Inherent dangers of ‘Passed on as Received’ Social media is one of the main methods of intercommunication and usage is rising

22 May 2019

This one line and variations of it – passed on as received – written innocuously at the end of a message, can send shivers down the recipient’s spine these days.

What it means is that the sender has very little knowledge of the authenticity of the content. What it does real time is give the recipient another reason to be scared, as if there weren’t enough reasons already.

Since the April 21 attacks, Sri Lanka social fabric has been on tenterhooks. It has been like an over-tuned string instrument that creates the most jarring of sounds at the slightest of jolts.
Incidents in Negombo, Chilaw and Kuliyapitiya show that tensions are running high and authorities are yet to fully grasp their extent and to be proactive.

What we have seen is that when tensions flare up, the clampdown is enforced, with a new caveat – social media block.

In the last month, social media have been blocked thrice in Sri Lanka. We really don’t know the effectiveness of such blocks, neither the Government nor the platforms that have been targeted, primarily Facebook, have said anything about this.

What was quite clear was that at least in certain areas the block did not minimize the threat of mob violence as much as the presence of military did.

The last time the block came into effect at least there were official communiqués that informed of the move. That is indicative that it was preplanned, even though not announced earlier.
This time Twitter also was blocked. As I have mentioned earlier in these columns social media block is now part and parcel of Sri Lanka Government crisis control.

It is true that social media have become a vehicle, with millions having access to them, of virulent hate speech and rumour. Within minutes of the latest social media block, an acquaintance showed a message that had arrived on one of the blocked platforms. It detailed locations, vehicles and methods of possible attacks timed for the 13th.

Such messages could send panic levels soaring. And yes it ended with ‘Passed on as Received’ indicating the sender got this from someone, who got it from someone, who got it from another someone one who has contacts

The group was, in fact, a school group and this was the day that schools were reopening.
Such messages could send panic levels soaring. And yes it ended with ‘Passed on as Received’ indicating the sender got this from someone, who got it from someone, who got it from another someone one who has contacts.

But parents with five-year-olds going to school in circumstances where their bags are checked and body searched are not going to feel safe enough when the mothers’ group on WhatsApp keeps spewing out rumours - the latest more detailed and vicious than the one before.


There is no Government authority that has the public trust to debunk these rumours. No one really tried. The only logical option for the Government was to block the platform.

But then again social media does play an important role. It is one of the main methods of intercommunication and usage is rising.

What we really have is a combination of lack of public trust on authoritative sources and the spread of rumour and hate-mongers.

Blocking social media will only be a stop-gap solution unless it is going to be like the great firewall.

To deal with hate-speech platform buy-in and user awareness will be key. On the former, we still have very little idea as to what Facebook has been discussing with the Government. On the other hand, even though Facebook did start content moderation in Sinhala, we really don’t know how many are engaged in this, whether they are fulltime or otherwise.

The point is we don’t know if Facebook’s inventions since April 2018 match the scale of the problem.

The last time this column wrote Facebook’s nascent Sinhala moderation process, there were some murmurs that the company was contemplating reacting to them, but nothing came of it.

To counter the rumour mill, there also needs to be public outlets that are trusted. Right now, trust levels are better left unspoken. Professional information management is a long term engagement and Sri Lanka public officials have always been slow at this.

The author is the Asia-Pacific Coordinator for the DART Centre for Journalism and Trauma, a project of the Columbia Journalism School Twitter - @amanthap  

Afghan refugees face Jaffna’s hostility: These Sri Lankans are crazy

Hakkima (30), Fathima (12) and Abbas Ahmadi (33) with Author and Daughter Elilini in their new home in Nallur with floor pockmarked by Sri Lankan shells. Their sons Murtaza (13) Ali Riza (11) and Amir (10) were already in bedafter their long journey to Jaffna

Wednesday, 22 May 2019

Abbas Ahmadi, an IT specialist, was rather high in the Afghan provincial civil service. He is of Hazara ethnicity and persecuted by the majority Pashtuns who ironically dominate the ruling faction as well as the rebelling Taliban.The Hazaras are inpartthe descendants of Genghis Khan andtherefore are regarded as Asiatic. Abbas says that they, the Hazaras, have suffered a lot more than the Tamils of Sri Lanka, having lost 80% of their fertile lands.

Ruki Fernando

The Ven Fr. Sam Ponniah

Abbas was asked three times by the Taliban to resign his position. When an assassination looked imminent, he flew to New Delhi some five years ago with his wife and four children and from there applied for an online visa to Colombo where he applied for asylum upon landing. Sri Lanka does not give refugee status. He and his family were given a residence visa because the UNHCR had determined them to be eligible for asylum but this visa was an interim relief while the UNHCR found a third country willing to accept them as refugees. The Sri Lankan visa did not give them the right to work.

Abbas says that at longlast he wastold that the US would accept themas refugees, and they should get the requiredmedical tests done. He did that. But then, in a sudden reversal, he was told that the US wouldnot acceptthem. This was immediately after Donald Trump’s election. He then appealed and that appeal is ongoing, and the family waited for a response from the US.

Then the Easter Bombings happened on 21 April. Several refugees likehim were attacked by Sinhalese mobs. The frenzied mood of Sri Lankan mobs is best captured by TarzieVittachi in his book “Emergency ‘58”. The relevant passage explains to us why the army is unable to stop the mobs today but was able to in 1958:

“The Bren gun was mounted near the gate. At 3.20 p.m. the first wave of goondas advanced towards the police station, with sarongs lifted, shouting obscenities and coarse defiance. They were still confident that ApeyAanduwa would not shoot them down.

“As they came nearer, the Bren fired a burst over their heads to warn them. This had just the opposite effect. They took it as confirmation that the army was only bluffing. The roar of the crowd became louder and the obscenities more defiant. The entire 3,000 now began to swarm towards the barricade. At this point the army unit commander said that he needed authority to open fire. Aluwihare signed the order. The officer put the paper in his pocket and walked out. On came the mob. They were only a few yards away now. One man in front raised his sarong, displaying his genitals in foul defiance of the army. The Bren opened fire and the passionate exhibitionist fell dead. Two of his comrades shared his fate.”

