Gajalakshmi Paramasivam
24 April 2018
University
of Jaffna – Tamil Dystopia?
The
recent Sri Lanka Guardian article ‘Sri Lanka: A Coup at University of Jaffna Council’ was confirmation of most of my discoveries
about the University of Jaffna – a political quid pro quo for the policy of
Standardization , presented as follows by Wikipedia:
[The government policy of standardization in
essence was an affirmative action scheme
to assist geographically disadvantaged students to gain tertiary education. The
benefits enjoyed by Sinhalese students also meant a significant fall in the number
of Tamil students within the Sri Lankan university student populace…………………………..
In 1969, the Northern Province,
which was largely populated by Tamils and comprised 7% of the population of the
country, provided 27.5 percent of the entrants to science-based courses in Sri
Lankan universities. By 1974, this was reduced to 7%. However, the hardest
hit population group were the urban Tamils and Sinhalese in the Western Province,
which contained 26% of the islands population. In 1969, the Western
Province provided 67.5 percent of admissions to science-based courses. This
reduced to 27% in 1974, after the law came into effect. The majority of the
share enjoyed by Jaffna Tamils were distributed among Tamils in other areas (
Eastern province, Hill country and Muslims) . Majority of the share enjoyed by
Colombo was distributed among rest of the Sinhalese.
"In 1971, a system of
standardisation of marks was introduced for admissions to the universities,
obviously directed against Tamil-medium students (referred to earlier). K.M. de
Silva describes it as follows:
'The qualifying mark for
admission to the medical faculties was 250 (out of 400) for Tamil students,
whereas it was only 229 for the Sinhalese. Worse still, this same pattern of a
lower qualifying mark applied even when Sinhalese and Tamil students sat for
the examination in English. In short, students sitting for examinations in the
same language, but belonging to two ethnic groups, had different qualifying
marks.'
He observes that by doing this in
such an obviously discriminatory way, 'the United Front Government of the 1970s
caused enormous harm to ethnic relations.']
As per
my interpretation, Politicians made the University of Jaffna for their own
purposes and one should not be surprised that they continue to ‘possess’ the
University as a product of their political reactions. The ‘more’ we produce lateral
outcomes beyond our immediate needs the more stagnant we become due to
obsolescence of the excess.
Institutions
that take the vertical pathway through Research, develop the capacity to
sustain lateral spread . A self-sufficient University would balance itself by
lifting Belief particular to its physical environment to Philosophical level. As
per a Tamil saying, one who sees the stone in a statue in the altar does not
recognise Divinity and one who recognises Divinity does not ‘see’ stone.
Politics by majority only is stone and
Governance by common philosophy is
Divinity. One who believes in Higher Education of Jaffna would recognise the
Divinity of Science of Cause and Effect of the investments by all those who
invested in the Kingdom of Jaffna. Every
institution that is self-governed in Jaffna and / or by one to whom Jaffna is
‘home’ is part of that kingdom.
Belief
operates independently to uphold the sovereignty of anyone/any group that
invested in it. But that structure needs to be one that confirms that Belief. Was
the manifestation of the latest outcomes produced by the Governing Council due
to a coup or a simple manifestation of Truth that some Believer/s in Jaffna is/are seeking? Does it confirm that the Jaffna Tamil
is a foreigner to the SLFP leadership (custodians of the Presidential powers responsible for the
Governance of the University ; – as it was then and as it is now?
Students of the University of Jaffna include some from
Thunaivi – where our family temple is. Sellamani to whom that area is ‘home’
owns a peanut stall at Jaffna Bus stand attributed credit to me at a time when
I did not know her personally but was already investing in common development work in Thunaivi. When I approached Sellamani for some
peanuts, Sellamani said that I had provided food and education to their
children. I looked at Sellamani in
surprise – thinking that she was mistaking me for someone else. Then she
described herself to me- that she was
from Thunaivi and that her youngest daughter was learning at the School of
Human Values that we have facilitated. Sellamani’s eldest daughter is Bavani – who is also a peanut seller. Bavani who
believes in Mother Kali at our temple said to me that she saw me in the altar
of the temple – at a time when I was officially in Sydney. To my mind, Bavani saw a manifestation of her own belief
in mother Kali with which was merged the
knowledge that I have also invested
deeply enough to come and live there as part of that toddy-tapper community. I
believed in Bavani due also to Sellamani’s declaration of appreciation of my
services which benefited her youngest daughter. Neither of them has so far
‘asked’ me for any favours but just appreciated my presence in their own ways. They
thus become messengers of Belief.
