Protest campaign against military presence in universities today

January 1, 2013, 7:51 pm , The Island

by Maheesha Mudugamuwa

Sri Lanka National Union of Students (SLNUS) will launch a new campaign against alleged military interference in the university premises today (02).

SLNUS Secretary Asanka Bulegoda told The Island that they would start the campaign by distributing leaflets at the Fort Railway Station this morning to educate the public.

He said that the government was continuing its project to militarise the universities and they would stop it at any cost.

"As the first step, the government handed over the university security to the Defence Ministry’s Rakna Lanka Security firm," Bulegoda said adding that undergraduates were seeing the consequences now.

Consequent to deploying the Defence Ministry’s security guards in universities, Army personnel entered the Jaffna University recently and harassed students, he said.

Bulegoda urged the government to put an immediate halt to any further arrests, acts of intimidation, harassment and reprisals carried out by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) of the police and Army against university students.

He stressed that the police presence in the university premises disrupted student activities including cultural programmes, awareness programmes and forming of student unions, which was endorsed by the University Act.

"We will deliver leaflets as our first step of a series of protests," Bulegoda said adding that they were currently discussing with other student unions on launching a collective protest against the militarisation of universities.

According to him, the aim of today’s awareness campaign was to make the public aware of the present situation in the universities with the military presence.

Bulegoda also requested the public to join their agitation to stop the harassment of undergraduates.

Paper leak, tuition, and legislation

January 1, 2013, 6:14 pm , The Island


by Sarath B. S. Abayakoon

The Island editorial of 27th Dec. 2012, on "Of that question paper leak," addresses another important issue that is seriously affecting our education system, in particular, and the governance in general. As I wrote in one of my previous articles, the school education in Sri Lanka is a topic that needs to be thoroughly discussed as the system certainly needs a complete overhauling. In this article, I will concentrate on the specific issue of "tuition regulation by legislation" that is closely connected to the "question paper leak" currently being discussed.

The Minister of Education has stressed the need for new laws to introduce deterrent punishment on those who are responsible for the recent leak of examination papers. An on-line version of Ceylon Today has quoted, under the heading "Tuition classes to be put under watch", the minister as saying "the government is considering introducing regulations to control the activities of private tuition classes and international schools, following the incident of the GCE Ordinary Level Science paper being leaked through a private tuition teacher". The report further stated that "a special advisory committee, appointed by the ministry, is now reviewing the steps to be taken to amend or introduce legislation". The Island also reported in its on-line edition thataccording to the minister, the existing laws under the Examinations Act were far too lenient and that was one of the reasons why some unscrupulous elements dared leak questions papers.

As reported by Colombo Page online on December 29, the Minister of Higher Education also says that a special countrywide study will be carried out in 2013 on the status of tuition classes. It further reports that, according to the ministry sources, the government is going to compile a set of guidelines for tuition classes.

For the moment, however, I would be happy if the authorities concentrate only on the Examination Paper Leak, to make sure that such leaks will not be repeated. The other issues must be dealt with a deeper understanding of the problem. The country does not want another patchwork solution that will adversely affect especially the underprivileged students making the cure worse than the disease as we have noted many times, most recently during the Z score fiasco of 2011. Further, I am certain that many of the issues cannot be dealt with, only by "legislation".

Almost 40 years back, the district quota system was introduced for selecting students for undergraduate studies at public universities. At that time, the authorities stated that it was a temporary measure until a scheme, that was being finalized by the government to bring all the schools that prepares students for GCE (A/L) into one and the same standard, is implemented. We all know what happened since then about the standards of our school system and also of the district quota system.

We do have a habit of coming out with patchwork solutions to many of the major problems in education and higher education in Sri Lanka – not that we are lacking such ad-hoc measures in other spheres under government control. In fact, there are a plenty. However, I believe extreme care should be exercised when one deals with education as we have had more than sufficient ill-prepared schemes that have already ruined at least one generation of our children.

There is no doubt that tution is a menace, a huge one at that, and it is time someone takes a look. It is necessary to realize that in order to have free education for all, there should not be any tution classes, period. However, the tution culture has now engulfed our system so much that a systematic and focused programme is needed to get rid of this menace, as it has taken roots in this money centered society, just like the drug menace and other similar ills that have spread to all corners of the society. I must confess here that although I am totally against the tution culture, I too send my children to tution classes as there is no getting away from it.

Let us have a look at some of the possible causes for the tution industry to thrive as they do today.

1. Limited opportunities for Higher Education

The need to be at the top of the list among those who sit for the GCE (A/L) examination so that they would be selected to enter the Universities, makes the students do everything to beat others. This is exploited by the tution market in several ways and naturally, the students become the prey. The government and the authorities in education and higher education must, without delay, address the need to expand affordable higher education in the country where a person with the minimum standard required to engage in higher education, will be able to enter a university irrespective of his or her financial situation.

2. Questionpapers

2.1 Preparation

The established need to follow a standard pattern for questions, predictability of questions and repetition of questions, are some of the major reasons for the students to get attracted to tution classes. This is a matter to be addressed at the level of preparation of examination papers. More fundamentally, examination papers must contain challenging questions that are designed to test the knowledge on the subject, to drive students away from examination mentality to knowledge mentality. Such a question paper will also enable the examiners to clearly separate exceptional students from the others.

2.2 Security

It is necessary to bring all the culprits of the recent leaking of the examination papers to justice. It is also necessary to take all precautions to prevent such leaks in the future. However, it must be understood that selling of question papers or other similar acts related to our examination system cannot be eradicated by legislation only. This will continue as long as there will be a person to buy and another to sell. There was a time when we had people with moral standards irrespective of their financial situations who will not sell out their principles for money. As The Island Editor points out, Private tuition is a multi-billion-rupee industry and there are "mudalalis" in the garb of tutors willing to spend a fortune on leaked question papers as they are desperate to outcompete each other in a highly competitive environment.

