Undetected high blood pressure found in new mums

Blood pressure machines are used at home to monitor blood pressure over a 24-hour period

5 February 2018

Women with severe pre-eclampsia should have their blood pressure closely monitored for a year after giving birth because high blood pressure can remain undetected, a new study suggests.

It found high blood pressure "often goes unnoticed because women may have normal blood pressure readings" in the doctor's surgery.

The Dutch study of 200 women found 17.5% had masked hypertension.

Their blood pressure was much higher when it was monitored at home.

The study found if only the in-clinic readings were used, doctors would have missed 56% of the women with high blood pressure.

The study also found that 46% of the women had an insufficient decrease in blood pressure from daytime to night time, which is unhealthy.

Night-time hypertension, which increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and death, affected 42.5% of women in the study.

Study author Laura Benschop, MD, a researcher in obstetrics and gynaecology at Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, said:

"Our findings suggest women who have high blood pressure during pregnancy should continue to monitor their blood pressure long after they've delivered their babies. It's not only important to monitor blood pressure in the doctor's office, but also at different times of the day and night, at home.

"We've shown here that high blood pressure comes in many forms after pregnancy. Women who know their numbers can take the proper steps to lower their blood pressure and avoid the health consequences of high blood pressure later in life."

'Shocking' reading

Katharine Jenner, from the charity Blood Pressure UK, said the study was "shocking" reading because it was well established that women with pre-eclampsia are more likely to have high blood pressure post-pregnancy.

"So the fact that over half of cases are being missed just a year after giving birth is quite shocking, as we know GPs are looking out for it.

"The results of this small study should encourage all women who have had pre-eclampsia to help out their GP by using a blood pressure monitor at home and trying to gauge a true reflection of their blood pressure."

The study is published in the American Heart Association's journal Hypertension

Dr Philip Lewis who runs a maternity blood pressure clinic at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust said it was a "very significant" and "important" study.

A member of the British and Irish Hypertension Society, he hopes to immediately introduce 24-hour blood pressure monitoring for women in his clinic, a year after giving birth.

He says the study shows that if "you just measure in a clinic you may be falsely reassured".

"Masked hypertension is the most dangerous of all as you've been reassured all is well so you don't bother to do anything about it and nor does anyone else because you don't think your blood pressure is there."

But he said it was actually producing a strain on the heart and blood vessels which women could pay a price for later on.

"The ultimate bottom line is if everybody who has severe pre-eclampsia would have a 24-hour blood pressure test a year later, a lot of the risk might be identified for the future and, if dealt with appropriately, prevent it."

What is pre-eclampsia?

• Pre-eclampsia is a disorder which appears in the late stages of pregnancy and is characterised by high blood pressure and excess protein in the urine.
• Mild pre-eclampsia affects up to 6% of pregnancies, and severe cases develop in about 1-2% of pregnancies.
• Although many cases are mild, the condition can lead to serious complications for both mother and baby if it's not monitored and treated.
• It's the leading cause of mother and child death worldwide, so treatment and monitoring is vital to avoid serious complications.
• The only way to cure pre-eclampsia is to deliver the baby, so you'll usually be monitored regularly until it's possible for your baby to be delivered.

Prof Basky Thilaganathan, consultant obstetrician and spokesperson for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said more tests in larger groups of women, who didn't all have high blood pressure before pregnancy, were needed to confirm the findings.

Christopher Allen, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: "Although guidance is already in place, it's possible that the way we screen for high blood pressure in these women could be improved.

"Anyone who has been diagnosed with pre-eclampsia during their pregnancy should be followed up by their GP to keep an eye on their blood pressure."

Police attempt to stop Keppapilavu families from holding black flag protest

04Feb 2018

Sri Lankan police officers tried to stop families in Keppapilavu who have been holding a continuous protest against land occupation by the military, from marking Sri Lanka's Independence Day with black flags. 

The families who have been protesting for 339 days today, carried black flags and placards condemning the celebration of 'Independence Day' whilst they said Tamils were denied their freedom. "We detest it and we oppose it," the families said. 

