28 March, 2024

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An Open Appeal To The Northern Province Governor

By S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole

Prof. S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole

His Excellency Suren Raghavan

Governor, Northern Province.

Your Excellency:

The Police in Jaffna – Do We Need Them?

In the absence of a Chief Minister and Provincial Representatives who are being very wrongfully denied us here in the Northern Province by not holding elections, I am very happy to have you at the helm of the Province. I see your doing many good things; some of your critics are saying that you are doing a lot for the province. Indeed I am happy to see you in the media returning long overdue occupied lands to their owners. 

Today I was at the function by the Jaffna Indian Consulate to advertise the many opportunities and associated scholarships in India that come with the near certainty upon completion of studies of the important competency in English so important to modern success. You were the chief guest but had to be away. I was made immensely happy to see His Worship Emmanuel Arnold the Mayor of Jaffna (and my old schoolmate) coming as your representative. A very welcome thaw indeed in Centre-Northern Province relations. The repeated theme of federalism in your MA and PhD theses on federalism makes me think that we share the ideal of peace through federalism.

I make bold therefore to plead the matter of police inaction and corruption in Tamil areas despite the guarantees in the Constitution that Tamil is the language of devolved administration and the courts for us in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. There is no sense in saying we must take an oath to support the constitution when government itself is the biggest violator of the constitution.

Emboldened by our having many common friends in Jaffna and the shared values off federalism, I am writing this open petition, open only to bring awareness. It concerns the several issues with the police that I have written of in the press:

1. Solicitation of bribes on the A9 highway and the relevant OIC not even raising my written complaint with the relevant officer as I learnt when I pleaded not guilty to speeding and had to cross-examine the officer. I was cleared of the charge of speeding;

2. Election violations not being prosecuted following complaints by the Election Commission and, when pressed to file action, the police altering the charge to an unsustainable one – for example altering the charge of holding an election meeting at a temple to doing so close to a polling station. 

3. The charge of threats to a Public Servant (an Election Commission Member) to prevent him from doing his duty, being weakened by not marking the evidence of such threats for a year, thereby leading to the judge throwing out the evidence.

4. After I reported  Douglas Devananda’s election malpractices in Kayts in 2011 and he filed a complaint with his stooge police and pliant judicial system in Kayts that I was instigating riots, the police “investigated” the matter till 2017 while I was first “wanted” and then on bail after I surrendered with the new government coming in. It took a new Magistrate to throw out all charges saying he had not seen any sign of an investigations by the police as claimed on every court date, and he did not believe there was ever one.

5. The Police coming home to detain me on the expired warrant for my arrest dating back to the year 2011 on the above Kayts matter after the judge had cleared me. This happened during the trial where I accused the police of charging me for speeding to obtain a bribe. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe personally communicated assurances to me that it would not happen again.

So fighting back and speaking up does work. This complaint concerns the police emergency number in Jaffna. It rarely works. They do not answer and when do, they often speak to us in Sinhalese and waste valuable time during an emergency asking us if we are under the Jaffna Police or the Kopay Police. I refer to four incidents that I have highlighted in the press and orally informed the police chief in Jaffna of.

1. Once driving late at night along Kachcheri Nallur Road Jaffna, there was man lying down on the middle of the Road at Nallur South. I did not know if he was drunk or had been assaulted or simply collapsed from a heart attack. I kept calling the police for a good 15 minutes with no answer or a busy signal. Afraid to get out of my car in case it was an attempt at robbery, I drove around him and onwards.

2. Several times my wife has called the emergency number to complain of illegal loud music in odd hours such as 4 am. Her calls were not answered most of the time. On a couple of occasions she made progress only because she is qualified in Sinhalese as a former Assistant Government Analyst who had to pass OL Sinhalese.

3. When the Water Board was laying pipes on Chemmany Road and held up a tractor while the earthmover was maneuvering, the angry tractor driver returned with a gang and even aimed a blow with a heavy stick at the Nallur St. James’ Vicar; the blow was taken by a warden who shielded him. The Sinhalese police took a long while coming, and came only after the Sinhalese workers called them. And when they finally came they criticized the workers for not a good thrashing to the Tamil gang when the workers were present in greater numbers.

4. Chemmany Road by the Education Department is infamous for accidents. There have been accidents with badly bleeding people who have had to wait for over an hour after calling the emergency number for the police to come. 

The Assaulted Young Man

 

Let me turn to the incident at hand. I was returning home today after the Indian University Fair. At Muththirai Chanthai, a gang of 20 or more had gathered around the King Changili Statue and I could see two men mercilessly beating up a person on the ground with stout sticks. Fearing to challenge them, I called the police. It was 12:51 pm. Busy… busy … busy.

Without a choice I alighted from my van and went over with my phone-camera. The crowd disbursed. An old man told me it was a thief who had started crying when they wanted to hand him over to the police. So they gave him a thrashing instead.  The boy, pictured here, had cuts on his cheek-bone and arms. He was in tears and claimed he had picked up a 1000 rupee note from the ground and had been accused of stealing it. Telling me that he is from Inuvil, he used the respite to make his way into Kittu Park through the barbed wires to run away.

The police are a pampered lot with fat salaries supplemented by generous allowances, and the best motorbikes and patrol cars.

What for?

Sincerely,

Jeevan

[Prof. S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole]

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Latest comments

  • 24
    3

    Police inaction is standard across the island. Thanks for highlighting it here – but remember not to use it as a racist rant; rather use it as an opportunity to find empathy with the people who speak sinhala, and you might even make some good friends.

    There are examples, too numerous to detail here, where my family too has suffered from the inefficiency and sheer ineptitude of the state services in Sri Lanka. It matters not whether you are a sinhalese or tamil – what matters is money.

    I hope you can use all the instances of injustice you see and perceive to build bridges across different groups of people, and not trenches.

    Peace, dear sir.

    • 14
      3

      Sinhalese Buddhist,

      Is every single Policeman and Police woman outside the North and East speaking to you in Tamil like they speak/bark only in Sinhala to/at us all over the North and East? We don’t even understand the charges written against us they being only in Sinhala or why we are being pulled out and charged for, not mentioning the expression of hate and aggressive talk. We cannot understand rural Sinhala dialects and fear the system. You then go to courts, same story in the North and East- Sinhala only!

