Editorial
A big lie exposed
August 22, 2012, 7:38 pm
, The Island
The problem with lying is that there is no end
to it. Lies have to be remembered all the time unlike the truth. It
was Mark Twain who famously said, "If you tell the truth, you don't
have to remember anything." A lie also comes with a short lifespan and
has to be replaced with another upon its expiry. The government's claim
that the striking university teachers were reporting back for work in
compliance with Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake's request
to that effect has turned out to be a big lie.
Minister
Dissanayake is left with egg on his face. He has had to swallow his
pride and admit defeat. Universities have been closed indefinitely save
those whose dons have not joined the strike and medical faculties. His
statement on the circumstances that led to the current situation has
left us none the wiser. He ought to tell the public how he proposes to
solve the university crisis instead of venting his spleen on the
striking dons at every turn and waiting till the dons get fed up with
their trade union action and come back to work.
Several
rounds of talks between the Federation of University Teachers'
Associations (FUTA) and the government have failed. The government has
apparently chosen to play a waiting game and the dons are standing their
ground. The on-going tussle has all the trappings of a game of
chicken, as we argued the other day, with neither side willing to
backtrack. FUTA is all out to transform its trade union battle into a
broader public struggle––it has already been dubbed Academic Spring––and
the government's response has been to harden its stand and unleash its
propaganda hounds on the striking dons scheduled to have a public
rally today in Colombo.
The government's
argument that FUTA should not get involved in policy matters is
untenable. Not only university teachers but also all other stake
holders including the ordinary public have a right to agitate for an
increase in funds allocated for education. Policy making is too serious a
matter to be left entirely to politicians and bureaucrats. This is a
country where any nincompoop could enter Parliament with the help of
black money and the mandarins in key positions fall over themselves to
appease their political masters. Therefore, there is a pressing need
for responsible trade unions and concerned citizens to make
interventions to shape public policy. They, however, must desist from
trying to usurp the powers of legislators and be wary of being
manipulated by external forces with hidden political agendas.
It
is nothing but a crime to keep universities closed indefinitely. The
government and FUTA, at this rate, will take a month of Sundays to
resume talks let alone solve the problem. They ought to take serious
note of the plight of frustrated students wasting their youth in
universities.
What is possible and feasible at
this juncture appears to be an interim solution with a timeframe for
negotiations so that universities could be re-opened. However, the
government must give the strikers a cast-iron guarantee that they will
not be taken for a ride again. As Minister Dissanayake remains obdurate
and other government negotiators have failed to break the deadlock, a
powwow between FUTA and President Mahinda Rajapaksa himself seems to be
the only way out. After all, the President has gone on record as saying
that he is for a win-win situation in dealing with the dons' strike.
With the university crisis getting out of hand, the time has come for
him to prove that he is a leader who talks the talk and walks the walk.
