By Ratnajeevan H. Hoole –
Prof. S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole
Jaffna VC Vasanthi Arasaratnam recently admitted that there is no place for Christians there. Around 2002, Jaffna advertised Professor Electrical-IT-Civil. I applied. VC Balasundarampillai immediately cancelled the advertisement and readvertised only Civil saying the new Dean must build buildings. Recently, they hired a Hindu Electrical Engineer as the first Dean without advertisement, violating the Universities Act on transfers. I could not apply.
There has been bad blood between me and Arasaratnam since I applied for VC. I have a D.Sc., Ph.D and am the first Lankan IEEE Fellow. Yet, the VC has previously found both my wife Prof. Dushyanthi Hoole (with a doctorate under Nobel laureate George Olah) and me unqualified for appointment despite Court orders and a presidential directive to appoint us. UGC Chairman Mohan de Silva, hiding behind autonomy, fails to regulate university administrations as empowered in the Act.
The Avuncular Sampanthan: Choosing SJV or Mavai?
Mavai: Choosing SJV’s Heritage or his Relative’s Interests?
Hell-bent on serving, I applied for Senior Lecturer in Electrical Engineering (closing date 10.07.2015) fearing I would be found unqualified again. The Establishments Code requires that as soon as it is known that a vacancy exists, the university should act to fill it. Arasaratnam however waited for a year and called me for an interview on 08.07.2016, two days before the limit for deciding on the application. There is another rule that when a doctorate-holder applies, no application for Lecturer shall be considered without first finding the doctorate-holder unsuitable. There was one Lecturer applicant, a student of mine at Peradeniya. His interview was scheduled immediately after mine, strengthening my suspicion that I would be found unsuitable. However, even scheduling his interview before rejecting me was considering him.
As expected, my Selection Committee decision was simply “No Selection Made.” Arasaratnam then immediately interviewed my student, and selected him. But the Council which has to act on the Selection Committee’s recommendation, rejected it. Almost every member of the Council objected. They directed the Committee to reconvene and give a reason. This, the VC has stalled for 3+ months. Now there are two problems. If the Selection Committee changes its decision, it would be after the expiry of the year-limit; and then there would be the problem of my student who has already assumed duties as Lecturer.
President Chandrika asked Mohan de Silva why. He inquired from the VC and replied in writing that I quarrel wherever I go, I wrote against Arumuga Navalar and that Jaffna is for Hindus and Christians should respect that. Now Jaffna being for Hindus is official. Mr. Mavai Senathirajah of the FP, relative of Arasaratnam, has endorsed this policy in communications with Minister Lakshman Kiriella and others. Mr. R. Sampanthan is aware but told me he has left Jaffna matters to Jaffna MPs.
jim softy / October 20, 2016
[Edited out]
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justice / October 20, 2016
Any university teacher should respect customs and traditions, but may retain his own personal opinions of same, while teaching scientific disciplines.
Hoole has been publicly criticising/ridiculing Tamil political, social and spiritual leaders from the time of Arumuga Navalar and Ponnambalam Ramanathan and extolling the Christian missionaries – even here in CT, thereby inviting disrespect and hatred, for a long time.
His academic credentials cannot override his outspoken contempt for non-Christian/Jaffna/Lankan Tamil society in general.
No university, in the north or south, will/should employ such persons as teachers.
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RL / October 20, 2016
Justice, please be fair. As a Hindu, and a student of Professor, I can see his point of view with sympathy.
We have long been making exaggerated claims about Navalar translating the Bible. I am not an expert. I have never had the time to study the matter. But I have read TamilNet making these claims on Navalar translating the Bible, Professor producing evidence and TamilNet finally agreeing that the Bible was translated into Tamil a lot before Navalar.
TamilNet did not agree with everything Professor said but on this, they agreed. The other matters, I don’t know. But they were argued with facts. That is legitimate academic debate. We should not try stop that. It is a Christian’s right
Try reading books on sociology. You cannot study a society without upsetting people, especially when recent societies like ours are examined. Surely it is not OK to argue that we can make these wrong untrue claims (like “No Navalar. No Tamil Bible”) and expect Christians to keep quiet. Worse is to say Prof is disrespecting our spiritual leader by challenging our false history. Remember also that many Hindus too have objected to Nalavar as our Spiritual leader. When we make false claims ridiculing others (like Navalar and the Bible, or the greatness of Ramanathan when he did not want the disadvantaged castes to vote or sit on a school bench) we invite arguments from those we insult like Christians and the members of the depressed castes.
If we stopped making these wrong claims, we would not invite challenges to what we write and hot debates.
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V. S. Subramaniam / October 20, 2016
Justice:
The Jaffna Council sent the Selection Committee’s decision back for review. So please do not talk nonsense about no one wanting to employ Prof. Hoole. They want to employ Prof. Hoole. Only the VC and Sivasegaram are against him. The others on the Selection Committee are Sivasegaram’s students who would sign anything for him. Sivasegaram was brought on to the Committee for this purpose. Usully Prof. Tharmaratnam goes for all Engineering Selection Committees. Suddenly the VC left him out and brought in Sivasegaram.
The VC has admitted that Prof. Hoole being a Christian is one of three reasons for his rejection. Many people discriminate because of religion. But in this day and age only a fool like the VC would admit it and only a bigger fool like the UGC chairmn would put it in writing.
If Prof. Hoole has contempt for Tamil/Jaffna society, I do not think he would have returned from his comfortable life in the US to keep trying for the last 20 years to settle down while people like you are preventing that.
As one of some 600 Tamil teachers Prof. Hoole recruited for the Oyo State Schools Board in Nigeria without a single Naira as recruiment fee, I say he has only love for Jaffna.
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justice / October 20, 2016
VSS,
He is Christian who denigrates Hinduism and Hindu social/political leaders continuously, even saying that Navalar had a ‘large head & small body’ and that Ponnambalam Ramanathan had an English mistress.
Such a man is not an ideal teacher.
He would not dare to make such comments in USA.
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Lone Wolf / October 20, 2016
justice,
“He is Christian who denigrates Hinduism and Hindu social/political leaders continuously, even saying that Navalar had a ‘large head & small body’ and that Ponnambalam Ramanathan had an English mistress. Such a man is not an ideal teacher. He would not dare to make such comments in USA.”
Have you noticed what kind of claims have been made during the election campaign in the USA? Freedom of expression goes a long way there.
What is wrong about saying that somebody had a mistress or a large head?
Should Hindu leaders enjoy immunity from critical comments while others don’t?
How to treat an atheist?
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S.R.H. Hoole / October 21, 2016
I have to give up on Tamil scholarship because we can only write what Nazi goons like Justice approve.
I have never seen Navalar. Even his portrait at the National Gallery and his image on his stamp are fakes with a friend of his posing for Navalar. Here is what Chaivap Periyaar Shivapaathasundaram says on page 6 of his book: His image is “of recent origin” and “no more gives his true form than the images of the Samaya guravas in temples give their true forms. This portrait of Navalar is adapted from that of a friend of mine [Shivapathasundaram’s] he was supposed to resemble.”
Navalar probably wore a coat at Central College very much like Justice.
Everything I wrote on Navalar’s appearance therefore is from Navalar’s well known Hindu biographers including his adulating nephew Kailasapillai. Here is what they said, with references:
Navalar’s nephew Kailasapillai [1] and Poolohasingam [2] describe Navalar as looking like a tadpole with small limbs and a huge head.
His adulating adulating nephew describes Navalar as having tiny ears and big forehead on a huge head, thin hands and legs, “strong” facial hair, and huge body without any strength for not doing any bodily work [3].
Chaivpriyaar Shivapathasundaram tells us that Navalar “had a delicate constitution and he never took any kind of bodily exercise. He was a perfect stranger to sports and games. His head alone was massive.” [4].
Was Chaiva Periyaar also denigrating Hinduism and Hindu social/political leaders? Were these 3 authors traitors who were anti-Hindu? Why can I not even quote them?
Now, Justice, Sir, I humbly ask, do I have your gracious permission — please, please! — to quote these scholars? I think without your permission nothing can be discussed. So please favour me with your kind permission.
I respectfully suggest that you form the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Hindu Faith and make yourself the Chief Inquisitor. This way we will not get into any trouble writing things you do not like. We can submit all our wrtings to you first and get your “Approved” stamp.
We can then chase out all heresy from University of Jaffna and burn all the books by Chaivap Periyaar, Kailasapillai and Poolohasingam, and even the books citing them so that their dirty works are never read by anyone and excised from all memory. How dare they describe Navalar the way he relly was, instead of making him handsome.
Then you can join the University of Jaffna using your very scholarly comments in Colombo Telegraph to claim a professorship and rewrite history the way you approve, even claiming that Navalar was stellar handsome in a Savile Row suit from London.
[1] Tha. Kailasapillai, Aarumkanaavalarin Chariththiram (Kailasapillai, T., n.d., Arumuka Navalar’s History, Kalanithiyanthirasaalai, Point Pedro, 2nd edn. p. 5
[2] P. Poolohasingam, Eelam Thantha Naavalar, Chennai: Kaanthalaham, 1993, p.192
[3] Kailasapillai, T., Arumukanavalar’ History, (in Tamil), (2nd edn.), Point Pedro, 1955; Chapter 14. (The first edn. Madras, 1918).
[4] Chaivap Periyaar S. Shivapathasundaram, Yalapanam Arumuka Navalar, 1950.
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Mama Sinhalam / October 21, 2016
The man condemns himself. Why this hatred towards people the Hindus in Jaffna revere.
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Siva Sankaran Sarma / October 21, 2016
The truth hurts We Thamizh :D
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Simon De Silva / October 21, 2016
No this is no right.
What if a prof possess the expertise in his field but still behaves as another Mervin in the areas of regligious affairs ?
I believe, there should be a set of regulations at Universities so that those Lectuers could follow them as is the case in developed world. They should know beyond the guidelines, they must not add their thoughts evasively. That can then be exemplary to those students who will be the next generation to follow. This should be common not only to Universities but schools or any other institutions. Displine and law and order should be held that strict as is done in S pore, Germany or western countries. Regardless of the credentials that a Prof brings, he should have the nature to respect laws held where they are. Basta.
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Erasmus / October 21, 2016
What is your point? There has been no complaint by students or by universities he has served on the ethics of Prof. Hoole or that his conduct has been unlawful or undisciplined. Has Hoole broken any temple, misbehaved or was unruly at any religious function? What has he in common with Mervyn Silva? Sri Lanka to my knowledge accepts international guidelines formalised by UNESCO (statement of 11 Nov 1997):
‘the principle of academic freedom should be scrupulously observed. Higher-education teaching personnel are entitled to the maintaining of academic freedom, that is to say, the right, without constriction by prescribed doctrine, to freedom of teaching and discussion, freedom in carrying out research and disseminating and publishing the results thereof, freedom to express freely their opinion about the institution or system in which they work, freedom from institutional censorship and freedom to participate in professional or representative academic bodies. All higher-education teaching personnel should have the right to fulfil their functions without discrimination of any kind and without fear of repression by the state or any other source.’
To discuss and write about religion or politics ‘without constriction by prescribed doctrine’ is an important part of academic freedom, without which a university is dead. It is unfortunate that we mix up teaching of religious doctrine to the faithful with independent inquiry that is key to the life of a university.