In
2016, Mohandas – a youngster from that area – led a group of militant boys who
disturbed our religious environment / denomination on Thai Pongal day. The
first thing I did when I woke up that
morning was to thank my mother in my memory for having carried on with the tradition of
celebrating Pongal at our family temple. Soon, I was seriously disturbed when I
heard loud cinema music from the adjoining compound owned legally by Malaysians
- where the above group was playing music. I was furious to note that Mohandas was
sleeping on the platform of the temple. Guarded with a kitchen knife, I walked
over to the temple – so he would not stay there and his group would not play
songs that disturbed the Peace. The parents of Mohandas and his group who were
connected to our caste – the farmer caste – would not have disturbed the peace
there – because they have had the consolidated experience of caste and work
hierarchy. Not so their children – especially the boys who get handouts from
various sources including the government. They segregated themselves and do not
work as toddy tappers any more. I cancelled the Pongal celebrations that day
and went to Colombo. On the way to the railway station, I stopped at Our Lady’s
Church near our home(rented) in Jaffna in which we lived when I was a student.
At the church, I enjoyed the Pongal-sweet
rice that some workers had made. That to
me was the Queendom of Motherhood – where Mother Kali and Mother Mary are.
A
couple of weeks back – our coordinator informed me that Mohandas was reported
to the Police by Bavani’s daughter for eve-teasing and that the folks there
connected that karma to the wrong committed by Mohandas to me – in 2016. To my
mind that was Bavani’s and my consolidated Belief in Mother Kali. Last year I
physically distanced myself from Thunaivi folks – after they stoned our cottage
for reporting some youth to the Police – for cutting our fence and stealing the
barbed wire followed by threatening me with physical attack if I questioned
them. By distancing myself from the physical part of my investment, I am now able to make the scientific
connection between cause and effect – as an independent observer.
The
above experience is relevant in
experiencing the Sri Lanka Guardian article in which the reporter
states:
[The
UGC has set criteria for those whom it puts on the Council. These are, i)
should possess a bachelor’s degree or professional qualification, ii) be of
high calibre and have rendered distinguished service in educational,
professional, commercial, industrial, scientific or administrative spheres for
at least 10 years in a senior capacity; and iii) demonstrate interest in higher
education and possess a commendable grasp on policies, issues and challenges of
the higher education sector.]
The
global governance principles of our times also state that there needs to be
Separation of Powers between the Judiciary and the Executive Government. But
how many Sri Lankans actually believe in this and more importantly practice
this principle? The parallel of that in Accounting is the separation of powers between the Auditor and the Management
of the entity being audited. But here in Australia, even Auditors General did
not appreciate this in practice and recommended using Performance Indicators in
Audit. I was the lone Australian protesting to them. But my belief in Democracy
was raised to philosophical level because I continued to believe – without
being distracted by the loss of immediate benefits.
To my mind Philosophy is the Kingdom of God that is
the goal of Christians. Belief is the church that through which the escalation of
the mind happens. Lord Krishna gives the same message as follows:
‘Whatever happened, happened well; Whatever is happening is happening
well
Whatever
has to happen will also happen well; What of yours did you lose for you to cry?
What
did you bring for you to lose it? What have you created for it to be wasted?
Whatever
you took you took from Here; Whatever you gave ; you gave Here
What
is yours today is someone else’s tomorrow; The day after it is someone else’s.
This
is how the world functions and ; This is the essence of
My
Creation’
The
schools of Jaffna are the churches and the temples of Belief which transcends
as Philosophy at the University of Jaffna. It happens now also to the real
seeker.
Is
this achievement facilitated by the applicable laws of the Nation?
