Efforts fall short of realization of core terms of the Resolution I had great hopes in the new Govt – Navi Pillay

By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan-2018-03-11

Renowned international Jurist and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay, claimed that the violent attack against Muslims by Sinhala Buddhists in the Kandy administrative District was "not a religious clash, but another expression of brutality pervasive in society, a legacy of the long war and two insurgencies.

"I had great hope that the new Government will deliver on the undertakings they gave the HRC. They articulated a strong will to do so, and convinced the member States of their serious intent to implement the Resolution. They were well-positioned to implement the Resolution in full, being a State with democratic institutions and an independent judiciary, but these efforts fall short of realization of the core terms of the Resolution relating to justice and reparation," the South African High Court Judge told Ceylon Today.

Pillay noted that Sri Lankans will not reach the stage of trust in and 'Never Again' unless all the carefully constructed obligations in the UN Resolution, that they undertook, are carried out.
She added although the steps taken so far are welcome, the efforts fall short of realization.

She explained that the root causes of the conflict must be addressed through a transparent and public process in order to achieve sustainable peace and reconciliation.

Although she admitted she does not know the recent developments regarding Sri Lanka in the HRC, she specifically, noted that it is the failure to address impunity, to bring perpetrators of serious crimes to justice and foster a culture of respect for the rule of law that contributes to the continuing criminal conduct.

"We all know that if criminals go unpunished, it encourages others to take the law into their own hands. Today, the law did not protect a minority in Kandy; tomorrow, it may well be the majority that is left without the protection of the law," she stressed.

Pillay who is in attending the UNHRC 37th session for a Panel of Conscience on the destruction of schools in Syria, said that when the Sri Lankan Government co-sponsored the Resolution before the HRC, they understood that justice and accountability for war crimes was in the best interest of the future stability and growth of the country. "It is necessary to send a strong message, that the rule of law, not the rule of force, is the supreme law in the country."

She went on to say that more than ever she appreciates people's unquenchable thirst for justice and good governance. "As I interact in my new capacities as the President of the Nuremberg Principles Academy Advisory Council, President of the International Commission Against the Death Penalty and as a member of the African Group for Justice and Accountability, on which I serve together with justice leaders from all parts of Africa, the demands for justice and yearning for security from recurrence are not forgotten long after conflict," she added.

The Bra, The Bar & The Brigadier

By Grusha Andrews –MARCH 11, 2018

“If you’ve been up all night and cried till you have no more tears left in you – you will know that there comes in the end a sort of quietness. You feel as if nothing was ever going to happen again.” 
~ C.S. Lewis. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Facebook meme after Sirisena’s intervention

The quasi Mahinda era has begun. The ban on social media and communication features on mobile phones has been imposed and The Mahinda himself, like The Donald on a post school shooting day has spoken. In an ironic statement to the media and a laugh inducing ‘write up’ to Colombo Telegraph, written in language and tone that is suspiciously refined and erudite to the point of using terms such as ‘demographic reality’, Mahinda Rajapaksa, the de facto leader of the Pohottuwa has been quick to wash off his political blood stains from his bigotry tainted, talisman squeezing palms.

Rajapaksa (or his able ghost writer) with displaced nostalgia laced with romanticization of the past where Muslims and Sinhala leaders supposedly lived in harmony, places the blame on the Yahapalana government for its failure to establish law and order. He distances himself and his infamous brothers from the fostering and systematic institutionalizing of islamophobia and racism during his rule. He conveniently palms off the blame, stating “what was started by conspirators who are now in the Yahapalana government, for the purpose of dislodging my government, now appears to have taken on a life of its own and mistrust between the communities is growing by the day”.

The reality is that the ongoing violence is only a representation of the resurgence of militant Buddhist groups that first emerged in 2012 to 2014 during the Rajapakse reign. Compounded by the open political patronage of the Rajapakses, particularly that by Gotabhaya Rajapakse during the second term of government, attacks on Muslims began again over a six-week period in April and May 2017 and for two days in November 2017, where militants were supplied with political oxygen and political parenteral nutrition. This phenomenon was hallmarked by the consistent ‘failure’ of the Rajapaksa regime to prosecute those responsible for violence and hate speech. Galagoda-Atte Gnanasara, infamous monk leading the Bodu Bala Sena (loosely translated as Buddhist Power Army) became an emblem of misplaced Sinhala ‘nationalism’, fed by media, nourished by the government, in short, a political python in the making. That government, also membered by the current President Maithripala Sirisena was fundamentally a failure at establishing racial harmony or national cohesion.

The nonsensical continuum

The Yahapalana government which demonstrated little will to address the collective grievances of the very electorate that voted them in spent three years of political existence that can be summarized in one word: nonsensical. Although some positive achievements were made especially with regard to superficial sense of media freedom and general wellbeing of democracy, the President, the Prime Minister and the unity government demonstrated an abysmal failure at discharging justice in the spheres of corruption, establishing law and order, breaking the vicious cycle of racism that is an insidious issue and addressing the economic issues of the poor, farmers and the private sector. Crumbling in transparency and accountability within and without the government and the administrative machinery, the Yahapalana government is truly a headless chicken. There were three telling instances where the Yahapalana government showed early symptoms of a racially complicated, violence spiced, disunited, convoluted political mess. The axis around which the President and the Prime Minister make their decisions appears to be Mahinda Rajapaksa. The fact that Rajapakse is still the man who calls shots is obvious to any rational citizen. He remains the de facto leader not only of the Pohottuwa, but of the Republic. How did we become this sick democracy?

The symptoms, however, were telling. Those with even slight glimpses in to reality, political history and quite plainly any common sense or a twisted sense of humor knew that the inevitable bungled baby of Yahapalana failure was round the corner. The unholy trinity constituted three Bs. The bra, the bar and the brigadier. The first gravid symptom was the bra. Yes. That bra.

