Features
Buddhism and Buddhists: Ageing inevitable, not weakness

This Friday Cassandra is on a very different tack or track. No dealing with politics; no criticism of politicians; no harping on the fate that befell our splendorous island and no mention of those who sent us down the pallang on account of their self-centeredness, huge hubris, power craze, corruption and lack of administrative ability. Why, you may query.
Does Cass think things are now hunky-dory; the economy is back on track and politicians have become honest, sensible and intelligent, even though short of being statesmen? Definitely not! The reason is that leopards don’t change their spots; dogs do not rid themselves of ticks, wayward children continue being stubbornly wayward. So, Cass decided to entertain her readers this Friday instead of adding fuel to their anger and frustration. She intends narrating a personal experience, which might annoy some stern Buddhists, but if Cass shoots shafts at powerful politicians, what is it to irritate a couple of Buddhists who we hope have metta within them. The second part of her article is mainly for the older women who read Cass’s Cry on Fridays.
New and now Buddhism
Got a dose of this on Saturday 4 November. Cass went to the Maitreya Hall in the premises of the Mettarama Temple in Bambalapitiya to listen to Ven Vajiraramaye Nanasiha Thera address the Servants of the Buddha and others. These Saturday talks have a long and almost unbroken history from the time of the inception of the Servants of the Buddha Society of devout Buddhists in 1921 founded by Dr Cassius Perera, assisted by W J Soysa, W A de Silva and Justice Hema Basnayake. Dr Cassius Perera later was ordained and took the name Kasssapa Thera. His granddaughter was present on the Saturday event I write about, having arrived from Australia.
Ven Nanasiha Thera spoke into a microphone but it was not loud and his voice may not have gone beyond the hall we were in. I was in the middle of the hall and soon was disturbed by an echo. Looking around I saw that a man across the aisle was listening to his cell phone, later explained to me by the possibility of listening via Bluetooth or whatever. This person could have moved away from being in proximity to others present. He would have heard the Ven Thera’s talk on his cell phone even from the back of the hall, not disturbing others.
Then midway in the Ven Thera’s talk a loudspeaker bana preaching in Sinhalese began in the hall of the temple. There was no possibility of hearing what Ven Nanasiha was saying. Here arose a question in Cass’ mind. The Maitreya Hall meeting of the Servants of the Buddha is on Saturdays starting at 4.30 pm, from way back, maybe for more than a hundred years. The temple monks know this.
So, could not the usual Bodhi pooja of the temple have been delayed somewhat on a Saturday, or the bana not amplified so loud? Cannot there be dialogue and a fitting in of two programmes so they do not clash? Looking into the bana maduwa Cass noticed only about 15 devotees listening to the bana in Sinhala. The temple monk would surely have been heard very well without the amplifier system. But no, that is the new trend of broadcasting very loud (annoyingly to others) every temple pooja, pirith and bana.
This happens in the most sacred place in Anuradhapura: at the Sacred Bo Tree. A constant drone of chanting goes on as people pay the kapuralas to mediate between themselves and gods; the Buddha Himself (?); to grant them their wants. At frequent intervals the vihara amplifies its poojas. Silence and quiet to meditate seem out of the question here, which is what should prevail and be done by devotees.
I wrote of one devout Buddhist who was not considerate of his trying-hard –to-listen neighbours. The other was met as Cassandra moved to leave the premises. Her car was parked within the temple premises without blocking any others. Her driver too was keen to listen to Ven Nanasiha and so sat in the Maitreya Hall. Coming out with rain starting to fall, we found a car very inconsiderately parked blocking all others from leaving the temple premises. Cass’ driver asked around who the owner/driver of the offensively parked car was. No result. Cass too, in spite of the falling rain, asked around.
She felt she should enter the bana maduwa and enquire but did not want to intrude, though by now her disdain for inconsiderate Buddhists was high. After many apologies for preaching overtime the temple monk ceased his sermon which the driver said had no Buddhism in it at all except criticism of society in general. Then a man in trousers emerged from the verandah of the vihara ge and moved his car allowing Cass’s to proceed out. He heard the driver’s question, saw Cass’s anxiety to get her car out and took no notice until he could please himself about moving his car.
A very long tale but it amplifies what is happening to our religion of great consideration, kindness and concern for others; and some who profess they are Buddhists being only concerned about themselves. Cass makes bold to say the religion or way of life preached by the Buddha who went through much, even self-mortification, to show a way out of unsatisfactoriness in countless rounds of birth, is degraded now. And some who outwardly proclaim to be devout Buddhists have not got over selfishness and egotism.
