A suicide story: Major and minor matters

An Army Major was killed when he exploded a hand grenade while inside his double cab on Tuesday, September 18, 2012, at Thihagoda, it is reported. The 37-year-old army major identified as Nalin Sampath Kumara.  It is also reported that the man had committed suicide because the father of his 17 year old girlfriend had refused to let him marry the girl. 

The same day, another Major committed suicide.  Of a kind. 

Major Chandana Pradeep, who a few days earlier had been beaten up by a bunch of thugs at the JAIC-Hilton, stated via an affidavit that the main suspect, one Malaka Silva, had not assaulted him.  Now it is possible that this highly respected Army Officer had not been able to study the faces of his assailants in the rush of ‘battle’, so if we were generous, we could give him the benefit of the doubt.   

In other words, he is telling the truth: he hadn’t seen, so he cannot claim. 

On the other hand, this statement is a direct contradiction of what he said immediately after the attack, which was when memory would have been clearest.  Perhaps his focus was knocked askance by a blow and his perspective duly damaged.  All this may be true.  What is also true is that the entire attack was caught on camera.  Major Chandana Pradeep may have not seen clearly.  Even though he said he did, maybe he had rushed to name people and on second thoughts was possessed by enough doubt to withdraw the earlier claim.  The cameras, however, did see, did capture. 

Now if Major Chandana Pradeep doesn’t want to press charges, there’s very little anyone can do, notwithstanding the CCTV evidence.  So let’s not judge this soldier.  Let’s talk about fear. 

The recantation is ‘unbelievable’ for several reasons, but none as telling as the fact that this was no ordinary soldier.  He has a stellar track record in the Army, especially in counter-terrorist intelligence operations.  Compared to the kinds of risks he took during the time the country was struggling to defeat terrorism (and the likes of Malaka Silva were partying in Colombo doing goodness knows what) makes the attack of a bunch of ill-bred thugs seem like a schoolboy scuffle during the interval, where too greater numbers can prevail over superior skill.  The point is that fear would not have been a factor. 

Why then did he recant?  Why did this highly respected soldier do something that has earned derision from all quarters?  Fear of superiors?  Perhaps, but improbable.  A man who put his life on line a countless number of times cannot be expected to cower when confronted with pain of punishment. 

As of now, there’s only one possible conclusion: he was, as he has always been, a good soldier.  He was given an order and he executed, without question.  Should we hang him, therefore? No. 

Major Chandana Pradeep, according to some, by this act of recantation, undid all the good that he has done as a soldier.  He, like Major Nalin Sampath Kumara, committed suicide.  What he was is not what he is now.  From hero to zero.  That’s the word in the street.  How could we be so harsh in judgment? What moral right do we have to say, as some have, ‘He is no Major, he is a minor’? 

He was a soldier. He is a soldier. He follows orders and he’s exceptional because he has always followed orders to the letter. 

He did not commit suicide.  Someone died, though.  That someone is the person who gave him the brief, the person who ordered him to recant.  That someone divested himself of backbone, as did the someone who ordered him to be spineless and the someone who ordered that person to be spineless before that and all the way up the line of command to whoever was authorized to deliberate pros and cons and decide on course of action. 

There was a suicide in Thihagoda.  There appears to have been a mass suicide case in Colombo.  It does not shower the Army Commander in glory, does not amount to an admiring saluting of the Secretary, Ministery of Defence and does not cast the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces in positive light. 

All this, apparently, is ‘reasonable price’ to pay.  All this shows Malaka Silva’s political worth, and by extension the value of his father. 

All this stinks. 

Some may say that Major Nalin Sampath Kumara was stupid.  And yet, there’s something honorable about what he did.  Major Chandana Pradeep did not cover himself with honor, but it is likely that he was doing his ‘duty’ and was not worried about the accolades.  The same cannot be said of the ‘master (sic) mind’ that switched the first green light in the passing of buck. 

Yes, it stinks. 

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Shame!

Malaka Silva, son of the Minister of Public Relations and Public Affairs, Mervin Silva, did not attack, hit or injure Major Chandana Pradeep at the JAIC-Hilton, Colombo, along with his friend Rehan and a bunch of others, some of whom were (not) armed. Since there was no assault, it was not captured on CCTV.  Malaka Silva is therefore the victim of a monumental and pernicious media drive to vilify him (and his father).  And we were all born yesterday.

The End.  

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How Nuwan Silva helped win the war on terrorism

What you reap, you sow.  You give, you take.  What goes around, comes around.  Demand and supply.  Crime and punishment.  There are words that go together.  And there are words that go with deeds.  Like ‘thank you’.  There is a ‘give’ and ‘get’ associated with ‘thank you’.  And there is ‘give’ that does not expect ‘get’ and often goes unrecognized.  And there is ‘give’ that does not expect ‘get’ but gets nevertheless and in strange ways.

