{"id":91814,"date":"2013-06-16T00:08:25","date_gmt":"2013-06-15T18:38:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=91814"},"modified":"2013-06-20T00:56:50","modified_gmt":"2013-06-19T19:26:50","slug":"devananda-fails-to-move-michigan-state-university-against-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/devananda-fails-to-move-michigan-state-university-against-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Devananda Fails To Move Michigan State University Against Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

By S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole<\/a><\/span> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Prof S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole<\/p><\/div>\n

The Law used to Advance Injustice<\/strong><\/p>\n

I fled Sri Lanka first under LTTE<\/a><\/span> death threats in March 2006 and a second time in August 2011 after detailing election malpractices in Pitfalls in the President\u2019s Alliance with the EPDP \u2013 A Visit to Kayts on Elections Day<\/a> (Leader<\/em> 24.07.2011). If I had been untruthful, the EPDP\u2019s Minister Devananda<\/a><\/span> had recourse to defamation charges; instead he abused his powers and got the police to collude on trumping up criminal charges. \u00a0This is not uncommon in a country where the police are mere tools of the state, used even to murder opponents. \u00a0The law is frivolously used. [For example, writer R. Tharmaratnam of London recently reported how EPDP Lawyer Rengan Devarajan filed a case against building supervisor Mr. G. Yogaratnam at the BARNET Courts in the UK. On 7 May 2013 when the case was called at great cost to Yoganathan, Devarajan faxed from Jaffna at the last minute claiming he had mistakenly thought the case to be fixed for June. No explanation having been proffered for suddenly remembering, the perceptive judge dismissed the case. That is how the EPDP<\/a><\/span> uses the law against opponents].<\/p>\n

Being Attacked in Exile<\/strong><\/p>\n

I presently teach at Michigan State University as a professor. I keep up my interest in Sri Lanka<\/a><\/span> and write regularly of the government\u2019s and its Tamil stooges\u2019 work against Tamils. My articles usually appear in the Lankan print media so that they are subject to the legal system, however eviscerated and in its death throes.<\/p>\n

I recently commented on Devananda\u2019s weak commitment to devolution<\/a><\/span> and his willingness to work with Sinhalese extremists in withdrawing the powers of the Provincial Councils prior to the Northern elections.\u00a0 I have commented on his friend K.T. Rajasingham<\/a><\/span> who has been reported (Leader<\/em>, 25.11.2007) as asking the President for funds to run a propaganda TV station and news portal<\/a><\/span> for him. I have also commented on the government fomenting Buddhist fundamentalism through sham outcries against beef stalls and liquor shops, while allowing Tamil paramilitary stooges to run liquor stalls in the Vanni, keeping them open even on Full Moon Poya Days.<\/p>\n

These articles have angered the Devananda-Rajasingam duo. K.T. Rajasingham<\/a><\/span> went so far as to call up my friends after my article on his Asian Tribune<\/em> as a propaganda sheet. He claimed that I am interested in the University of Jaffna Vice Chancellor\u2019s post coming vacant in March 2014, and have therefore apologized to Devananda and asked for his blessings to return for the position.<\/p>\n

I emphatically deny this. I have not communicated once with him over 2 years. In my eagerness to serve my beleaguered Tamil people, I once thought that I could do some good by leading the university. But that experience diminished me. To hold even the most minimal administrative position in a Sri Lankan university one has to submit to the murderers in authority. An engineer cannot function ethically in a job where the political authorities are implicated in murder and corruption of all sorts. Though I may still wish I could do some good for the University of Jaffna, I cannot compromise my personal integrity by dealing with the unsavory characters who control appointments. I will return to Jaffna when I am ready to retire.<\/p>\n

Devananda\u2019s Demand that I be Sacked<\/strong><\/p>\n

With Rajasingham\u2019s intrigues failing, on 07.06.2013 Devananda lengthily wrote a complaint \u00a0with strategic untruths to Prof. T.H. \u00a0Curry, the Associate Provost of Michigan State University. Devananda introduced himself as MP and longstanding Cabinet Minister for four terms, Secretary General of the EPDP and continuously [sic.] elected as MP. He alleged that I was appointed VC on his recommendation despite coming third in the Council elections; that after my appointment, I made a deal with LTTE terrorists and on LTTE instructions fled without assuming my duties; and that I later, returned and applied again, but this time he refused to interfere because \u201csuch interference would be ultra vires [sic.] and undemocratic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Devananda continued, after the person with the highest votes was appointed, I wrote articles \u201ccontaining fabricated and concocted facts attributed to [him] and [his] party \u2026 for the purpose of tarnishing [his] image and [his] party\u2019s popularity;\u201d that in \u201cone unsubstantiated, baseless, defamatory piece of writing\u201d I had insulted a section of the society supportive of him \u201cin an obscene language [sic.] instigating social disharmony.\u201d He went on that \u201csuch provocative writing that would cause to break the public peace [sic.] is a criminal offence punishable under section 484 and 485 [sic.] of the penal code. Accordingly the law enforcement authorities filed a lawsuit against him in the magistrate\u2019s court of Kayts, Jaffna. \u2026 On being served with the notice to appear before the court \u2026 he fled the country [sneakily] and sought sanctuary in the US.\u201d<\/p>\n

