Northern Provincial Council’s demands out of sync with geo-political realities

Saturday, 15 September 2018 

The Provincial Council of Sri Lanka’s Tamil-majority Northern Province on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution which put forth three very radical demands to the UN Human Rights Council (UHRC). But these hyperbolic demands seem to be unrealistic in the context of emerging geo-political realities.

The demands are as follows: refer the “war crimes” issue to the International Criminal Court (ICC); impose targeted sanctions against Lankan military personnel; and get the UN to conduct a referendum among North-East Lankan Tamils to determine the political preference of the Tamil speaking people towards finding a permanent political solution.

The resolution’s timing and the extent of support it got from the members of the NPC, indicate two things: First, it is timed to reach the ears of the members of the UNHRC which is in its 39th session from September 10 to 28. Second, it is election-time posturing. The NPC’s term is ending soon and fresh elections are on the cards. In the run up to the polls, expected to be held later this year or early 2019, every Tamil political party would like to portray itself as a champion of Tamil rights. The NPC was used as a forum to advertise this and the resolution was used as an instrument to express Tamil sentiments loudly.

Given Colombo’s reluctance to meet the humanitarian and political demands of the Tamils (transitional justice and a federal constitution), no Tamil political party could afford to opt out of the resolution and be seen as being pro-government. This lies behind the unanimous support it got.

Resolution

The NPC’s resolution recalled that the March 2011 Report of the UN Secretary General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Lanka stated that there were credible allegations that war crimes were committed during the final stages of the armed conflict between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which claimed over 40,000 lives.

According to the November 2012 Report of the UN Secretary-General’s Internal Review Panel on UN Action in Sri Lanka, over 70,000 people were unaccounted for during the final phase of the war in 2009.

The resolution said that Sri Lanka was a co-sponsor and signatory to the Resolution 30/1 at the UNHRC session in September 2015, which, inter-alia, proposed establishment of a Judicial Mechanism with a Special Counsel to investigate allegations of violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law.

The UNHRC sought a credible justice process to include independent judicial and prosecutorial institutions led by individuals known for their integrity and impartiality. It stressed the participation, in a Sri Lankan judicial mechanism, including the special counsel’s office, of Commonwealth and other foreign judges, defense lawyers, and authorised prosecutors and investigators.

The NPC resolution pointed out that as of March 2017, Sri Lanka had failed to take any significant measures to implement its commitments to Resolution 30/1.

In March 2017, Resolution 34/1, which was co-sponsored by Sri Lanka, gave a two-year extension until March 2019 for the government to implement Resolution 30/1.

But the Government of Sri Lanka has failed to take any meaningful steps towards implementing the Resolutions 30/1 and 34/1. On the contrary, the Sri Lankan President, the Prime Minister, and senior members of the government have been on record saying that they will not fully implement the UNHRC resolutions.

The NPC pointed out that the political conflict between the Sinhalese and the Tamil speaking peoples in Sri Lanka (which includes Muslims who are also Tamil-speaking) has been escalating since independence in 1948, and that the root cause of the war was the political conflict which has so far not been addressed properly despite numerous attempts.

The NPC called upon the UNHRC to refer Sri Lanka to the UN General Assembly and to the UN Security Council to be referred to the International Criminal Court or to a specially created international criminal tribunal set up by the UN.

The NPC said that the UNHRC should appoint a UN Special Rapporteur for Sri Lanka to monitor the plight of the war affected Tamil speaking people, disappeared persons, political prisoners, continued arbitrary detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, presence of large and disproportionate number of Sri Lankan security forces in Tamil areas, and the occupation of private lands by the Sri Lankan security forces in the North-East region.

It said that the UNHRC should urge the UN to impose military sanctions on Sri Lanka, until substantial progress is made in this regard. All member countries of the UN should deny entry visas to Lankan military personnel implicated in war crimes, and explore other avenues, including the application of Universal Jurisdiction as proposed by UN High-Commissioner for Human Rights in his Annual Report dated 26 February-23 March.

Since Sri Lanka has failed, and is unwilling to offer an equitable political solution to the Tamil speaking people, and has failed to take adequate measures to prevent the recurrence of the past violence, the UN should conduct a referendum in the North-East region of the island to determine the political preference of the Tamil speaking people towards finding a permanent political solution.

Countervailing geopolitical factors 

While many of the member countries of the UNHRC might agree with the charges made in the resolution, they may not recommend the actions sought by it, given the changed political context in Lanka and the changed geo-political situation in South Asia.