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Kumar R. / October 22, 2016
Absolutely right — “Sri Lanka to my knowledge accepts international guidelines formalised by UNESCO (statement of 11 Nov 1997): “
Should he not then formally appeal to the appropriate authorizes to handle this as case of discrimination rather than just whine in these columns?
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Fedrick / October 21, 2016
As a responsible tax payer to run this University business, I would like to propose following measures to clean Universities and get back to old golden days. 1) Identify and transfer all family members work in same University/Dept/Faculty as Lecturers. Recheck how these all family members came to system and penalize the responsible. Sometime wife is writing articles putting husband’s name for articles and husband getting professorship without shame (what ethics) presenting these to promotions. 2) Recheck all Lecturers and Professors qualifications and publications based on that re-grade them. 3) Never sent job applications received for academic positions to the respective academic depts. If you sent these applications they remove qualified PhD people and only interview henchmen. 4) Remove good business subjects from Arts faculty and hand over to Science and Technology faculties. See how Arts faculty destroyed good names of many good disciplines. Today Arts faculty products (graduates) are a symbol of unemployment. 5) Famous family dept must be closed and appoint President Commission to check inside and FCID must be called to checked inside for last 20 year period. 6) Never give professorships for jokers. 7) Reduce retirement age for academics 65 years to 60 or 58. 8) Follow strict rule while appointing Professors: In order to be a real international professor your PhD from world top 100 University, minimum 20 articles in ISI/SCOPUS indexed journals, 10 text books with international publishers and three countries have to appoint you as a Visiting professor. 9) Never allow any dept to issue first degree if you do not have sufficient number of PhDs in that dept. Take some Universities many Deans do not have PhDs. This is a recipe for disaster. 10) UGC can directly take task of recruitments of lecturers and give to respective Universities. This must be done quickly. 11) Select the best Lecturers with help of private sector independent body and sent to world top 100 universities with strict bond requirements. 12) Many of these so called academic jokers are now entering into professional bodies or they themselves create own fake professional bodies and they destroyed that profession also. 13) Develop comprehensive web sites for each University and say to show Publications with indexing place to public by each academics (not joke conference papers) and degrees where (Country and the University and international ranking of that University) they got their PHD. Today the most important thing is your PhD must come from accredited, ranking (at least 100) best University of the world to recognized your University basic products. Now see Sri Lankan local Universities are rotten to death. Somebody has to clean it. I am quite sure MY3 is incapable of even thinking about it.
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Slide rule / October 23, 2016
Sir Happy to see that you have become the biggest defender of our Hindu faith. They say after former Vice Chancellor Hoole Sir applied to the Killinochchi engineering faculty suddenly you have made a 180 degree tur. I see you are now supporting caste fanatics like Arumugam and Ponnambalam. But when we were your students you said you were a full fledged Marxist.
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Kumar R. / October 20, 2016
Ratnajeevan,
You state “I have a D.Sc., Ph.D and am the first Lankan IEEE Fellow.”
It will be very helpful if you would please specifically, explicitly state the last academic position (and even perhaps a timeline of the academic positions since your Ph.D. or D.Sc.) you held at any international Universities of good standing.
I have seen comments indicating that despite your several years of academic work, the last appointment you held was merely as an Adjunct Assistant lecturer. If that is the case, then perhaps religious discrimination is only a fig leaf.
If that is not the case, and that your appointments have been worthy of advanced academics (Distinguished Professor, Heads of Department at Universities of international repute, etc), then I think you have a legitimate claim – and you would indeed invoke much public support for your complaint.
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RL / October 20, 2016
Prof is still holding an appointment at Michigan State University where he is a full professor with a PhD student and grants from diffierent funding places including the US Army. Please read his papers and the acknowledgement lines. He is on leave of absence and still has a senior post-doctoral associate whom he pays. He has graduated 2 PhDs in 2015.
When people untruthfully tell you he was an Adjunct Assistant Lecturer it shows the amount of communal venom coming out. That proves what Prof is saying about our communalism. You yourself should not put out this venom when all you have to do is a web search. By the way, do you know who an Adjunct Assistant Lecturer is? I have never heard of it.
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S.R.H. Hoole / October 20, 2016
Dear Kumar R,
I am not going to spell out my timeline; but rest assured that the degrees and IEEE Fellow grade do not come for doing nothing.
An Adjunct Appointment is for an assignment (like teaching a course) without being a full-time member of the relevant faculty. I have been an Adjunct Professor teaching a course at another institution to help out while holding a full-time professorship at my home institution. For example, when there was shortage, while a full-time professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Drexel University, I was also an Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at Drexel itself, teaching Ethics for Professionals at extra pay. Similarly at Harvey Mudd College in California I was a Professor of Engineering and at the same time an Adjunct Professor of the Humanities and Social Sciences.
There is a lot of misinformation about me. I respectfully ask that you do not become a tool of communalists for spreading these about. Instead, you should ask yourself why your friends create these stories about me.
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Kumar R. / October 20, 2016
Ratnajeevan,
It is these seeming “smokes and mirrors” type of responses that confirms some apparent hidden reasons for not being explicit on simple request that keep these ‘stories” alive.
What I thought was reasonable question — a clear cut time line on positions held that would attest to potential for academic leadership and management such as Distinguished Professor, Head of Department at Universities of international repute.
Also please keep your Trump-like assumptions “why your friends create these stories about me.” to yourself. What proof do you have that my friends created it. Is that the kind of proof that you learnt for establishing or asserting conclusions in your Ph.D, DSc, programs? Such rather idiotic statements exposes your weakness rather than any strength, academic or otherwise.
It does not really help to read “he is a full professor with a PhD student and grants from different funding places including the US Army” – I am sure there are tens of thousands of “Full time professors with a PhD student” who will never ever get to be even a head of a department, let alone become a VC! Anything in your timeline that goes beyond full Prof, given the DSc (and IEEE), or are they just bragging rights?
Do you not even realize what a rubbish statement “rest assured that the degrees and IEEE Fellow grade do not come for doing nothing” is? – Do you frankly think that tenor of argument is worthy of an educated one? And that is my point. I know a genius who completed three Ph.D’s but unfortunately had some mental issues and is now incapable of even looking after himself! Some Ph.D’s are living proof of the light-hearted saying about PhD’s and the like, namely “Those who can do, do. Others teach!”
So, its up to you whether you want to convince us or just want to look for more fig leaves.
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S.R.H. Hoole / October 21, 2016
Thinking more about it, the Kumar R type is posing fake questions to throw suspicion on my well-known credentials. Perhaps he is a member of my Selection Committee who is trying to explain away my rejection by casting aspersions on my credentials and experience given in my application, besides at my Michigan State University website and elsewhere. It really is below my dignity to answer such questions because my career is by no means a secret to the academic world. I should not have to put in an effort to convince a not-so anonymous person whose only motive is slander, when in fact my credentials and what they involve need no elaboration.
This writer who calls himself Kumar R has seen the voluminous documents I submitted to the University (practically since 2002), which cannot be detailed here and my rejection has nothing to do with my credentials. As he knows, no reason has been given for my rejection. The fact that the Council asked the Selection Committee to reconsider its decision amounts to a serious reprimand of the high-powered Committee and its bona fides in this matter. The writer Kumar R knows all this intimately, and is taxing the intelligence of the reader with his puzzles only for the credulous.
For the reader, I give this additional information. Dean A. Atputharajah on that critical day when the Council met (16 July 2016) brought one Prof. Ravichandran (of Clemson University) telling Council members who had come for the meeting words to the effect “This is Ravichandran. Prof. Hoole’s student. He got a first class and was batch top at Peradeniya. He is a professor in the US. He can tell you all about Prof. Hoole.” On hearing this and not knowing the man, I looked up who he is. He graduated from Peradeniya in 1997, the same year as Atputharajah. He was never my student as by the time I joined Peradeniya in 1999 he had gone to Japan for his master’s degree. He might have been batch-top, but according to his website he has not published anything since 2012 and seems stuck in an academic rut and is trying to spoil Jaffna’s engineering too.
The Council on that same day the Selection Committee decision was presented, 16 July 2016, asked the VC to reconvene the Selection committee and give a reason for their decision. I received a copy of a letter from the VC 2 days ago (19 October) saying that Prof. Janaka Ekanayake had written to her on 3 October that he will not be back until 10 Dec. and that the Selection Committee cannot be reconvened before then. It took her more than 3 months to discover this from the date the Council asked her to reconvene. Perhaps she waited until Ekanayake began his trip?
And this Ekanayake is one whose presence on the Selection Committee is fully illegitimate! The mandatory provisions of Circular 166 provide for a member of my Selection Committee nominated by the Senate from among its members. But the VC brought in a member of the Peradeniya Senate, Prof. Janaka Ekanayake, purporting him to be a member of the Jaffna Senate. The whole process reeks of fraudulence and manipulation, especially with Sivasegaram being suddenly brought in for an engineering selection committee for which Prof. Tharmaratnam is usually the Council nominee
The poor students of Jaffna could have had my services as Senior Lecturer from when I appied in July 2015. It looks like the plan is to deprive the students until I turn 65 in Sept. 2017.
In my mind’s eye I can see Kumar R with Sivasegaram’s typical cynical laugh, “Hee, hee.”
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Kumar R. / October 21, 2016
Now I can fully understand and appreciate why even lesser mortals (no IEEES, no DSc”s or even no PhD’s) would hate to touch this SriLankan-Trump with a six-foot pole! I surmise the Trump parallel” on the basis of conceit, arrogance, smokes & mirrors transparency, and frankly the stupidity shown within these few responses above.
So – no show as far as VC, Distinguished Prof, Dean or Dept Head appointments – huh? And that despite the obvious senior years?
Good show – go ahead, keep looking for fig leaves, or would you rather jack(ass)leaves. Indeed “Hee, hee” is just right!
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Erasmus / October 22, 2016
What is your game ‘Kumar R’? You are obviously moved by a grudge. First you tried in an infantile manner to throw scorn on Prof. Hoole’s academic credentials. You have not answered his response. You now show your bankruptcy by once more taking refuge behind alleging that Hoole is like Trump – a religious bigot who hates Muslims and Chicanos and gropes under the skirts of women! How does this fit Hoole? Try to be at least a little fair although your vindictiveness would not allow it. Most of the students for whom Hoole either found the money to do PhDs in the US, or supervised in this country, are Hindus. Ask them.
Do you deny that you were the man with a long-standing conflict of interest appointed by Vasanthi Arasaratnam to the selection board (after arbitrarily taking out Prof. Tharmaratnam) to satiate the vindictiveness of both yourselves? Are you both not abusing power unconscionably to deny the students and young staff of Jaffna University his experience and services which would be hard to obtain after his retirement? I am puzzled by the role of the UGC and his former colleague Janaka Ekanayake in this ugly episode.
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Kumar R. / October 22, 2016
Erasmus,
“First you tried in an infantile manner to throw scorn on Prof. Hoole’s academic credentials” – asking Ratnajeevan if he could substantiate his complain by providing evidence of his most current academic advancements past the Full professorship that was possibly25 years ago is throwing scorn? Please explain. Is your stand that asking for evidence of advancement past-Professor ship in the last quarter century is irrelevant, at the least.