Fortunately, renting in Moratuwa, Abbas did not face such ‘Saronged Johnnies’ who raised their sarongs. But like-minded others threatened his landlord into ejecting him.Several refugees like him were endangered bymobs led by Buddhist priests betraying BuddhismasHarvard’s S.J. Tambiah put it inhisbook ‘Buddhism Betrayed? Religion, Politics, and Violence in Sri Lanka’ (University of Chicago Press 1992),abook that was promptly banned in Sri Lanka because it seemed so incontrovertible in the normative traditions of academe. Today’s refugees were mainly forced into campsand police stations. The irony was that the police who should have opened fire on the mods and rioting monks took the refugees into their police stations where some 700 refugees in oneinstance are said to have shared two toilets and were being thanked for the help thepolicehadrenderedthem. Such is the upside down world in which we Sri Lankans admire ourselves for our greatness that we see in our failures.

Abbas says he was rattled by President MaithripalaSirisenasaying he cannot defend the refugees and pleading with outside counties to take them away quickly. The UNHCRwhich had been helpful till then did nothing.Even Christian institutions did notcome forward to help after the hostility to the refugees which the President seemed to harbour and National Christian Council’s efforts to settle them in one of their buildings faced mobs led by a monk after the first nightand the refugees had to be returned to their camp.

Efforts by the Southern Province and Northern Province Governors to settle refugees in their provinces met with opposition partly because the governors’ authority had been, albeit meaning well, usurped from the expired Provincial Councils to which elections were unlawfully delayed through parliamentary intrigue and inefficiency.
Tamils could not see the parallels to 2007
Sadly manyTamils saw it as an effort to bring Muslims to Jaffna because the Sinhalese did not want ‘suchdangerouspeople’ in their midst. Tamils could not see the parallels to 2007 when GotabayaRajapaksa as defence secretary declared Tamils as dangerous terrorists who had to be shipped out of Colombo to save Colombo from bombs. At the time the courts declared such racial profiling to be discriminatory and violative of rights. The Government was forced to return to Colombo the Tamils involuntarily taken to the North.

Today there are some meagre signs of hope against similar racial profiling of Muslims. The Human Rights Commission has come out against the banning of the abaya. After the Sri Lanka InstituteforDevelopment Administrationbanned administratorscomingtotheircourses in the abaya, theElectionCommissiondeclaredits protest and said we would permit our officers who so choose to go for SLIDA courses wearing the abaya, and take it up legally if they were obstructed.

At that point Ruki Fernando (a Colombo-based rights activist) and lawyer ErmizaTegal,and the Ven Fr. Sam Ponniah (the Anglican Archdeacon of Jaffna) joined forces to bring willing refugees to Jaffna. Theirs were individual efforts with no institutional support. Father Ponniah privately asked some Jaffna Anglicans if they would host some refugee families in their homes. A few agreedand the numberof families moving to Jaffna became four and then five and then six and so on says Father Ponniah.

Newspapers like the Uthayan had positive comments but not the Valampuri. It is a newspaperwhose editor in a University of Jaffna speech declared that all Christians must become Hindu. That communalist newspaper is now threatening those helping the refugees find safety in Jaffna by writing that if any harm befell the refugees in Jaffna, then those bringing them to Jaffna must take the responsibility. Other churches that failed to offer even verbal support for the refugees cautioned Father Ponniah.Neighbours warned those who had volunteered to host the refugees, “The Muslims will come, produce fast and take over Jaffna. That is what the Sinhalese want. Do not give in to that.”

On 19 May, Ruki Fernando arrived with othervolunteers and the Abbas Ahmadis at 3 p.m. As chief householder I had to go with them to the Police who seemed worried by Muslims coming to Jaffna but finally took my request to register the Ahmadis in my home, promising to send my application to Colombo for approval. The HQI’s worry was that this was the first refugee family settling in Jaffna. Apparently all the other volunteer hosts had backed out for some reason.

There are many ironiesin theexperienceof theAhmadis. They fled their home inBamien which Ivisitedandenjoyed during the lastelections there. TheBuddha statues of Bamien, a world heritage, were destroyed by the Taliban which chased off the Ahmadis. Buddhistmonks in Sri Lanka are turningon the Ahmadis and others like him,telling them they cannot live in the Sinhalese areas of Sri Lanka.

The secondperhaps greater irony is that on 23 July 2016, two Islamic State suicide bombers blew themselves up during a peaceful protest in Kabul killing 160 and wounding over 200 people as reported by Reuters. The attackers were reportedly from the local affiliate of the so-called Islamic State, known as the ‘Khurasan Province’ (IS-Khurasan). Thetarget was the Ahmadis’Hazara folk who had been demonstrating against the route of a planned multi-million-dollar power line. And weSri Lankans think the Abbases are ISIS!

And worse, Tamils think that racial profiling is wrong only if it is applied to Tamils but not when they applyit to Muslims.

To paraphrase Asterix’s inseparable buddyObelix, “These Sri Lankans are crazy!”

Post Script

On 20 May,Jaffna’s Headquarters Inspector Prasad Fernando (who on the 19th had asked us detailedquestionsonthereligionofeverymemberofthe Ahmadi family)asked ustoreturn to the Police Station. Forms I had filledup toregister the Ahmadis were returned to us and we were told they cannot stay because according to their intelligence reports Hindunationalists were planningto attack them and they wanted no Muslim refugees in Jaffna.

He saidhe hadbeen ordered byhissuperiors to ask the Ahmadis to leave Jaffna.He let it slip that he wants no trouble byhaving Muslim refugees in Jaffna. I protested and told him that I have a right to host any family at my home and asked who had told him to deny us registration. “I do not know about that,” he said and stood up signalling us thereby to leave. I appealed to persons in Colombo. The Speaker spoke to DIG/Jaffna andtoldmeto call DIG/Jaffna. When I did, he told us thatthe Governor wants no refugee in Jaffna and wanted the Ahmadis to report at Poonthoddam Campin Vavuniya. Inquiries revealed that some 35 refugees were there,allmen. It was strange indeed that the DIG was overridden by the Governor on security matters.