Buying and selling has become the name of the game in our country. Even those at the highest echelons work on the belief that everyone has a price and once it is reached, he or she is bought. Unless we develop a generation of true values again, we will have to live with buying and selling. Developing such a generation must also come from a properly designed school education system.

3. Quality of teaching and commitment of teachers

When I was in the advanced level class, a few decades back, we had excellent teachers. One of the teachers, who were assigned one full subject and a half of another, out of four subjects, was the Vice Principal of the college. As he could not attend the classes regularly, we were actually worried until, another teacher who was also assigned one and a half subjects, decided that he should take over. He ended up teaching three out of four subjects, sometimes on evenings and weekends. He did not charge a cent from us. In my class, only three students out of a total about went for private tution and they were known to be the weakest students in the group.

Even today, we do have teachers of such quality and attitudes, although not many. We have to admit that in general, over several decades, the quality of teaching and the commitment of teachers have deteriorated in the public school system. Further, even the dedicated teachers are finding it difficult to disseminate knowledge in the way they want to, because of the massive influence of tution classes on students.

4. School calendar and student attendance

Advanced Level classes do not start in many government schools for about eight months after the GCE (O/L) examination. This is attributed to the fact of not having sufficient space to accommodate the students until one group leaves the school after their A/L examinations in August of the following year. This has become a golden opportunity for tution providers to grab the students early, resulting in students losing interest of their classes at school. A/L classes must start immediately after the O/L examinations and this will make the material taught at school classrooms more attractive to the students.

Although there is an attendance requirement to sit for the A/L examination, implementation and effectiveness of this is questionable.

5. Individual tuition

Individual classes, mostly conducted at homes, have taken root among those who can afford exuberant payments to tution providers. We have noted some organizations requesting imposing of a ban on tution classes during days of religious observations. Even from the government side, certain restrictions of similar kind are being proposed. These proposals, if implemented, affects only the students of poor families as the rich students will continue to benefit from individual classes. Any kind of restrictions on mass tution classes will only affect students of low income families of the society.

6. Attraction to tution providers

One of the key features of the drastic deterioration of Sri Lankan value systems evident, especially since the introduction of the open economy in 1977, is the inability to recognize the core and theassociated over emphasis on the coating. This is true for tution masters also and they exploit this to the letter. While the teachers of the national schools are moderately dressed and use public transport to and from school, tution masters display a rich lifestyle that attracts young students. They portray themselves as belong to a higher class and unfortunately, are seen as saviours by those who have twisted values, including many students and parents.

As stated at the beginning, this article also addresses only a single issue of many ills that have engulfed our education system. Swift action by the authorities to revisit the process is the need of the hour.

If the ministry is serious about controlling evils that affect our education system, with special reference to public examinations, it needs to base reforms with the aim of complete eradication of the tution menace. This needs elevation of social standards and the respect for teachers (No, I am not proposing all of them to be commissioned as Brevet Colonels) including a respectable salary for teachers, teacher training that emphasizes re-introduction of values, a revisit on the total process of setting up, printing and the distribution of examination papers, a better education calendars for schools etc.

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Sarath B S Abayakoon is a Senior Professor in Civil Engineering at the University of Peradeniya. He served as a member of the University Grants Commission and also as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Peradeniya.

Jaffna Arrests: Replaying The 1970s

By M. A. Sumanthiran MP, Sundayleader

November 27th this year marked an important milestone in the different phases of ethnic relations in this country. For those of us who still retain the memory of the events of 40 years ago, it was like Déjà vu. Students of the Jaffna University observed Heroes’ Day within the University premises.

The security forces invaded a female hostel; beat several students who protested the next day and the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) of the Sri Lanka Police arrested four University students. Subsequently over 40 other youth have also been arrested and detained.

None of them have been produced before courts, except one Medical College student who was released. They seem to have been detained under the provisions of the infamous Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). The Defence authorities say that these youth have been sent for ‘rehabilitation’ at their own request!
It is important to assess these developments in the backdrop of history and we cannot but notice the forty year cycle. In the early 1970s the Tamils of this country were alienated from national life in a very significant way.

The supposedly autochthonous Constitution was created by a majoritarian vote at the Navarangahala. Every single resolution proposed by the ITAK was defeated by the use of majority votes. The ITAK then walked out of the Constituent Assembly, leaving behind the All Ceylon Tamil Congress MPs Thiagarajah, Arulampalam and Anandasangaree.

The ITAK leader S. J. V. Chelvanayagam resigned his Parliamentary seat in protest and challenged the government to hold a by-election in order to demonstrate that the Tamil People endorsed their decision and that they rejected the First Republican Constitution. The government delayed holding the by-election by two years but when it was eventually held, he won with a massive majority.

Parallel to this there were other developments that took place around this time. The standardisation practised for admission to universities ended hopes of tertiary education for the Tamil youth. Many of them were sent to the UK for higher studies by their parents after selling or mortgaging their lands.

Frustrated by this alienation many of them started movements in the UK, which turned out to be first militant groups. General Union of Eelam Students (GUES) and Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS) are examples of these. Note that both of these were student organisations! The LTTE which emerged a little later must be seen and understood as part of this evolutionary process.

In the mid-1970s the Tamil youth were radicalized, first by unfairly denying them higher education and then when they protested, mainly using democratic forms, by arresting them and incarcerating them under the then extant emergency law without charging them in courts.

