Features

Only Connect

Published

3 years ago

2022/12/21

Text of a speech
delivered by
Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha

recently at the Web Page Launch of the ‘English for Fun’ Project, an outreach service of the Library, University of Sri Jayewardenepura

‘Only Connect’ is an exhortation by E M Forster that I have long thought a guideline for productive action. This I believe is what some of you at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura have done, to implement a remarkable initiative.

This is the more remarkable in that it seems to me the first initiative for several years in the field of education which takes forward the guiding principle that led to so many great innovations over almost a century. Beginning with C W W Kannangara’s creation of several schools to provide for students outside the big towns an education to equal that available to a previous charmed circle, and moving on to the effort by Arjuna Aluvihare, the best UGC Chairman we have had; he wanted to broad-base tertiary education; from the efforts to provide tertiary English for rural students and disseminate English medium education more widely through the government system – remembering that Kannangara’s Central Schools functioned in the English medium before the blight of compulsory Swabhasha was introduced by J R Jayewardene – to the effort less than a decade ago to ensure soft skills in vocational training, the focus of creative effort was to extend opportunities, not just for education but also for education leading to productive employment, for those who are comparatively deprived.

None of that has mattered in recent times to decision makers, and we go on with the mixture as before, pouring borrowed money into essentially the same projects, improving the Relevance and Quality of University Education with no appreciable outcome over now a quarter of a century, ploughing money into construction in schools with no systematic efforts to use plant productively, right through the day and right through the year.

Madhu Ratnayake, whose brainchild of English Language Acquisition Centres we celebrate today, has tried to remedy this, and to no small extent I feel, for the concept she has deployed, of English for Fun, making use of existing structures that are under-used – in this case the excellent library system the country has – can be extended to more and more productive learning activities at all levels. This I should note is something, as I suggested when coronavirus first struck us, that the education ministry should have developed, alternative systems of delivering learning, through clusters and user friendly materials that could be deployed outside schools which coronavirus had rendered doubly dangerous, because of difficult travel and then crowded classrooms. But unfortunately, the several Ministers of Education we have had, in the game of musical chairs this country has suffered from for a couple of years, were not interested in or capable of alternative thinking. The result, as your Vice-Chancellor put clearly in his very thoughtful speech, is that fewer and fewer students attend school.

To return to Madhu’s alternative thinking, I should mention that when I headed the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission, where I introduced a great many initiatives, I found myself running out of steam towards the end of 2017. This was in part because a committed Minister who studied his briefs had been replaced by one who thought a portfolio was simply a vehicle to provide jobs for constituents – a sad function of our electoral system where MPs have to fight each other over whole Districts for votes.

But when I was drooping, it was Madhu who revived me with a plan for the training of potential pre-school teachers, another of the brilliant ideas that, as in the case of the Athenians, she produces once a week from her fertile imagination. I moved on this immediately, but then I was sacked, and the vocational training sector sank into moribundity – and in the process abolished the most popular courses at the time, certificates in English that helped to occupy students in the ghastly fallow period they have after public examinations. Though successive Ministers of Education talk about the need for more and better English, since none of them look at what has been put in place, they allow it to be dismantled even while they witter on.

But Madhu did not rest, when her proposal was forgotten, and earlier this year I put her in touch with someone else full of energy, who when he worked for me would ask me critically what we planned to reform next. This was the Governor of the Northern Province, and working with his indefatigable Coordinating Secretary, Dhanya Ratnavale, Madhu has set up pre-school centres in the North with teachers trained to have fun with students, through the activities which she pioneered here in the English Language Teaching Department.

But the lady never rests, and after that got off the ground, she engendered new ideas, and then found a willing ally in your Librarian, and now we have what promises to be a fantastic opportunity for learning all over the country. This collaboration reminds me of something I proposed soon after I became a Member of Parliament, when I thought it was my business to initiate socially useful activities, before I came to realise that the principal function of MPs was to get themselves re-elected, and that society had nothing to do with their projects for benefits.