As they attempted to hold a demonstration in front of the Keppapilavu army base, Sri Lankan police officers ordered them to stop. The army closed the main road going towards Keppapilavu after protesters refused to stop their demonstration.

Sri Lanka celebrated its 70th Independence Day today with military parades in Colombo, as well in Jaffna. A number of Tamil organisations have condemned the celebration, opting to mark the day with black flags instead. 

Related Articles: 

04 February 2018 : Tamil Diaspora orgs mark Sri Lanka's independence day with letter to UN calling for international commitment to justice

04 February 2018 : Sri Lanka's military in Jaffna celebrates Independence Day

70 Years of Independence | Praviinaa Raviraj

GROUNDVIEWS-02/04/2018

What does it mean to be Sri Lankan?

70 years after independence, our identity is defined mostly along majoritarian lines, which can be traced back to the divisions created under British rule. These divisions have contributed to violence and war, in the years since 1948.

To this day, there are communities who feel that what is commonly projected and defined as the Sri Lankan identity does not reflect their reality, or themselves.

Looking at this, Groundviews produced a series of videos exploring identity and belonging in a country emerging from war, but not yet out of conflict.

Praviinaa Raviraj reflects on the importance of learning from the mistakes of the past. She talks about the extra effort that Tamil people have to make to integrate, often by learning Sinhalese. She details the struggle that her father, the late Nadarajah Raviraj, experienced due to the restrictive Sinhala Only Act of 1956.

To view the trailer from this series, click here.

The Tamil Left and Reflection

2018-02-05

With Independent Sri Lanka having reached the age of 70, it cannot reconstruct itself without self-criticism. As we live under the shadow of the twin forces of Sinhala Buddhist and Tamil nationalism, where will the impetus for such self-criticism come from? I find a flicker of hope with the emergence of reflective writings by Tamil leftists.  
After democratic regime change three years ago, there are many reconciliation initiatives, but little fundamental rethinking about our past. Much of such reconciliation talk is limited to superficial donor or state funded initiatives and NGOised forums and events, which rarely challenge the world views of the people. Those initiatives seem to be more concerned about South Africa – often with flawed perceptions of the success there, without realising the deep inequalities that exclude and undermine the Black population – than our own past. For decades before January 2015, democratic space for serious social reflection was not present with the insurgencies, war and then an authoritarian regime, but what excuse do we have now? In this article, I draw from Tamil dissent, particularly in Jaffna, to begin thinking about our past and future.   

Tamil public sphere  

There is a long progressive tradition of Lankan Tamil writings that reaches back to the Jaffna Youth Congress in the 1920s, to the writings of leftists and oppressed caste writers in subsequent decades and the effervescence of youth writings in the 1970s and 1980s. Many of the younger generation of progressive Tamil writers met a tragic fate with armed politics, and particularly as the LTTE purged dissent. The early and powerful critic of Tamil militancy, Kovinthan who wrote Puthiyathor Ulagam (New World) in 1984, disappeared years later. Young Tamil feminist poets in the late 1980s were silenced; Selvy disappeared and Sivaramani committed suicide. Sabalingam who sought to write a critical book on the rise of Tamil militancy was gunned down in Paris. While I focus here on dissent and its repression within the Tamil political fold, many other writers and journalists were targeted by state agencies and other armed groups.   
During the war, in the face of the powerful march of Tamil nationalism and ruthless suppression of dissent by the LTTE, the courageous writings of the University Teachers of Human Rights (Jaffna), whose co-founder Rajani Thiranagama was assassinated, stand out. But their writings for the most part were in English. The Tamil media for decades cowed down to the demands of the LTTE and eventually internalised narrow Tamil nationalism. Dissident writings in Tamil, increasingly were limited to certain smaller diasporic organisations such as the Illakiya Chandippu (Tamil literary forum), which met regularly for decades in different European cities.   
A number of works including critical memoirs by former militants from the different movements including the LTTE have been published in the last decade and a half, first in the West and after the war in Sri Lanka. However, broader progressive and critical discussions in Jaffna have been limited with the stranglehold of Tamil nationalist discourse in the public sphere. Even though the fear of the gun has subsided, the fear of ostracised isolation continues, with many Tamil writers toeing the nationalist line and avoiding public criticism of the LTTE.   