“You have not answered his response. ” – what exactly is the question from Hoole that I had not responded to? Possibly I missed that in the “smokes and mirrors”. Educate me!
As for the Trump comparison, I have been very specific, and explicit — “Also please keep your Trump-like assumptions “why your friends create these stories about me.” – on the basis of the similarity in unfounded conspiracy theories that are meakly defensive possibly born out of paranoia, and you will note Hard Truth has confirmed that view. I further stated explicitly again, ” I surmise the Trump parallel on the basis of conceit, arrogance, smokes & mirrors transparency, and frankly the stupidity shown within these few responses above.” If you want to extend the parallels and characterization beyond that based on your own knowledge and experience with Hoole, be my guest! I am sure Hoole appreciates that.
As for your last three questions, “Do you deny that you were the man with a long-standing conflict of interest appointed by Vasanthi Arasaratnam to the selection board (after arbitrarily taking out Prof. Tharmaratnam) to satiate the vindictiveness of both yourselves? Are you both not abusing power unconscionably to deny the students and young staff of Jaffna University his experience and services which would be hard to obtain after his retirement? ” – A VERY AFIRMATIVE AND CATEGORICAL “NO” on each one of them! Your presumptions are as stupid, unfounded and erroneous as Hoole’s!!
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Outcast / October 20, 2016
Dr Hoole,
Did you make fun of Hindu women devotees that go to the historical Kathikamam Murugan Temple in one of your book?
It was reported that you wrote that women devotees would go on high feeling that they were making out with Murugan!
Friend of mine swears that he read that book. Is that true?
Do you think people would respect you after hearing nasty stories like these?
What is wrong with you man? It doesn’t matter you have an F.eng or D.eng. First of all you have to learn to treat people specially women with respect.
Even we have read many articles in this forum that you wrote very nasty things about this VC.
I’m impressed with this VC. She has learned to elbow you by saying “No” to the king of all bullies. Who would hire a well-documented trouble maker at his retirement age for an entry level job? It seems VC is not imitated with your scare tactics with Chanthirika or Katharikai.
I think the current VC has the potential to become the next CM of NP. If she can handle a bully like you then she has the talent to handle any clowns in Jaffna.
Do you really need this entry level job or you were looking for a mud fight? If I were you I would withdraw my name after learning my student had also applied for the same job. And you were teaching engineering ethics!
By the way, SL has spent millions to produce a scholar with your qualification. Are you still looking for a pay cheque from the state? Who is going to pay back SL’s trillions of debt? What is the point of becoming a fellow of IEEEEEEE…of E?
Guess what millions of ordinary citizens including women who never graduated from high schools are one paying the debt! It makes me to throw up.
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Lone Wolf / October 20, 2016
Outcast,
“It was reported that you wrote that women devotees would go on high feeling that they were making out with Murugan!”
Well don’t some of the women?
Is there something wrong to make a claim like this? Do not people mostly worship to feel better?
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JMason / October 21, 2016
Outcast must not raise questions based on what others have told him/her. To quote unnamed friends is not to take responsibility for ones scholarship.
I looked it up after you, Outcast, said that Hoole made fun of Hindu women. Not so. Rather, he was very clinical without any feeling. It is not Prof. Hoole’s own thesis. He was merely quoting from Gananath Obeyasekere, “The Firewalkers of Kataragama —The Rise of Bhakti Religiosity in Buddhist Sri Lanka,” J. of Asian Studies, Vol. 37, No. 3, 1978.
Here is what Prof. Hoole actually wrote:
“Professor Gananath Obeyasekera of Princeton University has studied the bhakti devotees, well–married Hindu women, who went to the temple at Kathirkahmam on annual pilgrimage. As these women went into a trance and danced, their rapid back and forth hip movements signified that they saw themselves as in copulation with Lord Muruha”.
In a sociological study, quoting a renowned academic is acceptable and legitimate. Even speculating further is legitimate and I wish Prof. Hoole had.
The restrictions and faith tests you are imposing will never allow Jaffna to recover from the war and the university to grow in scholarship. I was a sad to hear from a colleague who worte on missionaries in Jaffna that he was asked to remove a whole chapter from his Jaffna university doctoral thesis prior to approval. This was not because he was wrong but because the material was embarrassing to those who want to paint old Jaffna as Utopia itself. It is not the way to grow scholarship.
If you want a quarrel, please take it up with Prof. Obeyasekera and ask Princton to take back his Emeritus Professorship. Good luck with that! But you will not dare because you will be laughed at. So why these tests only for Jaffna academics? If you go this route, you will be a real outcast in western academic circles and I hope in Jaffna too as Jaffna comes out of its darkness.
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Mallaiyuran / October 22, 2016
“If you want a quarrel, please take it up with Prof. Obeysekera and ask Princton to take back his Emeritus Professorship.
In a sociological study, quoting a renowned academic is acceptable and legitimate. Even speculating further is legitimate and I wish Prof. Hoole had.”
There is no point in sanctifying Coolie and leaning on Obeysekera to defend him. “Solluravan Sonnaal Kezhkiravanukku enna mathi?” Does Appe Aandu Coolie have a doctoral level intellectuality conferred within him to vet right and wrong or walking around drooling to hear filthy stories from his colleagues and publish them to entertain him? Apparently Appe Andu Coolie spent time to convulsing these “Uru” dances as porno movement only to expose his tastes. He and Obeysekara can not see ladies moving even in stage dances or temple dances. This is not walking on the sward and edge and feeding listing everything as the things are. That is their taste. That is evident in their writings. Period
Is it how you want the services of Coolie delivered to Jaffna Tamils? Is it how your academic standards are set? You explicitly declares if the opponent has a degree like Old King, traitors can pick up his/her filth the and make it as Tamils and their culture, their religions? In which century it was normalised speculation are Doctoral studies.
In the West, the Christian world has been stoke by priest-parishioner relationship abuse and if not billions, 100 of million dollars have been paid out of churches for victim. Hindus do not hold this as what Jesus taught. I challenge your defending of filthy Goverment Coolie and Obeyesekera. I challenge you on Obeysekera quote that the Tamils women when they dance in “Uru” they make sexsual movement or moaning! Even in the rural area’s common form of snake dances, the movements are clearly defined as snake movements; do not depict sex in them. Can, Appe Aandu Coolie, when he show from other as evident of his theories from somebody, substantiate it before he use it? Can he come here with a video that type of sextual form of dacing taking place in in Kathirkamam?
Coolie is Tamil. He picked up what a Sinhala opponent wrote about Tamils culture. But, Outcast wrote what his friend said. You are not interested in their depth and width of their education and their knowledge in Hinduism. You just like to reject it but want to uphold Coolie’s version.
After realising the in depth of the Bhakti Marga, South Indian Christian priests started to claim it was copied from Christianity. You have no idea what Bhaavam means. In hinduism, a man or woman can have any kind of relationship with a goddess or god. That is why Aandal’s, Araavan’s & Gobbiers’, Meera’s, Vally’s, Kannaki’s temples in Hinduism. That is what the story of Manikkavasagar and Periyalvar, Karaikkal Ammaiyar. A man or woman establishes a relationship with God, without any intermediary or right or wrong deciding authority. Because the assumption is God does not abuse a human being. All Western style taboos and hippocratic rituals are discarded there. That is how the Hinduism’s marital relationship became as sacred. When Thanathathan fell down on Karaikkal Ammaiyar feet and prayed her calling mu Godess, she went to Siva Temple and begged that she did not need the beauty of her body if her husband was not ready to use it but only ready to pray it and she asked for a ghost shape. The extreme depth of the minds which have engaged them in Bakthi is not easy to parse to the shallow minded drivels. Hindu Philosophies covers every individual’s own specialty so the puny, petty minds and brains of these vulgar PhDs can not comprehend or grasp it. These drivels maximum worth, if any good in that, is the mica of gramophone record, which repeats again and again that somebody said in the past.
Listen to these Murugan song to understand what is “Virasam” and what is Bhakti.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIbl3osjVJA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBAU9bEN6tE
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Archimedes / October 21, 2016
Women and the University
Outcast, if that is what you really are, do not deliberately confuse anthropological questions about the sensuous element in religious ritual (which serves a multitude of needs) with Prof. Hoole’s ethics in dealing with women. Prof. Hoole has found the money for several students from Jaffna, including women, to do their PhDs in the US. If ‘Outcast’ could produce a single report that he has abused female students, or made passes at them, that would be relevant. As far as I could make out, his behaviour towards women has been correct and above reproach and has in his working environment been a strong advocate of equal rights for women.
But the University of Jaffna has been notorious for tolerance of abuse of women. Last year the Council wanted to punish Music lecturer and the VC’s beautician’s son-in-law, against whom there were widespread reports of abuse. The VC tried to protect him and even got Dean Arts, whose brother is a law professor in Colombo, to intimidate the Council with expert legal advice. The Council told the dean off and punished the offender. I wonder what Outcast’s position was, given his obvious adoration of the VC.
Nor is the VC remotely a defender of women’s rights and dignity. She was thick enough to reject Nilani Kanesharatnam who worked hard to top the Zoology batch and take in a favourite who was lowest on the merit list. She likewise undermined a woman who topped Financial Management. The talk among women is that to become lecturer one must be fair complexioned and be willing to stay late hours. It is a bad man’s world and abusers take good care to be very obliging to the woman VC.
If shifting alliances and stooging the powerful are the key qualifications for becoming CM, the VC is a top candidate. At one time she took instructions on the phone from Douglas Devananda, miscalculated and signed a petition supporting Rajapaksa for president in 2015, and called upon academics to follow her example. With the change of regime, she expertly cosied up to the new authorities, and now the university web site opens with a picture of her smiling with President Maithripala. For keeping ‘troublesome’ elements like Prof. Hoole out, the UGC, the ministers and the TNA are more than willing to throw the academic future of the University of Jaffna to the dust and become willing accomplices of the VC’s destructiveness. She cannot do worse as CM.
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Pulle / October 21, 2016
Have you read the guidelines for academic recruitments? Does it curtail scholarly activities in fields other than the main discipline asked for? One is required to read and preferably write outside his discipline too.
Have you read Hoole’s complete article on the Bible topics where Navalar is mentioned? Do you know the contexts in which Navalar was mentioned by Hoole or the errors being constantly introduced without substance about Navalar every time Isurupaya prints text books? Aren’t there references carefully given for everything? Surely you must be a childless father to talk so or one feeding making your own kids fools.
“Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?” Jesus quoted by Luke.Any father would not wish that falsehood be taught to his children.For then what is gained is not an education but foolishness.
Or you must be Professor at Jaffna to comment with authority on topics you have not even seen much less studied and full of bias.
Saddest of all amidst all the losses the Tamils have faced, the worst next to life has been scholarship. It will take another eight generations to retrieve it if we don’t become like our brothers from the Mallai urs (upcountry) like Mallaiyuran who seems to be the biggest fan of your CT articles.
Hoole, Jaffna is not ready for your genius.
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Agnos / October 21, 2016
Dr. Hoole,
You have antagonized a large segment of the Northern community and academics by your muckraking in the past, so they can give some fake reason or other to deny you a post. It is different when you already have a tenured position as in the US. From such a position, you are safe in espousing unpalatable views. But even in the US, some professors have been denied appointments for their twitter statements and blogs deemed antisemitic.
