Sunday, December 23, 2018

Government Under Increasing Pressure To Intervene In Securing Rs. 1000 Daily Wage For Estate Workers: Fasting Youth Hospitalized

The fast campaign launched by four youth in Colombo Fort demanding a daily wage of Rs. 1000 for all estate workers | Photo via Facebok Vidarshana Kannangara

DECEMBER 23, 2018

The fast campaign launched by four youth in Colombo Fort demanding a daily wage of Rs. 1000 for all estate workers was called off today conditionally due to their worsening health conditions.

The youths, who launched the continuous fast campaign earlier this month, have been hospitalized today. The government, however, has come under pressure to intervene expeditiously in offering a solution to their demands.

Protests are taking place on a daily basis, not only in the estate areas, but also in the North and East, showing solidarity with the striking workers demanding a fixed daily wage of Rs. 1000.

Apart from the estate areas in the hill country, protests and public demonstrations were held in Jaffna, Batticaloa and Killinochchi to show solidarity with the protesting workers.

The estate workers unions launched a continuous strike on December 04 demanding a speedy solution to their demands and they still have not elicited a positive response from the authorities.

Representatives from plantation companies, during discussions held with the estate workers unions earlier this month, agreed to increase the current basic daily wage of Rs. 530 to Rs. 600.

Senior Vice President of Ceylon Workers Congress S Arulsami told media that the companies also agreed to increase the pay up to Rs. 1000 with allowances.

However, the trade unions are determined to continue with the strike until the companies give in to the demand of a fixed daily wage of Rs. 1000.

As a result of the protest, however, the tea industry, a key component of Sri Lanka’s economy, has come to a standstill posing a grave threat to the economy.

The umbrella organisation of the regional plantation companies (RPCs), the Planters’ Association of Ceylon (PA), addressing a press conference last week, cautioned that this year’s tea output would fall below 300 million kilos while the tea export income would fall below US $ 1.5 billion, due to the ongoing estate workers’ strike.S

“Our Request – Rs. 1000” | On the Wage Negotiations For Estate Workers

Featured image by Vikalpa

GROUNDVIEWS- 12/22/2018

For five days, estate workers have been holding a hunger strike in front of the Fort railway station, asking for a Rs. 1000 basic wage.

Currently, the workers receive Rs. 500 as a basic wage. Additional allowances, tied to productivity, attendance, and weight means they currently receive around Rs. 800 to Rs. 900 daily.

The Planters Association of Ceylon meanwhile says that providing such an increase is impossible, due to the conditions in the global market. Instead, they are offering the unions representing worker’s interests a Rs. 100 increase of their basic wage. This, taken together with their productivity and other allowances, they say, will give workers more than the Rs. 1000 they are asking for.

However workers say they are often treated harshly by their supervisors, who often find excuses to not provide workers with the extra allowance for plucking over 22 kilogrammes of tea (such as, for example, reducing for water weight).

Many of the estate workers are members of the Malaiyagha Tamil community, who fled oppression from India over 100 years ago. They were disenfranchised through the Ceylon Citizenship Act of 1948. Today, they continue to face numerous barriers to accessing basic services such as education and nutrition, as explored in our series marking 150 years since Ceylon tea was produced.

On day 5 of the hunger strike, Vikalpa and Maatram provided live coverage.

View a Twitter Moment compiling their coverage and other conversations around the wage negotiations, here or scroll below.

எங்கள் இரத்தம் + எங்கள் வியர்வை + எங்கள் கண்ணீர் #lka #SriLanka #MalayagaTamil pic.twitter.com/XPWIBOTG4m
— Maatram (@MaatramSL) 22 December 2018

Day 5 !
Our Blood + Our Tears +Our sweat
Demanding 1000/- Basic Daily wage ! Crowd gathers in solidarity today with the protesters at #colombo fort station #plantation #labour #wages #tea pic.twitter.com/IopZwB2qcp
— Vikalpa (@vikalpavoices) 22 December 2018

Agony of lower middle class and disintegration of liberal state in SL

by Siri Hettige,-December 23, 2018, 9:35 pm
Professor Emeritus of Sociology,
University of Colombo

As is well known, Sri Lankan political elites at the time of political independence had a broadly liberal political and economic outlook. Despite a large rural population dependent on an expanding small holder peasant economy, the country's economy was widely identified as an export import economy dependent largely on the export of a few plantation products. Moreover, society was polarised between an urban, English educated elite and a mass of vernacular educated rural peasants. It is this state of affairs that came under severe criticism from both the left and the Sinhala Buddhist nationalists. It is the mobilisation of these social forces through a popular democratic process that brought about the 1956 political transformation.

The emergent post 1956 political formation had both ethno-nationalist and social democratic connotations as is evident from a myriad of state policies that were subsequently adopted. These included Sinhala only policy, vernacular education policy, segregation of schools on ethno-linguistic and religious lines, import substitution industrialisation, land reforms, protection of labour and peasant rights, expansion of peasant settlements through irrigation rehabilitation and colonisation schemes, expansion of the state sector through increased public services, etc. All these policies together contributed to a significant expansion of the lower middle class creating opportunities for upward social mobility for rural and urban lower classes. Yet, by the early 1970's, a rapidly expanding population coupled with rising aspirations for upward mobility among youths belonging to all ethnic communities gave rise to unrest among educated segments of the population as was clearly evident from the 1971 JVP uprising followed by youth agitations in the north. Liberally oriented political opposition at the time saw the emerging crisis entirety as a failure of the state domination over a closed economy and sought to swing the pendulum to the other extreme by adopting an unregulated open economic policy.

What happened under the post 1977 open economic polices has been widely examined and documented and therefore, needs no detailed elaboration here. Suffice it to say that the socioeconomic order that came into being after 1956 was not critically evaluated looking at its negative and positive elements and no attempt was made to adopt policies that would have reversed the negative trends while building on more socially and economically desirable aspects. A few illustrative examples can help explain the emergent situation here. As already mentioned, the large state sector consisting of pervasive state services, import substitution industries, diverse specialised state institutions, extension services, etc. absorbed most of the vernacular educated, upwardly mobile youth in large numbers creating a massive rural lower middle class. Many of them over time reached very high positions in the state sector. But, with economic liberalisation , private corporate sector emerged as the dominant and lucrative sector of the economy.

