Features
OLD REST HOUSES OF THE JAFFNA PENINSULA

by HUGH KARUNANAYAKE
Rest houses were the pioneering institutions associated with the hospitality industry in Ceylon of the period between the 18th and 20th Centuries. Readers may be surprised to note that “Rest House” is an institution found only in Sri Lanka. The name seems to be derived from the Dutch term Rust Huys which was the appellation in use when they were originally established during the days of Dutch rule over the island’s maritime provinces. They were originally used as inns or hostelry for the use of the Governor or leading government officials when visiting local areas when there were neither hotels nor proper roads to the island. Its Indian counterpart during days of British rule was called “Inspection Bungalows” or IBs and also as Dak bungalows.
Over the years, rest houses in Ceylon became popular places for holidaying and for rest and recreation especially during colonial days when many of them were established across the country, mainly as accommodation for government officials on “circuit”, as inspection tours were officially known. They also served as convenient accommodation for the local traveller, there being hardly any alternative in those early days.
Most rest houses were located on sites chosen for their scenic beauty or strategic position. The discerning eye of the old British provincial engineers of the PWD has to be acknowledged for the inspiring locations of most Rest Houses across the country. Most were constructed during or before the 20th Century and were architecturally typical of that era. Usually with colonnaded open verandahs with round tiled roofs, and overlooking splendid vistas, pleasing to the eye, these buildings assumed a unique character. Any structure not conforming to that basic architectural formula ran the risk of being termed a “guesthouse” – a different kettle of fish altogether!
Rest house cuisine also developed into an epicurean genre all its own. It was a delight not only to the tired traveller, but also to the gourmand, most of the recipes being based on locally available produce and unique in many ways. The popularity of rest houses continued into post independence days up to the time of the emergence of tourist hotels which commenced in the mid 1960s.
From the 1960s onwards Sri Lanka commenced investing in tourism development infrastructure, and a string of luxury hotels came up on the South Western coast from Negombo down to Tangalle, in the east coast, and soon into tea country and other picturesque sites in the hinterland. The north of the country beyond Anuradhapura however was by and large neglected by the tourism industry excepting the north east sector around Trincomalee. The lacuna was mainly because of uncertainty and risk associated with the then prevalent civil war lasting around 30 years.
The Jaffna Peninsula and its people remained in relative isolation during the period of the civil war. There was very little in the form of accommodation for the traveller to that part of the country, which was a veritable ‘no go zone’ for three decades. Consequently, the hoary old institution known as the rest house, assumed a certain significance to the tired traveller seeking a place of rest, albeit there being few who dared take the risk to travel into the heart of the war zone!
It was during the British colonial days that popularity of rest houses in Sri Lanka peaked. This was around the 1930s. There were then 162 rest houses in the country of which there were nine within the Jaffna Peninsula. By 1963 the total number declined to 108 with the number in the Jaffna Peninsula dropping to six.
At the turn of the 20th Century, some of the oldest rest houses in Ceylon were in the peninsula where the locals called them madams or choultrys, somewhat equivalent to the tanayama or ambalama in the south of the island.
The rest houses in the Jaffna peninsula received the attention of writers like James Cordiner (1807), Capt Thomas Aldersey Jones of the 19th Regiment (1805) and later, the reputed antiquarian John Penry Lewis, whose observations in an article for the Times of Ceylon Annual 1913, provide interesting insights into the life of the local traveller of those times. A review of some of the early descriptions of rest houses in the peninsula will help shed some light into the prevalent lifestyle and customs in the North, and bring back to mind an era gone forever!
At the beginning of the 20 th Century the rest houses in the peninsula were those in Jaffna, Elephant Pass, Kayts, Point Pedro, Pallai, Pass Beshuter, and Kankesanturai. The civil war which engulfed the North of the country saw the destruction of the Elephant Pass, Chavakachcheri, and Jaffna rest houses. I am happy to record that my stay in the Jaffna and Kankesanturai rest houses in 1977 brings back nostalgic memories of the City of Jaffna.
The rest houses in Pallai, Pass Beshuter, and Chundikulam, ceased to function many years previously, due to lack of patronage, and thus became economically unviable. Those remaining today would most likely be operating below optimum level, except perhaps Kankesanturai, which has been revamped and functions as a tourist facility at the northern most point of the island.
Captain Thomas Aldersay Jones of the 19th Regiment, wrote in his unpublished diary of December 25, 1805, said that there were rest houses or choultries at Chavakachcheri, Kilali, and “Bescooter”. It seems apparent therefore that the others in the peninsula were built later. “Pas Beschuter: or “Beshuter” as it was sometimes called, was 15 miles east of of Kilali, away from the coast on the road to Mulaitivu via Chundikulam, which was at the extreme South East end of the peninsula.