Father Ponniah and I were called to meet the Governor at 4 p.m. It was clear to me that the Governor was all out to please the President by showing his Poonthoddam solution was a great achievement. To this end I believe that he is cooking up this threat from Hindu nationalists using the Valampuri Editor’s writings.He was visibly angry that I contacted the Speaker. He said thisconfirms reports he has that I fight everywhere. Iresponded that I fightonlywhenpeoplebreakthelaw as heis doing,and that he is takingusback to Gotabaya’s evictionofTamils fromColomboin2007. After he raisedthe fact Iama US-Sri Lanka dual citizen and that as a Marxist he does not like America, I toldhim he is actingjust like what the Americas did in locking up Japanese during WWII. He accused me of being a follower of Billy Graham which Ihaveneverbeen, forcingmetorespond that heisthe one who was once working for Youth for Christ in Jaffna.  He insisted that the Ahmadis should go to his Poonthoddam. I said I need time to consult legal opinion on whether my rights are being violated. He gave me till Friday and assured me at my request that no soldier or policeman would come home. He then told Father Ponniah that he is aware that he is also having a family of four.TheAhmadis in coming to Jaffna had stopped at his place and he had joined them to my home. Obviously we are already a police state with spies watching even the Archdeacon of Jaffna. Alas, at 8:50p.m. a police jeep parked outside my home. By the time my children reported it to me, and I came out, they took off.

The Ahmadis are in panic. They are leaving immediately to an unnamed place out of Jaffna.

“Sieg Heil” to Jaffna’s Gestapo Governor  

Petition challenging PM’s seat dismissed

Lakmal Sooriyagoda-Wednesday, May 22, 2019

A writ petition filed against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, challenging his Parliament seat was yesterday dismissed by the Court of Appeal.

Filing a writ petition in the Court of Appeal, petitioner Sharmila Roweena Jayawardene Gonawela sought an order in the nature of a quo warranto declaring that UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe be disqualified to be a Member of Parliament and thus the appointment of Ranil Wickremesinghe as a member of Parliament void and that he has no right to continue to hold office as a member of Parliament.

After upholding the preliminary objections raised by Prime Minister and other respondents, Court of Appeal two-judge-bench comprising Justice Shiran Goonaratne and Justice Priyantha Fernando ordered to dismiss the petition in limine.

President’s Counsel K. Kanag-Iswaran appearing for Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had raised preliminary objections citing that this application cannot be maintained since it failed to comply with Supreme Court Rules.

‘In terms of Rule 3 of the Supreme Court, the petitioner has failed to annex the original documents that he relies on.This petitioner has relied on several photocopies and uncertified documents.
According to Rule 3 (1) (a) of the Supreme Court, a petition filed in the Court of Appeal should be filed with an affidavit in support of the averments therein and shall be accompanied by originals of the documents material to such application in form of exhibits. Where a petitioner fails to comply with the provisions of this rule, the court may at the instance of any party, dismiss such application”, Kanag-Iswaran said.

However, President’s Counsel Uditha Egalahewa appearing for the petitioner had submitted to court that the documents pertaining to the cheque transaction have been placed before court. He further said the petitioner has taken action to get necessary documents in due cause.

This petition was filed by Sharmila Roweena Jayawardene Gonawela, a member of Colombo Municipal Council representing the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna.

The petitioner cited UNP General Secretary Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, Secretary General of Parliament Dhammika Dassanayake, Bank of Ceylon and People’s Bank as respondents. The petitioner alleged that first respondent Ranil Wickremasinghe held, as at the time of the Parliamentary Elections were held on 17 August 2015, a financial interest in several contracts entered into by public corporations on behalf of the Republic of Sri Lanka with his family company “Lake House Printers and Publishers PLC”, by virtue of his having been a major shareholder of the said company.

The petitioner stated that Ranil Wickremesinghe has been declared elected as an MP from Colombo District at the Parliamentary Elections held in 2015, and to sit and vote in parliament. Gonawela states that his was illegal for the reasons set out below and is thus an usurper of the authority of a MP, and is not qualified to hold the office of a MP.

The Petitioner states that Article 91(1)(e) of the Constitution of the Republic bars individuals who hold any interest in public contracts from being elected a MP.

The petitioner states that as held in Dilan Perera vs Rajitha Senaratne (2000 (2) S.L.R. 79), that under prevailing law, Article 91(1)(e) of the Constitution disqualifies a person to be elected as a Member of Parliament or to sit and vote in parliament” if he, directly or indirectly by himself or by any person on his behalf or for his use or benefit, holds, or enjoys any right or benefit under any contract made by or on behalf of the (Republic of Sri Lanka) in respect of the Government of the Island for the furnishing or providing of money to be remitted abroad or of goods or services to be used or employed in the service of the (Republic of Sri Lanka) in the Island.”

President’s Counsel Uditha Egalahewa appeared for the petitioner, Sharmila Roweena Jayawardene Gonawela. President’s Counsel K. Kanag-Iswaran with counsel Niranjan Arulpragasam under instruction of senior counsel G.G. Arulpragasam appeared for Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Counsel Suren Fernando under the instruction of senior counsel G.G. Arulpragasam appeared for UNP General Secretary Akila Viraj Kariyawasam.

Presidential Stakes: Is Gota US Proxy & Sirisena China Proxy?

By Amrit Muttukumaru –MAY 22, 2019

Amrit Muttukumaru

Our leaders lost little time after independence in 1948 to commence the discrimination of minorities for electoral purposes. The country’s first Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake said to be the ‘father’ of the nation sensing that Tamils of recent Indian origin on tea plantations posed an electoral threat to his UNP, gave leadership to their disenfranchisement under the Ceylon Citizenship Act of 1948 and Indian-Pakistani Citizenship Act of 1949.

The Easter Sunday Carnage on April 21 is a defining moment in the wicked and violent segment of the history of this country fueled mainly by the mismanagement since independence of the multi-ethnic and multi-religious character of Sri Lanka. Our starting point is 1948 when we became responsible for our destiny. We cannot blame providence for this, it is entirely man made. Sadly Sri Lanka has not been blessed with a statesman to lead the country who put country before self and electoral prospects. Although particularly in the early years since independence we have had a fair share of knowledgeable gentlemen in politics, for whatever reason they remained just that – gentlemen!

