{"id":88489,"date":"2013-05-26T00:20:51","date_gmt":"2013-05-25T18:50:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=88489"},"modified":"2013-05-30T11:37:26","modified_gmt":"2013-05-30T06:07:26","slug":"anuruddha-pradeep-karnasuriya-must-be-reinstated-forthwith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/anuruddha-pradeep-karnasuriya-must-be-reinstated-forthwith\/","title":{"rendered":"Anuruddha Pradeep Karnasuriya Must Be Reinstated Forthwith"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Malinda Seneviratne<\/a><\/span> –<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Malinda Seneviratne<\/p><\/div>\n

The University of Sri Jayawardenapura has decided to terminate the services of Anuruddha Pradeep Karnasuriya<\/a><\/span> , Lecturer (Probationary).\u00a0 This decision was taken, based on a stipulation that a probationary lecturer should obtain a Masters degree within 8 years after joining the particular university.\u00a0 The D-Day for Karnasuriya was March 9, 2013.<\/p>\n

A media release on the issue by the Federation of University Teachers\u2019 Associations (FUTA<\/a><\/span>) points out, \u2018If the probationary period comes to an end while the thesis had been submitted but the result have not been released, it is customary to place the individual concerned within the \u2018temporary\u2019 position until such time that the results are released and once the results are released the appointment is backdated to the date of submission of the master thesis\u2019.\u00a0 FUTA adds<\/a><\/span>, \u2018there are many in the system currently, including those at the top most rung of university administration who have benefited from this practice\u2019.<\/p>\n

Karnasuriya submitted his thesis on March 1, 2013.\u00a0 Thus, according to standard practice his status as \u2018Lecturer (Probationary)\u2019 should have been affirmed by the University Council and revisited for either permanency or termination upon the relevant authorities making a determination either way on his thesis.<\/p>\n

What is pertinent here is that the Council has been misled into believing that the thesis was submitted on March 20, 2013 and not March 1, 2013.\u00a0 Whether this was deliberate or not, we do not know. What is known is that several members of the Council were pressured by the Minister of Higher Education, S.B. Dissanayake<\/a><\/span> to terminate Karnasuriya\u2019s services.<\/p>\n

What is also known is that Karnasuriya has been one of the most vocal critics of the Government\u2019s education policy, especially with respect to private universities.\u00a0 His notes in the \u2018Ravaya\u2019 (as gleaned from a debate with a colleague of the same university, Navaratne Banda) clearly establishes Karnasuriya as the most informed and most articulate advocate of \u2018free education<\/a><\/span>\u2019.\u00a0 His book, Pudgalika Vishvavidyala Vilaasithava Saha Yathaarthaya<\/em> (The fashion and reality of private universities) remains the most comprehensive analysis of policy prerogatives given social, economic and political realities.<\/p>\n

Is all this irrelevant?\u00a0 Yes and no.\u00a0 Yes, because the decision is preceded by a history where Karnasuriya has exchanged words with the Minister.\u00a0 The Minister has referred to the fact that Karnasuriya is still on \u2018probation\u2019.\u00a0 \u00a0The Minister, as FUTA points out, has clearly been irked by Karnasuriya\u2019s \u2018often piercing criticism on how universities are managed, how funding for education has been systematically reduced and the loss of academic freedom\u2019.\u00a0 Silencing Karnasuriya by way of taking him out of the \u2018irritancy\u2019 that is FUTA would certainly relieve S.B. Dissanayake.\u00a0 The majority of the Council members, as FUTA points out, are appointed by the Minister.\u00a0 We cannot underestimate the minister\u2019s voice and hand in the decision.\u00a0 He was \u2018present\u2019 and therefore his interests have to be factored in, both in decision and in reading of decision. Revenge-intent has to be suspected.\u00a0 Vindictiveness is indicated.<\/p>\n

But whether or not S.B. Dissanayake is pleased or displease is beside the point.\u00a0 What is pertinent is that the Council moved on the basis of an error, deliberate or otherwise.\u00a0 Karnasuriya has been done in by the Council in an unprecedented move.\u00a0 It can, should and will be read as yet another example of the Government\u2019s policy of politicizing further the university system and reining in dissent from academic.<\/p>\n

For the record, Karnasuriya has never given a blank cheque to the Opposition or the Government.\u00a0 He has not opposed the Government on each and every issue. He has defended what he believed ought to be defended and by the same token has objected to the objectionable.\u00a0\u00a0 He is no yes-man and neither is he a no-man as such one finds in the academic hell bent on regime-change on account of party preference. \u00a0He has always chosen reason and substantiation over emotion and rhetoric.\u00a0 He is one of the most informed and sharp-minded academics in the university system, a fact that even those who disagree with him on certain issues, would readily acknowledge.<\/p>\n

This decision is so wrong.\u00a0 It shames the council.\u00a0 It shames the university. It shames the minister. It shames the Government.\u00a0 There is only one course of action that can correct this injustice: acknowledgment of error on the part of the Vice Chancellor\u2019s office leading to the Council decision.\u00a0 It has to be done.\u00a0 Right now.<\/p>\n

*Malinda Seneviratne is the Chief Editor of \u2018The Nation\u2019\u00a0and his articles can be found at\u00a0www.malindawords.blogspot.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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