But the lady never rests, and after that got off the ground she engendered new ideas, and then found a willing ally in your Librarian, Nayana Wijayasundara, another of the energetic ladies in whom this university now abounds, and now we have what promises to be a fantastic opportunity for learning all over the country. I was struck by her comments this morning that action does not require funding, but rather clear thinking, and what she has proposed exemplifies this. It reminds me too of something I proposed soon after I became a Member of Parliament, when I thought it was my business to initiate socially useful activities, before I came to realise that the principal function of MPs was to get themselves re-elected, and that society had nothing to do with their projects for benefits.

I wanted to set up cultural activity centres in every Division, and indeed I got a wonderful design from Milinda Pathiraja of the University of Moratuwa, a building that could be used for many purposes and also added to by Divisional officials who wanted to do more for those they were supposed to work for. Unfortunately, Cultural Affairs was then in the hands of a Minister who thought in terms of cement rather than people, as most politicians do, for reasons my father put eloquently thirty years ago. In line with that sad fact, this Minister responded when I asked about establishing a National Theatre, on the lines of institutions in India and England that train youngsters and have regular productions, that we had theatres aplenty. What went on in them was of no interest to him, the human resources that we neglect so that the cement remains unused to its full, or even half its potential.

That idea lapsed, as did my suggestion that we set up English classes in every division, free for students after the Ordinary Level Examination, which would also help in making English compulsory for University Entrance. The buildings are there and personnel are available. But those who took over Higher Education from me in 2015 were not concerned with educational needs, as opposed to commandeering vehicles I had tried to get rid of – 14 I was told I could use – and that was the end of innovation in Higher Education.

But if Madhu takes further her philosophy of connecting things together, I believe she could also now introduce this programme to regions through collaboration with the Regional English Support Centres. These are no longer as dynamic taken as a whole as they were when British Council consultant David Woolger ensured productive activity in all of them. But I know there are still some innovative individuals in place, and I have no doubt they can extend this sort of learning though enjoyment into primary classes as well.

Madhu is one of the few people who could make this happen with support from your dedicated English staff. For they too, like her, continue to innovate, most recently I learned in terms of a wonderful idea of your English Department Professor, Chitra Jayatilleka, to record the work of Sri Lankans in the field of English Drama, a genre long neglected by academia. Remembering how English at USJP was looked down on thirty years ago by universities which prided themselves on being able to send their products to Cambridge – one every decade or so – I am immensely proud of how this university has developed, after the then Vice-Chancellor, Prof S B Hettiarachchi, and the then Dean of Arts, the dedicated Mahinda Palihawadana, took up Arjuna Aluvihare’s challenge and spearheaded the process of broadbasing tertiary education, with particular emphasis on English.

I recall how, soon after I joined this university, Arjuna introduced a group of academics from this university to a World Bank delegation as the cutting edge of the university system. But I soon understood what Arjuna meant, when I met the leading lights here of those distant days, Mr Wickramaarachchi who started the first English Medium only Accountancy Course, the wonderful Oranee Jansz whom every department wanted to teach their students English, and who rapidly made sure along with Mohan de Silva (a thoughtful UGC Chairman, stultified by his dull colleagues appointed to it when his able predecessor was unceremoniously dismissed) that your Medical Faculty students were soon on a par with others from other universities, the avuncular Sirisena Thilakaratna who was later UGC Chairman. It is a joy then to be here today to see Madhu and Nayana collaborating so productively backed so solidly, as Madhu has told me, by the hierarchy here. I can only hope that this will be the precursor of much more to benefit those in distant areas who have no access to the learning and the fun that the more fortunate are exposed to.

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Features

The Easter investigation must not become ethno-religious politics

Published

4 hours ago

2026/04/7

Sahan Weerasooriya

Zahran and other bombers

Representatives of almost all the main opposition parties were in attendance at the recent book launch by Pivithuru Hela Urumaya leader Udaya Gammanpila. The book written by the PHU leader was his analysis of the Easter bombing of April 2019 that led to the mass killing of 279 persons, caused injuries to more than 500 others and caused panic and shock in the entire country. The Easter bombing was inexplicable for a number of reasons. First, it was perpetrated by suicide bombers who were Sri Lankan Muslims, a community not known for this practice. They targeted Christian churches in particular, which led to the largest number of casualties. The bombing of Sri Lankan Christian churches by Sri Lankan Muslims was also inexplicable in a country that had no history of any serious violence between the two religions.

