Dilrook Kannangara

A General Election is due early next year (2010). The next Presidential Election is not due until 2011. However, holding the Presidential Election ahead of the due General Election will increase the possible number of seats for the ruling coalition provided it wins the Presidential Election. Alternatively only the due General Election can be held. Whatever the strategy is, election or elections must be held immediately.

Delaying elections is going to reduce the popularity of the ruling coalition. Winning the war is a major achievement by the ruling party. However, people are fast getting fed-up of the war victory. This explains why the ruling coalition obtained 72% in the Uva Provincial Council election whereas it managed only 68% at the Southern Provincial Council election. This trend is continuing. Unless elections are held as soon as possible, the ruling party is going to lose credit for winning the war.

Opposition is fooling the ruling party!

The Opposition managed to fool the ruling party repeatedly. UNP created a false campaign to create a perceived rift between the President and top army officers. It was a resounding success. It delayed the decision on the elections. This is exactly what the helpless UNP now wants; to delay the election as much as possible. Every month that passes reduces the popularity of winning the war. JVP follows the same strategy. At times JVP says it is unethical to go for a Presidential Election at this time. The next moment they say executive presidency must be abolished. Later they say they support a top army officer to be its presidential candidate. Three contradictory statements! But there is one theme that binds all three – the JVP too wants to delay the elections as much as possible.

UNP and JVP failed to agree on a common candidate. Nevertherless they managed to convince the government that they have a common candidate! The result was postponing the announcement of elections. That’s all the utterly desperate UNP and the JVP now want.

Repetition of 1999/2000?

A General Election was due in 2000 and in December 1999 the Presidential Election was held in advance. Chandrika won that eletion.

The tragedy of the loser of a presidential election can be seen from what happened in 1988/89 at the subsequent general election. Immediately after winning the December 1988 presidential election by a razor thin margin, President Premadasa called for an immediate general election. It was held within 2 months in February 1989 where Premadasa’s party won 125 seats which is the highest ever number of seats won by any party under the PR system.

However, Chandrika was taken for a ride by a meekly Ranil. In a surprise move Ranil offered support to Chandrika for her political package immediately after the presidential election. A series of meetings was held. Nothing much happened for 8 months during which time the heat of the December 1999 victory was lost. Finally Ranil said they are unable to support the political package! It was a classic delaying game and Ranil won it. The delay in 1999/2000 was further punished by deteriorating security issues, petroleum price hikes and natural disasters. Out of desperation Chandrika dissolved the parliament and elections were called. The weakest ever parliament in history was formed in October 2000 which collapsed a year later.

It’s the same thing that happens now. President Rajapaksha is fooled by UNP-JVP-TNA delay tactics. As a result he delays the elections thereby losing vital advantage he gained by winning the war.

Apparently President Rajapaksha has fallen head first into the UNP-JVP delay tactics and fast losing political milage. He cancelled the party organisers meeting and put off announcing the election date.

A weak UPFA government?

A weak UPFA government will be the end result of this delay which will frustrate many UPFA members leading to cracks in party ranks. These will be exploited by the desperate UNP to untimely topple the government and grab power as in 2001.

A weak government means no critical legislation will be passed. Rulers will have to be contended with day to day affairs. Political bickering will consume major part of time leading to political instability and economic woes. Fruits of peace would be lost forever.

If these things were to be avoided, President Rajapaksha must call for immediate elections without delay. Winning the Presidential Election first and then immediately going for the General Election is the best thing to do which maximises the number of seats in parliament.

Dilrook Kannangara

Sri Lanka’s university admission policy has always been mired in one controversy after another. On top of that the university system is in total disarray as the Minister of Higher Education stated in parliament. Thirdly, it is a well known fact that there is a dangerous subculture in universities. These suboptimal systems have their beneficiaries. Unfortunately the nation and its people are the losers although it is their money that is at play to the tune of 20 billion rupees (US$190 million). Separatist groups cleverly exploited the fear psychosis created by them that a certain ethnic group of the population must be provided with unfairly higher university opportunities, else armed struggle! Today poor Sri Lanka is producing the professionals of rich Canada free of charge on one hand and on the other churning out graduates to the local market with no real economic prospects. 

 Primary focus of university education seems to have gone wrong as it tries to gratify the students than the nation and the national economy. Producing whatever graduate is not going to help. Graduates must be produced based on the requirement out there in the ‘market’.

 Ministry of Health figures show that there were only 0.589 physicians per 1000 people in 2006. (Source: National Census of Health Manpower, 2006). Conversely it means there were 1,700 people for a doctor. This puts Sri Lanka in a very bad position incompatible with its high Human Development Index ranking and per capita income. It is incredible how this nation managed the casualties of war. This is despite the fact that Sri Lanka produces about 950 medical graduates each year at a cost of 1.5 million rupees each. (Source: UGC 2008). In addition about 150 overseas medical graduates join in the workforce every year. However, the very low physicians per 1,000 people figure continues unfettered. What is the main reason for this consistently low ratio?

Going by these percentages, it can be deduced that 10%-20% of qualified doctors/dentists migrate, having benefited from free taxpayer funded education. This is only in the medical profession. The trend applies to most university graduates, especially graduates costing higher to produce.

 Corruption worse than politicians

Producing a graduate cost taxpayers on average 1.2 million rupees excluding certain additional facilities awarded to most undergraduates. If the study course takes 4 years to complete, it costs 300,000 rupees a year. Alas! 300,000 rupees a year is higher than the average earnings of a Sri Lankan! If 250 graduates leave the country annually, it costs taxpayers 300 million rupees a year and for six years it is 1.8 billion rupees. Actual numbers may be much higher. This ranks them in par with politicians in terms of corruption. Corruption is defined as an unwarranted outflow from the system with no resultant benefits.

 Worse of all a small percentage of migrated graduates engage in anti-Sri Lankan activities abroad. It is a double whammy. Government must look into this as it is a crime against the nation and its poor taxpayers. This act of siphoning out taxpayer funds always goes undetected. Emphasis should be added that there is nothing wrong with professionals migrating abroad as it brings vital foreign exchange to the country. What needs fixing is getting the due return for the investment in whatever form.

 Discrimination and its Unseen Impact-1

Not all variables are same across the board. Disparities can be traced to ethnic groups as it has always been. Facts may surprise many who still believe in 1970s separatist propaganda. University opportunities are not available to all those who pass Advanced Level. Only a very limited number of opportunities are available in universities. Severe inequalities across ethnicity make the present admission policy discriminatory. Although 74% of taxpayers are Sinhalese, university opportunities for Sinhalas are significantly lower. In some study courses it is lower than 60%. On the other hand the present admission policy favours Tamils unfairly. Although Tamils comprised 17.7% of the total population of Sri Lanka in 1982, their numbers were 23.3%-40% in universities. The complete table is given below. (Source: UGC publications. Relates to 1982)

FACULTY	PECENTAGE OF TAMIL STUDENTS	NATIONAL PERCENAGE OF TAMILS	EXCESS ALLOCATION
Vet Science	23.3%	17.7%	32%
Architecture	23.9%	17.7%	35%
Medicine	25.3%	17.7%	43%
Agriculture	27.1%	17.7%	53%
Bio Science	28.9%	17.7%	63%
Engineering	30.5%	17.7%	72%
Commerce	34.2%	17.7%	93%
Phy Science	38.0%	17.7%	115%
Dentistry	40.0%	17.7%	126%

 Due to the effects of war a couple of universities are inaccessible to Sinhalas and Muslims. As a result of that and also due to the spread of Tamils around the country while the concentration of Sinhalas in fewer districts than in 1981, the above percentages have worsened today. Further, the national Tamil population percentage has reduced due to mass migration.