Privatisation of state enterprises including plantations reinforced this trend. Meanwhile, the English language which was largely pushed to the background until 1977 emerged as an increasingly significant language of communication and business in the emergent globalised economy, creating the demand for English language skills. Increasing demand for English led the the proliferation of English language classes, expansion of urban private schools and the establishment of dozens of international schools. Yet, the neglect of teaching of English in the public school system for decades gave rise to a mostly monolingual teacher population, making it virtually impossible for rural children to acquire basic English language skills. Many people migrated to the Middle East and elsewhere for employment in order to earn money to spend on their children's education in private and international schools. Others sought to find places in urban schools. But, by now, capacity of most state schools to impart English language skills had dwindled so that even most of those who were admitted to Royal College in Colombo left school with little or no English language skills. Meanwhile, many well to do families dispatched their children overseas for education.

The result of the above developments was a clear polarisation of the country's education system. While the vast majority of rural schools remained ill equipped to cater to the emergent demand for English language and other skills, private and international schools in urban centres prepared children and youth from more privileged socio-economic backgrounds for more lucrative employment in the private sector, international agencies and overseas. The vast majority of rural lower and lower middle class families dependent mostly on vernacular schools for their children 's education realised that the life chances of the latter were severely restricted by their education. Meanwhile, the stagnation of the rural agricultural economy and rural industrial enterprises due to conditions created by the open economy, also restricted income opportunities in the countryside at a time when the need for monetary incomes also increased rapidly due to the proliferation of private health, education and transport services.

Many rural lower and lower middle class families responded to increasing social and economic pressures by adapting to the changing circumstances in numerous ways. Many people migrated to the Middle East for employment. Many young men dropped out of school and migrated to urban centres to find employment as drivers, construction workers, informal sector activists, etc. Many women also migrated to city centres as domestic workers, pavement hawkers, sales workers, etc. But, all these options were a far cry from their long cherished aspirations for upward social mobility through education. While many with educational qualifications could still find lower rung positions in state institutions and become members of the large lower middle class, many others could not even do so. This is clearly evident from the fact that thousands of graduates passing from public universities could not find employment in the private sector and had to wait till the governments recruited them for non-existent jobs in government institutions. Persisting unemployment of graduates despite such ad hoc measures shows that there is no solution to this problem. Meanwhile, increasing consumer aspirations and growing economic pressure made their lives an increasingly agonising experience. Colombo continues to be the focal point of the economy creating income opportunities for many rural people who look for non-agricultural employment. It is also the place where the best social infrastructure facilities like well-equipped hospitals, public and private educational institutions, etc. are concentrated. Making use of such facilities is often beyond the means of people living in the far away provinces. Yet, they can easily see the widening disparities between rural and urban areas.

Being brought up, socialised and conditioned in a mostly ethno-linguistically segregated educational, cultural and social environment, several generations of rural inhabitants have been receptive to ethno-nationalist interpretations of their predicament in the context of the post-independence political environment where many political parties and their leaders have sought their political fortunes through the mobilisation of political support on the basis of ethno-religious loyalties. Moreover, post 1977 liberal economic reforms have also been widely perceived by the members of the rural lower and lower middle classes as a way of undermining the moral economy established in the 1950's and the 60's by disturbing the rural urban balance in terms of equitable life chances, creating huge income disparities and bringing back the English educated urban elites, marginalising the vernacular educated rural intelligentsia. The lack of diversification of the economy over several decades due to diverse circumstances flushed out many people out of relatively stable rural agricultural communities, making many of them itinerant workers in Sri Lanka and overseas, with almost no formal social protection. Job creation has not been the main objective of economic growth in the country for decades. Structure of employment and income shows this clearly. What we have is a very narrow employment pyramid, indicating the relatively small size of the middle class. This situation frustrates many people in the lower segments of society. The situation in many fast growing economies like India, China, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore is quite different.

In conclusion, it is not difficult to understand why the members of a vast rural lower middle class in the country feel that they have been dislodged from the post-Independence moral economy that flourished in the 1950's and the 60's, which was also largely shaped by ethno-nationalism. Given the fact that nationalist discourse has been an integral part of the post-Independence political discourses in the country, many ardent nationalists have interpreted social and economic inequalities in terms of the competition for scarce resources as one among ethno-religious groups, ignoring its obvious social class connotations. This is widely accepted by the members of the large lower middle class in Lanka, particularly in the rural hinterland where nationalist politicians and their ideologues have an almost captive audience.

Tale of two leaders: A Christmas reflection

A manger in the little town of Bethlehem became world famous because of Christmas. It is not only a time to relax and refresh, but also to reflect and to reinforce. Despite the overly commercial coverage of Christmas, the true serenity associated with spirituality is still significant. As someone boldly said the other day, Christmas is certainly not Santa’s birthday – Pic by Sameera Wijesinghe

Monday, 24 December 2018

Leaders and laggards are much in talk these days in the midst of a political turbulence that ravaged the country. Christmas is approaching with its associated festivities as usual. Apart from the traditional message of peace and harmony, this “festival of light” invites us to enlighten ourselves to relook at the sincerity of our decisions and actions. Let me call my Christmas reflection a tale of two leaders.
Overview

A manger in the little town of Bethlehem became world famous because of Christmas. It is not only a time to relax and refresh, but also to reflect and to reinforce. Despite the overly commercial coverage of Christmas, the true serenity associated with spirituality is still significant. As someone boldly said the other day, Christmas is certainly not Santa’s birthday.

Traditionally we associate Christmas with the birth of Jesus Christ, despite the fact that it was a Roman festival of light, subsequently adopted to commemorate the birth of Jesus. It is more symbolic than historical with a high spiritual message. There is a telling invitation for us to be spiritual, in superseding traditional religious boundaries. In doing so, let me focus on a lesser viewed angle of leadership.