      Can you even imagine this state tyrrany on us? For no reason university boys were shot and false charges were filed to cover up as the postmortem results show.

      That is the difference between yours and Mr. Hoole’s plights! Don’t dig trenches but be empathetic in appreciating the added language difficulty we have to suffer here.

      That Sir is what is being highlighted here.

      Who will police the policemen in the North and East and elsewhere?

    • 1
      0

      Dear SB

      What a beautiful suggestion as we can all learn a lot from each other in conflict management/resolution indeed. Respect.

      More than anything a mindful way forward to address all the social ills holistically all for one and one for all as a Nation.

      In 1970’s we had series if killings of Tamils by Tamils and very many police officers died too. Just for the discussion purpose allow me to say they were Tamils too as most of the Police were Tamils serving the community well. When the ugly turned on them no one was there to defend them?? If you can extract the respective Suthenthiran paper at that times will tell you what you need to know as to what the Election Commission need to investigate/disclose to the world regards to 1970 and 1977 election campaigns and all in between on the ground in Jaffna.

      It was no fun being a law enforcement official then and hence the general public stood no chance of surviving this onslaught then the results we know today? Even the response by the police was turned on its head by the political spinners then with fabricated stories.

      We should ensure we enforce law with the Police who can record complaints correctly so public will gain trust however we should as you have correctly suggested present the law enforcement officials issues without prejudice so we can collectively improve our systems united as a Nation…no hidden agendas.

  • 28
    7

    Sinhanlese buddhist,

    Well said. Jeevan is eternally creating “me vs. others” or “us vs. them” chasms and truly glad you are able to see that.
    .
    Frankly a pathetic article for an academic and one in a quite responsible official position.
    .
    For instance, while he would repeatedly rake a poor ralahami (earning fat salaries? – Really?!) over the coal, and tries to insinuate a bribery accusation, he hides the fact that the judge never made a ruling on that accusation one way or the other. Jeevan escaped a $10 ticket.only because the ralahami could not provide hard (recorded) evidence of the speed. As one of the three commissioners of Election what action did Jeevan pursue when Sirisena confessed publicly about knowing members of the Parliament offering and accepting millions in bribe over the attempted regime change recently? Ralahami is such an easier catch – and that is what matters to Jevan? Or was it the $10 that did not have to leave his purse?
    .
    As for now complaining about EPDP/Police complicity, where exactly was Jeevan’s righteousness when he openly campaigned in support of Douglas when Jeevan needed Dougie’s help to snatch a prime dream job at UOJ?

    • 6
      21

      Wow, a man sucking up as usual to his Lords as he did at Peradeniya to get a promotion.

      A man who has not the faintest idea how much we poor Tamils dish out to the police in the North and East and the hills including Udaperadeniya. A man who does not know that the police from the North transfer out the highest amount of money and jewellery through the banks here.

      A man related to the Tamil Congress Gajendran Ponnambalam and does not even state this fact in his criticism. Like Greedy Guts Ponnambalam a man without empathy. This is SJ.

      SJ, is calling himself an academic but he does not substantiate what he says.

      Prof. Hoole has given enough cases to substantiate his educative article.

      In short:

      Mulup poosanikkayao choththukkulai maraikka iyalathu (Can’t hide a whole pumk in a plate of rice)

      As for your supposed erudition:

      Ettuch churaikkai karikku uthavaathu. (Pumpkin in the book is useless for making curry).

      The Police nearly all monolingual Sinhalese, are one of our most dreaded plagues in the North.

      • 13
        3

        muzup puusani
        I would not bother to comment on this self promotion project, as it is so transparent.
        I do not waste time launching personal attacks and am only sorry for you and the pathetic creature that prompted you to make this not very bright comment.

        • 1
          9

          A thousand humble apologies to you Mr. SJ. It was Kumar R and not SJ. The English is of the same vintage and hence the mistaken identity. I therefore accept the title Muzup Poosani here but I prefer Mulu Poosani instead. It is closer to what is meant.

          Best wishes.

          • 4
            1

            MP
            Thanks.
            But you do not seem to regret the uncalled for remarks based on the wrong identity of KR.
            You know what Muzup Poosani refers to I guess.

    • 9
      1

      When Prf.Hoole wanted the VC post he praised Mr.DD in front of LLRC and now involved in scathing attack.
      This is what Mr.Hoole testified in front of LLRC: “THE PUBLIC HAD SEVERE MISGIVINGS ABOUT MINISTER DOUGLAS DEVANANDA ONCE.BUT HE HAS WORKED HARD AND SEEMS TO HAVE EARNED A PLACE AMONG THE TAMIL PEOPLE AS JUDGED BY RECENT ELECTIONS WHERE HE HAD THE HIGHEST PREFERENTIAL VOTES IN JAFFNA”

      • 1
        0

        We may not like it, but he did get the highest preference vote

  • 16
    14

    Hoole,

    Nothing that you have mentioned which are specific to Northern or eastern provinces as all are hapening across the island.

    As same as bogus claims o Tamil homeland, Separate state or elam, your claims in this letter are also of very general to all areas of the country.

    You kallathonies have gone to the courts to sto holding elections and you all do not have ethical bearings to talk about delay or not holding elections.

    • 3
      1

      NTW,
      Do you know the difference between truth and untruth.
      Truth is that NE Provincial election should be held according to schedule means before the NE province election overdue because there is no provincial govt.
      Untruth is that you tellig that schedule for general election is not due and there is a government still in function.
      You can cheat only uneductaed Sinhalese but you can’t cheat the law and educated Sinhalese. It was the Sinhalese court told this truth.
      Now do you accept that you are cheating Sinhalese?

  • 1
    18

    “As for now complaining about EPDP/Police complicity, where exactly was Jeevan’s righteousness when he openly campaigned in support of Douglas when Jeevan needed Dougie’s help to snatch a prime dream job at UOJ?”

    OMG. Why should such a Plato and Einstein-in-one like Douglas Devananda with grade 8 only, need to be approached to get a well deserved job in a scholarly place, University?

    Whatever happened to the days of academic and capacity evaluation for the VC post based on one’s stature and scholarship?

    Has the University of Jaffna fallen that low? SJ was a well known stooge of Vasanthy Arasaratnam and English writer for her who was put as VC overnight by Douglas Devanda like the many ladies DD put in high places in Jaffna to have all the power and loot. She has made it a Ramakrishna Mission Home Science school like where she entered after failing to get admission in Sri Lanka.