Discrimination of Minorities

Other acts of discrimination and callous disregard for minorities over the years include (i) State sponsored colonization in predominantly minority (mainly Tamil) populated areas in the East of the country (ii) Sinhala Only Act of 1956 which did not give official recognition to Tamil which was the first language of Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamils of recent Indian origin and Moors (iii) Pledge by then Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike to have Sinhala as the only official language ‘in 24 hours’(iv) ‘standardization’ through ‘District Quotas’ of admission to universities (v) “foremost place”to Buddhism given in the 1972 Constitution. How on earth can a country have peace and development when almost 30% of its population are disadvantaged? Don’t are leaders and people get it?

These acts of blatant discrimination and injustice to minorities encouraged periodical grave violence and other indignities to defenseless minorities carried out with political patronage by a small section from the majority Sinhala-Buddhist community. A feature of this was impunity. The refusal by successive administrations to address the grievances of the minorities particularly that of the ethnic Tamils through peaceful negotiations led to a fierce near 30 year armed conflict which came to a controversial and brutal end in 2009 in the absence of credible accountability. Reconciliation issues continue to fester. In more recent times, Muslims have been at the receiving end of hate speech and violence unleashed with impunity. It must be emphasised that under no circumstances is the horrendous violence unleashed on Easter Sunday or for that matter by the LTTE, JVP or any other entity justified. Nevertheless the discrimination and fear psychosis unleashed on minorities which still continue with impunity must be flagged.  This is the background leading up to the April 21 Easter Sunday Carnage. The violence and mayhem unleashed by the JVP over the years is mainly due to socio-economic reasons and not minority issues.  Nevertheless the socio-economic factors will exacerbate minority issues.

Defining Moment

The raison d’être for characterizing the Easter Sunday carnage as a defining moment in the wicked and violent segment of the history of this country is due to:

1) The Global Context of Islamic terror far outweighs the global context under which the LTTE operated.

2) This has a huge geo-political context which involves the superpowers of the world – US, China and a rapidly growing India with Russia waiting in the wings. This had not matured to current levels during the time the armed conflict with the LTTE held sway.

3) The geo-politics of the Indian Ocean has become crucial to world powers particularly the US, China and a rejuvenated India which is fast becoming a world power particularly in the Indian Ocean.

4) Sri Lanka being at the crossroads of major sea lanes in the Indian Ocean is of huge strategic importance to world powers.

5) China in recognition of this has invested heavily in the economy of Sri Lanka which include – Colombo Port City, Road infrastructure, Hambantota Port and Hambantota Airport.

6) The growing influence of China in the Indian Ocean due to amongst others its ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ and Hambantota Port  has led to an unprecedented response from the US which has renamed its crucial ‘United States Pacific Command’ as the ‘United States Indo-Pacific Command’ in recognition of the growing influence of India as a counterbalance to China

7) The ‘Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement ‘(ACSA)  with the US renewable every 10 years was as per a ‘Sunday Times’ report renewed in 2017 with an 80 page document  in comparison to a mere 8 page document in 2007.  It is speculated that ACSA will give wide access in the Indian Ocean to US military assets due to Sri Lanka’s strategic location.

8) The ‘Sunday Times’ also reports that another US initiative being promoted in Sri Lanka is the controversial ‘Status of Forces Agreement’ (SOFA) which has implications as to whether Sri Lanka law or US  law will apply to US servicemen if operating  in Sri Lanka.

9) It is widely perceived that in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday tragedy foreign military advisers and intelligence personnel mainly of US origin are operating in Sri Lanka. Of course the mutual sharing of intelligence is entirely another matter and most welcome – provided we act on it!!

10) All of the above has brought Sri Lanka to the centre of big power rivalry in the Indian Ocean as never before with all its implications to a country which does not treat all its citizens equally.

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Truth Has Now Arrived, And Falsehood Has Perished

Religion should heal our collective and individual wounds by binding us and others.

by Zulkifli Nazim-2019-05-20

 

Quote: “And say: Truth has now arrived, and Falsehood has perished: for Falsehood by its very own nature is bound to perish." Unquote

Holy Quran : Chapter 17 Verse 81.

 

Every discussion, debate and discourse that we see and hear over the audio – visual and print media, members of the priesthood of various religions and the educated and knowledgeable layman belonging to various communities including the Muslim community, were pointing their fingers at the All-Ceylon Jamiathul ‘Ulama as to why they have not come out as a body, to proclaim and declare that the Niqab/Burqah, must be banned by law – why are they silent on this issue, after all this Niqab and Burqah does not constitute part of the religion of Islam.

 

 

What some of the representatives of the ACJU did was, appealing to the Muslim women not to wear the full face veil, which is actually adding insult to injury.

 

That observation is indeed commendable and praiseworthy.

 

The Truth:

 

The Prophet of Islam conveyed to his followers:

 

“When your women folk go out of their homes, make certain that the public recognize them as to whose wife she is, whose mother she is, whose daughter she is and whose sister she is; in order that they may not be molested or harmed.”

 

What unparalleled guidance !!

 

This is in addition to the Quranic injunction that they can expose "what must ordinarily appear thereof".

 

A popular interpretation by esteemed and reputed exegetes of this phraseology is, that women are permitted to expose body parts that are necessary for day-to-day tasks. This is usually taken to be the face and the hands.

 

Intelligent, rational and coherent interpretation, which is totally in line with the Quran and the Tradition of the Prophet of Islam.

 

Why was this truth suppressed by this institution - Jamiathul ‘Ulama?

 

This suppression is certainly, due to a narcissistic personality disorder which is closely associated with personality characteristic in which the Religious Leaders see themselves and their interests and opinions, as the only ones that really matter. It is indeed a matter of pride for them.

 

And this trait and mental attitude is imbibed and assimilated in the majority of those who call themselves “ ‘Ulama ”, copiously and profusely.

 

The age-old English adage “Pride comes before a fall” is absolutely true and indisputable, in this current scenario.