"After democratic regime change three years ago, there are many reconciliation initiatives, but little fundamental rethinking about our past."

Rethinking History  

For the small groups of leftists in Jaffna, and they are not necessarily united, reflections on the legacy of major local and global historical events have triggered some vibrant discussions. October 2016 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the launch of the anti-caste struggles in Jaffna by the Communist Party, making a major dent on untouchability. Last year marked the 100th year since the Bolshevik Revolution and 150 years since the publication of Karl Marx’s magnum opus Capital.   
Reflections on such historical developments and an urge to address the past including an evaluation of the work of the left movement, have led to the publications of two important books over the last year. S. K. Senthivel’s Vaddukottaiyil Irunthu Mullaitivu Warai (From Vaddukottai to Mullaitivu) and N. Raveendran’s Saathi Samuha Varalaattril Varkka Porattangal (Class Struggles in a Caste Social History), take as their starting point the launch of the October 1966 anti-caste struggles to discuss the challenges facing left politics today. 
And after decades of the Tamil left being silenced by armed politics, these are welcome works that explore Tamil politics through a critique of Tamil nationalism and an examination of the crisis facing the left movement globally.  
Senthivel addresses Tamil politics giving importance to conjuncture in the 1970s that culminated in the disastrous Vaddukottai resolution. The response of the Tamil nationalists to their electoral defeats in the election of 1970, the repression of the JVP uprising and the impact of India’s intervention in the formation of Bangladesh, he claims are some of historical developments that he contributes towards the consolidation of Tamil nationalism. Senthivel is not only a writer but also the General Secretary of the New Democratic Marxist Leninist Party, and in chronicling the political history that led to the tragedy of Mullivaikal, he is also writing it through the lens of his party and their work. Furthermore, his work is also in many ways an intervention to redirect Tamil politics away from the hold of narrow Tamil nationalism. 

"A number of works including critical memoirs by former militants from the different movements including the LTTE have been published in the last decade and a half"

It is significant that his book was launched last year amidst a major struggle by the oppressed caste communities in Jaffna demanding the removal of upper caste cemeteries adjoining their villages.  
Raveendran’s work addresses the challenges facing left politics globally over the last many decades, but begins from the vantage point of the anti-caste struggles in Jaffna in the 1960s. He defines history as a discussion of contemporary times with the past, and relates the current challenges facing the global left to a critique of identity politics, including in their ethno-nationalist form. One of the central arguments in his work is that the success of the anti-caste struggles was based on uniting various actors and forces including sections of the upper castes towards overthrowing caste social structure and transforming social relations. In this context, it is also an indictment of Tamil nationalism for having isolated the Tamil community through an increasingly narrow and exclusionary Tamil politics.  
Breaking the Silence  
I raised some critical questions at the book discussions of both works in Jaffna, in particular whether it is possible to conceive a progressive nationalism in contemporary times; where I see all nationalism including a Lankan nationalism in our times to be regressive. Regardless of such questions, both authors have done a great service in breaking the silence on caste that has excluded and oppressed large sections of the Tamil community, and is consolidating in the post-war years. Furthermore, both works have put forward a challenge to the opportunistic politics of Tamil nationalists that refuse to critically examine legacy of the LTTE and what went wrong with Tamil politics.   
Both works are being discussed in many parts of the country. I hope the books will reach a younger audience, and encourage others to write such critical political and social histories as a process of much needed self-criticism to reconstruct Tamil society. It is youth, particularly younger women, conceptualising and struggling against the intersection of caste and gender oppression that may reinvigorate Tamil politics, if we are to draw on political writings from other parts of South Asia.   
These works through translations and discussions should reach the Sinhala and Muslim readers. Progressive forces in the South, if they are serious about co-existence and social justice, should engage such discussions propelled by the Tamil left rather than mollycoddle the Tamil nationalists, who in the end only reinforce the Sinhala Buddhist nationalism. Self-criticism and reflection are at the core of not only reconstructing our society but also the progressive movements that want to take up that challenge.   

