Pakistan's Imran Khan 'quietly confident' he will be PM

Imran Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), political party, holds his tasbih, while having tea on a plane on his way to a campaign rally ahead of general elections in Sialkot, Pakistan July 12, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer

Kay Johnson-JULY 13, 2018

LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani cricket legend Imran Khan said he was “quietly confident” of victory in a general election this month and that as prime minister, he would drive an anti-corruption and anti-poverty campaign in the south Asian nation.

The 65-year-old opposition leader, a glamorous part of the London upper crust in his younger days, also dismissed allegations that the powerful military was working behind the scenes to favour his campaign for the July 25 poll.

Oxford-educated Khan spoke in an interview on Friday as his arch foe, ousted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, was due to return to the country and be arrested on a conviction that was handed down by an anti-graft court last week. Much of the eastern city of Lahore, the hometown of both Khan and Sharif, was on alert for protests by Sharif’s supporters.

Khan is campaigning hard on populist promises of a prosperous Pakistan that breaks away from its persistent legacy of corruption, even as he expands appeals to nationalist and religious sentiment in the nuclear-armed, Muslim nation.

As prime minister, he says he will partially model his promised anti-corruption campaign and poverty reduction programmes on China, Pakistan’s traditional ally that has financed billions of dollars of infrastructure projects.

“What Pakistan has to do is follow China’s example where they lift people out of poverty,” Khan said in the interview in a private jet after a long night of campaigning in Punjab province.

“And actually we have meetings with the Chinese on all the steps they took  to reduce poverty.”
Whoever wins the election will also have to navigate Pakistan’s often-fraught relations with the United States over the U.S.-backed government’s war against Taliban militants in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Washington accuses Pakistan of not doing enough to root out Taliban militants who shelter on the Pakistani side of the border, and the Trump administration has recently cut foreign aid and applied diplomatic and financial pressure on Islamabad to try to force change.

Imran Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), political party, gestures as he speaks during an interview with Reuters on a plane after a campaign rally ahead of general elections in Narowal, Pakistan July 13, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer

 

“I think the longer the U.S. troops stay there, the less the chance of there being a political settlement,” Khan said. “I think the Afghans, you know, if the U.S. even gives a timetable of withdrawal, and then gets the Afghans on the table, and then with the neighbours also chipping in, I think that is the best chance of peace.”

A victory for Khan’s opposition party would mark a new political direction for Pakistan, which has been dominated by two parties - Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto - when the military has not been in power.

“WE’LL DO IT”

More than 20 years after Khan founded his political party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Pakistan Movement for Justice), the man still revered by many as captain of Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup-winning cricket team, feels the stars have finally aligned for him.

In recent years, he has mostly shed the playboy image of his younger days, marrying his spiritual adviser earlier this year and making public shows of devotion to Islam.

Supporters lined the roads leading to the three rallies Khan spoke at on Thursday night, swarming his entourage to fling rose petals as he entered each venue.

His speeches are still peppered with cricket references but also have appeals to religious conservatives in the country of 208 million. And he has courted traditional power brokers with large followings in Punjab, the country’s largest province that is key to any general election victory.

Khan’s political fortunes were transformed last July when the Supreme Court disqualified three-time premier Sharif in a case that judges only took up when Khan threatened to paralyse the capital Islamabad with his supporters.

Sharif is due to return to Pakistan on Friday to be arrested in a move that he hopes will boost his PML-N party ahead of polls, but Khan dismissed the move as futile.

He also rejected increasing allegations by both the PML-N and the PPP that the country’s “establishment” is pushing politically motivated corruption cases against their leaders.

Imran Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), political party, holds his tasbih, or prayer beads, as he sits in a helicopter on his way to a campaign rally ahead of general elections in Narowal, Pakistan July 12, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer

“(The) public is demanding accountability of corrupt leaders of political parties,” Khan said. “Now, each time there is an attempt to hold them accountable, they all get together and start saying its anti-democratic, and in this case they are saying it’s pre-poll rigging.”

Khan’s party has pulled ahead of others in one opinion poll and he said of his chances in the election: “I’m quietly confident that this time we’ll do it. I am hopeful, I am confident, but still, the match is not over until the last ball is bowled.”