Section
32 of the Universities Act states:
[The
President shall nominate the Chancellor of each University. The Chancellor
shall be the Head of the University, hold office for a period of five years
reckoned from the date of his nomination, and shall, preside at any Convocation
of the University.]
In
other words, the Chancellor is the Delegated Power of the President – who is
the consolidated power of all Chancellors of Sri Lankan Universities. The
origin of University of Jaffna is presented as follows by Wikipedia:
[Extraordinary
gazette no. 121/15 was published on 25 July 1974 establishing the Jaffna
Campus. The new campus started functioning on 1 August 1974 at the Parameswara College premises in Thirunelvely some 4 km north of
Jaffna city centre. Parameswara College had been founded in 1921 by P. Ramanathan.]
This
morning the first mail I opened was from Mr Sanath Panabokke and the email was
headed:
“Who is the greatest Sri Lankan of all Times?
Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan Q.C.”
There is a difference between Sri Lankan and
Ceylonese by Belief. Sir Ramanathan who
left his mortal coil in 1930 and the Hon D S Senanayake who left his mortal
coil in 1952 would have described themselves as Ceylonese and NOT Sri Lankans. Ceylon
was reborn as Sri Lanka in 1972 under the leadership of Mrs Bandaranaike who
also made the deal to compensate Jaffna Tamils for Standardization loss –
through the recognition of ‘right’ to have their own University – the
University of Jaffna.
The place was Parameswara College
whose owner is Sir Ponnambalam
Ramanathan. Wikipedia reports that ‘Ramanathan and other
leading figures founded The
Ceylonese, an English-language newspaper,
in 1913’ and also ‘Ramanathan was responsible for the release of the
Sinhalese leaders who had been arrested following the 1915
Ceylonese riots,
travelling to the UK to make their case. He was
re-elected at the 1916 legislative council election, defeating Justus Sextus
Wijesinghe Jayewardene’
Just as the family name Ramanathan has not been changed the
Nationality also has not changed from Ceylonese to Sri Lankan. I was born a
Ceylonese but I accepted the description
Sri Lankan and hence could be referred to as Sri Lankan. But not those Ceylonese
who passed away before 1972.
Tomorrow, we Australians honor Australians
and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and
peacekeeping operations". They live in our minds. Likewise those
who sacrificed personal enjoyment for the good of the whole.
Given that there has never been a President of Sri Lanka who
is known as the heir of same Hindu Ceylonese
that Sir Ramanathan was – the President himself cannot inherit that position
of Belief. The President therefore does
not have the authority of Belief to nominate a Chancellor for the University of
Jaffna.
It therefore goes back to the fundamental believers – the
Descendants by Belief of Parameswara College Founder to elect a Chancellor. They
in their current form are taken as the Officers and members provided for
through various Sections of the Universities
Act 1978 and other elected members of the communities that contribute to the
University – including the students, academic staff and non-academic staff.
The following was highlighted in the submission made in
January this year, in relation to the matter of Dr Darshanan who did not have
an elected representative in the Governing Council and was as per my assessment
- unlawfully dismissed summarily by the Vice Chancellor who did not have the authority
to do so due to Section 45(2)(xii) of the
Act:
16. [It
is highlighted that
Section 40 of the Universities Act
does not include the Chancellor as Governing Authority:
17. The Authorities of a University
shall be the following:
(I)
********
(II)
The
Council
(III)
The
Senate
(IV)
The
Campus Board or Boards if any
(V)
The
Faculty Board or Boards; if any
(VI)
Such
other bodies as may be prescribed by Ordinance to be such authorities
18. Section 44 (1) of the Universities
Act provides as follows:
[The Council of a University (hereinafter referred to as “the Council”),
shall be the executive body and governing authority of the University
and shall consist of the following persons:-
(i)
The Vice-Chancellor
(ii)
Deputy Vice-Chancellor if any
(iii)
Rector, if any
(iv)
The Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, if
any
(v)
The Dean of each Faculty
(vi)
Two members elected by the Senate from amongst
its members; and
(vii)
Such number of members as is total to the
number of members in paragraphs (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v) & (vi)
above increased by one. All such members
shall be appointed by the Commission from among persons who have rendered
distinguished service in educational, professional, commercial, industrial,
scientific or administrative spheres.]