The present Sirisena-Wickremesinghe Government is markedly pro-West. The charges against Sri Lanka were first made by the West when the island was under Mahinda Rajapaksa’s nationalistic and pro-China government. Though the present Government is also opening its doors to China and is part of the latter’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the West still feels that it is more friendly and pliable than the earlier regime led by Rajapaksa. The West is now more inclined to wean Colombo away from Beijing by dangling a carrot before it than wielding a stick against it.

The West is proposing to finance small scale people-oriented grass roots level development projects which President Sirisena will appreciate and the masses will feel grateful for. Such projects are expected to get greater public support as compared to China’s massive and expensive infrastructure projects which bring no immediate benefits to locals. Recently, major Western funding agencies jointly met President Sirisena and pledged support for small and medium sized projects in a wide range of areas.

Simultaneously, Japan and the US are cultivating the Lankan Army and Navy, making them participate in seminars and exercises to forge interoperability. Japan, US and India have given naval vessels. The West and India have given Lanka a key place in their anti-China Indian Ocean maritime security architecture.

Regional power India is also trying to wean Colombo away from China, and not to alienate it. India always worked through the government of the day. Sensing that the not-so-friendly Rajapaksa is on a comeback trail, it recently invited him to India to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In this emerging context, it is inconceivable that the West and India would actually pillory the Lankan government.

Government’s conciliatory moves

On its part, the Government has been implementing schemes to lift the economic life of the war-affected Tamils to meet some of the concerns of the West and India. It has set up a Special Presidential Task Force to direct, expedite and monitor development activities in the war-affected Northern and Eastern Provinces.

The Government is to commence the construction of 25,000 out of 50,000 houses in the North and East in August. Construction of another 10,000 houses is to begin in January 2019. The road network project covers 1,847 kms. Over 20 livelihood projects would be implemented in the North and East. The Board of Investment (BOI) has said that 14 new projects would be implemented in the North.

President Sirisena told the donors that 88% of land in the Northern Province held by the security forces has been released to their original owners and the rest would be released soon.

Having received the Interim Report of the Office of the Missing Persons, a Cabinet sub-committee will be established to study the report. The President requested international donors to support programs for the welfare of the families of missing persons.

Natham: the sound of love

Article Author: 

09Sep 2018Keera Ratnam-

He was my favourite uncle, the youngest in my mother’s family, who was named after the Tamil deity, Lord Murugan - the true protector of language heritage and the Tamil culture, as my grandmother (Ammamma) would always say. He was her last son, her favourite. A most mischievous being that she loved and spent the majority of her final years protecting. He survived abuse during the time the Indian army came onto the island and lived through war and witnessed the genocide of his people, before he was forced to let go of the one person he dreamed of sharing his life with.

Fluent in five languages, my uncle was a man of great knowledge, who enjoyed reading and learning about other language as much as he loved his mother tongue. Aside from his love towards his work, family and literature, he had a soft spot for the love of his life, his wife.

Mala was just an ordinary village girl, who dressed simply, hadn’t studied much and didn't have much wealth. Some would even have questioned what was so special about her. However, what we saw on the outside was just portion of what a true gentle being she was on the inside. 

Their love started when he was working as a postmaster in Mankulam, where the two would often pass each other on the streets or in person when my aunt would come to drop off the post. Just as their relationship flourished however, my uncle was arrested by the Indian army.

Abused both mentally and physically, the Indian army interrogated him regarding the whereabouts of the LTTE and its leader V Prabhakaran. He told us later that he never thought he would make it out alive. He spent his days thinking of what would happen to his mother, his siblings and the girl he had fallen in love with, hoping that someone would secure his release.

No one came though, not even my grandmother, as his arrest and interrogation was done in silence. My grandmother went to different police stations and army camps day and night, waiting and inquiring about her son. It was many months before she finally found out where he was being detained.

Thirty months after his arrest, my uncle was released. He came out frail with bones protruding from his sunken, bruised skin, which bore the marks of days and nights of beatings. Unable to walk, he limped. His eyes red, lips cracked and his cheeks hallowed out from the loss of teeth.

Overjoyed by his release, Mala came running to see him. He remained silent though and avoided her gaze, as the memories of the abuse and torture he had experienced poured from his eyes. Pushing her away he told her to leave him and live her life with someone who could make her happy and allow her to lead a normal life. He began to avoid her despite her refusal to leave him for any other.

Mala eventually tried to kill herself. “I either live with you or not live at all,” she said.

Forced to accept the sincerity of her love for him, my uncle gave in and they married.

Life went by slowly, years turning into decades. The war was no better however, it darkened like grey clouds before a horrific storm. When that storm eventually came in 2009, its horror was unimaginable

Like all that hoped to survive the Mullivaikkal genocide, my aunt and an uncle walked barefoot for days looking for shelter and refuge. Hungry and thirsty they drank the muddy waters they came across as they stepped over dead bodies. After a few days they finally reached a camp. It was cramped, and the heat made it stickier. There were babies, children, widows, mothers, the young, the old, the sick and the injured. This was considered the safe place to be, although there wasn't enough food or water. My uncle prayed day and night that our family would be safe.