So, while I can see what the university administration in Jaffna has been doing, with an unqualified VC, is a travesty, I cannot understand why you are so “hell-bent” on serving at the university. You could just come back to your position in the US, and after retiring for good, you could go back to Jaffna and start some sort of a tech incubator/venture accelerator or a think-tank with help from aid groups and expatriates. Teaching at a state-controlled university is not the only way to serve. Neelan Thiruchelvam was successful in securing funds from foundations in the US, such as the Ford foundation, for his ICES. Given your experience in getting grants at US universities, you could do the same with your own think tank and use that as your vehicle to serve Jaffna.
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Vis / October 21, 2016
You certainly can’t be a Jaffna man/woman. For you would have understood:
Of folks like you they say:
Breathes there the man, with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land!
Whose heart hath ne’er within him burn’d,
As home his footsteps he hath turn’d,
From wandering on a foreign strand!
It is his fundamental right to teach in his father/mother land! Jaffna has lost almost totally its academic culture as you can see from the comments. Even the chaiva chattambiars were far better calibre than the Jaffna academics. The ruin of intellectual ability started with the Navalar Society in the 60’s when like old Tamil poets praising the kings for money, imaginary writings often with no connection to reality got printed as learning material for Hindu students.
Netrikkan thirappinum kutam kutrame it was once said. Porul kutram (content error) was condemned more than chot kutram (word error).Now you can’t believe anything that they are teaching as Hinduism or Tamil History despite the correct knowledge being there for research. Sick!
We welcome Hoole. It is the educational right of every student to learn correctly and be empowered by the best teachers accessible.
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Good Student / October 20, 2016
Dear Professor Hoole,
The problem does not lie with your qualifications. It is your character failure that is the problem. Your are a Tamil reactionary predisposed to the usual Tamil exaggerations and hysteria, which has served the Tamil community poorly for decades (indeed millennia).
Qualifications are not the only criteria used in the selection process. There are criteria other than qualifications to consider. For example Arjuna Mahendran is a graduate (PPE) [same degree as David Cameron] from
Oxford University, but the man is a complete crook as we all know (apart from sinhala Modaya RW who is not fit to be PM) and indeed a family of Tamil crooks. Would you give Arjuna a job? Answer the question honestly. Then you will see why you have been rejected. You applied for the job in the knowledge that you will be rejected, just to make mischief.
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Sinhala_Man / October 20, 2016
Dear Good Student,
After posting my own independent comment, I see you saying this; and it is clear that your know very much of Dr Hoole.
I agree that whatever the qualifications, a crook should not be employed. However, are the “character failures” that you refer to related to being a crook?
Looking at the page as it is right now, the question strikes me: “When teaching Science, does Dr Hoole get hysterical about social and religious issues?” If he does, then that, too, could be a disqualification.
However, see what roger says, “no one can dispute his academic calibre. . . . intellectual process”.
If that be the case, then ALL of us who care about HUMAN values must ensure that these double standards are not allowed to decide what happens. This principle must supersede all religious and ethnic considerations in this land of ours.
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crazyoldmansl / October 20, 2016
Yes you do quarrel, and as far as I can see it is a damned good thing that you do. Please keep quarreling. As an argumentative Indian I appreciate your style.
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Thanos / October 20, 2016
If this is true, then it is a massive loss to country since Jaffna is known to produce really bright minds when it comes to Science & Engineering.
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roger / October 20, 2016
What ever our personal opinion about Prof.Hoole, no one can dipute his academic calibre. He is an assert to any institution. Where ever he has worked, he has inspired students and made signifiant contribution. Problematizing and questioning is part of the intellectuel process. I do not think that the Jaffna VC could ever grasp these views, all these half baked academics look for is à smooth ride fullfilling the expectations of their political masters (ultimately)
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Sinhala_Man / October 20, 2016
The de facto division of Sri Lanka appears to be complete.
In the South, President Maithripala Sirisena appears to be wooing the Sinhala Buddhist vote by saying that all our “War Heroes”, including the Rajapaksas, have to be considered much “more equal” than other miscreants.
It seems to be equally bad in the North.
Dr Hoole, it appears is no longer a Professor; he is unemployed (except that he is on an Election Commission – and when he tries to do at least that bit of work properly, I have seen incredulous Sinhalese asking why “an engineer” should want to do such work). What Dr Hoole has now clearly stated is that he wants to get down to the meaningful work (even as a humble lecturer) that he is clearly able to perform. And he is being stymied because he is not a “Hindu”. Surely, religion is an absolutely personal matter. It looks as though recruitment of University Staff has fallen to the same level as Sajith Premadasa, on that leaked video, calling for five, and only five “upadidareen” (i.e. graduates). Relevance of field, output of work etc do not seem to matter, although Sajith appears to stipulate that keeping off alcohol is a pre-requisite. That last condition may be laudable, but isn’t that an intrusion in to personal life? What is obvious from that video though, is that each politician is building his own empire and nothing else matters.
So, our rulers (who on January 9th 2015 promised otherwise) will allow various Lords in the south, and others like Mavai Senathirajah, in the North, to hold court.
I wondered what “President Chandrika” has to do with this appointment, and then realised that she is in charge of “National Reconcilliation”. She is like any of us – human, imperfect, but at least she has never spouted bigotry or eyewash. And she’s done the right thing in asking that UGC Chairman Prof. Mohan de Silva look in to this. We know that Mohan de S. is a brilliant surgeon and a decent man, AND he has the authority to intervene. And he must.
We are citizens who insist that Sri Lanka is one. We need not take up arms in that cause. What we have to do is to all protest – and protest effectively – against what is happening in Jaffna University.
What stunned me about this article, on which no comments are yet to be seen (but have probably been posted), is how clearly and tersely Dr Hoole has presented his case. Obviously, he is the sort of professional that OUR COUNTRY requires for the Universities to perform well and produce employable graduates. His qualifications, and those of his Chemist wife (I had to Google ” George Olah” to find that out), are clear. They are highly specialised and we guys can’t expect to understand what all that is there entailed, any more than perform the surgical operations that Mohan de Silva excels at.
However, I am sure that we can all understand what Dr Hoole has stated baldly (including the DISqualifications that Vice-Chancellor, Vasanthi Arasaratnam, has given). We have to raise voices that demand decency and transparency, from every quarter of our “United Sri Lanka” so that justice should prevail everywhere on this verdant island where men and women alone are vile.
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sbarrkum / October 21, 2016
>Dr Hoole, it appears is no longer a Professor;
>he is unemployed (except that he is on an Election Commission
He is Professor at Michigan State.
https://www.egr.msu.edu/people/profile/hoole
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratnajeevan_Hoole
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Sinhala_Man / October 21, 2016
Thanks, sbarrkum.
I’ve looked at all those links, and now realise that it is quite possible for Prof. Hoole to live quite comfortably in the West.
I guess that we Sri Lankans are incapable, at first, of grasping the fact that there are people who are committed, and also who (and this may be more emotional than rational motivation) just long to come back home.
And your home is Sri Lanka; only we’ve got to do much more than merely CLAIM the North to belong to Sri Lanka. We have to respect the way of life in that part of the country which is different from what it is down in the South. But, I do wish that our public life could be more honest, and at the same time more secular.
Thanks for enlightening me.
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MR / October 20, 2016
Dr Hoole
Please don’t bring hindu religion into your quarrel with VC Vasanthy. For what reason you and your wife lost the jobs at Peradeniya University ? In spite of winning in your appeal both of you were not taken back by VC Peradeniya University. Why ? Did VC preferred a Buddhist or a Hindu for the posts you both held ? Your habit of dragging the Hindus and their religion and condemning them reminds me the dirty works of missionaries of 19th & 20th centuries. Please come out of it.
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Nak / October 20, 2016
MR, Read the article again. It is the VC- Arasaratnam who has dragged his religion in her answer to the UGC. Read the three points she has given against him. In denying him even a senior lecturer’s post as she has dared to tell the Chair/National Reconciliation she has betrayed her religious bigotry. Standing up for one’s fundamental rights is not fighting it is manliness. As a one time colleague of Prof. Hoole I know Hoole is the mildest of men and is very fatherly towards his students.I know many cases of wrongdoings he has righted in the Dept.
When he challenges the injustices he or his students face from the Department or University the administrators become angry or envious and say he is fighting. For example at Peradeniya when Gunda, Sivasegaram Jayatilleke et al were trying very hard to stop the establishment of the CompSci and Comp Eng proper courses for destructive reasons we were proud to see him stand up to so much venom. The talk was that Jeevan Hoole has united the three devils in the Dept. No credit is ever given him. He is doing his religious duty:
I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy. — Psalm 140:12.
Hoole keep up the good work and uphold the cause of justice for all.
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WJdeS / October 20, 2016
A small typo by Nak I think. There were 4 or 5 professors (led by Sivasegaram and Gunda) who brought formal charges against Prof. Hoole. Jayatilleke was not one of them. He was a decent man. I think you meant Jayasekera who was also decent but got uncharacteristically upset when Hoole changed some of the things he had taught for decades.
The council inquiry cleared Prof. Hoole of all the charges and even praised him for teaching human rights to engineers. The Court of Appeal severely condemned the university, ordered Prof. Hoole’s backdated confirmation and promotion, and imposed a fine of Rs. 50,000 (small figure in $ but big in terms of precedent). All this was in the newspapers and was the talk of the university.
No wnoder those who run the system say Prof. Hoole is quarrelsome. He takes off their pretentious masks for all to see who they really are. He asks for justice while the rest of us are too scared to protest.
I am really surprised that Sivagaram who is always accusing others of having no principles accepted an appointment to the Hoole Selection Committee despite the obviously bad conflict of interest. It seems this was his chance to get back at Prof. Hoole. I hope Sivasegaram fails to get his revenge.
I am surprised that no one is talking of the students and their needs. At this point those who really care for the students should get Prof. Hoole’s services as a teacher and researcher. The faculty really has no good teacher to lead and be a good role model like Hoole can be.
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justice / October 20, 2016
The history of Hoole’s church is unbelievable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_lKajUJrAo
With all this, he denigrates Hinduism.
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Sinhala_Man / October 21, 2016
I’ve listened to all that you’ve given on Youtube, and yes it is horrible. Yes, all religions have things that they want to hide, and that would, I’m sure include PROTESTANT CHRISTIANITY.
And that’s the whole point, all this refers to the (Roman) Catholic Church. I knew about castrati, paedophilia, and that horrible things were done in Franco’s Spain and Ireland. The Protestants had broken away long before all this – but I dare say that you will be able to find things that have been done in their name. Also, Protestantism has splintered more recently in to all sorts of groups to whom the horrible politics of Sarah Palin and Donald Trump appeal.
But what has all that got to do with Dr Hoole? Surely, he’s not in to any of this! What one of our Sri Lankan Universities needs is a person who will teach computer science. Now, if we, Sinhalese tried to IMPOSE somebody on Jaffna University, I think that there will be cause for you to be concerned. In actual fact, there are many of us who wish we could help you overcome the myriad problems caused by a long and cruel war. But we know we cannot understand all that has gone on.