Diplomacy: US state Secretary’s Remarks on Sri Lanka’s Independence Day

In 2015, Sri Lankan voters chose a new government that pledged transparency, reconciliation, and accountability.

The following press statement issued by Rex W. Tillerson, Secretary of State, The United States

(February 5, 2018, Washington, DC, Sri Lanka Guardian) On behalf of the Government of the United States of America, I offer congratulations to the people of Sri Lanka on the 70th anniversary of your independence.

This year also marks the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and Sri Lanka. Our nations share common goals as fellow democracies both working to uphold universal principles and freedoms. As we reaffirmed during the second annual U.S.-Sri Lanka Partnership Dialogue last November, we are committed to promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

In 2015, Sri Lankan voters chose a new government that pledged transparency, reconciliation, and accountability. We look forward to even greater progress on these areas in the coming year, along with increased peace, prosperity, and further growth in our bilateral relations.

Best wishes to Sri Lankans of all ethnicities and religions as you celebrate this historic Independence Day.

Caged Independence

By Thamil Venthan Ananthavinayagan –February 4, 2018

Introduction

The cherished Maya Angelou wrote once in her famous poem ‘Caged Bird’:

[T]he caged bird sings   

 

with a fearful trill   

of things unknown   

but longed for still   

and his tune is heard   

on the distant hill   

 

for the caged bird   

sings of freedom.

Freedom. That is what one associates with independence. Freedom from alien subjugation, domination and exploitation. Christian List and Laura Valentini write in a recent paper that freedom must be understood as ‘[i]ndependence. Like republican freedom, it demands the robust absence of relevant constraints on action. Unlike republican, and like liberal freedom, it is not moralized’.

My beloved father remembered very well that he, born in 1943, had to observe the flag ceremony in his early childhood when he went to nursery. He had to sing ‘God Bless the King’ and salute the Union Jack. Sri Lankans sang the British national anthem even after ‘independence’, until it was replaced by a Sinhala text in the 1950s. My father, however, never understood the concept of paying respect to a foreign flag and an old white man who warmed the throne in a distant palace – only then being replaced by a flag that shows a lion holding the sword towards the green and orange stripes (which represent the Tamil and Muslim) minorities and a Sinhala national anthem. Early moments in his childhood and youth determined his fate to become Vannai Ananthan.

I, as his son, gaze at this island now. As Sri Lanka celebrates its 70^th Independence Day today, on the 4^th of February 2018, I wonder: did the country and its people, however, really attain independence on that day and ever after? Did all the people living in Sri Lanka become truly independent, empowered and sovereign citizens? I will explore and explain here that Sri Lanka gained formalised independence in 1948, only to be the eventual springboard for the elaboration of a Sinhala nation state. The Soulbury Constitution, the country’s first post-colonial constitution with poor human rights protection, was a document drafted by the British to suit the country’s elite.  Dr. Harshan Kumarasingham ascertains:

[I]n contrast to the fissiparous tensions that characterised the colonial experience in India, the small island of Sri Lanka seemed to gently and courteously accomplish its own independence with the minimum of fuss on 4 February 1948. (…) In fact many ‘dignified’ elements of British culture remained. ‘God Save the King’ was retained as the National Anthem, the Union Jack flew next to the Lion flag on public buildings, Imperial Honours were still bestowed, Sri Lankan debutantes were still presented at Buckingham Palace – and there were also key personnel who stayed in their posts and thus ensured a smooth and reassuring transition.