My aunt had always been a petite woman. Walking for days without clean water, food and with open wounds in the heat began to take its toll on her slender frame. She was soon unable to stand as an infection raged through her body. Her fever was uncontrollable.

In desperation my uncle told the army officers at the camp that his wife needed urgent medical attention. Saying the camp did not have the facilities to take care of her, the officers told him they would take her to another camp a few miles away. Agreeing, he helped get her ready. The soldiers lifted her onto a stretcher and put her in the ambulance. My uncle got in and sat by her holding her head.

“You can't come with us,” one of the army officers told him. “You can see her at the camp once we give her treatment.” The ambulance attendees told him the name of the camp and how to get there as he got off the ambulance. He saw his wife one last time before the ambulance doors closed on him and drove off.

He stood speechless for a few hours. He inquired at the camp when he would be able to go see his wife and was told he could go tomorrow.

Tomorrow soon became the next day, then the day after that. Soon days turned into weeks, weeks into months. The war ended. The genocide complete. The mass piles of bodies burned into ash. The lakes of blood dried out.The blood stained ground covered with new construction so traces of the slaughter would be hidden as if hundreds of thousands of people unaccounted for had disappeared into thin air. As if the ones who languish from place to place mourning for their dead and searching for their missing were looking for someone from their imagination.

My uncle chased after every ambulance hoping still to see my aunt was inside it. He searched every hospital and questioned local officials about her whereabouts. Silence was the answer he received. Their silence muted him. It took away his feelings, blinded his mind and crippled him mentally, torturing him as he constantly thinks of how he failed to be there as her husband, partner and lover to protect her.

Almost a decade later, my uncle still hopes to see her one last time, to tell her he loves her, that he will protect and that they can be together for the remainder of their lives. Like him, we hope to find her. Hope to give him the peace he needs, and let their love live, like in his dreams. However, he has changed forever – his body is alive, but his soul and essence was lost in 2009.

Related Articles: 

19 August 2018 : Behind the protest - Families of the disappeared: Sivasothy

29 July 2018 : Behind the protest – Kirishnakumari, Nadesu, Sarujan, Abitha and Ravichandran

09 July 2018 : Behind the protest - Families of the disappeared: Mariyathas

30 October 2017 : Behind the protest - Families of the disappeared: Selvan

26 August 2017 : Behind the protest - Families of the disappeared: Abirami

30 July 2017 : Behind the protest - Families of the disappeared: Ratheeswaran

Some Misplaced Criticisms Of The Tamil Political Trajectory 

By V. Thirunavukkarasu –SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

Vallipuram Thirunavukkarasu

First of all, let me touch on the Northern Provincial Council. Elected on the TNA ticket by an overwhelming majority in 2013 and,  having assumed office as Chief Minister, C.V. Wigneswaran had occasion to remark sometime that he would concentrate on running the Provincial Administration, leaving political issues to be tackled by the Parliamentarians.  However, with the passage of time, he stepped into the political arena as well, slowly but surely distancing himself from the TNA, while joining hands with forces opposed to the TNA, viz., the Tamil People’s National Front (TPNF), led by Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, as well as the EPRLF led by Suresh Premachandran, both former TNA Parliamentarians.  

Then, a forum called the Tamil People’s Council (TPC) was also formed, comprising some political groups and some intellectuals with Wigneswaran playing a conspicuously leading role, formally as a Vice-President. It is still not clear as to whether Wigneswaran wants to form a new political party, or to build up the TPC as a strong mass movement so as to reach whatever the goal he aspires to reach. Of course, people will judge him by the achievements he has made, or failed to make, thus far as the Chief Minister.   

Wigneswaran’s quest has been for a political solution to the Tamil National Question via a Federal arrangement in keeping with the goal of the founder of the Federal Party,  S.J.V . Chelvanayakam.  But, as is well known, Federalism has invariably been anathema to the southern Sinhala constituency, since it used to be relentlessly misrepresented by Sinhala leaders as a demand for a separate State. It was only recently that the Supreme Court gave ruling to say that the concept of Federalism does not connote establishment of a separate State.  

Well, the fundamental question involved is one of legitimate, substantive power-sharing, based on shared sovereignty, repeatedly stressed by the TNA hierarchy as an arrangement to be in place within an “undivided, indivisible and united Sri Lanka.” Even so, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna/Joint Opposition would unabashedly campaign in the South that Eelam will be conceded through the new Constitution, as was seen also during the recent “Janabalaya Kolombata” campaign conducted by the SLPP/JO, also taking umbrage that the post of Leader of the Opposition was not given to them, violating Constitutional provisions.