However, the very competent (well, that’s an understatement!) Michigan Professor who is being talked about here is one who was educated in Jaffna, and who considers the peninsula to be his home. Do we really have to go digging in to past histories which have NOTHING to do with him.
Although I have made more than one comment, I see this as essentially a problem for your society up there to solve, but it does worry me that we have, after imposing years of suffering on you, only succeeded in causing divisions among you.
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Manu / October 21, 2016
Hi Justice. Greetings from Down Under!
Sorry Chum! Not his church.
You keep trying. Always hitting wrong.
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Siththa / October 22, 2016
Justice, you are bashing at my Church for wrongs committed long ago and corrected since, and doing exacty what you are accusing Prof. Hoole of.
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bganendra / October 20, 2016
Yes, quite correct, you quarrel where ever u go or work. Tell me one friend that you have. Even with St Johns old boys union, you always quarrel. Currently you don’t even sight the place.
You want prominence- that’s your shortcoming
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RA / October 20, 2016
I am surprised that a Johnian would write like this. I am Jeevan’s friend. Many others too. He has held elected office in many organizations.
Jeevan is a life-member of the South Ceylon OBA of St. John’s in good standing and was an elected member of the Exco, coming every month and hosting dinners taking turns as we all did.
He has now moved to Jaffna and last I heard the Principal had asked him to help the school with the Technology programme. Prof. Mrs. Hoole volunteered and taught chemistry in English. His daughter volunteered to teach English in 2011. They were truly appreciated.
If Jeevan has not come to the Jaffna OBA meetings it is because his membership has not been changed from South Ceylon to the parent OBA. I will make sure it is done soon. He was joined in Jaffna by his wife only in September 2016. Give him time and the space to settle down.
BGanendra, if you are real, show the Johnian spirit without disgracing the school. Be a good Johnian. Play the Game. Do not spit poison.
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Mallaiyuran / October 20, 2016
“(1).President Chandrika asked (2)Mohan de Silva why. He inquired from the VC and replied in writing that I quarrel wherever I go, I wrote against Arumuga Navalar and that Jaffna is for Hindus and Christians should respect that. Now Jaffna being for Hindus is official.(3) Mr. Mavai Senathirajah of the FP,(4) relative of Arasaratnam, has endorsed this policy in communications with Minister (5)Lakshman Kiriella and others.(6) Mr. R. Sampanthan is aware but told me he has left Jaffna matters to Jaffna MPs.”
No legal challenge. Only political influence. Only Political maneuvering. Who is that person here called Chandrika? What was she doing in Tamils area’s university?. She has another Radhika and Kathirgamar to push in? Is it something leftover from EPDP? South’s all appointments with their coolies are only to corrupt and destroy the North. When Mavai and TNA were working for CC, M/s Arasaratnam demanded and obtained letters from Teachers and Professors for Old Royal. This guy is trying to make the things looks like Mavai is running Jaffna under Hindu Shiv Sena. It is better this political maneuvering guy stay out of the University. Next is Madame, Honorable, Her Highness, once in a historical high birth, M/s Arasaratnam should go too, for Tamil students start real science and economic lessons. Sinhala governments keeping her only to destroy Tamils education.
This is another Myth? Navalar’s saivam no longer practiced anywhere in North or East. It is funny that Mavai and Sampanthar are shown as secretly working to implement it. It is true his Saivam was bible Saivam, which includes all blind Bible belief and rituals while Saivam talks like Atvaitham like philosophies which even PhD holders has difficulty to grap. We saw in CT, recently, a well respected Christian Sinhala Man with his prejudiced and cow skin clad manners, had written about Advaitham without understanding the difference of Brahma – a god no longer worshiped even before Advaitham postulated- by Hindus and the Brahman, the “supper Atman” – for a layman term(but not really). Some clownish Christians, for the Sinhala Buddhists favours, do this type of self damaging by writings on intangible idea for them appearing in Hinduism. Cardinal Malcolm put forward some talks about the legal status of Buddhism that was immediately rejected by Rome. These Christians should shed off their Panthamkarya manners to seek genuine professions. After with all his clumsiness and award preachings, Navalar is not a coolie. His translation was the most famous and I would like to see the proof offered(as I do not myself engage in to those studies) otherwise. I would like to see the letter saying that a person is disqualified as he/she had written about Navalar.
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Lone Wolf / October 20, 2016
Malla,
“Who is that person here called Chandrika? What was she doing in Tamils area’s university?”
You are showing your ignorance again.
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Mallaiyuran / October 21, 2016
I didn’t wanted to put the cart before the horse. I was wating to see the letter saying a person write about Navalar is unqualified to teach at a University. But you are calling me to do so. Then doing it now is not inappropriate.
You want to insist the Attanagalla Princes is not just born to Sinhala Modayas, but the empress took her avatar to control Tamils by passing her judgments. As a decent person, the Opposition Leader, TNA leader, Eastern Province politician, Sampanthan told that Jaffna matters have to be handled there. Basil Fernando write about Adwaitham. Mahindapala writes about Navalar. Izeth writes about Navalar. Coolie writes about Navalar and then if they want to teach at Jaffna University, it is not strange they face some obstacles. Mahindapala, Izeth all are scar carrying soldiers in fighting(for their masters). But, how much worth these Knights are in the education world? Could a mad dog can your house watchdog? The name dog is enough qualification to be a guard?
There are universities all over South. They are even conferring doctorate in war crimes, Rapes, mass muder…… Coolie is ready to teach in English, if in addition can not teach in Sinhala. He claims he see all the people are same. Then he feel serving Sinhala South is no different from Jaffna. If Chandrika ever wanted to a sincere friend, this was a chance to seek position to her friend to serve in South. She could have recomended him a very nice position in many Southern Universities, where her friends are ruling. It did not take that direction. Why? Job seeking or serving is not the object as it is being proclaimed here. She seems to have ordered another person, out of way, to carry out an investigation into the Jaffna University system. Hey, friend Lone and Boring Wolf, can you tell me who is this person called Chandrika to have ordered an investigation into the Janna University system? Do you think. over and above the Rapist Army, Jaffna Tamils are there to you all walk over them as and when you all wish?
The woman is said to be has not completed her Bachelor degree. She has her PhD certificates. She loves to corrupt the Tamils education system and like to buy degrees for her family in the West from the looted money by her family from Tamils from 1958.
This seems to be an “Aarina Kanchi”(Cold pudding). Why this essay is coming out here now? I asked earlier when there a complaint of election commission, but not ready offer the resignation like Dilrushi(That is not real, still even for an eye wash), what a was the point of bringing that to CT. Now it is coming out. This is a wide scale propaganda and now its is taking the turn to the road it was intended to parade. Jaffna Engineering students wanted to have only Nathasuram in their reception, not Kanian Thovil. That has not been contested by the Appe Aandu’s real coolies. So they are jumping in with Chandrika’s turban now. When this Princess went to Jaffna and mentioned leader Prabhakaran’s name, the crowd outburst with applause without knowing what she was speaking; remember this was crowd wanted to vote for Chandrika’s CC and not “LTTE rumps diaspora”, that in you words. If you are not ignorant, you know the difference between the thinking of Princess Chandrika’s trickery conspiracies and the common man’ feeling in Jaffna for his culture & race in Jaffna. Coolie is mentioning his mistress name, from her he has been expecting an overruling of how the Jaffna University should be run, is only to provoke Tamils.
So these guys are coming out with a lame duck excuse of Mavai running the Jaffna with Siva Sena’s hold. He forcefully connecting VC with Mavai. He wrote about CV in NPC too. When Sampanthar said he cannot interfere in the General Administration University, he find fault in that too. Why the Court system could not be used exhaustively? When these people seek influence to find job, why that was not used to serve for the Sinhala South? That is why, when you call for it, I had to put the cart before the horse. But still I can come back if somebody want to give some honest answers to my earlier questions.
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Lone Wolf / October 20, 2016
Dr Jeevan Hoole,
“that Jaffna is for Hindus and Christians should respect that. Now Jaffna being for Hindus is official. Mr. Mavai Senathirajah of the FP, relative of Arasaratnam, has endorsed this policy in communications with Minister Lakshman Kiriella and others. Mr. R. Sampanthan is aware but told me he has left Jaffna matters to Jaffna MPs.”
I studied statistics on our province very recently. There are more Christians than ever before and I assume that this fact is considered a threat. The Siva Senai is an example of how the threat has been discovered and openly met. Many of the “strict” leading Hindus at the university and TPC have been stained by worse things than holy ash. You have written about the accusations against them yourself. The accusations that are not investigated.
There are more Christians than before but their visibility and power in my opinion has declined. I have no statistics but my observation is that many of the educated Christians have emigrated or are a little bit elderly. The younger ones are not as well educated and are often from a very poor low caste background and not empowered. In addition there is the mess in some of the missionary schools and the Jaffna churches that doesn’t help.
What is the threat then? The new Christians in their small independent churches are converting others and if organized can challenge the existing class, caste and political system in Jaffna. The more urgent threat to the Hindu dominance in Jaffna is the very well educated Christian called Sumanthiran.
Sampanthan, Senathirajah, Arasaratnam and Vigneswaran are on their way out. Who will take over? There are middle aged Hindus in the TPC and TNA but their level is way below Sumanthiran. He is already the spokesman and the only one to actively participate in the new Constitution, the new PTA etc.
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pullenayagam / October 22, 2016
Your statistics of an increase in the Christian population in Jaffray is untrue. It’s remained constant between 1981 and 2012.Do not make wild allegations unsupported by hard evidence!
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jim softy / October 21, 2016
What is the threat then? The new Christians in their small independent churches are converting others and if organized can challenge the existing class, caste and political system in Jaffna. The more urgent threat to the Hindu dominance in Jaffna is the very well educated Christian called Sumanthiran.
How come christians Tamils are Chrtistians.
Does any non-Indian person who speaks Tamil is a Tamil ?
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Hard Truth / October 21, 2016
Sigh….
As usual, most comments here seem to be either pro-Hoole or anti-Hoole, and shy from looking at all the hard facts. This is typical of CT comments and the mentality in the island in general.
Let us look at the hard truths in this matter.
1. Prof. Hoole is undoubtedly very highly qualified, and on academic merit should be appointed to any Sri Lankan University if he applies. As he says, you do not get D. Sc, an IEEE Fellowship, and consulting opportunity from NASA for doing nothing, and anybody would be silly to argue with that.
2. As it has been mentioned in comments, it is also a fact that he has helped many students academically and earned their gratitude.
3. Prof. Arasaratnam has been known to be an inefficient, politicised, and selfish administrator who is given to nepotism. Most around Jaffna University community agree that she is not a good VC. She has been an EPDP crony.
4. It is plain wrong to refuse appointment on the basis that Prof. Hoole is a Christian and Jaffna Uni is for Hindus. This position is indefensible and the UGC chairman, as somebody says, is a fool for putting that in writing, if that allegation made by Hoole is correct.
5. It is a fact too, as Hoole had written, that Arumuga Navalar, and Ramanathan are pro-Vellala and did not respect the oppressed castes, and have written insultingly about them. They wanted to maintain the status-queue vis-a-vis the caste system in Jaffna. It is also true that Ramananathan had a white mistress, who I think he later married. I will go even further and mention two more truths that Hoole may not have written. Ramanathan’s first wife, a tamil, allegedly jumped from the top floor of the school he built and committed suicide on hearing that he was returning from England with a white mistress. Arumuga Naval, that saint who claimed he never married due to serve his religion, allegedly kept a mistress. Truths must be spoken.