Iran: Young man flogged 80 times for drinking alcohol as a child

11 July 2018

The public flogging on Tuesday in Iran of a young man convicted of consuming alcohol when he was just 14 or 15 years old over a decade ago highlights the inhumanity of a justice system that legalizes brutality, said Amnesty International today.

 “The circumstances of this case are absolutely shocking, representing another horrific example of the Iranian authorities’ warped priorities. No one, regardless of age, should be subjected to flogging; that a child was prosecuted for consuming alcohol and sentenced to 80 lashes beggars belief,” said Philip Luther, Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

 “The Iranian authorities’ prolific use of corporal punishment, including on children, demonstrates a shocking disregard for basic humanity. They should immediately abolish all forms of such punishment, which in Iran includes amputation and blinding as well as flogging.”

 The public flogging took place on 10 July in Niazmand Square, Kashmar, Razavi Khorasan province, where the man, known just as M. R., was flogged 80 times on his back. Domestic media outlets have posted a picture from showing the young man tied to a tree as he was flogged by a masked man, with a crowd of people watching at a distance.

 According to the Public Prosecutor of Kashmar, M. R. consumed alcohol during a wedding where an argument caused a fight that resulted in the death of a 17-year-old. The public prosecutor has conceded that M.R. was not involved in the murder and that the flogging sentence was only for drinking alcohol.

 According to the prosecutor, the “offence” took place in the Iranian year of 1385 (March 2006 to March 2007). M. R. was born in the Iranian year of 1370 (March 1991 to March 1992), which means he would have been 14 or 15 years old at the time of the incident. The flogging sentence was issued 10 years ago in 1386 (March 2007 to March 2008). It is not clear to Amnesty International why the sentence was carried out after over a decade.

 Judicial authorities in Iran have imposed and carried out various forms of cruel punishments in 2018, including the amputation of a man’s hand for stealing.

 “The use of cruel and inhuman punishments such as flogging, amputation and blinding are an appalling assault on human dignity and violate the absolute prohibition on torture and other degrading treatment or punishment under international law,” said Philip Luther.

“As a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Iran is legally obliged to forbid torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment. It’s simply unacceptable that the Iranian authorities continue to allow such punishments and to justify them in the name of protecting religious morals.”

Background

Article 265 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code states that the punishment for consumption of alcohol by a Muslim is 80 lashes.

 More than 100 “offences” are punishable by flogging under Iranian law. The offences include theft, assault, vandalism, defamation and fraud. They also cover acts that should not be criminalized, such as adultery, intimate relationships between unmarried men and women, “breach of public morals” and consensual same-sex sexual relations.

 In January 2016, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the UN body that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by state parties, urged Iran to “immediately repeal all provisions which authorize or condone cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of children”.

India rejects claim it is the most dangerous country on earth for women

By Holly Patrick | 13th July 2018

Tribal women gather to protest against a proposed power plant in Pedaveedu village, in Gurrambodu Thanda, Telangana, June 12, 2018. Picture taken June 12, 2018. Source: Reuters/Neha Dasgupta

INDIA was recently named the world’s unsafest country for women, but the country’s tourism ministry is taking steps to reassure travelers.

The title was bestowed to India after the results of a Thomson Reuters Foundation (TRF) poll in June revealed India was dangerous for women, more so than Afganistan, Syria, Somalia, and Saudi Arabia.

However, Tourism Ministry Secretary Rashmi Verma said in a letter sent to the heads of its overseas missions, trade, and hospitality associations, as well as its tourism offices abroad, that the TRF poll was based on “perception.”

SEE ALSO: India is the world’s most dangerous country to be a woman

She also added that India had implemented numerous safety initiatives since the fatal gang-rape of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student, Jyoti Singh Pandey, in New Delhi in 2012.

The incident triggered anger across the world and many questioned India’s protocol for dealing with and preventing these events.

Verma went on to state in the letter which was shared with Reuters, that the efforts of the government have proved to be working as the number of female tourists to India have remained the same.

Also listed in the letter were the other measures taken to ensure women’s safety across the country. These included the recent enactment of a stringent anti-rape law, institutional systems such as crisis centers and helplines, 24-hour support, counseling and legal aid.

A woman shouts slogans during a protest against the rape of a ten-year-old girl, in the outskirts of Delhi, India April 25, 2018. Source: Reuters/Adnan Abidi

A multi-lingual toll-free number has also been set up for foreigners and tourism police have been deployed to watch out for travelers.