Two leaders in Christmas

Christmas is associated with a “king” and a “king of kings”. A vicious leader and a visionary leader were much in action. One was an adult with all worldly power, and the other one was a child enjoying the heavenly peace. Let me be specific. It is all above Herod the Great and baby Jesus.

I was inspired by a recent speech delivered by Rev. Prof. Aloysious Peiris, a globally-renowned scriptural scholar and the first Catholic Priest in Sri Lanka to obtain a doctorate in Buddhism. He compared Herod with Jesus in identifying their nature and features. Herod the Great was a Roman client king of Judea, famously known for his thirst for power, lust for women and interest in massive construction. He built a “Port City” in Caesarea, and massacred innocent children in order to destroy the threat of a future potential king.

The “king of kings” had all the right to be born in the most prestigious place on earth. Yet, the decision was to be born in a “manger” among animals, in becoming “eco-friendly”. The first visitors were shepherds representing the lowest strata of the society. It reminds me of a popular Christmas Carol “Away in a Manger”, with most-common musical settings are by William J. Kirkpatrick (1895) and James Ramsey Murray (1887).

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,

The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head.

The stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay,

The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes,

But little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes.

I love thee, Lord Jesus! look down from the sky,

And stay by my cradle till morning is nigh.

The contrast among the two leaders are much obvious. Let’s explore further.
A “Serpent” Leader and a “Servant” Leader

As we are much aware, leadership is not about positions and titles, but about decisions and actions. It is essentially a mindset. We look at the leaders at the top but not the “leaders at the tap”. Servant leadership is perhaps, one of the most ancient forms of leadership, aptly found in all great religious founders. When you consider the 550 Jathaka stories, more than 50% of the time, Bodhisathva is portrayed as a leader. In some cases, as a one who serve others. In brief, a servant leader is a servant first. The simple motto is service first.

Chanakya, the famous author of Arthashastra, wrote, in the 4th century B.C as follows:

“The king (leader) shall consider as good, not what pleases himself but what pleases his subjects (followers)” “the king (leader) is a paid servant and enjoys the resources of the state together with the people.”

There are passages that highlight the servant dimension of leadership, attributed to Lao-Tzu, who is believed to have lived in China sometime between 570 B.C. and 490 B.C.

Christmas invites us to serve others with love and compassion. It challenges us to leave aside Herod’s “serpent” leadership and embrace Jesus’s “servant” leadership. In order to have reflections and resolutions, I think, there is no better time than this Christmas week. Let that inward journey be a truly meaningful one, in bringing out the authentic leader in you and me

“The highest type of ruler is one of whose existence the people are barely aware. Next comes one whom they love and praise. Next comes one whom they fear. Next comes one whom they despise and defy. When you are lacking in faith, others will be unfaithful to you. The Sage is self-effacing and scanty of words. When his task is accomplished and things have been completed, all the people say, ‘We ourselves have achieved it!’
The fascinating point here is that the servant leader appears as a “leader breeder” in developing his/her followers to serve others.

Jesus who washed the feet of his disciples showed the world of his true servant leadership. That’s why we say that those who serve deserve leadership. In contrast Herod the Great was not so great in this perspective, in suppressing others with oppressive force. For me, he was more a “serpent” leader than a servant leader.

Herod was not a Jewish but a Roman king. He had become the ruler of the Jews with Roman help and boasted about being “the emperor’s friend”, dominating the power to entertaining Agrippa, Augustus Caesar’s right-hand man. On top of the gate of the new Temple, a golden eagle was erected, a symbol of Roman power in the heart of the holy city resented by all pious believers. Herod concluded ten marriages, all began with political purposes and probably all ended with profound misery.
King of Slavery vs. a King of Salvation

Herod ruled Judea with fear. He was insecure in actions and inconsistent in decisions. He was a slave to his lust and ended up having a ruined body. During nearly his whole reign, Herod faced trouble within his own family. Historians say that he had killed his wife, Mariamne, out of jealousy. As the years went by, the whole matter was further complicated by the question of who would replace him on the throne. Like many people with a strong will to power, Herod could not face the idea of losing it.

Three of Herod’s sons were put to death, and his brother “escaped death only by dying.” When Herod finally died, two other sons had some claim to the throne. Augustus finally settled the matter by splitting the inheritance between these two sons and a third one, and not allowing the title of king to any of them.

Jesus in stark contrast was a king of salvation. His message was all about love. It radiates forgiveness and friendship with a faith in a heavenly father. He carried a heavy cross to Golgotha and was the supreme sacrifice for the sake of humanity. He preached of a good shepherd who would carry wounded sheep on his shoulders, as opposed to so-called leaders who go on others’ shoulders. His leadership was the cross first and then the crown.

If Herod was the ruler of hate, Jesus was the ruler of heart. Whilst Herod went on a killing rampage, baby Jesus was safe with Joseph and Mary in Egypt. Jesus invited people to turn away from their evil to experience peace, hope and joy. “A new command I give you: Love one another.” This provides the basis for human relations.
Lessons from two leaders

There are a plenty of don’ts from Herod and a bounty of dos from Jesus. It is an invitation for managers to become servant leaders in demonstrating “spirituality” in action. It involves thinking and feeling of interconnectedness. It invites us to move away from being “vicious” in becoming “visionary”. The essence here is synergy in action, leaving aside differences, in demonstrating what management scholars termed as “spiritual intelligence”.

Spiritual Intelligence should be seen more in practice than in preaching. It applies to business managers and public administrators alike. It reminds me of one of my precious childhood memories in visiting a remarkable personality, and now I know that he was highly spiritually intelligent.

I together with my parents visited Rev. Fr. Mercelline Jayakody, who was at the old Catholic Church of Pilapitiya, Kelaniya. His room had a beautiful scenic view of Kelani River. Perhaps he would have been influenced to write many Sinhala Carols connecting natural beauty of Sri Lanka to nativity of Christ, when he wrote:

“Dina dina wehi kalu barawenawa, Maweli ganga diya borawenewa, Naththaa Kath beda gene enawa, Wehibara Uduvapaye”

(Christmas comes with loads of gifts in rainy December when waters of Mahaweli becomes murky).
Way forward

Let me conclude with what Rev. Fr. Mercelline Jayakody, aptly hailed as the Priest of the Temple (Pansale Piyathuma), wrote in Sinhala highlighting the social reality of Christmas. My translation of it goes as follows:

My Christmas is…

When the poor are well fed

When ragged cloths are no more

When your hands are consoled

When sin “goes” to Church.