 However, the requirements of the society are different. The society needs at least 74% Sinhala speaking doctors, dentists, agriculture graduates, engineers, etc. But the output is far less. Conversely, there is an excess of Tamil speaking graduates produced by universities due to the mismatch between the requirement and admission/output. 

 Clearly the university admission policy is discriminatory. But what are the effects of discrimination? Does this crime stop at this? Unfortunately, no.

 Discrimination and its Unseen Impact-2

Originally due to the war and subsequently due to economic pressures, a large number of Tamils have migrated to western countries. It is estimated that close to a million Tamils migrated after 1983. End of the war doesn’t make things any better for them. When relatives and friends are earning five to ten times more, it exerts enormous pressure on Tamils living in Sri Lanka to follow their successful cousins. This never ending cycle ensures continued migration of educated Tamils. As there are 3 million Tamils in the country today, and a million abroad, it means 25% of the Lankan Tamil community has migrated. In professional circles this percentage is even higher.

 Statistics aren’t available to exact the impact. Still, based on the above and available information an accurate figure can be derived. The following analysis contains professional accountants produced by the premier local accounting body.

	TAMILS	NON-TAMILS	TOTAL
Resident in Sri Lanka	51%	80%	75%
Resident abroad	49%	20%	25%

 Particularly this field of work has a higher tendency to encourage emigration; other fields have considerably lower incidence. Conclusion number one is – the number of Tamils migrating is twice that of others. Conclusion number two is – on average 25%-30% of all Tamil graduates migrate. National average of migration rate is much lower. 

 The third aggravating factor is lower remittances per individual in the case of expatriate Tamils than others. Main reason is most expatriate Tamils don’t have close family members living in Sri Lanka. Most of their immediate family members have also migrated.  Hence no need to remit money. In the case of Sinhalas and Muslims this is not so.

 What happens when the rate of migration among Tamil professionals is twice higher than others and when Tamils get an unfairly higher share of university opportunities? We are wasting scarce, limited and expensive resources unfairly to our own disadvantage.

 This is what is happening in Sri Lanka. Poor taxpayers are milked to the maximum to produce the professionals of rich countries with no return to them. It is not at all the fault of Tamil brothers and sisters who are making the most of the defect in the system. Fault lies in authorities for not having a fair university admission system that gives a return on investment for the nation and its poor taxpayers. 

 How to fix it?

Fixing the problem is three fold. A fair university admission policy needs to be adopted based on requirement. Country needs at least 74% Sinhala speaking professionals and at least 18% Tamil speaking professionals. Therefore it makes perfect sense to allocate university opportunities based on the language of proficiency. For practical purposes, these percentages can be calculated each year based on the percentages of candidates sitting Advanced Level examination subject to above limits.

 E.g. If in any year the total number of first time sitting bio science students equal 100,000 of which 77,000; 15,000 and 8,000 completes the exam in Sinhala, Tamil and English media respectively, university positions should be allocated this way. Vacancies in medicine, dentistry and bio sciences, should be filled by candidates who sat the exam in Tamil, Sinhala and English media in the proportion 18% (since 15% is lower than 18%); 74% and 8% respectively.

 As the percentage of English medium students increase, the allocation can also be increased with a proportionate reduction in the allocation of candidates sitting in Sinhala and Tamil media.

 This is a perfectly fair system and above all, it is a transparent system. No one would be able to allege discrimination if this system is followed. Taxpayers too get their fair share of return. But the biggest advantage of it is the matching of the societal requirement with ‘production’.  

 In the same token, the number of undergraduate opportunities for study courses that offer fewer prospects in the marketplace need to be reduced while increasing opportunities for in demanded professions. Closer links with relevant industries is a must for technology courses. Identifying emerging industries and introducing new courses to harness them is a definite requirement.  

 Secondly, the financial aspect needs addressing. Graduates shouldn’t be stopped from leaving the country. Every graduate is charged a notional cost. Notional in the sense it need not be repaid if a specified number of years’ service is provided to Sri Lanka in return for free university education received. If leaving the country before that, a percentage of the cost based on the number of years of service to Sri Lanka, needs to be recovered financially. Per head cost varies from 200,000 rupees (law) to 2.2 million (dentistry) depending on the course of study. Paying a portion of this over a period of time is next to nothing for an expatriate.

 Thirdly, private medical colleges, etc. must be allowed. As shown above, approximately 150 overseas medical graduates join the workforce every year. This is 12% of total annual addition to the medical workforce. It is a significant number. Unfortunately they have to pay a colossal amount of money (also in foreign currency) to get their education. It should not be so. If private medical colleges are established, all these undue costs will be saved. Not allowing private medical colleges and other educational institutions just because unions are against it is a national crime. The government must take a broader view on this.

 Myths should not stand in the way to fair play and development but sadly, they do. There was a true story of a highway construction project coming to a standstill for days because workers were reluctant to cut down a tree said to house a spirit! Ridiculous? Not much when you consider racial allegations made by separatists on the university admissions policy. However, following the above method certainly dispels not only the possibility of discrimination but also the myth some created to extort an unfair share of limited opportunities from the silent majority.

 The popular dictum of King Parakum is very appropriate here; not an iota of our resources should be allowed to leave us without proper use.

Dilrook Kannangara

How fragile Sri Lanka is to separatist attacks is best seen from the miracles that brought Rajapaksha to power. He has turned the biggest problem faced by the nation upside down. His wise thinking and leadership has helped the country overcome many challenges. There is no comparable to him; there never was in post-1948 history. However, all his victories can be easily ruined by getting rid of him. Tigers and their intimate regressive partners are hell-bent on killing him. There is said to be a female suicide bomber lurking around Colombo, a bomb was found buried in the ground where the President attended a rally and a Sinhala individual was arrested for plotting to kill the President. As the saying goes, they need to be lucky only once and chances are that they will be lucky soon unless the President takes his security seriously.

 At the moment he is conducting like President Premadasa in 1993. He may be unaware that people don’t value cheap popularity anymore. Having won the war, they want a visible improvement in their economy. That is the way to win them over, not by embracing them or visiting them. What’s the point of a king embracing his people if the people are living in poverty? The pompous of war victory has already faded away and Tigers are plotting revenge.

 Risk to the President’s life has been there for a long time. However, now it is very special. General elections are due early next year. Whether the President lives or not, a General election will be held within six months. This six month period is crucial for the nation and the ruling party. If the President cannot make it alive, it will be a total disaster for his party as his party has no one of note to take over. Immediately following the death of the President the ruling coalition is going to collapse. The SLFP, JHU and NFF together only have a minority of seats in parliament. Their numbers are clearly less than 113; around 85. UNP MPs and CWC, UPF and SLMC MPs who joined the government on President Rajapaksha’s capabilities will leave the next day. The fallout of the ruling party is a big boon for the Opposition. The main Opposition party, the UNP in recent times has unfortunately shown a strong allegiance to the LTTE and the Elam movement. They could be very easily manipulated to get Tiger jobs done as in 2001/2002.

 The powerful Defence Secretary and the Chief of Defence Staff incumbent Sarath Fonseka can be changed at will by the new President. They always drew importance from the leadership of the President and their withdrawal from the defence establishment is the end of Sri Lanka’s comprehensive defence plan. Instead the likes not worthy of a mention will takeover. These sections will be heavily financed by the LTTE Diaspora as it knows that these power greedy and weak elements are their only hope.

 Has the President secured any constitutional, legal and other changes that will make the victories permanent? Not at all. This makes Rajapaksha easily eliminated without a trace. He has promised a political solution after his re-election. Probably the Presidential election would take place after December this year. If he dies before that, he is leaving nothing permanent behind him.

 Considering all these immense dangers, the President must take extreme care to avoid cheap popularity tricks and public appearances only for six months. He must believe that people value his actions more than his physical presence in public. LTTE leader survived five (5) Sri Lankan leaders thanks to his avoidance of public appearances. He was a bigger hero than the President who died on the road prematurely when it comes to providing leadership to followers. Hopefully Rajapaksha will be governed by intelligence than a false sense of bravery which is actually inanity.