HOWEVER, IT IS ALSO TRUE THAT
5. Prof. Hoole is a Christian fanatic, who has in his writings many times made unsubstantiated claims against Hindus, and ridiculed Hindus and their faith, as also pointed out above. He will of course deny this but I can write a long point by point article to proof how many fanatical, false and hurtful claims he has made against Hindus.
6. Hoole writes ridiculous conspiracy theories which are not worthy of his education and intelligence against Hindus. He has this irrational view that most Hindus in Jaffna are fanatics. Also, he never writes about the many wrongs committed by the colonialists and their Christian stooges against Jaffna Hindus or South Asians in general. He presents himself as an apologist for the colonial masters and their legacy, and naturally many Hindus and even many fair minded Christians have a distaste for this view.
7. It cannot be denied that Navalar, Ramanathan, and their ilk did great service to Hinduism, Tamils and all peoples of Ceylon and South Asia, and Hoole never acknowledges this. Nobody is a saint, and accepting that these men had their faults should be separated from acknowledging their service. They were by and large not active oppressors of lower castes. Navalar never instigated violence against oppressed castes, like Gnanasara did against Muslims. He was much fairer in his writings compared to even Anagarika Dharmapala. They simply accepted and possibly defended the status queue in some aspects, at the same time making huge progressive changes in other aspects of the society. A fair person must accept their overall hugely positive influence, and Hoole does not. It is also a fact that Navalar translated Bible and that was a generous deed, whether it was the first translation or not.
8. Most Hindus in Jaffna have a distaste for Hoole, not because he is Christian, but because he is indeed an irrational trouble maker. There are many Chrisitian academic staff in Jaffna University. Take for e.g. Prof Daya Somasundaram, another world-reknown academic, and a Christian but very liberal and fair minded in his outlook. He was also treated badly by the VC, but he never played the religious card like Hoole, he finally did get appointed, and if he writes an article about how he was treated badly, I would take his side without hesitation. If some Christians claim they were treated badly in terms of appointments, there might be some truth in it but Hoole is not the best example for such mistreatment or the best academic to sympathise with, given his own confrontational attitude, coupled with baseless claims and insults to Hinduism, puts off many fair minded Hindus.
Therefore, in conclusion, I think in this instance, the VC made the correct decision. Jaffna University does not need fanatics from any religion, no matter how highly qualified. There is a fine line between defending one’s rights and insulting and demonising others, and it is long since Hoole crossed that line. So, despite points 1-5, I say yes to Christian academics but No to Prof. Hoole.
CT Please publish so that people can see the full picture.
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Kumar R. / October 21, 2016
“Hoole writes ridiculous conspiracy theories which are not worthy of his education and intelligence”
Thanks Hard Truth — this is exactly what I realized just from the mere two responses he made to my request for show of evidence of work advancements since Professor-ship that he possibly earned in his 30’s. What gives?
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Lone Wolf / October 22, 2016
Hard Truth,
“Jaffna University does not need fanatics from any religion, no matter how highly qualified.”
I totally agree with you but are you aware of how many Hindu fanatics work at Jaffna University or are members of the council? The men who have recently several times attempted to introduce rules/codes for local traditional culture? The men who appear as members of the cultural group TPC? The men who own or control kovils? The men who in the future may be stupid enough to openly support Siva Senai?
Owning kovils, supporting the TPC and even Siva Senai is not illegal. Trying to introduce local traditional cultural rules=Hinduism in a multi-ethnic institution is a sign of oppression and discrimination. The idea of the fanatics is to enforce “our” (the local majority) local traditions on the “others”. Is it reconciliation to order Muslims to shave and tell students and staff what to wear especially on Fridays?
Is one of these fanatics the next VC? Other fanatics are desperate to become MPs.
The universities should be secular. Religion is a private matter.
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jim softy / October 21, 2016
As this man is an educated man why he can not understand, that when he talks about Religious discrmination he is talking about discrmination of one out of 2 billion cathlics/christians against may be about 100 million Tamils ?
Why he can not understand it.
Here what comes is not Tamil, It is the religion.
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sanchay / October 21, 2016
how sad it is, that some one has the necessary qualifications for the post is being denied on the basis of his religion. I have heard stories of the proud Jaffna Tamils during the bombardement of Jaffna, that some people either did not want to go into the airstrike bungers or refused the entrance for someothers on the basis of “caste differences”. This shows me that how degenerate our tamil society has been and still is. What would they do if he is an atheist or christian visiting proffesor with the right qualification came to teach in UOF? Then why dont they include the passus in their advertisment like “applications are required only from hindu high caste Tamils”? I feel it was right that the past racist singhala regimes to carpet bomb the Tamils because once they have some freedom they discriminate the others like what they experienced. What a pathetic folk?
@Mr. Hoole: Once I had the chance to listen to a lecture of George Olah in Germany after his Nobel price; I was so proud to be present there to listen to this eloquent and modest man who as a young student migrated to canada from a poor east European country and proved himself to belong to the academic elite!
We Jaffna Tamils are still very very far from that! if we see someone achieve something very big we try to find out from which caste he may be and if suits can we get him as son-in-law! we have a long way to go to the civilized world.
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JMason / October 21, 2016
HardTruth.
We have seen too many interpretations and falsehoods here. That Hoole said such and such about Kataragama when he only quoted Prof. Gananath, that he described Navalar as having bad looks when he only quoted revered Hindu elders who said he looked like a tadpole. Etc., etc.
You have written as if you are neutral and then tried to feed us with your interpretations and creations to deceive us. For example you say:
“5. Prof. Hoole is a Christian fanatic, who has in his writings many times made unsubstantiated claims against Hindus, and ridiculed Hindus and their faith, as also pointed out above. He will of course deny this but I can write a long point by point article to proof how many fanatical, false and hurtful claims he has made against Hindus. “
Please let us judge for ourselves. Do not tell us. What is stated by you in that part about “as also pointed out above” is totally false. Go ahead, write a point by point article so that we do not need to take you at your word. Hoole is a trained writer and I doubt that he would have been so careless as you make out. He is a practicing Christian but where has he been a fanatic?
You also write
“6. Hoole writes ridiculous conspiracy theories which are not worthy of his education and intelligence against Hindus. He has this irrational view that most Hindus in Jaffna are fanatics. Also, he never writes about the many wrongs committed by the colonialists and their Christian stooges against Jaffna Hindus or South Asians in general. He presents himself as an apologist for the colonial masters and their legacy, and naturally many Hindus and even many fair minded Christians have a distaste for this view.”
Where did he write these conspiracy theories? Where did he say most Hindus in Jaffna are fanatics? I am sure these are your interpretations and not facts. Where was he an apologist for the colonial masters?
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Kanaha / October 21, 2016
Talking of calibre and integrity, VC Arasaratnam’s catchers like Sivasegaram aid and abet her fraud and cheating on her cv for VC-ship quite knowingly and crookedly for their own personal gain and to get the money for attending council meetings. Arasaratnam’s fraud big and small are well known to the JAffna University staff and VC Mohanadas always “shaped it” for her at the Council because she would cry if anyone asked her anything.”Drama Queen” she is still called.
Vasanthi Arasaratnam has blatantly lied in her CV for VC. In Arasaratnam’s 2003 application for Vice Chancellor of Jaffna University she records her undergraduate college as follows:
Bachelor of Science: Avinashilingam Home Science College for Women, Coimbatore 83, India.
Avinashilingam Home Science College for Women? For VC? Avinashilingam Home Science College for Women was not even deemed a University when she studied there entering in 1977 for not passing even her OLs here. It was but was a sort of early type Ramakrishna Mission school. “It is now the largest Institution in the country for imparting Home Science Education at all levels.” “The Government of India declared Sri Avinashilingam Home Science College for Women and Sri Avinashilingam Teacher’s College for Women as a Deemed University under Section 3 of the UGC Act in June 1988.”
This was known even to the Med. Fac students and staff and the doctors at the teaching hospitals whose faces fell when her VC appointment was announced. They were furious with the appointment of such a comparatively bad and in fact one of the two “worst” applicants as VC to Jaffna. They said how she was unable to teach biochem to them and taught something sort of like food preservation. She is not a medical doctor as widely touted. Her academic credentials could have impressed only the likes of the so called “Honourable” Mr. Douglas Devananda
Then for her next term, 2011, as VC, in her Vice Chancellor application she has doctored her qualifications to read her so called “degree” as a single subject degree (What we in Sri Lanka call a Special Degree). Indian Degrees are not Special Degrees even now in Science. She gives even her undergraduate College as University of Madras! The caveat for immediate termination given in the application form not withstanding. Even for the humble peon position falsification of facts amounts to immediate firing.
VASANTHY ARASARATNAM SHOULD HAVE BEEN FIRED based on this alone. Yet even now no one questions her academic excellence, transparency, accountability, democratic management and effective non-partisan leadership.Purely because she plays the hindu card and changes her stripes with every election.So much for “Onguha Saiva Neethi ulahamellam”! as the conveneors under her said at the Jaffna University First International Saiva Conference (ISC). So much for Sivasegaram’s principles!
Prof. Sittrampalam was an ideal candidate, so was Hoole. But we had a certain “presence” in Jaffna to consider during voting. It hinted of literally “grave” consequences for voting for Hoole. Prof. Sittrampalam would have known the rules of the academic game and contributed so much to the history knowledge of Jaffna now being altered. Or Hoole we said will bring up engineering to international level because even his undergraduate students at Peradeniya were publishing in big engineering journals abroad at that time. One of these two true academics should have been the choice of any true Tamil.
Only a sick society as is found at Jaffna University can suck up to Vasanthy Arasaratnam or worse insult Prof. Hoole’s “academic excellence, transparency, accountability, democratic management and effective non-partisan leadership.”
As the saying goes: people deserve the leaders they elect. “Jaffna” is only a dream!
VASANTHY ARASARATNAM SHOULD HAVE BEEN FIRED for fraud of a million and falsification of qualification on her VC application. Even now she must be fired. Not sung about.
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Sunil Dahanayake / October 21, 2016
Dear Professor Hoole,
I confirm your opinion. I wish to state that this is happening in all the State Universities in Sri Lanka. If you are qualified and if you have work experience overseas, you will not be shortlisted even for an interview.
I applied for a Senior Lecturer Position at the University of Ruhuna in 2015. I have a PhD in the relevant field and work experience as an academic for 12 years in developed countries. However, I even did not get a letter from the University indicating that they have received my application. I wrote to the VC of the University of Ruhuna indicating my desire to come back to Sri Lanka. I did not get a response from the VC.
I think that you need to take up this matter to the Chairman, UGC of Sri Lanka.
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S.R.H. Hoole / October 21, 2016
Thank you Dr. Dahanayake. But the UGC Chairman Mohan de Silva is the problem, upholding order at the expense of the law and even academic standards. He basically lets errant VCs do anything so long as universities are clean and have no closures. Academic quality does not matter to him.
Believe it or not, he does not even know that one can apply directly for professor. He insisted that one has to apply and become a Senior Lecturer first and then apply for promotion to professor. That is how he became professor so he thinks that is how everyone becomes professor.