“These efforts are showing results and the life of the average Indian woman is far improved as compared to a decade before,” Verma wrote.

“Facts clearly show that the opinion of India as the most dangerous country for women is not a reflection of reality,” she added.

Overall, the tourism ministry dismissed the TRF poll as “clearly inaccurate,” Reuters reported.

SEE ALSO: India has 63 million fewer women than it should have

Reuters, however, pointed out government data shows that cases of reported crime against women rose by 83 percent between 2007 and 2016, which equivalent to a reported rape every hour.

New Delhi-based Center for Social Research director Ranjana Jumari thinks the simplest way to change perceptions of women’s safety in India is to include more females in lawmaking.

Jumari urged lawmakers to pass the Women’s Reservation Bill which guarantees one-third of national and state assembly seats will be reserved for women.

A version of this article originally appeared on our sister site Travel Wire Asia.

Sabbath: Take your vacation — a day per week

Make. It. Stop. Fact: the average user touches their phone 2,617 times per day. Heavy users: 5,427 times per day. 

by Skip Prichard-Jul 12, 2018

( July 12, 2018, Maryland, Sri Lanka Guardian) What if you stumbled on an ancient practice that would give you more productivity, more creativity, and more energy while giving you less stress, less anxiety, and less sickness?

You’d be intrigued to learn as much as you can about it, I am sure.

I was pulled into Aaron Edelheit’s new book, The HARD Break: The Case for a 24/6 Lifestyle, from the very first pages where he outlines the benefits of taking one true day off from our hectic pace each week.

Deep down, I think all of us know that what we’re doing isn’t exactly good for us and isn’t exactly helping us be our best selves. We are overly-stressed, under-slept, chronically anxious as a society. We are never shutting down. Work follows us home and home follows us to work. Few places on the planet allow an escape from the Internet anymore.

And so, Aaron’s compelling research into the idea of taking the Sabbath, a day off each week, in a tradition that is thousands of years old was definitely intriguing.

Is it possible to actually do it?

I asked Aaron to share his personal experiences and his research. If the idea intrigues you, I encourage you to get his book to learn more. You’ll be glad you did.

“Beware the barrenness of a busy life.” -Socrates

Danger: Never Ending Workload

What are some of the negative effects we are seeing from our technology-enabled, always-on society?

Want an 80% increase in the risk of coronary disease? Work more than 10 hours a day. What about stress? Would you like to experience more stress than 57 percent of Americans? Then be sure to check your emails and texts on the weekends and non-work days.

And when you have your phone on all the time and you check it constantly, you effectively are “on call” to the world. A 2015 University of Hamburg study found that extended work availability, or being on call “has a negative effect: dampening mood and increasing markers of physiological stress.” Most notably, the stress carries on into the next day, even when people are no longer on call or working. The most important conclusion of this study was “that the mere prospect of work-related interruptions during free time can exacerbate stress.”[1]

And it’s not just traditional work that we are connected to. We are also connected to every Facebook friend, Twitter follower, Instagram feed, and more. According to one study, the temptation to check the Internet “was harder to resist than food or sex.”[2] When technology has a more powerful pull than the most basic human needs, we might start to worry.

“To make no mistakes is not in the power of man; but from their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future.” –Plutarch

All of this is leading to some pretty serious mental health problems. Consider that disability awards for mental disorders have dramatically increased since 1980. Substance abuse, especially of opiates, is at epidemic levels.[3] Mental health problems are becoming a significant burden for society. According to the Partnership for Workplace Mental Health, mental illness and substance abuse cost employers an estimated $80 to $100 billion annually. The World Health Organization has named depression as the number one disease burden for the economy worldwide.[4]

There are 200 footnotes in my book and that is after cutting many studies out. I had to work hard not to make my book a scientific journal of the problems stemming from working too much and being online 24/7.

“No man needs a vacation so much as the man who just had one.” -Elbert Hubbard

Take a Hard Break

For those who haven’t yet read your book, what is a “hard break”?

A hard break is a Sabbath, or distinctive break from work and technology. This means the phone is off, the computer is off, and I try not to talk about business for one whole day. Some people take Friday, others Saturday, Sunday or even a Tuesday. I personally take Friday night to Saturday night off. Some choose not to take a full day but turn off a few hours a day to be with their family, and then reconnect.