Over 40 Tamil youths were held without trial for over four years and were released only after they went on a fast unto death in the prisons just before the Non-aligned summit held in Colombo. Mavai Senathirajah, MP and the present General Secretary of the ITAK, was one of those.

But the most accelerated form of militarizing them was by sending the army to the North under ‘Bull’ Weeratunga to ‘crush’ ‘terrorism’ in six months. Groups of Tamil youth congregating at junctions in the evenings were rounded up, beaten mercilessly and detained under the PTA and tortured.

Unable to defend themselves, many youths started joining the several militant organizations that had emerged and went under-ground. Several of them went to the Middle East and were trained in guerilla warfare.
They returned and engaged in hit and run attacks against the oppressive army. It was the large-scale violence that was unleashed against the Tamils in July 1983 that forced the Tamil youths in their thousands to join the different militant groups. This is an undeniable fact.

This shows that Tamil militancy as seen post 1983 was a direct result of Anti-Tamil pogroms of the State. This is not intended to exculpate any of the militant groups from responsibility for the terror they themselves unleashed, but certainly the State played a significant role in bringing this about.

Violence and counter-violence devoured thousands of Sri Lankans until May 2009, when the State used its military might to decimate not only the LTTE but also several thousand Tamil civilians for which it is still to be held accountable. After May 2009 there was no fighting between two forces, which gave the civilian population in the entire country some respite.

Other forms of violence however continued unabated mainly against the Tamil civilians. Over a hundred thousand displaced persons are yet to be permitted to resettle in their original places; heavy militarisation continues with its attendant evil consequences; land grabs by the military and the continuing detention of hundreds of detainees under the PTA, etc., are but some examples of such violence. A government that brooks no dissent even in the South of the country, does not tolerate any form of democratic opposition in the North.

Although there has not been a single act of violence against the State from the Tamil side as it were since May 2009, the government has continued to deal with the populace in an overly oppressive way. This includes the non-recognition of the democratically elected representatives of the Tamil People at the Parliamentary as well as local council levels in development and other activities.

If the imposition of the will of the majority on the Tamil People through sheer numbers was the form of oppression until 1970, actions that directly target the dignity and self-respect of the Tamil People, in addition to the physical violence that is being heaped on the Tamils is the form it takes now. This is exactly what was done 40 years ago and the cycle seems to be restarting again.

Once again the target is the youth in general and the student community in particular. The replay of events 40 years later has significant similarities. Again just over 40 youth have been arrested and without being produced in court, are being held under the PTA and are even purportedly being given ‘rehabilitation at their own request’ at the Welikanda Army Camp.

The fact that these detentions are wholly illegal somehow seems irrelevant to the government, which is focused on trying to show the world that the LTTE is now rising from the ashes. Ironically this is sweet music to the die-hard LTTE supporter! But in reality both sides are dragging the Tamil youth and the University students in particular down a slippery slope.

The presence of LTTE flags at the joint opposition May Day rally in Jaffna and other protest rallies, though laughable for their amateurish attempts, is an indication of what the government is trying to portray. Astonishingly, the extremist forces within the Tamil polity are their greatest allies in this.

The portrayal of the LTTE as having re-emerged may suit the different, if opposite, agendas of both sides.
But it is one that will do serious damage to any meaningful reconciliation being achieved. Right thinking people in both communities must thwart this attempt; Tamil youth must not fall into this trap wittingly or unwittingly.

We must often remind ourselves of history if we are to learn from it. Unfortunately the only consistent lesson that history teaches is that no one learns from history!

Jaffna youth arrests continue over suspected Tiger activity

View(s):

Teachers fear university may have to close down
By Chris Kamalendran, Sunday Times
Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) detectives are continuing their arrests of youth including students in Jaffna over what Security Forces Commander there, Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe said was over suspected Tiger guerrilla activity.
However, clergy, parents and academics complain that the exercise has spawned a fear psychosis amidst warnings that the Jaffna University may close down.

According to Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran, at least forty Tamil youth have been arrested but not produced in courts. The arrests, he said, had been made under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).
The Government claims that the students are being rehabilitated at a camp in Welikanda at their own request. The detentions are wholly illegal but this seems irrelevant to the Government, he told the Sunday Times.
“The arrests are being carried out under normal laws by the TID,” Major General Hathurusinghe told the Sunday Times.
Investigations, he said, revealed that some students were engaged in activities similar to those practised by the outlawed Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). “This is why some students have been inducted to undergo rehabilitation programmes,” he added.
Father Christopher Jeyakumar, Parish Priest of St Mary’s Church in Kayts said that the university students missed studies for three months due to the recent strike by the academic staff.
“One more month has been lost due to the situation created by the arrests,” he told the Sunday Times.
V. Paramalingam , the mother of a student who is already in custody told the Sunday Times “My son Dharshaan is now undergoing rehabilitation in Welikanda.
I went to see him at the camp. He assured me that he was not involved in any agitation campaign against the government. Nor has he been questioned on this aspect.”
“There is a tense situation prevailing. We have had to postpone all examinations,” A. Rasakumar, President of the Jaffna University Teachers’ Association told the Sunday Times. Earlier, the university authorities were informed when arrests were made. Now, the Vavuniya based officials of TID were sending messages directly to the students asking them to turn up in their office, he added.
He said there were fears that the university may close down.

புனர்வாவின் பின்பே மாணவர் விடுதலை; கோத்தபாய ராஜபக்க்ஷ­ திட்டவட்டம், http://onlineuthayan.com

கைதாகித் தடுத்து வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ள யாழ். பல்கலைக்கழக மாணவர்கள் நால்வரையும் புனர்வாழ்வு வழங்காமல் விடுவிக்கவே முடியாது. இவ்வாறு அடித்துக் கூறியிருக்கிறார் பாதுகாப்பு அமைச்சின் செயலாளர் கோத்தபாய ராஜபக்ஷ.