Despite being UGC Chairman, he is unaware of Circular 916 on how professors are appointed and kept insisting that there is no direct recruitment as professor!
Certainly doing surgery on the president does not qualify one to be UGC Chairman. That undortunately is how our country is run.
I am thinking of writing something on this but the permission of certain people is first required to state publicly what they have said about him and what they witnessed while he exhibited his utter ignorance in making these atrocious, ignorant claims on the appointment of professors.
We need a UGC Chairman who knows the rules first before he can ensure that we are governed by rules.
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Lone Wolf / October 22, 2016
Dr Jeevan Hoole,
“I am thinking of writing something on this but the permission of certain people is first required to state publicly what they have said about him and what they witnessed while he exhibited his utter ignorance in making these atrocious, ignorant claims on the appointment of professors.”
There is nothing wrong with writing but I wonder if it is possible to discipline people like the UGC chairman and Jaffna VC? If they don’t do their work an authority should tell them what to do. There must be somebody who is in charge of them. Who? Minister for higher education? Courts?
I don’t quite understand what TNA politicians like Mavai have to do with Jaffna University. During the war certain war lords in Jaffna had power with their armed supporters but I doubt very much that, for instance, Mavai has henchmen or even the will to threaten academics. In my humble opinion TNA and other politicians have nothing to do with university administration unless they are academics or sit in the council.
I know that I am stuck in the ideas of good governance and law and order. Time to grow up?
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S.R.H. Hoole / October 22, 2016
Thank you Lone Wolf. Yours is a relevant question/comment on being within the egal lframework. You do not need to grow up because I like to think that I too am acting within the law, although that may not be readily obvious unless you are on the ground here (I am not sure where you are).
The UGC Chairman Mohan de Silva refuses to discipline any VC saying universities are autonomous. When I filed action, he gave an affidavit saying he has no powers to force universities to Act under the law and that universities are autonomous bodies. An astounding but shameless dereliction of duty.
He brazenly ignores the Universities Act that gives the UGC the power “to do anything” in pursuance of its objects which include upholding academic standards and regulating the administrtion of universities. When the University Services Appeals Board (USAB) ordered Jaffna to pay be for having been VC and list me as a past VC, Arasaratnm ignored the order. When I complained, the USAB said they themselves cannot force action. UGC lawyers who were there are the ones who filed the Affidavit of the Chairman. So my lawyer asked what the point is in coming before the USAB. Neither the USAB not the UGC had an answer. There was absolute silence. We need to go to higher courts now to enforce the order. The system is not working because Mohan de Silva will not ask for the removal of lawless VCs.
The appointing authority for the UGC is the President and he does not believe in removing anyone. (When the then Minister — Kabir Hashim as I recall — demanded the previous UGC chairman’s resignation and the president heard about it later, I am told that he was upset by that since only he could have removed her. But she had resigned thinking she had to resign on the Minister’s request. If she had refused, nothing would have happened to her).
At present therefore there is no chance the President would remove his surgeon. It is my assessment that the President goes by whom he likes and who his friend is, not necessarily by the law as you can see from the recent Bribery Commissioner’s resignation.
The other way to tackle this within the legal framework is for the Minister to order an inquiry as provided for in the Act and then appoint a Competent Authority. He cannot appoint or remove VCs but can remove their powers through the appointment of a Competent Authority.
Minister Kiriella insists on consulting his partners, the TNA and unfortunately Mavai to whom Sampanthar has left all Jaffna matters is taking a hostile Hindu hard line to save his relative. He has openly told others that Mnister Kirilella asked him and he replied that “conservative Hindus” like Neelakandan do not like me. I asked Mavai directly and he said he was referring to the 2006 situation and not about now. I responded that it is then a simple matter to tell the Minister that he was misunderstood. He has evaded me since then and that is why I spoke to Mr. Sampanthr who is, as a Trinco man, scared to challenge Jaffna communalism and afraid to be a leader. I have told him that as our leader he must take a stand. He has not called me back since then, as he promised to.
Dead end to legal solutions. It is no wonder that we have had so many armed insurrections!
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NAK / October 21, 2016
Hey Veddah, This is rather boring don’t you think?
I thought discrimination is Sinhalese discriminating the Tamils!
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Fedrick / October 21, 2016
Sri Lankan public University problems deeper than Hooles problem: First you need to sack all fake profs and follow international criteria to appoint them: In order to be a real international professor your PhD from world top 100 University, minimum 20 articles in ISI/SCOPUS indexed journals, 10 text books with international publishers and three countries have to appoint you as a Visiting professor. But all these Sri Lankan Professors are jokers and more than 40% University Lecturers are relatives to each others and they give degrees to each other (Husband gives PhD to wife and girlfriend/mistress getting PG degree, sons, daughter and son-in law and daughter- in-law). Now false local PhDs are flooding with local Universities. MY3 clean University system and sack fake professors and University mafia system. Some Dept are family trees. Never allow any dept to issue first degree if you do not have sufficient number of PhDs in that dept. Take some Universities many Deans do not have PhDs. This is a recipe for disaster. Identify and transfer all family members work in same University/Dept/Faculty as Lecturers. Recheck how these all family members came to system and penalize the responsible. Sometime wife is writing articles putting husband’s name for articles and husband getting professorship without shame (what ethics) presenting these to promotions. Stop University teachers are doing local PhDs in same or other local Universities. You know how people get Sri Lankan passport and B. Certificates and driving license. Same way Sri Lankan PhDs also can get in many local Universities. Today the most important thing is your PhD must come from accredited, ranking (at least 100) best University of the world to recognized your University basic products. Now see Sri Lankan local Universities are rotten to death. Somebody has to clean it.
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Jehan / October 21, 2016
Actually, NAK, I think it is all very interesting. The TNA has all along been shouting discrimination. Now Mavai Senathriajah wants only Hindus in Jaffna. Uncle Sam wants to look the other way so that Senathirajah can build a Hindu empire.
Will they now complain about discrimination? Are they even entitled to? Only Sinhalas and Buddhists for jobs in the South seems to be right.
That is sad and the TNA is to blame for abandoning its principles. I was sympathetic to their plight but not any more
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Dr. MYM Siddeek / October 21, 2016
I cannot believe that politics, religion and family relationship play a major role in the selection of qualified and experienced academics at the University of Jaffna today. As a past student and former academic staff member of the University this is something unimaginable to me. When I was a student of the University (1976-1980), Professor Kailasapathi and then Prof. Viththiyanandan were Vice-Chancellors. When I completed the degree, there was an advertisement to fill the vacancy for an Assistant Lecturer in Commerce (Accountancy) in the Department of Economics when Prof. Balakrishnan was the Head of the Department. I applied for the vacancy. There were, I think, 19 applicants competing with me. I was the only Muslim applicant. The other applicants were Hindus and Christians. The selection board comprised Prof. Viththiyanandan (Chair), Prof. Kailasapathy (Dean), Prof. Balakrishnan (Head of the Department) Prof. Indrapala and others. The selection board selected me to fill the vacancy for the only reason that I topped the batch and performed well in the interview. I am from the Eastern province. My religion and my birth place and other did not influence selecting me over the other Hindu and Christian candidates they were mostly from Jaffna. The selection was solely on the merit. When are we going to see such a day in Jaffna University? Where has the academic merit gone? Do we see a good future for the University?
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sbarrkum / October 21, 2016
One other point about Prof Hoole and his commitment to Tamil ethos.
His 3 children are literate in Tamil(read,write and speak).
How many children(be it Sinhalese or Tamil) brought up in other countries can read and write in their mother language.
Even some urban Sri Lankan children who attended International schools can barely read and write in Sinhala/Tamil.
A prominent example from the past was SWRD, who learned to Speak Sinhala much later in life.
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S.R.H. Hoole / October 22, 2016
Thanks Barrkum.It is good to have encouragement.
Three children, all girls, was when I left the US in 1995. They learnt their Tamil speaking at home going to Methodist College during their long vacations; and taking Tamil classes in Singapore when I spent 16 months on sabbatical leave there by copying the psalms in Tamil. Once we returned in 1995, it was much easier since they were in the Tamil medium.
Now we have also a son from 1997, who switched to Tamil at St. John’s at grade 8. It was tough on him but the rewards were worth the struggle. He is a Junior in the US (at a secular university and not at a Christian school on scholarship as claimed by a mischief-maker in these columns), double majoring in EE/CS. He is presenty taking a course on Tamil as part of general requirements and raising funds to bring college students over for summer to teach and interact here. I think it is relevant to say that Tamil Guardian reported from London in the late 1990s that I and my brothers pretend to be intellectuals but went to the West for our studies on church scholarships. Totally untrue! We (my brothers, sister, my son and three daughters included) were for the main part on merit scholarship supplemented by family funds. My brother Rajan went to Peradeniya, then did his London External comng first in the world list and got a a full scholarship for his D.Phil. No church or Christian agency paid anything. It is the normal tenor of anti-Christian propaganda because we do not easily swallow and parrot out political propaganda. Inadequacy is very much a part of this when my widely known academic credentials are questioned.
It has taken for the war to end before Tamils would dare to challenge these put out histories publicly in small fora. I am glad that we begun the process of thinking freely for the first time after the war.
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Lone Wolf / October 22, 2016
sbarrkum,
“Even some urban Sri Lankan children who attended International schools can barely read and write in Sinhala/Tamil.”
A large number of children in the Northern Province cannot read and write in Tamil despite attending Tamil medium schools. You can check exam statistics and in which subjects the children fail. There are many rural schools were all children fail Grade 5 Exam. If I remember correctly in 2015 only 12 % of the (former?) elite St John’s boys in Jaffna town passed Grade 5. The annual report of the principal is available online.
Children without knowledge are allowed to continue until O-levels.
Most adults here in my opinion are functionally illiterate in any language.
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Mallaiyuran / October 22, 2016
All school and University appointments were handles by EPDP. Coolies did work with them. Long ago this fellow should have left here and should have exhausted legal means. If that is not working he should shut and keep quiet, saying that is what the legal system of the government he doing the coolie work. Instead of dragging Mavai and Sampanthar for political tussle is done appears only create an environment for the unrest being created by Police and army in Jaffna.
There is no reason this is to appear here, now. There is no reason dragging Sampanthar and Mavai and putting their pictures to insist they are creating problem. Every actions of TNA to regain the Tamils lost rights were contested by this family. This family never moved their butt to do anything to TNA’s initiation. It is shameful trying to convulse to produce false connection to Mavai in this by using relationship Mavai has with VC and dragging TNA into that.
He should have resigned from election Commission; but just the hungry for power is not allowing.
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S. Thambirajah / October 22, 2016
A Beastly Society?
I am very saddened by these debates on Prof. Hoole. Prof. Hoole is one of Jaffna’s best products. He has done so much for us and I do not have to spell it all out.
Dr. Barr Kumarakulasinghe has correctly appreciated Prof. Hoole’s commitment to Tamils and to Jaffna. Instead of using Prof. Hoole to benefit Jaffna when few of us are willing to return and contribute, some of us are saying he has no job, no qualifications, and so on. What motivates this shameless behavior?