There are two gifts, two ‘thank-yous’ that I cherish.

Just after terrorism was crushed, Mr. Gamini Edirisinghe, visiting my mother at her place in Pamankade, made a speech of sorts. 

‘These days everyone is getting upahaara (honors).  Those who deserve and those who really don’t deserve.  All kinds of jokers are getting upahaara.  No one will honor you. So I will.  You get a free eye-examination and a free pair of glasses and a nice one too – vaede vennath oney, kolla lassana vennath oney (the job must be done and the boy should also look good).   He made me laugh.  My mother, who passed away a few months later, also laughed.  As did our common friend Muditha Hettigama, who shares a birthday with Gamini.  I didn’t make use of that offer until two year later.  Albert Edirisinghe and Sons ‘recognized’ me for what they believed was my contribution in the long struggle to rid the country of terrorism.  I lost the pair of glasses a few months later and I still haven’t got them replaced.  It was a touching gesture.

A few days ago, a young boy, now domiciled in New Zealand came to see me.  I had been communicating with him for several years.  He is a cook and an ardent and patriotic Sri Lankan fighting LTTE propaganda in that part of the world.  He comments often on what I write.  Encourages by saying that what I write strengthens him. 

Nuwan Silva was on a short visit.  He found the time to find me.  He brought a ‘All Blacks’ mug for me.  And he brought me an expensive bottle of champagne.  He explained.

“This is an award I received.  I work in the Depot Restaurant as a ‘Demi Chef’.  We won the Metro Award for the Best Restaurant in Auckland.  We were adjudged ‘Supreme Winner’ in the ‘Most Innovative Restaurant’ category.  I was wondering who I should give this to, and I thought you were the most deserving.” 

He wrote to me yesterday (and I will not transliterate):  ‘aiye ,you are a hero kenek, we love u a lot.every one wants to see the justice for those who do wrongs things ,they ruin this nation, head of state must punish them,you write brilliant things ,my friends in nz always talk about  your ability to write powerful ture things, mage ammbe  aiye ,that;s why i came to see you , i was previllaged to see you’

He brought with him another gift, for someone more recognized and more deserving.  It was an award of appreciation from SPUR-NZ.  He had got it made.  A simple but elegant plaque.  The recipient was a serviceman. 

This is his story.

Years ago when Nuwan had been working at Abans two Special Task Force officers had come to purchase a mobile phone.  Nuwan had recognized one of them as a schoolmate from Rahula Collaeg, Matara, a few years senior to him.  He had mentioned the fact.  The officer had taken both his hands and said that he had not recognized him and asked him not to think that he was being proud.  He referred to Nuwan as ‘Malli’ (younger brother). 

A year later, in 2001, when Nuwan was going for CIM (Chartered Institute of Marketing) classes, he had seen the man again.  Nuwan had been on a break and had seen him riding a motorcycle.  He had shouted ‘Ayye!’ (Brother!).  He had stopped and said he was not at the Headquarters.  Nuwan noticed a hand injury.  Two fingers had to be operated.  The man was attached to the STF Bomb Disposal Squad.  Apparently he had been in the battle in Batticaloa.  Nuwan had gone to the Headquarters later, but had not found him there.  

Nuwan went to New Zealand in 2006.  He had seen footage of the Welisara bomb explosion and had noticed his friend investigating the site. 

Early this year he had been at a BBQ while on a trip in New Plymouth.  There had been some Sri Lankans.  There had been one person who knew that officer, Dimuth Samaranayake.  He even had Dimuth’s number.  He had called but there hadn’t been an answer.  Nuwan had called the number a few days later.  This is what Dimuth had said: ‘malli umbala wage aya apiwa matak karala agaya karanawata bohoma istuti’.  He thanked him for remembering and appreciating.

Nuwan told me about several bombs that Dimuth had diffused and other explosions he had investigated. 

‘he is oue heroes still doimg a grerat job so humble man.’

I could say ‘thank you for remembering and appreciating, Nuwan’ for it means a lot.  People forget and forget quickly, after all.  Thanks go both ways.  And that’s what turns individuals into communities, populations into nations. 

Sri Lanka did not defeat terrorism because of Dimuth Samaranayake, Nuwan Silva, Gamini Seneviratne or Malinda Seneviratne, but we all played a small part, we did things and we were often vilified for believing that terrorism could be defeated and had to be defeated militarily.  Today, those who vilified are enjoying the peace.  They are not saying ‘thank you’.  it was not for ‘thank-yous’ that people did what they did.   Feels nice though. 