There were two further inexplicable features of the bombing. The six suicide bombings took place almost simultaneously in different parts of the country. The logistical complexity of this operation exceeded any previously seen in Sri Lanka. Even during the three decade long civil war that pitted the Sri Lankan military against the LTTE, which had earned international notoriety for suicide attacks, Sri Lanka had rarely witnessed such a synchronised operation. The country’s former Attorney General, Dappula de Livera, who investigated the bombing at the time it took place, later stated, upon retirement, that there was a “grand conspiracy” behind the bombings. That phrase has remained central to public debate because it suggested that the visible perpetrators may not have been the only planners behind the attack.

The other inexplicable factor was that intelligence services based in India repeatedly warned their Sri Lankan counterparts that the bombings would take place and even gave specific targets. Later investigations confirmed that warnings were transmitted days before the attacks and repeated again shortly before the explosions, yet they were not acted upon. It was these several inexplicable factors that gave rise to the surmise of a mastermind behind the students and religious fanatics led by the extremist preacher Zahran Hashim from the east of the country, who also blew himself up in the attacks. Even at the time of the bombing there was doubt that such a complex and synchronised operation could have been planned and executed by the motley band who comprised the suicide bombers.

Determined Attempt

The book by PHU leader Gammanpila is a determined attempt to make explicable the inexplicable by marshalling logic and evidence that this complex and synchronised operation was planned and executed by Zahran himself. This is a possible line of argumentation in a democratic society. Competing interpretations of public tragedies are part of political discourse. However, the timing of the intervention makes it politically more significant. The launch of the PHU leader’s book comes at a critical time when the protracted investigation into the Easter bombing appears to be moving forward under the present government.

The performance of the three previous governments at investigating the bombing was desultory at best. The Supreme Court held former President Maithripala Sirisena and several senior officials responsible for failing to act on prior intelligence and ordered compensation to victims. This judicial finding gave legal recognition to what victims had long maintained, that there was a grave dereliction of duty at the highest levels of the state. In recent weeks the investigation has taken a dramatic turn with the arrest and court production of former State Intelligence Service chief Suresh Sallay on allegations linked directly to the attacks. Whether these allegations are ultimately proven or disproven, they indicate that the present phase of the investigation is moving beyond negligence into possible complicity.

This is why the present moment requires political sobriety. There is a danger that the line of political division regarding the investigation into the Easter bombing can take on an ethnic complexion. The insistence that the suicide bombers alone were the planners and executors of the dastardly crime makes the focus invariably one of Muslim extremism, as the suicide bombers were all Muslims. This may unintentionally narrow public attention away from the unanswered questions regarding intelligence failures, possible political manipulation, and the allegations of a broader conspiracy that remain under active investigation. The minority political parties representing ethnic and religious minorities appear to have realised this danger. Their absence from the book launch was politically significant. It suggests an unwillingness to be drawn into a narrative that could once again stigmatise an entire community for the crimes of a handful of extremists and their possible handlers.

Another Tragedy

It would be another tragedy comparable in political consequence to the havoc wreaked by the Easter bombing if moderate mainstream political parties, such as the SJB to which the Leader of the Opposition belongs, were to subscribe to positions merely to score political points against the present government. They need to guard against the promotion of anti-minority sentiment and the fuelling of majority prejudice against ethnic and religious minorities. Indeed, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa in his Easter message said that justice for the victims of the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter Sunday attacks remains a fundamental responsibility of the state and noted that seven years on, both past and present governments have failed to deliver accountability. He added that building a society grounded in trust and peace, uniting all ethnicities, religions and communities, is vital to ensure such tragedies do not occur again.

Sri Lanka’s post war history offers too many examples of how unresolved security crises become vehicles for majoritarian mobilisation. The Easter tragedy itself was followed by waves of anti-Muslim suspicion and violence in some parts of the country. Responsible political leadership should seek to prevent any return to that atmosphere. There are many other legitimate issues on which the moderate and mainstream opposition parties can take the government to task. These include the lack of decisive action against government members accused of corruption, the passing of the entire burden of rising fuel prices on consumers instead of the government sharing the burden, and the failure to hold provincial council elections within the promised timeframe. These are issues that touch the daily lives of citizens and the health of democratic governance. They offer the opposition ample ground on which to build credibility as a government in waiting.