    Douglas Devananda knew Prof. Hoole would never bow down low to him or salute him or steal with him. Hence the lowest qualified and least known at the time candidate of the three names sent to UGC was selected by MR. Thus Jaffna education went down the drain at the most critical times. And, SJ prides in aiding and abetting it all posturing a well-wishersheds while goddess Saraswathy sheds tears.

    Governor Sir,
    you being a great scholar and a Ph. D please give Jaffna University the most qualified man with International stature as the next VC. The need is unbelievably great! We thirst for well rounded knowledge in Jaffna as a deer in the desert. First get the Council straight Sir. The former VC and her cronies have kicked out all the able council members.

    • 9
      0

      S Swathy
      You seem to be as sick as muzup puusani and his guru.

    • 8
      1

      Saraa Swaathy(?), you are spewing venom on Hon. DD and this is nothing new to him .Also,writing false reports and assassinating one’s character is nothing new to your clan.
      Power greedy Prof.Hoole was hell bent on getting the VC post in the university of Jaffna.In 2006, Prof.Hoole went to Douglas Devananda’s office in Colombo day and night ,waited for hours and begged the minister and got the VC post. Thamilselvan rejected his request and did not want Prof.Hoole become the VC ,so he left Srilanka.
      This is what Mr.Hoole testified in front of LLRC: “THE PUBLIC HAD SEVERE MISGIVINGS ABOUT MINISTER DOUGLAS DEVANANDA ONCE.BUT HE HAS WORKED HARD AND SEEMS TO HAVE EARNED A PLACE AMONG THE TAMIL PEOPLE AS JUDGED BY RECENT ELECTIONS WHERE HE HAD THE HIGHEST PREFERENTIAL VOTES IN JAFFNA”.(His email to Mr.DD from Ankara will follow)
      Among the Tamil leaders, Mr.DD is the only person who has been representing our people in the parliament for more than two decades without losing in any election. HE HAS EARNED A PLACE AMONG THE TAMIL PEOPLE’S HEART.
      Prof.Hoole is a person who will to stoop to any level to achieve his personal ends.
      Never before in Srilankan history has an academic behaved so unashamedly.
      OMG, SHAME ON Hoole !
      For Hoole ,all is fair when it comes to power .

  • 9
    6

    Prof. Hoole,
    You forgot to mention the shootings of innocent students by the khakis.

    We live in fear daily and avoid late evening library and combined studies. Many Tamil students are scared to apply to Jaffna University because of that.

    • 7
      2

      Concerned,
      is it as important as earth shaking events like noise from one’s neighbourhood?

      • 0
        1

        SJ as usual misses the point. This is about a Police emergency number that does not work, not about weather the call was about noice or murder. Loss of faculties as a result of hate.

        Anbey Sivam

        • 1
          1

          A
          “Concerned” raised a question, and I responded.
          The problem could be that SJ made an ‘uncomfortable point’.
          *
          aaRuvath cinam

    • 0
      0

      This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn’t abide by our Comment policy.For more detail see our Comment policy https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/comments-policy-2

  • 26
    4

    Jeevan,
    .
    Are you so oblivious to the outlandish hypocrisy that often shows up in your writings?
    .
    You have this massive bone to pick with the ralahami over an alleged Rs.100/200 bribe attempt, hardly a dollar in your currency of sustenance. In the same breath you have no qualms pointing out you shamelessly appealed to Ranil for personal assurance of protection from police, a privilege obviously not available to the common man. Similarly, you saw no shame in begging Mahinda for a job, and in fact you went so far as to compromise the community interest by standing in solidarity with the mafia group arranging to honour Mahinda at Oxford soon after the civilian massacre orchestrated by his regime. AT another occasion you also proudly announced that you were able to leverage personal influence to get Chandrika help find a good school for a child of your friend.
    .
    Do you really not see any incongruity in trying to project righteousness in the measly case of ralhami’s bribe, while the influence peddling that you so freely practice seem perfectly legitimate if not boasting rights?!

    • 3
      19

      “honour Mahinda at Oxford” or “Watch Mahinda utterly expose himself at Oxford and blurt out his evil strategies and mindset and exhibit his IQ?

      Academic cutoms and modi operandi are not understood by non scholars it appears.

      It was the right of the students and scholars there and wherever the session could be viewed to hear Mahinda then too becoming implicated with genocide, even as Hitler should have been heard. The strategy is in asking pertinent and critical questions before scholars to catch the fellow and make him accountable for his crimes. We lost that chance thanks to those short sighted Tamils. So MR got to do everything on the sly. May be that is what R. Kumar wanted.

      Kumar R did not grow up Tamil and lives abroad. He wants to decimate someone who is advocating for human rights in Jaffna. This is his sole agenda.

      • 19
        4

        Academic,

        Nice try pal! Ashamed of the servile “will do anything for you master” prostration at Mahinda’s feet, now you have to invent some farcical excuse to justify giving the “Tamil support” that Mahinda needed desperately to hoodwink the internationals, together with the Pottinger mafia! Now, try to find excuses for “carrying water” for Devananda, and the boast on securing a spot at a Colombo school through the back door with the help of Chandrika to complete your fiction! This is the “DSc in Electronics” guy who was relegated to teach ethics at some school in the USA?

        • 0
          3

          Sour grapes old fellow. Really! Keep personal envies out. You sound like a top class loser Kumarrrrr. You can still apply for VC and get over it.

          Jaffna people won’t be fooled by your unbelievable lies. We live here. We are all too smart for you. Is this Mahabaratham for guys overseas who won’t return to Jaffna and feeling very small there? Keep your mouth to swallow your raw steaks and down your whiskeys if you can’t be edifying.

          Anyone who has a right to talk about our people’s welfare should come back and live in Jaffna. The rest are hypocrites

          Governor should do something. Hope not a litany of resolutions again!

    • 4
      18

      Who are you Kumar R? You write untruths against Professor Hoole, and always have something negative to say. Who pays you?