 

கொழும்பு ஊடகம் ஒன்றுக்கு நேற்று வழங்கிய விசேட செவ்வி ஒன்றிலேயே அவர் இவ் வாறு கூறியிருக்கிறார். புனர்வாழ்வு வழங்காமல் மாணவர்களை விடுவிக்க முடியாது என்ற விடயத்தை யாழ். பல்கலைக்கழக துணைவேந்தர் உட்பட பல்கலைச் 

சமூகத்துக்கு தான் ஏற்கனவே தெரிவித்து விட்டதாகவும் அதனை அவர்கள் ஏற்றுக் கொண்டுள்ளதாகவும் கோத்தபாய இந்தச் செவ்வியில் தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.

 

அவர் அந்தச் செவ்வியில் மேலும் தெரிவித்தாவது:

 

கைதாகித் தடுத்து வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ள நான்கு பல்கலைக்கழக மாணவர்களையும் புனர்வாழ்வு வழங்கிய பின்னரே விடுவிக்க முடியும். அதற்கு முன்னர் அவர்கள் விடுவிக்கப்படுவதற்கு சாத்தியமே இல்லை.

 

தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு நாடாளுமன்ற உறுப்பினர்கள் யாழ்.பல்கலைக்கழகத்துக்குள் ஏன் போகவேண்டும்? அவர்களுக்கு அங்கு என்ன வேலை? பல்கலைக்கழகத்துக்குள் சென்று இவர்கள் பயங்கரவாதத்தைத் தூண்டு விடுகிறார்கள்.

 

தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பின் இளைஞர் அணி தலைவரின் பின்னணியிலேயே கடந்த காலச் சம்பவங்கள் நடந்துள்ளன. இவற்றை நாங்கள் ஆதாரத்துடன் நிரூபிப்போம். 

 

மாணவர்களுக்கு புனர்வாழ்வு வழங்கிய பின்னரே அவர்கள் விடுவிக்கப்படுவார்கள் என்ற விடயம் யாழ்.பல்கலைக்கழகத் துணைவேந்தர் உட்பட பல்கலைக்கழக சமூகத்திடம் நான் ஏற்கனவே தெரிவித்துவிட்டேன். அவர்களும் அதனை ஏற்றுக் கொண்டுள்ளனர். 

 

மாணவர்களுக்கு எதிராக சட்ட நடவடிக்கை எடுக்க முடியும். ஆனால் நாங்கள் அவ்வாறு செய்யவில்லை. அதற்குப் பதிலாக அவர்களுக்குப் புனர்வாழ்வளிக்கின்றோம். என்றார். 

Army harasses Tamil students

Reconciliation or repression in Jaffna University?

December 29, 2012, 4:32 pm


by Kumar David, Sunday Island

Let there be no doubt about it; the military entering Jaffna University, framing allegations and incarcerating Tamil students is intended to send a chilling and brutal message to all Tamil dissent. "We have crushed you once, don’t dare raise your heads again; we will do it again. Learn your place as second class citizens of Lanka; a new social order has been defined. Live with it!" The reconciliation and rebuilding covenant that Rajapaksa tried to sell to the international community has caved in; the age of another round of ethnic conflict is opening up.

Let’s get the facts on the table as far as known; and I rely on sources that are credible. It all started when Tamil students in the University decided to commemorate their war dead which undoubtedly included many LTTE cadres - so what! - and chose to do so on Heroes’ Day. The military intervened and broke up the commemoration, not because there was any disturbance of the peace, but because Tamils were commemorating their war dead and LTTE cadres were among the fallen. So the Sinhala-Buddhist state is going to lay down to the Tamil people who and what they are allowed to commemorate! This is the quintessential definition of racial oppression.

I am tired of explaining that I am not and have never been a LTTE member or sympathiser, despite Sinhala chauvinists attempting to pigeon hole me thus, most recently subtly assisted by Vasudeva Nanayakkara, but that I am most vehemently opposed to the Sinhala-Buddhist state laying down how the Tamils should conduct their lives, I have never hidden. This is the essence of what has happened on Jaffna Campus; the Sinhalese will decide who and what the Tamils are allowed to commemorate or celebrate. It’s just one step short of the army deciding how the Tamils should think.

The defence establishment is now arm twisting the staff to commence lectures although students are on strike till their colleagues in detention are released. The defence establishment (I do not want to quote names until I am able to get verification) has decided that detained students must undergo rehabilitation. This was not decided by a court of law, this was a unilateral decision of the military without sanction of any judicial process. The Rajapaksa government is quite prepared to play fast and loose with due process whether it be impeachment of a Chief Justice or forced indoctrination of university students with no process in law to justify its arbitrary actions in either case. It is palpably clear that Tamils will not be allowed to conduct their affairs, in their areas of domicile, free of military coercion and a Sinhalese dictate, for many more years and for so long as the Rajapaksa regime rules Sri Lanka.

The chauvinism of the government and the military repression are taken as given, but what to my mind is most disturbing is the neglect and indifference of the Sinhalese public and the English language and Sinhalese media, without exception. This is where the roots of future ethnic dynamite lie dormant, but for how much longer? The same has to be said about the fires of anti-Muslim pogroms being stoked by dark forces, while press and public play blind-man’s-buff. Even the SLMC is more interested in protecting its cabinet posts and perks than in what may happen to the Muslim people, so it won’t make trouble for Rajapaksa or make a fuss about the issue.