The bra – misplaced priorities

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RESULTS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS IN FEBRUARY 2018 – A FEW REMARKS – SUNIL BASTIAN

Image: one of the most surprising aspects of the election result was the performance of the UNP under Wickremesinghe.

10/03/2018

The most interesting aspect of the defeat of Mahinda Rajapakse in January 2015 was the tendency of the Sri Lankan electorate to throw out of power a regime that was moving in an authoritarian direction. This was even more remarkable given that this was the leader who had given political leadership to consolidating the territory of the Sinhala nationalist through a military victory. After this military victory Rajapakse won the presidential election in 2010 with 57.9 per cent of the valid vote. But five years later he was defeated by Maithripala Sirisena, who received 51.3 per cent of the valid votes, as against Rajapakse’s 47.6 per cent.

RESULTS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS IN FEBRUARY 2018 – A FEW REMARKS – SUNIL BASTIAN.docx by Thavam on Scribd

Nations require decisive leadership to thrive

 Friday, 9 March 2018

The situation in Kandy, continuing for the fourth day at the time of writing, has shamefully taken a deeper communal turn after the attacks on religious sites and shops in Digana and Teldeniya areas.

After 30 years of war, we Sri Lankans have still not learnt that we should never exploit, initiate, indulge in, promote or tolerate any kind of racist, religious and nationalist divisions.

Speaking at the Cabinet news briefing this week Minister Rajitha Senaratne said certain politicians were behind the disturbances in Kandy. This is shocking to say the least and acts of this nature will only continue to hold us back from releasing our full potential as a nation.

Perhaps this is why some nations, like Japan, China and Singapore, continue to become wealthy and prosperous, while others remain stuck in poverty, wars and conflict? And also some of those powers, from ancient Rome to the modern Soviet Union, prosper for periods and then collapse?

Politics and leadership make the difference, say economists Daron Acemoglu of MIT and James Robinson of Harvard University in their book ‘Why Nations Fail’.

Countries that have what they call “inclusive” political governments — those extending political and property rights as broadly as possible, while enforcing laws, policy and providing stable public infrastructure — experience the greatest growth over the long run. By contrast, Acemoglu and Robinson assert, countries with “extractive” political systems — in which power is wielded by a small elite and family— either fail to grow broadly or wither away after short bursts of economic expansion.

Politics

Many, many years ago, as university students, we were taught that natural resources matter more than political leadership. Later they argued political leadership was the key for sustainable economic performance.

Some countries at that time demonstrated that good geography could trump bad politics and the best politics required a top effort to offset bad geography. At the same time they argued that rich countries were in the North of the globe, and most poor countries were in the South, but Australia and New Zealand are part of the Southern hemisphere, and both are doing fine. You couldn’t say this of Papua New Guinea, which is the Asian country closest to Australia and New Zealand.

Later on people like Michael Porter argued that it was not geography alone that causes wealth or poverty. A superficial view is to blame racial differences. Black Africa is the poorest and most disordered part of the world, and Haiti, with an almost entirely black population, is the poorest country of the Americas.

But the coincidence is accidental. What makes some countries rich, and others prone to poverty is not related to skin colour or racial factors. Many immigrants from poor nations do very well in the US and Canada, though one has to admit that both countries make immigration easy only for the best and the brightest of those who hail from Third World countries.

It is also not the presence or lack of natural resources that makes a country rich or poor in the long run. Japan is a country with very limited natural resources, but has been the richest country in Asia for a long time.

Natural resources 

On the other hand, it is easy to predict that some Third World countries that currently are rich because of immense reserves of natural wealth while not being burdened with large populations will slide back when the natural resources are depleted.

While a handful of countries thanks to great leadership managed to achieve economic prosperity that has helped them to escape the perils of poverty, many other countries fail in this respect and continue to be trapped in poverty. Was it chance? Their people? Their products and services? Their markets?

The growth experiences of countries from North to South as we all know is filled with success and a great deal of disasters, which has had huge implications for the living standards of ordinary people. Then countries with “extractive” political systems — in which power is wielded by a small elite — either fail to grow broadly or wither away after short bursts of economic expansion.

Drivers of prosperity

Economics has sometimes a narrow scope. It studies a nation’s prosperity through trade flows, monetary, fiscal and budget policies. The analysis of companies is a bit broader. It encompasses strategy, structure and finance but also less “rational” fields such as human resources, corporate culture or consumer behaviours.

Competitiveness provides a broader basis for analysis. It looks at all the elements that can explain the success of a nation. Industries often thrive when they are forced to overcome high labour costs or lack natural resources. When their customers won’t accept inferior, outdated products, when their local competitors are “murderous”, and when government offers no protection from their competition and sets tough technical and regularity standards.

For instance, the Italian shoe industry is prodded by sophisticated consumer demand that encourage entry by many new firms. Many of them, family-owned, compete very jealousy. The shoemakers are compelled to spew out new models continuously and must keep improving to increase efficiency to stay competitive within Italy’s quirky, high cost infrastructure. When the home market got saturated, Italian manufacturers went overseas and achieved international success.

According to Professor Porter, competitive advantage based on only one or two factors is unsustainable. South Korea’s construction industry grew rapidly during the mid ’80s simply by applying low cost labour to projects that did not require sophisticated engineering. It lost out when other countries that had cheap labour jumped in. Resources-based advantages too frequently suffer the same fate.

Two additional variables, “chance” and “government” have a big impact. Chance is outside the control of industries; wars and embargoes can reshape industry structure in a country for or against it. A Government can improve or retard competitive advantage.

