Features

SRI LANKA’S ECONOMIC QUAGMIRE AND HOW MARGRET THATCHER SMASHED THE KEYNESIAN CONSENSUS

Published

4 years ago

2021/07/25

By Sanjeewa Jayaweera

For quite some time, experts in economics and finance not associated with any political party have been raising the red flag about the severe economic challenges that our country was facing. Unfortunately, the politicians have consistently ignored these challenges. Many in the
private sector believed that commonsense would prevail and necessary course correction will occur, and the ship will sail smoothly.

I recently reminded a few of my former colleagues about how some of them rebuked me (in a friendly manner) five years ago when I asked the regional team of a large multinational bank, “Will Sri Lanka default on foreign debt like Greece?” My colleagues felt that I was unnecessarily pessimistic, although I thought I was a realist. Fortunately for me, one of the regional team members came to my defence and said that the scenario was not so outrageous as “Sri
Lanka was not out of the woods.” That was five years ago.

Since then, a debilitating pandemic, along with a decision to reduce government revenue by around Rs. 600 billion due to various tax cuts has severely depleted government coffers. Moreover, the loss of foreign exchange earnings due to the country being closed for tourism
has been a body blow. I, however, contend that our inability, or should I say struggle to meet the repayment of foreign debt, was always ever-present. The pandemic has just fast-forwarded it. The challenge for a country with an annual deficit of around USD 8 billion in merchandise trade having to repay USD 23 billion between 2021-2025 was always tricky. Moreover, our ability to raise additional foreign currency debt has been severely constrained as international rating agencies have continuously downgraded our ability to repay the debt.

Many have spoken and written articles recommending that the Government (GOSL) seek assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). To many, other than rabid socialists, it is the most sensible of options, not that there are too many available. The GOSL, on the other hand, has articulated to neither the public, the private sector or the international creditors how they intend to avoid a possible sovereign default immediately as well as going up to 2025 whilst also ensuring that there is sufficient foreign exchange to facilitate imports.

Keynesian economics

One can only assume that those reposed with economic strategy and management under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa are disciples of Keynesian economic theory. Keynesian economic theory was developed by the British economist John Maynard Keynes during the
1930s. Keynes advocated increased government expenditures and lower taxes to stimulate demand and pull the global economy out of the depression.

Keynes argued that during periods of economic woe, the government should undertake deficit spending to make up for the decline in investment and boost consumer spending to stabilize aggregate demand. He rejected the idea that the economy would return to a natural state of equilibrium if left to market forces. Instead, he proposed that the government spend more money and cut taxes to turn a budget deficit, which would increase consumer demand, viz overall economic activity, and reduce unemployment. Thus, he believed the government was better positioned than market forces when creating a robust economy.

The critics of deficit spending say that if left unchecked, it could threaten economic growth. Too much debt could cause a government to raise taxes and even default on its debt. What’s more, the sale of government bonds could crowd out corporate and other private issuers, which might distort prices and interest rates in capital markets. Many who oppose Keynesian theories will now use Sri Lanka to illustrate how continuous deficit spending and funding with mountains
of debt will ultimately lead to economic disaster.

Modern Monetary Theory

A new school of economic thought called Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) has taken up the fight on behalf of Keynesian deficit spending. It is gaining influence, particularly on the left of the political spectrum. Proponents of MMT argue that as long as inflation is contained, a country with its own currency doesn’t need to worry about accumulating too much debt through deficit spending because it can always print more money to pay for it. This is precisely what our
Central Bank has been doing, one presumes at the behest of the GOSL.

How Margeret Thatcher smashed the Keynesian consensus

To understand what Margeret Thacher (MT) achieved in upending the Keynesian theory, one needs to understand the decade and a half before that. The 1960s and 70s was a time of unrivalled sociopolitical activism. In the USA, which had established itself as the leading superpower both from an economic and a military perspective, there were protests against the war in Vietnam whilst the civil rights movement gained significant traction after the death of Martin Luther King. Elsewhere particularly in western Europe, pop music, recreational drugs, a liberal view towards sex and the gay community gained wide acceptance. As a result, the 1960s is fondly referred to by many as the “swinging sixties!’

In the political arena, across the world, many socialist governments were voted into power. For example, in both the UK and West Germany, socialist governments held power for most of the 1960s and 1970s. These governments underpinned their political philosophy with the concept of the social welfare state and that capitalism was not desirable. However, the aftermath of the 1973 war between Israel and several middle eastern countries caused significant economic upheaval in many countries. The oil price increased by 400 per cent, and supply was constrained due to an embargo impacting the USA and Western European countries.