 

We think it is time that the majority of those Religious Leaders - the ‘Ulama - get off their high horse and be realistic and know that Islam is a progressive religion. Islam is not something to be stuck with some ancient barbaric tribal practices, which has nothing to do with us.

 

It is clearly understandable why very few Muslims follow these tasteless and garish practices. Most of their mosques and preachers are funded by the radical Saudi regime, and it would be difficult for the common moderate Muslim or even some of the ‘Ulama to raise their voices against them.

 

The religious leaders must know for a fact that recognizing unity in diversity in today’s world is inevitable, irrespective of, race, religion, caste or creed.

 

These religious leaders have a major part to play – the ‘Ulama must take upon themselves, to stamp out extremism and willingly leave their own comfort zone and be genuinely be comfortable with people from diverse backgrounds. To do just that, their duty is to ingrain and instill in individuals to creatively respond to life's challenges while leading lives of gratitude and acceptance.

 

They, the ‘Ulama should do this through actively reorienting their minds as well as the mindset of their followers from selfish pursuits that generate suffering in ourselves and others, to more wholesome actions of giving, discipline, patience, generating vital energy, contemplation and ultimately the pursuit of wisdom.

 

Religion should heal our collective and individual wounds by binding us and others.

 

When we fail to be tolerant of others, we fail absolutely.

 

The time is ripe for the religious leaders to make known that “Religion” provides moral codes, brings meaning to our lives, answers our yearning questions and sustains us through challenges.

 

The world’s great faiths - those ligatures to the Divine, speak to the collective good of society. They offer us a code of conduct and moral compass for living, help us exult in profound human love, and strengthen us against hatred, hostility, aggressiveness, enmity and profound human loss.

 

It will be pertinent for me to quote at this juncture - Brian E. Melendez, American Indian spirituality scholar. He said that :

 

“The role of religion in larger society should be, that if you set up a church, mosque, synagogue, sweat lodge, etc. then you shall be responsible for the upkeep of the surrounding community in which you occupy—better yet, be responsible and accountable for a community outside of your particular agency, social circles, economic periphery, and belief system.”

 

Therefore it becomes a moral obligation on the religious leaders to emphasize that the role of religion should be to establish unity and concord among the people and religion should not be the cause of dissension and strife; but assist in the development and welfare of the country, assist in the tranquility of the people and bring about the much needed peace for all.

 

To achieve the unity and harmony that the world so desperately needs, religion should have us, love each other - expressed in not just in words but in deeds, be the means for engendering and influencing fellowship and light up the world with happiness with obedience to the laws of the country where we have been granted sanctuary.

 

Lastly a quote from Professor Mark W. Muesse of Rhodes College:

 

“It is important to accept the fact that Confucius, Lord Buddha, Jesus, and Muhummed were teaching different visions of the ultimate reality leading to different ways of being genuinely human. All four sages indicate that satisfaction or happiness lies at the end of the path for those who practice the way of the noble life. Yet they are equally clear in telling us the noble life is no easy path.

 

Today, we are more likely to be taught to pursue excellence. Nobility involves excelling, but it also involves discerning which pursuits are worth the effort.”

More Sri Lankans to be charged by ICC for corruption

May 20, 2019, 9:56 pm 

Britain’s leading newspaper The Daily Telegraph claims that corruption investigations in Sri Lanka will drag on at least till the end of this year and that more individuals will be charged before September, possibly after the World Cup.

Sri Lankan cricket is rocked by serious allegations of corruption with former Test captain Sanath Jayasuriya banned from the game for two years and several other individuals charged. Former Fast Bowling Coach Nuwan Zoysa, former Batting Coach Avishka Gunawardene, former all-rounder Dilhara Lokuhettige and Sri Lanka Cricket’s Performance Analyst Sanath Jayasundara have been all charged for various breaches of the Anti Corruption Code.

The newspaper reported that the focus of the ICC Anti Corruption Unit at the moment will be to ensure a corruption free Cricket World Cup, the sport’s showpiece event.

It said that the investigators have taken the extraordinary step to warn suspected match fixers against travelling to England for the World Cup having launched the biggest ever protection operation ahead of the ten team event that will get underway later this month in England and Wales.

As a result, anti-corruption officers will be posted with each of the ten teams, a step undertaken for the first time. In addition, there will be two investigators and one evidence analyst on duty throughout the tournament.

The ICC has also taken steps to contact suspected match fixers through solicitors and warned them that they will be thrown out of cricket grounds if they were spotted during a game. The game’s governing body is confident that the World Cup will be clean and poses a low risk due to extra security measures.

"Badly run events attract the corrupters and they look for vulnerabilities in events and players but the World Cup is highly organised, well run, well governed and the players are well protected so we expect it to be clean," Alex Marshall, the General Manager of the ICC’s Anti-Corruption unit was quoted as saying.

"We will be at the hotels, at the grounds, we will be available to the players all the time and we have good relationships with all the squads. The team management and coaches are well briefed on the current threats so in terms of having a strong structure, the tournament is in a good place."

"But the risk is the corrupters know this is a massively high yield if they were to succeed however their chances of succeeding are very low and it is very risky. Whereas if they went for a chaotic T20 competition somewhere else then the risks to them would be much lower and they are more likely to succeed, even though the yield would not be as high. Overall we are expecting to have a very low profile throughout the World Cup unless something occurs."

The pragmatic idealism of Frederick North

21 May 2019

Between 1796 and 1803, the colonial administration in Ceylon experimented with various forms of administrative changes in the interests of greater efficiency. The Portuguese and the Dutch had left the administrative machine more or less as it was; that served their interests as well as the interests of the local rulers. The relationship between the colonial power and local authority had been clearly defined, and though the retention of local forms of administration did not stem the tide of rebellion it nevertheless had a say in legitimizing colonial rule. 
We see a different kind of relationship between the two emerge after 1803, when the Treaty of Amiens made Sri Lanka a Crown Colony of the British. The economic and ideological changes taking place in the home country no doubt shaped the nature of this relationship. The rise of Evangelism in England, for instance, centering around the Clapham Sect, had an impact on the Colonial Office’s attitude to missionary work and education, while the writings of Adam Smith compelled certain officials to implement theories looked down upon back home.  

