Editorial
Dons punching above their weight
August 24, 2012, 7:55 pm
, The Island
Thousands of striking university teachers, accompanied by their
well-wishers, trade unionists and Opposition activists, thronged the
streets of Colombo on Thursday, braving as they did inclement weather
to pressure the government to be amenable to their demands. They held a
highly successful rally at Hyde Park and dispersed peacefully. Their
message has been loud and clear: the strike will continue until their
demands are met!
The Federation of University Teachers'
Associations (FUTA) is punching above its weight. It has effectively
silenced its critics who underestimated its strength and doubted its
ability to hold a successful public rally. Emboldened by Thursday's
show of strength, the striking dons may now seek to negotiate with the
government from a position of strength.
Pro-government
propagandists are peddling an argument that university lecturers should
not take to the streets to win their demands. True, ideally, they
should not. We do not think they enjoy what they are doing. Who wants
to get drenched to the skin in thunderstorms or keep standing in the
scorching sun? They would have been more than happy to remain indoors
and fire strongly worded letters at the Higher Education Ministry. In
fact, they had done so several times and even held a number of
discussions with the government in vain before resorting to public
protests. So, they cannot be blamed for their marches and rallies, we
reckon.
Madness is said to be doing the same thing over and
over again expecting different results. FUTA members have proved their
sanity, so to speak, by changing their modus operandi to win their
demands. The fact that the university teachers' trade union action has
spilled over into the streets is a damning indictment on the
government, which has, as is common knowledge, provoked the strikers to
adopt unorthodox methods. Had the government made a genuine effort to
solve their problems, there would have been no need for them to hold
public rallies.
The government's reaction to the FUTA rally
is not yet known but it is not difficult to predict. Politicians and
bureaucrats involved in negotiations with the striking lecturers are
likely to harden their position. The government's war mentality has not
gone away yet and it is apparently relying more on brawn than brain in
dealing with FUTA. Power not only corrupts but also intoxicates
politicians. Like some types of illicit brew it tends to cause
blindness. That is why the ruling party potentates intoxicated with
power are blind to reality. The cure is an electoral shock. The bigger,
the better! When kicked out of power politicians begin to see.
The
government has made a huge mistake. It has, thanks to its arrogance
and obduracy, provided another rallying point for the scattered
Oppositional forces by driving university teachers to conduct street
protests.
In the late 1980s, universities remained more
closed than open due to southern terrorism which plunged the country
into a blood bath. Today, they have been closed indefinitely owing to
the government's arrogance. Ultra radical elements bent on disrupting
universities must be laughing up their sleeve.
While the
government remains determined not to give in to pressure from FUTA,
bankrupt political elements with no prospects of making a comeback
under their own steam must be hoping and praying that the university
dispute will drag on indefinitely so that they could ride piggyback on
striking dons to gain some mileage. The vast majority of people, we
believe, do not want the government and the university teachers to
continue this battle. They want the universities to reopen without
further delay and function smoothly in a trouble free environment.
It is imperative that the government and FUTA sit down and negotiate until a solution is found.
Aug 24, Colombo: A group of undergraduates in
Sri Lanka have threatened to take legal action against the striking
university lecturers. 