The requirement of plus one in the Council is towards
external ‘assessment’ – like in the case of ‘International Accountability’ through
Foreign Judges. The Sri Lanka Guardian
reporter has measured through her/his own interpretation of the above provision
as follows:
[The
UGC has set criteria for those whom it puts on the Council. These are, i)
should possess a bachelor’s degree or professional qualification, ii) be of
high calibre and have rendered distinguished service in educational,
professional, commercial, industrial, scientific or administrative spheres for
at least 10 years in a senior capacity; and iii) demonstrate interest in higher
education and possess a commendable grasp on policies, issues and challenges of
the higher education sector.]
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has only limited
authority in terms of appointments of certain Administrative officers. The Council
of the University has significant powers in terms of appointments of officers. Section 37 (1) of the Act for example states:
‘The Registrar of a University shall be appointed by the Council upon the recommendation of a
Selection Committee, the composition of which shall be prescribed by Ordinance.
He shall be a full-time officer of that University and shall exercise, perform
and discharge such powers, duties and functions as may be conferred or imposed
on or assigned to him by this Act or by any appropriate Instrument.’
The UGC does have power to appoint members of
the Council as specified under Section 44(1) (vii) of the Act.
The essential requirement under this section is
“service
in educational, professional, commercial, industrial, scientific or
administrative spheres”
Service is beyond merit and hence it would be
in breach of the fundamental principles of Governance – to require merit based achievement – which
usually is a requirement to calculate benefits. Those appointed by the
Commission are like the grandparents of the students. Grandparents should not
take on the responsibilities of parents.
Dr Darshanan’s case was brought to my attention
by such a Jaffna grandparent who got to know Dr Darshanan through Facebook. I identified with the injustice by knowing
through my genuine investment in the University of Jaffna that the Management
lacked the belief and the skills to deliver fair judgment in the matter. Dr. Darshanan
was charged with Sexual Harassment plus breaches in Administration. Finally
after post-dismissal inquiry due to Fundamental Rights Action by Dr Darshanan –
the latter charges were dropped and only the Sexual Harassment charges were
upheld. No reasons for the Council’s judgment were given.
This confirms serious flaw in University
Administration and Governance. Vital to the wider world is the knowledge as to
whether the ruling was by majority appointed by the UGC under Section 44(1)
(vii) of the Act.
This is where the plus one majority is
important. My alma mater in this issue – the University of NSW is governed by
the University
of New South Wales Act 1989. Section 8B (6) of the Act states:
[(6) The majority of the total number of members must
be external persons.
Note.
Depending
on the circumstances, the Chancellor may be counted as an external person for
the purposes of subsection (6).
external person means a person other than a member
of the academic or non-academic staff of the University or an undergraduate or
graduate student of the University.]
Both
Chancellors of my time effectively acted as External Members and I obliged
their expectations / requests to participate in an inquiry and internal
discussion. But not so the American trained Vice Chancellor – lacking in
Management investment in Australian Universities. My request for the issue to
be escalated to the Governing Council was dismissed summarily and when I
resorted to Judicial action for sending me to prison – the Vice Chancellor was
effectively dismissed by the Council. The parallel of this in Sri Lankan
Government was the dismissal of Mrs Bandaranike in 1977 and Mr Rajapaksa in
2015 – through marginal power of Sri Lankans which was strongly influenced by Tamil
votes.
Dr Vasanthi Arasaratnam was the Vice Chancellor
who first issued the letter of termination to Dr
Darshanan.
On 08 May 2015:
Dr Darshanan was informed by letter by the Vice
Chancellor that the University Council had promoted the Defendant to the post
of Senior Lecturer Grade 1 in Music at the University of Jaffna, with effect
from 04/03/2013 - the announcement happening after a delay of two years and two
months from the eligible date.