Devananda ended his letter saying \u201cI respectfully request you to reconsider your decision to continue employing a person who has been issued with an open warrant for a criminal offence. \u2026Further by allowing him to use the office of your university [sic.] as a protective cover to carry out malevolent activities against others is in violation of the moral code of conduct and ethics of a high ranking institution like Michigan State University.\u201d The letter, he says, was copied to \u201call Board of Trustees [sic.]\u201d, Vice President and Secretary of the Board of Trustees, President [sic.],\u201d my Dean and Department Chairperson, and numerous others, including the US Embassy and the Sri Lankan Embassy in Washington DC.<\/p>\n

Michigan State University Responds<\/strong><\/p>\n

The letter was replied by Attorney Michael Kiley, Associate General Counsel for the university on 10.06.2014:<\/p>\n

\u201cSecretary General Devananda: I write regarding the commentary about Dr. Hoole that you addressed to associate Provost T. Curry in an email that was copied to scores of other persons.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe essence of your long complaint is that Dr Hoole is the subject of a criminal warrant because he authored a “writing [that] insulted a section of the society supportive of [you] in an obscene language instigating social disharmony. Such provocative writing . . . is a criminal offense. . . .”.\u00a0 You offered no factual support for your characterization of Dr. Hoole’s language as “obscene”.\u00a0 More salient, the asserted bad conduct would in this country implicate the exercise of “free speech”.\u00a0 Such is protected, not criminalized.\u00a0 Dr Hoole may or may not have published offensive comments at your expense, but such would have no bearing on his status at MSU.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou asserted that Dr Hoole fled the jurisdiction.\u00a0 (Some would make a similar claim directed at you in connection with kidnapping and other unlawful conduct affecting Stanley and Mary Allen in 1984, the Choolaimedu incident in 1986, and the allegations stemming from Kilpaul, Madras in 1990.\u00a0 Michigan State University will not presume to sort through the particulars of personal and\/or political differences between you and Dr. Hoole.\u00a0 There is no properly issued court order emanating from a tribunal recognized as having jurisdiction here.\u00a0 We decline to credit assertions having an adjudicative character.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish you well in your work as Minister of Traditional Industries & Small Enterprise Development.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advertising their Own Evils<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is a sorry state of affairs when a minister claiming lengthy experience does not understand democracy. I did not see these letters until after Mr. Kiley replied. As expected of those behind a strong research institution, Counselor Kiley quickly researched facts and found out who the Minister is. By his behaviour when Sri Lankan freedoms are under scrutiny by the UNHRC<\/a><\/span>, and by involving the State Department, Devananda has attracted attention to the evil nature of our government, leading to wider knowledge of his skullduggery in the Allen couple kidnapping and the Choolaimedu and Kilpaul incidents. When such a person is a longstanding cabinet minister, what is the world to think of the genocide<\/a><\/span> allegations pending inquiry?<\/p>\n

Minister Devananda has now written again, asking the university\u2019s legal counsel by what authority he had replied the letter to the Associate Provost. That is excellent advertisement for President Rajapaksa<\/a><\/span> and his arrogant cabinet \u2013 that the Rajapaksa cabinet includes men wanted for murder and kidnapping as senior ministers who are associated even with the kidnapping of two US citizens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":62714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nDevananda Fails To Move Michigan State University Against Me - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/devananda-fails-to-move-michigan-state-university-against-me\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Devananda Fails To Move Michigan State University Against Me - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/devananda-fails-to-move-michigan-state-university-against-me\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-06-15T18:38:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-06-19T19:26:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/hoole-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"169\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/devananda-fails-to-move-michigan-state-university-against-me\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/devananda-fails-to-move-michigan-state-university-against-me\/\",\"name\":\"Devananda Fails To Move Michigan State University Against Me - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/devananda-fails-to-move-michigan-state-university-against-me\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/devananda-fails-to-move-michigan-state-university-against-me\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/hoole-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-06-15T18:38:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-06-19T19:26:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/devananda-fails-to-move-michigan-state-university-against-me\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/devananda-fails-to-move-michigan-state-university-against-me\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/devananda-fails-to-move-michigan-state-university-against-me\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/hoole-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/hoole-2.jpg\",\"width\":\"169\",\"height\":\"200\",\"caption\":\"Prof S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/devananda-fails-to-move-michigan-state-university-against-me\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Devananda Fails To Move Michigan State University Against Me\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\",\"name\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Devananda Fails To Move Michigan State University Against Me - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/devananda-fails-to-move-michigan-state-university-against-me\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Devananda Fails To Move Michigan State University Against Me - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/devananda-fails-to-move-michigan-state-university-against-me\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2013-06-15T18:38:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-06-19T19:26:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":169,"height":200,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/hoole-2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/devananda-fails-to-move-michigan-state-university-against-me\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/devananda-fails-to-move-michigan-state-university-against-me\/","name":"Devananda Fails To Move Michigan State University Against Me - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/devananda-fails-to-move-michigan-state-university-against-me\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/devananda-fails-to-move-michigan-state-university-against-me\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/hoole-2.jpg","datePublished":"2013-06-15T18:38:25+00:00","dateModified":"2013-06-19T19:26:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/devananda-fails-to-move-michigan-state-university-against-me\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/devananda-fails-to-move-michigan-state-university-against-me\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/devananda-fails-to-move-michigan-state-university-against-me\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/hoole-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/hoole-2.jpg","width":"169","height":"200","caption":"Prof S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/devananda-fails-to-move-michigan-state-university-against-me\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Devananda Fails To Move Michigan State University Against Me"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3","name":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/hoole-2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91814"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91838,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91814\/revisions\/91838"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}