Vigorous enforcement of antitrust laws encourages competition and stimulates innovation. For an industry to flourish, domestic rivalry is nearly always necessary. It drives companies to move beyond whatever initial advantage that led to the founding of the industry and to develop their international potential.

Strong leadership 

To maintain competitive advantage, a nation must normally broaden and upgrade from their original sources of success and take it to the next level. In the early stage of economic growth many believe that a country needs a strong government that can mobilise and direct resources that are important.

Therefore the success of poor countries according to them hinges critically on the quality of government leadership, i.e. its development oriented leadership, its ability to promote good talent to head critical institutions and it’s approach for policy formulation with industry. China is a case in point.

On the other hand India, even though is poor in resource, is super rich in human talent and in technology. Knowledge is perhaps the most critical competitiveness factor. As countries move up, it is knowledge that will ensure their prosperity and help them to compete in world markets. How that knowledge is acquired and managed is each nation’s responsibility and will determine a nation’s future prosperity. But the key enabler for all this is sound political leadership.

Lack of sound political leadership impedes on growth, because it creates uncertainty and this discourages investment and FDI as well as affecting employment creation.
(The writer is a thought leader.)

Racists Have Made Sri Lanka A Hell-Hole For The Minorities

By Mohamed Harees –MARCH 10, 2018

Lukman Harees

In 2016, an astrologist named Sameera Chandrasiri from Helabimanewspaper in his column, in a crafty way predicted an impending Sinhala-Muslims conflict soon and attributed cattle slaughter during ‘Ramazan’time (??) as one of the possible causes/sparks. Leave aside the comical aspects of the prediction itself, this has come true not because of the cattle slaughter but as a result of racist mad cows/cattle and dogs who embarked on a well- orchestrated hate campaign based on a Sinhala Buddhist platform ever since independence which has now reached another new peak in the Post War era. With added venom, they set upon a community who always stood by the Sinhalese in sun or rain to protect the territorial integrity of  their motherland- The Muslims of Sri Lanka. In July 2016, I quoted this funny astrologer and wrote an article to Colombo Telegraph titled ‘Another Sinhala-Muslim Conflict Brewing: Government Caught Napping!’ and explored the historical landscape of Post-Independence and Post-War Sri Lanka and argued that the government’s lack of political will and resoluteness is pushing Sri Lanka into a social volcano waiting to explode at any moment. This sadly came true and as a matter of fact, there was no need for an astrologer to predict this calamity, as any observer with a fine tuned common sense will and could have seen telling signs of this gathering storm.

Ethnic or religious clashes or conflagrations have not been anything novel or new to the Sri Lankan Dharma Dweepaya. In fact, modern Ceylon’s first ethno-religious riots targeted not Tamils but Muslims in 1915. Then, ever since Independence, there were many ethnic conflagrations mainly between Sinhalese and Tamils and many renown scholars I have been quoting in many of my articles such as KM De Silva, Neera Wickramasinghe, Amunugama, Tambiah and also Jayadeva Uyangoda have all highlighted that the rise and institutionalisation of Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism in post-independent Sri Lanka bear much responsibility for today’s ethnic conflicts between the majority Sinhalese state and the minorities. In a classic case of ‘Labbata Thiyapu Atha Puhulatath’, upon the heels of the end of a protracted Sinhala Tamil ethnic conflict which aggravated with the now infamous 1983 pogrom against the Tamils, there came the well-orchestrated hate campaign against the next biggest minority –the Muslims, which culminated in the Aluthgama dubbed by many analysts as a mini-1983. Sinhalese Christians were targeted too.

Drawing parallels between 1983 riots and 2014 Aluthgama riots may not be fair, but few similarities can be identified. One such similarity being not just the inaction on the part of the then-governments to act decisively and firmly on time but also shameful attempts to brand the victims as perpetrators. Post-war period under MR was a time of immense pressure for the minorities. Tamils after difficult times under the ruthless Tigers were thrown into disarray and marginalized due to the arrogant ,supremacist and majoritarian polices adopted by MR. Many are still languishing in refugee camps while no plausible solutions were offered to sort out their genuine grievances. International community put Sri Lanka on the dock for the excesses committed by the Armed Forces during the last stages of the War. Muslims on the other hand went through hell when many hate groups with implicit State support, operated without fear or sanction throwing all decencies to the wind, while the silent majority watched helplessly. Muslim politicians were caught napping. Sri Lanka became once again, almost a pariah state in the eyes of the world.

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Damning expose`- President Sirisena behind country’s racial conflicts..! LeN unearths shocking details..!

(Lanka-e-News - 10.March.2018, 7.00PM) It is none other than president Maithripala Sirisena who permitted  the racial riots which started in Teldeniya to escalate when he could have easily controlled it at the inception , based on reports supported with palpable evidence reaching Lanka  e news 

When the remains of the lorry driver was in the mortuary ,  an explosive situation had prevailed in the whole area  . The OIC of Teldeniya police Wijekoon Banda who  was aware of this had phoned Kandy DIG Ekanayake and informed him that after the body is brought to the village , there is  a likelihood of a communal violence flare up . He had therefore requested the DIG  to get the soldiers of the Ambakote STF camp  that is close by and beef up the security of Taldeniya town.In fact Ambakote STF camp is just a stone’s throw away.

 DIG Ekanayake had told the OIC ‘son I have no powers in this regard and it is senior DIG S.M. Wickremesinghe in charge of Central district who has the powers . Hence please meet him and explain the situation to him.’

Are you coming to teach me how to perform my duties !

Weerakoon Banda who deployed 7 or 8 policemen   and  a mobile patrol vehicle in Teldeniya town had met Wickremesinghe , and expressed his concerns. ’Sir the body is being brought home . It is being said Gnanassara is also coming there . Therefore as  violence can be unleashed, if you can please provide me with police  security from outside and give orders to the STF camp .’ Before the OIC could finish , senior DIG has exploded on him.