By letter dated 14/10/2015
the Vice Chancellor
informed Dr Darshanan - the Defendant - that the
University Council at a special meeting held on 14/10/2015 “having considered
the allegations levelled by the students and staff attached to the Department
of Music” against the Defendant had decided, firstly, to remove him from the
post of Head of Department of Music with immediate effect, secondly, to
interdict the Defendant from the post of Senior Lecturer Grade 1 without any
emoluments with immediate effect, and thirdly, to declare University premises
out of bounds to the Defendant with immediate effect.
Dr Ratnajeevan Hoole who seems to be seriously
lacking in Research skills wrote through his Colombo Telegraph article ‘ Are
Tamils Horrified By Or Tolerant Of Sexual Harassment?’ using the above – but in
fact was attacking Dr Vasanthi Arasaratnam who was appointed Vice
Chancellor instead of himself. The Sri
Lanka Guardian reporter presents Dr Hoole as follows:
[Quoting from the writings of Professor Ratnajeevan Hoole – a
fierce critic of Mohan de Silva [chairman UGC] and what he calls the do-nothing
Jaffna Council of second grade people hiring third grade people – although the
Universities Act gives the UGC the power to do anything to accomplish its
objects, de Silva read “university autonomy” into the Act. However, the Act
does not mention the word autonomy even once. With this laissez faire attitude,
de Silva has claimed that when universities act unlawfully, he has no power to
do anything about it. Mohan de Silva thereby set the stage for total
lawlessness in our universities, and Jaffna in particular.]
The
University of Jaffna, by law, is a ‘Sovereign Body’ equipped to operate
autonomously. One who is looking for the word ‘autonomy’ in the Sri Lankan ‘Universities Act’ is seeing stone and hence not recognising Divinity.
Any relationship would work naturally on Belief. The law provides for this
autonomy including through the plus one appointment under Section 44(1) (vii) of the Act. Any Sri Lankan who genuinely cares has the opportunity to sue
on Service basis, the UGC if the requirements of this section have not been met
and/or the University Council when there are breaches of the provisions in the Act .
The
transcript of the proceedings of the Tribunal that heard the charges against Dr
Darshanan would confirm that there was no objectively measurable evidence
whatsoever to support any of the charges made by the Vice Chancellor – endorsed
by the Council and also that Dr Arasaratnam dismissed Dr Darshanan even before
the confirmation that there existed a prima facie case. There never was such a
finding by the preliminary investigating team.
On
14 Decmber 2015:
The Preliminary
investigating team headed by Professor Kandasamy informed the staff and
students of the Department of Music about their appointment and invited them to
give their statements of likes and dislikes in relation to the Defendant. '‘We said to the students and staff that we
have been appointed to conduct such an inquiry and we have to provide them with
the Data. Write down your opinions. Write what you know. You may write about
his weaknesses also That is your freedom.” said
Professor Kandasamy under oath on 18/11/2017 to the Tribunal allegedly appointed
by the Council of the University of Jaffna, without a ‘Prima Facie’
confirmation report. Mind you, Ms Shanta Abimannasingham, PC was / is part of the Governing Council of
the University of Jaffna. Such Error of Law confirms lack of ‘Service’
contribution to the Justice system in Jaffna.
The Sri Lanka Guardian
reporter states about the legal minds in this issue:
[A new Thamil Makkal Peravai (TMP) was formed with Wigneswaran’s
inspiration as an alternative to the ITAK. Kumar David describes its policies
as an ideological throw back to LTTE-era Eelamist views. Kumaravadivel
Guruparan, Head of the Department of Law at Jaffna, is one of the key TMP
leaders and legal advisers. He has complete freedom to violate rules at the
university. A Council member says he has been appointed legal consultant to the
university at Rs. 30,000 a month violating procedures in the Establishments
Code for such appointments, such as giving the basis of the fee computation,
list of duties, period of work, and interruption of internal work, among other
things. The Council failed to address conflict of interest in his advising on
cases filed by colleagues. He practices in court during office hours appearing
for the TMP……………………………………..