 The assassination of President Premadasa completely devastated the UNP and threw in a whole new band of leaders with very strong views favouring Elamists. The fallout in the UNP is still continuing. Sensible avoidance would have saved him.

 It is the duty of all those who are around Rajapaksha to keep him away from public appearances as much as possible for six months. This sacrifice must be made in the best interests of the nation. Sri Lanka has lost 2 topmost leaders within 34 years; one in 1959 and the other in 1993. That is one leader every 17 years. Since 1993, it is 17 years to 2010! Isn’t it that time again! It is a tragicomedy if the victorious President dies like a coward on the road.

Dilrook Kannangara

Racism takes many forms. A living example of racism is the Tamil Elam movement. Those who support it unashamedly are also following the same racist agenda of creating a Tamil only (racist) nation. The 13A is not about creating the Tamil only country – Tamil Elam. It is rather the compromise between Tamil racist demands and Sri Lankan national demands. In compromising with a racially motivated and racially prejudiced lot, Sri Lanka too steps down into the ugly well of racism. This is no surprise given the fact that it came from India. India is a collective of racially demarcated geographical segments with very little interactions with each other at the individual level. Can Sri Lanka be fixed to such a model? Obviously it cannot be done because Sri Lankans have always interacted extremely well with each other thanks to the absence of a racially prejudiced governance model.

 Imposing the Indian idea lock, stock and barrel into the highly mixed ethnic composition of Sri Lanka was a fatal mistake. However, Sri Lanka didn’t have any choice then. Today the irrelevance of the 13A is even more apparent. Millions of people have permanently left the north and settled elsewhere. Two things arise from this.

1. What is the relevance of regionalised power sharing if ethnic groups are not regionalised?
2. What will the people who mixed with other ethnic groups get in regionalised power sharing?

 Obviously those who support the 13A do so either blindly, due to utter ignorance combined with the inability to think or for personal gain. Else they could see very clearly the absurdity of regionalised power sharing to in relation to the ethnic problem.  

 Why, with whom and for what do we compromise?

Some solution is better than no solution; so think the shallow thinkers. It is not so. A solution must resolve the problems and land the people in a better position than before. Giving some solution for the sake of doing so leads to a worse position than now.

 First of all why do we compromise? To satisfy Tamil aspirations. Next, with whom do we compromise? With Tamil political parties like the Tamil United Liberation Front, Tamil National Alliance, Lanka Tamil State Party (ITAK), etc. For what purpose do we compromise? To strike a balance between Tamil Elam racists and the rest.

 It is very clear that all the reasons for this exercise are based on “Tamil” affairs. If this is not racism, nothing is racism! How about the 85% others in the country? Why do this 85% always have to bend to the demands of 15% Tamils? Why can’t the Tamil politicians look around and realise there are other species other than Tamils?

 Why the 13A?

The 13A was “passed” by the parliament in 1988 and India wants it implemented. So what? Can’t the parliament scrap legislation? Of course it can. Don’t pieces of legislation become old and outdated? They do. Then why cling on the 13A when the ground realities of 1987 are not present in 2009?

 The 13A, unlike the “package” of the CBK administration, never came to the open to be discussed, evaluated and debated. It avoided all that essential steps and became law. Since then Provincial Councils have come and gone; no upliftment in peoples’ lives! People are worse off with the PCs than before. They have to pay for the mammoth cost of running these councils for no additional benefit in return. A new breed of politicians has emerged who have combined their businesses with the business of provincial councils. They use the PC system to provide business opportunities to their businesses and to step into national level politics.

 However, these wasteful, corrupt and useless thieves called provincial councillors are dwarfs when compared to their counterparts in the north and the east. Vardarajah Perumal was a classic example of what will happen. The new Eastern Chief Minister is still within the framework although his election was marred by hundreds of Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim deaths. The killing spree lasted for months after the PC election.

 A worse situation is already brewing up in the north. After the war, nothing has changed in northern politics. It is the same old racists running most northern political parties. Their ideology which is based on Tamil racism, their aspirations, again based on Tamil racism, their grievances, once again based on Tamil racism have not changed at all!

 What is the magic formula that will end all Tamil racism with the 13A? What stops the TNA, ITAK, TULF and other piranhas of the infamous Vadukodai Racism of 1976 give up their demands and work for the betterment of the people of all races? Nothing! They are the only winners of the 13A.

 And we are going to share power with them! It would have been better to share power with the LTTE than with the grandfathers and leftovers of the LTTE. At least the LTTE didn’t depend on state coffers and taxpayer money to advance their racist aspirations. Pro-Sri Lankan politicians like Pillayan and Douglas are very rare and even they have to follow the type of politics their opponents are using just to stay in politics. The moment they are not at the helm, all hell breaks lose. Expecting a change of heart from Tamil racist politicians who ruled the north via the parliament since 1947 is foolhardy. They are out there again to takeover the north.

 Essentially the 13A is an instrument for them to advance to Tamil Elam. The central government will have nothing more to do than dissolving northern and eastern provincial councils and/or trying to push its own supporters into controlling positions which ultimately defeats the 13A.

 Therefore it is evident that whether the 13A works or not, after its full implementation, people are doomed either way.

 Racial interpretation to everything

When power is racially divided into racially demarcated geographical segments, everything under the sun follows this model. Everything becomes racial. Water is a big subject of racism as pointed out by many thinkers. It is not at all uncommon in Sri Lanka; in fact it is only too common. Just consider what has already happened with water. The Gal Oya project and the Mahaweli project are considered “root causes” of the conflict because they succeeded. The Maduru Oya project was a massacre where Tamil racists totally massacred Sinhalese farming families. Then there is the Welioya or Manelaru which means “sand-river”. What a disaster it was! Mavilaru (river) was the closest event to the flare up of violence in 2006 that ended up in the total annihilation of the LTTE in 2009. Add to these the water “events” of Wedikanda, Manirasakulam, etc., etc.

 But then why do people in other parts of the country share water peacefully? There are no water wars in Colombo even when there are severe water cuts. No water wars in Puttalam which is in the dry zone even with a very diverse population. No water wars in Hambantota which is in the arid zone (dryer than the dry zone) with a diverse population.

 Why do people kill each other in some parts over water whereas in other parts they share it in harmony? The reason is the 13A or matters resembling the 13A. In simple terms, power (and hence water) sharing over racial demarcations. When water is shared through a racially demarcated framework, water becomes the object and subject of racism.

 This is one big reason why regionalised power sharing must not happen. Things would be different if the north and the east have diverse populations as in other provinces. Unfortunately it is not so.

 Racially denominated water wars, further

There is another side to power sharing with different racial elements connected to water. All the rivers flow from areas outside the north and the east to the north and the east. This means people living upstream decide the amount of water flow and the pollution level of the water! Isn’t that a reason to flare up a killing spree based on racial prejudice? The Mavilaru incident is a classic case. However, with the increased use of agrochemicals in these areas and climate change, the population factor is going to play a bigger role in time to come.

 Should the people living upstream stop their agricultural activities? No way. Should they compromise with the other regions for their agricultural work? If so what is their understanding if not a Sinhala-Tamil or Tamil-Muslim or Muslim-Sinhala understanding? 

 Power sharing with regions cannot solve this problem at all. It can only turn everything into the colour of racism – blood red. From water to roads, from plantations to fishing fields and from schools to temples it will be the colour of blood which is the colour of racism that will be evident after the 13A.

 Only a national plan can address this. Even for a national plan to work there should be mixed ethnicities in all the affected areas. Else it will again flare up with a racist outlook.

