Midweek Review

Proposed Plantation University and its economic benefits

Published

3 years ago

2021/07/28

by Dr L M K Tillekeratne
Former Director of the RRI and UNIDO consultant in Rubber Processing

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s recent address to the nation made an emphatic reference to the establishment of a Plantation University by amalgamating all major crop research institutes, such as Tea Research Institute (TRI), the Rubber Research Institute (RRI), Coconut Research Institute (CRI), Sugarcane Research Institute (SRI). Of these four research institutes, two were established by British rulers over a century ago. The core mandate of the research institutes was to develop the respective agricultural crops, as the plantation crops generated the highest amount of foreign exchange for almost four decades.

With the advent of the free market economy in late 1970s, though the remittances from migrant workers and revenue from the garment industry surpassed the foreign exchange earnings of the plantation sector, the plantation industry continues to play a dominant role in terms of foreign exchange and employment.

Hence, the President’s thinking that the creation of a national university exclusive for the plantation sector is a far-reaching vision that could transform the plantation sector by increasing land productivity and by developing the value-added products manufacture particularly in the case of rubber that the country desperately needed at this juncture. In this context, that the article written by J. A. A. S. Ranasinghe, Productivity Specialist and Management Consultant in a leading English newspaper was a comprehensive analysis of the justification of the creation of a national university for the plantation sector. Such an incisive analysis should have come from a scientist initially.

Dearth of Scientists in the Research Institutes

I whole-heartedly agree with Mr. Ranasinghe on his assertion that research institutes are functioning today in isolation without trained staff to carry out research projects. As he has very correctly identified the dearth of scientists of all the research institutes has hampered the research programmes, and that in turn has led to the deterioration of the productivity of all the sectors during the last two decades. Thus, bringing all the scientists and resources under one umbrella is the need of the hour and that could be accomplished relatively at a short time by establishing an exclusive university for the plantation sector.

The President’s far-reaching vision will be a turning point in producing scientists to run the plantation industry. At a time when most of the other countries in Asia and Africa are increasing their productivity levels of the plantation crops, it is unfortunate that Sri Lanka is far behind in terms of research during last two decades, though its Tea and Rubber research institutes are internationally known.

Downfall of the Rubber Industry

It is sad that in Sri Lanka, the first country in the world to have a rubber plantation established outside Brazil and distributed planting material to other countries mainly in Asia to grow rubber, rubber production has plummeted significantly for the last 25 years. The countries that learnt rubber planting technology from the scientists of Rubber Research Institute of Sri Lanka, such as Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam, have already been able to overtake us both in terms of production and land productivity over the past two decades pushing Sri Lanka down to the 12th place as a NR producer at present. I strongly believe that the situation regarding tea is either the same or even worse.

As Ranasinghe has correctly pointed out in his article, our productivity has fallen to 50% of what we produced a decade ago while countries like Myanmar and Cambodia have been able to double their annual production during this period.

Dearth of Plantation Technologists

It is true that we have agricultural universities producing agriculture graduates. But they do not specifically focus on crops like Tea and Rubber, and cannot undertake the task of increasing productivity by means of applying new technology introduced regularly to overcome issues related to agronomy and tapping. Fresh Agriculture and Science graduates who joined the plantation sector lack the skills and knowledge the plantation industry demands and this mismatch has resulted in a shortage of plantation technologists with required competency levels.

Distinctive Advantages of Plantation University

The agricultural graduates of Sri Lankan universities, however, would be in a very authoritative position in that they can cover a wide variety of other crops better than the graduates getting their agricultural degrees overseas. Agriculture and science graduates should necessarily possess the required field exposure and experience to find gainful employment in plantation sector. Hence, fresh graduates who join the plantation sector will have to work for at least 10 years to be an expert who can identify problems and sort them out on them individually. The industry can ill-afford to wait for such a long period to produce talented plantation expert or qualified scientists, given the dearth of scientists in the country. As Ranasinghe has correctly mentioned, there is a severe shortage of scientists virtually in all departments of research institutes to tackle problems in the industry, which will badly affect the research institutes, if the present system is allowed to continue. More than 50% of the raw rubber and latex end products industry is imported at competitive prices. The coconut production is sufficient for the local consumption and there is no surplus for export in the form of oil or DC.