      There are three areas Prof’s enemies focus on. All there arise from his commitment to democracy

      1. He never campaigned for Douglas Devananda. At LLRC he said factually correct things about Devananda, hinting (between seemingly complementary lines punctuated with words like seems and “as judged by” making it all vague) that Douglas who betrayed the Tamil people cannot be trusted and that the government must carefully pick those it works with:

      “The public had severe misgivings about Minister Douglas Devananda …[but] he seems to have earned a place among the Tamil people as judged by recent elections where he had the highest preferential vote in Jaffna. … In politics, … “Whatever it takes, there are three cardinal rules: 1) Loyalty is all. 2) if they rat on you once, they will rat on you twice and 3) The value of political forgiveness is nil. Government would do well to take note and choose through whom it tries to win over the estranged Tamil public.”

      2. When Rajapaksa’s Oxford Union speech was canceled, here is how he stood up for free speech:

      [T]hey have failed to stand up for free speech and energised extremist forces, both Sinhalese and Tamil. … What have these protesters really achieved? … they have prevented President Rajapaksa from expressing his own views. And, most saddening, they have prevented others who might have had serious issues with him from engaging in a dialogue with him at the lecture.

      Oxford was a missed opportunity to take Rajapaksa apart.

      3. He has spoken up for better relations between Tamils and Muslims.

      Dr. Nisama

      • 9
        17

        Dear A.K. Nizam,
        .
        There are many anonymous commenters, but they seem to have something of value to say – except this snake-in-the-grass, Kumar R.
        .
        Prof. Hoole is an impulsive man who may say many things, but he has done our country (in worse plight than ever before) great good.
        .
        Am I not exaggerating? No. I see the fact that young people are not organising open rebellions to the fact that they are fascinated by the baubles thrown up by technology. Worldwide people feel that we have progressed.
        .
        We will soon have to pay for it all with Nature telling us that one species cannot exploit her to quite this extent.

        • 19
          6

          Sinhala Man,
          .
          I believe you have previously made comments to the effect that name calling is the last desperate form of defense when there is no legitimate defense. Perhaps I am giving you more credit than is deserved, wisdom-wise!.
          .
          “Prof. Hoole is an impulsive man who may say many things” – I agree completely. That is, however, the ultimate trade mark of someone incapable of taking responsibility for what he utters. Hardly a proud-trait for an ethical or educated one. Jeevan has proved that many a time, the Kattubedda and the Christian majoritarian issues are prime examples. Go ahead, stand up and cheer as you are normally inclined to do.
          .
          “but he has done our country great good” – please name one. I have asked this of you before, and your only response was that he part-took in a US election as an observer as one among 50 or more other participants. Go figure!!

          • 5
            13

            Kumar R,
            .
            Find out how much he did to ensure that the Maldives Presidential Election was free and fair.

            • 13
              1

              Sinhala_Man,

              A typical “Koheda yanne.. malle pol.”
              .
              Please re-read what you wrote –“but he has done our country (in worse plight than ever before) great good.” (A retired teacher you said you were? Hmmm…)
              .
              I asked you to name one. Just one “great good” Jeevan has done our country that would justify your praise. You COULD NOT! Not one single thing!!
              .
              Instead you want me to go find out what he did in the Maldives — just like the last time you sent me a link as proof of his “great thing he did at the U.S elections”. The link showed that Jeevan just sat on the sidelines with 49 other developing country delegates “observing” US elections! Big deal! When I told you that you got pretty tongue tied. Remember?
              .
              Your inexplicable hero-worshiping of Jeevan is not unlike the bafoons cheering away for that goon now sitting in the White House! To be written off as imbecilic nonsense of the utterly naive!!

        • 19
          3

          A.K. Nizam,
          .
          Your comment on Oxford is nothing but another desperate attempt at a spin not unlike that of the Academic. The background of that proposed event orchestrated with the involvement of Mahinda’s contracted PR team of Pottinger lobbying with the UK Government and Oxford leadership speaks for itself. If Jeevan is as progressive as you want to claim, why has Jeevan resolutely remained silent despite being asked multiple times to make public his statements at LLRC in full?
          .
          As for Jeevan’s statement as you cite “he (Douglas) seems to have earned a place among the Tamil people as judged by recent elections where he had the highest preferential vote in Jaffna” was it really unknown to Jeevan how Douglas (with MR/Gota/Basil along with and army/police connivance) carried out the campaign to win the election. Is the state’s connivance that Jeevan decries now actually recently learned “ground reality” for Jeevan? For you?

      • 13
        3

        Dear AK
        How did Hoole get his VC post in 2006?
        Didnt he prostrate in front of Mr.DD and get it?
        Didnt Hoole beg Mr.DD in the email he sent from Ankara?

        • 3
          2

          As far as I can tell Prof worked at Pera till his appointment as VC in 2006. I know he did not go to Turkey in that period.
          Repeat a lie many times and it will be believed.

          • 1
            0

            Hello Student(?), please dont write lies like the HR groups write in their reports.Prof.Hoole was at:
            Michigan university,
            428 South shaw lane Suite# 2120
            USA
            If you still need proof,let me know.

  • 17
    1

    Remember former NP Governor Rtd. Major General G A Chandrasiri monitored every wedding, every funeral, UoJ lectures and so on. He scrutinised every cent spent by the Provincial Council.
    Before his appointment as Governor, he was the Commander Security Forces Headquarters – Jaffna ; General Officer Commanding, 52 Division;, Director General – General Staff, Joint Operations Headquarters; Brigade Commander Armoured Brigade and Commander, Area Headquarters Mannar.
    One may extrapolate how he directed the personnel under his command.
    By the time he was removed in 2015, the people had experienced the worst in Armed Services Terrorism.
    As an aside: Would GA Chandrsiri governed, for example Central Province, like that?
    .
    Ideally the Governor of a province must not interfere with the day to day administration.
    Here is SRH Hoole inviting the newly appointed Governor to follow the GA Chandrasiri way.
    SRH H says in the letter to the new Governor, “Indeed I am happy to see you in the media returning long overdue occupied lands to their owners”.
    Returning land? My foot. Says a lot!

    • 1
      8

      “Ideally the Governor of a province must not interfere with the day to day administration.
      Here is SRH Hoole inviting the newly appointed Governor to follow the GA Chandrasiri way.”

      The Governor can ask the President to appoint a Commission in his District to help the citizens or influence the National Police Commission for monitoring abuse and neglect while an Election Commissioner in his position of required neutrality cannot.

      Your comment and its language shows too much bias for reasonable consideration.