The goal is to give your brain and your body a break from constantly either working or being connected 24/7. It is also a break from running around from one activity to another without a pause. You should be striving for something different from what you do on every other day of the week.

Are we willing to just accept our electronic leashes and the constant demands they make of us?

Finland study: Work without rest caused lower cognitive function, poor vocabulary, and reasoning.

Take Your Vacation

Why do Americans in particular resist taking breaks or even taking vacations?

I share lots of research about the benefits of time off and vacation and the dangers of overwork. Yet last year, Americans gave up close to 700 million paid vacation days. It is insane, and unlike other countries, it is a part of our culture and one of the reasons I wrote my book.

There are several reasons I explore in the book including how extreme work schedules and habits have become status symbols. Fear of being non-essential is another reason. The most fascinating reason is the Zeigarnik effect, which is a psychological effect in which incomplete tasks stay on our mind. With all of the emails and tasks that never end, we feel compelled to finish those tasks.

Make. It. Stop. Fact: the average user touches their phone 2,617 times per day. Heavy users: 5,427 times per day. 

Many people are so addicted to being “on” that they cannot imagine successfully disconnecting. What benefits have you seen from your practice of taking a hard break?

How many times does the average person touch their phone? 2,617 times a day. How many times does the average heavy user touch their phone? 5,427 times a day. The scariest stat is that 87 percent of people surveyed check their phone at least once between midnight and 5:00 a.m.[5]

The American Psychological Association identifies people who do this as “constant checkers.” In a survey of Americans’ tech-related stress levels, the APA found that 65 percent of respondents acknowledged that taking a “digital detox” is important, but only 28 percent of those actually followed through by turning off and taking a break.[6]

The benefits of taking a hard break or a Sabbath are numerous. They include lower stress, rejuvenation, more creativity and new ideas, and better health—even food can taste better!

I’ve also experienced greater connection to my family and friends. Imagine having one day of vacation every week? Who doesn’t want that?

“Quality is more important than quantity.” -Steve Jobs

What does current science say about this ancient practice?

The coolest research is the latest from the world of neuroscience that shows that when you are resting, a part of the brain called the default mode network goes into overdrive. The default mode network is the part of the brain that tries to gain understanding from experience and form patterns of thought. So, by not resting, we aren’t giving our brains time to form patterns of thought and to gain deeper understanding of our experiences. To succeed in the world today requires us to be more creative and innovative. Amazing that the value of a tradition thousands of years old is validated by the latest in neuroscience research.

 “The price of success is hard work.” -Vince Lombardi

Take a Purposeful Pause

As you’ve begun to spread the message of this purposeful pause each week, is there a story of someone that you can share where it has made a difference?

The story of David Sullivan, the former Chief Operating Officer of my last company, The American Home. I’ve never seen someone grind as hard as he did. He almost completely burned out.

He has started his own company, and what did he implement in his life before embarking on the crazy adventure of a startup? A Sabbath. He is finding it invaluable to getting his startup off the ground and as a tool to balance work demands with family life.

 “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” -Albert Einstein

Would you share the names of some other successful individuals who see the benefits of taking a hard break?

I mention several in my book, including prominent venture capitalist Brad Feld, movie producer Devon Franklin, author and business professor Clayton Christensen and more. Read my book to learn their stories and also to learn how you can implement a hard break or a Sabbath in your life.

I agree. The book is terrific! The HARD Break: The Case for a 24/6 Lifestyle

[1] Alex Fradera, “The Psychological Toll of Being Off-Duty but ‘On Call.” The British Psychological Society Research Digest, September 10, 2015. http://digest.bps.org.uk/2015/09/the-psychological-toll-of-being-off.html

[2] Tony Crabbe. Busy: How to Thrive in a World of Too Much (New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2015), 133.