Exodus of Research Scientists to join Universities

Most of the scientists trained for special mandates in the research institutes have already joined the national universities purely due to better salaries and perks. However, according to the situation existed in early 1960s, those who joined research institutes for developing the agriculture sector were paid higher salaries than those who joined universities, considering their contribution to the development of the economy and the difficult conditions under which they work in remote areas.

Hence, the science graduates’ first choice was research institutions. Today, it is the other way around, and only those who cannot find employment in universities and with low merits join research institutes to get post graduate training utilising the limited number of foreign training scholarships offered to research institutes and get qualified to join universities. Empirical studies have shown that trained researchers with special skills to tackle problems in the plantations have become misfits as academics.

Ad hoc recruitment criteria

The situation that existed prior to the late 1980s was totally different even with regard to recruitment criteria. It is due to the shortage of graduates produced by local universities due to closure of the university education for almost three years, due to the insurrection. There was a severe shortage of special degree holders and hence a decision was taken by the government to allow general degree holders in places where previously only special degree graduates with a class were recruited as research assistants in research institutes. Since then the quality of research produced by the research institutes has suffered.

The distinctive benefit in the President’s proposal is that in the future we might be able to produce graduates capable of tackling problems in the plantation sector with their adequate field exposure and hands on experience during their undergraduate studies.

In addition, there will be a good opportunity for institutions like TRI and RRI with international reputation to attract foreign students for training in Sri lanka thereby earning additional revenue to the country as the UK, India and Malaysia do even without having such recognition. If the proposed national plantation university is properly run, it will be quite possible for them to sustain adequate revenue from foreign students without depending purely on annual Treasury grant. Even now trainees from countries like Myanmar, China, Cambodia, Ethiopia and even from Malaysia have got their research assistants trained at these two crop institutes under international grants.

Contribution to the national economy by way of enhanced production

On a hypothetical basis, if the production of rubber in the country is increased to 135,000 Mt, which was the amount produced years ago, purely by increasing the land productivity, without even increasing the planted area, the country can reap maximum benefits from the fast-increasing rubber prices in the world market. Rubber was selling at around Rs 100 to 150 per kg during the last half a decade. Surprisingly, it has gone up to almost Rs 450 per kg now and the situation is expected to increase further with time to come owing to the demand for NR on account of the Covid-19 pandemic.

If the production is increased to 135,000 Mt, additional revenue the country can enjoy would be (Rs 450 x 50000 x1000) Rs 22.5 billion annually.

We should not lose sight of the fact that due to the shortfall in the supply of rubber, a considerable amount of NR and latex is imported by our rubber products manufacturers for value added products manufacture at a cost of over Rs 30 billion.

If this extra production is used to produce goods such as surgical/examination gloves for which the demand is fast increasing due to Covid-19 spread, the additional revenue country can gain is over 200%. It will be possible to create more employment opportunities as well.

Arduous task for the new Minister

The task before Economic Development Minister is to consider how best to improve the economy in bad state. This objective can be achieved in less than a year by getting the neglected rubber farms into tapping and by using techniques like lightly stimulated low frequency tapping and by utilising proven new techniques like rain guards to minimise crop losses due to rain. The additional cost involvement for these developments is insignificant and the time taken is less than a year.

New planting and replanting are two other ways of increasing the crop; they are costly and take nearly a decade to give a reasonable crop increase. Further, there is no guarantee that the improved rubber prices will remain high until then. However, replanting, and new planting should be continued according to the RDD targets.

Another factor that caused a drop in the rubber production was the removal of the extension services from the research wing and its attachment to the subsidiary function of the Rubber Development Department owing to an illogical decision taken by the then government almost 25 years ago. Today, the RDD is functioning in isolation ignoring the recommendations of the RRI. This has been the main cause for the drop in productivity of rubber farms in Sri Lanka. For example, the population of low yielding clones like PB 86 are still distributed and the clone population in the country is an utter mess.

Undoubtedly, everyone looks forward to the establishment of the plantation university.