 ‘Yakko ,  you brat are you coming to tell me how I should work? All of you think I am one who does not know my work. Why are you worried about Gnanassara. He will come and go. You go and look after your duties,’ the senior DIG who flew into a rage had told the OIC , and chased him out. 

When the riots erupted at the funeral house , Wickremesinghe has sent  a reinforcement  just  20 additional cops only. He has also not given any orders to shoot to control the violence.

The Teldeniya OIC had recorded all these in the police book .This is why we say there is palpable evidence. This is recorded evidence for the investigators.

Until the STF were deployed on the orders of the  personal assistant (DIG)  of IGP, Wickremesinghe did nothing to avert the escalation of the riots . In any case , by that time the marauders and plunderers have already wrought disaster and accomplished their deadly aims .

Meanwhile Menikhinna Moulavi and Kandy Moulavi on hearing Gnanassara the hooligan monk is visiting the funeral house, and  knowing well his satanic criminal  nature despite being a monk in Saffron robes , had met senior DIG Wickremesinghe and explained the dire  situation, and requested security to prevent this impending riot. 

Wickremesinghe who chased out the police OIC had asked them ‘how can the Moulavis say  there will be violence ? Did anyone tell you that such things will happen. Don’t just get agitated  , Gnanassara will just come and go. Nothing will happen’ he had assured. The Moulavis will give evidence in this regard. 

S.M . conducted himself that way on Sirisena’s orders …

When Lanka e news probed into the insouciance and irresponsible conduct of S.M. Wickremesinghe in such a dire situation when lives were at stake and damage to property was imminent , we learnt S.M. has conducted himself this fearlessly and uncaringly based  on the instructions of president Sirisena. S.M. is a long time bosom pal  of Sirisena and he is in charge of president’s security .Because S.M. lost in the rat race to Poojitha who was appointed IGP, S.M. is nursing an inveterate grudge against Poojitha over a long period . 

S.M considers taking orders from Poojitha is beneath his dignity . Therefore ,  though S.M. had all the opportunities to avert the mayhem ahead in Teldeniya, it was president Sirisena being his bosom pal who had given orders to ignore and act in the way he acted. 

When president toured Kandy after all the damage had been done to shed crocodile tears, even Mahanayake of Asgiriya chapter considered as pro Mahinda Rajapakse ( racist) has told Sirisena,  S.M. Wickremesinghe should be held responsible for the murders and mayhem and a transfer shall be given to him. 

Cut -throat Sirisena blames the racial  hatred on UNP…

* Although the president declared a state of emergency when the violence was spreading , he gave instructions only to shoot in the air against curfew transgressors though at first criminals on the rampage can be   shot at using  rubber bullets , but Sirisena the president did not allow that . While the police were shooting in the air , the marauders and murderers who arrived from outside , congregated at the places targeted by them for hurling hand grenades .

* Following the Ampara incident , the president was aware the situation in the country was most portentous, yet he chose to send the army commander to India for a different purpose of his. Sirisena was so uncaring and reckless that  even on the 5 th when the mayhem was spreading and a state of emergency was declared , he did not call back the army commander . The security council met sans the army commander. If there is ever a buffoon  of a leader  of a country who summons a security council for an emergency session without the army commander when the country is in a turmoil , that is president Sirisena of Sri Lanka . Little wonder his pet name now is Sillysena. The army commander  returned to the Island only on the 8 th.

* Believe it or not , it was Sirisena alias Sillysena who gave instructions to release the goons and gangs involved in the Ampara violence on bail. 

It is significant to note , president who visited the Eastern province soon after the mayhem met the hard core racist foul mouthed monk to pay homage but did not even meet  the Muslim priests . In other words Sirisena despite being the president of the country only created invidious feelings among other races  by pleasing  only the Buddhist racists.

* When racial conflicts were  being kindled , as president and minister of defense what he did was, instead of giving precedence to the rule of law he did everything  totally contradictory to the laws of the country. This became very evident  , when it came to light with whom president preferred  to go to  Kandy . He took with him two out and out racist monks in the helicopter . They were Ithekanda Sadhatissa and Elle Gunawansa who are ever ready to plunge the country into flames at the first opportunity they get to achieve their selfish destructive agendas.

When there are many genuine monks who are not racial and are true followers of Lord Buddha in the country , the president who had a duty to demonstrate he was impartial  and neutral at this crucial juncture to the people who fell victims and most grieved , instead going with hardcore racist monks who do not follow true Buddhism is another of the series of unpardonable blunders Sirisena  committed  in his career as president . If he was sane and sensible , shouldn’t he have gone to Kandy with true Buddhist monks who are non racial? 

* President Sirisena when he arrived in Colombo from Kandy met with the media editors and media  Institution owners on 7 th night ( However no Institution owner came to meet with 4 % crestfallen president ) .Unfortunately for the president his  cat was out of the bag during the discussion.Before commencing the discussion Sirisena asked his own cameramen to go out of the venue. ‘These shouldn’t seep out’ he said. The  president prefaced his discussion with the remark, ‘the  general belief is , this conflict was initiated by the UNP’ which is running the government with hm.

When one editor questioned ‘how can you say that ? The president repeated the same criticism the joint opposition mounted in parliament on the 8 th. That is , it is a UNP provincial council member who was responsible for the Kurunegala incident, and that is not connected to the Kandy mayhem , while adding the Kurunegala incident was not racial. An editor naming a number of individuals who were behind this communal violence asked, aren’t these  individuals going to be arrested under the emergency regulations? Sirisena without answering that question in  his characteristic ‘obsession with eating’ habit said, ‘ha , ha , now we will go and eat’ , and invited everyone to dinner. May we point out this is how he ‘ate’ the country too by  this elusive , delusive and gourmandizing habit . 