One of these officials was the first Governor Frederick North. As his successor Thomas Maitland’s criticisms of him make it evident, he was not averse to abolishing local forms of land tenure and administration to test the feasibility of his ideas. These ideas had to do with three things: the abolition of service tenures, imposition of taxes on estates, and attempts to create a uniform tenure system. That all three of them in part at least failed showed that the administration was not as yet ready to graft on the colony the latest developments in economic theory from the home country.  

The results of the economic measures implemented prior to his arrival to the country had been mixed as well: proposed “to relieve the lower order of people from the many personal taxes they now labour under”, their outcome was a regime of taxes that were “unjust and impolitic.” Particularly onerous was a coconut tax the notice of which had been made in July 1796: at 1/12th of the value of a tree, it was not computed on the basis of the yield of nuts, which meant that “the amount of the tax more than equalled the value of the entire produce.” The burden fell more on the poor. All these policies obviously had a great deal to do with the men behind him – in the case of the coconut tax, that of Superintendent of Revenue Robert Andrews. But the Governor was different. The reason isn’t hard to find.  

As of now, the sympathies of the people rested with the Kandyan rulers, and reformism was looked as something that could channel those sympathies into a rebellion

In Frederick North, we come across an idealistic official who was, nevertheless, marred by a rigidly conservative worldview. He was, as his policies were to prove, moved by a need to revamp the old system without doing away with its virtues. The son of a Prime Minister (who has been negatively viewed as the man who let America go, given that in his time the 13 colonies broke away from Britain), he was probably the only civilian official of his kind to serve in Sri Lanka. He was also a paradox, the likes of which the country could not afford to have in his post again.  

By installing himself as the head of the salagama caste (with his Chief Secretary Arbuth not as head of the karavas), he was signalling his desire to continue with the status quo; later, by proclaiming an end to caste-based services he was signalling his willingness to do away with the old structures if that made the administration of the country more efficient. In that sense he was less idealistic than pragmatic.  

North’s subsequent actions compelled a debate between those who wanted to abolish non-service tenures and those who wanted to retain them, i.e. between the abolitionists and conservatives. That the latter group won is no cause for surprise, since the amount of money in the domestic economy of 19th century Sri Lanka was small, which meant that with budget deficits officials were in no mood to implement policies that were not only far-reaching but also short-sighted: as Maitland put it later, to give effect to them would have been akin to “one of the ancient Barons” in feudal England pulling “out of his pocket Adam Smith.” They were simply too far ahead of their time.  

The Governor’s response to these criticisms was firm, stubborn, yet flimsy: he had acted “on that practical knowledge of the country, and not on any theory”, and the implementation of his measures were preceded by a “long, practical, and laborious investigation.” His “practical knowledge of the country” notwithstanding, most of the policies had ended up alienating the same people they had intended to benefit. An outcry was provoked, for instance, when attempts were made to pass title to locals: try as they might, officials could not get residents to conform to the law, especially given that locals were opposed to the idea of selling their lands.  

This was, moreover, long before links were established between the Maritime Provinces and the Hill Country. As of now, the sympathies of the people rested with the Kandyan rulers, and reformism was looked as something that could channel those sympathies into a rebellion – a problem at a time when hostilities between Britain and France had resumed with the Napoleonic Wars.  

Thomas Maitland wasn’t the only official irked by North’s presumptuousness. The Secretary of State for War and the Colonies Robert Hobart had on February 16, 1798 called for an relationship of neutrality with the Kandyan rulers, since “if unassisted by the Natives” the administration would “find it difficult if not altogether impracticable to procure” the supplies necessary to run the country. The sympathies of the headmen was thus considered necessary, and by alienating them by a rigid system of checks and balances, the imposition of direct taxes, and the proposed abolition of rajakariya, their loyalty to British rule was being severely tested.  

Moreover, a Committee of Investigation tasked with looking into the causes of a rebellion which had erupted in 1796, headed by Brig. Gen. Pierre Frédéric de Meuron, contended that the administration’s efforts at reforming, if not abolishing, old structures of power had distanced headmen from the centre. De Meuron recommended that the status quo be restored to them; in this he was certainly playing into pragmatic considerations, as much as Colebrooke and Cameron would 30 years later.  

North was not opposed to the De Meuron Commission; in fact as K. M. de Silva contends, “the restoration of the old order” was in accordance with his “conservative instincts.” But even at the time of the Report’s publication the Governor’s ideas “grew evident.” He faced a dilemma there: he wanted to curb the headmen’s powers without doing away with them. When he gave effect to the recommendations, he restored the service lands. At the same time, he requested that a Registrar be made for those lands (or accomodessans) – a double-pincer move: he revived the old system while doing away with its biggest problem, uncertainty of tenure. He was no longer dependent on the Mudliyars; their privileges had been checked.  

In this the Governor was toeing neither the abolitionist nor the conservative line; he was instead toeing a “permissive principle” that tried to steer clear of both. But there was no doubt as to which line he preferred to follow, as shown by a dispatch in 1802 where he lamented, quite clearly, the prevailing assumption that “the Cinghalese must be compelled to labour, as there is no way of overcoming their natural indolence.” In attributing to the Sinhalese people a spirit of enterprise and calling for the abolition of slavery and compulsory service, he was opposing the thinking of not just De Meuron and Maitland, but also (as events showed) nearly every successor of his. Which goes to show that even in colonial societies like Ceylon, officially accepted prejudices and policies could at times be overtaken by the caprices of officials.  

North never quite achieved what he wanted to when it came to his economic reforms. More time was spent in defending his theories than implementing them

North never quite achieved what he wanted to when it came to his economic reforms. More time was spent in defending his theories than implementing them, which was to be expected given their radical content. In trying to do away with slavery he was taking heed of Adam Smith’s views on the matter; concurrently, he was shaped by the Evangelical movement back home (though he was a follower of Eastern Orthodoxy), as his association with James Cordiner shows.  