Captain Jones noted in his diary that the choultry at Kilali was the most comfortable on this road and observed :”Rest house good, people civil, and can get everything”.
James Cordiner observed in his work published in 1807, “at Kilali choultry or rest house, the landlord is an invalided sergeant who formerly served the Dutch Government, and is now settled there in charge of the Post Office. Both he and his wife are born of Ceylonese mothers”. Jones noted that “Chavacherry” or Chavakachcheri “adjoined the ruins of a large house which in Portuguese times was the residence of the parish priest”. J.P. Lewis noted 100 years later, that the then existing rest house was probably on the same site adjoining the Magistrate’ s bungalow which Lewis earlier occupied for five months “pestered by bats and depressed by the smoke of the cremation ground nearby”.
Captain jones in his diary referred to a large Moorish Church which, according to Lewis, was, in fact, the remnants of a Portuguese Church. The Chavakachcheri rest house has since been completely demolished, and only the land remained.
In the old Pas Beshuter Rest House visitor’s book, there was a verse by Graeme Read Mercer of the Ceylon Civil Service arising from a complaint by two travellers who had preceded him and which reflects on the isolation of rest houses and the problem of servicing its needs in far flung outposts. The verse reads thus: “
Messrs Buwker and Meek/Discover a leak
/On which a few pence expended
/Will save many pounds/
A few years hence/
When it will be as they will be mended/ ”
The rest house at Pas Beshuter which operated for over half a century, seem to have ended its usefulness by the end of the 19th century, when Lewis noted that the pillars which supported its roof was still seen standing in desolate rows amid the ruins of the old Dutch Fort. The rest house in Chundikulum which was still in use in
1805 when Captain Jones commented in his diary “Rest house bad, and could get nothing, the natives having gone on a visit and not returned”!
Lewis noted when he visited Chundikulum over a 100 years later, that there had been no visitor for the three preceding years! Little wonder that the rest house ceased to function not long afterwards.
The rest house in Point Pedro was more a madan or ambalama or resting place for travellers, built across the road with traffic passing under its arched roof and adjoins a Hindu temple which was built by the brahmins associated with the temple, with the approval of the District Road Committee.
It is unique in style, having an arched dome like roof similar to arched madams found in South India. The photograph below taken by Skeen and Co around 1900, shows the rest house in its original form. The building exists to this day, but without the unique arched roof, which has been replaced by a plain gabled roof of metal sheets, the original roof structure of great character, a possible victim to the ravages of war.
The Elephant Pass rest house was originally a small Dutch Fort built in the 18 th century and stood at the entrance to the Jaffna Peninsula from the south, at the end of the causeway connecting the peninsula to the mainland.
According to Sir Emerson Tennent (1859), the name originated from the annual visitations by wild elephants during July and August,t he reason when the palmyrah fruit ripens, attracting wild elephants from the mainland. When Captain Jones arrived there on September 19, 180, he found the rest house “fallen down”! Perhaps the rest house was in a different location. Jones had to stay the night at the “tappal man’s house”
The Elephant Pass rest house was a picturesque house with a heritage well worthy of preservation, but was unfortunately destroyed during the war. The photograph shown here is from W.A. Nelson -the Dutch Forts of Sri Lanka, 1984.
The Jaffna Rest House was located near the esplanade and when it was built in the late 19th century it stood out in splendour with park like grounds. In later years the building looked less impressive and also suffered severe damage during the war.
The Kayts rest house built in the 19th century and located 100 yards away from the jetty was a small two roomed building. Remains of the foundation of a building dating back to the Portuguese era were observed within the rest house compound a century ago. A tombstone dated February 23, 1828 in memory of John the infant son of Rob Atherton, the sitting Magistrate and Fiscal of Delft, stood on the grounds of the rest house. It is not known whether the tombstone, or the rest house itself exists today.
The rest house keeper during the early 20th century was a man by the name Pillai who with his brother were well known for the sumptuous breakfasts they served their guests. The Pillai brothers were known by their nicknames Bob Pillai and Ned Pillai and were an institution in Kayts, much like Tamby the well known rest house keeper of the Trincomalee rest house of that era.
The Kankesanturai rest house is an old building constructed in the 19 Century to which a 20th century addition was made. It is located in a picturesque point facing the Indian Ocean. It was constructed during the tenure of office of District Engineer Armstrong, a man responsible for many public works in the peninsula.
During the war it was run as a tourism facility by the defence department. With the end of the war several hotel projects commenced in the peninsula, and it is hoped that the income generated by tourism will be a stimulus to the economy of the Jaffna peninsula.
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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