* It is very evident the aim of elusive and delusive president was to fasten the blame on the P.M. after foisting the law and order  portfolio on him despite the   whole country  demanding president Sirisena to appoint Sarath Fonseka to that post. The president who is trying to oust the P.M. , clearly with that ulterior motive  tried to portray to the people that he is inefficient by wantonly creating  the environment for  racial disturbances 

Lanka e news which is revealing the stark truths is sure, at a not too distant date , all those facts will be confirmed when more details in this connection surface. When that happens ,  the racist marauders and murderers Gota spawned  and the deadly connection Sirisena has currently with him will doubtless become manifest  to the entire world.

Chandrapradeep

Translated by Jeff

---------------------------
by     (2018-03-10 13:43:54)

Sri Lanka: Proliferation of ethnic stereotypes in society

From Aluthgama to Teldeniya: Fearful continuities, fruitless government change

by Rajan Philips- Mar 11, 2018

( March 11, 2018, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Teldeniya is the last straw, if one was needed, to break the last strand of credibility of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government. Most people took for granted that if there is one area where the present government could automatically differentiate itself from its predecessor (the Rajapaksa regime) it would be in putting an end to mob violence against minorities. That assumption and assurance went up in flames when Aluthgama history was allowed to repeat itself in Teldeniya and other northern towns in the Kandy District. There are differences and there are similarities between Aluthgama and Teldeniya. The change in government has made little difference. It did not prevent a repeat of the violent attacks against the Muslims. The similarities between the two tragedies are fearfully disturbing. The one positive difference is the growing impatience and indignation within the general population about the recurrence of such tragedies perpetrated by one group of people against another. It was certainly uplifting to see the national cricket stars come out swinging against the collective lapse into one-sided racial violence.

Perhaps the most poignant and heartrending example came from Thilaka Pushpakumari, the widow of PG Kumarasinghe, the unfortunate Sinhalese lorry driver who was set upon by four drunken Muslim thugs over a roadway accident. His eventual death became the cause for the communal flare up. His widow is doubly grief stricken by the loss of her husband and the plight of her hapless family. Yet, she was able to combine sorrow with sensibility, as only a woman can, and appealed for calm and pleaded for the safety of the Muslims in her community. That the woman is the deadlier of the species is a grossly male-chauvinistic misrepresentation of gender proclivities. Has anyone ever heard of a mob of women going on the attack? In Teldeniya, as in Aluthgama, and as half a dozen times before in Sri Lanka, men clad in simple sarongs and drainpipe trousers went on the attack like dogs of war unleashed by other men wrapped as monks in saffron robes. Even the Mahanayakas, and I say this with all due respect and reverence, who will not lose an opportunity to comment on the Constitution, appear to have maintained a stony silence through all the mayhem in their own backyard in Kandy. They could only be seen but not heard. Not that they have become children, but they were giving photo opportunities to Sri Lanka’s President who likes to be seen daily in pictures but could not see trouble brewing in Teldeniya until it was too late for him and his half of the government.

The tragedy and the family situation of Pushpakumari also brings into starkly contrasting relief the socioeconomic priorities of the other half of the government steered by Ranil Wickremesinghe and Malik Samarawickrema. Pushpakumari had a family of five – her husband, his mother, their disabled son and a daughter. With her husband, the family’s only source of income, gone, she now has a family of four and no means of livelihood. Add her to the country’s long list of widows, and like so many war widows she too has lost her husband to an act of senseless violence. Think also of a million of other Lankan women toiling as maids in other people’s homes in the Middle East, and then try to reconcile this picture of women’s misery, on the one hand, with all the masculine assertions of civilizational supremacy, messianic history, national sovereignty, rights of self-determination and patriotic pride, on the other hand. If the starkness of the contrast doesn’t bother us, we must pause and reflect a little to see if everything is alright with us.

But no reflection is needed to see that nothing is alright with the government’s socioeconomic priorities. How can we reconcile the government’s Port City and Megapolis priorities with the poverties of Puspakumari and millions of other Sri Lankans like her and their families? No amount of trickledown economics sophistry will be able to show that somehow the Port City in Colombo through some convoluted economic network will send food to Pushpakumari’s family in Ambala. Given their economic situation and that of millions of other families in Sri Lanka’s hinterland, alternatingly buffeted by drought and floods, they deserve to have governments that undertake tangible economic measures that are appropriate to their material circumstances and simple lifestyle expectations. The present Prime Minister’s political stock and leadership credibility would have benefited enormously if he had spent more time in Sri Lanka’s small towns and villages than bonding in Colombo or flying off to Singapore or Davos.

He needed a huge political stock and a mountain of credibility to deliver on the grand promises on the constitution and reconciliation he made in 2015 in conjunction with the common opposition candidate (Sirisena) whom he (Ranil) sponsored. The Prime Minister has not been able to build up that stock or amass much credibility. His presidential partner has not been able to measure up to the challenges of his office. If the local elections were a resounding political rebuke, Teldeniya is the more dramatic and tragic social manifestation of the combined failure of Sirisena and Wickremesinghe. Aluthgama in 2014 was the result of deliberate government provocation and police inaction. The agents and organizers of Aluthgama knew they had the protection of the government. The social media at that time exposed the Rajapaksa government’s collusion and its duplicity. There was no regret or apology by the government, only a Rs. 200 million allocation for restoring damaged properties and a curious defence that the Rajapaksa government intervened more quickly than did the JRJ government to quell the 1983 catastrophe.