Inspiring story of determination
Cassandra watched on Netflix the film Nyad. A review in the November 3 Washington Post written by Sally Jenkins starts by saying nature and age are in conflict with the two women protagonists. The characters they portray conquer the two elements, “not in some trite, scripted or airbrushed way but with the sinews and cartilage of real athletes. Every now and then a cultural moment comes along that exposes how severely and artificially we continue to limit the conceptual range of female ideals, and the cannonball biceps of these actresses in their un-camouflaged 60s constitute a significant one. Sun-scorched, straw-haired, scored with tendons, they are glorious.”
Nyad, directed by husband and wife Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, is the biopic of marathon swimmer Diana Nyad who culminated her swimming career and records held for long distance swimming in the open sea by completing the 119 mile swim from Cuba to Florida in 2013 at age 64 with the help of her closest friend and trainer, Bonnie Stoll. In Nyad the swimmer is played by Annette Bening (age 65) and her friend by Jodie Foster (60).
As Sally Jenkins comments: “But there is a story within a story in the film: the friendship of two women frustrated by a Hollywood culture that permits so few dynamic roles for mature women and who do something about it. When Nyad began filming in a 233 by 233 -oot tank of water in April 2022, Bening showed up on set with stunt doubles, whom she promptly rendered bystanders. Bening trained under an Olympic swimmer for more than a year for her role in the film, and swam all through the filming. This meant eight hours each day in water, and swimming.
Cassandra is not merely narrating stories this Friday morning. Using old fashioned jargon she says there is a moral or morals in the story. Yes, there are messages that should come through.
The two actresses mentioned above may have been on the shelf, because Hollywood definitely is young-age worshipping. Once one’s looks and glam figure are somewhat lost, one is shelved a discard not only in Hollywood but more so in Bollywood. It happens in societies too.
Mercifully, in Sri Lanka the Aachie/Athamma are respected and given a place in family hierarchies. The younger generation usually respects and loves the old biddies. The old have much to give of experientially gathered knowledge and accumulated wisdom.
Very importantly, the film shows there are no limits placed in the path of the older woman that cannot be broken through. It was determination, will power, confidence in self and the belief of friends that got the swimmer Diana Nyad swimming more than 100 miles in shark infested waters. She had confidence in herself and trust in her coach and her team.
We, though a small nation, boast our own intrepid women. Politically, Mrs B comes to mind. She started off naively, answering questions on her policy as that of her late husband’s. But she matured in politics and came to know people well, so much so that during the latter stages, she was considered to be the only man in her Cabinet of Ministers.
Consider petite Jayanthi Kuru-Utumpala who summited Mt Everest – the first South Asian woman to do so. She told Cassandra that it was a terribly hard climb though she had practiced climbing for long. Her Sherpa guide became intolerant of her and started reprimanding her severely until she wanted to send him packing and give up her hard-won place in the queue to the peak, and the ambition itself. She then realized he was goading her, knowing she was capable of that last stint of supreme effort. And with his help she won. She stood on the summit of the world on May 21, 2016, with the Vesak moon seen beside her. She continues her struggle, now against rampant prejudice as an activist for people’s rights.
We have innumerable women of strong spirit and determination, unsung, even unknown to the rest of the island. I definitely don’t mean dames like Diana Gamage. It is high time women of this nature turned their combined effort to fighting and finally eradicating corruption in the land. It’s men who in the majority fall prey to greed, particularly of power and money and turn to dishonesty. So, women should take over.
Major concerns
*Looks as if the brave Sports Minister’s attempt to clean out SLC is being thwarted by the highest in the land: puppet-stringed by vote promising supporters or those he is beholden to? Just too bad since corruption must be wiped out.
*One protest Cass approves of is the postal union’s strike against the sale of the iconic PO building in Nuwara Eliya, destined to be sold and surely demolished. It is a heritage site and not to be touched, particularly to earn money for State coffers. Get the money from high powered rogues, not sell the home silver.
Features
Leadership, Ethics & Non-compromise – I

Navigating the Winds of Change:
(Keynote address delivered at the first Award Ceremony of the ‘The Bandaranaike Academy for Leadership & Public Policy on 15 February 2025 at Mihilama Medura, BMICH, Colombo)
I have been made to understand, today marks the awards ceremony of the first cohort of students at the ‘The Bandaranaike Academy for Leadership & Public Policy.’ So, it is a happy day for all those graduating in a world where immediate work and life circumstances are not generally marked by happiness.