 There is an even more dangerous aspect to it. Until now there were no powerful regional Sinhala and Muslim political forces. Although SLMC is active in the East it has followed a national approach to problems at most times. The Sinhalese have always gone with the national parties. However, with Tamil regionalisation this is going to change. The affected Sinhalas (the new minorities) are going to form into race-based political forces just for survival and this will be the next big event in politics. Expect a SULF (Sinhala United Liberation Front). Negotiation between two national political parties is extremely difficult. Just imagine how difficult it would be for two race-based regional parties to sort matters out! Add to this the do-anything-for-power mentality of politics. It will be riots.

 This is the naked truth of the 13A which forces people to think in racial-enclave terms just like in India. India is better prepared as people of India have always lived in racially demarcated areas and India has a very strong military, a para-military and strict border control. Anti-Indian activities are very violently put down and there is no room for entertaining racial aspirations. Annadurai and others had to quickly withdraw their Dravidistan demand when faced with the unforgiving Indian aggression. However, Sri Lanka cannot do this. There are external godfathers for certain Sri Lankan communities! Any apparent injustice to them, therefore, goes international. 13A in this context is fatal not only to ethnic harmony but also to sovereignty. This actually happened in 1989. Vardarajah Perumal was given a separate army called the Tamil National Army by India when his IPKF godfathers were planning to leave him. When faced with regional water wars, etc., it will not be surprising if India does it again for the fourth time. First it was the LTTE and 31 other terror groups; secondly it was the Tamil National Army, thirdly the ENDLF (Elam National Democratic Liberation Front) which is being trained by India at this very moment.  

 Supporters of the 13A should follow Vardarajah Perumal to India if they don’t intend creating any trouble here. If they do intend continuing with racial slicing of this country, they must take responsibility for the ensuing violence and racial denomination of everything under the sun. However, they are not going to follow either approach because they don’t have the backbone to take a stand. Instead they are going to go with the racists – Tamil United Liberation Front or Tamil Nadu model or whatever with a shade of racism.

  Demarcation and race are not the tools of problem solving today. Destroying demarcations and total disregard of race are the modern ways to solve problems. When looked that way, Tamil aspirations, Tamil homelands and sharing power with Tamils are age old racism based problems than solutions.

Dilrook Kannangara

Apart from old school communists and their admirers, none is promoting the 13A. Their fascination of the 13A is understandable. However, there is a deeper, more sinister reason for the 13A at this stage. India’s help to crush the Liberation Terrorists of Tamil Elam (LTTE) was conditional upon the full implementation of the 13A; it was never based on genuine concern for Sri Lanka. It was never based on the understanding that LTTE terrorists must be put out of business. There was a time, not so long ago, when India threatened Sri Lanka over weapons purchases from Pakistan and China. It many times interfered with the war. India backed down only after getting convinced that,

1. Sri Lanka is dead serious about wiping out the LTTE
2. The Military campaign had popular support
3. Another July 1987 was impossible due to very close Chinese and Pakistani connections
4. The impact on Tamil Nadu will be manageable as the Karunanidhi faction can be easily driven to toe the government line with the promise of enforcing a political solution on Sri Lanka after the LTTE.

 Bringing in the 13A at this stage is aimed at putting patriots against patriotism. Sri Lankans’ patriotism was the main driving force behind the military campaign. Had the majority backed down, the government would never have carried out a successful military campaign. People put up with many hardships while supporting the war. In this climate, the only way to impose Tamil Elam, or anything close to Tamil Elam or anything that can be used to get to Tamil Elam is by dividing the Sri Lankan nationalist camp. What better way is there to divide the Sri Lankan nationalist camp than by driving a wedge between them called the 13A.

 Already the large group of Sri Lankans who supported the victorious war is divided right from the middle about 13A. This gives enough room for separatists to bring in the 13A or even worse 13A-Plus. Admirers of old communists living in extreme luxury in Geneva – Geneva is considered a topmost luxurious city in the world – obviously want to extend their stay. For this purpose they want to please India. They also want to pay back to India the support they received at the recent United Nations Human Rights Council resolution. However, among the nations that supported the Sri Lankan resolution, India is just one country. Only India is keen on the 13A; not any other.

 However, Sri Lankan nationalists want a political solution that addresses legitimate grievances of Tamils, Muslims, Sinhalese and everyone else. 13A is a very good distraction not to give such a political solution. The All Party Representative Committee (APRC) sat on the so called political solution like a constipation sufferer would sit on a toilet bowl and after years of effort dropped the matter completely! What were they doing? Where is their home-grown solution? How many hours, how much money did they waste on the APRC? What was their contribution to the 13A? Nothing at all. That is why the 13A and the APRC are two grand frauds on the people of this country.   

 Dayan Jayathilaka says Tamils need political space and he is right. Tamils have political space in Sri Lanka, London, Toronto and throughout the democratic world. Then he says space requires a reference point in land which is absurd. What prevents Tamils in London or Toronto from having political space with no reference to land? Nothing! They have all the political space they want without any reference to land. So why only in Sri Lanka they need a land demarcated reference point?

 Name calling is another talent Dayan Jayathilaka is endowed with just like the group of ideologists who called people names centuries ago after failing to impose their impoverished ideologies on them.

 Relying on President’s statements to justify the implementation of 13A is also absurd. The President himself is confused and makes contradictory statements about 13A! There is no way, other than by magic, 13A can bring people together. It can only separate people based on race which will lead to another round of Elam war from a more advantageous position. 13A is a plan to win the same thing LTTE failed to win militarily.

 Imagine the situation of a Northern Provincial Council (NPC) with all 13A powers. There is nothing to stop the old Vadukoddai school separatists winning the election and taking control of the NPC. They are still there and their party is still very active, may be more active now. The NPC will be the platform on which they will start building the Tamil Elam. Then comes the fun. The President or the parliament can dissolve the NPC in such an eventuality. This simply means no sustainable 13A to the north. The absence of a NPC is equal to not implementing the 13A at all in the north. If another election is held, the same thing will happen again and again.    