As a result, the new VC picked by the President from the top
three as provided by the Act, was Prof. R. Vigneswaran. Prof. Vigneswaran is
quoted by the newspapers when queried how, as saying that Mr. Guruparan’s
candidate, despite doing very well in the Council vote, was not appointed
because the intelligence services had given an adverse report on him over the
clashes among students……………………..
Much like how political parties had to nominate women but had
not been prepared with good candidates, Wigneswaran’s list contained some very
poor candidates. It is said by a university academic on the Council that
Wigneswaran’s list was assembled by Guruparan. The main qualification to be on
the list was that they should be TMP men or Hindu leaders. Those on the TMP
list included old Council members like Dr. Lakshman and Shanta Abimanasingham,
PC who are highly active TMP activists. It favoured some allegedly without
first degrees like Aru Thirumurugan with Hindu credentials over those with
postgraduate degrees, etc.]
Chief Minister
Wigneswaran who relies on his past qualifications as Judge of the Supreme Court
failed to renounce that credit when he became Politician which effectively made
him the parallel of Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa who impeached the then Chief Justice.
As for Activism by
students the evidence heard by the Tribunal hearing Dr Darshanan’s matter
confirms that that was the driving force.
The submission
highlighted the evidence that there was vested interest by NGO related
participants:
The expert opinion of Dr
Shyamala Gomez, Country Director, FOKUS Women, a women’s organization based
in Colombo that partners with nine women’s organizations working in the North
and East, was sought by the Council. Ms Gomez as per published records
taught law at the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo for over eight years
and was also Gender Advisor to the UN Office of the Resident Coordinator in
Colombo for many years. She also served as Senior Programme Officer, (Women and
Housing Rights) at the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE).
She has written and published extensively in the areas of violence against
women, masculinities, rights of migrant workers, land rights of women, women,
peace and security, women and politics and more generally on women’s rights.
She is also a trainer and has worked extensively with the corporate sector.
A Fulbright Scholar, she has an LLB (Honours) from the University of Colombo
and a Masters in Law from Georgetown University, Washington DC. Professor
Kandasamy stated when giving evidence that the services of Ms Gomez were sought
due to Ms Gomez being a Women's Rights
Activist
Following are highlights
from the submission by Dr Darshanan:
[95.The written statement by Ms Mayuri Selvarasa (P1) given
on the invitation of Professor Kandasamy & Dr Navaratnarajah, did not
mention any name of the person against whom that statement had been given and
yet Dr. Gomez has accepted that as evidence against Dr. Darshanan.
96. It is submitted that not only does this
confirm unprofessional work but also callous demeanour towards Dr. Darshanan
97. In her report
dated 13th September 2016, Dr. Gomez lists as evidence under item 4:
‘Suggesting that victim 157 take her clothes off in front of
him’
This is NOT
in P1 – the statement that the witness claims to have written on 4.12. 2006 on the face of the document
P1 about an inquiry that happened 9 years later
in 2015 .
98. At page 12
of the transcript recording of proceedings of 18 November 2017
99.
It is submitted that the lack of details in the
report by Dr Gomez in her report has led to manipulated evidence being
presented to the Tribunal. The ‘undressing’ data seems have been picked up by
the witness – Ms Mayuri Selvarasa who gave evidence and who confirmed that she
was brought to the Tribunal by the Prosecuting officer who personally went over
to the home of the witness to bring her to the Tribunal.
It is submitted that the report by Dr
Gomez becomes frivolous and vexatious if indeed P1 was used for the report. ]
The report of Dr.
Shyamala Gomez, Country Director Fokus Women was received by the University and
was included as part of the evidence provided to the Tribunal. Published
records state:
'FOKUS WOMEN is the
locally registered Sri Lanka country office of FOKUS based in Oslo, Norway.
FOKUS – Forum for Women and Development is a member-based knowledge and
resource center. FOKUS' objective is to strengthen collaboration between
women's organizations in Norway and globally through advocacy, campaigns and
international development cooperation. It began operations in Sri Lanka in 2012
and has been implementing the UNSCR 1325 Programme on Women, Peace and Security
in Sri Lanka with partner organizations working at national and local level.