I apologize for starting on a seemingly morose note, but we are in more dire straits – as a nation and as citizens – than we have ever been since Independence. And much of this unhappiness stems directly from decisions taken by people we have considered leaders. In many cases, we have also elected them – repeatedly. But I am not talking only of public leaders who are often visible, but also of people away from the public eye, in leadership positions, such as in public and business organizations, kin networks, schools and formal and informal groups, who also take decisions that affect others – and often in life-changing ways.
The founders of this academy must certainly have had a sense that local and global structures of leadership are in relative disarray when they decided that the vision of the academy is to ‘create the next generation of ethical, effective and socially responsible leaders.’ From my vantage point, I would summarize these expectations in three words: Leadership, Ethics & Non-compromise’. These are the ideas I want to talk about today against the backdrop of our country’s vastly transformed political landscape and societal mood.
Let me lay it out there: leadership and its congruent qualities, such as ethics and non-compromise, do not simply emanate from a course or a syllabus. Certainly, conceptual and theoretical aspects of leadership, what ethics mean, when and when not to compromise in an abstract sense can be ‘taught’ through forms of formal instruction. I see that your postgraduate diploma courses such as ‘Strategic Leadership’ and ‘Politics & Governance’ emphasize some of these aspects. Similarly, the course, ‘Executive Credential on Leadership & Public Policy’ appears to emphasize some core concepts that would have to feature in any discussion on leadership, such as ‘Ethical Leadership and Social Responsibility’, ‘Leadership Strategies for a Changing World’, ‘Visionary Leadership’ and ‘Moral Leadership’ which have all been flagged either as course outcomes or focus areas.
But beyond this kind of abstraction in a classroom, leadership and its affiliated characteristics must necessarily come from life and how we deal with its multiple layers in society. A classroom, or a course, is essentially a controlled environment while society is not. The latter, by virtue of its composition, is messy and unpredictable. Leadership, in such situations, is one thing that theory and bookish knowledge alone cannot inculcate in a person beyond a certain point.
It is this, I want to elaborate in my talk today. It has become extremely clear to me that in our immediate living environment, and particularly in politics, across the board, leadership along with qualities like ethics and non-compromise, is woefully lacking. This absence stems from the relentless abuse of the key attributes of leadership which have been buried in the corrupt political system and compromised societal mores we have inherited.
So, let me take you beyond the classroom today and give you a glimpse of situations I have had to encounter. I suggest, you juxtapose these experiences and perspectives against what you have learned in the academy, your schools, your universities, from your parents and elders and your lives in general, and then proceed to fine-tune these or even unlearn your instructions, if needed. I have always found common ground in what American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson once noted about leadership. He said, “do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” What he is essentially talking about is the necessity of a vision to be able to lead.
But, more importantly, we must have the commonsense and the political will to distinguish between vision and hallucination, however popular and rhetorically similar both can be. Adolf Hitler had a hallucination of globally disastrous proportions while Nelson Mandela and Mohandas Gandhi had emancipatory visions whose long-term influence far exceeded the geographic and political boundaries of their countries. All three had a large number of followers, with very different consequences. And all of them were leaders, too.
What I want to say at the outset is that mere popularity of a person at a given moment is not an indication of leadership unless it is enhanced and enriched by ethics and the non-compromise of those standards. That is, leadership with morals as opposed to being devoid of them.
In my last professional incarnation, the core idea was to establish a university where none existed, an entity called South Asian University that belonged to the eight nation states of South Asia. It was intended to be a place where no one nation, political or ideological position would dominate; a university where existing conflicts between nation states would not percolate into the classroom. This was a grand vision spawned by a group of people who could lead when it came to ideas of equality in an unequal world.
Interestingly, in the initial years of its existence, it was possible to adhere to these principles and visions as long as there was leadership at important levels of the administration and academic decision-making where these principles were upheld and put into practice. For instance, Indian and Pakistani Independence Days were celebrated within minutes of each other, albeit amidst some tension, but essentially without violence or confrontation. The university did not get involved in any of these, but provided a safe environment. Today, only 14 years later, one cannot see a single Pakistani student on campus.