In the UK, a full-scale energy crisis loomed due to a combination of a limited supply of oil and an overtime ban by the coal miners to support a significant pay increase. As a result, the government declared a state of emergency. To conserve energy, industries were told to work only three days a week, and all national television stations were switched off at 10.30 p.m. In addition, students had to do their homework in the evenings by candlelight. The following year the conservative government paid the ultimate price by being rejected by the voters.

Emboldened trade unions resorting to industrial action caused many headaches to the government and a great deal of inconvenience to the public. In addition, due to rising inflation which peaked at 26 per cent, the unions demanded higher wages, resulting in higher unemployment as many companies were unable to afford such increases. It was indeed a vicious circle.

The despondency amongst the British public due to the poor economy and the actions of the militant trade unions is aptly summed up by the comments made by the then minister James
Callaghan. He warned his fellow Cabinet members in 1974 of the possibility of “a breakdown of democracy”, telling them: “If I were a young man, I would emigrate.” Ironically. he subsequently succeeded Harold Wilson as the Labour prime minister after the latter’s surprise resignation in April 1976.

The Labour government faced continuing economic difficulties with rising inflation, a balance of payments deficit arising from significant oil price increases, and a series of industrial disputes. Events came to a head in 1976 when markets began to lose confidence in the sterling. In September 1976, the government approached the IMF for a loan of US$3.9 billion, the largest ever requested from the fund. The IMF demanded significant cuts in public expenditure as a condition for the loan, which the government accepted.

But life in the UK got worse a few years later when, in 1978, a wage dispute between Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan and the trade unions culminated in the Winter of discontent. Streets were lined with litter, some dead went unburied, and parents rushed to
feed their ill children in hospital as everyone from rubbish collectors to gravediggers and nurses went out on strike.

In May 1979, the public, fed up with the inability of the Labour government to curb the militant trade unions and bring down inflation, voted in the conservative party led by Margaret Thatcher (MT), with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats.

MT brought about many radical changes to British economic policy. The pillars on which she built her economic policies were:

* Reduce inflation through reduced money supply growth

*Reduce the budget deficit by initially increasing taxes and reducing public expenditure

*Privatize state-owned enterprises

*Deregulate the financial industry

*Bust the trade unions.

There is no doubt that she did achieve her objectives. She remained the PM for 12 years, and the conservative party was the ruling party for 17 long years. However, the initial years under MT were extremely tough for the British people. There was significant unemployment as her policy of increasing interest rates meant that many companies went into liquidation. I recall watching the one-minute segment on national TV every evening where the number of closed companies and how many were made redundant along with cumulative figures were announced.
In March 1981, as many as 364 eminent British economists published a letter condemning her plans to hike taxes even as her monetarist attack on inflation plunged the economy ever deeper into recession. However, MT stood firm. She famously said, “The lady’s not for turning ” in her speech to the Conservative Party Conference on 10 October 1980. It is considered a defining speech in Thatcher’s political development. As a result, she gained the nickname “Iron Lady”,
and it was widely believed that she had more “balls” than any of her male colleagues in the cabinet!

There is no doubt that her economic policies upended the Keynesian theory of governments spending money and lowering taxes to increase aggregate demand. Along with Ronald Regan, the President of the USA, she led a renaissance of conservative politics that relegated socialist parties for nearly two decades.

Space constraints prevent me from going into details of the main initiatives that underpinned her economic policies. However, I wish to share two of them as I believe these are imperatives for Sri Lanka in the current context.

Privatization of State-Owned

Enterprises

Under MT, the government aggressively sold off key industries that the British government had owned. Early in her term, she sold off British Aerospace and Cable & Wireless, followed later on by British Telecom, Britoil, British Gas, and Jaguar. In her third term, British Airways, British Petroleum (or BP), British Steel, Rolls Royce, and electric and water companies were privatized as well.

Many of those companies have gone on to be successful private firms. In addition, fans of the effort note that it freed up a great deal of money in the 1980s, preventing further spending cuts or tax increases and creating competitive telecommunications and fuel sectors.

Union busting

One of MT’s most heated political battles came in 1984 when the miner’s union struck work. Earlier in Thatcher’s term, in 1981, the miners almost struck, but the government immediately gave in and offered concessions. Thatcher spent the ensuing years plotting to make sure
that this never happened again by changing trade union laws, stockpiling coal to blunt the impact of a strike on consumers and even having MI5 agents infiltrate the miner’s unions.