The search for truth and justice over the Easter bombing needs to continue until all those responsible are identified, whether they were direct perpetrators, negligent officials, or political actors who may have exploited the tragedy. This is what the victim families want and the country needs. But this search must not be turned into a partisan and religiously divisive matter such as by claiming that there are more potential suicide bombers lurking in the country who had been followers of Zaharan. If it is, Sri Lanka risks replacing one national tragedy with another. coming together to discredit the ongoing investigations into the Easter bombing of 2019 is an unacceptable use of ethno-religious nationalism to politically challenge the government. The opposition needs to find legitimate issues on which to challenge the government if they are to gain the respect and support of the general public and not their opprobrium.

by Jehan Perera

Features

China’s new duty-free regime for Africa: Implications for Global Trade and Sri Lanka

Published

4 hours ago

2026/04/7

Sahan Weerasooriya

Image courtesy The Global Times

* The new duty-free regime for Africa, announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in February, is the most generous unilateral nonreciprocal trade concession offered by any country to developing countries since the beginning of the modern rule based international trading system.

* Yet, it is a clear violation of the cornerstone of the multilateral trade law, the Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) principle.

* Hence, its implications on developing countries, without duty-free access to China, will be extremely negative. Sri Lanka is one of the few developing countries without duty-free access to China.

On 14 February, 2026, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that China will grant zero-tariff treatment to 53 African nations, effective 01 May, 2026. Under this new unilateral policy initiative, China would eliminate all import tariffs on all goods imported from all the countries in Africa, except Eswatini. China already enforces a zero-tariff policy for 33 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Africa. Now this policy would be extended to non LDCs as well. This policy initiative clearly aims at reducing the continuously expanding trade deficit between China and Africa. In 2024, China’s trade surplus against Africa was recorded at US $ 61 billion.

This trade initiative, a precious gift amidst ongoing global trade tensions, is the most generous unilateral nonreciprocal trade concession given by any country to developing countries, since the beginning of the modern rule based international trading system.

Though this landmark announcement has far-reaching implications on global trade, as much as President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, it was almost overlooked by the global media.

Implications for Global Trade

This Chinese policy initiative, though very generous, is a clear violation of the Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) principle and the “Enabling Clause” of the International Trade Law. The MFN principle is the cornerstone of the multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and is enshrined in Article I of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). It mandates that any trade advantage, privilege, or immunity granted by a WTO member to any country must be extended immediately and unconditionally to all other WTO members. Though, the GATT “Enabling Clause” allows developed nations to offer non-reciprocal preferential treatment (lower tariffs) to developing countries without extending them to all WTO members, this has to be done in a non-discriminatory manner. By extending tariff concessions only to developing countries in Africa, China has also breached this requirement.

This deliberate violation of the MFN principle by China occurs less than 12 months after the announcement of “Liberation Day” tariffs by President Trump, which breached Article I (MFN) and Article II (bound rates) of the GATT. However, it is important to underline that the objectives of the actions by the two Presidents are poles apart; the US objective was to limit imports from all its trading partners, and China’s objective is to increase imports from African countries.

Though the importance of the MFN principle of the WTO law had eroded over the years due to the proliferation of preferential trade agreements and unilateral preferential arrangements, the WTO members almost always obtained WTO waivers, whenever they breached the MFN principle. Now the leaders of the main trading powers have decided to violate the core principles of the multilateral trading system so brazenly, the impact of their decisions on the international trading system will be irrevocable.

Implications for Sri Lanka

China’s unilateral decision to provide zero-tariff treatment to African countries will have a strong adverse impact on Sri Lanka. Currently, all Asian countries, other than India and Sri Lanka, have duty-free access, for most of their exports, into the Chinese market through bilateral or regional trade agreements, or the LDC preferences. Though Sri Lanka, India and China are members of the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), preferential margins extended by China under APTA to India and Sri Lanka are limited.

The value of China’s imports from Sri Lanka had declined from US$ 650 million in 2021 to US$ 433 million by 2025. However, China’s exports to Sri Lanka increased significantly during the period, from US$ 5,252 million to US$ 5,753 by 2025. This has resulted in a trade deficit of US$ 5,320 million. Sri Lanka’s exports to China may decline further from next month when African nations with duty-free access start to expand their market share.