The iconic lecture series that I helped initiate, ‘Contributions to Contemporary Knowledge,’ which has now been discontinued, was kicked off by a highly successful and well-attended lecture by Gananath Obeyesekere. The Sri Lankan scholar was not invited because of our common nationality, but solely for his reputation reaching across national boundaries and hence was demanded by my Indian colleagues. My job, as a leader, was to make it happen. That is, all these events in the first 10 years of the university’s life established its identity as a South Asian socio-political as well as cultural-knowledge space and not an Indian socio-cultural enclave, though physically located in New Delhi. This was possible because of leadership and clarity of vision at different levels.
Even when crude nationalistic ventures were initiated at the apex of the administration or among students, some of us had the sense and authority to not let them proceed. Similarly, when events were organized which were considered anti-Indian by some misguided people, we had the moral and ethical wherewithal and strength to continue nevertheless, on the conviction of our ideas and the correctness of our decisions.
One such instance was the celebration of the work of the Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz in 2015, when some Indian students complained we were turning the university into a Pakistani enclave. Yet the event was not cancelled, was again well attended and was very positively reported, including even in the Indian mass media. This is also where the notion of non-compromise played a pivotal role. That is, there was never any expectation of compromise in my mind and those others who helped organize it when we knew quite well this kind of rhetoric might emerge.
Continuing further, the point I want to stress is, leadership cannot and should not be merely based on individual popularity or on narrow personal interests. We see both tendencies when it comes to political leadership in Sri Lanka, our immediate geographic neighborhood, and elsewhere in the world. This is how political dynasties have emerged where families seem to believe that to be in leadership positions is a birthright passed down through divine authority. This misplaced thinking is to the detriment of the rest of us as a direct result of dubious forms of leadership that dynastic politics usually generate.
How can we expect a person to lead a nation or even an electorate in any degree of seriousness, when they fabricate their educational qualifications, when their professional backgrounds are works of fiction, when they have never worked a single day in the real world or when their achievements are in the realms of criminality. We have such leaders right here on our own soil whose political survival we have ensured through our vote and our very pronounced lack of reflective criticality. Our collective tolerance of such ‘leadership’ is shameful and says much about our own intelligence, ethics and apathy.
(To be continued)
Features
USAID and NGOS under siege

by Jehan Perera
The virtually overnight suspension of the U.S. government’s multibillion dollar foreign aid programme channeled through USAID has been headline news in the U.S. and in other parts of the world where this aid has been very important. In the U.S. itself the suspension of USAID programmes has been accompanied by large scale loss of jobs in the aid sector without due notice. In areas of the world where U.S. aid was playing an important role, such as in mitigating conditions of famine or war, the impact is life threatening to large numbers of hapless people. In Sri Lanka, however, the suspension of U.S. aid has made the headlines for an entirely different reason.
U.S. government authorities have been asserting that the reason for the suspension of the foreign aid programme is due to various reasons, including inefficiency and misuse that goes against the present government’s policy and is not in the U.S. national interest. This has enabled politicians in Sri Lanka who played leading roles in previous governments, but are now under investigation for misdeeds associated with their periods of governance, to divert attention from themselves. These former leaders of government are alleging that they were forced out of office prematurely due to the machination of NGOs that had been funded by USAID and not because of the misgovernance and corruption they were accused of.
In the early months of 2022, hundreds of thousands of people poured out onto the streets of Sri Lanka in all parts of the country demanding the exit of the then government. The Aragalaya protests became an unstoppable movement due the unprecedented economic hardships that the general population was being subjected to at that time. The protestors believed that those in the government had stolen the country’s wealth. The onset of economic bankruptcy meant that the government did not have foreign exchange (dollars) to pay for essential imports, including fuel, food and medicine. People died of exhaustion after waiting hours and even days in queues for petrol and in hospitals due to lack of medicine.
PROBING NGOS
There have been demands by some of the former government leaders who are currently under investigation that USAID funding to Sri Lanka should be probed. The new NPP government has responded to this demand by delegating the task to the government’s National NGO Secretariat. This is the state institution that is tasked with collecting information from the NGOs registered with it about their quantum and sources of funding and what they do with it for the betterment of the people. Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala has said he would deal with allegations over USAID funding in Sri Lanka, and for that he had sought a report from the NGO Secretariat which is operating under his Ministry.