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Remand is just the first step…

The first step has been taken.  Or rather, it has been made to be taken.  Should have happened a long time ago.  Had Malaka Silva been put in his place or had his father, Mervin Silva, been put in HIS place the first time he broke the law or threw his weight around, the Army Major Chandana Pradeep would not have been assaulted, the Police would not have been subjected to ridicule and the President been spared insinuation of complicity. 

Malaka Silva has surrendered himself, along with friend and fellow-accused, Rehan (son of Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Turkey, Bharathi Wijeratne, and who has taken the name of his mother’s second husband, the late Mano Wijeratne).  This is not the first time that Malaka has played cowboy.  The entire country knows that he got away with little more than a soft rap on his knuckles due to his political connections.  If he gets away this time with a mere warning or fine it would be scandalous.  The man is a maniac.  He is a threat to everyone’s security.  

Malaka Silva did not attack just a soldier.  He insulted the entire Army and by extension the Commander-in-Chief, President Mahinda Rajapaksa.  He insulted each and every man and woman who laid his/her life to protect the country from the threat of terrorism.  He insulted every mother and father who lost a son or daughter in that struggle, everyone who lost a spouse and every child who was orphaned.  He insulted every man, woman and child who had for years desperately wanted to live in a land free of checkpoints, bomb explosions and suicide attacks. 

Major Chandana Pradeep was a very special soldier who has carried out numerous and extremely dangerous operations against the LTTE.  He was solely responsible for the capture of the absconding terrorist leader Ram who had survived the final attack in and around the Nandikadal Lagoon.  Malaka is not fit to kiss the dust this Major walks on.  

Malaka and his gang had 6 pistols among them.  We are not a country free from terrorism when a gang of social misfits feel free to strut around thus armed.  It would be silly indeed to think that these self-styled cowboys were juvenile delinquents or young men who haven’t shed their adolescent anxieties.  They are adults. They were armed.  They have been caught on camera assaulting a man.

 

The people of this country have suffered enough at the hands of hooligan politicians.  They were relieved when the LTTE was defeated.  That relief was expressed time and again in the form of multiple victories for the ruling party at numerous elections.  There is gratitude but there was no blank cheque.  And yet, it appears that some people have been cashing the same cheque many times over.  The people have paid. Enough. 

Few, apart from die-hard LTTE loyalists and those who depended on that terrorist in order to secure political goodies, would lament the end of the LTTE.  Few, likewise, would shed tears if Malaka Silva got what he deserves.  They might even thank President Mahinda Rajapaksa.  If, for some reason, the man walks out free, whether we like it or not, he will take it as a sign that he was given a double-o tag of sorts, i.e. license to kill or at least assault.  Few would cheer such an eventuality.  It is something the Government would do well to keep in mind.

 

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Shall we read all the bibles we come across?

'Ask the beasts and they will teach you; and the birds of the air and they will tell you; or speak to the earth and it will teach you; and the fish of the sea will explain to you.  Who amongst all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?’

                                                                           (Job 12: 7-9)

The above was sent to me by someone who advises, agrees with me at times and sometimes disagrees, chides gently and is a dear, dear friend.  I am sure she knew that reading the above, the first thought-response would be, ‘I’.  I don’t attribute the unknown to divinity, particularly since I know that the sum total of human knowledge is but a speck of dust compared to the universe of our collective ignorance and therefore it is pretty presumptuous to make emphatic pronouncements.  This is not to say of course that belief and faith are silly.  But my friend, who knows me through and through, knew my answer, so she prefaced the quote with the following:

‘Came across this in my reading today. Thought you would like the music of the language.’

  

Yes, I do.  It reminded me of a note accompanying a gift.  Gerard Raymond, one my late mother’s favorite students, just before he left for New York in the early eighties, gave her a copy of the Holy Bible.  This is what was in that note (paraphrased of course):

‘Dear Madam, this is the greatest literary work I know.’

Speaking strictly for myself, the greatest literature has been the words of Siddhartha Gauthama.  For economy of word, musicality and weight of content, nothing surpasses the sutras, for me, and I interject, ‘I haven’t read all the books nor listened to all the stories in the world from the moment “word” came into being’. 

I am in total agreement with the quote, apart from the query at the end.  It is beautifully put.  A lot of literature can be read as re-wording of this verse.  On the other hand, these lines can be read as reiteration of the essential teachings of the satipattana sutta. 

