A scholar of great integrity

April 17, 2012, 12:00 pm


By K. S. Sivakumaran, the island.

Have the English and Sinhala media people heard of a living scholar, S Pathmanathan, in history and Thamil studies? I am afraid they may not have heard of him unless they had been students under his tutelage. This is sad because the English and Sinhala media believe their ignorance of Thamil prevents them having contacts with people like S Pathmanathan who are proficient in English and knowledgeable in Sinhala too.

It would have been an ideal situation to promote healthy reconciliation among our people if a Sinhala journalist had interviewed him at least in English. But this has not been done so far. So, I take up this task for the benefit of those English readers who are not partisan or parochial.

(It is ironical that this columnist had spotlighted not only Thamil but all others from different communities in his columns for more than 50 years, but to this date he has not been interviewed by any English medium journalist.)

The following details I gathered from an interview published in the Thinakkural of March 25, 2012.

Subramaniam Pathmanathan was born on March 20, 1940 in Araaly South in Vaddukkoddai in the northern peninsula. While he was studying for his London B A examination at the prestigious Jaffna College, he also gained admission to the University of Peradeniya in 1959. He specialized in history and later in 1968, and obtained his Ph.D from the London University.

In his career he had to face several obstacles and difficulties to assert himself as an independent historian. Since his father was an English teacher he gained proficiency in that language and studied European and British histories and he read profusely guided by some excellent teachers at Jaffna College, he says.

In his opinion researchers in history should have multidimensional knowledge and experience as if one were to research on Thamilian history, one should have a thorough knowledge of the history of Thamil literature, the history of Thamilians, a guided training in understanding history, training in deciphering archaeological  artifacts, sculpture and the like, understanding the temple culture and the means to obtain such details.

His prime concern is to serve people in unearthing the history of the Thamil people and their national customs and habits and their traditions. It is for this purpose he deviated from the academic pattern and wrote articles on history so that common people could understand these features.

As an answer to the distorted versions of history based on mythology, he concentrated on studying and exposing evidence from inscriptions. Such evidences reflect the times prevailing at the time of writing. Unlike in literary works, there is no exaggeration in such inscriptions. Most of the inscriptions speak about donations given to temple or people. The donations were made to Jain and Buddhist temples have.  Such donations included products produced both locally and in alien lands brought to the island by sailors and others coming through the land route visiting Lanka. Accordingly inscriptions are a source of information on production of goods, the barter system, trade and consumption. Such information and knowledge help us to know about the life styles of ancient people.

We also learn from the inscriptions about the development in writing, language, music, dance, art etcetera, he points out. Invariably his presentations are accepted by the international community. This is because he presents historical facts in an unbiased manner without getting emotional and with erudition and finesse. He recalls the blessings of his history teacher Sebaratnam Thambiah who praised him as a future historian when he was a student in Grade 8. The teacher has asked him to write an essay on William the Silent who led a movement for the independence of Holland. He did and was appreciated by many for the historical approach in the essay.

He loves the Thamil language and felt that the Thamil students deserve help in understanding history since they lack knowledge of English.

Professor Emeritus Pathmanathan was responsible in establishing a faculty in the Eastern University in 2007. In 2011, 13 students have specialized in history because of the encouragement and guidance of Prof. S Pathmanathan. He had also been a consultant in deciding the syllabus for Hindu Civilization and areas for lectures by the staff.

Prof S P feels that in the eastern province there are many archaeological residues that have not been explored due to ignorance and hidden by petty self-seeking people. So far no full scale research had been conducted in archaeology in this part of the island.

Lately, 15 inscriptions have been found in the Maddakkalappu and Amparai districts.

It must be noted here that even an excellent commentator on Lankan history, Kamalika Pieris too in some of her articles on her way of understanding history has quoted from S Pathmanathan’s findings. It shows the integrity he holds even among dissenters.

I attend all the seminars and workshops organized by the Hindu Religious Department under the Ministry of Religious Affairs on Thamil Literature and Historical periods in South Indian History every year under the grand direction of Prof S Pathmanathan. This is partly to listen to him speak on related matters in his fluent and measured use of words that an intellectual would use in such erudite and academic exercises.