[3] Edmond S. Higgins, “Is Mental Health Declining in the U.S.?” Scientific American, January 1, 2017. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-mental-health-declining-in-the-u-s/

[4] “Workforce Mental Health Plays a Major Role in a Company’s Productivity, Safety and Bottom Line.” Charlotte Business Journal, September 15, 2016. https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2016/09/15/workforce-mental-health-plays-a-major-role-in-a.html

[5] Michael Winnick, “Putting a Finger on Our Phone Obsession.” dscout, June 16, 2016. https://blog.dscout.com/mobile-touches

[6] Deena Shanker, “Social Media Are Driving Americans Insane.” Bloomberg, February 23, 2017. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-23/social-media-is-driving-americans-insane

Skip Prichard is an accomplished CEO, growth-oriented business leader, and keynote speaker. He has written a WSJ bestselling book called The Book of Mistakes: 9 Secrets to Creating a Successful Future. He is known for his track record of successfully repositioning companies and dramatically improving results while improving the corporate culture.

CID informs court that Navy has not provided information on van used in abduction of 11 youth

Thu, Jul 12, 2018, 10:23 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.


July 12, Colombo: The Criminal Investigations Department today informed Fort Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne that the Sri Lanka Navy has not yet provided the information on the vehicle that is necessary to investigate the alleged abduction and murder of 11 youth.

The CID told the court that the van had been completely repaired and the CID did not receive the report.

The CID also informed court that no information has been provided on the motor bikes used by the Navy personnel who were serving under the main suspect former Lieutenant Commander Chandana Prasad Hettiarachchi in the abduction in 2008.

The suspect is currently evading arrest.

The CID also told the court that the findings of the investigation of the case have been directed to the Attorney General.

The two members of the Navy Intelligence wing arrested for the abduction and murder of 11 youths have been remanded until 26 July when they were produced before the court today.


The Criminal Investigation Department arrested nine suspects including former Naval Media Spokesperson Commodore DKP Dassanayake for aiding and abetting the abduction and disappearance of 11 youth in 2008 and 2009.

SRI LANKAN ISLAMIC CENTER WANTS TO KEEP FEMALE CIRCUMCISION AS A RELIGIOUS RIGHT

12/07/2018

NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Members of Sri Lanka’s Muslim communities on Wednesday condemned a government decision to ban female genital cutting as an “affront” that infringed upon their religious rights.

The Centre for Islamic Studies in Sri Lanka criticized the government after the health ministry denounced female genital mutilation (FGM) and prohibited doctors from any involvement in the tradition, known as “khatna”.

“The (ban) … not only infringes on our religious rights, but also threatens to drive the procedure underground,” Asiff Hussein, a senior official with the Centre for Islamic Studies, said in a statement.
The ban was announced in May. Government officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Supporters say khatna only involves a harmless nick to the clitoral hood and cannot be compared to other forms of FGM in parts of Africa, which can involve removing external genitalia and sewing up the vagina.

They consider it an important religious duty and say it improves hygiene, but some women say they have suffered irreversible damage.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says FGM includes any procedure that intentionally alters or causes injury to the female genitals for non-medical reasons.

Campaigners against khatna – which is performed on young girls – say it can cause psychological, sexual and physical complications.

“Who are these people making such statements? Predominantly men. How would they know if it is beneficial? Khatna makes it difficult to deliver, makes sex painful. It is utter patriarchy,” women’s rights activist, Shreen Abdul Saroor, said.

“It is a barbaric practice about degrading women’s sexuality,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

But the Centre for Islamic Studies said that associating “the Islamic duty of female circumcision with FGM was an affront to Muslims who regarded it as an obligatory religious duty and threatened to undermine the free practice of religion”.

Although khatna is not mentioned in the Koran, it is practiced by certain communities in Sri Lanka, including the Dawoodi Bohra and some Moor and Malay Muslims.

Human rights lawyer Ermiza Tegal called the practice “an artifact of its time which has become meshed in certain religious sub culture”.

“The impact on children is real and must be condemned. The state must hold firm in protecting children from this harmful practice,” she said.

“Even if some believe it is a religious requirement it does not entitle them to make an irreversible cut on an innocent child’s body when a child cannot give informed consent.”

The United Nations, which views all forms of FGM as a violation of women’s and girls’ rights, estimates at least 200 million have undergone the practice worldwide.

(Reporting by Annie Banerji @anniebanerji, Editing by Emma Batha; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters that covers humanitarian issues, conflicts, land and property rights, modern slavery and human trafficking, gender equality, climate change and resilience. Visit news.trust.org to see more stories.)