So when the miners struck in 1984, she was ready. After nearly a year, the miners returned to work without any concessions from the government. As a result, the National Union of Miners, which just 10 years earlier had toppled the Conservative government of Edward Heath, was permanently weakened. Smashing the unions meant more when they dominated every facet of economic and political life.

Will Sri Lanka adopt Margret Thatcher’s prescription?

I lived in the UK from 1975 onwards and experienced first-hand most of what I described in the preceding paragraphs. In 1979 when MT was elected to power, I was 20-years old and very much a committed socialist. I was, in fact, the General Secretary of the Student Union
for two years. However, I took to heart the famous quote, “Not to be a socialist at twenty is proof of want of heart; to be one at thirty is proof that you have no head.”

In my opinion, there is no doubt that if we genuinely want to come out of the economic quagmire that we are in, we all will need to undergo significant hardships and sacrifices. Unfortunately, that is the price we will have to pay for the extravagant lifestyle the country has enjoyed for several decades.

The pain would have been far less had corrective decisions been taken several years ago. However, we have elected successive governments who have failed to take tough decisions as
appeasing the public, trade unions, and other vested parties have taken precedence.

An example that I wish to cite in support of my above comment is that we have hardly been subjected to any power cuts in the last two decades. Whenever there was insufficient hydropower or the coal power plant broke down, the government got the CEB to generate
expensive thermal power. This was done to prevent any inconvenience to the public but at a significant cost. The CEB did not even levy a special surcharge to recover part of the additional cost. I am pretty confident that electricity prices have not been increased for the last five years.

About a decade ago, I regularly travelled to India as the company I worked for established a subsidiary company in New Delhi. It was difficult for the accountant of that company and me to go through the financial records on the system as every few minutes; there was a power outage
or a power cut. There were long power cuts during the summer months in India and Pakistan, lasting more than six hours a day. However, in Sri Lanka, despite the perilous state of the economy, we enjoyed uninterrupted power.

About 80 per cent of government revenue is spent on paying public sector salaries. In 2015 the Yahapalana government granted salary increments of Rs. 10,000 per month to public servants. The present government gave 100,000 jobs to unemployed graduates, and the state also employed a further 35,000 who had not passed ordinary level exams. Just imagine the cost being borne by taxpayers to fund a bloated and highly inefficient public sector.

I wish to share a couple of examples with the readers so that they can understand my frustration with the public sector.

In 2002 or 2003, when as the Chief Financial Officer, I offered permanent employment at the largest conglomerate in the country to a trainee graduate working under the “Tharuna Aruna” scheme, he told me “, Sir, I prefer to work as a government teacher in Mahiyangana as there is no work pressure and also, I am guaranteed a pension!” Unfortunately, that was the limit of his ambitions which successive governments have inculcated in our people.

In 1984, I went to the Inland Revenue to represent the company I was working for an enquiry. When I approached the officer concerned, I realized that she had forgotten that an enquiry had been scheduled. I was asked to sit while she desperately rang the bell for the peon to bring the file. The guy was seated only 50 feet away but pretended not to hear! The lady was embarrassed and asked me whether I could go and find the file. I lost my temper and
told her that she’d better find the file herself. Finally, she said she would re-fix the hearing, but we had still not heard from her one year later when I went back to the UK.

That we need to restructure and privatize most state enterprises that are losing significant amounts of money as was done by MT in the UK is a given. To do that, the government needs to “bust” the trade unions. The public will need to undergo certain hardships as industrial action will disrupt our life. But, in my opinion, the sacrifice will be well worth it. At least we will leave a better place for our children.

The industrial action resorted to by health workers as well as the principals and teachers is absolutely deplorable. Furthermore, the cancellation of the East Container Terminal to be awarded to India and Japan and the reported grant of salary increments amounting to Rs. 9 billion for a year to CEB staff reflect how the GOSL is caving in to unreasonable demands made by trade unions.

Margaret Thatcher, from 1979 onwards, showcased to the British people and the world at large what can be achieved by strong, determined and courageous leadership. A quote of hers that our political leaders will do well to remember “If you set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing.”