‘Job’.  A friend, a devout Christian, speaking to me of the trials he has had to undergo of late, spoke of ‘Job’ and those other, more frequently referenced trials.  He was in tears.  I am not a teacher nor prophet nor priest.  All I knew was that he was strong in his faith and I told him that he should remain strong. 

Books inspire.  Good books.  The Bible is a beautiful book.  It inspires even non-believers.  We read according to where we are, who we are, the roads we have walked and the people and ideas we have encountered.  I am not as familiar with the Holy Quran but I have on occasion asked my Muslim friends what Prophet Muhammad has said about one thing or another and they have sent me things to read. 

Beautifully written.  Made a lot of sense.  I, being an atheist, as I said before, drop the divinity part of it, but that does not mean I am not inspired, empowered or enlightened in some way.

Beasts, birds, fish and the earth.  They are metaphors.  Each book is a fish.  Each page a bird.  Each line is a beast.  And each word a particle of earth.  If we want to see it that way.  There are teachers everywhere and there is teaching in all kinds of places.  There are Bibles and there are Bibles.  Some have ‘Holy’ inscribed on cover, but some come without signature. 

It is good to read. 

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Make an offer the TNA cannot refuse!

It’s been almost a week since the elections for the Sabaragamuwa, North Central and Eastern Provincial Councils were held. The votes were counted and the elected have been separated from the losers but the Chief Ministers have not been named yet.

In the North Central Province there is a tussle between incumbent strongman and aspirant strongman.  Sabaragamuwa is quiet.  The noise is coming from the East.  There’s no clear winner and therefore many are claiming bragging rights. 

The ruling party (UPFA) won the largest number of seats and therefore can say ‘we won’.  The opposition, as a whole, can say, ‘the UPFA doesn’t have a clear majority, so it has lost; consequently, we won!’  The TNA says, tagging along so to speak, ‘we got the biggest slice out of the opposition (which won by the way) and therefore we are the winners’.  The SLMC says ‘we are the king makers’.  Wimal Weerawansa’s PNF, which was snubbed at the nominations by the SLFP-led UPFA, still managed a single seat (equal to the JVP) and can say ‘we won too’.  The UNP and JVP can say (in consolation) ‘the UPFA lost’.  They are not in a position to dictate in the post-election machinations. 

Someone must cobble together a majority, either by aligning with one or more parties or by persuading a few people to join ranks.  The latter seems to be the easier path.  It might not be the best, though. 

The difficult thing is to work with ‘sworn enemy’.  The SLMC, during its campaign used the communal card in raw and distasteful ways, especially considering that its leader is a Cabinet Minister in this Government.  The principled thing would have been to first resign.  Now, after bad-mouthing, when the king-maker claim is tossed out, it implies a willingness to hold hands with the ‘baddies’.  The TNA was no better, but it didn’t have the ‘cabinet-handicap’.  On the other hand, a party that was so slavish to Prabhakaran cannot really point fingers at anyone.   The UPFA may have some higher moral credit here, but then again there was the usual abuse of state machinery in the campaign.  As the incumbent at the center, the UPFA can call the shots, hence the talk about ‘purchasing’ support or getting a few to defect. 

It’s all about maneuvering and bargaining, brinkmanship and arm-twisting, promise of goodies and preying on vulnerabilities.  But let’s face it neither the parties nor the elected can be called decent, respectable, democratic, principled entities.  Take any party and you can find fault and 101 reasons not to work together.  There are also 101 arguments for working together. 

The TNA was the LTTE’s pawn. So what?  They were victims of circumstances just as must as they were happily complicit in that sordid political story.  The SLMC is made of politicians, just like the UPFA is. They ‘invest’ by campaigning and they want to recover investment.  Just like anyone in any other party.  No one is cool.  The UPFA has the inside track, as mentioned above.  For all the bragging, in the end, the UPFA’s decision will stand. 

In these circumstances, the SLMC will have to play second-fiddle. The TNA cannot afford to do so.  But the TNA cannot play communal politics and ever hope to do anything for the Tamil people in the East.  Indeed, the election result (the three-way split) puts paid to all arguments for a North-East merger and rips apart the ‘Exclusive Traditional Homeland’ thesis.  Demography counts and the count is now out there for everyone to see. 

The UPFA can do without the TNA.  This, interestingly, is the very reason that the UPFA can and must brush aside the TNA’s long history of scuttling discussions, dodging issues and playing the communal card as ‘what any political party in reduced circumstances and slipping fortunes would do’. 