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Midweek Review

Foreign policy: New Prez encounters same challenges

Published

5 days ago

2024/10/2

Sahan Weerasooriya

Santosh Jha meets Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Also in the picture is Vijitha Herath

Over the past couple of years, Quad members US and India provided much needed support to strengthen Sri Lanka’s military capabilities. Sri Lanka also received support from Japan and Australia, also part of the same military alliance. Since the declaration of bankruptcy our dependence on foreign support for maintenance, expansion of military assets as well as infrastructure has grown, while the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa administration at the same time declared its intention to reduce the Army to 100,000 by 2030. Chinese and Indian investments over the years in various sectors as well as envisaged projects in the Northern and Eastern regions and rest of the country illustrates the status of play and the developing scenario. The situation should be examined taking into consideration the 99-year lease of the Hambantota port to China in 2017 under controversial circumstances, a development that changed the overall picture. As to what happened to that one billion US dollars Sri Lanka received in return, as well as USD 12.5 billion that the Yahapalana government borrowed hastily from the international bond market at high interest rates during that period should be looked into with the help of the then Auditor General.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Having congratulated Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Chinese leader Xi Jinping declared that the former’s triumph at the Presidential Election marked a new chapter in China-Sri Lanka bilateral relations. The Chinese President called for deeper friendship and cooperation while proposing, what he called, a journey of mutual progress and prosperity.

Indian Premier Narendra Modi emphasized the importance of Indo-Lanka relations in the context of India’s Neighbourhood First policy and Vision SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region). Modi, too, declared his keenness to work closely with President Dissanayake.

Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha was the first Colombo-based foreign envoy to meet President-elect Dissanayake at the Pelawatte headquarters of the Janatha Vimukthi Peremuna (JVP), the leading party in the Jathika Jana Balawegaya (JJB)/National People’s Power (NPP). Jha was followed by Chinese Ambassador Qi Zhenhong. Both meetings took place at the JVP’s Pelawatte office on Sunday (22). On hand was MP Vijitha Herath, who received the Foreign Affairs portfolio two days later, hours before President Dissanayake dissolved Parliament at midnight on Sept. 24.

Dissanayake contested the Sept. 21 Presidential Election on the JJB ticket, his second attempt to win the country’s highest office. Dissanayake suffered a humiliating defeat at the 2019 Presidential Election.

In his congratulatory message Chinese President Xi Jinping referred to a new chapter in China-Sri Lanka relations against the backdrop of an unprecedented election result that brought an end to the two-party system. Obviously, both China and India intended to pursue their strategies meant to consolidate their position. The Asian nuclear powers are opening a new round here at a time the world is in deepening turmoil with two major conflicts – the Israel war in Gaza taking a deadly turn with the Jewish state attacking Lebanon, and Russian President Vladimir Putin threatening to use nuclear weapons in its war with Ukraine.

Putin quite rightly issued the warning in the wake of Western powers preparing to fire their long range missiles, positioned in Ukraine, at vital targets in Russia, using their intelligence inputs to guide them.

Bankrupt Sri Lanka has been trapped in the China-India conflict with the US throwing its weight behind New Delhi. Vijitha Herath, in his new capacity as the Foreign Minister, now faces the daunting task of steering the foreign policy scene without antagonizing either China and India. Having served as a parliamentarian since 2000, Herath is well-versed with long simmering issues and the developing situation as both powers seek to consolidate their positions here quickly.

The new President and his Foreign Minister are in an unenviable situation. The JJB will have to address opposing Chinese and Indian concerns as Sri Lanka’s major lenders wield immense clout.

As the leader of both the JVP and the JJB/NFF Dissanayake has the edge on all opposing political parties at the forthcoming General Election. Having already bagged the all-powerful Presidency and the Cabinet, the JJB/NFF, established in 2019, has a clear opportunity to comfortably win the November parliamentary election. But, dealing with longstanding Indian-US and Chinese concerns, as well as interests, would be quite challenging and problematic, as well.

Having been part of the UNP led political alliance that backed retired war-winning General Sarath Fonseka and then Prime Minister Maithripala Sirisena at the 2010 and 2015 Presidential Elections, respectively, the JVP cannot be unaware how the US brazenly pursued its interests, even at the expense of political stability here. The new President and his Foreign Minister face a herculean task in managing relations with New Delhi and Beijing.

Another issue of serious concern is Indian fishing fleet brazenly poaching in Sri Lankan waters. Successive governments have failed to address this vital issue. The poaching issue has taken a turn for the worse with some fishers responding aggressively to the Sri Lanka Navy efforts to contain the situation.