Although I was not fortunate in learning history at academic level, I gained enough education in understanding history in general. Thanks to Prof S Pathmanathan, one of the few intellectuals left among the Thamil community in Lanka, who could explain things in both Thamil and English.

ks.sivakumaran@yahoo.com

Education, reconciliation and post-colonial state building

Need for a new perspective

April 17, 2012, 12:00 pm ,the island.


by Prof. Gamini Keerawella

Department of History, University of Peradeniya

(Text of the presentation made at the International Conference on ‘Delivering Inclusive and Sustainable Development’ held in New Delhi on 9th & 10th April 2012. The conference was organized by South Asian Policy and Research Institute (SAPRI) and Center for Policy Research (CPR, New Delhi)

Education as a catalyst for change is widely accepted and given great importance in contemporary political discourse relating to national integration and social cohesion. It has often been emphasized that education builds mutual respect, tolerance, trust and promotes social cohesion. In addition to the promotion of these ‘threshold values’ of, and for, civilized society, it is often argued that education can develop necessary skills for conflict prevention and peaceful resolution of conflicts. Proceeding a little further from the conventional peace education paradigm, my main thesis in this paper is that in order to utilize the full potential of education as a key to promote respect for diversity and, through that, peace and stability it is imperative to take into account, especially in the South Asian context, the multiple linkages that exist between state-building and education and carry out education planning and implementation with a clear vision. It further emphasizes the need to view the role of education from a new perspective as a means of forging a radical vision for both the state and the citizenship to go with the post-colonial historical conditions.

First of all, it must be noted that education is a double edged weapon in the sense that it could promote either inclusion and peace or exclusion and conflict. On the one hand education can be a key to promote respect for diversity. It equips people with necessary skills for the peaceful resolution of conflicts and reconciliation. On the other hand, it could play the role of catalyst for hatred, a source of negative stereotypes and the legitimization of exclusion. Because of these dual potentials of education as a catalyst for diametrically contrasting ends, it is essential to take into account the conditions and possibilities of both potentials in education planning. In the final analysis which type of role education ought to play will be decided by the particular approach that the regime takes to the state-building process.

I also intend to go beyond the conventional ‘public policy’ domain and to take a broad view towards education, to include all its formal and informal dimensions and to locate it in a larger politico-historical canvas to grasp its social and political dynamics. From a broad historical perspective education must be identified as a central element in the reproduction of culture. In any historical environment the production and transmission of knowledge is as important as the production and distribution of goods and services for social existence. Education is the key mechanism of production and transmission of knowledge. In that sense, education in any context is a historically conditioned political exercise. It is through this process of reproduction of culture, i.e., education, that necessary knowledge, attitudes and skills are imparted and also the rules, norms and procedures related to the construction of social reality are determined.

Hence, education should be understood as a broader social process where many actors are involved. It is constituted of both structured formal and unstructured non-formal elements. Structured formal education maintains a web of educational institutions with a regulated set curriculum. Non-formal education is a life-long process which also has a socially constructed hidden curriculum. As far as unstructured/ non-formal education is concerned, many sets of educators take part in different stages and different forms. These include family members, religious leaders, political leaders, media, peer groups, etc. The two parallel elements of the educating process are inter-related. Grasping all these elements is important in capturing the totality of the educating process. It must be noted that the production and distribution of knowledge is also determined by historically conditioned production relations and forces of production as in the case of production and distribution of goods and services. ‘Modern education’introduced by the colonial raj in South Asia could be cited as a case in point.

The so-called modern education introduced by the British in India and Sri Lanka was an organic part of the colonial construction of knowledge. It was a complex process. Under colonial rule, the validity of knowledge and attitudes and utility of skills were determined by mechanisms of colonial domination and subordination which was indeed a multi-faceted (political, economic, social, cultural and intellectual) process. It also created many socio-political contradictions. In analyzing the Modern education system in Sri Lanka that evolved under British rule Swarna Jayaweera pointed out "Colonial policy created a dual educational structures based on language and a system of dual control. The western oriented elite who were the products of the English schools, and in many instances the Christian ethos, were multi-ethnic or multi-cultural, comprising representatives of the Sinhalese, Tamil, Moor, Malay and Burgher population sub groups but was limited in number to a very small minority of around 6% at the end of colonial rule. The larger society was educated in inferior Sinhalese and Tamil schools. Education policy thus created almost culturally disparate English, Sinhalese and Tamil Societies". As education under colonial rule was a creation of the process of colonial construction of knowledge, reforms in education become a priority in the changed historical context of decolonization.

Decolonization is not simply the transfer of political power from the colonial raj to the indigenous leaders but a long and continuous process with many dimensions. Education, the construction and distribution of knowledge, constituted a key space in the de-colonization process. The fundamentals of education had to be defined in line with the transition from the colonial to the post-colonial historical environment. Accordingly, post-colonial state-building and post-colonial education are closely interlinked.