From Ampara to Teldeniya

Teldeniya is a different mix of ingredients. The chauvinistic anti-Muslim groups seem to have been looking for any cause to create trouble anywhere. Already, there were reports of violence against Christians and Muslims after the local elections. In Ampara, some busybodies ‘invented’ a sterilizing compound in the ‘parata’ served in a Muslim eatery frequented by non-Muslim patrons. The alleged sterilizer was somehow intended to target only the Sinhalese eating in that eatery. The sterilizer story went viral to further feed an already frenzied canard about Muslim population explosion and Sinhalese population decline. This is the Sri Lankan version of a western propaganda that started with a U-Tube nonsense from Paris. This is one instance when a western source is not rejected but well received and internalized in Sri Lanka, by both the Sinhalese and the Tamils against the Muslims. The alleged sterilizer turned out to be lumps of flour in what must have been poorly prepared dough for making paratas. The Government Analyst was needed to establish what was served at the eatery was all flour and no sterilizer. But the laboratory results were too late to prevent the attacks on Muslim shops. However, the violence was contained and the mischief makers could not go far.

Teldeniya provided them with a more potent opportunity. Social media was used to enrage and mobilize trouble makers from outside to assemble in Teldeniya and go on the attack when the unfortunate MG Kumarasinghe succumbed to his injuries one week after the attack. The attackers were already in custody but that was either ignored or denied in the social media outreach by mischief makers. The pleas of Thilaka Pushpakumari, the widow of Kumarasinghe, fell on deaf male ears. They had a ‘higher’ purpose to serve, and serve they did. Unlike in Aluthgama, the perpetrators in Kandy did not have the support of the government. In fact, they didn’t seem to need such protection. They were plainly defiant of the government and its curfew orders. It was rather unusual to see repeated curfew orders needed to put down what was essentially localized violence by intruders from outside.

The government’s technical mistake was its unpreparedness to be alert to potential trouble sources and be ready to respond quickly. Given Sri Lanka’s past experience with occurrences of ethnic violence, preventing them must be as much a priority, if not more, as it is to be prepared for natural disasters. The government demonstrated no such preparedness. Politically, the present government has been showing itself to be a patsy and a pushover to all manner of protesters, and that made it easy for the communal rioters in Kandy to virtually dare the government. The government finally had to fall back on the full force of its repressive arsenal: the declaration of emergency; imposition of curfew; and the quite unpopular clampdown on social media platforms. Imagine if the Rajapaksas had clamped down on social media during the January 2015 presidential election! Once a precedent is set, it will be difficult to prevent its recurrence later.

Clamping down on social media is not the ultimate answer to the proliferation of ethnic stereotypes in society and the politics of ethnic exclusion. It is almost impossible to look for any leadership or guidance from our so called supreme instruments of state power: the parliament; the (executive) President; and the judiciary. Of the three, only the judiciary seems to have been restored to its intended role and status after 2015. The other two are a mixed bag, or separate bags. The 19th Amendment may have inadvertently created a constitutional diarchy, comprising the President and the Prime Minister, as Prof. Jayadeva Uyangoda has insightfully suggested in a recent writing. A diarchy is certainly more preferable to a presidential monarchy, and is perhaps the next best option if there is neither the will nor the way to get rid of the monarchical presidency. But President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe are moving away from being diarchic to being polar opposites. They are playing a constitutional cat and mouse game in which neither is going to be the ultimate winner. That may leave the country in a diarchic stalemate for the next two years.

Black March

Sanjana Hattotuwa-March 10, 2018, 6:53 pm 

Unlike the anti-Muslim riots in Aluthgama four years ago, the horrible violence in Kandy, Digana and surrounding areas was covered in great detail by the mainstream media. As a consequence of dealing with the fallout of the violence over social media, some insights are worth sharing. This is particularly pertinent in light of the censorship of social media carried out under Emergency Regulations by the government, ostensibly with the intent of controlling, curtailing and containing the spread of content that incited violence or fomented hate. The public were also divided – with some noting that social media was the cause of, or certainly added to the violence, and others – like myself – noting that the myopic blocking of key platforms were extremely harmful on a number of fronts and set a terrible precedent for governments in the future to do as they saw fit to curtail information flows. But to this we shall arrive after some observations which mainstream media cannot report on, because their model of journalism isn’t linked to a deep-dive into, or the sifting of social media content.

The sheer volume of social media content generation during the violence was significant. Close to ten thousand tweets in Sinhala and English alone with the hashtag #digana, marking out the content as somehow anchored to what was going on in the area. There were dozens of pages on Facebook that were anchored to extremist Buddhist groups promoting falsehoods, vicious diatribes against the Muslim community and Islam, replete with memes and photography on top of which were often calls to protect Buddhism, congregate at a certain place or Temple to discuss and take action against threats to Buddhism, the accelerated birth rate of Muslims, continuing rumours and purported evidence of sterilisation pills sold or somehow smuggled by Muslims to be used against Sinhalese women, and language that suggested there were violent, invaders, alien, untrustworthy, hostile, ungrateful, ungracious and a community that needed to be taught a lesson or two.

Importantly for a discussion on the merits of this content on social media and its influence on the violence over the week is the fact that a lot of this content was openly published, for years on end, by accounts, individuals and institutions who in many cases were openly named, and with contact details given. In other cases, the content was pegged to anonymous or pseudonymous accounts. There are dozens of videos still up on YouTube pegged to individuals and organisations promoting this line of thinking. Repeated reports to Facebook in particular have yielded no relief, since the company does not have the necessary resources to monitor the spread of hate on its platform in Sinhala. Another key development this week was in the form of around seven WhatsApp group invitations I got, with names indicative of the content and discussions they would have featured.