It is all about being humane, with serving in mind. Christmas invites us to serve others with love and compassion. It challenges us to leave aside Herod’s “serpent” leadership and embrace Jesus’s “servant” leadership. In order to have reflections and resolutions, I think, there is no better time than this Christmas week. Let that inward journey be a truly meaningful one, in bringing out the authentic leader in you and me.

(Prof. Ajantha Dharmasiri can be reached through director@pim.sjp.ac.lk, ajantha@ou.edu or

www.ajanthadharmasiri.info.)

Irony of inequality

Agony of the Lower Middle Class and the disintegration of Liberal State

Siri Hettige (Professor Emeritus of Sociology University of Colombo)-Monday, December 24, 2018

With almost universal literacy and high levels of educational attainment among many of the adult citizens in the country, one would have expected by now overwhelming public support for a State based on secular, liberal values. Yet, the country continues to be highly divided on fundamental, secular democratic values. Religious leaders at all levels, people who offer solutions to existential problems based on superstition, age old archaic rituals, semi-literate monks who have subverted the teaching of the Buddha to prop up a populist religion that blends with day-to-day politics of the land and politicians who thrive on primordial divisions among people, continue to have great influence on large segments of the population including the so-called educated opinion makers and have the ability to sway public opinion on matters of great social, economic and political significance at a critical time like the run up to a crucial national election.

This situation clearly indicates that, despite many decades of democratic rule and rapid expansion of school and university education in the country following political independence, large swaths of the population remain uncommitted to social, cultural and political values that underpin modern, secular democracies in many other parts of the world. How do we explain this situation? There is no simple answer. In this article, an attempt is made to explain this paradoxical situation by looking at some of the post independence policies that continue to produce and reproduce social and cultural divisions that underpin political and ideological divisions in society.

As is well known, Sri Lankan political elites at the time of political independence had a broadly liberal political and economic outlook. Despite a large rural population dependent on an expanding small holder peasant economy, the country’s economy was widely identified as an export import economy dependent largely on the export of a few plantation products. Moreover, society was polarised between an urban, English educated elite and a mass of vernacular educated rural peasants. It is this state of affairs that came under severe criticism from both the left and the Sinhala Buddhist nationalists. It is the mobilisation of these social forces through a popular democratic process that brought about the 1956 political transformation.

Upward social mobility

The emergent post 1956 political formation had both ethno-nationalist and social democratic connotations as is evident from a myriad of state policies that were subsequently adopted. These included Sinhala Only policy, vernacular education policy, segregation of schools on ethno-linguistic and religious lines, import substitution industrialisation, land reforms, protection of labour and peasant rights, expansion of peasant settlements through irrigation rehabilitation and colonisation schemes, expansion of the state sector through increased public services, etc. All these policies together contributed to a significant expansion of the lower middle class creating opportunities for upward social mobility for rural and urban lower classes. Yet, by the early 1970’s, a rapidly expanding population coupled with rising aspirations for upward mobility among youths belonging to all ethnic communities gave rise to unrest among educated segments of the population as was clearly evident from the 1971 JVP uprising followed by youth agitations in the north. Liberally oriented political opposition at the time saw the emerging crisis entirety as a failure of the state domination over a closed economy and sought to swing the pendulum to the other extreme by adopting an unregulated open economic policy.

What happened under the post 1977 open economic policies has been widely examined and documented and therefore, needs no detailed elaboration here. Suffice it to say that the socioeconomic order that came into being after 1956 was not critically evaluated looking at its negative and positive elements and no attempt was made to adopt policies that would have reversed the negative trends while building on more socially and economically desirable aspects. A few illustrative examples can help explain the emergent situation here.

As already mentioned, the large state sector consisting of pervasive state services, import substitution industries, diverse specialised state institutions, extension services, etc. absorbed most of the vernacular educated, upwardly mobile youth in large numbers creating a massive rural lower middle class. Many of them over time reached very high positions in the state sector. But, with economic liberalisation, private corporate sector emerged as the dominant and lucrative sector of the economy. Privatisation of state enterprises including plantations reinforced this trend. Meanwhile, the English language which was largely pushed to the background until 1977 emerged as an increasingly significant language of communication and business in the emergent globalised economy, creating the demand for English language skills. Increasing demand for English led the proliferation of English language classes, expansion of urban private schools and the establishment of dozens of international schools. Yet, the neglect of teaching of English in the public school system for decades gave rise to a mostly monolingual teacher population, making it virtually impossible for rural children to acquire basic English language skills. Many people migrated to the Middle East and elsewhere for employment in order to earn money to spend on their children’s education in private and international schools. Others sought to find places in urban schools. But, by now, capacity of most state schools to impart English language skills had dwindled so that even most of those who were admitted to Royal College in Colombo left school with little or no English language skills. Meanwhile, many well to do families dispatched their children overseas for education.

The result of the above developments was a clear polarisation of the country’s education system. While the vast majority of rural schools remained ill equipped to cater to the emergent demand for English language and other skills, private and international schools in urban centres prepared children and youth from more privileged socio-economic backgrounds for more lucrative employment in the private sector, international agencies and overseas. The vast majority of rural lower and lower middle class families dependent mostly on vernacular schools for their children’s education realised that the life chances of the latter were severely restricted by their education. Meanwhile, the stagnation of the rural agricultural economy and rural industrial enterprises due to conditions created by the open economy, also restricted income opportunities in the countryside at a time when the need for monetary incomes also increased rapidly due to the proliferation of private health, education and transport services.

