“If the closure was to do with the anniversary on 27^th November, the University has the machinery to communicate with the students and seek assurances from them. The day was already taken care of by the mid-semester vacation. 27^th November, the Mullivaykkal debacle of 18^th May, the Anuradhapura massacre of 14^th May and the Kattankudy Mosque massacre of 3^rd August are all etched in our history. A mature university should have inter-communal discussions on how we look at history and how we are going to deal with it. An authoritarian university culture with its resort to the like of emergency regulations, will never take a mature approach.” asks the Jaffna University Science Teachers Association.

Writing to its Vice Chancellor the JUSTA says; “The UGC Chairman had no authority to instruct universities to in effect stop undergraduate programmes and give a vacation to undergraduate students.”

We publish below the statement in full;

To the Vice Chancellor and Members of the Council

University of Jaffna

Dear Sir/Madam,

We, the Executive Committee of the Jaffna University Science Teachers Association draw your attention to recent developments. These impair the democratic character of the University that is meant to be participatory and consultative, keeping in view the need to cultivate mutual respect among all sections; and certainly not be authoritarian in its approach. In this connection we draw your attention to recent messages and instructions about the closure of the University for three weeks. The content of the messages is contradictory, arbitrary and of questionable propriety. They resemble more the arbitrary powers usurped by the State under the Emergency Regulations and are devoid of the due regard that should always be implicit when dealing with fellow academics and students.

When instructions are given in an academic context that lack reason or substance, they degrade an institution and entrench a culture where arbitrary and unfair actions become the norm. It would take many years to come out of it. We look at some of these messages.

1. The UGC Chairman had no authority to instruct universities to in effect stop undergraduate programmes and give a vacation to undergraduate students. Such an instruction has to come from the Minister. The Chairman in her letter of 6^th November was vague about the source of the order – ‘it was decided’. She was hard put to defend it. According to reports quoted by the FUTA, she had cited requests from students and ‘study about the CHOGM’. If her reason of traffic in Colombo is to be taken seriously, the whole of Colombo should have been vacated for the CHOGM, not just student hostels. The use of the library is important for students.

2. Following on the Chairman’s improper instruction, the Vice Chancellor, citing a discussion with the Deans’ Committee, decided on an extended vacation from 11^th November to 1^st December for undergraduate students of all faculties except Medicine. This exception points to a class difference that is inimical to the traditions of the University. Is it because medical students do exactly as they are told by their teachers and are unquestioningly obedient? What authority does the so-called Deans’ Committee have to require the vacation of hostels? The Vice Chancellor however did not declare the University out of bounds to students.

3. The Dean Science issued two notices. He did not refer to the Deans’ Committee or to the Vice Chancellor, and instead announced a decision of the Heads’ meeting to suspend lectures from 11^th November to 1^st December. He issued a second notice subsequently the same day, 7^th November, ‘The Faculty of Science is declared out of bounds to the students’ for the period of suspension of lectures. He did not say where the authority came from. Neither was the Faculty consulted, nor was any reason given.

One could laugh at this confused welter of instructions, but the emerging culture in which they appear raises many troubling questions. As academics we are asked to do what we are told and to accept authority without question. The environment has lost its academic character. When we cohabit with unreason, we become unreasonable and corrupt. Aspects of the emerging culture are already visible.

If the closure was to do with the anniversary on 27^th November, the University has the machinery to communicate with the students and seek assurances from them. The day was already taken care of by the mid-semester vacation. 27^th November, the Mullivaykkal debacle of 18^th May, the Anuradhapura massacre of 14^th May and the Kattankudy Mosque massacre of 3^rd August are all etched in our history. A mature university should have inter-communal discussions on how we look at history and how we are going to deal with it. An authoritarian university culture with its resort to the like of emergency regulations, will never take a mature approach.

Ours is the only university system the poor of this country have. If we downgrade it through abuse, we serve our students badly and will become party to the excessive regard given to qualifications outside our university system.

Thanking You,

Yours sincerely,

General Secretary -JUSTA