Early Call For National Unity & Full Independence 

In the 1920s, the Jaffna Youth Congress (JYC), a progressive organization, came into existence, pioneered by the redoubtable educationist, Handy Perinpanayagam, supported by  distinguished educationists, C. Subramaniam (Orator), Swami Vipulanandnda, K. Nesiah et al, and Left-oriented leaders, P. Nagalingam, (a former Senator) and Jeyam Tharmakulasingham et al. The JYC stood for full Independence from British rule, for complete National Unity, for bi-lingualism in schools, and for the eradication of caste barriers.   

The JYC proved to be popular in the South as well, so much so that leaders such as Dr. N.M. Perera,  George E de Silva, T.B Jayah, P de S  Kularatne of Ananda College fame, and like-minded others participated in one or more Annual Sessions of the JYC. Kularatne was a more regular participant in the JYC Annual Sessions, so that he was conferred the distinct honour of presiding over one of the Annual Sessions.  Here are some eulogies found in the report of the Annual Sessions” of 1925 and 1926:-

“P de S Kularatne was then formally proposed to the Chair by C. Subramaniam. It was reported that Kularatne kept the visionary youth spellbound with his speech for more than an hour.  He underlined the 3 aims of the Congress – (1) to revive the National Art, (2) to make Ceylon economically independent and (3) To train the youth for national service.  These 3 aims had virtually become the creed of the Congress, and participants at these Sessions had to subscribe to these aims. Kularatne was held in high regard by the people of Jaffna, because of his commitment to all-Island nationalism.” 

Post-Independence Scenario 

As Independence dawned in 1948,  as is well-known, one of the first acts of the D.S  Senanayake Government, was the stripping of the citizenship rights of the Tamil workers in the Plantation sector. This was followed, on the eve of the 1956 General Elections, by the Kotelawela Government unveiling its intent to make Sinhala the sole official language. And  then, S.W.R.D . Bandaranaike instantly reneged on his solemn pledge made in 1951 to make both Sinhala and Tamil Official Languages when he founded the SLFP.  As is well-known,he outdid the UNP, pledging “to make Sinhala the one Official language within 24 hours.” Having won the elections held in April 1956, he had the Sinhala Only Act enacted in June, 1956 brushing aside all grim warnings from the Opposition benches as to the horrendous consequences that were inherently in store for the country.

Read More

Possibility of a common democratic woman candidate ?

Saturday, 15 September 2018

The best possible scenario for the future of democracy in Sri Lanka would be to field a ‘common democratic candidate’ for the next presidential elections against a Rajapaksa candidate. Given both the omissions and commissions of the so-called Yahapalana government, there would be no possibility at all in preventing the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) capturing power at the next parliamentary elections.

If the SLPP or Rajapaksas capture power in both institutions, that would be a considerable setback for democracy, if not a disaster. A balance between the two institutions, the Presidency and Parliament, might be the best possible democratic outcome one can think of, given the present circumstances.

Possibilities for MS and/or RW?

There is no possibility of either Ranil Wickremesinghe (UNP) or Maithripala Sirisena (SLFP) winning the next presidential election, even if they come together to agree upon a ‘common candidate’ between them. The present trend is for them to contest against each other, given the soured relations within the Government, between them and between their parties. This would be a disaster for them and the country. There has been a steady decline of the UNP’s primary vote as shown by many observers for the last decade or so. The SLFP’s primary vote is completely split as revealed by the local government elections in February 2018, the overwhelming majority going under the SLPP.

There is a possibility that if the UNP strongly endorses MS again as the common candidate, like in January 2015, he would probably obtain more votes than RW could get as a common candidate even with the formal support of the SLFP. The SLFP in this respect is completely unreliable given its internal fissures and past record. Therefore, more prospects are for MS as a Yahapalana common candidate than for RW. However, winning the presidential election is quite unlikely given the erosion of democratic base and space of the Government. The minority votes that MS could get in January 2015 are largely eroded both among the Tamils and the Muslims for understandable reasons.

There is a possibility that if the UNP selects a different candidate to RW, for example Sajith Premadasa, he might be able to increase the voter base in the Sinhala dominant areas, but not necessarily in other areas. The erosion of the UNP primary vote is largely due to the unreliable personality of RW, in addition to economic policies and follies. For a new leader to resurrect the voter base might take a long time. There is no such apparent need for a leadership change in the SLFP. The party is in total chaos due to different reasons. In both parties, a leadership change is difficult given the lack of internal party democracy in Sri Lanka.