Dilrook Kannangara

The Thirteenth Amendment (13A) is the biggest risk facing the nation today after its security forces crushed the LTTE. On the face of it there is nothing to get alarmed although the 13A failed to resolve anything; definitely not the ‘ethnic’ problem. It only added an additional corruption burden on the people, nine more elections every 4-5 years, another layer of red-tape and loads of other complications. The implementation of the 13A justifies India’s meddling in Sri Lankan affairs and effectively takes away what is known on paper as ‘peoples’ sovereignty’. B Nadesan the former LTTE political wing leader ridiculed sovereignty and said Sri Lanka is trying to preserve sovereignty like virginity! If it is akin to virginity, the 13A will make the nation an inmate of a brothel. If the 13A is not decisively rejected, it will not be the last Indian imposed law of this country.   Unfortunately the survival of politicians and diplomats has spoilt proper discussion on the subject. Both of them try to save their faces in the international arena to hell with the country. They promote the 13A as a viable solution to the problems facing post-war Sri Lanka. Dayan Jayathilake talks of International isolation of Sri Lanka if we don’t fully implement the 13A or scraps it altogether. He is obviously wrong. Apart from India, the mother who gave birth to the unlucky illegitimate 13A, no other country has specified that Sri Lanka implement the 13A fully! Who is Dayan trying to fool but himself in order to keep his posh position in Geneva? What the international community wants to see is a viable political solution, not 13A specifically.   The APRC sat for three years on the bowl as if suffering from constipation and finally, at last, dropped the matter! Unable to arrive at a solution, the government resorted back to the failed 13A. So it is not only the face they are trying to save, but also their incompetency in failing to find a solution. This comes within six weeks of promising an “indigenous solution” to the problem. How funny! 13A is not at all an indigenous solution; it was an Indian imposition assuming the presence of an Indian-like race-divided landmass comprising various countries with unique histories of their own. President Rajapaksha has a funny definition of what is “indigenous”. Indigenous does not mean “Indian-genius” but “home-grown, original”.   The rubbish about security threats Those who want to live in Geneva-style extreme luxury at the expense of the people of a poor country bring various rubbish theories to save the illegitimate 13A. One such rubbish allegation is the supposed security risk non-implementation of the 13A brings. India did help us win the war and helped us a lot. But it was Sri Lankan troops that did the job with weapons mainly from China, Russia, Israel and Pakistan. India offered two-dimensional INDRA radar systems that failed to provide enough detection to LTTE planes only after Sri Lanka tried to purchase technologically advanced three-dimensional radar from China. Sri Lankans have not forgotten the arrogant Indian statements that Sri Lanka must come to India for all its weapons purchases, and India will decide what weapons Sri Lanka may need and when. If India had an iota of concern for Sri Lanka’s security, she would never have made such statements. Weapons denied to Sri Lanka by the Indian administration were offered with a loan facility by India’s arch rival Pakistan!   Did India do anything to prevent LTTE smuggling weapons from Tamil Nadu and Kerala? No. Indian patrols only concentrated on preventing terror activities in India, not Sri Lanka. LTTE weapons flow through the Mannar coast stopped only when security forces of the 58 division fully captured the north-western coastline. Most people don’t know that India boarders Sri Lanka from the east as well due to the presence of Andaman and Nicobar islands. This coast stretch was also used by the LTTE to smuggle in weapons and for human smuggling which happens to this date. What India did to prevent that? Nothing.   Then there is the issue of Indian fishermen selling things to the LTTE. The problem was never even looked at until there was a series of arrests and violence between the Indian fishermen and the Sri Lanka Navy.   Sri Lanka continues to invest US$1.5 billion on security. If such kind of money cannot ensure our security, there must be something seriously going wrong in the defence apparatus. Sri Lanka’s national security is Sri Lanka’s baby and as we can see no one was able to protect her but our own brothers in the security forces. There is no way LTTE or any other armed group can raise their heads if Sri Lanka operates a proper security plan. LTTE didn’t come from Tamil Nadu, but was inculcated by India in Sri Lanka with training in Tamil Nadu at a time when we had a ceremonial army which could barely occupy one fiftieth of the number of camps we have today.   Besides, India is not the regional superpower. The regional superpower is China and Chinese military assistance doesn’t depend on Indian ‘approval’.   If India threatens to disrupt Sri Lanka’s security, so be it. China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc. can more than fill the void. And that will be the end of India’s regional security as well. That’s not all. Instability in Tamil parts of Sri Lanka is instability in South India. So whether India is pleased with the 13A or not it has to look after regional security interests. Thus collapses the rubbish argument about security and 13A.   The acid test The acid test of the 13A comes from the Tamil Elam lobby. The Tamil Elam lobby has made it very clear that it will never accept anything less than Tamil Elam. They may reluctantly accept or not vehemently reject something less than Tamil Elam if it can be used as a ladder to get to Tamil Elam.   LTTE rejected the 13A because it was fully confident, until the last day, that it can win all their demands directly through war. Now that the LTTE is defeated, LTTE remnants will settle for something that can be used as a ladder to get to Tamil Elam.   The very highly active Tamil Elam/LTTE lobby is mysteriously silent about the 13A! If the 13A can resolve the ‘ethnic’ problem and prevent Tamil Elam from happening, will they ever keep silent? The silent approval by the Tamil Elam/LTTE lobby around the world indicates that the 13A is not only incapable of stopping the formation of Tamil Elam but also is in fact a stepping stone to Tamil Elam. It was just a few months ago LTTE had the following agitations against the war. When Sri Lanka is trying to implement the 13A fully, LTTE Diaspora events have vanished by magic. Where are the, protest marches, street demonstrations, embassy attacks, road blockages against the 13A which is supposed to make Tamil Elam impossible? court cases, appeals to lawmakers around the world to stop the implementation of the 13A which is supposed to be a tool to stop Tamil separatism? hunger strikes, self-immolations and other severe acts of disapproval against the 13A that will supposedly burry the Tamil Elam dream? demands for international intervention to stop Sri Lanka from denying the Tamil right of self-determination supposedly through the 13A? disapproving agitations, claims of “structural genocide”, political hoodwinking by Tamilnet and other pro-Tamil Elam/LTTE mouthpieces?     Undeniably the 13A is not going to make Tamil Elam anymore difficult. In fact it will make it easier! It must be noted that when they carried out protests, etc. their host nations were not at all against Sri Lanka’s war on terror. Still the LTTE Diaspora which is a significant section of the total Tamil Diaspora protested. Similarly, apart from India, the other countries have not identified 13A as the only solution. So there is no reason why the LTTE Diaspora should not protest against the 13A which is supposed to prevent Tamil Elam from happening.   Of course these groups will merely complain against the 13A and make miniature protests against it just to make known their higher demands, but those will be nothing comparable to protests that we should expect if Tamil Elam is going to be made unachievable through 13A.   Patriotic Sri Lankans should always note the scale, ferocity and nature of LTTE protests, etc. around the world to assess how true the positive/negative claims about the 13A are. If the LTTE Diaspora is not vehemently protesting against the 13A, that means it is going to help them; at least not going to change anything in their Tamil Elam project.   The Joke Those who say the 13A will not lead to Tamil Elam says that if any attempt to do so is made, the President and/or the parliament can easily reverse those actions and/or dissolve the Provincial Council. This is a stupid joke. From a ‘Tamil’ point of view, if the ‘Sinhala majority’ parliament and the Sinhala only president can dissolve the system put in place to address Tamil grievances and aspirations caused by Sinhala ‘chauvinism’, where is the solution?   Premadasa had to do it and then what happened to the North-East Provincial Council? According to those Tamils who allege discrimination, grievances, etc. caused by the Sinhala majority against them will not find any solace in a system that is still easily manipulated by the same Sinhala majority.   On the other hand, the reluctance of governments to take any action against separatist acts is legendary. All governments turned the other side when it comes to the full implementation of anti-separatist legislation! If anti-separatist legislations are properly implemented, none of the vociferous Tamil Elamists will be around. Given that track record of reluctance and deliberate non-implementation of anti-separatist legislation, only a fool will expect that these will be implemented after the full implementation of the 13A. I will not be surprised if the ‘beneficiaries’ of the 13A demand the scrapping of anti-separatist legislation! That will be the icing on the Tamil Elam birthday cake.   Therefore either way (whether separatist moves are tolerated or not) it lands this country in trouble with the 13A. That is why the talk of dissolution, revision, restitution is pure nonsense.   The Tragedy The nasty effects of the 13A are already visible. In the East it has created a racist monster. Not only each political party separately trying to capture power in the East is racially motivated, but also within each party there are severe racially-motivated contests. The fallout of the Muslim aspirant of the Chief Ministership was dramatic. Every matter under the sun has become a process of racial barter in the east notwithstanding the powerful president and his connections. Even the president has to use one warlord against the other to keep them under control.   Situation in the north will be dramatic for want of a better word. It will be a breeding ground of more and more Tamil racist demands each racist political group will make from the government. In competition with each other!   Finally the 13A will achieve what it was supposed to achieve by its creator, India. Sri Lanka will be like India where racial groups are regionalised and they fight each other diplomatically first, violently next, just like in India. This makes India more and more important for Sri Lanka to ‘help’ resolve problems. Sri Lanka’s Tamil Nadu will be more vibrant than its Indian counterpart in championing separatism and Tamil Elam.     The peaceful journey to Tamil Elam passes through few stages. First, the demarcation of Tamil controlled regions, then more and more power to Tamil controlled regions, thereafter more and more autonomy for Tamil controlled regions, then the demand for separation for mutual benefit and finally separation. Nipping it in the bud is not something our politicians understand. There is more money, power, a sense of importance, ‘merit’ in not nipping problems in the bud. After all it is not politicians or Geneva based diplomats who pay for their errors, mistakes and crimes.