The 4^th of February is the enabling moment of Sinhala majoritaranism

D.B.S. Jeyaraj writes that ‘[T]he modern Ceylonese nation itself was a colonial construct. It was the British who integrated different territories under their control into a single entity and set up a unified administration for the country.’ This is indeed true. The Kandyan Convention 1815 laid the groundwork for the country as we know it today. The 4^th of February 1948 and the transition of power to the privileged few, however, was an early chapter in the Sinhala nation state creation. D.S. Senanayake became the chosen one to lead the country. He, I argue, is unfairly attributed by Sir Charles Jeffries to be the incomparable statesman and navigator. He wrote in his book ‘Ceylon – the Path to Independence’ that it was the trust the British put in Senanayake to craft a common nation, home to all. This was a naïve, if not a reckless assumption. It was the same the D.S. Senanayake who oversaw the Gal Oya Scheme that initiated the colonization of Tamil lands and it was the same D.S. Senayake who was part of the country’s first inter-ethnic riots between the Sinhala and Muslims in 1915. Dr. Harshan Kumarasingham explains further that:

[S]ri Lanka’s elite operated British institutions in an anachronistic eighteenth-century manner such as in having a patronage based Cabinet dominated by its prime ministerial leader/patron rather than by collegial attitudes or values. The weakness of party institutionalisation and the ambiguity in the constitutional arrangements laid the foundations for future political conflict and marginalisation of segments of society.

However, I argue that the 4^th of February was only the springboard to build a Sinhala-Buddhist ethnocratic nation state order. Sri Lanka’s process of becoming a Sinhala nation state was a process in the making, starting with the Citzenship Act 1948, rendering Indian Tamils stateless. The previous constitutions of the country, in particular the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission and the Donoughmore Constitution (despite all their progressive facets) formalised identities and entrenched suspicion among communal lines. Sinhala-Buddhism ideology was exploited for the furtherance and entrenchment of political power. As Kumari Jayawardena asserts:

Read More

Constant Tug of War

Editor’s Note: This piece was submitted as part of an ongoing series marking 70 years of Independence.




SINDU SIVAYOGAM-on 02/04/2018

Independence Day is marked with military parades and empty rhetoric on peace. The Sri Lankan State continues to exercise power, profiting from political instability, disenfranchisement and control over Tamil bodies and land in the North-East through militarisation and its intrusion into all aspects of daily life. There is no true freedom or independence felt here, only a constant threat.

Facing the brunt of this occupation openly and in the privacy of their own homes are Tamil women. Women are leading protests across the North-East to find answers about their disappeared loved ones. Many of these women have been on the roadside protesting for almost a year, resulting in trauma and the deterioration of their physical and mental health.

They do this despite military intimidation. A step towards sustainable peace would be concrete and genuine action by the Sri Lankan government to release the list of names of the disappeared, to establish a credible and effective Office on Missing Persons, and a strong commitment to serious security sector reform and demilitarisation.

To view a video series featuring voices around Independence, click here. 

Noxious political actors and an election that is uninspiring

Sunday, February 04, 2018

As furious competition for votes in the forthcoming local government elections reaches fever-pitch, hostility (real or contrived as the case may be) between the bedraggled actors that strut on Sri Lanka’s political stage has become positively noxious.

Braggadocio and shifty evasion

We may look in vain for inspiring policy driven speeches of the past or at the very least, for an honest owning up to mistakes made and genuine contrition therein. Instead, what we have is braggadocio and shifty evasion quite apart from the most disgraceful of language being used on political platforms. Can citizens who are so disgusted that they may abstain from voting in the February 10th elections be blamed?

Certainly it is not the best of circumstances in which to celebrate Independence Day. This charade betrays the ugly truth of what Sri Lanka has been reduced to, decades after independence from colonial rule, despite an all too fleeting glimpse of hope in 2015. The contradictions and the hypocrisies not only by politicians but also by others take one’s breath away.

Members of the Buddhist clergy appear in support of one political party or another and talk of ‘culture’, shuddering in horror at an admittedly ill-timed effort by the Ministry of Finance to withdraw an ancient excise notification prohibiting women from buying alcohol within the premises of a tavern but allow the most violent of abuses to take place against women and children in this country without scarcely a whisper. Female candidates are now given a quota in the hustings but election monitors have warned of hate speech practiced against them in particular areas.