It was not an option to enter these groups with my mobile number since I would either have been immediately targeted, kicked out or both. Screenshots sent by those who did infiltrate these groups reminded one of the stories now documented of pre-genocide Rwanda – photos of an assorted array of knives calling for all good men to rally around and deal with a problem, the targeting of women specifically, the highlighting of brick and mortar structures including mosques for destruction, the planning and plotting to destroy community symbols, the coordination of mobs, the fuelling of group think against community and religion, the sharing of videos, photos and other material that was trophy footage from individuals and groups who celebrated the wanton destruction and violence. There was also a link to a group on Telegram I received, and since the government also blocked Viber, it’s clear that instant messaging in general has become a primary vector in the communication of violent content leading up to and especially during riots.

The data on Google is also quite revealing. Over the period covering the height of rioting, Mar. 6 - 8, searches for ‘Molotov cocktails’ on Google indicate a sharp, significant increase in the Central Province. Searches for ‘How to make a petrol bomb’ over the same period shows a similar dramatic increase in Sri Lanka. Finally, what we saw over the week was the weaponisation of social in an entirely new and unprecedented way with the advent of trolls and bots, adding fuel to rumour, misinformation and disinformation over Twitter in particular. With most leading social media platforms blocked, Twitter became a platform for the dissemination of information as well as a melting pot of ideas, updates, contestation, fact and fiction. Something interest, nay disturbing took place over the course of the week. As revealed by colleague, friend and researcher Raymond Serrato from Democracy Reporting International, who analysed well over fifteen thousand tweets over the course of the week, a few thousand accounts were created that went on to generate very high volumes of content on Digana.

This initial production of information, fed into the Twitter ecosystem, was retweeted many times over, serving to mislead, misinform and often grossly simplify events to the benefit of a Sinhala-Buddhist perspective or narrative. These accounts featured fake names and fake photos designed to look like Sinhalese, Muslim and Tamil names. They targeted individuals like me and other senior journalists, as well as anyone on Twitter providing perspective to the rioting that held accountable Sri Lanka’s systemic racism, the silence or complicity of the Buddhist clergy, and the criminal nature of what was going on in and around Kandy.

In the middle of all this, and far better known and reported was catastrophic, shameful government inaction and impotence in the face of violence. Instead of attention and action, we got censorship. As noted by me in public over the course of the week, the blocking of social media directly increased distrust of and pushback to Government, contributed to international media headlines which have painted Sri Lanka in a very negative light, fuelled significant and growing concerns by foreign investors, severely impacted the operations of the civic media teams and professional journalists in Sri Lanka to respond to and know about ground conditions, severely and tragically curtailed the ability of victims of violence to make their voice and concerns heard and finally, emphatically did not contributed to a reduction in mob violence on the ground – despite what the Commander of the Army noted late into the week. This is because the use of VPNs was openly and first promoted by the very group whipping up the violence and hate, content continued to be exchanged over WhatsApp by a number of the groups, and pre-planned attacks, vectors of violence and targets, once mobs had assembled in an area, didn’t require further coordination or collaboration using social media – they knew what to do, how to do it, and where to go.

Early and sustained reports from the worst affected areas indicated that the Police did little or nothing and that they were grossly outnumbered by the mobs. There are dozens of videos around how the mobs roamed freely during curfew, and importantly, imposed under a State of Emergency. It is evident the government has no capacity whatsoever to monitor social media, and that its only approach to it is to shut it down completely no matter what the consequences. As reported by so many, until the weekend, neither the President nor Prime Minister had gone to Digana. Throughout the week, the Chief Prelates were silent. Episodic, inspiring stories of communities, Buddhist priests and ordinary citizens standing up to the violence, giving refuge, security and showing up in solidarity to mosques and shelters gave a glimmer of hope that even in the darkest of times, not all were consumed by hate. But fear and anxiety persist and grow, across the country, spanning the usual social, economic and political divisions – around what this violence truly highlights, and how it is controlled by forces that turn it on and dial it up with almost total impunity, at their whim.

The past week was a grim reminder that Sri Lanka is post-war, but yet not a country with or at peace. What lies ahead, for us all?

Suppression Of Dissent: The Precursor To Tyrannical Rule

By Thishya Weragoda –MARCH 11, 2018

Thishya Weragoda

It is ironic that the Government which brought the Right to Information Act[1] into fruition has taken a drastic step to restrict the freedom of expression of the people. Facebook, Whatsapp, Viber and IMO were reportedly blocked/access restricted by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) for a period of 72 hours from midday on 6th March 2018.[2] It has been over 72 hours but the Government has not reinstated the disrupted services as at time of writing this article.

The legality of this measure has to be assessed from the perspective of upholding the Rule of Law. It is often said that “road to hell is paved with good intentions”. Although the stated objective of the blockage was to prevent the dissemination of rumours and hate messages, the overreaching application has had grave repercussions the freedom of expression of the citizens and serious consequences to legitimate business interests of a significant segment of society.

The Telecommunications Operators gave prominence to this requirement by sharing a message which read as follows:

“On the directive of TRCSL in the interest of national security, access to certain Social Media sites and messaging platforms will be restricted with immediate effect until further notice”.[3]

The legal regime under which all telecommunications service providers operate is under license issued by the Minister in terms of Section 17 of the Telecommunications Act No. 25 of 1991 (as amended by 27 of 1996) The objectives of the Telecommunications Act are set out in Section 4 of the Act.

Restrictions on the use of telecommunications could be imposed/introduced in terms of two provisions of the Act. That is under Section 5, and Section 69 of the Act.

Section 5 of the Telecommunications Act, inter alia provides as follows:

5. For the purpose of achieving the objects referred to in section 4, the Authority shall have the following powers, and duties….