      Everyone in our neighbourhood is happy someone spoke up.

  • 13
    0

    The apathy of the Police is island-wide and is not confined only to the Northern Province. In fact I have commented in CT that this country changed from a military state to a police state after Jan 2015. SRH seems interpret that is entirely due to federalism has not taken its roots in the country. SRH is well aware that even under the present set up the provinces are empowered to do certain things on their own. Has the Northern Province, even with a so called colorful individual like Wiggy as the CM, harnessed the available potential in favor of the Northerners. He was only rabble-rousing to the extent that some very learned (Yet another Professor) describing Wiggy as a political Kavadi Dancer. My information is that the young in the Northern Province think that the elders fighting or representing the interests of the Northern Province are nothing but a set of imposters and fraudsters. If that is so, dear SRH, you have to go back to your drawing board for a better design.

  • 2
    17

    SJ, Kumar R etc,
    The writer has asked the Governor to check police corruption, something that badly needs doing. It is not that the Police as an institution are worse than others where Tamils are in charge. But several commentators have unfortunately made it an issue about the author. To pick out particular incidents and give them a very one-sided interpretation is not being honest. SJ is yet to explain how and why he helped Vasanthi Arasaratnam to draft the letter giving reasons why the author was rejected for Senior Lecturer Grade I in Engineering, for which he applied, because because his application for senior professor was not being processed.
    *
    I too have a request for the Governor, a much simpler request than taking on the Police. The University of Jaffna is perhaps the most crucial institution for the future of the region. Its graduates will man our professions and services for many years to come. At least two major unions made a simple and rational request to the UGC – to reappoint Prof. Tharmaratnam when the Council was reconstituted last year. He alone on the Council had single-handedly fought against malfeasance in appointments. The Deputy Chairman of the UGC wanted him appointed, as we learn, but academic bureaucrats used their influence on the UGC Chairman to keep him out. SJ knows the immense value of the services Tharmaratnam has performed. (Contd)

    • 1
      1

      Jaffna Citizen,

      There is nothing wrong with publicly calling for action from the Governor but I do not know do Governors have any kind of power over universities or police in their provinces. I doubt it and believe that these matters are for NPC, IGP and UGC.

      I am not sure about the details but was not Prof. Tharmaratnam caught in some kind of irregular evaluation of an applicant to become a lecturer at UoJ? He tried to give low marks for the candidate without any real reason as a member of the selection panel?

  • 1
    14

    Contd.
    It is high time someone took the bull of anarchy in the university by the horns. Some good appointments are pending because the leading contenders are too smart for the other academics. One is in Financial Management that has been highlighted in the CT. Dr. Muttukrishna Sarvananda’s appointment is pending after being selected, not for any justifiable reason. He is an accomplished researcher in economics and has written widely on social issues. In the case of two members of the minor staff I could only describe their plight as harassment for the wrongs of senior persons.
    *
    If the Governor could at least ensure the appointment of Prof. Tharmaratnam to the Council, we will know that he is both capable and means serious business.

    • 10
      1

      Concerned Jaffna Citizen
      You ask questions like asking a teetotaler: “When did you stop drinking?”
      or asking a bachelor: “When did you stop hitting you wife?”
      Grow up!
      *
      I am not in the job of appointing or “disappointing” people or any of your kind of mudslinging.
      I recommend none for posts and do not object to any so appointed, even when some posts secured by sucking up those in power amuse me.

      • 3
        10

        SJ
        You are resorting to your habitual evasion by resorting to irrelevancy. Your malfeasance in Prof. Hoole’s matter is in black and white. You rejected him for Senior Lecturer and signed against your name. The link is given below. You are too old to be lying.

        https://www.colombotelegraph.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/scan-13-Engineering-Recruitment.pdf

        • 6
          1

          Get one thing straight: I have said it before and repeat it now: I cannot and will not go into matters that I cannot talk about in public.
          *
          Grow up and stop your childish pranks.

          • 3
            0

            SJ

            “Get one thing straight: I have said it before and repeat it now: I cannot and will not go into matters that I cannot talk about in public.”

            I appreciate your principled position.
            However do you also hold such principled positions on the weeping widows atrocities, destruction of economy, and peace among people, aiding and abetting genocide by foreign countries, ….

    • 13
      1

      Jaffna Citizen,
      (Part 1)
      Good thing you brought to CT’s attention that Sarvi’s “appointment is pending” and just in time I hope!
      .
      My familiarity of Sarvi is from the two atrocious, grossly inappropriate articles he wrote attacking the then teenager MIA personally for her appearance at a BBC interview where she spoke in sympathy with the Tamil civilians who were facing atrocities under Mahinda’s regime. It raised many questions as to who was funding Sarvi under a rather odd umbrella of the Point Pedro Policy institute, a unique regional policy institute, the type not found anywhere else in the whole country?! The eyebrows were further raised when Sarvi was cited by another Mahinda supporter as having suggested that Gota was justified in bringing Sinhala youth to do all the defense funded development and infrastructural work only because Sarvi had found there was a labour shortage in the North, even while nearly 100% of the Tamil youth in the region were utterly unemployed. Further, it was a mystery how Sarvi was somehow selected from completely outside of the Jaffna academic circle for a prestigious fellowship in the U.S. Was that an appropriate academic decision or was it a politically convenient selection, a personal reward from Gota for services rendered, it is difficult not to wonder.
      .
      Aside from these somewhat dubious circumstances surrounding Sarvi’s operations and acquisitions, I am truly flabbergasted at your characterization “He is an accomplished researcher in economics and has written widely on social issues.” Just about an year or so ago Sarvi published an article in CT reporting purportedly an investigative study of any evidence exist of religious conversions in the North. He concluded NONE EXISTED!

      • 4
        10

        Kumar R,

        MIA is an irresponsible Tamil activist. There are many in the diaspora who whitewashed the LTTE’s crimes and MIA is one of them. I have not read Sarvi’s critique of what MIA said. But there are many of us who live and work in Jaffna who are very critical of MIA’s politics.

        There are TNPF supporters whose critical comments on the TNA are appropriated by Mahinda Rajapaksa’s fans for the latter’s political gains. Then are we going to jump to the conclusion that TNPF and Mahinda Rajapaksa are working closely with one another and the TNFP is in fact funded by Mahinda Rajapaksa?