There are times when the two – Adam Smith and Evangelism – met, and their fusion – very often too paradoxical to sustain – would have led him to make pronouncements on matters such as compulsory service which were far-reaching and short-sighted. 30 years later Colebrooke and Cameron would wrestle with the same issue – by then the dominance of Evangelism and Adam Smith had been established, but even with this it remained difficult to reconcile them in a country which was, as yet, far away from the thinking behind these two ideological strands.  

SC: FR violations and destructive marginalisation by built environments

 Dr. Ajith C. S. Perera

• Violators roam free for 23 years
• Implementing SC Orders is acid test for the State

Wednesday, 22 May 2019

The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, after hearing submissions and arguments on a nationally and internationally important public interest Fundamental Rights Application No. SCFR 273/2018, gave a landmark Order on 18 April 2019.

It was successfully pursued singlehandedly by this writer – since 2009 appearing at all times in person seated on a wheelchair.

Main concerns

The Supreme Court Judge bench comprising Justices Prasanna Jayawardana PC, Vijith Malalgoda PC, and Murdu Fernando PC concluded:  In spite of (i). A comprehensive set of Regulations – made under the enacted Act No: 28 of 1996 – that are easily understood and unanimously approved by Parliament (in 2007 March) and (ii). Reinforced by an Order given under SCFR 221/2009 to over 70 respondents by the SC on 27 April 2011, and (iii) Ratifying the UN Convention for the Protection of the Rights of the Disabled – a legally binding agreement – on 8 February 2016, and (iv). Since 1996, the State’s duty and obligation to protect, promote and advance their rights, still, “Meaningful implementation of these Accessibility Laws by the State and the private sector – even at numerous new buildings people need daily – beyond doubt, is a continual failure and thereby safe access and their use by the country’s largest minority – people with restricted mobility”.

In a 28-page-long judgement SC clearly states: “The stark truth is, there is large scale and substantial non-compliance of new constructions with and non-enforcement of the act and Accessibility Regulations, despite the passage of 13 years and continual failure by the State in compliance. The photographs and other documents submitted to SC by the petitioner [i.e. this writer] support these SC conclusions.”

Ruled as the institutions that have continually violated the Fundamental Rights of disabled persons are those institutions coming under the purview of the Minister of Provincial Councils, Local Government and Sports, Minister of Social Services and Social Welfare, Minister of Megapolis and Western Development, Minister of Housing and Construction, Minister of Education, Minister of Justice and Prison Reform along with Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority and the Urban Development Authority.
COC dilemma
In both rulings given by the SC on 27 April 2011 and again on 18 April 2019, it is adequately emphasised that Certificates of Conformity (COC) cannot and shall not be issued by a relevant authority unless and until all parts of the concerned completed construction (i) Have been physically inspected by that relevant authority recognised under Clause 10, and (ii) He clearly testifies that (iii). Construction comply in full with the provisions the Accessibility Regulations and the SC order.

If these directions had been adhered to in reality, there would not have been any reason for us to file fresh action and furthermore our FR could not have been violated continually to such a great extent.

The most effective feasible way to arrest this national tragedy in minimising the gap between the laws and ground realty, is that:

“No Court of Law can and shall recognise as a legally valid document any Certificate of Conformity issued since 18 April 2018 by an authority concerning any building or part of a building stated under the above Accessibility Regulations, if obtained circumventing country’s apex Court rulings.”

Violators, still, go free

SC also has recognised new facilities at several reputed hotels, shopping complexes and hospitals – toilets, washrooms and counters in particular – still, do not comply with SC orders and thereby pose numerous unwanted hardship to most clients/patients.

The real tragedy is that, yet, they fail to recognise opening doors equallly to all is untapped lucrative businesses.

SC states: “Despite 13 years have elapsed since Access Regulations were made, compliance hereby the Sri Lanka Railway and Sri Lanka Transport Board is only work in the pipeline.”

We believe, the envisaged Light Rail Transit system shall comply with these Court Orders for optimum benefit of all.

It is equally important to note that many new Court houses fail to comply with SC rulings and Accessibility Regulations. All High Courts and Magistrate Courts remain user-unfriendly and pose a potential threat to safety for increasing numbers of people with restricted mobility – wheelchair users in particular.
Trapped towards isolation? Yes, everyone?
Most of us never thought that, in a blink of an eye, our ability to attend to the usual daily necessities would be taken from us.

At this time, not less than an estimated 20% of Sri Lanka’s population – i.e. four million people – face impediments to their physical mobility, stability, dexterity or eyesight to remain the most vulnerable, voiceless yet the largest minority group.

This means one in every five people of Sri Lanka has to deal with limitations in ability in day-to-day living in an undesirable built social environment explained above.

This includes those over 65 years (almost a sixth of our population), people living with numerous debilitating medical conditions, those convalescing, those who use wheelchairs and sticks, and the pregnant.  Look at the tormenting consequences that await you. You will soon realise that the world around once you knew to be cheerful and kind, is no more so, as you are often marginalised beyond expectations and unwantedly depending on others.

Hence, it is everyone’s, duty – yours too – to arrest soonest this national disaster.

Tormenting consequences awaiting you.

(i). Danger of injury and potential threats to safety to life (ii). Waste productive human potential (iii). Drive towards poverty and as SC concluded (iv). “Denial of opportunity of equality and the protection assured by the provisions of this Act and thereby continual violation of the Fundamental Rights guaranteed by Article 12(1) and Article 14(1)(h) of the Constitution, to the Petitioner Dr. Perera and others similarly circumstanced with restricted ability/mobility.”

(v). Every one of us, is certain to spend some time – long or short - living with limitations in ability – physical, sensory and intellectual.

The trauma of exclusion by built environments precipitate despair, depression, grief and phobia with the enhanced possibility of psychosomatic illnesses, potentially crippling precious human life – economically, socially and mentally.

(vi). The long term mega-development projects are inextricably entwined with the future of future generations of Sri Lankans. With this on-going adverse trend the next generation of persons suffering from mobility impediments – much larger than at present – will face far worsening consequences.
SC remedial measures
In addition to the directions given by the SC in 2011 under SCFR 221/2009 to the Chief Ministers and the Chief Secretaries of the Nine Provinces, the Supreme Court on 18 April 2019, again, issued several directions to six ministries, their secretaries and two Government authorities mentioned earlier to take immediate effective measures to ensure the design and construction of all parts of new buildings, facilities and services the public needs to use – as defined in Clause 10 of the Accessibility Regulations – must be completed enabling easy and safe access and use by persons with restricted mobility.