(f) to take such regulatory measures as may be prescribed to comply with any general or special directions that may be given to it from time to time by the Government of Sri Lanka in the interest of national security, public order and the defence of the country

Read More

When peace goes downhill Kandy riots and the rise of extremism

By Arjuna Ranawana-2018-03-11

The recent anti-Muslim violence in Sri Lanka, first in Gintota, then Ampara and last week in different parts of the Kandy District has left us scared and worried, and the world outside alarmed that we will sink back into civil strife.

Matters may appear to have settled for the moment, but there is tension simmering beneath.
Dr. Suren Rāghavan who teaches at the University of Colombo and is a scholar of Buddhist studies says, "Underneath Sri Lanka's naïve smile there is hatred, and we only need a situation to express that hatred. We need to ask ourselves whether this hatred comes from a sickness of our socio-economic mind or the fear of the other community, and if that is so, how do we get out of it?"
comprehensive

accounts

Elsewhere in this newspaper there are comprehensive accounts of what took place, written by our teams of reporters who visited all the locations around Kandy where there was violence. But in short, what happened was that organized groups of extremists attacked Muslim homes and businesses after a Sinhalese man driving a truck was killed by a group of Muslim youth.

This forced the imposition of a State of Emergency after seven years, enforcement of a curfew and the deployment of hundreds of STF and troops in Kandy.

Sri Lanka's sorry record at maintaining ethnic harmony has meant that we have had some sort of ethnic clash every few years. But over the past five years or so, after the lengthy war that pitted the State against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the conflict has been between Sinhalese and Muslims.

Right wing

All of these incidents have involved organized Sinhala-Buddhist Right Wing organizations such as the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), Ravana Balaya, Mahasohon Balakaya or Sinha Le.

Resident of Kandy and anthropologist, Professor Desmond Mallikarachchi says that the communal violence in this area was not a spontaneous reaction by local Sinhalese residents but an organized attack and therefore 'has to be analyzed politically and not psychologically.'

He pointed out that the Sinhalese man who died was not the victim of a planned attack, but was fatally injured in a random assault. "How is it that the violence came many days after the attack? So it was clearly planned and that is what makes it a tragedy."

He added, "This attack would not have come if our leaders had not sown the seeds of communalism deep in the hearts of our people. This comes from our folklore as well as the distorted history that is taught in our schools. I sometimes wish I could bring the Buddha here now to preach to these racists who are dressed in ties and trousers."

Both academics joined local residents in faulting the Police for inaction during the rioting and the days leading up to it. Rāghavan pointed to a video spread on social media where a Buddhist monk urges Sinhalese to take their swords and join battle against the Muslims. "That man should have been arrested," he said.

Police blamed the attack on the Mahasohon Balakaya, an extremist group based in the Kandy area and arrested its leader Amith Weerasinghe and nine others for organizing the mobs that wreaked havoc.

Reports from Teldeniya where the murdered driver lived, confirmed that BBS leader Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera was at his funeral. Mallikarachchi asks "why did Gnanasara Thera come to the house of this man who lived in a remote part of Teldeniya? Does he go to all the Buddhist funerals? He came with an ulterior motive. Wherever he goes, whether it was Aluthgama or other places, there is anti-Muslim violence."

Sri Lanka has a long history of extremist ethno-cultural groups. But it is in the past few years that they have shown that they are well-organized and have deep pockets. Raghavan says they are "sub-political groups, which are supported and protected by political parties. If you trace their roots you will be led to one or two powerful politicians."

Mallikarachchi points out that groups such as these were active in the formation of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in the 1950s by S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, although they did not exhibit this level of militancy. With regard to the current situation, he says "the authorities should have banned these extremist organizations as they came up. Now it is a case of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted."

He is also quick to blame incidents such as these on Sri Lanka's failed political culture. "Our politics is just a fight between parties, this is not human politics. It's all about party loyalties, favouritism and not about political argument."

Because of that, he says, there is a void in our political discourse which should be filled by a sound political theory that will help build a nation.

"We have not brought forward this political theory to resolve the issues facing this country, so all we have left is racism and fear of the other."

Mallikarachchi also subscribed to the oft-repeated fact that even 70 years after independence, we have failed to build a Sri Lankan nation. He says that the country needs to realize that even the war was not fought to win it for the Sinhala Buddhists. It was the State that was threatened by separatists and the war was won for all Sri Lankans.

The anthropologist also decried the motivation of the protesters. "These people who went in processions and attacked Muslims have no real love for anybody, even the Sinhalese. Just take the case of the little boy who was raped and killed in Iranawila. Did anyone go in a procession to condemn that? Was it because the alleged rape-murderer is a Sinhalese? But if the perpetrator was a Muslim then they would have gone there and caused destruction."

Rāghavan is convinced that the Kandy incidents had a hidden hand with a political agenda. He says these situations help certain political actors. He said that the failure of the current Good Governance coalition to fulfil its mandate and maintain unity has opened up spaces for political manoeuvring.
"People are wondering who will cross over to which party and there appears to be instability. We Sri Lankans believe that only total control will work in Sri Lanka and coalition Governments will not work. The same weakness was apparent in partnership governments of the past because we are unable to reconcile our differences."

So what does it

mean for the future?

Sri Lankans go to the polls to elect a new President at the end of next year and a new Parliament a few months later, making 2020 a crucial year.

A situation like the Kandy riots will hugely influence the voters' decision says Rāghavan. "From the citizens perspective there is no Governance in the country. Ordinary people are worried about many things. Food on the table, their children's future and making ends meet. They don't want trouble outside, which will affect their families."

So he said quality politics will decline and people will yearn for stability. This he says, may lead voters to prefer an elected autocratic leader to the messy politics of today.

A gloomy prospect indeed.