        You find fault with Sarvi’s research and then make this rather dubious, vague claim: “while nearly 100% of the Tamil youth in the region were utterly unemployed” – what do you mean when you say “nearly 100%”? Can you be a little more precise? Isn’t it vague? Isn’t such a claim not acceptable in research? Then the category called “youth.” Can you please specify the age group? Can you also explain to us on what basis you arrived at that wild claim? Have you done any research on this area? If so I would like to read your research paper.

        • 9
          1

          ArularII,

          Whether the then teenager, an up and coming celebrity who had at that age gained access to the world stage, is irresponsible or not is not for you to unilaterally decide.
          .
          The concern is what prompted Sarvi’s two rapid-fire nasty articles condemning MIA as a person, not just her views. Contrast that with Sarvi when he stayed mum as Dayan and Co declared zero-civilian casualties at the world stage? Sarvi remained mute as Kathir point-blankly denied on BBC that families and villages were washed off in the East.
          .
          Was Sarvi part of the “intellects” that Mahinda and Gota harnessed to provide cover and do PR work to hoodwink the internationals, as Mahinda used the Pottinger group to influence Oxford and British politicians. Why did the funding and research work at Point Pedro Policy Institute come to a stand still soon after Mahinda’s regime was sent home?!
          .
          Gota brought in busloads of Sinhala labour to the North for all the donor-funded “development work” intentionally avoiding using local Tamil youth. As the donors began to question that, Gota needed some credible reasoning for relocating hoards of Sinhala families to the North, and surprise, surprise, Sarvi publishes a research report “establishing” there was acute labour shortage, even as the streets were swarming with Tamil youth loitering having nothing else to do. Was it 100%, 95%, 90.01% – who cares?! Can would be your assessment on the likely unemployment rate among Tamil youth at that time. Do you truly believe it was substantially less than being close to 100%
          .
          The pedantic nature of your query, thrown in as a lame defense, reflects not mere ignorance but gross stupidity at its worst! Well, Tamils are cursed with enemies within, way more than without!!

          • 0
            8

            In my village in Jaffna, there are about 15 young people (between the ages of 18 and 30) currently looking for jobs. They are all from Vellala families and all of them want secure government jobs. They are trying to contact people like Vijayakala Maheswaran and Angajan Ramanathan. They have GCE OL or higher qualifications. If you are really aware of the social demography of Jaffna, you will not make idiotic claims like the ones you posted above. Most of the upper-caste youth in Jaffna are prepared to work in the short-term development projects. Your 100% or 90.01% statistic needs to be substantiated. I am not making wild claims like you. Good bye.

            • 5
              0

              Arular11,
              .
              The discussion was not about current unemployment of Tamil youth, but rather what happened when Gota was gobbling up donor funds meant for Northern developmetn, and Sarvi’s unfounded assertion helped Gota justify the relocating of Southern Sinhalese to the North only because of severe labour shortage in the North.
              .
              Try a little harder to stay focused, although evidently that is hardly your strength.
              .

      • 1
        10

        Kumar R,

        “It raised many questions as to who was funding Sarvi under a rather odd umbrella of the Point Pedro Policy institute, a unique regional policy institute, the type not found anywhere else in the whole country?!”

        Dr Sarvi founded PPID to employ himself in an independent way.

        “Further, it was a mystery how Sarvi was somehow selected from completely outside of the Jaffna academic circle for a prestigious fellowship in the U.S. Was that an appropriate academic decision or was it a politically convenient selection, a personal reward from Gota for services rendered, it is difficult not to wonder.”

        Are you referring to the short term Fulbright grant for post graduate studies? UoJ, “Jaffna Academic Circle”, Mahinda and Gota do not select who receives grants from Fulbright.

    • 14
      1

      Jaffna Citizen,
      (Part 2)
      .
      Reading through the Reaserch report, it was quickly clear that the methodology he used was utter nonsense – just an excel spreadsheet of before-and-after tables, four or five decades apart, totally ignoring all the population shifts, war massacres and consequent emigration effects wholly discounted, aside from many other fundamental flaws. Grossly anti- scientific, not even vaguely statistical! There was no peer review, and it was challenged that he will never get that passed any established reputed statistician. Worse still Sarvi at its height presumption, felt qualified, based on “insights” he had unearthed from his “study,” to offer policy advise to non-Christian religious leaders on how they should conduct themselves! A grotesque mission creep if there was one!!
      .
      I hope the panel that has put the appointment on hold will take the time to review his work, not just to assess Sarvi’s academic “accomplishments,” but also to better understand Sarvi’s motivations, convictions and perhaps even the source of funding for the nonsense he was passing off as research.

      • 2
        10

        I am responding to this mainly because it is not in the interest of the community or the University which has in fact selected him, for readers to go away with a very unfair and slanted opinion of Muttukrishna Sarvananda.
        *
        His publications span several of the world’s respected publishers: Routledge, Elsevier, Sage, Economic and Political Weekly among others. I attach a link:
        http://www.pointpedro.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32&Itemid=59
        *
        He has applied for an academic position and it is only fair that he be judged on the basis of what he has put forward as his best and serious academic publications. He appears to be a secular man, which is healthy and we need not bother about his religious views or his opinion on religious disputes. He certainly has initiative and would undoubtedly be an asset to the University. Let us not be small minded and force others to pass judgment on us.

        • 6
          0

          Dear Jaffna Citizen,
          (Part 1)
          .
          Your obviously stretched and strained attempts to argue (a) “it is only fair that he be judged on the basis of what he has put forward as his best and serious academic publications” and (b) “we need not bother about his religious views or his opinion,” end up revealing a lot more than you intended! Oh what tangled webs we weave!
          .
          Sarvi’s research publication on religious conversions was something he voluntarily submitted for publication in CT – not because he thought it was weak. Rather, he did it with much pride. Having convinced himself of the “great insights” from his “research work” he in fact had the temerity to preach to other religious leaders how they should conduct their business!
          .
          It therefore makes no sense to suggest that this study be dismissed or even discounted in appraising his candidacy. On the contrary, critical, objective due diligence would in fact require that a proper and detailed scrutiny is done of not just the premise and methodology for the work, but the circumstances surrounding the motivation for the study itself. Wisdom dictates that the strength of a chain is measured, not by its strongest link, but rather by its weakest one!
          .
          In that view let me elaborate as to why I feel it will be gross negligence on the part of the selection board to ignore the following considerations.
          .
          The basic premise of Sarvi’s research was that a quantitative ”before-and-after” measurement made of population statistics several decades apart alone would suffice to establish whether or not religious conversions occurred. I am certain Sarvi would now agree that such a premise is fundamentally flawed invalidating any conclusions derived from that research, a research effort not worthy even of a rookie researcher!