Employment opportunities

Many rural lower and lower middle class families responded to increasing social and economic pressures by adapting to the changing circumstances in numerous ways. Many people migrated to the Middle East for employment. Many young men dropped out of school and migrated to urban centres to find employment as drivers, construction workers, informal sector activists, etc. Many women also migrated to city centres as domestic workers, pavement hawkers, sales workers, etc. But, all these options were a far cry from their long cherished aspirations for upward social mobility through education. While many with educational qualifications could still find lower rung positions in state institutions and become members of the large lower middle class, many others could not even do so. This is clearly evident from the fact that thousands of graduates passing from public universities could not find employment in the private sector and had to wait till the governments recruited them for non-existent jobs in government institutions. Persisting unemployment of graduates despite such ad hoc measures shows that there is no solution to this problem. Meanwhile, increasing consumer aspirations and growing economic pressure made their lives an increasingly agonising experience. Colombo continues to be the focal point of the economy creating income opportunities for many rural people who look for non-agricultural employment. It is also the place where the best social infrastructure facilities like well equipped hospitals, public and private educational institutions, etc. are concentrated. Making use of such facilities is often beyond the means of people living in the far away provinces. Yet, they can easily see the widening disparities between rural and urban areas.

Being brought up, socialised and conditioned in a mostly ethno-linguistically segregated educational, cultural and social environment, several generations of rural inhabitants have been receptive to ethno-nationalist interpretations of their predicament in the context of the post-independence political environment where many political parties and their leaders have sought their political fortunes through the mobilisation of political support on the basis of ethno-religious loyalties. Moreover, post 1977 liberal economic reforms have also been widely perceived by the members of the rural lower and lower middle classes as a way of undermining the moral economy established in the 1950’s and the 60’s by disturbing the rural urban balance in terms of equitable life chances, creating huge income disparities and bringing back the English educated urban elites, marginalising the vernacular educated rural intelligentsia.

The lack of diversification of the economy over several decades due to diverse circumstances flushed out many people out of relatively stable rural agricultural communities, making many of them itinerant workers in Sri Lanka and overseas, with almost no formal social protection. Job creation has not been the main objective of economic growth in the country for decades. Structure of employment and income shows this clearly. What we have is a very narrow employment pyramid, indicating the relatively small size of the middle class. This situation frustrates many people in the lower segments of society. The situation in many fast growing economies like India, China, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore is quite different.

In conclusion, it is not difficult to understand why the members of a vast rural lower middle class in the country feel that they have been dislodged from the post independence moral economy that flourished in the 1950’s and the 60’s, which was also largely shaped by ethno-nationalism. Given the fact that nationalist discourse has been an integral part of the post independence political discourses in the country, many ardent nationalists have interpreted social and economic inequalities in terms of the competition for scarce resources as one among ethno-religious groups, ignoring its obvious social class connotations.

This is widely accepted by the members of the large lower middle class in Lanka, particularly in the rural hinterland where nationalist politicians and their ideologues have an almost captive audience.

Geopolitics of Western interest in Sri Lanka’s political impasse

2018-12-24

he inordinate interest shown by Western states and their Colombo-based diplomats in Sri Lanka’s political imbroglio, sparked off by the President Maithripala Sirisena’s sacking of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Oct. 26, formed an interesting side-show to the actual political developments as they played out in the country. The actions and statements of these emissaries, even as events continue to unfold, offer much food for thought about the motivation behind this unnatural focus on an internalSri Lankan conundrum.

Following the proroguing of parliament by the president, and then its dissolution, there was a raft of statements from diplomats of the US, UK, Canada and the EU demanding that Sri Lanka’s parliament should be reconvened. In moves that raised eyebrows, a group of them met with the ousted PM, and a delegation, accompanied by the UN resident representative for good measure, met the Speaker of parliament to influence him to this end. They warned of inimical consequences. The EU threatened to withdraw GSP+ concessions; a former US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power even suggested ‘targeted sanctions.’ Two outspoken former Sri Lankan ambassadors to the UN - Tamara Kunanayagam and Dr. Palitha Kohona have described this behaviour as unwarranted interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state, alleging the Western envoys’ conduct is in breach of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

One only has to reverse the situation and imagine how one of these Western countries would react if a diplomat from a lesser power on the world stage took similar liberties, to understand the imperial arrogance at play here. If a Sri Lankan ambassador in Washington publicly made gratuitous judgements on political controversies

in the US – whether they be allegations of Russian meddling, Trump’s immigrant policies, unilateral sanctions against third parties trading with US’ enemies, or whatever - how would the US react? There is established diplomatic protocol for envoys to observe while serving in their host countries, but it appears what is sauce for the goose is not sauce for the gander.

Sri Lanka’s judiciary has ruled on the clash between executive and legislature that was fast spiralling out of control and, for now, a semblance of order has been restored. There may be subterranean currents of discontent and intrigue in an underlying structural crisis that is yet to unfold in full. Instability is likely to persist till people have their say in a parliamentary election that reveals the true balance of forces.

Western diplomats who were the subject of some media interest as they sat, all agog in the gallery of parliament and in the court houses, tracking Sri Lankan events at micro-level, have breathed a collective sigh of relief with the exit of Mahinda Rajapaksa and reinstatement of Western-friendly Wickremesinghe as PM. Their statements this time around referred to readiness to ‘support sustainable and accountable reform and human rights’ (UK), support for ‘national reconciliation and prosperity for all’ (EU), calls to “deliver on accountability, constitutional reform and reconciliation” (Canada). One may ask what the connection is, between accountability, constitutional reform, national reconciliation etc. and a court ruling on the legality of a move made by Sri Lanka’s president to dissolve parliament.

It is not without reason that the ‘human rights-accountability-reconciliation-constitutional reform’ refrain has surfaced again, and at this moment in time. In order to see the full picture, it is useful to take note that these statements come from countries lying outside the geographical area where claims are nowadays being voiced, to being stakeholders in the Indian Ocean. It may be noticed that countries that do assert themselves in this maritime region, in their comments all mention ‘Indian Ocean’ or ‘Indo-Pacific.’ Sri Lanka is described as a ‘valued partner in the Indo-Pacific’(US); a ‘longstanding friend and partner in the Indian Ocean’ (Australia); and commitment is expressed towards achieving ‘peace, stability and prosperity in Sri Lanka and the Indo Pacific’ (Japan). Both categories of countries – those making claims in the Indian Ocean and those who have less maritime presence, have the same strategic focus – a geographic location at the cross-roads of vital sea lanes, the control of which may determine who rules the world in years ahead.