Letter from over 100 lecturers

About 120 lecturers of the University of Jaffna have sent an open letter to President Rajapaksa titled "Grave and dangerous plight of students of the University of Jaffna". Unsurprisingly, it has got no coverage in the press so far as I am aware (this is being written on Christmas Day). I am reproducing parts of it, considerably abridged, below.

It began with the Army entering the students’ hostels on November 27, ostensibly to prevent the lighting of flames. The occasion had a political association that has polarized society and the community needs space to discuss its significance and to sort out its own differences. Default on the part of the Government through continued presence of the military without tangible moves towards a political settlement, has helped the mobilisation of youthful feelings to turn it into a day of defiance, where its original association becomes less important. The Army entering the halls, separating the Sinhalese from the Tamil students and showing hostility to and even threatening the latter has serious implications for the future.

The demonstration on the following day, 28th, was a protest carrying slogans that were well within the norms of democratic protest. If the students had been allowed to walk the short distance from the main entrance on Parameswara Road and re-enter by the Science Faculty entrance nothing untoward would have happened. Rather than calm the situation matters were made worse by the Police physically attacking the students.

The same night a petrol bomb exploded at the Sri-TELO camp behind the University. Security around the university, including by several agents in mufti, had been very tight and we find it puzzling that the perpetrators got away scot-free. Even more remarkable is that Kopay Police was able to come up with names of four persons to arrest over the incident, which evidently no one had given them. We are confident that these students had nothing to do with bomb throwing. Two were arrested at their homes before the night was out and two were handed over by the University authorities the following day. They were all detained under the PTA and taken to Vavuniya.

There were several acts of harassment in the University by persons in mufti and the interrogation of an assistant lecturer over the phone over his casual reference to heroes’ day in response to a text query by a Sinhalese student. These reveal an attempt to tackle a political question through heavy handed intimidation. Instead of putting an end to the insanity, more followed.

On the morning of December 6, the university administration was given a list containing names of ten persons to be produced at the Jaffna Police Station, without any intimation of the reasons or the charges against them. The news shocked the university community and parents were distraught. A study of the list convinced us that all these students were wanted only because they were well known as prominent in student activities.

The war is long over and the PTA is most inappropriate to deal with questions that are political in nature. To see terrorism in political gestures and political opinion that do not take recourse to violence and to respond to them by an overwhelming show of force, is both illogical and counter-productive. There is now no anti-state terrorism in Jaffna. An important part of consolidating peace is for the State to conduct itself in a manner that induces respect for the rule of law. Of immediate concern to the University is that in 2011 student leaders were twice attacked and grievously injured by men wielding metal rods. The reasons were entirely political and they had not committed any crime. The Police showed no interest in arresting the culprits. Now using the petrol bomb explosion as a pretext the Police seem determined to detain and harass student leaders and those active who had nothing to do with the bomb.

The result is to cause considerable fear, anxiety and trauma among the students. More importantly dragging innocent students through police stations and police cells, as happened in the 1970s and 1980s, hardens them and breeds contempt for the law and for the officers entrusted to uphold it. Where there should be trust and co-operation there is fear, resentment, and then defiance. Surely, we do not want the consequences of that again.

The purpose of reproducing portions of this letter is not because I suffer from illusions that the political leadership or the military authorities will take any notice of it. It is the hope that some sections at least of Sinhalese opinion will respond that motivates me.

Correction: Tissa Jayatilaka has pointed that the short quotation I attributed to Macbeth in my piece in the Sunday Island of 16 December is from Hamlet, Act III, Sc.3. Sorry about the slip up.

Pressure Mounts On Jaffna Student Arrest

By Chrishanthi Christopher, SundayLeader

Jaffna University students taking part in the simple act of lighting lamps to commemorate the ‘Mahaveer’ day