On 17 June 2013 SC ordered the Attorney General to ensure Orders given by the SC are given full effect by directing the authorities to take immediate steps to sensitise the private sector to the need to take cognisance of SC orders and to take appropriate steps in compliance.

The AG is the principal legal officer of this country and as the protector of the public pights of the public, if and when he also fails continually to comply with SC orders, it sets a very bad example to all others.

The new building complex of the AG and Kochchikade Church undergoing renovations shall be the acid tests for the State in moving towards an accessible Sri Lanka for all, a reality.
Punishable serious offence
SC states: “The specific provisions of the Act to punish the violators, although in force for 23 years, have never been used.”

No wonder the Violators of the law go away free and, thereby continue to violate the law and victimised parties – that includes the country – get severely punished incurring big losers that can never be compensated by money.

During the proceedings this Petitioner and the Attorney General both prayed that the State must amend the Clause 34(e) of the ACT made 23 years ago, to make offences look serious and make punishments effective enough to deter violations.  SC hence, has to rule again that: immediate compliance is mandatory, to design buildings, to approve building plans, to certify completed buildings and to issue ‘Certificate of Conformity’ and directed to file legal action against any public officers/authorities/bodies/respondent(s) which breach/violate/fail to comply fully with these SC orders.
Popular myth
Implementation of accessibility measures and SC orders for new buildings are not costly as 85% work is just masonry. It requires no allocations of additional funds.

There are several low cost measures to significantly improve safety and accessibility. The colossal wastes to the country and human life caused by the failures to implement SC orders, is huge compared to the money needed.

The immediate crucial task is to create the widest possible awareness of these SC Orders to hasten implementation.

We appeal to socially responsible members of society, media, organisations and individuals to help us for the benefit of everyone, empowering humanity with dignified lives.

[The writer (acsp@sltnet.lk) – a paraplegic since 1992 – is a professional and a former senior manager in industry. Personal adversity has turned him into the pioneer voluntary accessibility rights activist and an internationally-recognised and a competent advisor on accessibility – trained even in England – with over 21 years of widest practical experience. See: goo.gl/tZZsmz]

Don’t praise Iceland’s Hatari for violating Eurovision boycott

Waving a Palestinian flag does not make up for crossing a picket line.

Ali Abunimah -20 May 2019

Iceland’s Hatari gained much attention for their stunt during the Eurovision Song Contest final on Saturday night when they briefly held up Palestine flag scarves in front of the television cameras.

They won ecstatic praise on social media, but this should not obscure the reality: that Hatari crossed the picket line called for by Palestinian civil society.

In fact, what they did was an act of anti-solidarity that ultimately harms Palestinian efforts to end Israel’s increasingly violent and brazen regime of occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid.

Iceland’s #Hatari member posted on Instagram how security @ #EurovisionTelAviv confiscated their #Palestine flags👇🏻pic.twitter.com/IyCBChyvDC

— Noa Landau נעה לנדאו (@noa_landau) 18 May 2019

The point is not difficult: if a trade union calls a strike and some workers decide to cross the picket line, but to flash union badges at the strikers as an “act of solidarity,” everyone would understand that the strike-breakers are still scabs.

Their use of union symbols to cover their betrayal would rightly be seen as rubbing salt into the wound and earn the scorn of striking workers.

The point of a collective action like a strike or a boycott is to raise the cost to the oppressor of violating the rights of the oppressed, so that the oppressor is forced to stop their oppression.

Scabbing undermines the principle and effectiveness of collective action – whether it is a strike by workers against an abusive employer, or a boycott called by a people fighting for their very existence.

Giving a pass to scabs sends a message to others that it is okay to cross the picket line, that scabs can have their cake and eat it by accepting the benefits of collusion with the abuser and yet still be praised while they harm the collective.

Moreover, when the BDS movement – for boycott, divestment and sanctions – is under unprecedented attack by Israel and its European and American allies who smear it as anti-Semitic, it is more important than ever to defend this form of solidarity.

That BDS is a nonviolent, universalist and anti-racist movement has not stopped some western politicans from slandering it.

Jeremy Hunt

✔@Jeremy_Hunt

Tremors, turbulence & terror in Mid East remind us of urgent need for peace: two-state solution. But the foundations for peace are respect & coexistence. Boycotting Israel — the world’s only Jewish state — is antisemitic. I salute Germany for taking stand.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/world-europe-48312928?__twitter_impression=true …

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9:13 AM - May 18, 2019

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Germany labels Israel boycott movement BDS anti-Semitic

MPs in German parliament say the BDS movement uses methods reminiscent to those used by the Nazis.

bbc.co.uk

1,069 people are talking about this

Asked to boycott

Yet it appears that a brief visual of a Palestinian flag generates such strong emotions in some people that the ability to think clearly about these acts and their consequences evaporates.

So let’s be clear about what happened.

In April, PACBI, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, asked Hatari not to go.

“Palestinians are calling on all Eurovision contestants to withdraw from the contest in apartheid Tel Aviv,” PACBI stated.

“This includes Iceland’s entrant Hatari, in particular, who are on the record supporting Palestinian rights.”

“Artists who insist on crossing the Palestinian boycott picket line, playing Tel Aviv in defiance of our calls, cannot offset the harm they do to our human rights struggle by ‘balancing’ their complicit act with some project with Palestinians,” PACBI added.

“Palestinian civil society overwhelmingly rejects this fig-leafing, having learnt from the fight against apartheid in South Africa.”

In addition, there had been extensive behind-the-scenes discussions with Hatari.

The group visited the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, where band member Matthias Haraldsson described the situation as “apartheid.”

Despite this, Hatari went on to do precisely what Palestinians had asked them not to do: they crossed the picket line and tried to offset it with the fig-leafing gesture of waving flags.

PACBI’s response to Hatari’s action was in line with the position it had communicated to the band before the contest:

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