biggest parties in parliament today: the United National Party (UNP), the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) promised a new constitution. But the vision for that constitution was not uniform.
The UNP and UPFA manifestoes unequivocally rejected a federal constitution. The TNA, on the other hand, asked voters to support its demand for a constitution based on shared sovereignty: “Power sharing arrangements must continue to be established as it existed earlier in a unit of a merged Northern and Eastern Provinces based on a Federal structure.”
These power-sharing arrangement refer to an elected central government in Colombo – which has traditionally had overwhelming Sinhala-Buddhist majorities – sharing power with the nine elected provincial councils. Of the nine, only the North has a Tamil majority, while the Tamil-speaking Muslims and Tamil constitute a majority in the Eastern Province. The focus of the TNA’s proposals is the Northern and Eastern provinces.
Hindu festival in Nainativu Nagapooshani Amman Temple on Feb 2, 2013 in Sri Lanka. Source: Natalia Davidovich / Shutterstock
The Steering Committee’s report of 2017 does not propose a federal state and has created questions among the Tamil population. TNA Leader R. Sampanthan to assuage these questions, while accepting the steering committee’s report in 2017 said:
“We must not be hanging on to words like federalism. In many countries across the world, power is shared without any name [given to the arrangement].”
But the issue goes much further than mere nomenclature. The Tamils demanded federalism to ensure access to political power. But the proposals, although in some ways reining in the central government’s reach by restricting the provincial governor’s authority, will continue to retain enormous power that will deter the Tamils and Muslims from controlling even internal matters of the northern and eastern provinces. A brief look at three issues – policy-making, land and public security – will illustrate how the Centre will retain power.
Under the current constitution, the provision that the national government shall set “National Policy on all Subjects and Functions” irks provincial policy-makers, especially from the North and East. They see this provision enabling the central government to interfere in the internal affairs of the provinces.
In the proposed constitution, the Steering Committee recommends that the cabinet of ministers of the central government make national policy. While the proposals go on to state that “national policy shall not override statutes enacted by the provinces on devolved subjects coming within their competence,” and should not “take back powers already devolved to the provinces,” there is a caveat. National policy could override provincial policy if enacted as part of national legislation “according with constitutional provisions.”
The proposals do not specify what these constitutional provisions are. However, from what can be gleaned from the proposals, it appears to be a two-third majority of parliament, of an upper chamber and probably a referendum. The Steering Committee has proposed an upper chamber, but there is nothing either in its powers or composition that appear to guarantee that it can prevent discriminatory legislation against the provinces.
Therefore the Steering Committee’s proposals use a tortuous path to achieve the same ends as the present constitution: using the central government majorities to stifle even minimal power-sharing with the provinces.
The Steering Committee’s proposals on provincial land also appear benign in the beginning, but do little to loosen the Centre’s grip on the provinces. The proposal has to be seen in the context of the protests in the North and East demanding that private land now occupied by the military be given back to the owners. There is also widespread disenchantment that the government sponsors settlement of Sinhalese in Tamil and Muslim-majority areas to skew existing demographics and change parliamentary representation.
The Steering Committee’s proposals on provincial land give priority to settle the landless of the province in land settlement schemes. That is well and good. But it is after the new constitution comes into effect. Those in “lawful possession or occupation” of land on provincial soil immediately before the new constitution comes into effect will continue possession of their land. What is more, land allotment not completed in provincial land development schemes “shall be according to the criteria that applied to such schemes prior to the commencement of the Constitution.”
Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe looks as Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena speaks during the “Vision 2025” future plans of Sri Lanka launching ceremony in Colombo, Sri Lanka September 4, 2017. Source: Reuters/Dinuka Liyanawatte
These provisions will ensure that the new constitution does not halt the government’s pernicious efforts to effect demographic change and thereby the configuration of political power.
The Steering Committee’s proposals also permit the government to acquire land “reasonably” required by the Centre. Similarly, land needed for national security can be “taken over” by the government. Incidentally, there is no mention of compensation.
The third issue is public security. The Steering Committee states that “if the provincial administration “is promoting armed rebellion or engaging in intentional violation of the constitution” the president can assume the powers of the provincial governor, chief minister and board of ministers. However, these measures will be subject to parliamentary approval and judicial review.
This degree of central control of an elected sub-unit can be seen as acceptable where power is devolved under a unitary constitution. But if it is a federal constitution, a president will have to at least consult the elected chief minister before exercising those powers.
There has been considerable applause in the Steering Committee’s inclusion of the words Sri Lanka “would be undivided and indivisible” as a measure to prevent a public security issue as when North-East Province Chief Minister A. Varatharajaperumal announced universal declaration of independence in 1990. But there is a downside to bypass consulting or working with an elected chief minister on public security. Northern Province Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran has repeatedly censured the military’s presence and interference with civic life in the province. But since he is constitutionally barred from working on such matters, civilians in the North and East bear the brunt of a militarised society. The Steering Committee’s proposals will only perpetuate this problem.
The above three examples attest to an obvious gap between what the TNA promised the Tamil people in 2015 and the Steering Committee proposals it has accepted in 2017. An argument for the party’s stance is that political realism dictates it. The Federal Party, which was negotiating the 1972 constitution on behalf of the Tamils when it withdrew from the Constituent Assembly, was to unleash a series of events that ended in 30 years of bloodshed.
But on the other hand, if the spirit of the proposed new constitution is unable to prevent the calamities that are befalling the Tamils and Muslims under the present one, what is the worth of such a document?
At the same meeting where he advised Tamils not to hang on to words like federalism, Sampanthan said, “We (TNA) won’t sell out the Tamil people. We will not pawn our people’s rights…”
If the TNA is sincere about not selling out Tamil interests it needs to renegotiate the constitutional proposals with the other parties. Otherwise, it will be a betrayal of the Tamil people’s trust.
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In short, there is no need whatever to regard our country's proximity to India as a karmic determinant that impels us to remain subservient to the constitutional demands made by (or backed by) the very forces – domestic and international – that had overtly or covertly nurtured the thirty-year Eelam War, and have persisted with their efforts to destabilize Sri Lanka after the battlefield defeat of the LTTE in 2009.