The Constitution and discriminatory regulations

In last week’s column, I referred to the fact that President Maithripala Sirisena’s ‘withdrawal of the withdrawal’ of that gazette notification was prompted by a disdain for what may be termed as liberal niceties, given that he has declared war to all intents and purposes on his coalition partner, the United National Party and withdrawn to his familiar constituencies of support. But the larger question here for the President and his advisors who supported such precipitate action is the role of the law and the Constitution in this regard. While the matter is before the Supreme Court and remains to be decided, it may usefully be observed that the Court itself is no stranger to such discriminatory rules, regulations and notifications being challenged before it.

Writing almost twenty years ago in these column spaces (Challenging Gender Bias in Sri Lanka, Focus on Rights, 30th May 1999), I discussed the Supreme Court’s striking down in that month of a secret discriminatory policy regarding the granting of residence visas in Sri Lanka. The Controller of Immigration and Emigration had, in a constitutional challenge to his refusal to grant a residence visa to a German male national married to a Sri Lankan female citizen in the Court, pleaded that that ‘Sri Lanka follows a patriarchal system; hence Residence Visas are normally granted only to female spouses of Sri Lankans”. Those guidelines were stamped “Secret- for official use only.”

That defence was summarily and justifiably dismissed by the Court. Immigration rules were directed to be revised to ensure gender equality. This is judicial thinking that ought to be taken into account by politicians and policy makers. It is a sad reflection that with all the time that has passed between then and now, we still have to contend with such anachronistic notions and debate these issues.

Tensions and tangible benefits

Despite nonsensical tangos embodying cultural and societal hypocrisies that are performed before us by politicians, there is a tangible benefit emerging out of the (apparently disagreeable) tensions between the major political parties that need to be marked. For better or for worse, President Maithripala Sirisena’s tirades against corruptors on both sides of, taken together with the reports of the two Commissions respectively on the Central Bank Bond Issuance in the time of the current Government and the numerous grave frauds that were committed during the Rajapaksa Presidency, appear to have (somewhat) shaken the political establishment.

This is however an observation that is made with some trepidation. Full foreknowledge of the deviousness of our politicians means that concrete results emerging from these battles of blaming each other across the political divide yet remains to be tested.

The second Commission report details extraordinary instances of alleged corruption on the part of the Rajapaksas and their acolytes, ranging from the forcible acquisition of vast tracts of private lands to the misappropriation of public funds allocated for the Negombo Lagoon Development Project. The notorious Avant Garde case with a specific focus on depriving a considerable income to the Navy by handing over the floating armory project to Avant Garde and not issuing permits under the Firearms Ordinance to the weapons possessed by the company has received particular attention.

Accountability for politicians and parties

Some welcome developments are evidenced. The Cabinet has approved the amendment of the Bribery Act in order that corruption cases will be heard by a three-bench trial-at-bar in the High Court. A proposal to amend the Commissions of Inquiry Act (1948) to vest the Bribery and Corruption Commission with the same powers given to the Attorney General by the Amendment Act of 2008 to institute criminal proceedings in respect of any offence based on material collected in the course of an investigation or inquiry or both an investigation and inquiry before a Commission of Inquiry is also a positive step.

Equally so, law reform must oblige political parties to maintain regular accounts clearly and fully recording therein all amounts received by them and all expenditure incurred as is, for example, the requirement in Germany. This was, in fact, a major proposal put forward by the Law Commission of India, when considering reform of India’s electoral laws. (Law Commission of India, One Hundred Seventieth Report on Reform of the Election Laws, May 1999)

The Law Commission recommended that the audited accounts be submitted to the Elections Commission before the prescribed date every year with the Commission being required in its turn to publish the said accounts for public information. The Commission reasoned that it was important to introduce an element of transparency and openness in the financial matters of political parties, being backed in this regard by a powerful judgment of the Supreme Court in Gajanan Bapat v Dattaji Meghe (1995, SCC, 347). Law reforms in Sri Lanka must ensure that actions of commission and omission covered by offences, corrupt and illegal practices of individuals acting as agents of parties should result to the discredit of such parties rather than only to the individuals. Parties themselves should be made to suffer severe penalties.