This programme with conflict affected women as primary beneficiaries includes
research, data collection, advocacy, redress for women who are sexually
exploited and survivors of violence including early marriage and domestic
violence, strengthening women and government officers for women to claim their
lands and other Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR), post conflict
healing and memorialization within a transitional justice framework. The
organization is responsible for monitoring the implementation of partner
projects.
On 18-November-2017 the Prosecuting team introduced itself as :
[My name is Subasini Anton Kishore. I am an Attorney at law. I have more
than 5 years’ experience as a lawyer. I have experience in this kind of
inquiry. I am also working at … Centre as
Program Co-Ordinator. We are currently
working on Decent work place and Gender Equality related project at that
Office. In addition, I am also a lawyer involved in Policy making related to
Gender equality and Decent workplace ]
Asst. P.C: My name is Karthiga Athithan I have been working for NGO… since 2009. Also at DRC and Human Right Commission. Mostly
at the organization known as ‘Women and
Need’ to protect women’s rights; Also as
coordinator at Legal Aid in addition to working at a private bank as legal
officer ]
They are all women activists – naturally colluding to take
the weapon of Elimination of Sexual Harassment in their hands. Dr Guruparan was
nowhere at the scene of the inquiry. The details submitted by Dr Darshanan in
this regard are as follows:
26-November-2012
Mr. K.Guruparan, who
was then to the knowledge of the Defendant , a Law Lecturer within probationary
period, came over to the Academy around November / December 2012. Mr. K.
Guruparan was accompanied by five others - Prof. S.T.B.Rajeswaran, Prof.Rev.Pilendran, Mr.Rasakumaran and 2
more Lecturers. As per the Affidavit of the Defendant, his understanding was
that, all were from the faculty of Arts and were sent by Dean of Arts. As per
the Affidavit of the Defendant they had said to him words to the effect 'Some
academics have difficulty with Administration. You seem to have such
difficulty. It’s your teaching position that gives you your main income. We
advise you to therefore voluntarily give up your Acting Head of the Department
position and keep your teaching position.'
To Dr Guruparan’s credit – he did not refer to any Sexual
Harassment charges. A person who is strongly family oriented would think many
times before making accusations of Sexual Harassment. On my part – I went by
the ‘certification’ given to the University by the wife of Dr Darshanan who is
also an Academic at the University of Jaffna. In terms of the law, the closest
relation by law is the subjective authority until proven otherwise by
independent evidence.
The above prosecutors / activists did not have the
jurisdiction probe into complaints based on unsubstantiated subjective opinions
of those junior to Dr Darshanan. Dr Gomez was revealed to be incompetent and
indicated vested interests in getting NGO business and hence did not have the
authority to provide subjective opinion as an expert.
The evidence recorded confirmed that Miss
Kanagasabai Tharmila who was a student
who also complained against Dr Darshanan’s teaching method and who gave
evidence on 08 December 2017 confirmed that her
fear was due to her own family background. That ‘family
conscious’ witness categorically denied any Sexual Harassment by the Dr
Darshanan.
All of the above mentioned Lawyers and Mr Wigneswaran – the
Ex Judge attached to his title – even after taking rebirth as politician – are
the causes of the deterioration of law and order at the University of Jaffna.
One needs a lawful relationship through which to apply the law. Where there is
no such relationship we are individuals – free to act as per our Belief. The
denomination of our Belief is confirmed by that relationship. Where such Belief
includes investment by those who are currently ‘external’ to the physical
relationship that is part of the wider institution – the representatives
of such invisible investors need to be
greater than those who are actually producing the current outcomes. Hence the
plus one. Such invisible investors include the ancestors and gods who sometimes
get imprisoned by the Asuras who want immediate benefits. Lord Muruga is known
as the Deity who redeemed the gods from Asura prisons - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JlX8Wc_DRc:
theyvar
siraimeetta - One who redeemed the gods from prison
selvan thiruvadigal -
that youth’s divine feet
kaaval enakkaamedi - kiliyey – are
my protection – oh lovely one
kavalai
ellaam pohgumedi - all my sorrows are eliminated
Saint Yoga Swami of Jaffna