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Features

The Great and Little Traditions and Sri Lankan Historiography

Published

10 hours ago

2025/04/2

Sahan Weerasooriya

Prof. Obeyesekere

Power, Culture, and Historical Memory:

History, broadly defined, is the study of the past. It is a crucial component of the production and reproduction of culture. Studying every past event is neither feasible nor useful. Therefore, it is necessary to be selective about what to study from the countless events in the past. Deciding what to study, what to ignore, how to study, and how deeply to go into the past is a conscious choices shaped by various forms of power and authority. If studying the past is a main element of the production and reproduction of culture and History is its product, can a socially and culturally divided society truly have a common/shared History? To what extent does ‘established’ or ‘authentic’ History reflect the experiences of those remained outside the political, economic, social, and cultural power structures? Do marginalized groups have their own histories, distinct from dominant narratives? If so, how do these histories relate to ‘established’ History? Historiography today cannot ignore these questions, as they challenge the very notion of truth in History. Due to methodological shifts driven by post-positivist critiques of previously accepted assumptions, the discipline of history—particularly historiography—has moved into a new epistemological terrain.

The post-structuralism and related philosophical discourses have necessitated a critical reexamination of the established epistemological core of various social science disciplines, including history. This intellectual shift has led to a blurring of traditional disciplinary boundaries among the social sciences and the humanities. Consequently, concepts, theories, and heuristic frames developed in one discipline are increasingly being incorporated into others, fostering a process of cross-fertilization that enriches and transforms scholarly inquiry

In recent decades, the discipline of History has broadened its scope and methodologies through interactions with perspectives from the Social Sciences and Humanities. Among the many analytical tools adopted from other disciplines, the Great Tradition and Little Tradition have had a significant impact on historical methodology. This article examines how these concepts, originally developed in social anthropology, have been integrated into Sri Lankan historiography and assesses their role in deepening our understanding of the past.

The heuristic construct of the Great and Little Traditions first emerged in the context of US Social Anthropology as a tool/framework for identifying and classifying cultures. In his seminal work Peasant society and culture: an anthropological approach to civilization, (1956), Robert Redfield introduced the idea of Great and Little Traditions to explain the dual structure of cultural expression in societies, particularly in peasant communities that exist within larger civilizations. His main arguments can be summarized as follows:

a) An agrarian society cannot exist as a fully autonomous entity; rather, it is just one dimension of the broader culture in which it is embedded. Therefore, studying an agrarian society in isolation from its surrounding cultural context is neither possible nor meaningful.

b) Agrarian society, when views in isolation, is a ‘half society’, representing a partial aspect/ one dimension of the broader civilization in which it exits. In that sense, agrarian civilization is a half civilization. To fully understand agrarian society—and by extension, agrarian civilization—it is essential to examine the other half that contribute to the whole.

c) Agrarian society was shaped by the interplay of two cultural traditions within a single framework: the Great Tradition and the Little Tradition. These traditions together provided the unity that defined the civilization embedded in agrarian society.

d) The social dimensions of these cultural traditions would be the Great Society and the Little Society.

e) The Great Culture encompasses the cultural framework of the Great Society, shaped by those who establish its norms. This group includes the educated elite, clergy, theologians, and literati, whose discourse is often regarded as erudite and whose language is considered classical.

f) The social groups excluded from the “Great Society”—referred to as the “Little Society”—have their own distinct traditions and culture. The “Great Tradition” represents those who appropriate society’s surplus production, and its cultural expressions reflect this dominance. In contrast, the “Little Tradition” belongs to those who generate surplus production. While the “Great Tradition” is inherently tied to power and authority, the “Little Tradition” is not directly connected to them.

g) According to Robert Redfield, the Great and Little Traditions are not contradictory but rather distinct cultural elements within a society. The cultural totality of peasant society encompasses both traditions. As Redfield describes, they are “two currents of thought and action, distinguishable, yet overflowing into and out of each other.” (Redfield, 1956).

At the time Redfield published his book Peasant Society and Culture: an Anthropological Approach to Civilization (1956), the dominant analytical framework for studying non-Western societies was modernization theory. This perspective, which gained prominence in the post-World War II era, was deeply influenced by the US geopolitical concerns. Modernization theory became a guiding paradigm shaping research agendas in anthropology, sociology, political science, and development studies in US institutions of higher learning,

Modernization theory viewed societies as existing along a continuum between “traditional” and “modern” stages, with Western industrialized nations positioned near the modern end. Scholars working within this framework argued that economic growth, technological advancement, urbanization, and the rationalization of social structures drive traditional societies toward modernization. The theory often emphasized Western-style education, democratic institutions, and capitalist economies as essential components of this transition.

While engaging with aspects of modernization theory, Redfield offered a more nuanced perspective on non-Western societies. His concept of the “folk-urban continuum” challenged rigid dichotomies between tradition and modernity, proposing that social change occurs through complex interactions between rural and urban ways of life rather than through the simple replacement of one by the other.