Acid test

Soon after the parliamentary election next month, the new government will have to take a stand, publicly, on the current year-long ban on visits by foreign research vessels imposed on January 1, 2024. Relentless US and Indian pressure compelled the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government to declare the ban that was only meant to bar Chinese vessels. The move quite obviously angered the Chinese.

During an official visit to Japan in early July 2024, the then Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, PC, told the state-owned news agency NHK that the ban would be reversed to ensure Sri Lanka has a neutral voice in the dispute of others.

“The government cannot have different rules for different countries and only block China. Sri Lanka will not take sides in a dispute between others,” Sabry said. The former Minister should have explained as to why in the first place the government declared a moratorium on ship visits if Sri Lanka remained neutral in disputes among other countries. Unfortunately, the ground realities are different.

In fact, India resents Chinese ship visits. In the run-up to the Sept. 21 Presidential Election, destroyer HE FEI and two amphibious warfare ships WUZHISHAN and QILIANSHAN arrived in Colombo. The Chinese move underscored the pivotal importance Beijing attached to such visits. During August, before the arrival of Chinese vessels, Arleigh Burke-class destroyers USS Spruance and USS O’kane visited Colombo. They were followed by frontline Delhi class destroyer INS Mumbai. Interestingly, Chinese and Indian vessels arrived in Colombo on the same day (Aug, 26).

Both China and India will continue to test the new Sri Lankan administration. Whatever the Chinese and Indian game plans are, Sri Lanka won’t be able to appease both parties, simultaneously. Closer to the General Election, a section of the media would take up the issue afresh with the focus on Chinese conducting intelligence missions in the guise of research in Sri Lankan waters. Foreign Minister Herath, in his new capacity, attended the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. That was the first public function that he attended since taking oaths as the Minister. He holds scores of portfolios, in fact, portfolios that had been held by over 30 parliamentarians are now shared by three – President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya and Vijitha Herath

Among those present on the occasion were former Presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Maithripala Sirisena. Chinese Ambassador Qi Zhenhong used that opportunity to stress the vital importance of bilateral relations in the context of what he called China-Sri Lanka strategic cooperative partnership based on sincere mutual assistance and ever-lasting friendship. The Ambassador predicted the relationship would continue to gain great momentum on a higher level.

Ambassador Qi Zhenhong didn’t mince his words when he tore into the US-led camp. “We are all equal members of the international family. However, today’s world is far from being fair and just, with hegemony, high-handedness, and bullying being prevalent. The Law of the Jungle which leaves the weak at the mercy of the strong is resurfacing and clamours of “Might is right” are forcing their way. Humanity has once again reached a crossroads in history.”

With Foreign Minister Herath among the invitees, Ambassador Qi Zhenhong emphasized several important points. (1) The Communist Party of China (CPC) role in building a ‘great modern socialist country’ and national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization.’ (2) Move to implement more than 300 major reforms by 2029, ahead of the 80th founding anniversary of the People’s Republic of China (3) China’s imports from developing countries expected to exceed US$ 8 trillion between 2024 and 2030 (4) Commitment to Belt and Road cooperation (5) China-Africa cooperation in the context of cooperation among the global south and, finally (6) China-Sri Lanka relations spanning over 2000 years.

Let me reproduce the section that underscored the importance of continuous China-Sri Lanka relations at a time the latter was under tremendous pressure to restrict cooperation with the emerging Super Power.

Ambassador Qi Zhenhong said: “History has proven that no matter how the international situation changes or whether facing traditional or non-traditional threats, the Chinese government and people always stand firmly with the Sri Lankan government and people. China remains a trustworthy friend and reliable partner to Sri Lanka. Facts have repeatedly shown that the closer and deeper the cooperation between China and Sri Lanka, the more capable Sri Lanka will be in safeguarding its sovereignty, security, development and dignity, and in playing a bigger role in regional and international affairs.”

In contrast, Washington cuts a sorry picture, with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and the likes, during their numerous visits to West Asia to ostensibly bring about a ceasefire, calls on regional players not to exacerbate the situation, especially after each major terrorist act carried out by Israel that is funded and armed to the teeth by the literal American deep state to carry out such acts. Recently during one such visit to Europe to garner support for the other conflict Washington is involved in up to its neck in Ukraine, a Polish member of the European Parliament plucked up the courage to ask him to get lost in public under the glare of the TV cameras.