Thoughts to remember

Corruption, one might say, is as old as politics itself in Sri Lanka. So indeed is disregard for the Constitution and the law by those in power. Since independence, breathtakingly ingenious ways have been employed to twist the constitutional document of the day to suit political or even personal agendas.

But, as we may recall, what distinguished the Rajapaksa Presidency was not the pure occurrence of fraud and corruption. It was not that Rajapakse siblings, in-laws, sons and daughters, nephews and nieces, cousins and relatives, perchance twenty times removed from the seat of Presidential power, were placed at different levels of political or financial power. It was not even the fact of mismanagement and outright swindling that was the only question. Rather, what was fundamentally disturbing, (as much as the fact of such corruption), was the supremely arrogant manner of its occurrence. Not even unconvincing explanations were offered when those in power were called to account for monumental losses suffered by state institutions.

Indisputably that level of arrogance and imperviousness to the Rule of Law cannot be allowed to return.

Sri Lanka: LG Political Campaigns as Mirror of Existing Political Culture

What is going to take place on 10 February 2018 is an election to 341 local government institutions choosing by ballot of 8,293 members, 25 percent or over 1,000 being mandatorily women. This is potentially a pathbreaking change, although much attention is not given to this fact in political campaigns or commentaries.

by Laksiri Fernando- Feb 4, 2018

“Political culture is the manifestation, in aggregate, of psychological and subjective dimensions of politics.”  –  Pitch Pongswat

( February 4, 2018, Sydney, Sri Lanka Guardian) A democratic election is a process in which people are involved closely interacting with the contesting candidates, their political parties/groups, party leaders and other campaigners. The culminating act is voting. One may argue that the process is more the other way round, the people mostly being mere spectators of the ‘gimmicks,’ before the election day, and the real actors being the candidates, parties, leaders and their supporters (or henchmen).

Sri Lanka LG Political Campaigns as Mirror of Existing Political Culture.docx by Thavam on Scribd

Part 2 of ‘How to groom intellectuals for the future’ Chapa factor and USJ’s move to groom its stude

Weliwitiye Sri Soratha Thero

Monday, 5 February 2018

In the previous part of this series (available at: http://www.ft.lk/w-a-wijewardena-columns/How-to-groom-intellectuals-for-the-future--Two-contrasting-views-from-Thailand-and-Sri-Lanka--Part-1/885-648278), we presented the wisdom of the President of Thailand based Asian Institute of Technology or AIT, Professor Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai, how the intellectuals in Thailand should be groomed for an unknown future marked by an exponential growth in technology. Worsak made his thoughts known in a lecture delivered to the fellow members of the Royal Society of Thailand or RST, the think-tank that advises Thai Government on policy matters.

Part 2 of ‘How to groom intellectuals for the future’ Chapa factor and USJ’s move to groom its stude.docx by Thavam on Scribd

Raigamaya and Gampolaya

\

By Dr Upul wijayawardhana-February 4, 2018, 9:16 pm 

My title, in no way, is intended to cast aspersions on the good people of Raigama or Gampola but simply to remind the readers of a folk tale; one that is supposed to have happened during the time of Sinhala kings which came to my mind watching the antics of our two great leaders. Raigamaya and Gampolaya were traders, friends but competitors, who went from village to village selling betel leaves and arecanuts. Each, without knowing what the other was up to, decided to gain unfair advantage by cheating with substitution and hoping the other would sell the substituted product. Raigamaya substituted pepper leaves for betel and Gampolaya substituted ‘Domba’ nuts for arecanuts. They met for the night, before their travels the next day, and after sleeping in an ‘ambalama’ left in the morning taking the other’s bag. It did not take long for them to realise that they had only fooled each other. Is this not what is happening with the President and Prime Minister? Perhaps not, as they do not seem to have realised that they are fooling each other; instead, they seem convinced that they can continue to fool the voters!