Sri Lanka’s closest neighbour India, whose concerns about what goes on in Sri Lanka are historical, and more understandable, made no mention of the Indian Ocean or ‘Indo Pacific.’ It said “As a close neighbour and true friend, India welcomes the resolution of the political situation in Sri Lanka.” Sri Lanka’s internal affair was not a preoccupation for most countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

"Instability is likely to persist till people have their say in a parliamentary election that reveals the true balance of forces"

Western countries that cannot make direct hegemonic claims in the Indian Ocean, but need to make common cause with those that do, have a Sword of Damocles in the form of the Geneva resolutions to rein in Sri Lanka and make it an obedient client. It may be recalled that the Canadian High Commissioner in his initial reaction to the events of Oct 26, made reference to the Geneva commitments when he said (to the puzzlement of many): “The Government of Sri Lanka needs to take concrete steps to meet its commitments to its own people - and the international community - with respect to accountability, transitional justice and ending impunity.‎”

The desire to assert dominance in the geopolitical ‘great game’ in the Indian Ocean goes a long way to explain the over-the-top reactions of Western states to Sri Lanka’s political in-fighting. The most candid admission of the real reasons for the Western need to protect Wickremesinghe, and be rid of Rajapaksa, was made by former US ambassador to Sri Lanka Robert Blake. In an article published in the Daily Mirror of Dec 7. Blake made reference to the likelihood of a Rajapaksa (Gotabhaya) victory in a possible upcoming presidential election, and issued a veiled warning of consequences a future SLPP government might suffer on account of losing favour with the US. While the usual references to ‘democracy and good governance’ were made, he soon got to the real reason for preoccupation with this Indian Ocean island. Shedding crocodile tears for the difficulties that Hambantota port project ran into, he suggested that Sri Lanka, among others participants in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, would be better off with the US’s counter-funding mechanisms such as Millennium Challenge and International Development Finance Corporation “… as Xi Jinping doubles down on BRI and continues projects that will give Beijing the capacity to exert control over international waters in the South China Sea.”

In a world order moving towards multi-polarity, and in which western dominance is increasingly challenged, is this an example of how the US deploys an insidious combination of carrot and stick to cling to its slipping status as the world’s superpower? What is important for Sri Lanka is that Western motivation needs to be seen for what it is (not what they SAY it is). It is the Sri Lankan people who must decide whether a Wickremesinghe or a Rajapaksa (or someone else) will be Prime Minister.

What to do and what not to do next

Only down to earth real-politick can stop a Rajapaksa reflux

Kumar David-December 22, 2018, 12:00 pm

Lanka won a respite which will last but weeks if there is a shortfall in performance by Ranil Wickremesinghe and his government and that will be a precursor to a reflux of a Rajapaksa wave with renewed energy in grassroots electoral encounters scheduled for 2019 and 2020. I have zero faith in reincarnation but RW’s amazing rebirth has shaken by scepticism; but then it could not have occurred if Aappaya and Mahindaya (to borrow my verbal diarrhoea infected three-wheeler driver’s incorrigible vocabulary) had not locked arms and jumped off a cliff. But I run ahead of my script; first a broad summary of the state of play right now.

= The determination of parliament not to be bullied by the President and the Rajapaksa mob, the mobilisation of middle-class democratic activists (22-day satyagraha at Victoria Park, crowds firming up RW’s spine at Temple Trees, a huge campaign in press and rallies) and the unwavering opposition of TNA and JVP to Sirisena’s illegal power grab has transformed the national political scene.

= The Supreme Court no doubt was only too conscious of the mood sweeping across the country; which is not to take away from the impeccability of its landmark judgement. (In passing, my comrades and friends who drafted 19A are sleeping well at night again!)

= Of greatest institutional significance is that the supremacy of Parliament over the Presidency in all respects stipulated in the Constitution and especially in 19A has been firmly asserted. (NM’s ghost worried sick about madmen at the helm is perhaps a little appeased).

May I suggest that these are the big picture-defining changes, the upshot of the wrenching mill the country has been put through in the last six weeks while Aappaya was suffering his chronic mental collapse. But don’t say all’s well that ends well because we are nowhere near the finale. Intelligence is the art of peering a little bit ahead and reflecting on the counter strategies that the down, but far from out Rajapaksa movement (its proto-fascist pretensions temporarily pushed aside) will adopt in the coming months. In my wanderings around pro-MR types (the obvious segment is three-wheeler wallahs) I have certainly seen disappointment at the setback, rage with Sirisena and some despondency but the base has by no means broken up or scattered. The MR base though dejected remains intact (like the Trump base); peripheral support of course has eroded.

At this moment I foresee three significant thrusts that the Mahinda Rajapaksa forces (MRf) are likely to adopt; disruption of orderly functioning of the government, second political interventions and third but most dangerous inciting communal violence. Disruption will take many forms such as trade union orchestrated disturbances; it’s the more reactionary middle-class trade unions like GMOA that have a fixated anti-government political agenda. The once progressive CEB Engineers Union did nothing to prevent the disconnection of power supply the Temple Trees when Sirisena was running berserk and there seem to be some rumblings among Railway engine drivers. Once things get started MRf agents provocateurs will step in and fan the flames.

Political interventions are still under study by MRf strategists and the options include incessant harassment by numerous court filings, a campaign for a referendum demanding parliamentary elections and whatever else MR’s bag of promised iniquities to bring down the government as soon as possible contains.