Dilrook Kannangara

 Kumar Sangakkara has shown that he is a brilliant captain, way ahead of his predecessor. His bowling changes can be called aggressive; his batting, responsible and his presence awesome. However, a captain needs the performance of his team to be the fullest. Sri Lanka remained unbeaten as they entered the Finals at Lord’s. We performed well in the Finals but Pakistanis did better. It was a match closely within our reach considering the talent pool. The problem was the best team didn’t play.

 Just because a few matches ended in victory doesn’t mean we have the winning combination. In the winning team were good performers and bad performers. Bad performers’ poor performances were subsidized by the above average performance of good performers. This is a recipe for disaster at the Finals where the opponents have staged a spirited comeback against all odds. Pakistan’s comeback was starred by a few all-rounders doing well with the bat and the ball and the others doing their share. Unfortunately Sri Lanka had only one all-rounder of note by the time we entered the Finals, although the Finals brought back the bowling talents of Sanath.

 A closer look at the performance of batsmen and bowlers in all the matches leading up to the Finals (excluding the Finals) shows a clear pattern of performers and others.

BATSMEN	Strike rate	Average
TM Dilshan	141%	44
DPMD Jayawardene	127%	30
ST Jayasuriya	128%	27
KC Sangakkara	104%	23
J Mubarak	120%	10
LPC Silva	108%	9
AD Mathews	133%	7

Batting averages of 10 and less are certainly not good averages. Although the fact that some of them are middle/lower order batsmen makes it a little comforting, it nevertheless requires a closer look into the talent pool.

BOWLERS	Econ rate	Average
M Muralitharan	5.5	22
BAW Mendis	5.6	10
AD Mathews	6.8	34
SL Malinga	7.5	13
I Udana	9.1	25
ST Jayasuriya	9.4	94
KMDN Kulasekara	9.6	39
TM Dilshan	11.0

 Econ rates of over 9 cannot be considered good as it erodes the good bowling performance of other (tight) bowlers. Nevertheless since Udana has a good average per wicket, it makes sense to include him in the team. Still it pays to look in to the talent pool and compare.

 While Mubarak and Silva were poor batsmen, Kulasekara was a less performing bowler. Udana’s position could also be reviewed as his econ rate was far from attractive.

 The unchanged team had international exposure but the performance of lower ranks as shown above doesn’t warrant them to continue just because they have more T20I experience. Therefore for a proper comparison, each player’s Twenty20 performance has to be considered.

	Batting Average	Strike rate	Bowling Average	Econ rate
I de Saram	37	148%	-	-
J Mubarak	29	121%
LPC Silva	26	113%
MF Maharoof	22	125%	22	7.2
T Thushara	9	93%	19	6.9
KMDN Kulasekara	9	133%	31	7.7

Interestingly Indika de Saram, the reserve wicketkeeper, has a fabulous average and a strike rate. He must have been considered. If it makes tactical advantage for Sangakkara to keep the wickets, Indika could have been placed elsewhere in the field. Also Maharoof although with a lower average than Mubarak and Silva, still better than their performance in this season which was dismal. Maharoof could have easily been the second all rounder in the team. Despite his poor bowling record in T20Is, he could have come handy. If the batting power was increased with Indika and Maharoof, the team could afford to bring in Thushara in place of Udana as he has a better econ rate and a bowling average. At the very least these good performers in the talent pool should have been given a chance to prove themselves as Sri Lanka had nothing to lose by replacing Mubarak, Silva and possibly Udana. 

This should serve as a lesson to future team selection. Although the team may win, selectors and the captain must go beyond the victory and analyze those who contributed to the victory and those who didn’t. There is no lucky or auspicious winning combination; it is all about performance and performance. We could have realized that without losing.

Dilrook Kannangara

IRA has been a sensible rebel group. Unlike “terrorist” groups, they didn’t hold on to the impossible and the unachievable. They budged from their stance and made peace possible. The IRA was fully under the control of its political wing, Sinn Fein. This is remarkable for a rebel group that managed to succeed in its fight. In wide contrast almost all other rebel/terrorist groups fighting today are led by ruthless militiamen. Shutting the door to reality and reason is considered to be the mark of their true leadership. Compromise is not in their vocabulary and accepting coexistence is treason. Due to these reasons, rebel/terrorist groups around the world led by militiamen over political elements will eventually fail.

 However, the IRA/Sinn Fein didn’t achieve success on the political front initially. They were flatly rejected by the British. As a result they had to force their way into the attention of the British. What a journey it was!

 Clashes between religious sects in Ireland has a long history. It eventually turned into a free-Ireland movement. British troops engaged the rebels and fighting went on for a long time. Scores died in the fighting. However, the IRA made a strategic decision firstly to protect themselves and their kith and kin and then to beat the British. It dawned upon them that only upon vanquishing the British arrogance can they make their demands clear. Beating the British militarily is out of the question. Instead a prolonged terror campaign would achieve much more.

 There was another choice. It was about the casualties the IRA intended to inflict on the other side. As the war involved heaps of retaliatory strikes from both parties, the death count was almost equal between the parties to the war during the time of the “Troubles” from 1969 onwards until the peace treaty. Given the fewer numbers in the Republican camp compared to the British forces, Republicans suffered relatively more when their fighters were killed. Had the retaliatory attacks escalated to the levels both groups threatened, a sizable proportion of the population would have been wiped out in Ireland but with little or no impact on Britain, population wise. Simply the Brits had the numerical superiority. This realisation led the IRA to reduce the number of their kills than they would have liked to. Instead of a killing priority, they adopted economic terrorism against the British.

 This way they could avoid the wrath of retaliatory killings to a great extent as the numbers killed was very low. At times IRA even alerted Britain to facilitate the safety of civilians. They went to extraordinary measures to protect civilians and carefully targeted the British economy. Their weapon of choice was the car bomb.

 Initially attacks took place in Ireland and then the IRA graduated to attacking British targets in London, Manchester, etc. The car bomb was very effective as the size of explosives carried in a car is huge compared to a bomb carried by a human. Devastating effects of the bomb was increased by the use of readily available materials after a simple process of boiling. IRA car bombs shook Britain and caused an immense blow to the economy. Billions of pounds in direct damages and many times more in indirect damages took a very heavy toll. Unlike the 9/11 attacks which costed much more for the US, IRA attacks on the British economy didn’t cease with one attack. It was almost impossible to stop the car bomb because millions of vehicles had to be stopped, screened and checked. Secrecy associated with the car bomb was an additional boon for the rebels.

 Militarily the British could do nothing to counter the effects of IRA attacks. Britain had to play by the IRA rules. Britain couldn’t assert its numerical advantage as the war moved away from killing. It couldn’t retaliate IRA attacks on its economy. Obviously Britain cannot be bombing Irish economic centres in retaliation!

 Ultimately the British realised that they lost it to the IRA. The car bomb changed the history of the world. Peace with the IRA through Sinn Fein was back on the agenda. A series of discussions took the peace process forward and culminated in the Good Friday Agreement. IRA agreed to decommission weapons and since then peace has dawned both in Ireland and the UK relative to the times gone by. Come to think of it, it was the car bomb that changed the course of the war and peace and the inability of the British troops to respond adequately to it.

 The channels used by the IRA to force total submission on the British are still there. Any terror group could do it. The Glasgow attack may be an attempt to use those channels by Al Qaeda who has mastered it in Iraq, Afghanistan, US and many other places. When Britain boasts about the peace deal with the IRA, it avoids telling why it went to peace with the IRA! It was the British defeat and complete inability to overcome the defeat that forced peace with the IRA.