In order to trace the organic link between post-colonial state building and education, it is required to conceptualize the state not only as a tool for the exercise of power and authority but also as an ideological and practical mechanism to link people with state power. According to Antonio Gramsci, the state is an ensemble of the ‘entire complex of practical and theoretical activities’. The ruling class not only justifies and maintains its dominance, but manages to win the active consent of those over whom it rules [hegemony] through these theoretical and practical activities. Gramsci writes further that "It is true that State is seen as an organ of the particular group, destined to create favourable conditions for the latter’s maximum expansion. But the development and expansion of the particular group



Education, reconciliation...





is conceived of, and presented, as being the motor force of universal expansion, of a development of all the ‘national’ energies". Considering the fact that building hegemony of the state is partly a ‘theoretical’ exercise, the role of education in the state-building process is very crucial.

At this point the conceptualization of state by Barry Buzan is also useful to our analysis. He identifies three key elements of the state: organizing ideology of the state, the institutional expressions and the physical base (population and territory). He writes "the state exists, or has its essence, primarily on socio-political rather than on the physical plain. In some important senses, state is more an idea held in common by a group of people, than it is a physical organism". The three components of the state are interrelated. The organizational ideology of the state may be identified with political ideals of plural democracy or perhaps with an identity of a nation. It is the organizational ideology of the state that defines the citizenship (human base of the state) and the relationship of the territory to the people. Education plays a crucial role in deciding and crystallizing all the three elements of the state. Education is the means of reproduction and transmission of ideology of the state. As Buzan pointed out when ideologies come and go with different leaderships without striking deeper roots among the population, the other two elements of the state could not get related to each other in a coherent manner and the state stands on fragile political foundations. The ultimate outcome would be structural crisis of the state. In this context, problems and issues of post-colonial state formation invariably reflect on the education process.

The roots of the structural crisis of the state in Sri Lanka lie in its inability to present a strong organization ideology that could unite all the people irrespective of their collective identities. When there is a structural crisis of the post-colonial state, it first reflects in the sphere of education becoming the entire process of education disarray without a proper direction as to the link between state and nation. Every time a new minister of education assumes duties he wants to initiate new educational reforms. The importance of having a clear vision and broad national perspective for education reforms in post-colonial historical development must be understood in this political context.

The relationship between the organizing ideology of the state and the fundamental principles of education is a dialectical one. The organizing ideology of the state influenced the fundamental principles of education. It is reflected in many aspects of education including its curriculum. In turn, the fundamental principles of education reinforce the organizing ideology of the state. When there is a discrepancy between the two principles a crisis may emerge in both spheres. In a situation where the organizing ideology of the state is based on the supremacy of a particular ethno-national identity, the promotion of multi-ethnicity in the education system becomes a daunting task.

Hence, the present challenges and issues of education in contemporary South Asia should be understood against the background of post-colonial state formation and national integration. South Asia is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-linguistic entity. A key issue in state-building in South Asia is how to define the relationship between the state and the nations/national identities within the state. In the multi-ethnic social milieu in the region, the respect for diversity, which education is expected to promote, is the key to political and social stability and peace.

Docs threaten token strike over DAT allowance

April 17, 2012, 10:08 pm , the island,

By Don Asoka Wijewardena

Government Medical Officers’ Association President Dr. Anuruddha Padeniya yesterday warned Health Authorities that his association would be compelled to take tough trade union action in protest against non-payment of the revised Disturbance, Availability and Transport Allowance and the non-implementation of salary revision.

The final decision to launch a country-wide token strike would be taken by the GMOA General Committee on April 29.

In terms of allowances the doctors had only been getting the DAT Allowance whereas other high officials of the public service were enjoying all the privileges, he told a Media Conference at the GMOA head office.

Dr. Padeniya said that though President Mahinda Rajapaksa had agreed to grant Rs. 29,000 as DAT Allowance in 2008, due to enormous expenditure on the war, the implementation of the increase of the DAT was postponed. Even at the meeting GMOA had last month with Salary and Cadre Commission officials and the Finance Ministry it was agreed by the both parties to implement it.

He pointed out that though the relevant authorities agreed to implement it, no action had been taken so far. "We are not asking the government for new allowances. We have clearly explained to the authorities the necessity for DAT increase because we are unable to make both ends meet," Dr. Padeniya stressed.

GMOA Assistant Secretary Dr. Navin de Soysa said that the government had introduced a National Wage Policy in accordance with the Occupational Classification, but ever since the government had been unable to implement it, because of which most professional were affected.

He added that the GMOA had no alternative but to resort to stronger trade union action to protest against the government’s reluctance to implement a National Wage Policy and the constant delay in paying the enhanced DAT Allowance.