While many honourable and wonderful members of the Jewish community, as well as a majority of Americans with a conscience are publicly speaking out against the continuing genocide that the despicable right wing Jews are committing against Palestinians with the full complicity of the same insidious deep state that President Eisenhower warned against more than a half century ago as the dangerous US military-industrial complex, to grab whatever lands the Arabs continue to hold between the Jordan River and the Sea, it is shocking to watch proverbial cheap Jews like Blinken continue to carry out this public charade destroying whatever standing the US has left in the world. But since much of the mainstream media is under the control of the deep state the world does not get to see the true picture of the sinister happenings yet.

However, the issues at hand, including the Israeli attack on Lebanon, including the target killing of Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, cannot be discussed without taking into consideration the Oct, 07 Hamas raid on the Jewish State. It would be a grave mistake on the part of those opposed to Israel to believe Tel Aviv and Washington could ignore threats whatsoever. Yemen may become another theatre of war unless the Houthi movement ceased attacks.

What would be Sri Lanka’s stand on the developing situation in the Middle East?

Counter strategy

Obviously, Sri Lanka is in a dilemma. A developing crisis that may have far reaching consequences. Just weeks ahead of the recently concluded Presidential Election, India declared her intentions. Their National Security Advisor Ajith Kumar Doval’s meeting three main presidential candidates, Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sajith Premadasa and Anura Kumara Dissanayake, accentuated the state of play. Eyebrows were raised when Pathfinder Foundation presented two vital policy documents which essentially dealt with post-Aragalaya economic direction (Economic Crisis in Sri Lanka: Policy Challenges for the New Government) and entire gamut of Indo-Lanka projects/issues (Bridging Borders: Enhancing Connectivity Between India and Sri Lanka). Clearly the Pathfinder move had the blessings of New Delhi as the document that dealt with Indo-Lanka matters was handed over to Doval before Wickremesinghe, Premadasa and top JJB official Dr. Nihal Abeysinghe received copies of the same. Dr. Abeysinghe accepted it on behalf of Dissanayake.

New Delhi reached an understanding with the then President Wickremesinghe regarding high profile project that dealt with maritime, air, electricity, economy and finance and land route between Dhanushkodi in India and Mannar in Sri Lanka -four-lane 40 km sea bridge estimated to cost as much as USD 4.9 bn. Wickremesinghe, elected by the SLPP parliamentarians in July 2022 as the eighth Executive President to complete the remainder of ousted leader Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s five-year term, pursued a questionable agenda.

Would President Dissanayake abide by the consensus on the controversial sea bridge? Such an arrangement and such other foolish measures could automatically result in Sri Lanka losing its independent status, jealously guarded for over two millennia. Would the new administration revisit this vital issue or go ahead with it in line with the consensus blindly reached by the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government with India?

The Presidential Election campaign conveniently discarded foreign policy issues. Three major contestants and the ruling party SLPP’s candidate Namal Rajapaksa never addressed foreign policy matters during the campaign. The parliamentary election campaign, too, wouldn’t take up the vital issues for obvious reasons. Utterly corrupt and irresponsible political parties seemed to be wholly incapable of appropriately addressing matters of utmost national importance.

Accountability issues

The new government should disclose its position on the ongoing Geneva process. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the last week of August 2022 released a “comprehensive” report on the human rights situation here through as usual their blinkered eyes and as expected beating their breasts, while they and their pet INGOs continue to turn a Nelsonian eye to what is happening, especially in Palestine. It dealt with an entire range of post and pre-war developments, at the end issuing a series of recommendations. Successive governments simply rejected UNHRC criticisms but the process continued and now has reached a critical point.

The following section in the August report highlighted the gravity of the developing situation. The High Commissioner recommended that the Human Rights Council and Member States, as applicable:

(a) Cooperate in investigating and prosecuting alleged perpetrators of international crimes committed by all parties in Sri Lanka through judicial proceedings in national jurisdictions, including under accepted principles of extraterritorial or universal jurisdiction, through relevant international networks and mutual legal assistance processes, and in cooperation with survivors, families, and their representatives;

(b) Consider using other international legal options to advance accountability in Sri Lanka;

(c) Explore, as part of a wider range of accountability measures and consistent with international law, further targeted sanctions such as asset freezes and travel bans against individuals credibly alleged to have perpetrated gross international human rights violations or serious humanitarian law violations;

(d) Review asylum measures with respect to Sri Lankan nationals to protect those facing reprisals and; and

(e) Support OHCHR to continue its monitoring and reporting and its strengthened work on accountability for human rights violations and related crimes in Sri Lanka.