        • 7
          0

          Dear Jaffna Citizen,
          (Part 2)
          .
          Sarvi was not a novice researcher when he conducted this study: Sarvi had completed a doctorate and has had several years of research experience as you yourself reported. He had in fact, by then, finished one or perhaps two prestigious international Research Fellowships.
          .
          If Sarvi’s research capability and his intellectual curiosity was in fact so weak and rudderless despite the so many years of formal academic training in country and abroad followed by several years of on hands on research experience, what does it say about the confidence one could have in giving him the responsibility to guide, mentor and supervise young researchers passing through his hands for several generations to come.
          .
          On the other hand if Sarvi is indeed capable of realizing the gross inappropriateness of the premise and methodology he used in the research, but still decided to conduct that flawed research and forward it for public consumption with over reaching policy recommendations for political use, that then would be intentional deception, quite contrast to the expected intellectual ethics and honesty required of an independent academic researcher. Is it possible that such motivation was caused by own religious biases and bigoted convictions or did some interest groups were able to influence him to compromise his integrity, offering monetary or other inducements?
          .
          So, in effect, either this research was a result of utter incompetence, or an intentional deceit. Neither bodes well for an academic position that will place generations of youth under his guidance and mentoring!! All Citizens of Jaffna genuinely concerned about the future of multiple generations of Jaffna Citizens should urge the Board to weigh these considerations as critical elements in the selection process – don’t you think?

      • 3
        12

        Dr. Nizam is spot on about Kumar R and his tactics. The Rajapksas surely are paying to drown all liberal voices among Tamils and promote extremism to win singala nationalist support. To quote KR
        1. “It raised many questions as to who was funding Sarvi under a rather odd umbrella of the Point Pedro Policy institute, a unique regional policy institute, the type not found anywhere else in the whole country?! “
        Is that uniqueness and regional base not what got him funds? Please dot not raise questions. If he has unsavoury funding sources give us the evidence.

        2. “The eyebrows were further raised when Sarvi was cited by another Mahinda supporter as having suggested that Gota was justified in bringing Sinhala youth to do all the defense funded development and infrastructural work only because Sarvi had found there was a labour shortage in the North, even while nearly 100% of the Tamil youth in the region were utterly unemployed.”

        Any Mahinda supporter can interpret Sarvi. Did he say it? Where?

        3. “Further, it was a mystery how Sarvi was somehow selected from completely outside of the Jaffna academic circle for a prestigious fellowship in the U.S. Was that an appropriate academic decision or was it a politically convenient selection, a personal reward from Gota for services rendered, it is difficult not to wonder.”

        What is relevant is whether a better applicant was overlooked. Besides, Gota has nothing to do with American Fellowships.

        4. “I am truly flabbergasted at your characterization “He is an accomplished researcher in economics and has written widely on social issues.” Just about an year or so ago Sarvi published an article in CT reporting purportedly an investigative study of any evidence exist of religious conversions in the North. He concluded NONE EXISTED!”

        If you are an academic you will know that if you hold contrary views you respond with citations. Not here.

  • 15
    1

    Provincial Governors are political appointments and as such will act as required.
    University of Jaffna may have faults but this is endemic in other tertiary institutions. Can the faults be fixed? This is a topic on its own!
    .
    If not for the January2015 elections, former Governor Rtd Maj. Gen. GA Chandrisiri might be still around. True memory fades but surely not this soon.
    Cosying up to Governors for personal gains is most unwise.

  • 4
    3

    Prof Hole,

    In Sri Lanka, you need to have good connections. Whether at the passport office, at the pensions department trying to fix your pension or at the Police station trying to get the Law book turned to the page you want it to be turned.

    There are things called customs. When you go to the Police station for a matter like this, you need to take a bottle of Black Label and justice will be served promptly.

    Even if you are inside a court of Law, you need to give the Judge a little bit of a “Santhosa”. In the Western world it is called a “Tip”.

    The last time I was in SL, my Brother in law was staying at the General Hospital. Why we went there was because the Medical equipment was only available there. Otherwise, we wouldn’t even sight that hell hole.There we wanted a Nurse to specifically look after my BIL. So, I went up to the Nurse and told her that I am a Veteran of the armed forces, took a 1000 rupee note out of my wallet, and placed it in her hand and said we will take care of you even more if you take care of my BIL. My BIL said he received the best of care.

    That’s how you do things in SL. Writing letters will get you nowhere.

    • 5
      2

      Dear Rtd. Lt. Reginald Shamal Perera,
      .
      I was wondering how I could reach out to you by complimenting you on a good posting, and this morning, voilà, I’ve found this.
      .
      You can make whatever points you want to, but please continue to do so using polite language, and please don’t scatter insults unnecessarily.
      .
      Unfortunately, what you say about corruption in the country is true. But it’s not all who demand this “satisfaction”. Efforts must be made to prosecute, and justice dispensed fairly, and commensurate with the offence. The Black Label policeman must be more severely dealt with than the nurse. In fact, I don’t know whether the nurse ought even to be punished for what you have reported unless she has grossly neglected other patients.
      .
      But another thought: aren’t you also to blame for offering the bribe?
      .
      What we need is to severely punish the huge sharks. Plenty of them sanctimoniously lead seemingly respectable lives.
      .
      As for making “citizen arrests”, you have to be selective, and make sure that what you do sticks. Prof. Hoole is one person who has made a few very useful interventions.

      • 2
        1

        Sinhala_man,

        Thanks for the dignified response. Something that is rare in this forum nowadays. We can always have robust disagreements over issues without retorting to childish name calling and vulgarity.

        Now back to the subject. There is a difference between a “tip” and a “bribe”. For example, in our case if you give a Police officer a bottle of Arrack or any other. It’s just a tip. But if you offer him one lakh of ruppees in exchange for a favorable outcome, then that is a bribe.

        In Prof Hole’s case, I wasn’t proposing him asking for a favor from the Police officer. But was telling him not to go empty handed.

