{"id":52294,"date":"2012-08-27T07:31:14","date_gmt":"2012-08-27T07:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=52294"},"modified":"2012-09-03T09:34:38","modified_gmt":"2012-09-03T09:34:38","slug":"the-futa-option-and-its-replicability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-futa-option-and-its-replicability\/","title":{"rendered":"The FUTA Option And Its Replicability"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jehan Perera<\/a><\/span> –<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Jehan Perera<\/p><\/div>\n

The public meeting last week by university academic staff led by the Federation of University Teachers Associations<\/a><\/span> was a success both in terms of numbers who participated and the government\u2019s response to it.\u00a0\u00a0The outcome of the event also points to the possibility of domestic pressure as against reliance on international pressure to make the government move.\u00a0\u00a0The modestly sized Hyde Park<\/span> <\/a>where the event took place has been a favourite site for public rallies and demonstrations organized by left and socialist parties in the past.\u00a0\u00a0This time it was members of universities, both staff and students, who filled most of the park.\u00a0\u00a0One of the achievements of the organizers was to get some 40 other groups to join the meeting.\u00a0\u00a0Those who were on the platform included the icon of the trade union movement Bala Tampoe of the Ceylon Mercantile Union, and the Ven. Maduluwave Sobitha<\/a><\/span>, the convenor of a peoples movement towards a just and righteous society to bring democracy back to Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

Unlike in the case of other protest meetings, most notably in the north of the country, the government made no visible attempt to obstruct the meeting at Hyde Park.\u00a0\u00a0There was no police submission to the courts to ban the meeting on the grounds of disturbance of the public peace nor an intimidating presence of security forces at the venue.\u00a0\u00a0The police however did close roads in the immediate vicinity of Hyde Park.\u00a0\u00a0This could have been to give greater freedom to those who attended the meeting to move to and fro without any possibility of clashes with those who may\u00a0\u00a0have been sent to disrupt the meeting or it could have been to prevent passing traffic from witnessing the meeting and joining it spontaneously.<\/p>\n

For many who participated in the meeting, which was in effect a public rally, this would have been the first time in many years that they had engaged in a public protest-oriented activity.\u00a0\u00a0After the war entered its final phase in about 2007 there were real concerns about large public events, as they could be easily targeted for high cost terrorist activities.\u00a0\u00a0After the war\u2019s end, the memory of its harsh end and the ruthlessness of the anti-terrorist campaign, which on occasion spilled over into acts of terror against even non-militant government opponents, chilled the enthusiasm for mass mobilization by civil society.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For the past several years the public mobilization that has taken place has been by political parties.<\/p>\n

NEW CONFIDENCE<\/strong><\/p>\n

As befits a public protest by the country\u2019s academic community, the tone in which the meeting was conducted was generally calm and educational rather than emotional or rebellious.\u00a0\u00a0Another feature that softened the environment was the songs that were sung to provide a relaxing break from the large number of speeches.\u00a0\u00a0As about 40 groups had joined the meeting, and many of the leaders of those groups were sitting on the stage, there were a large number of speeches in which the speakers registered their cause and the case they were making.\u00a0\u00a0The ability to speak publicly and freely made the meeting to be a cathartic experience for many and would help to dispel the fear of mass mobilization that is still a heritage of the last phase of the war.<\/p>\n

There was a feeling of confidence amongst the organizers that the worst was behind them and that the deadlock that had pitted the country\u2019s academics against the government would soon be ended.\u00a0\u00a0Anyone who cares for the future of Sri Lanka would be very much concerned that the university teachers have been on strike for over two months and that the government has now closed all universities, with the sole exception of the medical faculties.\u00a0\u00a0One of the main grievances of the university academics has been the low priority given by the government to education, which forms a relatively small percentage of the government\u2019s budget, as compared with other expenditures such as defence and physical infrastructure building.\u00a0\u00a0The running down of the education system by government neglect is bound to exacerbate the country\u2019s long term difficulties in competing with the rest of the world on an equal intellectual footing.<\/p>\n

It is unfortunate that the attitude of the government towards the grievances of the university teachers has so far not been conducive to conflict resolution.\u00a0\u00a0When faced with their demands, the government\u2019s first reaction was to discredit the salary demands of the university teachers by describing them as excessive.\u00a0\u00a0The government negotiators claimed that their salaries had been increased by some 80 percent, but this was by the device of adding on all their allowances to their basic salary.\u00a0\u00a0The other major demand of the university teachers that educational spending should be closer to 6 percent of national income rather than the 1.9 percent figure as at present, was also countered by claiming that private spending by individuals who sent their children abroad to study should be added in and this made the total expenditure on education to come close to the 6 percent figure.<\/p>\n

REPLICABILITY<\/strong><\/p>\n

The government\u2019s efforts to discredit the demands of the university teachers was followed by reports of unidentified men lurking around the homes of FUTA leaders and claiming to be from the government\u2019s security agencies.\u00a0\u00a0The president of the organization, Dr Nirmal Devasiri<\/a><\/span> was specially targeted for this intimidation. Other FUTA leaders such as its Secretary Dr Mahim Mendis<\/a> also complained of being at the receiving end of threats.\u00a0\u00a0However, there was no escalation of these ugly incidents.\u00a0\u00a0The dreaded White Van and its associated abductions and disappearances did not manifest itself.\u00a0\u00a0This can be counted as being one of the significant improvements in the country\u2019s general human rights situation today as compared to the recent past associated with the war\u2019s last phase.<\/p>\n

It appears likely that the government will soon negotiate with the university teachers union leaders to resolve the problem.\u00a0\u00a0The government has shown itself to be sensitive to challenges that are people-based and capable of mobilizing popular support.\u00a0\u00a0The getting together of a large number of trade unions and civic groups on the same platform as FUTA points to the possibility of mass mobilization on the issue of university education which is possible in a manner that impacts negatively on the voter base of the government.\u00a0\u00a0The university crisis is one that affects all segments of the country\u2019s plural population, which consists of different ethnicities and religions.\u00a0\u00a0The worst affected in this case will necessarily be the largest, which is also the government\u2019s key constituency.\u00a0\u00a0It is this political reality that is most likely to motivate accommodation on the part of the government.<\/p>\n

The university teachers\u2019 experience of the government suggests that the government can be flexible in the face of pressure.\u00a0\u00a0The challenge is to make the government feel that pressure.\u00a0\u00a0As the government appears to be driven more by pragmatic than ideological considerations, it can be flexible when it considers such flexibility to be in its political interest.\u00a0\u00a0The problem in the case of other festering problems, such as the still unresolved ethnic conflict, is that the political mobilization of the ethnic minorities does not erode the ethnic majority voter base of the government.\u00a0\u00a0The FUTA option of mobilizing all sections of the people, irrespective of ethnicity or religion, is presently not available in the case of the problems arising from the unresolved ethnic conflict.\u00a0\u00a0This is why the ethnic minorities look to other options, including appeals to the international community, to continue to put pressure on the government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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