Broken promises 

Under the given circumstances, neither MS nor RW would appear as a ‘democratic common candidate’. Although their recent past record is not bad as Rajapaksa’s, the gap between what they promised and what they have delivered is considerable.

There is no new constitution, but only a distorted 19th Amendment. Yahapalana decision making has been abysmally slow in all fronts. Although many in the last government have been accused of past corruption or criminal involvement, there is no significant prosecution so far. Corruption is still going on unabated and a recently caught culprit for bribery has been President’s chief of staff. RW is directly implicated in the bond scam. The national debt has increased and not decreased. The people in the North apparently don’t see much difference between the last government and the present, according to well reliable sources. The Muslims are outraged, particularly of the way the recent Kandy attacks on Muslims were handled.

Democracy cannot be separated from economic development. People in the South are particularly outraged for poor economic performance of the present Government. There is a considerable disparity between the declared visions (Vision 2015) and actual performance. Poor economic performance invites authoritarian rule.

People’s disillusionment 

When we think about the general political situation, there is widespread disillusionment about political leaders, and political parties. This is what I have realised during my recent visit to the country in July and August. Many unknown people, to whom I have managed to talk to, expressed their disillusionment in anger or sarcasm. As reported recently, a large number of eligible voters particularly in the Colombo district have not registered for voting given this disillusionment. It might be still possible for the Opposition or the Government to mobilise people to march to Colombo against or in support of the Government. Those are their closest supporters and followers. Those demonstrations are however not clear indications of how people perceive or feel about politics, and about broken promises, by almost everyone again and again.

Breakdown of representative democracy

There is a clear breakdown of representative democracy. The elected representatives do not any longer represent the people’s will or aspirations. They largely represent their own interests, or mere party interests, or the interests of their funders. This was clear during the evidence revealed at the bond scam investigations, and in many other revelations about election funding by various sources, international and national, for all main parties and party candidates.

The so-called people’s representatives at all levels, who are mainly looking after their own perks and befits, have completely betrayed the ordinary people. Many MPs do not even attend important parliamentary sessions/debates and many sessions have recently been postponed for the lack of a quorum. The present crisis in the representative system is not merely because of the erroneous electoral system, but because of the total degeneration of the political culture and democratic ethos.

Existing possibilities  

It is obviously not possible to change the situation overnight or within a short span of time, although there is considerable will among certain sections of the society, and particularly among the young, for a positive political change. There might be some sections within the existing political parties or even among the existing MPs who would be willing to support such a change.

There are various people’s organisations in the country, not limited to the discredited formal NGOs, who could spearhead such a change. For example, the Sarvodaya movement has launched its ‘Deshodaya’ (national awakening) program, celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, particularly for this purpose. The whole movement might take certain stages, and would require practical measures, and most important at this stage might be to begin a discussion on those lines.

The spontaneous drive in search of alternatives, and more specifically alternative candidates for Presidency, was reflected in the recent proposals to field Kumar Sangakkara by some, and Nagananda Kodituwakku by some others. Both have denied the possibility of coming forward, for obviously different reasons. Among them at least Kodituwakku has expressed his continued commitment to be active and fight for change particularly in the constitutional sphere, anti-corruption and rule of law.

Why not Deepika Udagama? 

It is in this context that I wish to raise the question: ‘Why not Dr. Deepika Udagama as a common, democratic and a woman candidate for the presidential election? This is proposed without her consent or knowledge by purpose, for the sake of public discussion first. Therefore, her willingness or capacity is yet unknown. If she is not willing, a similar person should be proposed or come forward, possibly a woman with independent and strong credentials.

Udagama is not an unknown person in public life. Why not a woman for a change? She has no political party or any other partisan affiliation. However, she is completely familiar and knowledgeable about politics. Having been mainly a university academic in the field of law, she is one who has kept her integrity intact. She is familiar with country’s law, constitutional law, international law, and most importantly human rights law and issues. She is the present Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission performing an excellent service. She will be completely reasonable to all persons, communities and all religious groups. This is not her full profile but some glimpses.

To create a balance 

Her name is proposed in a particular context. The country might not be in a position to avoid a political backlash to its democracy, for the omissions and commissions that the present Government has committed, unfortunately in the name of democracy and good governance.

There is hardly much possibility of avoiding the SLPP or Rajapaksas coming to power as the government. Hopefully, they should learn the lessons of the past and behave at least more democratically. However, there is much possibility of avoiding the SLPP or Rajapaksas taking over the Presidency. This cannot be done by the UNP or the formal SLFP contesting separately or jointly, but their active support for a common, independent and a democratic candidate is necessary for a possible win. If they are committed to democracy, they should reform their political parties and contest with new candidates at the next parliamentary elections, at least to constitute a strong opposition.