The UPFA can call the TNA bluff.  The UPFA can do what the TNA will not be able to deal with.  The UPFA can tell the TNA something like the following:

‘Look, we know your history.  We know who is above you and who is below you. We know about strings and string-pullers, puppets and puppeteers.   We know your strengths and weaknesses.  And we know you know us too.  Very well.  So here’s the offer.  You run the East.  You pick your Chief Minister.  We don’t want anything in return.  We promise only one thing.  Come budget-passing time, we will make sure that you don’t lose the vote.  Take it.  Do your best. Good luck!’

If the Government considers a puppet-TNA a headache, the above would be the palliative.  The TNA cannot refuse and also claim that the ‘Sinhala’ Government is not interested in ‘power-sharing’.  And if the TNA accepts, it would amount to a decision to work within the existing framework.  That would be historic. 

As for the SLMC, it might teach its leadership something about not being able to have it both ways.  The SLMC’s headaches should not worry the Government.  They will go away, by and by.  The TNA, not the SLMC, is the party to work with. That’s the challenge.

 

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Education: if no one is to be left behind….

Some Advanced Level question papers are set by professors, some not.  The Political Science paper was set by a professor who was once the Head of the Political Science Department in his university.  In this year’s paper the candidates were asked who wrote ‘Das Kapital’.  Within brackets was the Sinhala translation, ‘jaathinge dhanaya’ which, when translated back would be ‘Wealth of Nations’, the classic by Adam Smith.

It was not carelessness.  Before the paper was finalized, someone had pointed out the error.  The professor had re-checked with a senior lecturer in political science who had once been his student.  The ‘approver’ had brought in his assumed knowledge of German to support his former teacher.  The question stood.  The professor obviously doesn’t know his Marx, hasn’t read Das Kapital, has never heard of Adam Smith or ‘Wealth of Nations’.  The professor, interestingly, is a die-hard critic of the ruling party and has for decades been a staunch supporter of the UNP, reaping benefits of position when that party was in power. 

The above is no footnote to the education-salary drama being enacted by the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) and various Government representatives.  It speaks to deeply entrenched problems in the entire education system which will not be resolved by simply pumping more money. 

Crises are moments that can be used and abused.  FUTA is for overall reform and not just salary hikes, apparently.  So far, apart from a few cursory and unfleshed recommendations, the fixation has been on obtaining the equivalent of 6% of the GDP for education.  The Government is operating as though it wants the strike ended by hook or by crook.  We don’t see any sign of anyone in the Government using the opportunity to review the entire education policy.  There are, however, things that both parties ought to think about.

We have three kinds of health care and three kinds of education: primary, secondary and tertiary.  In the health sector, Sri Lanka is way ahead of most of the world in terms of access to health care and education.  It’s not only about how much money is spent or the equivalent of the GDP percentage spent, but also about how many people benefit.  It is about affordability.  It is about a mix of private and public that makes for the maximum coverage of the population.

The private sector provides primary, secondary and tertiary health care.  In education, the private sector has had a marked presence in primary and secondary areas, albeit largely unregulated with little concern on the part of the relevant state agencies about quality.  Quality-lack is of course not limited to private educational institutions.  The reason for private sector play is not just policy-sanction but the inability of the state to provide for all.  It applies to health and it applies to education. 

It is inexplicable then that the idea of private sector involvement in tertiary education is violently rejected by some.  The state can do better, yes.  Better streamlining and better investment of resources (including the injection of more funds of course) can see more students entering state run degree awarding institutions. That’s part solution, though.  An overall policy that upgrades all tertiary education facilities to degree awarding status perhaps by affiliating with relevant universities is a possible ‘easy’ (or ‘easier’) step in the right direction.  It must however be accompanied by a restructuring of courses based on an occupational classification that identifies and details the human resources needed well into the future given economic realities. 

Even that will provide space only for a fraction of those who qualify to enter university (through the A/Ls).  What are the others to do?  Neither the Government nor FUTA can say ‘hard luck!’ for no one should be ‘left behind’.  That would be akin to limiting surgeries only to state hospitals and telling about 80% of patient who really need surgery, ‘sorry, roll over a die!’ 

The truth is that many university lecturers don’t have the moral right to oppose private education because they benefit from it.  They engage in ‘private practice’ (reaching, research etc).  Just like doctors.  Even if the Government agreed to the FUTA demands and if all the additional money is used to expand the university system to accommodate more students, the vast majority of students who qualify to enter university will be left behind. 

The Government might not be interested in education (as FUTA claims), but FUTA cannot say ‘not our problem’ for it purports to be less interested in salary than in education (for all).  It must come up with some answers or be seen as just another set of self-serving, poorly qualified, ill-educated operators who complement well the self-serving, poorly qualified, ill-educated lot that make up the Government.

[Published in 'The Nation', September 16, 2012]

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