The concepts of the Great and Little Traditions gained prominence in Sri Lankan social science discourse through the works of Gananath Obeyesekere, the renowned sociologist who recently passed away. In his seminal research essay, The Great Tradition and the Little in the Perspective of Sinhalese Buddhism (Journal of Asian Studies, 22, 1963), Gananath Obeyesekere applied and adapted this framework to examine key aspects of Sinhalese Buddhism in Sri Lanka. While Robert Redfield originally developed the concept in the context of agrarian societies, Obeyesekere employed it specifically to analyze Sinhala Buddhist culture, highlighting significant distinctions between the two approaches.

He identifies a phenomenon called ‘Sinhala Buddhism’, which represents a unique fusion of religious and cultural traditions: the Great Tradition (Maha Sampradaya) and the Little Traditions (Chuula Sampradaya). To fully grasp the essence of Sinhala Buddhism, it is essential to understand both of these dimensions and their interplay within society.

The Great Tradition represents the formal, institutionalized aspect of Buddhism, centered on the Three Pitakas and other classical doctrinal texts and commentaries of Theravāda Buddhism. It embodies the orthodoxy of Sinhala Buddhism, emphasizing textual authority, philosophical depth, and ethical conduct. Alongside this exists another dimension of Sinhala Buddhism known as the Little (Chuula) Tradition. This tradition reflects the popular, localized, and ritualistic expressions of Buddhism practiced by laypeople. It encompasses folk beliefs, devotional practices (Bali, Thovil), deity veneration, astrology, and rituals (Hadi and Huunium) aimed at securing worldly benefits. Unlike the doctrinally rigid Great Tradition, the Little Tradition is fluid, adaptive, and shaped by indigenous customs, ancestral practices, and even elements of Hinduism. These Sinhala Buddhist cultural practices are identified as ‘Lay-Buddhism’. Gananath Obeyesekera’s concepts and perspectives on Buddhist culture and society contributed to fostering an active intellectual discourse in society. However, the discussion on the concept of Great and Little Traditions remained largely within the domain of social anthropology.

The scholarly discourse on the concepts of Great and Little Tradition gained new socio-political depth through the work of Newton Gunasinghe, a distinguished Sri Lankan sociologist. He applied these concepts to the study of culture and socio-economic structures in the Kandyan countryside, reframing them in terms of production relations. Through his extensive writings and public lectures, Gunasinghe reinterpreted the Great and Little Tradition framework to explore the interconnections between economy, society, and culture.

Blending conventional social anthropology approach with Marxist analyses of production relations and Gramscian perspectives on culture and politics, he offered a nuanced understanding of these dynamics. In the context of our discussion, his key insights on culture, society, and modes of production can be summarized as follows.

a. The social and economic relations of the central highlands under the Kandyan Kingdom, the immediate pre-colonial social and economic order, were his focus. His analysis did not cover to the hydraulic Civilization of Sri Lanka.

b. He explored the organic and dialectical relationship between culture, forces of production, and modes of production. Drawing on the concepts of Antonio Gramsci and Louis Althusser, he examined how culture, politics, and the economy interact, identifying the relationship between cultural formations and production relations

c. Newton Gunasinghe’s unique approach to the concepts of Great Culture and Little Culture lies in his connection of cultural formations to forces and relations of production. He argues that the relationship between a society’s structures and its superstructures is both dialectical and interpenetrative.

d. He observed that during the Kandyan period, the culture associated with the Little Tradition prevailed, rather than the culture linked to the Great Tradition.

e. The limitations of productive forces led to minimal surplus generation, with a significant portion allocated to defense. The constrained resources sustained only the Little Tradition. Consequently, the predominant cultural mode in the Kandyan Kingdom was, broadly speaking, the Little Tradition.

(To be continued)

by Gamini Keerawella

Features

Celebrating 25 Years of Excellence: The Silver Jubilee of SLIIT – II

Published

10 hours ago

2025/04/2

Sahan Weerasooriya

Founded in 1999, with its main campus in Malabe and multiple centres across the country—including Metro Campus (Colombo), Matara, Kurunegala, Kandy (Pallekele), and Jaffna (Northern Uni)—SLIIT provides state-of-the-art facilities for students, now celebrating 25 years of excellence in 2025.