 It should be appreciated that Britain was indeed lucky to have a sensible rebel/terror group headed by respectable political figures as its enemy. Other countries are not so lucky. IRA was an exceptional rebel/terror group. On the other hand the democratic world must come to terms with the weapon that changed history in the 20th century. Unless it can be controlled and overpowered, it will strike again. The democratic world cannot bow down to violence; it must act decisively. Something got to change or we are in for another defeat elsewhere.

Dilrook Kannangara

Prof Hudson McLean correctly identified President Rajapaksha as Moses of Sri Lanka. It is an apt comparison with the story in the Bible. However, Moses not only led his people to the Promised Land, but also regulated their affairs so that they will survive for thousands of years. This he did by giving them the Ten Commandments. He consulted God to come up with the Ten Commandments. Similarly Moses of Sri Lanka must also come up with Ten Commandments to safeguard Sri Lanka forever. To his credit he has already come up with the First Commandment!

 

The First Commandment – There are Only Patriots and Traitors; There is no Ethnic Majority and Minority

Following the greatest ever victory mankind has seen, President Rajapaksha declared that there shall not be an ethnic majority and an ethnic minority; each Sri Lankan shall be either a patriot of Sri Lanka or a traitor. This understanding must be the basis of all political solutions and all legal pronouncements.

 

Racism was glorified in Ceylon even before gaining Independence. Racism emerged a very powerful tool to extort favours and unfair advantages over those who don’t practice racism. Unfortunately almost all the time Tamils had to be contended with racist political parties that conceived the Tamil Elam nonsense. From 1944 onwards it was only Tamil racist parties that ruled the north-east both in terms of votes and parliamentary seats. Whether it be All Ceylon Tamil Congress, Ilanka Thamil Arasu Kachchi, Tamil United Liberation Front, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam, Tamil National Alliance or whatever, racist political ideologies thrived in the North-East. No wonder racist separatism emerged from the North-East!

 

The Sinhalas and Muslims responded to this aggression by forming the Sihala Urumaya (later renamed the Jathika Hela Urumaya) and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress. Most legislators of these two parties were strong backers of the true peace process that emerged victorious in May 2009. However, going forward, they too will have to conform to the First Commandment.

 

The next nine commandments are yet to be finalised. Government should come up with them as soon as possible. As a guide let me elaborate what they should resemble.

 

The Second Commandment – Every Sri Lankan shall Have Equal Rights

The Constitution has recognised equal rights for every Sri Lankan. It should be ensured and promoted. Institutions for the correct implementation of the law including fundamental rights need to be free from bias. Without anymore complications this will resolve almost all the problems attributed to equal rights.

 

Maintain law and order without interference from politicians and others. Subject the process of the law to regular independent review and expose and punish the wrongdoers. Instead of appointing the clowns as specified by the 17th Amendment which will only favour bankrupt politicians, appoint a Judicial and Police Independence Commission from retired judges to look into the irregularities. They should be instigating FR action in the Supreme Court in relation to irregularities. Similarly the Bribery & Corruption Commission should be able to take matters to court on its own with the help of the AG department. Politicians should not be allowed to suspend, dissolve, dysfunction or otherwise hinder their operations by commission or omission.    

 

 

The Third Commandment – Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Shall Have the Blessings of the Maha Sangha and Other Patriots While His/Her Say on National Defence Shall be Obligatory Considerations for the President and the Parliament

There was a time when jokers with the names of ramshackle cars were appointed to high positions involved in defence. Instead of looking after defence, they were hell bent on glorifying and whitewashing the LTTE. No that the Chief of Defence Staff position is created with the responsibility to guide the strategic direction of the nation’s defences, it must be always filled by an unwavering patriot. As proven guardians of a civilised Sri Lanka for over 2,200 years, the Maha Sangha must be able to agree on the person holding the post of CDS. Similarly patriots got to be able to verify his patriotic credentials and challenge if required in a court of law.

 

Having proven his patriotic credentials, the instruction of the CDS should be mandatory considerations for the President and the Parliament in taking necessary action for national defence. His recommendations should be discussed and addressed appropriately by the Commander in Chief and the legislators.

 

The Fourth Commandment – Promoting, Abetting, Supporting, Assisting, Encouraging, Inciting Separatism, Breach of Territorial Integrity or the Unitary Status and/or Concerting with Those Who Do So Towards that End  Shall be Punishable by the Illegalisation of the Group, Punishment not Less than 25 Years of Imprisonment and Property Confiscation  

Constitutional provisions and other laws like the PTA have failed to address this issue. Many loopholes in them allow culprit to escape easily. Serious and simple Constitutional provisions are needed to arrest the situation. Leave no room for escape for all kinds of separatists and the like and keep them away from poisoning the society.

 

Mass media shall fully comply with these laws in order to operate. Political parties, public servant and civil servants will be required to uphold national interests than promote separatists agendas. Simple punishments will take away the ridiculous complexities that allow culprits to get away.

 

The Fifth Commandment – Economic Value of Taxpayer Funds Should Drive Decisions with Transparency

Plenty of examples can be given about how taxpayer funds are wasted on worthless efforts. From hospitals to universities, ministries to departments and LG bodies to the Parliament, waste, corruption and tax evasion contributes to billions of dollars every year. This has to be arrested for the betterment of the country. Some popular welfare schemes have failed to return an adequate return for the country and these should be restructured irrespective of what the trade unions, student groups, etc. say.

 

There is no excuse for letting the corrupt, the inefficient, the crooked and the unintelligent to siphon out honest taxpayers hard earned money. It is better in their pockets than in the hands of the useless.

 

The Sixth Commandment – Keeping Business and Politics Away from Each other

In the 2004 General Election the UNP and UPFA had spent at least 4 billion rupees and 1 billion rupees each. These were official numbers declared by the parties but the actual is much higher, This also excludes money wasted by individual candidates! When all is added up it is not impossible that at least 10 billion rupees was spent on that election. If anyone thinks these are “donations” from well wishers and “out of pocket expenses” from politicians, he is a fool. These are “investments” that must earn many times more! That is not all; the spenders must earn for the next election as well.

 

Thus emerges the need for corruption. Corruption has to be cut don at the level of the need. It is too late if we try to stop it at the time of the corrupt act.

 

To stop it at the need-level, politics (power) and business should be kept apart. This requires strict and simple laws banning businessmen from having anything to do with politics and politicians from having anything to do with businessmen, apart from mere social and official association. No businessman should be allowed to become a politician and vice versa. They should be barred from concerting together for profit and favours.

 

Politics will become honourable once again and boring. Elections will not be marred with violence as politicians will consider winning an election a headache to serve the people round the clock! Politicians will not have to be protected so much as they have nothing to fight with the people. They should be able to overrule the unruly easily.

 

Recently a very senior South Korean president committed suicide unable to face the public after his corruption was exposed. In Sri Lanka this is unthinkable; if at all it will be the people to commit suicide and homicide over politicians’ corruption!

 

The Seventh Commandment – Make Sinhala the Link Language

More than 90% of the population can speak Sinhala and teaching it to the 10% is no big deal. Once this happens, people will be able to communicate with each other freely and it doesn’t take an eternity. English should be the medium of education. Other complicated suggestions lack practicality. Making English the link language is not going to work for at least another century as the percentage of English speakers is less than 15%. Making Sinhala and Tamil both compulsory is also impractical as this means 10% of the population of Tamils and Muslim who cannot speak in Sinhala and 65% of the population of Sinhalese who cannot speak Tamil will have to learn a second, second language. More than 75% of the population will have to go through this and it will take an eternity to happen.

 

No language is superior to another. Just by teaching Sinhala to 10% of the population the communication divide can be bridged.  After all you only need one language to communicate.

 

Law must be used to punish those with the language superiority syndrome which is highly contagious.