The Presidential Election was held in the middle of 57 sessions of the UNHRC (Sept. 09 to Oct 09).

Having backed the candidature of war-winning Army Chief the then General Sarath Fonseka at the 2010 Presidential Election, the JVP (JJB/NFF hadn’t been around at that time) cannot absolve itself of the responsibility for defending the armed forces on the Geneva front. The JVP threw its weight behind Fonseka at the time the party was under the leadership of Somawansa Amarasinghe.

In spite of the JVP having suffered at the hands of the armed forces during the 1971 and 1987-1990 insurgencies, the party not only backed Fonseka at the Presidential Election, it accommodated the warrior in a political grouping that contested the 2010 General Election under the symbol of Democratic National Alliance (DNA). The JVP-led DNA that had been founded in Nov 2009 won seven seats, including two National List slots.

The winning group, included Fonseka (later arrested and jailed by the Rajapaksa government.) The Sinha Regiment veteran was later jailed by a court martial and had to vacate his seat on Oct. 7, 2010. After a failed legal bid to save his MP status, Fonseka was replaced by Jayantha Ketagoda on March 8, 2011). The DNA group included Arjuna Ranatunga (former Minister) and Tiran Alles (former Minister), Anura Kumara Dissanayake (former Minister), Vijitha Herath, Sunil Handunneti and Bimal Ratnayaka.

What would be the new government’s stance on the accountability resolution Yahapalana Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe co-sponsored it in Oct 2015? The JVP had been an integral part of that administration (2015-2019) after having backed the UNP strategy since the end of the war in May 2009. Anura Kumara Dissanayake who succeeded leader Somawansa Amarasinghe in Dec. 2014 quit the UNP-led alliance to form JJB/NFF in July 2019. The JVP or JJB/NFF conveniently remained silent on the controversial co-sponsorship of the resolution against the war-winning military and the wartime political leadership.

Wartime Commanding Officer of the Mi-24 helicopter gunship squadron retired Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyakontha, current Defence Secretary can brief the JJB/NFF leadership of the urgent need to address unsubstantiated war crimes allegations. New Foreign Minister Herath should examine the 2022 Canadian declaration of genocide here during the conflict taking into consideration the overall war crimes threat. Sri Lanka never bothered to counter Canadian strategy. The former government didn’t do anything except simply denying and denouncing highly politically motivated Canadian moves.

How do we counter the threat posed by those countries bending backwards to appease Tamil citizens of Sri Lankan origins baying for separate state here? Shouldn’t we be mindful of other commonwealth countries or those being influenced by Tamil Diaspora following the Canadians. The way the Canadians antagonized India in a bid to appease voters of Indian origin must prompt us to reexamine our lukewarm response.

Midweek Review

On that ‘unvarying’ identity

Published

5 days ago

2024/10/2

Sahan Weerasooriya

by Susantha Hewa

Identities are not intrinsic but socially constructed. It seems we are nothing but a bundle of identities. Some of them are imposed on us due to who we are in a web of relationships and others depend on what we do. For example, you can’t blame a person for being son, brother, father, uncle, nephew, grandfather, son in law, neighbour, friend, Sinhalese, etc. at the same time. Secondly, we also get our identities from what we do, such as teacher, lawyer, mechanic, labourer, scantiest, politician, businessman, philanthropist, singer, etc. However, surely, identity is context specific; it is the context which determines which identity one assumes at a given moment. Even within the course of a single day you can be conscious of or assume several of those ‘identities’ depending on the context. Often, one of those fluctuating identities takes the centre stage while the others remain in the background of our consciousness until the dynamics of the setting change to bring another or, perhaps, several to the surface. However, when one says “I”, he can’t possibly be thinking of all those identities but just one of them largely determined by the setting.