MR gave clear notice of what his key strategy is going to be if he fails to bring down Ranil et al within about three months. His resignation statement was a denouncement of those who were seeking to reverse the war victory in collision with anti-Lankan foreign powers. He was not shy about naming the local parties to the alleged separatist plot, the UNP, TNA and the Muslims, but did not yet name the foreign partners. His bête noire of course are the EU, UK the US and Norway; India of course is included in the list by default. I was at a ‘Party’ (ULF) Central Committee meeting last Sunday and was taken aback by the agitation with which many spoke about the very real possibility of communal unrest that MR himself and the MRf (especially MPs and fake-Ministers who are likely to be taken before the courts and locked up for a good long time for corruption and reams of other nefarious crimes) are preparing. The groundwork for anti-Tamil and anti-Muslim pogroms is being laid. Resolute political and police intervention can hopefully nip it.

A no holds barred political counterattack

There are two bottom-line strategic thrusts that the government must employ if it is to defeat this attack on its very survival; (a) a resolute counteroffensive on the political front and (b) an election winning populist economic strategy.

Let not RW and his cohorts forget that the mobilisation that saved their skins and threw back Aappaya and the concerted campaign of MRf power was once again (as in 8 January 2015) enthusiasm of the radical middle-class determined to protect democratic rights. The TNA, JVP, Chamipka, Mano Ganesan and Muslim Congress combined to form a wall that the proto-fascist rogue-regime could not breach. The bottom line in class terms was the energised and enraged radicalised middle-class; make no mistake about that. Numerically smaller than the rural people and the working class, politically it punches far above its weight. Maybe it numbers no more than 10% or 15% of the population but in its impassioned political wake, it influences up to three times as many. If Ranil and his cohorts once gain betray the trust and break the moral compact with this part of the population, the UNP deserves to be pushed over the precipice lock stock and barrel and I will be happy to help.

And how is one to keep this trust and retain the compact with this angry radicalised segment of the population? What has to be done is straightforward; whether RW and his bandwagon have guts and acumen to carry it through remains to be seen. Hundreds of corruption and criminal (including murder) cases pending forever and ever must the expedited and punishment must be meted out. No more procrastination; the country is fed up! Who cares if Namal, or Gota or Basil or a dozen ex-Ministers or for that matter MR himself are found guilty? If so they must be locked up as would anyone other guilty person. What’s the use of six special courts if they have been doing damn all for months? If Aappaya makes himself an obstruction, oppose him publicly; confrontation must be brought into the open. The ministers in charge of prosecutions and media must be selected by the government; interference must not be tolerated. Ranil’s interminable history of pussy-footing and refusing to take a stand on power politics must end. People call him a woman! Rubbish, Mrs B was ten times stronger.

The GMOA has threatened strike action if Rajitha is appointed Health Minister. This kind of political interference by the doctor’s trade union is intolerable. Rajitha must be appointed and if the GMOA attempts to hold the people and their health services hostage it must be smashed; I can’t think up an English equivalent to convey the same flavour as andu kadanna ooney.

A full range of emergency steps, including the hiring of retired overseas Sri Lankan doctors on one- and two-year contract are necessary stop gap measures. The fight against proto-fascism is a fight to the death; make no mistake.

An election winning populist budget Paski, Charitha, Eran and Harsha should be granted 18 months furlough and tickets for a nice long trip. I know the latter two and can vouch that they are nice chaps and went to good schools and all that but in these times, they are best suited to a salubrious vacation in Alaska or Botswana. Their economic thinking if allowed to dictate the next period is a sure-fire election loser. This is not the time for long-term liberal or conservative bourgeois free market, capitalist investor oriented economic daydreaming. Nothing of such an approach (even if it were wise which I reject, but that’s another matter) will produce tangible results within months or ameliorate anger at government’s economic failure of the last three years. This policy framework has been a failure both as a growth and export strategy and as a way of winning mass support.

Mahinda, a cunning populist, immediately on assuming the reins of office introduced a slew of populist measures. Why? Because he has a better understanding of how to win elections. Ranil (yawn!) hopes to deliver capitalist growth but he will be contemplating it from the benches of the opposition after 2019/2020. His economic team is a champion at losing both battles and wars. Still, the bloody nose the government suffered may have shaken it up a wee bit; anything is possible in these times. If Sajith, Mangala, Champika and others with grassroots experience were allowed more say in economic policy it would help. Maybe RW now sees the point, or maybe he’s still deaf and blind.

In closing I need to make clear the distance between the left, including parties in government and JVP, and the UNP and its ideological allies. The priority is to put out the fire that is burning down the house. The two teams of fire fighters have entirely different views on how the house needs to be rebuilt thereafter. The differences are that the left does not have illusions that this reconstituted government will do much to redress Tamil grievances and secondly not for a moment does it imagine that the UNP will digress from its inherited economic orientation. The former the TNA too well understands but like the left it sees that the priority is putting out the fire and locking up the arsonists.

The second matter is medium-term and the left needs a united-front and thankfully the JVP has recently been making less sectarian noises than in the past. It knows that it can get nowhere locked up in a cocoon of its own weaving. Left unity is a topic for a separate essay (again!) at some other time.

And so are they all: ‘honourable men’

THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE: Between the return of pragmatic politics’ Everyman and the anger of a native wit at inconvenient truths about his government, Sri Lankan realpolitik has gone from the sublime to the ridiculous to the surreal

Monday, 24 December 2018

The appointment of the Hon. Ravi Karunanayake, MP as the Minister of Power and Energy has set the polecat among the pigeons. It has got a knowing glance from the national press. While setting social media ablaze. And one can see why. But one might also be invited to see why not. Also what else hangs in the balance between political ethics and public expectations.

The reappointment of the Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe, MP as the Prime Minister is not without its own catcalls and controversies. The sentimentally democratic seem unsurprisingly pleased. While less naïve and more cynical stakeholders in the great republican game cough behind closed hands.

The two personalities go hand-in-hand. Or, as the scandal sheets may essay it, they go hand-in-glove. For they are both honourable men. On top of being honourable members of parliament. One has agency in the most recognisable democratic-republican project. While the other has appeared inimical to transparent national governance with integrity. He also seems indispensable to the instrumentality of any United National Party government. This begs not only the question, but an investigation as well. What is really and truly going on?