Kandy Campus

SLIIT is a degree-awarding higher education institute authorised and approved by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and Ministry of Higher Education under the University Act of the Government of Sri Lanka. SLIIT is also the first Sri Lankan institute accredited by the Institution of Engineering & Technology, UK. Further, SLIIT is also a member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) and the International Association of Universities (IAU).

Since its inception, SLIIT has played a pivotal role in shaping the technological and educational landscape of Sri Lanka, producing graduates who have excelled in both local and global arenas. This milestone is a testament to the institution’s unwavering commitment to academic excellence, research, and industry collaboration.

Summary of SLIIT’s

History and Status

Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) operates as a company limited by guarantee, meaning it has no shareholders and reinvests all surpluses into academic and institutional development.

* Independence from Government: SLIIT was established in 1999 as an independent entity without government ownership or funding, apart from an initial industry promotion grant from the Board of Investment (BOI).

* Mahapola Trust Fund Involvement & Malabe Campus: In 2000, the Mahapola Trust Fund (MTF) agreed to support SLIIT with funding and land for the Malabe Campus. In 2015, SLIIT fully repaid MTF with interest, ending financial ties.

* True Independence (2017-Present): In 2017, SLIIT was officially delisted from any government ministry, reaffirming its status as a self-sustaining, non-state higher education institution.

Today, SLIIT is recognised for academic excellence, global collaborations, and its role in producing IT professionals in Sri Lanka

.A Journey of Growth and Innovation

SLIIT began as a pioneering institution dedicated to advancing information technology education in Sri Lanka. Over the past two and a half decades, it has expanded its academic offerings, establishing itself as a multidisciplinary university with programmess in engineering, business, architecture, and humanities, in addition to IT. The growth of SLIIT has been marked by continuous improvement in infrastructure, faculty development, and curriculum enhancement, ensuring that students receive world-class education aligned with industry needs.

Looking Ahead: The Next 25 Years

As SLIIT celebrates its Silver Jubilee, the institution looks forward to the future with a renewed commitment to excellence. With advancements in technology, the rise of artificial intelligence, and the increasing demand for skilled professionals, SLIIT aims to further expand its academic offerings, enhance research capabilities, and continue fostering a culture of innovation. The next 25 years promise to be even more transformative, as the university aspires to make greater contributions to national and global progress.

Sports Achievements:

A Legacy of Excellence

SLIIT has not only excelled in academics but has also built a strong reputation in sports. Over the years, the university has actively promoted athletics and competitive sports by organising inter-university and inter-school competitions, fostering a culture of teamwork, discipline, and resilience. SLIIT teams have secured victories in national and inter-university competitions across various sports, including cricket, basketball, badminton, rugby, football, swimming, and athletics. SLIIT’s sports achievements reflect its dedication to holistic student development, encouraging students to excel beyond the classroom.

Kings of the pool!

Once again, our swimmers have brought glory to SLIIT by emerging as champions at the Asia Pacific Institute of Information and Technology Extravaganza Swimming Championship 2024. They won the Men’s, Women’s, and Overall Championships. Congratulations to all swimmers for their dedication and hard work in the pool, bringing honour to SLIIT.

Winning International Competitions

SLIIT students have participated in and excelled in various international competitions, including Robofest, Codefest, and the University of Queensland – Design Solution for Impact Competition, showcasing their skills and talent on a global stage.

Here’s a more detailed look at SLIIT’s involvement in international competitions:

Robofest:

SLIIT’s Faculty of Engineering organises the annual Robofest competition, which aims to empower students with skills in electronics, robotics, critical thinking, and problem-solving, preparing them to compete internationally and bring recognition to Sri Lankan talent.

Codefest:

CODEFEST is a nationwide Software Competition organized by the Faculty of Computing of Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) geared towards exhibiting the software application design and developing talents of students island-wide. It is an effort of SLIIT to elevate the entire nation’s ICT knowledge to achieve its aspiration of being the knowledge hub in Asia. CODEFEST was first organised in 2012 and this year it will be held for the 8th consecutive time in parallel with the 20th anniversary celebrations of SLIIT.

University of Queensland – Design Solution for Impact Competition:

SLIIT hosted the first-ever University of Queensland – Design Solution for Impact Competition in Sri Lanka, with 16 school teams from across the country participating.

International Open Day:

SLIIT organises an International Open Day where students can connect with distinguished lecturers and university representatives from prestigious institutions like the University of Queensland, Liverpool John Moores University, and Manchester Metropolitan University.

Brain Busters:

SLIIT Brain Busters is a quiz competition organised by SLIIT. The competition is open to students of National, Private and International Schools Island wide. The programme is broadcast on TV1 television as a series.