To illustrate the above point. A person in a group may use “I” to show either his commonality with or difference from the rest. For example, each person in a group of Buddhist pilgrims may think of himself or herself with a sense of belonging when they discuss religion before lunch, but the rare vegetarian amongst them may feel a sense of seclusion when they come to ordering lunch, given that most of the others happen to be meat-eaters. Even in the same group of people, your identity may shift from one to another within short spells. Social psychologists, William J. McGuire and Claire V. McGuire write, “One perceives oneself in terms of characteristics that distinguish oneself from other humans, especially from people in one’s usual social milieu…a woman psychologist in the company of a dozen women who work at other occupations thinks of herself as a psychologist; when with a dozen male psychologists, she thinks of herself as a woman” (Content and Process in the Experience of Self). What is important is the fleetingness of our identities. In other words, we have no fixed or core identity although we may feel we do, which is perhaps one of the leading causes of social segregation and disharmony.

In the foregoing paragraphs we saw that a person’s ‘identities’ are, by and large, socially constructed, based on his place in a web of personal and social relationships; and, most importantly, that these identities are continually shifting and also context specific. In other words, within a span of a few hours one may assume a number of identities, say, father, passenger, employee, client, activist, patient, etc., which is to say that none of those identities are lasting. Yuval Noah Harari in his new book “Nexus: a brief history of information networks from the Stone Age to AI”, asks the intriguing question, “When is a pigeon just a pigeon, and when is it information?”. He explains how a pigeon becomes ‘information’ when it is used to transmit a secret message. Harari further adds with a chuckle, “As Marshall McLuhan might have put it, the pigeon was the message.” Interestingly, this also explains the fluid nature of identity. Here, the pigeon we see in day-to-day life as a gentle, plump, small-billed bird changes its identity from ‘bird’ to ‘secret information’ in a context of espionage. Hence the unfixed nature of what we call identity.

What would be more interesting is to think of the seemingly fixed nature of any of those shifting identities. For example, let’s think of those fairly stable and relatively lasting identities like father, son, friend, neighbour, Buddhist, Christian, Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim, Hindu, etc. How fixed is each of these identities? Think of an eighty-year-old mother and a fifty-year-old daughter. The two were, are and will be mother and daughter till they live. However, the nature of their mother–daughter relationship changes continuously; this is why the daughter, in terms of her relationship with mother, gradually changes from dependant to caretaker as time passes. Prof. Sharon Fraser says that our identities are socially constructed in a network of relationships with others and that it is “through our identity we come to understand our connection to the world, how that relationship is constructed…”.

It is true that in the above example, the two labels, “mother” and “daughter”, don’t change but the nature of their relationship changes, often in much more complex ways than merely swapping their places from “dependent” to “caretaker” and vice versa. In other words, although we generally feel that an individual’s identity, for example, as father, friend or neighbour is static, it is subject to change depending on changing contexts. To put it a bit bluntly, you wouldn’t be the same ‘father’ or ‘mother’ all your life, either in the eyes of your children or outsiders. Likewise, all socially imposed labels are in continuous flux. Perhaps, frustratingly, so is the case with any identity however affectionate or proud you are of them or however solid they may appear.

Just think of your religious and ethnic identities. Are you, for example, the same Buddhist from your infancy up to now? If you proudly claim, “I was a Buddhist, I am a Buddhist and I will be a Buddhist”, perhaps, you may not possibly be thinking of the term “Buddhist” as shifting, slippery or changeable. You may not think it worthwhile to question the quality of your relationship to Buddhism either in the past or at present, or even in the future. Anyone who says, “I am a Buddhist” may not think of his identity as a Buddhist as being fluid. So is the case with those who claim to be of other faiths. We feel smug in our self-made supposedly unchanging religious identity imposed on us at birth. However, it is not difficult to see that religious and ethnic identities that we consider as irremovable and permanently stamped on our ‘self’ are also context-specific and there couldn’t be one fixed religious, ethnic or any other seemingly indelible identity, which would accompany us all along from the cradle to the grave without changing its character. For example, when a child of five years calls himself a Buddhist, his Buddhist ‘identity’ is constructed on ideas, impressions and experiences that are totally different from those of a seventy-year-old person who introduces himself as a Buddhist. So is the case with anybody of any other faith. Richard Dawkins in his “Outgrowing God” refers to the nonsensicality of the “habit of labeling young children with the religion of their parents…[when they are] too young to talk, let alone to hold any religious opinions”. That’s your all-important ‘identity’ for you- be it religious, ethnic, or any other.

Should our so-called identity be a matter of life and death?