Even thirty years of terrorism, not even the warnings of the international ‘do-gooders’ that ‘mighty’ Prabakaran could not be defeated militarily, could cause unity between the two major political parties. In fact, the only support the UNP offered were sarcastic comments in the Parliament, disparaging not only the Government that was attempting to defeat terrorism but also members of our services who were achieving it, sacrificing limb and life. But, to grab power, a grand coalition was formed and grand thefts occurred. Having disappointed all those who craved for good governance, they held off elections as long as feasible, using every trick of the political trade. Now that the inevitable expression of franchise is, at last, upon the voter, the two leaders and their minions blame each other, in order to get votes.

The President, guilty of dissolving parliament enabling the second, bigger, bond-scam, has extricated himself to some extent by appointing the Presidential Commission. As George Orwell showed in ‘Animal Farm’ that not all animals are equal, our politicians have shown that not all politicians are equal. A Commission, whose workings were exemplary, was tainted at the last lap when the Attorney General stepped in to have ‘a friendly chat’ with the Prime Minister instead of cross-examining him or allowing the team that did an excellent job to do so. Rather than using his power to sack the errant, the President uses his powers to supress women, in the guise that he is protecting women. If alcohol is bad why not ban it for all, not only women. The President is behaving more like a medieval religious leader than an elected democrat! Sorry, I forgot; he referred to bond scammers as pick pockets but then, he did not have guts to name them.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister, who mocked the opposition referring to James Bond when the issue of the bond scam was raised initially and then behaved disgracefully as a rabble rouser in Parliament, goes on appointing committees of henchmen entrusted with the task of clearing the names of his flock. He seems to have lost all sense, not even understanding the concept of conflict of interest. May be, he is smarter; knowing that there is a UNP ‘block-vote’, he knows he can continue to fudge over issues. His supporters can always point out that he acted with firmness: getting the assistant leader of the party to step down though it was done when nothing else was feasible! What a joke ‘Yahapalana’ has become!!

Talking about jokers, the two jokers in the pack never fail to entertain. Mangala Samaraweera accused Mahinda Rajapaksa of an attempted coup but he was not charged for treason. Mangala then went to Geneva as our Foreign Minister and co-sponsored a resolution against the country he was representing! I could not help bursting out in laughter when I saw a video-clip of the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the UN, after announcing that his government has allowed women to drive, starting to clap without any others joining, perhaps, because they knew that Saudi Arabia was the last country in the world to do so. To his credit, he was doing what was expected of him by his country whereas our Foreign Minister was serving the international community. Perhaps, having realised there are no steps left for him in the political ladder in Sri Lanka, Mangala may be aiming at a UN appointment. While I fully support his decision to equate women to men as far as alcohol is concerned, I cannot understand why he did not respond when the President reversed hisdecision. Surely, he should have resigned but, then, resignations on matters of principle is a long-lost art in Sri Lankan politics. It was recently reported that a minister in the British House of Lords tendered his resignation from government because he got late, by a few minutes, to arrive in Lords, to answer questions. Theresa May had refused to accept the resignation as Lords from both sides of the House had wanted him to stay, as he is an effective minister. Can we even dream of achieving this degree of integrity?

Rajitha Senaratna, who has put monkeys to shame by the way he jumps from side-to-side, never fails to surprise. He has announced that Gotabaya Rajapaksa will be jailed just after the elections. As the cabinet spokesman, is he conveying a cabinet decision? When did the cabinet or the honourable minister assume the duties of a law-enforcement authority? Whatever crimes Rajapaksas committed should be punished but that should be done in the proper way, not by political decisions. Had Rajitha done this in an attempt to sway the voters, then the elections commission should take action. It is highly irregular for ministers to make pronouncements about jailing people, worst of all, during an election campaign. May be there will be an unintended consequence to this foolhardy act; do hope voters will get wiser!

There was a time, a very long time at that, we, as Sri Lankan were anxious about our country. Then there was a short period when we could justly be proud and hold our heads high; after all, we achieved something no other country achieved, eradicating terrorism. Now we are in a phase where we are ashamed of ourselves, simply because of the misdeeds of our politicians; Yamapalanaya more than a Yahapalanaya!