Despite repeated calls by opposition political parties, civil society movements and human rights groups to release the Jaffna University students who were arbitrarily arrested last month on alleged terrorism charges, they continue to remain in custody of the Terrorist Investigation Department (TID).
It is two weeks since the students were arrested and detained on charges of terrorism for the simple act of lighting lamps to commemorate the ‘Mahaveer’ day on November 27. The police had submitted the names of eleven students to the University administration demanding that they be produced at the Jaffna Police station. There was no explanation or intimation of charges levelled against them. Last Monday, major Tamil parties and others staged a protest opposite the secretariat office in Kilinochchi demanding that the students be released and their rights respected.
The students were peacefully commemorating the war heroes’ day when the security forces and the police interrupted the event resulting in a clash. Following this the students staged a protest the next day. They were having a peaceful protest march on November 28 from the main entrance at the Parameshwaran Road to the Science Faculty entrance. But the police attacked them again. In the melee that followed many students were beaten and dragged causing injuries.
Following this on December 6 eleven students were arrested under the PTA by the TID and seven of them were subsequently released. Still four students continue to languish in  the   Welikanda military camp along with 600 other ex-LTTE cadres. The students are said to be under interrogation.
The arrested are B. Bawanathan  – Leader, University Students’ Union, P. Tharshananan – Secretary, University Students’ Union, K. Jenamejayanth – Leader, Arts Faculty Union and S Solomon – Member, Science Faulty Union.
Today the Jaffna University is closed. The military and the police are occupying the place and the students are boycotting academic activities demanding the release of the students.
Students from other universities island wide have joined in solidarity protesting against the arrest and demanding their release. Last week students from the Peradeniya University gathered outside the university premises for protests.
Tamil University students in Norway carried out a peaceful demonstration with lights and banners condemning the attack and arrests of students.
Also the Canadian University Tamil Students’ Association held a countrywide awareness campaign on the plight of the Jaffna University students.
But the Defense Secretary is unrelenting. He had told in no uncertain terms to the Jaffna University Vice Chancellor Wasanthi Araseratnam and other academics who visited him last week that they would not be released. His explanation is that the students are ex LTTE cadres and they need to be rehabilitated.
TNA MP Suresh Premachandran questions on the kind of rehabilitation university students need. They are final year students and have been peacefully studying all these years.” said Premachandran.
Premachandran contends that a court has to decide whether they need be rehabilitated.  He says that the students were only lighting a lamp to commemorate the death of their relatives and friends. If the JVP can do it, so can they – they have a right to remember their family and friends.
Premachandran says that although the government talks of reconciliation among the Tamils and the Sinhala people it continues to arrests the Tamil people without any intimation to their families. He says that in the last three years and six months following the end of the war there has been no reports of violence but over 50 people have been arrested in the north.  “Their families have not been informed of their whereabouts. There is no reconciliation anywhere”.
Wickramabahu contends that the government is losing its popularity among the people and it is trying to orchestrate that the LTTE is re-emerging. It wants to show the Sinhala masses that it is continuing to fight them.
He says that the LSSP has written to over 100 countries informing about the sort of things taking place in Sri Lanka. “We have informed through our International Centre at Amsterdam.  India and Pakistan have been intimated separately” he adds.
Meanwhile, last week the police hot on the heels of the arrest of the Jaffna University students, went on a rampage arresting youth in Jaffna branding them as ex LTTE cadres.  Police media spokesman Preshantha Jayakody says that they have gathered intelligence on these youth for a long time and now they were arresting them. The arrests are continuing. Premachandran says that over 50 youth have been arrested and being detained without any charges or their families being informed.
Meanwhile, human rights groups have expressed their concern over the new developments in the northern peninsula.  The Human Rights Watch in a communiqué says that the present trend of arresting Tamils and detaining them sends out a dangerous message.  “… any Tamil can be detained arbitrarily and detained  indefinitely,” says Brad Adams, Asia Director, Human Rights Watch.
“The Sri Lankan authorities should realize that such actions generate legitimate grievances not reconciliation,” the message adds.
The Amnesty International was quick in condemning the arrests. The London based human rights group expressed concerns over the well being of the students under the TID custody.  Jim Mc Donald, Sri Lanka country specialist of Amnesty International USA says that the situation is of grave concern and has called on the Sri Lankan government to release the students from custody or charge them with a recognizable criminal offence. “They should be treated in accordance with international standards while in detention,” Jim Mcdonald reiterates.
The Movement for Equal Rights in Sri Lanka has also urged the government to immediately release the Jaffna University students.  The movement has also called for the withdrawal of the army from the north and east and granting equal rights to all Sri Lankans.
Meanwhile, the families of the students arrested have been given the opportunity to visit their sons. Families say that the students had been interrogated intensely looking for information on other students in the university.
The families of the students in custody are wailing and weeping not knowing whether their sons will ever come back home. They say that their sons are innocent and have not been involved in any sort of LTTE activities. All four of them are final year students and they could have not got involved in any terrorist activities.
“The four are being detained because they were vividly portrayed in the media holding placards and protesting. It was a peaceful march until the police intervened and attacked the protestors” said a parent.
TNA MP E. Saravanabhavan who was at the scene when the police and army attacked the students on December 27 says that the arrests of those students is an illegal practice and questions who decides on the need to rehabilitate the students. “It is the court of law – this is illegal practice. Nobody to ask including journalists. None of the media in Colombo highlights our plight,” he laments.
Jaffna Lecturers’ Union, President, Rasakumaran says that the students are in fear. He says that many students do not want to resume their studies and have left the country.
“They say that they do not want to come back and resume their academic activities when their leaders are in rehabilitation camps,” he said.
He says that the government is trying to create a rift between the Tamil and Sinhala students in the university. He claims that there are over 250 Sinhala students studying in the faculty of science and arts. And if the students demand that the academic activities be resumed there will be a clash of interest. We need reconciliation in the minds of all people and the little we have achieved should not be broken – we need to co-exist for a long time,” he said.