Most donor agencies operating in Sri Lanka, including USAID, have rigorous processes which they follow in disbursing funds to NGOs. Usually, the donor agency will issue a call for proposals which specify their areas of interest. NGOs have to compete to obtain these funds, stating what they will do with it in considerable detail, and the impact it will have. Once the grant is awarded, the NGOs are required to submit regular reports of work they have done. The donor agencies generally insist that reputed audit firms, preferably with international reputations, perform regular annual or even six-monthly audits of funds provided. They may even send independent external monitors to evaluate the impact of the projects they have supported.
The value of work done by NGOs is that they often take on unpopular and difficult tasks that do not have mass appeal but are essential for a more just and inclusive society. Mahatma Gandhi who started the Sarvodaya (meaning, the wellbeing of all) Movement in India was inspired by the English philosopher John Ruskin who wrote in 1860 that a good society was one that would care for the very last member in it. The ideal that many NGOs strive for, whether in child care, sanitation, economic development or peacebuilding is that everyone is included and no one is excluded from society’s protection, in which the government necessarily plays a lead role.
SELF-INTEREST
Ironically, those who now demand that USAID funds and those organisations that obtained such funds be investigated were themselves in government when USAID was providing such funds. The National NGO Secretariat was in existence doing its work of monitoring the activities of NGOs then. Donor agencies, such as USAID, have stringent policies that prevent funds they provide being used for partisan political purposes. This accounts for the fact that when NGOs invite politicians to attend their events, they make it a point to invite those from both the government and opposition, so that their work is not seen as being narrowly politically partisan.
The present situation is a very difficult one for NGOs in Sri Lanka and worldwide. USAID was the biggest donor agency by far, and the sudden suspension of its funds has meant that many NGOs have had to retrench staff, stop much of their work and some have even closed down. It appears that the international world order is becoming more openly based on self-interest, where national interests take precedence over global interests, and the interests of the wealthy segments of society take precedence over the interests of the people in general. This is not a healthy situation for human beings or for civilisation as the founders of the world religions knew with their consistent message that the interests of others, of the neighbour, of all living beings be prioritised.
In 1968, when the liberal ideas of universal rights were more dominant in the international system, Garrett Hardin, an evolutionary biologist, wrote a paper called “The Tragedy of the Commons”. Hardin used an example of sheep grazing land when describing the adverse effects of overpopulation. He referred to a situation where individuals, acting in their own self-interest, overexploit a shared resource, like a pasture or fishery, leading to its depletion and eventual destruction, even though it is detrimental to everyone in the long run; essentially, the freedom to use a common resource without regulation can lead to its ruin for all users. The world appears to be heading in that direction. In these circumstances, the work of those, who seek the wellbeing of all, needs to be strengthened and not undermined.
Features
Dealing with sexual-and gender-based violence in universities

Out of the Shadows:
By Nicola Perera
Despite policy interventions at the University Grants Commission (UGC), university, and faculty levels, sexual- and gender-based violence (SGBV) is so entrenched in the system that victim-survivors seeking justice are more likely to experience concerted pushback than the empathetic solidarity of their peers. Colleagues and friends will often close ranks, rallying to protect the accused under misguided notions of safeguarding the reputation of, not merely the assumed perpetrator, but the institution. While gender and sexual inequalities, inflected by class, ethnicity, religion, region, and other characteristics, shape the identities of the perpetrator and victim and the situation of abuse, the hyper-hierarchised nature of the university space itself enables and conceals such violence. It’s also important to note that women are not the exclusive victims of violence; boys and men are caught in violent dynamics, too.
Similar to intimate partner violence in the private confines of home and family, violence attributed to the sex and gender of abusers and victims in our universities goes heavily underreported. The numerous power imbalances structuring the university – between staff and students; academic staff versus non-academic staff; senior academic professionals as opposed to junior academics; or, senior students in contrast to younger students – also prevent survivors from seeking redress for fear of professional and personal repercussions. Research by the UGC in 2015 in collaboration with the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) and CARE International Sri Lanka, and more recently with UNICEF in 2021, revealed discomfiting truths about the university as places of work and education. In naming oneself as a survivor-victim, even within whatever degree of confidentiality that current grievance mechanisms offer, the individual may also represent (to some members of the university community, if not to the establishment itself) a threat to the system.