On urban centres and suburban peripheries

Worldview and outlook are informed by a mindset which is as hegemonic and as imposing as the worldview and outlook they condemn

The “NGO intelligentsia” bloomed after the Premadasa presidency. They had their moment during the Chandrika Bandaranaike days

The fight against racism need not be opposed to the resolution of economic issues

2018-07

Certain intellectuals love to wax eloquent on “alternative narratives” and not always for innocent reasons. In Sri Lanka, for these ladies and gentlemen, the prevailing narrative is informed by a Sinhala Buddhist mindset. An alternative to this narrative would be one, I suppose, informed by a non Sinhala Buddhist mindset. Or a mindset which somehow brings together Sinhala Buddhists and non Sinhala Buddhists. I wouldn’t know. They haven’t done a good job identifying and explaining this to us so far. And insofar as the people of this country, with fuel prices, inflation, rising costs of living, and prospects of unemployment lying just around the corner, are concerned, I wouldn’t care and neither would you. 

The dominant discourse is that Sinhala Buddhists are hegemonic monsters who like to summon Hitler in order to solve the country’s problems. The dominant discourse is that when it comes to sharing power between the centre and the periphery, the Sinhala Buddhists have resisted compromise and resolution at every step of the way. The dominant discourse is that the country’s problems, throughout much of history, can be traced to the same people who happen to form the numerical majority in the population. Be it in politics and even in the arts, the role of civil society is therefore to take us away from this Sinhala and Buddhist centric perspective, as a means of emancipating the nation.   

Those who project and perpetuate this discourse are professionals at inferring problems, but weak on extracting conclusions. But I presume that’s to be expected, given that the problems themselves are couched in terms which go directly into their way of thinking and looking at the world. That worldview and outlook are informed by a mindset which is as hegemonic and as imposing as the worldview and outlook they condemn. No, this is not to belittle their concerns, much of which do certainly ring alarm bells, rather to point out that intellectuals who keep on talking about narratives and hegemonies have failed so far to reconcile the ideological, the abstract, with the material, the concrete. They talk of democracy, of fairness, of the need to do away with structures of power and force, yet they do not talk about or even dwell on the economic imperatives needed to facilitate such concepts. They talk of equity from one side of the room, forgetting that on the other side we are being squeezed by the IMF (in the name of growth) to revise price structures which happen to be felt most acutely by the poor.   

Combating hegemonic structures, I have always felt, boils down to perspective. What hegemony? Sinhala Buddhist? Eelamist? At one point the latter was more powerful than the former and yet those same intellectuals talked about bringing both to the negotiating table. If that was their logic then, isn’t it strange, now that Eelamism on no longer the dominant discourse it was, that they are asking for the annihilation of the Sinhala Buddhist hegemony? If they asked for a round table before, why are they asking for a square one now?   

By concentrating on the ideological and the abstract, the intellectuals have succeeded in alienating a vast majority of people whose knowledge of democracy, hegemony, and all those other suffixed concepts and abstractions is next to zero, not because they aren’t aware of them but because diminishing economic prospects have compelled them to forget them. We happen to be living in a world where the West talks about democracy and economic restructuring at the same time. It’s Orwell’s double-think, though in a more insidious form. People are being preached about equity and justice one week and the following week, they see their belts being tightened and squeezed beyond endurance. Neither the government nor civil society has done a good job of reconciling these two ends of the same stick.   

The “NGO intelligentsia” bloomed after the Premadasa presidency. They had their moment during the Chandrika Bandaranaike days and they flirted with politicians who readily gave into and perpetuated their myths. Some of those politicians have found their place in the sun in the present government and this intelligentsia is having a field day all over again.  That is why they continue to sustain, unwittingly, a rift between what they preach and what the rest of the political and economic centre practise. The concrete realities that we encounter day in and day out are as far away from all those ideological alternative narratives as they were before. I’m willing to wager that with what we are facing today (mounting debt, never-ending price hikes, unemployment, strikes that attest to policy anomalies in the public sector), this rift is even bigger than what it used to be once.   

Such a rift is counterproductive to both the country and those inadvertently sustaining that rift. The biggest failing of civil society has been its lack of contact with the grassroots. The image of civil society as being housed by English-speaking writers and academics residing in comfortable air-conditioned houses is largely a myth borne out of the popular culture (Sarath Weerasekara’s film Gamini perpetuated this myth). While the federalist discourse traces its origins to an English speaking intelligentsia, the descendants of this intelligentsia have tended to come from a largely bilingual or monolingual (mainly Sinhala) backdrop. They have succeeded in translating the sacred abstractions to their tongue. But even these translations have not had an impact on the majority. While clearly reflected and refracted through Sinhala, they have not swept into the Sinhala heartland. They remain limited to the urban centre and suburban periphery.   