A Government Gone Mad And Bad

By Prof S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole, sundayleader

Police assaulting Jaffna University students

The heading is inspired by S. L. Gunasekera (his letter to BASL, 28.11.2012) where he asked the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) “to oppose this [impeachment] madness of the incumbent government,” adding that he continues to support the government.
The Sinhalese in collective have been content to sit back and watch as our government literally took Tamils apart – perhaps 70,000 according to the recent Petrie report. A year ago their intelligentsia went after the previous UN Panel, with Jayantha Gunasekera, PC, trying to pass a resolution against its report at the BASL even before it was out. It was a fait accompli anyway and passed as soon as the report was released.
The BASL’s decision last week to not support any new CJ is laudable but there is a lot more wrong with the country as well as with the BASL. The CJ matter is merely symptomatic. For example news reports say that the goverrnment imported racing cars worth $100 million, paying no duty. But far more importantly, how can a young man just starting life on a government salary (whose father too is on government salary) pay $100 million as alleged? The Sunday Leader (06.03.2011) records Prabha Ganeshan saying that Basil Rajapaksa “promised Rs. 20 million to him and another UNP cross-over,” P. Digambaram; supposedly for development work. Ha! The sumptuous meals at Temple Trees, vulgar lifestyles at 5-star hotels, foundation on vain men, and the free flow of liquor at public expense can all be explained away through entertainment budgets from parliament. But the $100 million is more difficult. Thinking people like Gunasekera must reevaluate their support.
However, as public opinion builds up against the insane government, Marwaan Macan-Markar has opined that while the CJ’s supporters are “few and far from the required critical mass … [muscle and power on the streets are still controlled by the well-oiled Rajapaksa political machine”.
Tamil Powerlessness
Imagine then the powerlessness that Tamils feel when the Sinhalese intelligentsia feels so helpless. I recall August 1970 when violent Sinhalese policemen were on punishment transfer in Jaffna as if to say, “If you are driven to beat up people, then go beat up Tamils”.  Standardization was taking form with 28 bonus marks added to every Sinhalese aggregate before determining university admission. It was the time frustrated Tamil youth began pelting policemen with stones and would soon break up the SLFP office and bomb Alfred Duraiappah’s car.
Recent events at Jaffna University where students were assaulted by the army and later pelted soldiers with stones the next day, replay old times. To be expected but scarier are recent incidents in Puthukudiiruppu. A Tamil man was keeping four women, exploiting the gender imbalance since the war crimes. All four were chopped to death by a group imposing Tamil virtue. In the same place an old man was supplying Tamil women to the Sinhalese. He and a soldier were also chopped up. In Jaffna , The Island reported, a Sinhalese worker fooling around with women was killed when he arrived at a set-up tryst.
Similarly, recent reports tell of a Tamil robber gang in Jaffna that is on hire as killers.  They had state protection. When a police official got court sanction to shoot to kill, he was promptly transferred. Some have since taken the law into their hands and disappeared parts of the gang.
Tamilwin.com reports that this has the support of the people of Jaffna . But how different is that attitude from what the army did to Tamils in Mullaitivu? From BASL going all out to condemn the Ban Ki-moon Panel’s report to cover up murder of civilians and vigilante execution of the LTTE leadership?
The Tamil medium is being eliminated from the good universities in the South as we powerlessly watch. Eliminating Tamils from professional schools teaching in English, however, needs alternative strategies. Accordingly Jaffna gets a ramshackle engineering faculty when in all of Sri Lanka there are only three Tamil engineering PhD holders of working age. Ruhuna’s Engineering Faculty was built, for buildings alone, at a cost of Rs. 900 million (in 1998 the dollar cost Rs. 68 as against Rs. 128 today). But Jaffna ’s Engineering Faculty has only an allocation of Rs. 250 million in today’s rupees. It has been located in the jungles off Kilinochchi by a decision of the government and army, backed by the EPDP Vice Chancellor and Council. This despite my recommendations as UGC Coordinator, supported in writing by those such as Professors K. K. Y. W. Perera and Lakshman Ratnayake, that to be successful the Faculty must be in Jaffna to exploit the business environment and private housing so as to use the limited funds for building teaching space. (The sum I requested for buildings and equipment was a mere quarter of the car imports and was told there is no money).
The distance rule implies that students from the North who now are sent to Peradeniya, will be shunted into a cattle shed off Kilinochchi with few or no PhD level teachers. Touché.
Colonization of Kilinochchi: Counter Violence
It is no secret – and government parties have been explicit – that the plan is to have all parts of the country settled by all communities. Jaffna cannot be so easily converted but Vavuniya is now almost taken care of and Kilinochchi can easily follow.  Thus locating Engineering in Kilinochchi deprives Tamils of Peradeniya training and prepares Kilinochchi for colonization. The Vavuniya Campus was exclusively Tamil four years ago, but now the Sinhalese figures are 48 percent in Applied Science and 70 percent in Management with the balance shared between Muslims and Tamils. The direction for Kilinochchi is clear.
Frances Harrison, citing World Bank data, says that 101,748 Tamils are unaccounted for during the last months of the war from Mullaitivu. Many men having died or fled since, the women are easily exploited.
Reports allege that in Visuvamadu, Piramanthanaaru and Kumarasaamypuram, 100 Tamil women have been forcibly married to one Sinhalese soldier whose women are then given extensive facilities including ration cards. I find this credible, given the number of Tamil women made pregnant by Sinhalese and workers in the Kilinochchi area. A female native physician shyly testifies to the many women who come to her for abortion and contraception after illicit unions.
Tamil Subservience
In 1970 when four of us boys were assaulted for no reason by berserk policemen, one of us on the first slap pleaded “Sir, Sir” and was let off.  Two of us who did not bend were brutally assaulted and I ended up with lumps all over my thighs from police boots.
We revolted for justice with little understanding of rights. The revolt, noble and ignoble at once, culminated in the massacres of 2009. And we have become meek servants.  In Jaffna the Tamil public ‘Sirs’ ill-educated soldiers. We are ruled from Colombo through Tamil quislings and an uneducated army.
We grumble that Gotabaya Rajapaksa summoned the Vice Chancellor and Deans of Jaffna University to Colombo . By what protocol can a Defence Secretary summon a VC appointed by the President and Deans? They meekly obeyed. If they had simply said that he needs to come to the university, they would have been a shining example to the ‘Sirring’ public.
For this madness to stop, the government gone mad and bad must stop. Thinkers like S.L. Gunasekera need to understand that human rights violations and the cultivation of fearful subservience are not ethnically oriented, but an assault on all citizens alike.

பல்கலைக்கழக செயற்பாடுகளை வழமைக்கு கொண்டுவர முயற்சி; படைத் தளபதியுடன் சந்திப்புக்கு ஏற்பாடு; எதிர்ப்பும் கிளம்பியது
 http://onlineuthayan.com
 

யாழ்ப்பாணப் பல்கலைக்கழகத்தை மீண்டும் வழமைக்குக் கொண்டு வருவதற்கு முயற்சிகள் மேற்கொள்ளப்படுகின்றன. எனினும் இது தொடர்பான முயற்சிகள் குறித்து விசனங்களும் எழுப்பப்படுகின்றன. 