A democratic President and a strong opposition in Parliament with new and reformed UNP and SLFP candidates might be the best that the country can think of at the moment for the country’s democratic future. 

Predicament of Tamil moderates 

 

• Sumanthiran’s statement portrayed as a betrayal of Tamils
• The ordeal moderate politics has to undergo in the face of its respective extremisms
• The TNA would have a further tough time ahead

2018-09-14 

In politics or war, one should not give ammunition to the enemies. But Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran who is also the Spokesman of the Tamil coalition has given not just a little ammunition, but an ammunition dump, to his opponents in the North, which the latter seem to be using against him these days, liberally.

The Tamil political parties rival to the TNA are gunning for Sumanthiran after he made a conciliatory statement on the resolution of the ethnic problem through the proposed new Constitution at a meeting held in Sinhalese dominated Galleon August 30.

Responding to a question by a participant of the meeting whether Tamils needed only Federalism, the TNA Spokesman had replied in the negative but explained what they stood for which in fact was Federalism, in essence.

The question posed to him at the meeting might definitely have landed him in a Catch-22 situation.

In a mainly Sinhalese audience, had he answered the question in the affirmative he would have faced a barrage of hostile questions.

On the other hand, he would have to face the wrath of his Tamil opponents and rivals, in the event he said ‘no’ to the question.

The UNP and the SLFP, which faced a humiliating defeat at the February 10 Local Government elections are not likely to take a risk at the next national elections by giving into the TNA demands, in their effort to resolve the ethnic problem

Thus, he seems to have chosen not to give an emphatic yes or no answer, but to explain his party’s stance, with a slight pacific slant towards the audience.

“We need not a solution in the form of a Federal set up. Neither do we demand a separate State, which we have abandoned in order to live in an indivisible country.

Therefore, it would be sufficient to make amendments to the Provincial Council system that would provide for the devolution of power in a manner that all communities would live with equal rights,” he had explained, according to Thinakkural.

The event was a seminar organized to create awareness on the progress of the Constitution-making process under the current regime and the 20th Amendment to the Constitution that was to be presented then, in Parliament by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). It was the seventh in a series of such meetings.

Two days later, on September 1, Tamil newspapers went public with the story with a headline “We don’t want a Federal solution - Sumanthiran says in Galle.”

The news item with this headline was carried in Tamil newspapers at a time when Sumanthiran had become a thorn in the flesh of the opponents of the TNA, owing mainly to the fact that he was the one who countered most of their criticisms.

Besides, he is always in the news due to his relatively media friendly and conciliatory approach, apart from his knowledge in all three national languages.

The story might have been treated as a stroke of luck, especially by C.V.Wigneswaran, the Northern Province Chief Minister and Suresh Premachandran, the leader of the Eelam Peoples’ Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), which broke away from TNA coalition last November.

They portrayed the statement as a betrayal of Tamils and questioned whether it was the official stand of the TNA.

They were joined by Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, the leader of the Tamil National Peoples’ Front (TNPF), which also had severed links with the coalition sometimes ago.

Besides, Prabha Ganesan, who is not representing either the North or the East, also had stated that Sumanthiran was planning to annihilate the Tamil Nation systematically.

The Northern rivals of the TNA took this as an opportunity to pit the other constituent parties of the TNA, the People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) against the main party of the coalition the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK).

They questioned as to what the response was of those two parties to Sumanthiran’s statement, forcing them too to disown it.

On the same day newspapers published Sumanthiran’s statement, he clarified his position at a meeting with the northern journalists at his office in Point Pedro.

He denied that he renounced Federalism, as the headlines of the Tamil newspapers had claimed.

“Replying to a question I said, as usual, that we don’t need the Federalism in the signboard or in wordings which have been distorted to say that I renounced Federalism. I never said and would never say that we do not need Federalism.”

The TNA has been attacked on the same issue - compromising the Federal demand- though not with the same vehemence, since last October when the Interim Report of the Steering Committee of the Constitutional Assembly was submitted in Parliament by the Committee Chairman and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
The Steering Committee had compiled this report after perusing the reports presented in November 2016 by the six subcommittees that had been appointed by the Constitutional Assembly to recommend Constitutional amendments on various sectors.

The Steering Committee report is not a final document but one for public discourse, it was said.

On the nature of the State, the report had recommended using the term Aekeeya Rajayaya in Sinhala and Orumiththa Nadu in Tamil and both Sinhalese and Tamil nationalists and extremists agitated against it.

Tamils said despite the fact that the Tamil term proposed was ambiguous the Sinhala term clearly represented the Unitary State.

The Sinhalese were up in arms claiming that the term  Orumiththa Nadu was a subtle usage of words to hide the Federal form of governance, in spite of the Sinhala term denoting Unitary State.