I would like to use Dr. Kumarakulasinghe’s comment on Prof. Hoole’s three daughters to pose a question to all readers. In 1991 Prof. Hoole had a fourth child, a son, who was a year old. He died suddenly because of a virulent stomach flu (as doctors certified in the death certificate). That flu even killed older children in Southern Caifornia.
Immediately thereafter, I had occasion to go to Toronto. A Canadian Tamil newspaper wrote a news article that said that Prof. Hoole killed his son. and is being investigated
What kind of society can produce people who can write things like this about one of its best families when that family is grieving so much? Our answer to this question will explain the crude behavior of the Sivasegarams, Jim Softies, Kumar Rs and Justices in our midst.
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Mallaiyuran / October 22, 2016
Don’t die too hard dear friend. Current VC and Coolie borth are their bosses’ appointments. They both are “Orea Kondaiyil Urina Maddaiyal” (same fibreboards soaked in the same pond to be weaved in one single rope)Tamils situation is too desperate these days, (even before the university students shot yesterday) to be dragged into Navalar’s drama and blaming that on Mavai and Sampanthar. It is too sad to see you deviating this into all over everywhere.
You are talking about a diaspora Tamil paper news, but not ready talk on the point. This very indication of your intention your purpose of starting to mudslinging.
There are million cases of Tamils tortured and murdered, including by EPDP. Truck loads of young girls were transported and nobody have seen them again. More than a million of Tamils were revenged by Sinhala Only, standardization and other Appe Aandu’s atrocities and they not just lost employments, even their lives. Don’t be silly cuckoo to put a connection to bald head and knee, here mentioning his child’s death. A high percentage of the stomach flues are food related, few get infected by peer contacts. Food come to the children from the hand of the adults caring them. So there is a very large percentage of the adults have to accept the responsibility of inattentiveness for those death. Don’t bring his son’s death as sympathy seeker. We have no interest in getting into his family lives and tragedies. There are 100,000 of thousand of youngsters, after pawning family properties to complete their graduations, wandering on the roads without employment and being recruited by army to drug trafficking. First, start to talk about a job for them. Don’t be advocate of the corrupted elites. That is too easy.
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Kumar R. / October 23, 2016
Thambirajah, Erasmus and the like,
Please go back re-read my very first comment. In summary, what I had were just two comments, namely,
First, a request for clarification on comments on this blog that suggested his most recent appointment abroad was only as an adjunct level (not different from Dr. Dayan J’s fleeting appointment in Singapore after being kicked out by MR initially). The adjunct assignment, if true, seemed at odds with the PhD, DSc and IEEE, plus at least 30 years of academic work since then. Is asking for that clarification scorn, unfair or rude?
Second, if the adjunct appointment was inaccurate, then to provide explicitly what exactly his last appointment at an international University was, and in fact I went on to suggest that a clear timeline of his professional advancement will help with harnessing the public support that he was obviously seeking in publishing the article. Is that scorn, unfair or rude?
Now, I am happy he was able to, and was humble enough to, clarify the Adjunct appointment thus dispelling any doubts arising from that concern.
Now, look at the second item. “I am not going to spell out my timeline; but rest assured that the degrees and IEEE Fellow grade do not come for doing nothing.” You have already established your qualifications Professor! However, while you are willing to go on a lengthy diatribe blaming every Tom Dick and Harry from VC, UGC, UGC friends and associates all the way to Chandrika, but you think it is beneath you to explicitly let us know of your professional advancement in the last quarter century that would support your claim for the University appointment? Is that not rude or is it conceited? While you feel entitled to an appointment as VC, and you want to tell u all about your PhD. DSc and even IEEE, what exactly is the reason for shying away from spelling your credentials for higher academic appointment more explicitly? Conceit alone explains that?
And to make matters worse he goes on presumptively, if not stupidly, states “you should ask yourself why your friends create these stories about me.” Where exactly did that come from? Does he actually know me or my friends? No, he does not! Please re- read my response and perhaps you will understand the cause of the indignation that he brought upon himself and the rapid evaporation of any respect there forward, despite the Professors education and intelligence. Not only that, but I also began to actually appreciate the many comments suggesting paranoid conspiracy theories that seemingly his compulsion to readily ruffle feathers! I saw that first hand within such two short communications with the learned Professori! God save the queen!!
You Thambirajah, Erasmus and the like can shoot off your mouths with irrational anger and sensitivity, perhaps in deference to your personal acquaintance with the Prof – and you and the Prof can “see in your own mind’s eye” whoever you feel comfortable visualizing that help cool your own internals. But, if you take a deep breath and re-read with an open mind, perhaps that will be helpful to yourselves!
God Bless the Jaffna University – and God Bless you all too!
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Pygmalion / October 22, 2016
Kanaha.
So Sivasegaram is now,in his twilight years,taken on the Avatar as a Catcher of VC Arasaratnam eh? And that too for a few dollars more! Does he fire from the Hips like Clint Eastwood?
Wherever,he surfaces he dons the cap of the proverbial Naradar-Chaos!
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Naga / October 22, 2016
Ratnajeevan
When you wrote about the Election Commission as a member of that commission I appreciated that. This was because you were taking up a common cause and a matter that concerns all Sri Lankans.
But this issue you have raised here is a personal issue relating to your own failed attempt to get a job at the Jaffna University. You should not have used this space in Colombo Telegraph to vent your feelings against Jaffna VC, Mavai, Sampanthan and others just because you were denied a job as a Lecturer there. You should have carried out your fight against any injustice that might have been caused to you in the right forum.
Personally, I feel that it is your religious bigotry that got you into trouble in Jaffna. I have read several pieces you have written against Hindus and on a couple of occasions I have criticised you for the anti-Hindu sentiments you expressed in those writings.
It is a fact that the name you earned, good or bad, will go before you. It appears that rightly or wrongly you have earned the name “Trouble Maker”.
Obviously, Jaffna VC appears not wanting to have a trouble maker as one of her academics at the Jaffna University. Regrettably, your religious bigotry and hatred of Hindus and Hinduism makes you to label that rejection as a Hindu conspiracy against you and you have unnecessarily dragged Mavai and Sampanthan into that.
I can understand your desire to teach at an institution of higher education. But, why are you insisting that having been a Professor you want to go and teach at the Jaffna University even as a lecturer? At one time didn’t you want to become the Vice Chancellor of the Jaffna University? If my memory is right, I believe that at that time you even blamed Mahinda Rajapakse and Douglas Devananda for not allowing you to have that position. It appears strange to me to see a man who wanted to be the Vice Chancellor of a University now descending to vie for a lowly position as a lecturer in that very same university.
If you want to be an academic in Sri Lanka, why don’t you try other Sri Lankan Universities. You claim to be a very highly qualified Professor and the first Lankan IEEE Fellow. If that is so and if you are still interested in being an academic teaching at a University , most Universities in the English speaking countries would certainly welcome you. Why not you try that rather than berating the Jaffna VC, Chairman of the UGC, Mavai, Sampanthan and others for refusing to accommodating you at the Jaffna University?
You are an educated man. Surely you must be in your late fifties or sixties. But you are behaving like a spoilt child quarrelling with every one wanting to have only this particular Jaffna University position.
Ratnajeevan, you have to grow up man.
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S.R.H. Hoole / October 22, 2016
Naga, We are going round and round. Please see the comment above:
RL
October 20, 2016 at 1:57 pm
I want to serve in Jaffna and am qualified for it. As a citizen i am entitled to equal consideration regardless of my religion. Andat my age I do not want to go abroad again after being in exile for so many years.
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Voice of Reason / October 22, 2016
Naga,
If you are accusing Jeevan Hoole of religious bigotry, you must be fair. Discussing a religion critically does not make someone anti-that religion. The question is whether he shows distinction in treatment of people on account of religion and whether he is sensitive to their rights as ordinary human beings who deserve fairness and consideration. If you could fault him on that account, you would have a point, but I am sure that is not the case.
Recently you attacked Thiruvarangan, blaming the Muslims one-sidedly for the violence against Tamils in the East. This means you are quite happy to circulate Tamil prejudices unmindful of the harm it does to Muslims and to the Tamils. Talk like yours would have encouraged innocent Tamil boys from the poorer classes to join the LTTE and kill Muslims besides others. Finally where has it left them and their community? We have blood on our lips. That is far more culpable.
We can agree or disagree about Islam, and if one is strongly critical of some Islamic practices, it does not make him anti-Muslim, as long as he treats and respects Muslims as human beings, in every respect human like himself.
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Anu / October 22, 2016
>>Obviously, Jaffna VC appears not wanting to have a trouble maker as one of her academics at the Jaffna University.>>
Naga, great. Vidiya vidiya Raman kathai. Vidinthu mudiya Ramanukku Seethai enna murai!(throughout the night he listens to Ramayana sermons. In the morning he asks “how is Seethai related to Raman?). Read the article man:
1.You can see that Prof. Hoole is the victim of Vasanthy Arasaratnam’s religious discrimination. Super Crazy for the Vice Cancellor of Jaffna to write to the UGC Chairman that “Jaffna is for Hindus and Christians must respect that” as an excuse for keeping Prof. Hoole, a former VC of Jaffna out!Sad the Chair, National Reconciliation and former President Chandrika Bandaranayake has not corrected her or reprimanded her. VC’s comments make it clear that a very uneducated person is heading Jaffna’s education. She is still competing with Prof. Hoole long past her VC elections.
2. Can’t or better should not a man fight for justice? Should he be called a “fighter” for that and denied a job he deserves? Then Gandhi and Nehru and Lincoln are all “fighters” or terrorists.
Prof. Hoole in his ethics for engineers lectures in the Computer Engineering course for us in 2005 discussed whistle blowing. “A whistleblower is a person who exposes any kind of information or activity that is deemed illegal, unethical, or not correct within an organization that is either private or public. The information of alleged wrongdoing can be classified in many ways: violation of company policy/rules, law, regulation, or threat to public interest/national security, as well as fraud, and corruption. Those who become whistle blowers can choose to bring information or allegations to surface either internally or externally.
They face stiff reprisal and retaliation from those who are accused or alleged of wrongdoing.Some third party groups offer protection to whistleblowers, but that protection can only go so far. Whistleblowers face legal action, criminal charges, social stigma, and termination from any position, office, or job.” Now we clearly see the price.
Hats off Prof. Hoole! Fight on! We wish you every success at your interview.
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Savasegaram / October 22, 2016
“What kind of society can produce people who can write things like this about one of its best families when that family is grieving so much? Our answer to this question will explain the crude behavior of the Sivasegarams, Jim Softies, Kumar Rs and Justices in our midst.”
In response to the above remark: not only the above mentioned persons, but also almost all deans and most of the council members but, except ……
All deans are catchers of Vice-Chancellor(s) for ever for their personal agenda and for their rotten academic carrier.
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Padrick / October 22, 2016
Fedrick
October 21, 2016 at 6:30 pm
“Husband gives PhD to wife and girlfriend/mistress getting PG degree, sons, daughter and son-in law and daughter- in-law”
(Prof?) Mikunthan gave PhD and Professorship to his Wife Thushanty Mikunthan. All what she had done in research is contamination of water in Thirunelvely, Jaffna with nitrate nitrogen. For her ground breaking research all these were awarded.
(Prof?) Sivapalan, Faculty of Medicene with a singe abstract had done to his son, daughter and son-in law and daughter-in-law……..
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