 

பல்கலைக்கழகத்தின் கற்றல் கற்பித்தல் நடவடிக்கைகளை மீண்டும் வழமைக்குக் கொண்டு வருவது தொடர்பில் இராணுவத்தின் யாழ். மாவட்டக் கட்டளைத் தளபதியுடன் பேச்சு நடத்த பலாலிக்கு வருமாறு துறைத் தலைவர்களுக்குப் பதிவாளரால் அழைப்பு விடுக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. 

 

எதிர்வரும் வெள்ளிக்கிழமை இந்தச் சந்திப்பு நடைபெறும் என்று அறிவிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. 

பல்கலைக்கழகத்தின் அனைத்துத் துறைத் தலைவர்களுக்கும் இது தொடர்பிலான அறிவித்தல் துணைவேந்தரின் பணிப்பின் பேரில் பதிவாளரால் வழங்கப்பட்டுள்ளது என்று "உதயன்' பத்திரிகைக்கு அறியவந்தது. ஆனால், இராணுவத் தளபதியுடன் துறைத் தலைவர்கள் பேச்சு நடத்த வேண்டும் என்ற பல்கலைக்கழக நிர்வாகத்தின் எதிர்பார்ப்புக்கு உடனடியாகவே எதிர்ப்புக் கிளம்பியுள்ளது.

 

படைத் தளபதியுடனான பேச்சுத் தொடர்பில் கலைப்பீட துறைத் தலைவர்கள் சந்திப்பு நேற்று நடைபெற்றது. அதில் இந்த யோசனைக்கு கடும் எதிர்ப்புத் தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டதாக தகவல் வட்டாரம் "உதயன்' பத்திரிகையிடம் கூறின. "தாம் இராணுவத்தினரைச் சந்திக்க வேண்டிய அவசியமே இல்லை என அவர்கள் கூறிவிட்டனர்'' என்று அந்த வட்டாரம் மேலும் தெரிவித்தது.

 

மாவீரர் தினத்தைத் தொடர்ந்து கைது செய்யப்பட்ட யாழ். பல்கலைக்கழக மாணவர்களில் நால்வர் இன்னும் விடுவிக்கப்படவில்லை. அவர்கள் வெலிகந்தவில் புனர்வாழ்வுக்கு உட்படுத்தப்பட்ட பின்னரே விடுவிக்கப்படுவர் என்று பாதுகாப்புச் செயலர் கோத்தபாய ராஜபக்ஷ பல்கலைக்கழக நிர்வாகத்திடம் கடந்த வெள்ளிக்கிழமை தெரிவித்திருந்தார். அத்துடன் மாணவர்கள் விடுவிக்கப்படுவதற்குக் காத்திருக்காமல் பல்கலைக்கழகத்தின் செயற்பாடுகளை வழமைக்குக் கொண்டுவர நடவடிக்கை எடுக்குமாறு அறிவுறுத்தியிருந்தார். 

 

இதனை அடுத்தே யாழ். மாவட்ட இராணுவத் தளபதியுடனான சந்திப்புக்கு துறைத் தலைவர்களை வருமாறு அழைப்பு விடுக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

Jaffna University officials agree to reopen campus

By Mirudhula Thambiah, SundayTimes

Classes will soon resume at the University of Jaffna, which was closed for three weeks after a clash between students and the Army and the Police.

On Friday a Jaffna University delegation, led by Vice-Chancellor Vasanthi Arasaratnam, met Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and other education officials to discuss the university’s problems and other issues. The Sunday Times learns that Vice-Chancellor Arasaratnam was advised to re-open the university. Meanwhile, the Terrorist Investigations Department (TID questioned three female undergraduates on Friday and recorded their statements. Jaffna University students have told the university authorities that they will not return for classes until the four detained students were released.

Professor V. P. Sivanathan, Dean of the Arts Faculty, University of Jaffna, told the Sunday times that students were on an “unofficial boycott” of lectures.

Army personnel deployed around the university campus during the student protests have been withdrawn, while a dozen Policemen have been deployed in three temporary huts at the entrance to the campus.

“We urge the Government to consider the immediate release of the four students being helde at the rehabilitation centre in Welikanda” academic Ratnam Vigneswaran told the Sunday Times.

Mr. Vigneswaran, who is Vice-president of the Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA) and Associate Professor of Mathematics at the University of Jaffna, said the four students, once they were released, would be counselled while the university authorities restored normalcy on the campus.

Prof. Vigneswaran said the hostels were empty and students feared to return after the recent clashes with the Army and the Police.

According to Police spokesperson SSP Prishantha Jayakodi, the four female students had no charges against them and were sent to the rehabilitation centre at their own request.

Jaffna Deputy Inspector General Eric Perera told the Sunday Times that the security arrangements at the university will continue.

On November 27, the birthday of slain LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, Jaffna University students observed what they called “Maaveerar Day” (Martyrs’ Day), to commemorate the LTTE dead. The following day, a tense situation developed at the campus, resulting in a violent clash between students and Police and Army personnel. Eleven students were arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

University teachers unions, students and civic groups have criticised the Government’s handling of the incident and have called for the release of the four detained students.

“We fully support the wish of the our colleagues to have in Jaffna University an institution that fosters pluralism, in which it is prepared to help, although the government’ action was contrary to this aim,” a statement from FUTA said.

In a letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Jaffna University Science Teachers Association (JUSTA) says obstacles to the smooth functioning of the institution should be removed. JUSTA Vice-President Professor S. Selvaraja said the university awaited a resolution of the university’s problems.