Inter-University Dance Competition:

SLIIT Team Diamonds for being selected as finalists and advancing to the Grand Finale of Tantalize 2024, the inter-university dance competition organised by APIIT Sri Lanka. The 14 talented team members from various SLIIT faculties have showcased their skills in Team Diamonds and earned their spot as finalists, competing among over 30 teams from state universities, private universities, and higher education institutes.

Softskills+

For the 11th consecutive year, Softskills+ returns with an exciting lineup of events aimed at honing essential soft skills among students. The program encompasses an interschool quiz contest and a comprehensive workshop focused on developing teamwork, problem-solving abilities, leadership qualities, and fostering creative thinking.

Recently, the Faculty of Business at SLIIT organised its annual Inter-school Quiz Competition and Soft Skills Workshop, marking its fifth successive year. Targeting students in grades 11 to 13 from Commerce streams across State, Private, and International schools, the workshop sought to ignite a passion for soft skills development, emphasising teamwork, problem-solving, creativity, and innovative thinking. Recognising the increasing importance of these soft skills in today’s workforce, the programme aims to fill the gap often left unaddressed in the school curriculum.”

The winners of the soft skill competition with Professor Lakshman Rathnayake: Chairman/Chancellor, Vice Chancellor/MD Professor Lalith Gamage, Professor Nimal Rajapakse: Senior Deputy Vice – Chancellor & Provost, Deputy Vice Chancellor – Research and International Affairs Professor Samantha Thelijjagoda, and Veteran Film Director Somarathna Dissanayake.

VogueFest 2024:

SLIIT Business School organised VogueFest 2024, a platform for emerging fashion designers under 30 to showcase their work and win prizes.

T-shirt Design Competition with Sheffield Hallam University:

SLIIT and Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) UK collaborated on a T-shirt designing competition, with a voting procedure to select the best design.

SLIIT’s Got Talent

: The annual talent show, SLIIT’s Got Talent 2024, was held for the 10th consecutive year at the Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre on 27th September 2024. SLIIT’s Got Talent had the audience energised with amazing performances, showcasing mind-blowing talent by the orchestra and the talented undergraduates from all faculties.

Other events:

* SLIIT also participates in events like the EDUVision Exhibition organised by the Richmond College Old Boys’ Association.

* They hosted the first-ever University of Queensland – Design Solution for Impact Competition in Sri Lanka.

* SLIIT Business School also organised the Business Proposal Competition.

SLIIT Academy:

SLIIT Academy (Pvt.) Ltd. provides industrial-oriented learning experiences for students.

International Partnerships:

SLIIT has strong international partnerships with universities like Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), The University of Queensland (UQ), Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), and Curtin University Australia, providing opportunities for students to study and participate in international events.

(The writer, a senior Chartered Accountant and professional banker, is Professor at SLIIT University, Malabe. He is also the author of the “Doing Social Research and Publishing Results”, a Springer publication (Singapore), and “Samaja Gaveshakaya (in Sinhala).

Features

Inescapable need to deal with the past

Published

1 day ago

2025/04/1

Sahan Weerasooriya

The sudden reemergence of two major incidents from the past, that had become peripheral to the concerns of people today, has jolted the national polity and come to its centre stage. These are the interview by former president Ranil Wickremesinghe with the Al Jazeera television station that elicited the Batalanda issue and now the sanctioning of three former military commanders of the Sri Lankan armed forces and an LTTE commander, who switched sides and joined the government. The key lesson that these two incidents give is that allegations of mass crimes, whether they arise nationally or internationally, have to be dealt with at some time or the other. If they are not, they continue to fester beneath the surface until they rise again in a most unexpected way and when they may be more difficult to deal with.

In the case of the Batalanda interrogation site, the sudden reemergence of issues that seemed buried in the past has given rise to conjecture. The Batalanda issue, which goes back 37 years, was never totally off the radar. But after the last of the commission reports of the JVP period had been published over two decades ago, this matter was no longer at the forefront of public consciousness. Most of those in the younger generations who were too young to know what happened at that time, or born afterwards, would scarcely have any idea of what happened at Batalanda. But once the issue of human rights violations surfaced on Al Jazeera television they have come to occupy centre stage. From the day the former president gave his fateful interview there are commentaries on it both in the mainstream media and on social media.