        You know in Sri Lanka even in the good old days, when people used to visit the Grama Niladhari or the Wedha (Medicine man), they used to take some Treacle (Kitul Pani) or some Plantains etc.

        That is our culture. You just don’t go empty handed. It’s sad people have forgotten those customs. Instead now people are demanding things from others and threatening to write negative things online if they don’t get what they want. This modern generation has an astounding sense of entitlement. Those things are not going to work in SL.

        In Canada, even when I visit my Bank Manager or my family Doctor, I take some chocolates or flowers or something. My Bank manager who is an old white Canadian lady who grew up in rural Saskathewan says, I am her only customer who does this. And that it reminds her of her younger days when everyone followed these customs.

        • 3
          0

          Rtd. Lt. Reginald Perera, Your ‘.. the dignified response. Something that is rare in this forum nowadays’, makes me laugh! Go over the comments you have made in the past. You’ll know what makes me laugh!

    • 3
      2

      Retarded

      Last year a kilo Beef was Rs 975.33.
      So the nurse was so cheap to provide you her extra services?
      What a bull?

    • 2
      0

      Rtd. Lt. Reginald Shamal Perera,

      “When you go to the Police station for a matter like this, you need to take a bottle of Black Label and justice will be served promptly.”

      When the police serves you Black Label and justice you know that you have achieved something.

  • 4
    3

    Thank you, Shamal,
    .
    Sticking to just this exchange of ideas:
    .
    You have this nostalgia for our now ebbing culture. That was fine for the leisured days of the past when everyone in the village knew each other. Then we had the Wedha and the Gam-Muladeniya (Village Headman) who, I think, performed services without salary from the government. The humble then used to pay tribute to the respected elder. For such instances, I have to go back to the memories of childhood – not very reliable because we had NOT developed our critical faculties.
    .
    Then the government appointed “Grama Sevakas” – a lovely word. When they demanded that they be made “Niladharis” they surely lost our respect.
    .
    Giving the policeman arrack is worse (and that has little to do with my being a tee-totaller). The Police are usually given these things to perform a favour that they ought not to. As such, it too is a bribe – especially if given before the favour is done. A tip is in order today, when something legal is done but the officer has gone beyond the call of duty. It is given after the favour has been done.
    .
    In the case of the nurse, you gave it as your BIL entered the hospital. But it was for performing a totaly different kind of “duty”.
    .
    I’d bettr finish this not verybright effort of mine by re-emphasising the difference of the services, and even of the offereing. I felt that I had to respond to your very civilised comment.

  • 0
    0

    Prof. S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole,

    In addition to 119 and 1990 you should obtain the fixed number(s) of the nearest police station and the mobile numbers of the OIC and the officer who takes over when the OIC is on leave. Having the mobile numbers of ambulance staff serving your area might be a good idea. There are problems with the emergency numbers even in Colombo.

  • 2
    1

    If Sarvi was Gota’s poodle, how could he have authored the following article, which was delivered as a public lecture on April 28, 2010, at the Indian Cultural Centre in Colombo and subsequently published in Contemporary South Asia journal in June 2011?

    https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228276647_Sri_Lanka_Putting_Entrepreneurship_at_the_Heart_of_Economic_Revival_in_the_North_East_and_Beyond

  • 4
    0

    Why is this Hoole calling this guy His Excellency? There will be too many of them. He is a pretend Oxford guy, who works ( if at all) at a small hole of a place called the Institute of Buddhist Studies, affiliated to but not a part of Oxford. He has no Oxford degrees. So, His Excellency my foot Raghavan is hyped up by this stooge. He is on his usual rant. How great he is and how small the policemen are. My experience of Sinhala policemen in the North is that they are quite helpful even if they do not speak Tamil. There are bad nuts among them but it has nothing to do with their being Sinhalese. Hooole’s only purpose in writing the gibberish he writes is to show that he is alive and is a unholy arsehole full of shit out to demonstrate how important he is.

    • 3
      0

      There are norms. We call Sirisena HE although he was a Grama Sevaka. If you do not like to call him as is the norm, you do not have to.. No one will punish you for it.

  • 2
    0

    Dear Sir

    Respect you actions/record events/summarising them as without this ‘action list’we can not address issues accordingly.

    I read Dr Raghavan’s speech very stimulating kindly share the following link with your readers please

    https://www.ceylontoday.lk/print-edition/5/print-more/24419

    Dr Raghavans speech and your article has many thinks in common talking about the well-being of our people who reside in the North. Only exceptional difference is Dr Raghavan did not bring his personal politics with regard to what his believes are on Federalism into his job scope. This is why his speech is so effective in line with his job scope?? To serve the people we should keep the politics out???

    Tamil areas means non believers of Federalism reside too?? and in a secular Sri Lanka people from all walks of life reside in these spaces too??. Dr Raghavan sounded very professional in his speech trying to perform his job/laying a good foundation/ambiance such he can actually apply some of his skills to better our people? He talked about shortage of teachers? he talked about failure of the NPC in the past on fundamental basic rights of people to have basic services which Hon Alfred Thurripah and Thiagarajah’s and their like did at the cost of their lifes??

  • 1
    2

    The police issue needs to be addressed quickly and Thanks Prof. for trying.

    Sad thing every time you write there is a chorus from your immature and devious haters. We can’t have any productive discussion for the governor or any reader. They are a disgrace to the Tamil people. Lying and lying and inventing more lies each time. Small people don’t know better. These people are Rajapakse people don’t want political solutions for the Tamil people so they can grab all the money money money.

    Prof. Hoole was vice chancellor, and that was well deserved. As our Principal said don’t step down from the UGC where you were doing lot of good work. He was prophetic. This university has nose dived after 2010.We voted for you both times because we know you could improve the University. It was under death threats we voted for you.

    Thank you for saving us from that dark being called MR cheating his way in. How these fellows with their King came driving back in all glory in so many vehicles saying “we are back”. They hate you because of that. So nobody should take these destructive people seriously.

    Back to story, we agree that the Governor should appoint a committee to look into police abuses in the North and East. There is a Police Commission inside the Kachcheri here. What for nobody knows. At leaset put some Tamil senior policemen so we can go and talk. The rowdies are taking the upper hand because people are scared of the police. Women here need lot of help.

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