 

The Eighth Commandment – Make Use of the Strong Religious Background to Uplift Morals

This country is blessed beyond belief. It has no atheists and everyone has a religion. What’s more, almost 99% of the population belong to one of the four main religions of Earth! The remaining 1% also practices religions that respect all morals recognised by other religions.

 

This unusual blessing should not be allowed to be wasted anymore. It forms the basis of a nation-wide campaign to stir-up moral upliftment in the society. Quick action is needed in this regard. Only upon the re-moralisation of the Sri Lankan society can we really call the National Flag our own. If you look at it carefully, it is clear that the National Flag is a symbol of the religions (not races) of the nation; nothing else. Take a hard look at it!

 

The Ninth Commandment – Integrate People of All Ethnicities into One Sri Lankan Community

LTTE created mono ethnic enclaves in the country by ethnic cleansing. These evil acts should be reversed by resettling Sinhalas and Muslims. Avoid devolving power to racial groups and provinces suffering from the effects of ethnic cleansing. Fix the problems first and then share power as required.

 

What cricket has done especially for the past 27 years is remarkable. We got the Test status in 1982 and war broke out in 1983. But cricket did a yeoman service to inter-ethnic unity. Imagine what many sports can do. Popularising cricket, soccer, volleyball, rugby and other popular sports throughout the country will bring people together.

 

The Tenth Commandment – Leverage the High Human Development Index for Economic Growth

India ranks 126 in terms of the Human Development Index compared to the better rank of 93 for Sri Lanka. However, India has very successfully used its lower HDI to develop an enormous IT industry. Other ancillary industries have also come up bringing in more than US$25 billion a year. Sri Lanka stands in a better position to develop its service based industry with skilled professionals.

 

At the same time using innovation is another aspect of human development. Amalgamating the relatively higher HDI with our other competencies in agriculture, fisheries, tourism, etc. can spin out multiple business opportunities. These efforts can fast track the economy into development with relatively little initial capital outlay.        

 

Defending the nation from suicide bombers is only one part of the game. Defending it from Tamil Elamists buying power is another. Money earned through scams, frauds, drugs and even legitimate means are channelled to the creation of the dreamland of Tamil Elam in Sri Lanka. Hindering all avenues of Tamil Elam is the way forward.

Dilrook Kannangara

If a road accident occurs in Sri Lanka, it is still not uncommon that the most assertive and loud party to the accident, though the wrongdoer, has it his way. He would convince the innocent party that it is he (the innocent party) was at fault and it is beneficial for him (the innocent party) not to take the matter to the authorities. A similar thing has happened in the case of admission to government universities. Government universities are taxpayer funded and therefore it makes sense to distribute the fruits of university education right throughout the country in an equitable manner. In order to do this standardization was introduced in 1972. The Tamil Elam movement that was rampant by that time claimed that standardization was unfair by them and went to the extent of committing mass murder over it. However, in reality, Tamils were always unfairly advantaged in university admissions. At all times Tamil students in the university system far exceeded their ethnic percentage.

It didn’t end there. After various reforms, the present university admission formula fills 55% of the opportunities based on mid year population. Alas! No census was held in the seven districts of Jaffna, Mannar, Mulaitivu, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Batticaloa and Trincomalee for 28 years after 1981. All these districts have a majority of Tamils and the districts Jaffna, Mannar, Mulaitivu and Kilinochchi only have a Tamil population after the LTTE ethnically cleansed these districts of all other communities. The war that was raging for 26 years affected these seven (7) districts very badly and forced even Tamils to leave them in large numbers. Relative population in these districts has fallen since 1981 as people migrated internally and externally in millions. This is why the use of outdated population figures unfairly favor Tamil students in these districts at the expense of mostly Sinhala students in other districts. While a Tamil can enter university from 25 districts, a Sinhalese could only enter university from 21 districts thanks to ethnic cleansing by the LTTE and other Tamil Elam groups over the years.

The table below shows district-wise population percentages rounded to the closest whole number.

TABLE 1

  The cut-off marks (also known as z-scores) for each study stream in universities vary by districts and are based on relative population of each district. However, the massive relative drop in population in the above mentioned seven (7) districts is not recognized in the formula. The result is hilarious at best and acutely discriminatory against Sinhala students at worst.

According to the 1981 census the percentages of ethnic communities were as follows; Sinhalese – 73.8%, Tamils – 17.7%, Muslims and others – 8.5%. Muslims and others study in either Sinhala or Tamil. Tamil students excluding Muslims and others enrolled in 1982 in each faculty is given below.

TABLE 2

Obviously there is a huge gap between the national total Tamil population percentage and the percentage of Tamils in each of the faculties. In a number of instances, the universities have more than double the national share of Tamils! This pushes the percentage of other students down. As an example, although Sinhalese were 73.4% of the population, their percentage in the Dental Faculty could not have exceeded 60%.

Based on the latest available z-scores for the admission year 2007/08 the following analysis has been performed. Out of 71 courses, the most popular 25 study courses were selected for the purpose of this analysis. The most popular 25 were selected based on the highest cut-off marks across all districts for the study course. As an example “Medicine” has the highest overall cut-off marks and hence it is the most popular study course. Engineering (MPR) comes next.

Clearly students from Sinhala majority areas have to score much more in almost all the study courses than students from Tamil majority areas. Simply put it Sinhala students have to score much more marks to enter university than Tamil students.

The study course “Peace & Conflict Resolution” has been excluded because marks required to study it is same across all districts.

TABLE 3

 

As can be seen from SECTION 1 in the above table, except for the study courses, “Law”, “Quantity Surveying” and “Speech & Language Therapy” all other study courses demand that students from Sinhala majority districts obtain higher marks than students from Tamil majority areas in order to enter university. It is because of the use of outdated and wrong mid-year population statistics. On the other hand the lowest cut-off marks always belong to a Tamil majority district except in the case of “Information Technology”. Please refer SECTION 2 above.

This disparity affects very badly Sinhala students. The following table highlights their extremely unfair plight beyond any doubt. Out of the 24 most popular study courses, 21 study courses recorded the highest cut-off marks from Sinhala majority areas while it was just 3 for Tamil majority areas. In the case of second and third highest cut-off marks, this was 18 & 6 and 21 & 3 respectively. The rank of Tamil majority districts in the cut-off marks ranking is given in the last column. It is very clear that on average their rank is 7 which means the highest marks for Tamil majority areas is six steps below the highest cut-off marks for Sinhala majority areas. All this happens while sections of the Tamil community howls that the Standardization scheme unfairly affects Tamil students! This is daytime robbery!

TABLE 4

 

 

This grave injustice to Sinhala students must end forthwith. Although the next census is due in 2011 there is no earthly reason why it cannot be held now. The 10 year cycle was not always followed and there were censuses held in 1946 and 1953. In fact following the war, the government must conduct a proper census as soon as possible and adjust the mid year population to the correct number. Only this can fix the grave injustice caused to Sinhala and Muslim students which they put up in innocent silence. Neglecting it only because they don’t kill over it is absurd logic and the right thing must be done no matter who is affected. It is wholly unfair to cross subsidize the education of a section of the population while gravely discriminating another section of the population just because a proper census could not be held for 28 years.

The Government must act on this now. Else it will be a total waste of opportunities and discrimination against the majority community as in Apartheid South Africa, Iraq under Saddam Hussein or Sri Lanka under the British.

Please circulate this to build awareness on a subject that was considered taboo even to discuss! Making good use of this silence, grave injustice was committed upon the people. Coming back to the example at the start of the article, it is time we appreciate the fact that the noisiest is not necessarily the right one; he may well be wrong and in most cases he is.

Sources: Table 1 and all population data – Department of Census and Statistics. Table 2 – Department of Census and Statistics and publications of the Ministry of Higher Education. Table 3 & 4 – compiled from data from the University Grants Commission website.