Here lies the main flaw at the heart of the NGO intelligentsia: they continue to be led by foreign experts and ideologues who themselves are losing ground in a West where right-wing oppositions and governments have made a mockery of those structures of good governance and democracy and decency which continue to be venerated here by these very same experts and ideologues. How can the NGO intelligentsia ever curry favour with the population?   

I firmly believe that the fight against racism need not be opposed to the resolution of economic issues. Anti-racism need not be anti-Sinhala Buddhist or, worse, Eelamist, and the same room can hold devolutionists and nationalists and this to the exclusion of those who are baying for blood over their demands for complete, unconditional federalism and separatism. (To a considerable extent, this is true of the Podujana Peramuna, which houses both Dinesh Gunawardena and Vasudeva Nanayakkara. 

That, however, is a fragile marriage of convenience, a momentary political truce in fact, and should the SLPP win in 2020, it may well crack up thanks to those inevitable ideological disputes which led to the Samasamajists to divide during the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime.) I also firmly believe that much of the history that paints the Sinhala Buddhists as demons and fascists, which has been roundly proven to be biased (though I cannot claim to be a scholar the way the writers of these anti-Sinhala Buddhists histories are, I believe I and other non-historians have succeeded in calling them out for the hollowness of their writings), can be discarded in favour of a history that is more sympathetic, more inclusive, more comprehensive, with respect to all ethnicities. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the real alternative narrative we should look at. Not the one we’ve been forced to concede ground to.

Cassandra Cry: A woman’s balanced view of the past week Local women in their infinite variety

Dr Rajani Rajasingham Thiranagama

Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale/Her infinite variety…

July 12, 2018, 10:24 pm 

Thus Shakespeare praised Cleopatra in his tragedy of the love of Marc Anthony for the eternally attractive Queen of the Nile. Cassandra borrows the quote as her mind is occupied with three local women –to be praised or one to be castigated as you readers wish. Also a panel of three brainy, outspoken lovelies.

A man who teaches a woman to write should know that he is providing poison to an asp - Aristotle

Dr Rajani Rajasingham Thiranagama (23 February 1954 – 21 September 1989) Author of Broken Palmyrah

Twenty-nine years after the brutal murder of Rajani Thiranagama, human rights activist and feminist who dared to live and work in Jaffna and criticise the LTTE after first admiring them, is the subject of T.D. Ramakrishnan’s Malayalam book Sugandhi Enna Andal Devanayaki. This chronicle of her struggle will be available in English published by HarperCollins on July 25. The Malayalam work published three years ago was reportedly sensational.

We remember with sorrow this young mother and head of the Department of Anatomy, University of Jaffna, who was shot dead, apparently by an LTTE sniper as she rode home on her bicycle. She bravely broke religious and ethnic barriers to marry a Sinhala Buddhist social activist, and dared to become a distinguished human rights activist herself by criticising Sinhala chauvinism; the fascist nationalism of the LTTE as well as the alleged brutalities of the Indian Peace Keeping Force. Cassandra worked in a human rights centre and she well remembers issues of the UTHR(J) leaflets (University Teachers for Human Rights –Jaffna) being literally smuggled into the library; the organisation initiated by Rajani and others printing pamphlets in great secrecy avoiding detection from the top Tigers and the GoSL Police and Secretariat of Prez Premadasa.

Returning from the UK with post graduate qualifications, Rajani opted to serve in her home area and help build up the Jaffna Medical Faculty. She at first approved of the LTTE believing then to be freedom fighters. Later, their atrocities and ruthless violence disillusioned her so much that she expressed it and paid with her life. She is as yet admired, respected and moaned.

Greek philosopher Hyperides said: A woman who travels outside her house should be old enough that people ask whose mother she is, not whose wife she is. Maybe that’s an apt quote for Cassandra to introduce her next woman subject – Mrs Vijayakala Maheswaran, Ex State Minister of Child Affairs, who has been much in the media.