The drafters of the Steering Committee report seem to have attempted to pacify both the extreme forces in the south and the north but the conflicting meanings of the Sinhala and Tamil terms provoked both the groups.

However, TNA leader R. Sampanthan accepted the formula saying that he was satisfied with the Tamil term Orumiththa Nadu and it was a victory on the part of the Tamils to call Sri Lanka an Orumiththa Nadu.

From then on the TNA leadership was of the opinion that tags and labels used to describe the nature of the State were not important if the new Constitution provided for the adequate devolution of powers to the Tamils.

It was on this basis that Sumanthiran seems to have made his statement in Galle, but his blunt usage of words backfired.

He has been still defending the statement at various meetings. This incident points as to what an ordeal the moderate politics has to undergo in the face of its respective extremism.

When it comes to the ethnic problem and Constitution-making, the Governments – present as well as past – also have been facing the same fate, as both parties of a problem have to compromise their stances if they are to come to a just and durable agreement.

As an exception, President J.R. Jayewardene had to bulldoze through the Opposition, when he introduced the Provincial Council system, the only Constitutional change that was made in respect of the ethnic problem.

The TNA would have a further tough time ahead as the term of the Northern Provincial Council expires next month and the Government is preparing for the next Presidential and Parliamentary Elections.

NPC Chief Minister Wigneswaran is most unlikely to contest under the TNA at the next provincial council election in the light of the conflicts between him and the TNA leadership. This might push Wigneswaran further towards Tamil extremists.

On the other hand, the UNP, headed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) of President Maithripala Sirisena which faced a humiliating defeat at the February 10 Local Government elections are not likely to take a risk at the next national elections by giving into the TNA demands, in their effort to resolve the ethnic problem.

Then, it would further strengthen the hands of the rivals of the TNA.

SRI LANKA: Almost a Million Children Hungry, and Invisible

(Lanka e News - 13.Sep.2018, 7.35PM) Sri Lanka repeatedly tops the ranks in South Asia when it comes to hunger. It in fact has mostly sat with the much better doings middle-income countries in global hunger indexes. Not any more despite the fact that it was found to be the most food-safe country in South Asia in the 2017 Global Hunger Index (GHI) by the International Food Policy Research Institute. It also performed well on several indicators like affordability (54.8), availability (52.8) and quality and safety (49.5).

The rosy picture ends there. The same GHI also found alarming rates of WASTING among the children of the country. With 14.7 percent of the country’s children stunted and 21.4% of children under 5 years already wasted, Sri Lanka finds itself among only four countries in the world to have every fifth child of the country wasted! The other countries with over 20 percent wasting rates are India, Djibouti and South Sudan.

The country has not only seen its hunger level stagnating at 25.5 percent in 2017 as it was in 2016; it has also seen a rapid rise in prevalence of wasting among its children. Over the five-year period 2012-2016, the prevalence of wasting in Sri Lankan children under five years has increased to 21.4 percent, as against only 13.3 percent in 2006-2010.

So how can Sri Lanka be both food secure and have such wasting rates at the same time? How can it be performing so well on affordability and availability of food and still let so many children fall through the safety net into chronic malnutrition and wasting?

Further exploration into the data complicates the picture even more. The paradox of food security in the face of such high figures of wasting is further evidenced by the poverty profile of the country. So many children seem to go to sleep with empty stomachs despite the country doing much better than its neighbours even on poverty estimates! The Sri Lankan government listed only 4.1 percent, or 843,913 people as poor in 2016, down from 6.7 percent in 2012/13. India, the only other country in the region with wasting among children over 20 percent for comparison, still has 21.92% of its total population officially living in poverty.

Further, translating the data into numbers brings out even stranger facts. Let us change the percentage points into real numbers for instance: at 14.7 percent a total of 256,000 children are stunted, at 21 percent 373,000 children are wasted. Now the question becomes, are these children counted among the official poverty estimates? Are they, a total 629,000 children, included in those 843,913 people Sri Lanka officially recognises as poor? If NO, why not? If YES, what about their parents? And WHO are the poor then...

Further, though one still struggles with data, the demography of hunger in the country suggests it to be widespread and not confined to remote, underdeveloped parts of the country. Wasting among children in Colombo, for instance, is still a high 12 percent, down only one percentage point from 2006.

The relapse of high levels of wasting and malnutrition in Sri Lanka, a country which has made spectacular achievements in snatching its population away from hunger is particularly worrisome. It is time for the Authorities to wake up and pull their act together, before it becomes totally unmanageable.