I can see three ships come sailing in the light of a silvery moon. To essay three levels of possible responses: the superficial, the strategic, and the subversive. The first is sublime for those who like to get angry regularly at political scoundrels who let them down. The second is ridiculous, because we ought to have known better by now that it is ‘for them, not us’ that the great game is being played. And the third is surreal – because it has been hidden in plain sight; yet we refuse to see it, because to do so would be to see things as they are – as nothing – with no one behind them… and induce an incurable nausea at the way sausages are made…

Superficial

On the face of it, the Rt. Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe has lost it. Where civil society – at least its Colombo based and suburban chapter – expected the cornered worm to turn, the utterly uncowed ‘usual suspects’ appeared to have wormed their way back in. If the urbane kaffeeklatsch set could not countenance a president-led coup then, they now find they can’t take the latest turn of events with milk and two sugars, and lump it. Once they thronged the streets ‘not for Ranil, but for democracy’ – and once the barricades were lifted by the court, they expected Ranil to ‘get on with it’. But it’s back to business as usual?

First, the right honourable gentleman appeared nobly disgruntled by an irate president’s less than charitable returning of the premiership mantle. And we mostly sympathised with the latter’s plight. Because all the president’s mien did was to underscore the ungracious nature of native wit rapped on the knuckles by a court he, et al., had created through constitutionalism. No one on Facebook or Twitter is likely to forget the sorry spectacle of a sophisticated premier squirming in second-hand embarrassment (as a young lady of my acquaintance noted) at the humiliated chief executive’s wrath.

Then, the prime minister outdid himself in terms of being graceless vis-à-vis civil society’s expectations of him – by claiming a victory ‘not for democracy, but for the UNP’ (refer the rally at Galle Face Green). Also, by appointing a gerontocratic cabinet of the usual suspects, he cocked a snook at those Liberty Roundabout demonstrators’ fond hopes. This cabal of old Johnnies and other lackadaisical walking-dead, rather than a younger more dynamic and ostensibly clean group of women and men (to steer the ship of state back on course and offer a new hope for a leaner cleaner political future for Sri Lanka’s GOP), lost that party many brownie points last week and possibly the next general election.

And, last but by no means least, he – in the face of no little social media pressure – resisted the temptation not to appoint the least honourable gentleman to a position of national power (pun intended) and trust again. After a hiatus in the doldrums, it was a bit of a shock to see the big man in wheeler-dealer circles back at his beloved leader’s side…

We sense Sharmini Serasinghe’s anger in print and sympathise with the vocal outrage of all the ‘voices of change’ on social media who feel short-changed by the most dishonourable of appointments. It only consolidated the impression most folks with the national interest at heart had. That the party driving the reforms agenda was most in need of transformation.
Strategic

But it is far from being the whole story. In fact, at the political practical level, it is a non-starter. For this is not the Rt. Hon. Gentleman being stubborn or insensitive. But simply interested in surviving! Even changing our lens to delve into another dimension of this hard-to-stomach disappointment with the green chief won’t yield a good bowel movement or non-dyspeptic perspective. And the next two sacs of interpretation below – from a cynical strategy to a nasty subversion – only plumb the entrails of realpolitik. Which RW as much as MR (but not so much MS) excel at.

Of course, while a significant segment of liberals rue opportunity lost (to start the ‘Good Governance’ project afresh and in a more meaningful, more significant way) and the opportunity cost (at election time when the floating vote bobs away), the diehard apologists have rushed to defend the indefensible. Among their arguments is the need to reward political loyalty, which is so uncommon these days that it is at a premium. Also the value of a good hatchet man and a great fall guy for all your party’s covert shenanigans under the GG radar and guise. And the necessity of such a man for all seasons being in one’s inner circle.

For sure, the honourable gentleman is the kind of friend that sticketh closer than a brother. And we understand that he is not only steadfast but good in a scrap. That alone, on top of retaining the number of non-partisan rats who might have deserted what then appeared to be a sinking green ship, might have ensured the return of this working man’s everyman.

Feel free to vent your spleen on Ranil and Ravi as you may – they are both honourable men – but there is something to be said for remaining true to pragmatic politics in a party that has found winning elections elusive as time goes by. But only technocrats and savvy number-crunchers can see the merit in rewarding the royalist who will never let his king down. That loyalist whose presence without portfolio in lean times distinguished him as a key to his party’s future stability and earned him the reward of a powerful (no pun intended) return on investment in the would-be emperor’s present well-being.
Subversive

And for my next act, I’ll revert to metaphor; if only to avoid libel and slander. A long time ago, in a republic not so far, far away, a great but not so good Caesar-like patrician invented a genre of apparently clean politics. This ‘great game’ kept his nose out of the mud while slush-funding his party through the ill-gotten gains of consuls and senators. Those he appointed to siphon off state funds systematically and receive the salaams of foreign embassies bearing gold, silver and a good deal of mirth. It appears that his legacy has been received with great interest by a grandee related by blood and marriage. There, I’ve said it. So let the discerning reader understand. I’ll publish and be damned.

That is why generals of the Goths and Huns in a previous regime will never be prosecuted by these kings of empty words and poker-faced countenances. There is a certain inviolable honour among thieves, only slightly inconvenienced by the optics of playing politics. They are all part of a corrupt-at-bottom political super-structure, that occasionally plays to the gallery in the national interest. It is also why those who expect to be commended for being outraged at the UNP’s ostensible volte-face must be able and willing to countenance the reality that it is – and has always been – in the SL GOP’s DNA to talk ‘governance’ and walk ‘organised crime.’ And it is perhaps only marginally better than a former regime that walked and talked ‘cops and robbers’ as if being a military dictator were better than being merely a mafioso with a messiah complex.

And if we (the editorial ‘we’ – being you, dear) worked against the coup by any means fair or foul, then we can hardly point fingers when arguably the chief countervailing force against it gets his due reward. It would make us not only more hypocritical than the right honourable gentleman and his noble aide, but about as nuanced and sophisticated as that native wit who rails against his inconvenient premier.

(Journalist | Editor-at-large of LMD | Writer #SpeakingTruthToPower.)