Let me illustrate the challenges Sri Lanka will face in the Chinese market with one example. Tea (HS0902) is Sri Lanka’s third largest export to China, after garments and gems. Sri Lanka is the largest exporter of tea to China, followed by India, Kenya and Viet Nam. During the last five years the value of China’s imports of tea from Sri Lanka had declined significantly, from US$76 million in 2021 to US$ 57 million by 2025. Meanwhile, imports from our main competitors had increased substantially. Most importantly, imports from Kenya increased from US$ 7.9 million in 2021 to US$ 15 million in 2025. For tea, the existing tariff in China for Sri Lanka is 7.5% and for Kenya is 15%. From next month the tariff for Kenya will be reduced to 0%. What will be its impact on Sri Lanka exports? That was perhaps explained by a former Ambassador to Africa, when he urged Sri Lankan exporters to “leverage duty free access from Kenya” to expand their exports to China!

(The writer is a retired public servant and a former Chairman of WTO Committee on Trade and Development. He can be reached at senadhiragomi@gmail.com)

by Gomi Senadhira

Features

Daughter in the spotlight …

Published

4 hours ago

2026/04/7

Sahan Weerasooriya

Jeevarani Kurukulasuriya was a famous actress and her name still rings a bell with many. And now in the spotlight is her daughter Senani Wijesena – not as an actress but as a singer – and she has been singing, since the age of five!

The plus factor is that Senani, now based in Australia, is also a songwriter, plays keyboards and piano, dancer, and has filmed and edited some of her own music videos.

Says Senani: “I write the lyrics, melody and music and work with professional musicians who do the needful on my creations.”

Her latest album, ‘Music of the Mirror’, is made up of 16 songs, and her first Sinhala song, called ‘Nidahase’, is scheduled for release this month (April) in Colombo, along with a music video.

‘Nidahase’,

says Senani, is a song about Freedom … of life, movement, love and spirit. Freedom to be your authentic self, express yourself freely and Freedom from any restrictions.

In fact, ‘Nidahase’ is the Sinhala translated version of her English song ‘Free’ which made Senani a celebrity as the song was nominated for a Hollywood Music in Media Award in the RnB /Soul category and reached the Top 20 on the UK Music weekly dance charts, as well as No. 1 on the Yes Home grown Top 15, on Yes FM, for six weeks straight.

Senani went on to say that ‘Nidahase’ has been remixed to include a Sri Lankan touch, using Kandyan drums and the Thammattama drum, with extra music production by local music producer Dilshan L. Silva, and Australia-based Emmy Award winning Producer and Engineer Sean Carey … with Senani also in the scene.

The song was written (lyrics and melody) and produced by Senani and it features Australian musicians, while the music video was produced by Sri Lanka’s Sandesh Bandara and filmed in Sri Lanka.

First Sinhala song scheduled for release this month … in Colombo

Senani’s music is mostly Soul, Funk and RNB – also Fusion, using ethnic sounds such as the tabla, sitar, and sarod – as well as Jazz influenced.

“I also have Alternative Music songs with a rock edge, such as ‘New Day’, and upcoming releases ‘Fly High’ and ‘Whisper’“, says Senani, adding that she has also recorded in other languages, such as Hindi and Spanish.

“As much of my fan base are Sri Lankans, who have asked me to release a song in the Sinhala language, I decided to create and release ‘Nidahase’ and I plan to release other original Sinhala songs in the future.

Senani has a band in Australia and has appeared at festivals in Australia, on radio and TV in Australia, and Sri Lanka.

She trained as a vocalist, through Sydney-based Singing Schools, as well as private tuition, and she has 5th Grade piano music qualifications.

And this makes interesting reading:

“I graduated from the University of Newcastle in Australia with a Bachelor of Medicine and I work part time as a doctor (GP) and an Integrative Medicine practitioner, with a focus on nutrition, and spend the rest of the time dedicated to my music career.”

Senani hails from an illustrious family. In addition to her mum, Jeevarani Kurukulasuriya, who made over 40 films, including starring in the first colour movie ‘Ranmuthu Duwa’, her dad is Dr Lanka Wijesena (retired GP) and she has two sisters – all musical; one is a doctor, while the other is a dietitian/ psychotherapist.