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

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by     (2018-09-13 14:15:08)

A Wake Up Call: An Open Letter To State Minister Of Finance & State Minister Of National Policies & Economic Affairs

By Chandra Jayaratne –SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

Chandra Jayaratne

An Open Letter to the State Minister of Finance & State Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs, Copied to the President, Prime Minister & Finance Minister

Dear Younger, Professional and People’s/Nation’s Prosperity Committed State Ministers,

“A Wake Up Call”: Urgent Need for Change Management Leadership Initiatives to Rebalance Growth Priorities & Expert/Lobbyist Advice with Political Realities & Expectations of the Marginalized

This appeal is to review this submission, reflecting back on the guiding principles and value commitments that compelled you to enter politics and seek a mandate to be People’s Representatives, instead of continuing with your respective high reward option careers in the private sector.

In the above context, please reflect on the following recent statements of acknowledged experts, which you have surely made note of already:

1. “Sri Lanka has to keep on a path of reducing budget deficits, broaden revenues, keep the exchange rate flexible to conserve forex reserves and move towards inflation targeting. Sri Lanka has high debt and low tax revenues which have made previous episodes of global downturns difficult to navigate. Sri Lanka is vulnerable because of its current account deficit, low US dollar reserves position and high debt rollover requirement ” -Eteri Kvintradze, IMF Resident Representative Sri Lanka.

2. “Prepare for the Unexpected Risks”- “I don’t think we can stop being vigilant. There are good reasons why people are feeling happier, why the global economy is doing better, but I think on the financial side we’re far from saying we’re in the clear. And with the asset prices very heavy, with leverage up, the risks are not small.- December 2017– Raghuram Rajan, the former governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

3. “World Unprepared for Next Financial Crisis” –“One of the consequences of the crisis has been completely underestimated, in my opinion: the populism that is appearing everywhere is the direct outcome of the crisis and of the way that it was handled after 2011/2012, by favouring solutions that were going to increase inequalities. Quantitative easing (by which central banks inject liquidity into the banking system) was useful and welcome. But it is a policy that is basically designed to bail out the financial system, and therefore serves the richest people on the planet. When there’s a fire, firemen intervene and there is water everywhere. But then you need to mop up, which we didn’t do. And because this water flowed into the pockets of some, and not of everyone, there was a surge in inequality.”- Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a former chief of the International Monetary Fund

4. “Debt vulnerabilities of the country need to be managed with extreme care, including re-examining military spending given the “social changes the country has undergone” since the war ended nine years ago”.  “There are at least three complementary options that deserve to be considered. First, boosting domestic demand through various channels, including progressive tax reforms, expanding social benefits and increasing minimum wages, among other measures; the resulting improvement in GDP growth would increase fiscal revenues. Second, opening the discussion on whether the military budget reflects the fundamental changes the country has undergone in the last years, in particular in the fields of peace and economic development. And third, renegotiating the debt with creditors in order to expand the fiscal space to boost domestic demand and generate revenues to ensure that nobody is left behind. Fiscal, monetary, economic and social policies need to be fully consistent”

“Warning against any cuts in social spending to repay increasing debt, also raised concerns over Sri Lanka’s strategy to stabilize the economy by strengthening the fiscal and external sectors, as recommended by the IMF, by rationalizing social security benefits.”  “Trying to achieve fiscal adjustment by reducing public expenditure in education, health and social transfers actually hinders long-term development and may have negative effects on social and economic stability,” “It is my view that such cuts should at least be compensated through cash transfers targeting those in need and ensuring that they reach the beneficiaries in a timely and efficient manner. Investments in the rural economy should be directed at supporting the livelihoods of these small-scale producers including technology transfers, market access and physical and natural resources, so they will be resilient against these subsidy reductions.”“In my view, while maintaining macroeconomic stability is an important concern, this aim should not prevent human rights assessments of these planned reforms, in line with international human rights standards.”  “While commending the Government on its effort to streamline taxes, he called for further measures to be taken to broaden the tax base and curb money laundering. He also advocated that the Government close the legal gap that exists to enlist the help of the banking system to curb tax evasion. In his preliminary report he also raised concerns over increases in VAT noting that “the cost of such tax is borne by the poorest part of the population.” According to the report in 2017 the Government raised 56.5% more revenue from VAT than it did in 2016.”- United Nations Independent Expert on Foreign Debt and Human Rights, Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky,

5. “Government measures to address countrywide indebtedness were insufficient. The Government should establish a proper legal framework to regulate microfinance institutions to cap interest rates and prevent abusive collection practices. The moratorium would prevent vulnerable groups, particularly women, from exploitation and abuse by lenders”. UN Independent Expert on Foreign Debt and Human Rights, Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky

Please next reflect on the under noted, few heart-wrenching stories from the Gammadda door-to-door campaign:

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