Conversely, an accused is liable to not just disciplinary action by their university-employer, but to criminal prosecution by the state. Via the Penal Code, the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act (2005), etc., the law recognises SGBV as an offence that can take place across many contexts in the private and public spheres. (The criminalisation of SGBV is in line with state commitments to ensuring the existence, safety, and dignity of women and girls under a host of international agreements, such as the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, Vienna Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the Sustainable Development Goals, International Labour Organisation conventions regarding non-discrimination in employment, etc.). Specific to the university, the so-called anti-ragging act (the Prohibition of Ragging and Other Forms of Violence in Education Institutes Act of 1998, in addition to UGC circular no. 919 of 2010, etc.) deems SGBV as a punishable offence. The rag is one site where SGBV often finds fluent articulation, but it is hardly the only one: this is not a problem with just our students.
As the apex body governing higher education in the country, the UGC has not remained insensible to the fact that SGBV harms the lives, rights, and work of students, staff, (and other parties) in university spaces. The Centre for Gender Equity/Equality sits at the UGC level, along with gender cells/committees in individual universities. Universities and faculties have elaborated their own policies and bylaws to address sexual- or gender-based harassment and sexual violence. Although variously articulated, these policies touch on issues of consent; discrimination against a person, or creation of a hostile environment, on the basis of their gender or sexuality; the spectrum of actions that may constitute harassment/violence (including through the use of technology); coerced or voluntary sexual favours as a quid-pro-quo for academic or professional benefits; procedures for making and investigating SGBV complaints; protection of witnesses to an investigation; the irrelevance of the complainant’s sexual history to the complaint at hand. And here begins the inevitable tale of distance between policy, practice, and effect.
Different faculties of the same university may or may not include SGBV awareness/ training in the annual orientation for new students. The faculty’s SGBV policy may or may not appear in all three languages and Braille in student handbooks. Staff Development Centres training new recruits in outcome-based education and intended learning outcomes may or may not look at (or even realise) the politics of education, nor include an SGBV component in its Human Resources modules. Universities may or may not dedicate increasingly stretched resources to training workshops on SGBV for staff, or cover everyone from academics, to administrative staff, to the marshals, to maintenance staff, to hostel wardens.
Workshops may in any case only draw a core of participants, mostly young, mostly women. Instead, groups of male academics (aided sometimes by women colleagues) will actively organise against any gender policy which they construe as a personal affront to their professional stature. Instead, the outspoken women academic is painted as a troublemaker. Existing policy fails to address such discourse, and other normalised microaggressions and subtle harassment which create a difficult environment for gender and sexual minorities. In fact, the implementation of gender policy at all may rest on the critical presence of an individual (inevitably a woman) in a position of power. Gender equality in the university at any point appears to rest on the convictions and labour of a handful of (mostly women) staff or officials.
The effect is the tediously heteropatriarchal spaces that staff and students inhabit, spaces which whether we acknowledge them as such or not, are imbued with the potential, the threat of violence for those on the margins. The effect, as Ramya Kumar writing earlier in this column states, is the inability of our LGBTQI students and staff to be their authentic selves, except to a few confidantes. Since the absence/rarity of SGBV complaints is no evidence that the phenomenon does not exist, perhaps a truer indication of how gender-sensitised our institutions and personnel are, comes back again to the reception of such complaints. Thus, a woman accuser is frequently portrayed as the archetypal scorned woman: abuse is rewritten not just as consent, but a premeditated transaction of sexual relations in exchange for better grades, a secured promotion, and so on. A situation of abuse becomes inscribed as one of seduction, where the accuser basically changes their tune and cries harassment or rape when the expected gains fail to materialise. Especially with the global backlash to MeToo, society is preoccupied with the ‘false accusation,’ even though there is plenty of evidence that few incidents of SGBV are reported, and fewer still are successfully prosecuted. These misogynist tropes of women and women’s sexuality matter in relation to SGBV in university, because Faculty Boards, investigative committees, Senates, and Councils will be as equally susceptible to them as any citizen or juror in a court of law. They matter in placing the burden of documenting abuse/harassment as it takes place on the victim-survivor, to accumulate evidence that will pass muster before a ‘neutral,’ ‘objective’ observer.
At the end of the day, when appointments to gender committees may be handpicked to not rock the boat, or any university Council may dismiss a proven case of SGBV on a technicality, the strongest policies, the most robust mechanisms and procedures are rendered ineffective, unless those who hold power in everyday dealings with students and persons in subordinate positions at the university also change.
(Nicola Perera teaches English as a second language at the University of Colombo.)
Kuppi is a politics and pedagogy happening on the margins of the lecture hall that parodies, subverts, and simultaneously reaffirms social hierarchies.
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