Now here’s a pretty kettle of mixed up fish wrapped in sari wearing a pottu; a woman much misunderstood or a female turncoat of the worst order. At a government sponsored meeting in Jaffna with a UNP Minister of State and others present, she opens her mouth and lets drop poison: "We have faced three decades in the war. Other than releasing some plots of land in Valikaamam North, the Government did nothing for the people. We are also part of this unity government. If children are to return home safely, the hands of the LTTE should be strengthened." This said loud and clear by the daughter of a land owner of Karainagar, given in marriage to T Maheswaran of the UNP who was a minister in that government until fatally shot by a LTTE sniper while at prayer in a kovil in Colombo on 1 January 2008. Ungrateful, treacherous, toadying up to Jaffna voters, foolish to the utmost and completely happily amnesia-fied over LTTE child conscriptions and child human shields. That’s Vijayakala to Cassandra. To compound these descriptors Vijayakala continued thus: "Our main objective is to resurrect the LTTE in the North and East in order to ensure our survival …) Was she mad when she made these diabolical pronouncements publicly and in Jaffna of all places during this time when a smudge of unrest has ruffled the place? Cassandra desires being velvet gloved to a sister and asks seriously: was an LTTE gun pointing at her or her children? Was she made to say what she said? If not, living in comfort, wealth and safety in the heart of Colombo 7 with her kids expensively and exclusively educated, she is a traitor who is acting idiotic. The worst to Cassandra is that she says the government and Party she belongs to did nothing for Jaffna barring giving back some confiscated land. The Northern people are living better than their equals in the South, one can claim justifiably. She also implies the LTTE is alive and active. So let the blindfolded lady holding a pair of scales deal with the said Vijayakala. Cassandra has no tears to shed for her.

In his funeral speech Pericles said: A woman’s reputation is highest when men say little about her, whether it be good or evil. Maybe that is an apt Grecian quote to introduce the third of Cassandra’s Women of the Past Week – Minister of Justice Thalata Atukorale. She was given kudos before in this column for the stand she took about special courts to hear cases with monks involved and special rules in prisons (or bending existing ones) for those who have taken higher religious vows. Argument arose because Athadaate Gnanasara did not want to wear prison garb while imprisoned, and was encouraged to protest by his followers. She, the Minister said No, rules are rules and to be followed. Yes, since who expects Buddhist monks and members of the clergy whether Christian, Hindu or Muslim to commit crimes and be incarcerated.

She’s placed her neck on the bloc again by instituting special courts to clear the backlog of high profile cases including those against members of the former government. Cabinet Spokesman Dr Rajitha Senaratne, announcing these courts, said they will hear cases involving money laundering, dishonest misappropriation of property and criminal breach of trust by public servants. The first court will open in Colombo and two more outstation before the end of September. Parliament voted thus for the institution of these courts: 119 for and 52 against. Selection of cases to be tried in these courts will be by the Chief Justice.

Why did Cassandra say Minister Atukorale was placing her head on the bloc? Because in this fair isle of ours, we are very adept at shooting or killing in some other way the messenger. The message is forgotten in the furor over killing the message-bearing selalihiniya. Remember Lasantha. Brethren in this land are also given to shout the shout ‘it was done before, so why not now’; ‘he did it so why not me doing it now?’ Thus, most surmise corruption is a way of life, passed down by those who went before. Pride in being a woman was Cassandra’s main emotion as she watched and listened to three women panelists on Monday July 9th Face the Nation programme on MTV channel, the discussion conducted by Sonali Wadigebaduge. Jayanthi Kuru-Utumpala (women’s rights activist and mountaineer), Ermizer Tegal (Attorney-at-Law) and Dr Vilesha Weeraratne (Research Fellow, Institute of Policy Studies) sat relaxed, confident, feminine and speaking so to the point and judiciously on conditions of women in this land in relation to rights and how these rights are violated. Laws regards abortion and divorce have to be revised they agreed and quoted archaic laws such as the no-buying-alcoholic-drinks-by-women colonial rule resurrected recently; a throwback to the Victorian era. With women like these hopefully entering Parliament some day, those of the low-down ilk of Wimal W will be eliminated. The single male journalist on the programme asked the most relevant questions, proving we need both men and women, on equal terms.

Cassandra (of epic tradition and prediction)