There seems to be a sustained effort to keep the issue alive. The issues of Batalanda provide good fodder to politicians who are campaigning for election at the forthcoming Local Government elections on May 6. It is notable that the publicity on what transpired at Batalanda provides a way in which the outcome of the forthcoming local government elections in the worst affected parts of the country may be swayed. The problem is that the main contesting political parties are liable to be accused of participation in the JVP insurrection or its suppression or both. This may account for the widening of the scope of the allegations to include other sites such as Matale.

POLITICAL IMPERATIVES

The emergence at this time of the human rights violations and war crimes that took place during the LTTE war have their own political reasons, though these are external. The pursuit of truth and accountability must be universal and free from political motivations. Justice cannot be applied selectively. While human rights violations and war crimes call for universal standards that are applicable to all including those being committed at this time in Gaza and Ukraine, political imperatives influence what is surfaced. The sanctioning of the four military commanders by the UK government has been justified by the UK government minister concerned as being the fulfilment of an election pledge that he had made to his constituents. It is notable that the countries at the forefront of justice for Sri Lanka have large Tamil Diasporas that act as vote banks. It usually takes long time to prosecute human rights violations internationally whether it be in South America or East Timor and diasporas have the staying power and resources to keep going on.

In its response to the sanctions placed on the military commanders, the government’s position is that such unilateral decisions by foreign government are not helpful and complicate the task of national reconciliation. It has faced criticism for its restrained response, with some expecting a more forceful rebuttal against the international community. However, the NPP government is not the first to have had to face such problems. The sanctioning of military commanders and even of former presidents has taken place during the periods of previous governments. One of the former commanders who has been sanctioned by the UK government at this time was also sanctioned by the US government in 2020. This was followed by the Canadian government which sanctioned two former presidents in 2023. Neither of the two governments in power at that time took visibly stronger stands.

In addition, resolutions on Sri Lanka have been a regular occurrence and have been passed over the Sri Lankan government’s opposition since 2012. Apart from the very first vote that took place in 2009 when the government promised to take necessary action to deal with the human rights violations of the past, and won that vote, the government has lost every succeeding vote with the margins of defeat becoming bigger and bigger. This process has now culminated in an evidence gathering unit being set up in Geneva to collect evidence of human rights violations in Sri Lanka that is on offer to international governments to use. This is not a safe situation for Sri Lankan leaders to be in as they can be taken before international courts in foreign countries. It is important for Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and dignity as a country that this trend comes to an end.

COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTION

A peaceful future for Sri Lanka requires a multi-dimensional approach that addresses the root causes of conflict while fostering reconciliation, justice, and inclusive development. So far the government’s response to the international pressures is to indicate that it will strengthen the internal mechanisms already in place like the Office on Missing Persons and in addition to set up a truth and reconciliation commission. The difficulty that the government will face is to obtain a national consensus behind this truth and reconciliation commission. Tamil parties and victims’ groups in particular have voiced scepticism about the value of this mechanism. They have seen commissions come and commissions go. Sinhalese nationalist parties are also highly critical of the need for such commissions. As the Nawaz Commission appointed to identify the recommendations of previous commissions observed, “Our island nation has had a surfeit of commissions. Many witnesses who testified before this commission narrated their disappointment of going before previous commissions and achieving nothing in return.”

Former minister Prof G L Peiris has written a detailed critique of the proposed truth and reconciliation law that the previous government prepared but did not present to parliament.

In his critique, Prof Peiris had drawn from the South African truth and reconciliation commission which is the best known and most thoroughly implemented one in the world. He points out that the South African commission had a mandate to cover the entire country and not only some parts of it like the Sri Lankan law proposes. The need for a Sri Lankan truth and reconciliation commission to cover the entire country and not only the north and east is clear in the reemergence of the Batalanda issue. Serious human rights violations have occurred in all parts of the country, and to those from all ethnic and religious communities, and not only in the north and east.

Dealing with the past can only be successful in the context of a “system change” in which there is mutual agreement about the future. The longer this is delayed, the more scepticism will grow among victims and the broader public about the government’s commitment to a solution. The important feature of the South African commission was that it was part of a larger political process aimed to build national consensus through a long and strenuous process of consultations. The ultimate goal of the South African reconciliation process was a comprehensive political settlement that included power-sharing between racial groups and accountability measures that facilitated healing for all sides. If Sri Lanka is to achieve genuine reconciliation, it is necessary to learn from these experiences and take decisive steps to address past injustices in a manner that fosters lasting national unity. A peaceful Sri Lanka is possible if the government, opposition and people commit to truth, justice and inclusivity.

by Jehan Perera